(The wordly man is dreaming both day and night)

"Spiritual life means eternal, blissful life of knowledge. That is spiritual life. So here is the recommendation. Try to become Kṛṣṇa conscious, and then you'll not be disturbed with all these external, ephemeral changes of the material world. Not only of this body; practically..., practically one who is advanced in spiritual life, he's not agitated by the so-called political upheavals or social disturbances. No. He knows these are simply external, ephe... Just like in the dream. It is also a dream. The... Our present existence, it is also dream, exactly like we dream at night. In dreaming, we create so many things.

So this material world is also a gross dreaming. Gross dreaming. That is subtle dreaming, and this is gross dreaming. That is the action of the mind, body, intelligence—dreaming. And here, the action of five material elements: earth, water, air, fire... But all of them, these eight, they are simply material. So we are thinking that 'I have now built a very nice house, skyscraper building.' It is nothing but dream. Nothing but dream. Dream in this sense, that as soon as I give up this body, all my skyscraper building, business, factory, finished. Exactly the same dream. Dream is for few minutes or few hours, and it is for few years. That's all. It is dream.

So one should not be disturbed by this dreaming condition. That is spiritual life. One should not be disturbed. Just like we are not disturbed. Suppose, in dream I was put on the throne, and I was working like a king, and after the dream is over, I am not sorry. Similarly, in dream I was seeing that tiger has attacked me. I was actually crying, 'Here is tiger! Here is tiger! Save me.' And the person who is lying behind me or beside me, he says, 'Oh, why you are crying? Where is tiger?' So when he's awakened, he sees there is no tiger.

So everything is like that. But this dream, these gross and subtle dreams, are simply reflections. Just like what is dream? The whole day what I think, the dreaming is a reflection. Reflection. My father was doing cloth business. So sometimes he, in dreaming, he was quoting price: 'This is the price.' So similarly, it is all dreaming. This material existence, made of these five gross elements and three subtle elements, they're exactly like dream. Smara nityam aniyatām... Therefore Cāṇakya Paṇḍita says, smara nityam aniyatām. This anitya, temporary... Dreaming is always temporary.

So we must know that whatever we possess, whatever we are seeing, these are all dream, temporary. Therefore if we become engrossed with the temporary things—so-called socialism, nationalism, family-ism or this-ism, that-ism—and waste our time, without cultivating Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then that is called śrama eva hi kevalam (SB 1.2.8), simply wasting our time, creating another body. Our own business is that we should know that 'I am not this dream. I am fact, spiritual fact. So I have got a different business.' That is called spiritual life.

That is spiritual life, when we understand that 'I am Brahman. I am not this matter.' Brahmā-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā (BG 18.54). That time we shall be joyful. Because we are afflicted with so many changes of the material features, and we are sorry, unhappy, being afflicted by all these external activities. But when we understand rightly that 'I am not concerned with all these things,' then we become joyful: 'Oh, I have no responsibility. Nothing..., I have nothing to do with all these things.' Brahmā-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā na śocati na kāṅkṣati (BG 18.54).

(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, Hyderabad, November 21, 1972)

<< What's New
.
Home  |  Srila Prabhupada  |  Meditations  |  Site Map  |  What's New  |  Contact us  |  Glossary

THE PRABHUPADA CONNECTION
.
Material Existence Is Nothing but a Dream
Home
About Srila Prabhupada
Srila Prabhupada's Books
Selected Writings
Early Writings
Your ever well-wisher
Prabhupada Meditations
Memories
Written Offerings
Artistic Offerings
Photo Album
Deity Pictures
Causeless Mercy
Editorial Notes
Guestbook
Site Map
Videos
What's New