How Material Activities Become Also Spiritual
The distinction between "material" and "spiritual" is often based on the connection to Kṛṣṇa. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that nothing is inherently material if it is used for the Supreme Lord. This article explores the transformative science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, where ordinary activities—like management, maintenance, and duty—become "also spiritual" through the medium of devotional service.
Principle of Spiritualization
The process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not about rejecting the material world, but about engaging it. Śrīla Prabhupāda uses the analogy of an iron rod placed in fire. The rod is iron, but when it becomes red-hot, it acts like fire. Similarly, when the body and mind are fully engaged in the service of the Lord, they are no longer material; they become spiritualized.
- Iron rod put into the fire, when it is red-hot, it is no longer iron rod. It is fire. Similarly this body, if you constantly keep in touch with spiritual activities, then it is no longer material. It is spiritual. The body's also spiritual.
- Let us therefore offer our obeisances unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead (because the so-called stone statue of the Deity is directly God), by whose mercy so-called material things also become spiritual when they are engaged in spiritual activity.
Practical Duties and Management
Devotees often face the dilemma of balancing "spiritual" chanting with "material" management. However, Śrīla Prabhupāda clarifies that organizing a movement for Kṛṣṇa is not a mundane affair. Systematic management, law, and order are essential for spreading the mission, and because the center is Kṛṣṇa, these activities are "also spiritual."
- Management is also spiritual activity. Why do you take like that? It is Krsna's establishment.
- Now we are world organization. There is spiritual side, and there is material side also. That is not material side. That is also spiritual side, means systematic management. Otherwise how it will be done?
- Everywhere, law and order. In spiritual also. Unless there is law and order, it is chaos. Law and order must be there.
Vision of the Devotee
A devotee does not view the world with a dualistic mindset. While acknowledging the misery of the material world, they also perceive its connection to the Supreme Lord. Whether it is geographical knowledge of the universe or the environment of the holy dhāma, the devotee sees the energy of the Lord and thus interacts with it on a spiritual platform.
- A devotee's senses are not attracted by material enjoyment. And even though the material world is full of misery, the devotee considers this material world to be also spiritual because everything is engaged in the service of the Lord.
- Although Pariksit Maharaja had no need for geographical knowledge of this universe, that knowledge was also spiritual and transcendental because he was thinking of the entire universe as an expansion of the energy of the Lord.
- Vrndavana-dhama is also a spiritual abode, and there the days and nights, the trees, flowers and water, and everything else are spiritual. There is not even a trace of material contamination.
Conclusion
The designation of "material" applies only when there is forgetfulness of God. When consciousness is revived and activities are dovetailed in the service of the Supreme, the material veil is lifted. The living entity, being constitutionally spiritual, finds their true happiness when their duties, their body, and their environment are all realized to be "also spiritual" through the medium of bhakti-yoga.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Also Spiritual. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings in their direct, verbatim form.