Srila Prabhupada's meeting with Arnold Toynbee

One time Prabhupada met with Arnold Toynbee, who is a famous English historian, well known for his studies of Greece. He was the Greek scholar of all time. And we met with him face to face. Part of this is not on the tape that was recorded, but I remember it. I had brought up the fact that the young people of today were revitalizing society by taking to Eastern religions, and a kind of a mystique of Eastern religions was growing, just how it did in early times in Greece. And I said, "How do you feel about the West and how this fits in with Greek history?" And he said, "Well, in the old times, there was Athens and there was Sparta. Athens was the culture of grace and art. They perfected the plastic art, the art of statuary and form. Sparta was the kingdom of war, the militant. And now you have America and Russia." This was back in the '70s. He said, "America has perfected the art of audio, the ear, sound vibration. That is the art of this American age." And he said, "Sparta?""meaning Russia""There may be a few columns left someday." Just like you go to Sparta now, it is just a few columns. Athens is a thriving metropolitan city. And Prabhupada cut in and talked about how Lord Chaitanya predicted that there would be a Golden Age in the midst of the Age of Kali, where Krishna consciousness would be widespread. And Toynbee agreed that this was a very good possibility, that the blending of the Hare Krishna movement as a parallel with the Greek mysteries that went along with the growth of the Athenian Empire were very similar. And that we would all experience. Toynbee was convinced that the Golden Age of America had just begun, despite what all the doomsayers are saying now. And it is coming true. Look at it. And inside that Golden Age of America, Krishna consciousness can flourish as one of its great mysteries. And if the devotees take that opportunity and use it, there is no end to Prabhupada's movement.