Archive for the ‘Science and Spirituality’ Category

The following is a summary of a talk given by His Holiness Bhaktisvarupa Damodara Swami on May 21, 2002, at 26 Second Avenue. Maharaja holds a doctorate in chemistry and has devoted his life, at Srila Prabhupada.s request, to engaging scientists and mathematicians in the development of scientific proofs to support spiritual knowledge.

Can we make a living being by assembling some chemical ingredient?

My personal relationship with Prabhupada was based on preaching. Prabhupada’s thesis was life comes from life, and it remained so from the moment I met him to the day he passed away in Vrindavan. In that last onemonth, Prabhupada was generally awake from midnight on. At thosetimes, he spoke mostly in the Bengali language. He often discussed the conceptthat life comes from life, because it is the foundation of Krishna consciousness,whether one takes the philosophical, theological, or scientific viewpoint.

Life comes from life means we all come from Krishna. Krishna is the originof everything. That was Prabhupada’s very strong instruction. In May 1977, Prabhupada’s secretary, Tamal Krishna Goswami, ordered all GBC members to come to Vrindavan, because Prabhupada was ill. In May of that year the first gathering of all the leaders of our society was held in Vrindavan. By Krishna’s arrangement, I was in Vrindavan at that time. With so many devotees gathered there, we conceived the idea of organizing a conference to discuss the science of

Krishna consciousness. I suggested to Prabhupada that we call it the Bhaktivedanta Conference and that we hold it regularly for generations

to come. Prabhupada said, “If we call it the Bhaktivedanta Conference, scientists may not take it very seriously. It is better to call it the First International

Conference on Life Comes from Life.” That was Prabhupada’s position.

We organized the conference very hurriedly, and within one month the

plans were finalized. The conference would be held in Vrindavan, October 14-16, 1977. After the dates were set, I went to Boston where the other Bhaktivedanta Institute scientists were preparing monographs and booklets for presentation

at the conference. When I returned to Vrindavan in August, Prabhupada was on his way to the United States. He was supposed to go to Gita-nagari farm, in Pennsylvania, but his health was failing and from London he returnedto Vrindavan. Realizing he hadn’t much time remaining, Prabhupada said again and again, “Do something before I depart. I want to see that conference.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 43% [?]