Finding the Cure for Today's Social Ills
213
According to the  Vedas , the measurement of the soul within the body is one ten-thousandth part of the tip of a hair. This is very small; in fact, it is atomic. Yet because of that atomic spiritual energy, my body is working. Is it so difficult to understand? Suppose a man thinks himself very stout and strong. Why is he stout and strong? Only because within his body is a small spiritual spark. But as soon as the spiritual spark is gone, his body dies, and his strength and vigor become void. If scientists say that matter is the cause and origin of life, then let them bring just one dead man back to life by injecting him with chemicals. But this they cannot do.
Dr. Singh:  Since scientists cannot see the spirit soul, they say its existence is very doubtful.
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  How can they see it? It is too small to see. Where is such seeing power?
Dr. Singh:  Still, they want to sense it by some means.
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  If you inject just one grain of deadly poison into someone, he immediately dies. No one can see the poison or how it acts. But the poison is acting nevertheless. In the same way, the  Vedas  say that because the minute particle called the soul is within the body, the whole body is working nicely. If I pinch myself, I immediately feel it because I am conscious all over my skin. But as soon as the soul is absent, which is the case when my body dies, you can take this same skin and cut it and chop it, and no one will protest. Why is this simple thing so hard to understand? Is this not detecting spirit?
Dr. Singh:  That is the soul. But what about God?
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  First of all let us understand the soul. The soul is a small God. If you understand the sample, then you can understand the whole.
Now here is matter. [Śrīla Prabhupāda points at a dead tree with his cane.] Formerly leaves and twigs were growing from this tree. Why are they not growing now? Can the scientists answer this question?
Karandhara dāsa:  They would say the chemical composition has changed.
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  All right, then if they are so advanced in knowledge of chemistry, they must supply the proper chemicals to make branches and leaves grow again.
Brahmānanda Swami:  Knowledge means that one must be able to demonstrate his theory. They should be able to show in their laboratories that life is caused by a combination of chemicals.
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  Yes, the scientific method means first observation, then hypothesis, and then demonstration. But these scientists cannot