So we shall give him a lift, one second. You haven't got to go step by step; we shall give immediately, one minute.
While a roaring kirtana continued downstairs, Prabhupada gave a short audience in his room to our Italian printer, Bruno. A jolly, rotund man with rosy cheeks, Bruno appeared simple and unpretentious. He couldn't speak English, but he spoke fluent French through a devotee interpreter. Although he said he had many questions to ask Srila Prabhupada, he thought that Prabhupada might be feeling to tired to meet with him.
Prabhupada, however, assured him he wasn't.
Bruno said he was interested in the pursuit of truth. He was impressed with both the devotees' character and lifestyle. He wanted to know what our goal was and what freedom we derived from our activities.
Prabhupada told him that liberty means "whatever you like you can do," but now we can't do what we like. In the spiritual world, though, we are free to travel anywhere we want, like Narada Muni. He said this type of freedom was just one item of spiritual life and there were many others.
Bruno wondered whether he could find spiritual truth by following his own path, by keeping his own freedom to do whatever he liked, or if it required daily adherence to scriptures and principles.
Prabhupada told him, "No, you have no freedom; you have to accept some way for freedom."
Yogesvara explained that Bruno found it difficult to accept that truth was something that can be described in black and white. "He seems to feel that it's more something you can realize through meditation."
"How you'll realize?" Prabhupada asked him. "Unless you learn ABCD, how you can realize truth?"
Bruno said that since each person finds the truth in himself, didn't that mean that the truth is different for each person? He felt that each person had own his truth; although the truth is one, as individuals we all realized that truth at different levels.
"That is rascaldom," Srila Prabhupada told him. "Truth is one."
Bruno suggested that one person may have a higher knowledge of that truth while another may have a lower.
"That is different thing," Srila Prabhupada replied, "but truth is one. Just like top floor is one. And one has gone few steps, another hundred steps, one has got ten steps, that is depending. But top is one."
Bhugarbha asked, "Can he find the truth on his level, because he hasn't arrived at your level?"
Prabhupada shook his head. "How he can? If the top floor is hundred steps, how you can get it at ten steps?"
Bhagavan said a person had to at least be aiming in the right direction.
Prabhupada agreed, adding, "But one who has gone ten steps and one who has gone thousand steps, they are not equal."
Now Bruno understood. He nodded his head, "D'accord, d'accord."
"So, truth is one," Prabhupada went on. "Everyone is trying to go to the truth. Somebody has gone ten steps, somebody has hundred steps. But to cover all the steps, say one thousand steps. So unless you have passed one thousand steps, you cannot reach to the truth."
Bruno said that it has always been difficult for him to keep climbing up the stairs in the right direction.
Srila Prabhupada smiled at us. "So we shall give him a lift, one second. You haven't got to go step by step; we shall give immediately, one minute. If you refuse to take the advantage of the lift, that's your choice. Krishna personally says, sarva-dharman parityajya mam ekam saranam vraja/ aham tvam sarva-papebhyah. Immediately, one second. But we will not accept, that is our misfortune."
Bruno admitted it was difficult for him.
"Why difficult?" Prabhupada declared. "Obstinacy. It is not difficult, it is obstinacy. 'I'll not take.'A child can take."
Bruno said that for a child it was simple because he's pure and can accept everything presented to him; but for those who are older and already engaged in so many contaminated activities, it was hard.
Still Prabhupada didn't accept. "No, there is no question. It is apratihata, it cannot be checked by old age or any material condition."
Bruno laughed. He said he wasn't free to choose because the devotees were always forcing him to take prasadam.
"Yes, this child has to be forced to do something, for his interest. Just like horse is not prepared to take the medicine, but four men force him to take the medicine. Nobody was crying for this edition of Bhagavata, but we are forcing, 'You must read. You must take.' We are printing and forcing everyone. French edition Bhagavata, they were not dying for this book, but this is our force."
Bruno was very satisfied with the answers and he thanked Srila Prabhupada. He promised that he would go on trying to make his books look even nicer.
"Very good, do that," Prabhupada thanked him. "That will be service to Krishna."
Reference: Transcendental Diary Volume 3 by Hari Sauri Dasa
Recently Added
Trending Today