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THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
car, and I must drink this petrol,” he is considered insane. Similarly, one who thinks that he is this body, and who tries to become happy with bodily pleasures, is also insane.
Mike Robinson:  There's a quote here that I'd like you to comment on. I was given this literature by your people before I came, and one of the things you say here is that “Religion without a rational basis is just sentiment.” Can you explain that?
Śrila Prabhupāda:  Most religious people say, “We believe . . .” But what is the value of this belief? You may believe something which is not actually correct. For instance, some of the Christian people say, “We believe that animals have no soul.” That is not correct. They believe animals have no soul because they want to eat the animals, but actually animals do have a soul.
Mike Robinson:  How do you know that the animal has a soul?
Śrila Prabhupāda:  You can know, also. Here is the scientific proof: the animal eats, you eat; the animal sleeps, you sleep; the animal has sex, you have sex; the animal also defends, you also defend. Then what is the difference between you and the animal? How can you say that you have a soul but the animal doesn't?
Mike Robinson:  I can see that completely. But the Christian scriptures say . . .
Śrila Prabhupāda:  Don't bring in any scriptures; this is a commonsense topic. Try to understand. The animal is eating, you are eating; the animal is sleeping, you are sleeping; the animal is defending, you are defending; the animal is having sex, you are having sex; the animals have children, you have children; they have a living place, you have a living place. If the animal's body is cut, there is blood; if your body is cut, there is blood. So, all these similarities are there. Now, why do you deny this one similarity, the presence of the soul? This is not logical. You have studied logic? In logic there is something called analogy. Analogy means drawing a conclusion by finding many points of similarity. If there are so many points of similarity between human beings and animals, why deny one similarity? That is not logic. That is not science.
Mike Robinson:  But if you take that argument and use it the other way . . .
Śrila Prabhupāda:  There is no other way. If you are not arguing on the basis of logic, then you are not rational.
Mike Robinson:  Yes, OK, but let's start from another hypothesis. Suppose we assume that a human being has no soul . . .