16
THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
consciousness in the West. I was then twenty-five years old, a married man with two children. I tried my best to carry out his orders and started managing  Back to Godhead  magazine in 1944, when I was still in household life. I started writing books in 1959 after retiring from family life, and in 1965 I came to the United States.
Ms. Nixon:  You have said that you are not God, and yet it appears to me, as an outsider, that your devotees treat you as if you were God.
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  Yes, that is their duty. Because the spiritual master is executing God's order, he should be respected as much as God, just as a government officer should be respected as much as the government because he executes the government's order. Even if an ordinary policeman comes, you have to respect him because he is a government man. But that does not mean he  is  the government.  Śākṣād-dharitvena samasta-śāstrair/ uktas tathā bhāvyata eva sadbhiḥ : "The spiritual master is to be honored as much as the Supreme Lord because he is the most confidential servitor of the Lord. This is acknowledged in all revealed scriptures and followed by all authorities."
Ms. Nixon:  I also wonder about the many beautiful material things that the devotees bring you. For instance, you left the airport in a beautiful, fancy car. I wonder about this because . . .
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  That teaches the disciples how to regard the spiritual master as good as God. If you respect the government representative as much as you respect the government, then you must treat him opulently. If you respect the spiritual master as much as God, then you must offer him the same facilities you would offer to God. God travels in a golden car. If the disciples offer the spiritual master an ordinary motorcar, it would not be sufficient because the spiritual master has to be treated like God. If God comes to your home, will you bring him an ordinary motorcar—or will you arrange for a golden car?
Ms. Nixon:  One of the most difficult aspects of Kṛṣṇa consciousness for an outsider to accept is the Deity in the temple—how it represents Kṛṣṇa. Could you talk a little bit about that?
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  Yes. At the present moment, because you have not been trained to see Kṛṣṇa, He kindly appears before you so you can see Him. You can see wood and stone, but you cannot see what is spiritual. Suppose your father is in the hospital, and he dies. You are crying by his bedside, "Now my father is gone!" But why do you say he is gone? What is that thing which is gone?
Ms. Nixon:  Well, his spirit is gone.
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  And have you seen that spirit?