The Difference Between the Living and the Nonliving

The following is a conversation between the renowned Indian scholar A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and some of his disciples about the scientific myth that life arises from matter.

Authentic self esteem grows naturally with our realization that we are spiritual parts of reality. To understand that we are not identical with our material bodies, is the most important achievement in genuine personal development.

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Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada: Formerly leaves and twigs were growing from this tree. Now they are not. How would the scientists explain this?

Karandhara: They would say the tree's chemical composition has changed.

Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada: To prove that theory, they must be able to inject the proper chemicals to make branches and leaves grow again. The scientific method includes observation, hypothesis and then demonstration. Then it is perfect. But the scientists cannot actually demonstrate in their laboratories that life comes from matter. They simply observe and then speak nonsense. They are like children. In our childhood, we observed a gramophone box and thought that within the box was a man singing, an electric man. We thought there must have been an electric man or some kind of ghost in it. [Laughter.]

Dr. Singh: One of the popular questions that arises when we start studying biology is "What is the difference between a living organism and that which is not living?" The textbooks say that the chief characteristics that distinguish the two are that a living being can move and reproduce, whereas dead matter can do neither. But the books never talk about the nature of the soul or about the consciousness of the living entity.

Srila Prabhupada: But consciousness is the primary indication that life is present. Only because of consciousness can a living being move and reproduce. Because a person is conscious, he thinks of marrying, and begetting children. And the original consciousness is described in the Vedas: tad aiksata bahu syam (Chandogya Upanisad 6.2.3). This means that God, the original conscious being, said, "I shall become many." Without consciousness, there is no possibility of by-products.

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Find out, why consciousness is not explainable in mechanistic terms...