But a human being, especially when it is a devotee of the Lord, cannot do so. A sage, a holy person, is not supposed to destroy an animal or a human being. it is not allowed to kill since every human being, animal and vegetable, shelters in him the Supreme Lord and must therefore be regarded as a temple of the Lord.

Logos 184

The soul embodied and conditioned by matter ignores what is total independence, which is to be located in its original and eternal position.

Thus, for the individual being who is an integral part of God, the Supreme Person, real independence will be to always remain under the dependence of the Lord. For the conditioned soul, independence is not found in the fight against the obstacles which the material nature opposes to him, but rather in the surrender to God. True independence consists in regaining one's position in the service of the Lord. Anyone who reaches the spiritual planets Vaikunthas or Goloka Vrindavana then freely offers their service to the Lord. Therein lies total independence as opposed to domination over material energy, which we mistakenly identify with independence.

The living being cannot know happiness by trying to be independent in this material world. Man must therefore surrender himself to the Lord, and devote himself to the eternal and original service which is proper to him.

Logos 185

True knowledge is only revealed to a holy being when, by the grace of the Lord, he comes to a correct understanding of life. In the material world or at the level of material consciousness, good and evil are on the same plane,

the distinction between the two being only a pure creation of the mind.

In truth, all living beings are sons of God, from his marginal energy. Because of the defilement that the modes of influence of material nature inflict on us, we draw distinctions between spiritual souls.

Whoever has true knowledge makes no distinction between a wise scholar, a virtuous person, an elephant, a dog, a flower and a tree. Instead of considering a person according to his carnal envelope, he sees him as a spiritual soul. A higher level of understanding allows us to grasp that the body is only a combination of the five