Leibniz and the Best Possible World

Divine plan and conditioned souls

0:00Today we were discussing this philosopher Leibniz.

0:04He says that the world could have been otherwise if God desired, but that he chose this particular arrangement; from the standpoint of its ingredients, this is the best possible world. Yes.

0:24Oh, God can do anything as He likes. But this world is planned not by God. It is given to the living entities who wanted to imitate God.

0:48So actually the plan is according to the desire of the living entity who wanted to lord it over the material nature. God's plan is not this.

1:04It is exactly like the prison house is planned by the government because there are criminals. God's plan is: come back home, giving up everything. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti.

1:29His plan is to invite all the conditioned souls back to home, back to Godhead. He doesn't like the living entities to live here.

1:40But because they wanted to lord it over the material nature, they are given given effectively.

Cosmology and the nature of suffering

1:49So from the standpoint of the ingredients of this world, material ingredients, is this the best possible world with those ingredients? No. The spiritual world— there are the spiritual ingredients.

2:06I mean this world, just this Earth planet. Yeah. Given the ingredients of the Earth planet. This planet is not a very good planet. There are many other planets, thousands like, better.

2:21The more you go to higher planetary systems, the amenities are a thousand times better one after another. The next planetary system is a thousand times better than this planetary system.

2:36And the next one is a thousand times better than that. Next planet is similarly; the standard of life, duration of life, they are bigger.

2:47And therefore at the end, the Brahmaloka, it is stated that twelve hours of the day of Brahmā is incalculable by us.

3:02Immediately in the higher planets, suppose if one goes to the moon planet, he gets immediately ten thousand years' duration of life. And they are here—our six months equal to their one day, such year.

3:22So there are better comfortable situations than here in the higher planets. Is this Leibniz— his point of view is that he accepts the conditions of this material world as being all right?

3:42They're, they're the best we can hope for. Best of a bad bargain. But well, we'll keep that, that it is the, uh, place for miseries of Krishna.

4:01Duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam, it is a place simply for suffering and that also you cannot stay for long time. Even if you agree to stay in this uncomfortable situation of life, it still you will not be allowed.

4:19You have to change this place, change this body. That may go higher and lower. Therefore, uh, this life, the material life is on the whole neither. There's no question of real happiness.

Free will and divine perfection

4:39He says that because God has freedom of will, God decided it would be best to give man such freedom of will. Yes, because every living entity is part and parcel of God.

4:53God, very minute portion; similarly, proportionally, he has minute proportion of freedom of will, not absolute. That is natural. Every man has got a little freedom of will. That is not absolute.

5:16A man cannot will as he likes. That is absolutely. Therefore it is said: "Man proposes, God disposes." Although the freedom of will is there, it is subordinate to the freedom of will of God. You cannot fulfill your desire.

5:43He says that the fact that there is more good than evil in this world justifies its creation. Well, good and evil is according to the angle of vision. A devotee sees in this material world everything good.

6:03Viśvaṁ pūrṇa-sukhāyate. People are complaining that they are in distress condition. But he sees that there is no distress condition. It is all happy condition. Because he lives with Krishna.

6:21He dovetails everything with Krishna. He... who said? Well, to speak this much. That was marking. He says that if it would not have been worth creating, that God would not have created the world.

6:44The fact that He created it makes it worth creating. Could be a fact; the fact that God created this material world justifies that it is worth creating. Yeah, that's the Veda. Pūrṇam adaḥ. Pūrṇam idaṁ.

7:06The creator is complete. And this creation is also complete. Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya. Nothing can come out incomplete, which is created by the complete.

7:28So in that sense, everything wanted in this world... The argument is there, don't you? He says the... And

Innate knowledge and devotional spirit

7:46although some schools of philosophy, especially in Britain, said that the mind is blank, a blank slate at the time of birth, Leibniz defended the fact that there are necessary truths which are implanted in the mind before birth.

8:04These are innate truths like mathematical truths. What is that?

8:11There are certain necessary truths that a person is born with, that he can understand, being implanted in his mind, just like mathematical proofs: two plus two equals four, that is a necessary truth with which a person is born.

8:29Yes. That truth even... Devotion. Everyone wants to be devoted to somebody else. I know. Because such devotion is misplaced, it becomes... When that devotion is fit to the Supreme Person, then we will... Everyone is.

9:01Everyone is born with this tendency. Just like this child. What? Ask to obey immediately. Of the reasons. Every politician, every everyone has got some followers. That means the devotional spirit is there.

9:28Even a robber, plunderer, he has got also some following. And one would not follow others without devotional spirit. Is it not that the devotional nature is innate in everything? That is truth. Hmm.

9:55Is this the only necessary truth that one is born with, or are there others? Is it the ontology? Now, the hard use of these. And how that... quite they are included.

10:17For instance, Leibniz says the concepts of mathematics are necessary truths, like two plus two equals four. Yeah. Someone is born with that knowledge. So this is also mathematical truth. Huh.

10:29Because human—the aborigines, they also offer obeisances to the thunderbolt. As soon as there is some sound of thunderbolt, as soon as there is a scare, they offer obeisances.

10:53Any big natural phenomena—that means the devotion is there. But that devotional service is misplaced so long one does not reach God.

Intellect and previous life experience

11:14Leibniz states that there is nothing in the intellect which was not previously in the senses, except the intellect itself.

11:23In other words, all of our knowledge comes through our senses, except the fact—and it is banked in intellect. Yes. That's manas. And that is by paramparā.

11:38Therefore, even if we change our body, still we can find out our means of living by that inherent intellect. That is advertised as intuition. And this intuition is previous experience on the...