The Wealth of Prabhupada’s Lectures

A devotee can sustain his spiritual life by hearing Prabhupada’s lectures.  They are not intended as background noise.  We should listen to Prabhupada lecture tapes with the same attention we would have if Prabhupada were personally in the room.  To ignore Prabhupada is an offense. 

There are always times throughout the day when we can listen to at least  part of a lecture.  In the old Christian monasteries, the monks used to observe silence while they ate, while one monk read aloud from the scriptures.  In one monastic refectory, I saw a sign over the door, “Man lives not by bread alone, but by every word that issues from the mouth of God.”  We can also honor prasadam, while hearing the scriptures directly from Srila Prabhupada. 

A spoken lecture is an important medium for the Vaisnava acarya.  Speaking Vedic truth requires specific, special qualification.  The more purely the message is spoken, the more potent the result.  For example, unless one has memorized and assimilated Sanskrit slokas, he cannot cross-reference and prove his points.  And for the audience, what strength is available by hearing transcendental sound vibration from a realized devotee!  He calls to us with his knowledge and realization of the scriptures, and our souls respond, leaving the critical mind and sleepy body behind.  Transcendental sound cuts through matter. 

Lecturing is ultimate communication.  When Prabhupada says, “Krishna cannot be served with matter; He has to be served with spirit,” Prabhupada did feel the weight of his own words.  He wanted to convey the import.  

Psychologists inform us that it is important to communicate if one wants to develop personal relationships.  Dialogue is necessary in order to keep love alive.  Unfortunately, most people don’t know what to say to each other in order to have a loving relationship.  And of course, they cannot grant each other eternity, bliss and knowledge.  Ultimate communication takes place between Krishna and the soul hankering to recapture his relationship with Krishna.  When the jiva is awakened by hearing, then he can begin to serve God.  Further communication can then take place.  This is called bhakti.