Prabhupada 1056 - K. C. Movement is on the Spiritual Platform, above Body, Mind and Intelligence



750522 - Conversation B - Melbourne

Prabhupāda: India still, if one has very good garden and flowers, if somebody goes, "Sir, I want to take some flowers from your garden for worshiping God," "Yes, you can take." They will be very glad.

Raymond Lopez: This man, his livelihood depended on those flowers, and I don't... I think his possessions were more important to him, unfortunately.

Wally Strobes: It's a funny story. There's a funny follow up to that one, and that is that the flowers were taken from two men that ran nurseries. And we had to go through an appeal finally to get home. But just before the appeal came on, the boys needed a glasshouse because of their special plants, which you've got outside here.

Śrutakīrti: Tulasī.

Wally Strobes: And they didn't know anything about glasshouses. So they were driving around, and one said, "Well, let's go and find out something about glasshouses. Oh, there's a nice nursery." (laughter) So the car drives up, you see. The devotee comes out, and he said, "Excuse me, sir, but we're interested in glasshouses." He said, "Will you please get out of my land?" The same nursery. (laughter) There were two hundred nurseries around the area. He picked that particular one.

Prabhupāda: But if people would have been God conscious, they would have excused, "Oh, they have come for God's service. All right, you can take." Therefore the first business is to make people God conscious. Then everything is adjusted. Yasyāsti bhaktiḥ... There is a verse in Bhāgavata,

yasyāsti bhaktir bhagavaty akiñcanā
sarvair guṇais tatra samāsate surāḥ
harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā
manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ
(SB 5.18.12)

The meaning is that "Anyone who is God conscious, a devotee, he has got all the good qualities." What we consider as good qualities, he has got. And similarly, one who is not a devotee of God, he has no good qualities, because he will hover on the mental platform. There are different platform. Bodily concept of life, general, "I am this body. Therefore my business is to satisfy the senses." This is bodily concept of life. And others, they are thinking, "I am not this body. I am mind." So they are going on mental speculation like philosophers, thoughtful men. And above that, there is intelligent class of men, practicing some yoga. And spiritual platform means above that. First bodily concept, gross, then mental, then intellectual, then spiritual.

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is on the spiritual platform, above body, mind and intelligence. But actually, we should come to that platform, because we are spirit soul, we are neither this body nor this mind nor this intelligence. So one who is on the platform of spiritual consciousness, they have got everything—intelligence, proper use of mind, proper use of the body. Just like a millionaire, he has got all the lower-grade possession. Ten rupees or hundred rupees or hundred pounds—he has got all everything. Similarly, if we try to make an attempt to bring people on the platform of God consciousness, then he is possessing all other qualities: how to take care of the body, how to use the mind, how to use intelligence, everything. But it is not possible that everyone should become God conscious. That is not possible, because there are different grades. But at least one class of men should remain in the society as ideal, God conscious. Just like for our usual life we require lawyers, we require engineer, we require medical practitioner, we require so many; similarly, in the society there must be a class of men who are fully God conscious and ideal. That is necessary.