When people say we don’t care about next life karmic consequences how should we preach to them?

I said that the purpose of karma is not punishment, but elevation of consciousness, education. So many people, they just don't care because often the sufferings don't come in the same lifetime. So people feel that I don't care, just let me go on doing what I want to do.

Yes, the system of karma is meant for education, but this education is not just rote learning. It is a matter of choosing, learning, not just memorizing some facts, but it is of learning or retraining ourselves to make certain choices. And this depends not just on pointing out a one-to-one correlation between this and that.

That means that, say, for a small child, put your hand in the fire, it will handle well. So therefore, don't put your hand in the fire. That is one level of learning.

But when we look at life, life is much subtler and much more complex. So when we as souls want to enjoy, Krishna also provides the facility to enjoy. And then after that, in due course, consequences come.

So there is a delay between the action and the consequence because the soul wants the illusion that I can enjoy. So this delay is also provided for a purpose. That means Krishna's system is so complicated that if somebody wants to be an illusion, Krishna will give reason for that soul to stay in illusion also.

Because that's the desire. If somebody wants to be an atheist, Krishna will give reason for that person to be an atheist. So that is also a reciprocation of Krishna.

So when people are, as I said, people are in ignorance and they don't care. That's why if you see, Prabhupada in his preaching did not focus too much on karma and punishment. Yes, he talked about regulative principles.

In the fifth canto there is a description. But that was never the thrust of Prabhupada's preaching. Prabhupada's focus was the same as Gita's focus.

That you are not the body, you are the soul. You want happiness, seeking happiness at the bodily level, you are cheating yourself. So yes, as long as we have this conception that bodily gratification is enjoyable, but God forbids it and so I don't ever do it.

Then we will always be resentful in following God. We may follow Him, but I don't know why God is depriving me of enjoyment. But when we achieve the fundamental conception that yes, there may be some pleasure at the bodily level, but that is far far tiny as compared to the happiness available at the spiritual level.

When I learn that I am the soul and then I turn towards God in devotion, then that gives a much more positive impetus for turning towards God. So in general, at least in today's ethos, we are talking about consequences of actions and karma and trying to use that to make people to turn towards God, it's not likely to work. Because people are already very skeptical and they think that their atheism and materialism are rational, are justified by science, which is the intellectually prestigious worldview today.

So that approach is alienating. We talk about hell and suffering and therefore you don't do this. That will alienate people, intellectually and emotionally alienate people.

So karma we accept as a principle of truth and it is true, but that is not the thrust of our teaching. Our thrust is understand who you are and then you will understand how you can get real happiness in life. So yes, some people may not be ready for even hearing that level of philosophy.

Then you can give them prasad. Prasad is like our secret weapon. So what prasadam does is, it enters into the heart and because prasadam also manifests in Krishna, it starts creating spiritual vibrations and gradually the person will become more and more spiritually favorable.

So our goal is that we want to attract people towards Krishna. We don't want to frighten people into going towards Krishna. So that's why our focus can be at one level philosophical so that they are intellectually attracted and also we could say devotional or cultural or emotional because Krishna consciousness has many attractive cultural features also.

We have kirtans, we are dancing, we are singing, we have prasad. So we have to find out when we are communicating with people, what is the way that person can be connected with Krishna and that will vary from person to person. Even if it is a small connection, we can maintain that connection and at the very least that person should feel if we are interacting with a gentleman, devotees are nice people.

If at least that person gets that much appreciation for devotees, then that will be a gyan skruti. That will begin the spiritual life of that person. That person will appreciate Krishna by appreciating a devotee of Krishna.

So in that way we need to expect that everyone will have the same level of seriousness or everyone will have the same level of intelligence to appreciate things and we need to give people room for them to grow at their pace. But we can find out how they can be connected and provide facilities for helping them to establish that connection. Thank you.