Simultaneously One and Different

Dr.Singh: Is it true that Krsna conscious persons perceive Krsna in a plain stone as much as in the Deity carved from stone? Srila Prabhupada: Yes.

Dr.Singh: Just as much? Srila Prabhupada: Yes.

Why not? In the Bhagavad-gita (9.4) Krsna says: maya tatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-murtina mat-sthani sarva-bhutani na caham tesv avasthitah This means that Krsna's energy--that is, Krsna in His partially manifested form--pervades every atom of the universe.

But His fully manifested personal form is present in the Deity shaped according to His directions.

This is the philosophy of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva, the simultaneous oneness and difference of God and His energies.

For example, when the sunshine is in your room, that does not mean the sun itself is in your room.

The sun and its separated energies, like heat and light, are one in quality, but different in quantity.

Dr.Singh: But still, you say that one can see Krsna in ordinary stone? Srila Prabhupada: Yes, why not? We see the stone as Krsna's energy.

Dr.Singh: But can we worship Him within the stone? Srila Prabhupada: We can worship Him through His energy in the stone.

But we cannot worship the stone as Krsna.

We cannot worship this bench as Krsna.

But we can worship everything because we see everything as Krsna's energy.

This tree is worshipable because both Krsna and His energy are worshipable, but this does not mean we worship the tree in the same way as we worship the Deity of Krsna in the temple.

In my childhood I was taught by my parents never to waste Krsna's energy.

They taught me that if even a small grain of rice was stuck between the floorboards, I should pick it up, touch it to my forehead and eat it to save it from being wasted.

I was taught how to see everything in relation to Krsna.

That is Krsna consciousness.

We therefore do not like to see anything wasted or misused.

We are teaching our disciples how to use everything for Krsna and how to understand that everything is Krsna.

As Krsna says in the Bhagavad-gita (6.30): yo mam pasyati sarvatra sarvam ca mayi pasyati tasyaham na pranasyami sa ca me na pranasyati "For one who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, I am never lost, nor is he ever lost to Me." The Eleventh Morning Walk: May 15, 1973 Recorded on May 15, 1973, in Cheviot Hills Park, Los Angeles Srila Prabhupada:is accompanied by Dr.Singh and other students.