16 THE SCIENCE OF SELF-REALIZATION
consciousness in the West. I was then twenty-five years old, a married
man with two children. I tried my best to carry out his orders and started
managing Back to Godhead magazine in 1944, when I was still in house-
hold life. I started writing books in 1959 after retiring from family life,
and in 1965 I came to the United States.
Ms. Nixon: You have said that you are not God, and yet it appears to me,
as an outsider, that your devotees treat you as if you were God.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes, that is their duty. Because the spiritual master is
executing God’s order, he should be respected as much as God, just as a
government officer should be respected as much as the government
because he executes the government’s order. Even if an ordinary police-
man comes, you have to respect him because he is a government man.
But that does not mean he isthe government. Sdksdd-dharitvena samasta-
Sastrairl uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih: ‘‘The spiritual master is to be
honored as much as the Supreme Lord because he is the most confiden-
tial servitor of the Lord. This is acknowledged in all revealed scriptures
and followed by all authorities.’’
Ms. Nixon: I also wonder about the many beautiful material things that
the devotees bring you. For instance, you left the airport in a beautiful,
fancy car. I wonder about this because...
Srila Prabhupada: That teaches the disciples how to regard the spiritual
master as good as God. If you respect the government representative as
much as you respect the government, then you must treat him opulently.
If you respect the spiritual master as much as God, then you must offer
him the same facilities you would offer to God. God travels in a golden
car. If the disciples offer the spiritual master an ordinary motorcar, it
would not be sufficient because the spiritual master has to be treated like
God. If God comes to your home, will you bring him an ordinary motor-
car—or will you arrange for a golden car?
Ms. Nixon: One of the most difficult aspects of Krsna consciousness for
an outsider to accept is the Deity in the temple—how it represents Krsna.
Could you talk a little bit about that?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. At the present moment, because you have not
been trained to see Krsna, He kindly appears before you so you can see
Him. You can see wood and stone, but you cannot see what is spiritual.
Suppose your father is in the hospital, and he dies. You are crying by his
bedside, ‘‘Now my father is gone!’’ But why do you say he is gone? What
is that thing which is gone?
Ms. Nixon: Well, his spirit is gone.
Srila Prabhupada: And have you seen that spirit?
