Speaking in Africa
It's recorded that when one of Srila Prabhupada's first disciples said to
him in 1968 that he didn't see the point of sending devotees to Africa to
preach, Srila Prabhupada rebuked him, saying: "You are thinking because they
are negroes they cannot become Krishna conscious. But I am seeing you as a
white negro!"
Srila Prabhupada's more egalitarian teachings transcended racism, sexism,
nationalism, caste-ism, and speciesism. When asked to speak at the
University of Nairobi in Kenya in September 1972, Srila Prabhupada addressed
an overflow crowd of students and government officials at the campus' Taifla
(Independence) Hall. In his lecture, he advised the citizens of the
developing nation of Kenya to pursue spiritual development, rather than
economic development:
"When a suit becomes old, we give it up and accept another suit; similarly
the soul is changing dresses according to desire...This godly particle, the
soul, or the living force, is transmigrating from aquatics to trees and
plants and then from trees and plants to insect life, then to reptile life,
then to the bodies of birds and beasts.
"Darwin's theory of evolution is but a partial explanation of the
transmigration of the soul. Darwin has simply taken information from Vedic
literature, but he has no conception of the soul. The difference is that the
soul is transmigrating from aquatic life to plants and trees, then to insect
life, then to bird life, then animal life, then human life, and within human
life he moves from uncivilized life to civilized life, etc.
"The civilized life of a human being represents the culmination of
evolution. Here is a junction: from this point we can again slide down into
the cyclic process of evolution, or we can elevate to a godly life. The
choice is up to us. This is indicated in the Bhagavad-gita...We are part and
parcel of God, but somehow we have fallen into this material existence; now
we have to evolve in such a way that we can go back home, back to Godhead.
That is the highest perfection.
"...Just as God has no birth or death, we spirit souls can have neither
birth nor death, but because we think, 'I am this body,' we consider that we
are born and that we die. Such thinking is called maya, or illusion...When
one realizes aham brahmasmi, 'I am not this body; I am spirit soul..The
so-called universal brotherhood or unity that the United Nations is trying
to achieve is possible only when you have come to the spiritual
platform...the aim of human life.
"One should not work like cats, dogs, and hogs...A hog will have sex with
its mother or sister or anyone else, and this is a hog's life. However, the
scriptures indicate that the human form of life is not meant for working
hard for sense gratification like cats, dogs, and hogs.
"It is meant for realizing, 'I do not belong to this material world. I am
spirit soul and am eternal, but somehow or other I have fallen into this
conditioned life of birth, old age, disease, and death.' This human form of
life is meant for making a solution to these four material miseries --
birth, old age, disease, and death. That is the aim of human life...
"People who do not believe in the soul are in a most unfortunate condition.
They do not know where they came from nor where they are going. Knowledge of
the soul is the most important knowledge, but it is not discussed in any
university...but by this Krishna Consciousness movement we are trying to
educate people so that they can understand that they are not these bodies
but are spirit souls. The business of human life is different from the
business of cats and dogs. That is our message...
"Pople do not know what actual self-interest is; it is to realize oneself,
to realize, 'I am part and parcel of God, and I have to return to the
kingdom of God to join with God.'
"Just as we have a social life here, God has a social life in the spiritual
kingdom. You can join Him there...Therefore, we should not waste our time
living like cats and dogs...Without understanding God and without becoming
God conscious, there is no possibility of peace and happiness. The way of
peace and happiness is outlined in the Bhagavad-gita...
"We therefore invite the most intelligent men in the world to understand
this Krishna Conscious philosophy and try to distribute it all over the
world. We have now come to the African countries, and I invite all
intelligent Africans to come and understand this philosophy and distribute
it. You are trying to develop yourselves, so please develop spiritually, for
spiritual development is sound development.
"Don't imitate the Americans and Europeans, who are already living like cats
and dogs. Such civilizations built on the consciousness of sense
gratification cannot stand. The atom bomb is already there, and as soon as
the next war breaks out, all their skyscrapers and everything else will be
finished. Try to understand this from the real viewpoint of human life, the
spiritual viewpoint. This is what this Krishna Consciousness movement is
about."
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