Conversation with a French Nun in Paris

0:00Yogeśvara: She's asking...

Identity of Jesus Christ

0:08This is a French nun, and she wishes to know whether for us Christ is the son of God or is He God Himself, or what is the identity of Lord Jesus Christ?

0:13Prabhupāda: Yes. Jesus Christ says that he's son of God. That's all right. We accept. [translates French throughout] [break] ...ordinary son. And he's powerful son. [break]

0:27Yogeśvara: ...question.

Reincarnation and resurrection concepts

0:29She asks what is the difference between our understanding of reincarnation and the Christian concept of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christ said he would come again. Is there a difference? Is it the same thing?

0:44Prabhupāda: I don't find anything.

Suffering as divine mercy

0:46Yogeśvara: There was this gentleman this afternoon who was asking you about people who are constantly..., constantly being tested by all kinds of miserable circumstances.

0:57She asks = Is it not a sign of a soul that God has chosen to favor that he sends them such miserable conditions of material life?

1:07Prabhupāda: Yes. Devotee, in miserable condition, they accept it as a favor of God. [break] ...in the Bhāgavata:

1:34SB 10.14.8तत्तेऽनुकम्पां सुसमीक्षमाणोभुञ्जान एवात्मकृतं विपाकम् ।हृद्वाग्वपुर्भिर्विदधन्नमस्तेजीवेत यो मुक्तिपदे स दायभाक् ॥ ८ ॥tat te 'nukampāṁ su-samīkṣamāṇobhuñjāna evātma-kṛtaṁ vipākamhṛd-vāg-vapurbhir vidadhan namas tejīveta yo mukti-pade sa dāya-bhākMy dear Lord, one who earnestly waits for You to bestow Your causeless mercy upon him, all the while patiently suffering the reactions of his past misdeeds and offering You respectful obeisances with his heart, words and body, is surely eligible for liberation, for it has become his rightful claim.

1:34We are put sometimes in difficult position. But a devotee takes the difficult position as mercy of God. [break]

Remembering past life experiences

1:45Yogeśvara: She, she asks you for an explanation of an event that happened to her sister. Her sister died at the age of five and a half years.

1:56And just before her death, she apparently was able to explain some of her past lifetimes to her mother, that she had formerly been a princess or of noble birth, and that now she was being called.

2:09Is there some explanation for that?

2:12Prabhupāda: Yes. She remembers of her last birth. That is quite possible. Because we are changing body. So one who can remember about his past life, they are called jāta-smaraṇa.

2:30Yogeśvara: Jāta-smaraṇa?

2:30Prabhupāda: One who can remember about his past life. [break] ...means forgetting everything of the past life. [break] ...times a person remembers.

Definition of mysticism and rahasya

2:52[break]

2:52Yogeśvara: She asks for a definition of the word "occult." What is something that is occult, something occult, or mystic? What is it?

2:59Prabhupāda: Mystic?

3:00Yogeśvara: Mystic. What is mysticism?

3:05Prabhupāda: I do not say anything on mysticism. Mystic, something, it is called rahasya.

3:13Yogeśvara: Rahasya?

3:13Prabhupāda: Rahasya. Something wonderful. Is that meaning, mystic?

3:21Indian man: Mystic... I mean.

3:28I think when Western historians and literators explain Indian religious literature, especially literature of bhakti-mārga, they term that those are the mystics, and also they term the Sufi poets are mystics. [break]

3:51Prabhupāda: ...say mystic means rahasya.

3:55Yogeśvara: Rahasya.

3:57Prabhupāda: Rahasya means it is little difficult to understand.

Qualifications for understanding mysticism

4:19[break]

4:19French Nun: [French] [break] Just like Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, rahasyam, rahasyam etad uttamam. Rahasyam etad uttamam. This Bhagavad-gītā is the first-class mystic. Rahasyam etad uttamaṁ, bhakto 'si me priyo 'si me BG 4.3

4:35= "Because you are My devotee, you are My dear friend, you'll understand." So mysticism is not understandable by common man. It requires a special qualification.

4:52Just like to understand, it is also mysticism—understand, to understand God. This is also mystic. It is not understandable by ordinary man. [French] [end]