Student. For the last one hundred fifty years, one of the major problems of Western theologians has been the relationship between reason and faith. They have been seeking to understand faith through reason, but they have been unable to find the relationship between the reasoning abilities and faith. Some of them have faith in God, but their reason tells them there is no God. For instance, they would say that when we offer prasäda to the Lord, it is only faith to think that He accepts it, because we cannot see Him.

Çréla Prabhupäda. They cannot see Him, but I can see Him. I see God, and therefore I offer prasäda to Him. Because they cannot see Him, they must come to me so I can open their eyes. They are blind—suffering from cataracts—so I shall operate, and they will see. That is our program.

Student. Scientists say that their common ground of objectivity is what they can perceive with their senses.

Çréla Prabhupäda. Yes, they can perceive things with their senses, but very imperfectly. They perceive the sand with their senses, but can they see who has made the sand? Here is the sand, and here is the sea; they can be seen by direct perception. But how can one directly perceive the origin of the sand and the sea?

Student. The scientists say that if the sand and the sea were made by God, we would be able to see Him, just as we can see the sand and the sea themselves.

Çréla Prabhupäda. Yes, they can see God, but they must get the eyes to see Him. They are blind. Therefore they must first come to me for treatment. The çästras say that one must go to a guru to be treated so that one can understand God. How can they see God with blind eyes?

Student. But seeing God is supramundane. Scientists only consider mundane vision.

Çréla Prabhupäda. Everything is supramundane. For instance, you may think there is nothing in the clear sky—that it is vacant—but your eyes are deficient. In the sky there are innumerable planets you cannot see because your eyes are limited. Therefore, because it is not in your power to perceive, you have to accept my word: “Yes, there are millions of stars out there.” Is space vacant because you cannot see the stars? No. Only the deficiency of your senses leads you to think so.

Student. The scientists will admit their ignorance of some things, but they say they cannot accept what they cannot see.

Çréla Prabhupäda. If they’re ignorant, they have to accept knowledge from someone who knows the truth.

Student. But they say, “What if what we are told is wrong?”

Çréla Prabhupäda. Then that is their misfortune. Because their imperfect senses cannot perceive God, they have to hear it from an authority. That is the process. If they don’t approach the authority—if they approach a cheater—that is their misfortune. But the process is that wherever your senses cannot act, you must approach an authority to learn the facts.