Quotes: Criticism of the Founders of Materialistic Biology (Srila Prabhupada)

Augustine

Hayagriva dasa: For Augustine, the mind, reason, and the soul are one and the same. Srila Prabhupada: No… the mind and intelligence differ according to the body, but the soul remains the same… We consider all human beings, animals, plants, and trees to be living entities, spirit souls.

Aquinas

Hayagriva dasa: Aquinas did not believe in a soul per se as being divorced from a particular form. God did not create a soul capable of inhabiting any body or form; rather, He created an angelic soul, a human soul, an animal soul, or a plant soul. Here again, we find the conception of the soul's creation. Srila Prabhupada: The soul is not created but is eternally existing along with God. The soul has the independence to tum from God, in which case he becomes like a spark falling from a great fire… The soul has his own form, but he is given a machine, the body, which he uses to wander throughout the universe, attempting to enjoy himself.

== Bergson == (evolutionism) Hayagriva dasa: So when Bergson refers to the universe as "a machine for the making of gods," in what sense is he correct? Srila Prabhupada: …Yes, it is a hospital. When we are cured, we are freed from all designations, which begin with the body… Everyone has a different type of body according to karma, whether it be Brahma's body or an ant's body. One who has attained liberation is not at all concerned with the body; therefore devotees are not interested in being elevated to higher planetary systems.

Darwin

Hayagriva dasa: …There are no fixed species, but shifting, evolving, physical forms, sonstantly changing. Srila Prabhupada: No. The forms are already there from the beginning of creation. There is evolution, however, but Darwin thinks that this is an evolution of the body. That is incorrect. The body never evolves, but the soul within the body evolves and transmigrates from one body to another… These natural activities do not take place by chance but are planned. If Darwin says it is a matter of chance, his knowledge is insufficient.