Joggers are running because they are afraid of death

Often during his morning walk Srila Prabhupada would only chant Hare Krishna, the universal language in which all the Spanish and English-speaking devotees could participate without difficulty. For many of the Mexican disciples, this was their first personal contact with Srila Prabhupada and they were awed. Occasionally, on a walk, Srila Prabhupada would suddenly sit on a bench and as many as fifteen disciples would quickly gather at his feet, looking up to him.

Muni-priya: Prabhupada sat down in the park. The people around Prabhupada also sat and came to see Prabhupada. People were sitting and looking to Prabhupada and he was also looking at all the devotees and all the devotees were waiting to hear from Prabhupada. Nobody makes a sound. Prabhupada looked at all the devotees and then said, "Chant Hare Krishna!" Then all the devotees came to love him because all the people were waiting for Srila Prabhupada to talk about philosophy. These boys don't expect Srila Prabhupada to suddenly say, "Chant Hare Krishna!" and they came to love him because Prabhupada said this in the middle of a silence.

When Prabhupada saw the joggers he remarked, "If they say they don't care about the ultimate meaning of life, why are they running? They are running," he said, "because they are all afraid of death."

They passed a martial arts class. Two rows of men in black leotards, gesturing aggressively in unison! "Who are they fighting?" he asked. He said that when he explains philosophically that everyone is afraid of death, people reply, 'No, I'm not afraid', "but if they are not afraid of death, then why are they doing all this?" And he gestured toward the mock fighting and laughed.