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THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
dog.” And the cat thinks, “I am a big cat.” In the same way, if we think, “I am an Irishman” or “I am an Englishman,” then we are no better than the cats and dogs. As long as people remain in a bodily conception of life, there will be fighting.
Mr. O’Grady:  What was Mahatma Gandhi fighting in the House of Commons?
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  That was another dog-ism. There is no difference. A dog thinks, “I am a dog,” because he has the body of a dog. If I am thinking that I am Indian because this body was born on Indian soil, then how am I different from the dog? The bodily conception of life is simply animalism. When we understand that we are not these bodies but are spirit souls, there will be peace. There cannot be any peace otherwise.  Sa eva go-kharaḥ . The Vedic literatures state that a person in the bodily concept of life is exactly like a cow or an ass. People have to transcend this inferior conception of the self. How is that done?
māṁ ca yo ‘vyabhicāreṇa   bhakti-yogena sevate   sa guṇān samatītyaitān   brahma-bhūyāya kalpate
“One who engages in the spiritual activities of unalloyed devotional service at once transcends the modes of material nature and is elevated to the spiritual platform.” [ Bhagavad-gītā  14.25]
In our society, there are many Mexicans, Canadians, Indians, Jews, and Muslims, but they no longer consider themselves Muslims, Christians, Jews, or whatever. They are all servants of Kṛṣṇa. That is Brahman realization.
Mr. O’Grady:  That’s giving it a name also.
Śrīla Prabhupāda:  Yes, a name must be there. But although, for example, your name is different from that of another Irishman, you nonetheless all feel that you are Irish. One’s name may be different, but that doesn’t matter. The quality should be one. That is required. When we acquire Kṛṣṇa’s quality, then, despite different names, there will be peace. That is called  so ‘ham . The names of different people in a nation may be different, but all the people feel the same nationality. Varieties may exist, but if the quality is the same, that is oneness,  brahma-bhūta .
brahma-bhūtaḥ prasannātmā   na śocati na kāṅkṣati