May 7, 1975 : Perth
Kurma: Amogha had so far been unsuccessful in finding any students of philosophy to talk with Prabhupada. The best he could come up with was a psychiatrist. Srila Prabhupada looked at the depressed looking man sitting before him. "So, what can I do for you?" "I have no question," the man replied. Prabhupada turned to Amogha for confirmation. "He has no question?" Amogha verified that this was true. The man, his head drooping forward, looked at Srila Prabhupada over the top of his spectacles and simply answered, "I just wished to meet you."
Prabhupada decided to give the Vedic perspective on psychiatry. "Our viewpoint is that in the material world, everyone requires treatment. Anyone who has no sense of God consciousness, he is diseased mentally. The whole Krishna consciousness movement is for the mass treatment of the materialistic persons who are mentally diseased." Prabhupada continued, "Our study is that unless one is mad, he cannot remain in this material world."
Prabhupada described a typical example of madness - a ghostly-haunted man. Because a ghost has no gross body, but only a subtle one made of mind, intelligence and ego, "He can go ten miles away, immediately." Sometimes, such a ghost enters a man's body to enjoy and takes it over. In that way, the ghost acts through that person's body. Subsequently, the person forgets himself and speaks and walks according to the direction of the ghost. "This is called a ghostly-haunted man."
The psychiatrist sat in silence. After a short time, Prabhupada brought the conversation to a close. The man took a little prasadam and left. Later, the devotees asked Srila Prabhupada why he had brought up the topic of ghosts. Prabhupada smiled. "Indirectly," he said, "I told him he was possessed by a ghost."
Prabhupada decided to give the Vedic perspective on psychiatry. "Our viewpoint is that in the material world, everyone requires treatment. Anyone who has no sense of God consciousness, he is diseased mentally. The whole Krishna consciousness movement is for the mass treatment of the materialistic persons who are mentally diseased." Prabhupada continued, "Our study is that unless one is mad, he cannot remain in this material world."
Prabhupada described a typical example of madness - a ghostly-haunted man. Because a ghost has no gross body, but only a subtle one made of mind, intelligence and ego, "He can go ten miles away, immediately." Sometimes, such a ghost enters a man's body to enjoy and takes it over. In that way, the ghost acts through that person's body. Subsequently, the person forgets himself and speaks and walks according to the direction of the ghost. "This is called a ghostly-haunted man."
The psychiatrist sat in silence. After a short time, Prabhupada brought the conversation to a close. The man took a little prasadam and left. Later, the devotees asked Srila Prabhupada why he had brought up the topic of ghosts. Prabhupada smiled. "Indirectly," he said, "I told him he was possessed by a ghost."
Reference: The Great Transcendental Adventure - Kurma Dasa
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