Learning the Science of the Soul 11

Kggna consciousness is dormant in everyone’s heart, and when one
q@gmes in contact with devotees, it is awakened. Krsna consciousness is
got artificial. Just as a young boy awakens his natural attraction for a
young girl in her association, similarly, if one hears about Krsna in the
association of devotees, he awakens his dormant Krsna consciousness.
Bs. Nixon: What is the difference between Krsna consciousness and
Qarist consciousness?
Sella Prabhupada: Christ consciousness is also Krsna consciousness,
but because at present people do not follow the rules and regulations of
Qhristianity—the commandments of Jesus Christ—they do not come to
the standard of God consciousness.
Ms. Nixon: What is unique about Krsna consciousness among all
religions?
Sema Prabhupada: Primarily, religion means to know God and to love
Ham. That is religion. Nowadays, because of a lack of training, nobody
mows God, what to speak of loving Him. People are satisfied simply
going to church and praying, ‘‘O God, give us our daily bread.’’ In the
Simad-Bhagavatam this is called a cheating religion, because the aim is
to know and love God but to gain some personal profit. In other
words, if I profess to follow some religion, but I do not know who God is
or how to love Him, I am practicing a cheating religion. As far as the
Chistian religion is concerned, ample opportunity is given to understand
God, but no one is taking it. For example, the Bible contains the com-
mandment ‘‘Thou shall not kill,’’ but Christians have built the world’s
best slaughterhouses. How can they become God conscious if they dis-
obey the commandments of Lord Jesus Christ? And this is going on not
jast in the Christian religion, but in every religion. The title ‘‘Hindu,”’
“Muslim,”’ or ‘‘Christian’’ is simply a rubber stamp. None of them
knows who God is and how to love Him.
Ms. Nixon: How can one tell a bona fide spiritual master from a fake?
Seila Prabhupada: Whoever teaches how to know God and how to love
Him—he is a spiritual master. Sometimes bogus rascals mislead people.
“I am God,”’ they claim, and people who do not know what God is
believe them. You must be a serious student to understand who God is
and how to love Him. Otherwise, you will simply waste your time. So the
difference between others and us is that we are the only movement that
can actually teach one how to know God and how to love Him. We are
presenting the science of how one can know Krsna, the Supreme Per-
sonality of Godhead, by practicing the teachings of the Bhagavad-gitd and
the Srimad-Bhagavatam. They teach us that our only business is to love
