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THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
Mike Robinson:  And what difference would it make to someone—being taught how to be a Hare Krşna person?
Śrila Prabhupāda:  His real education would begin. The first thing is to understand that you are a spirit soul. And because you are a spirit soul, you are changing your body. This is the  ABC  of spiritual understanding. So, when your body is finished, annihilated, you are not finished. You get another body, just as you may change your coat and shirt. If you come to see me tomorrow wearing a different shirt and a different coat, does that mean you are a different person? No. Similarly, each time you die you change bodies, but  you , the spirit soul within the body, remain the same. This point has to be understood; then one can make further progress in the science of Krşna consciousness.
Mike Robinson:  I am beginning to understand, but what I'm finding difficult is how this ties in with the large numbers of your people we see handing out Hare Krşna literature on Oxford Street.
Śrila Prabhupāda:  This literature is meant to convince people about the need for spiritual life.
Mike Robinson:  And you're really not concerned whether or not they join the Hare Krşna movement?
Śrila Prabhupāda:  It doesn't matter. Our mission is to educate them. People are in ignorance; they are living in a fool's paradise, thinking that when their body is finished, everything is finished. That is foolishness.
Mike Robinson:  And you are basically just concerned to tell them that there is a spiritual dimension to life?
Śrila Prabhupāda:  Our first concern is to tell you that you are not this body, that the body is your covering (your shirt and coat) and that within the body you are living.
Mike Robinson:  Yes, I think I've got that now. If we could go on from there—you said that how you lived made a difference in your life after death, that there are natural laws that determine your next life. How does the process of transmigration work?
Śrila Prabhupāda:  The process is very subtle. The spirit soul is invisible to our material eyes. It is atomic in size. After the destruction of the gross body, which is made up of the senses, blood, bone, fat, and so forth, the subtle body of mind, intelligence, and ego goes on working. So at the time of death this subtle body carries the small spirit soul to another gross body. The process is just like air carrying a fragrance. Nobody can see where this rose fragrance is coming from, but we know that it is being carried by the air. You cannot see how, but it is being done. Similarly, the process of transmigration of the soul is very subtle. According to the con-