Like gold, whether we know the value or not (like a child may not know), the Holy Name has its own intrinsic value; whereas PAPER MONEY has NO NATURAL or intrinsic VALUE; it is simply a VIA MEDIUM to GOLD. The Holy Name is not a via medium; the HOLY NAME actually is KRISHNA COMPLETELY.

Intrinsic Value: Accept No Substitutes

Matter is to spirit as paper money is to gold

Aristotle: money by itself (nomisma) is a mere device which has value only by law (nomos) and not by nature. By virtue of voluntary convention, nomisma (money) has become the medium (via medium) of exchange. We call it nomisma (money), because its efficacy is due not to nature (inherent), but due to law (nomos) and because it is always in our power to control it.

Prabhupada's solution to inflation (print paper money without gold and silver reserves) is to have only gold and silver currencies and allow gold and silver as ornaments for jewelry. No paper, no cheques; only metals of gold and silver.

The most ruinous practice to the government and the economy is COUNTERFEIT and INFLATED MONEY. Both are a way of CHEATING. BOTH ARE WITHOUT AUTHORITY, because both have no gold backing. Counterfeit money is printed without authorization of the government, therefore worthless, and inflated money is printed by the government but does not have any actual gold reserves to back it up. Therefore it is also worthless.

What paper money is to actual gold, so matter and all its interactions are to spirit. Therefore the only thing of spiritual substance (GOLD) in this sea of material actions and reactions is the Holy Name and the shastras, like Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. We should never be out of touch (hearing and chanting) with them. Even though we may not have any TASTE or understanding, they are SPIRITUAL in and of themselves. They do not depend on our understanding or appreciation to have value. Like gold, whether we know the value or not (like a child may not know), the Holy Name has its own intrinsic value; whereas PAPER MONEY has NO NATURAL or intrinsic VALUE; it is simply a VIA MEDIUM to GOLD. The Holy Name is not a via medium; the HOLY NAME actually is KRISHNA COMPLETELY.

Whatever we see in the phenomenal world is a product of CONSCIOUSNESS, and if we strive to possess such products, our consciousness becomes polluted by the product and the consciousness behind it. If we accept something strictly for the service of the Lord, however, we remain uncontaminated.

All around us a sea of bodies of all sorts, of all sizes, in all circumstances, but all moving under the same conditions–birth, old age, disease, death. They move through the environment according to the dictates of their mind. The mind is formed in accordance with the environment which unfolds according to the three MODES of NATURE, which acts under the direction of the Supreme Lord.

We can't believe everything is being conducted and controlled precisely. We ignore the awesome and overwhelming precision of material nature. We are FASCINATED and enchanted by the FANTASY of the MAYA (external energy), as a child is fascinated by the television and cinema shows. But all of it (television and cinema) have been precisely contrived to create a certain effect.

Just as we have accepted paper money to represent the gold reserves, similarly the soul has accepted the extension as the representative of spirit (living force) in the form of MATTER as reality.

Maya–an endless barrage of allurements.

In every undertaking we are looking for SATISFACTION (SAT = ETERNITY), something permanent. But matter cannot give permanent pleasure (SAT-ISFACTION), SAT meaning permanent. We want something permanent, eternal, spiritual, Krishna consciousness.

As soon as a person resolves to go back to Godhead (aim of life), everything about material life becomes IRRELEVANT.

Value a Sound! A faithless person scoffs at the idea of chanting the Holy Name. Such persons say, "Any sound repeated long enough will produce a hypnotic effect." But we contend that each sound, just as any other element in our experience, has its own INTRINSIC potency. Take sugar and salt. It may appear similar to the eye, but there is a world of difference between salt and sugar. Take paper. There is a world of difference between the newspaper, toilet paper or paper money, and again there is a great difference in the paper imprinted with a one dollar face and one printed with a hundred dollar face, and even more difference between one hundred paper note and a paper of similar size in the form of a CASHIER'S CHEQUE for one million dollars. The bodily fluids have different potencies, although superficially appearing from the same body and same hole–URINE and SEMEN of a man are certainly different in potencies. So in the same way, sounds are also of different potencies. The sound of FOUL LANGUAGE uttered by a disoriented drunkard and the sound of a polite lady or gentleman are certainly of different potencies. So it is not difficult to understand that the SOUND of the SUPREME BEING (Krishna) is the most POTENT (POWERFUL and PURE) sound. In fact, the SOUND of GOD'S NAME and HIS PERSON are IDENTICAL. There is no difference, no DISCORD between GOD and the SOUND of HIS NAME.

In Bhagavad-gita, Arjuna says, "The whole world becomes joyful hearing Your name and thus do all become attached to You." In other words, VIBRATING the HOLY NAME of KRISHNA brings one gradually into perfect RESONANCE (harmony, unity, yoga) with the Personality of Godhead, and thus by His grace, everything is understood (both material and spiritual) without separate (empiricists researchers, speculators, yogis) endeavor.

We think other matters than chanting the Holy Name to be more important, and we therefore do not realise the all-embracing, absolute nature of the Holy Name. Our only problem in life is we do not give full attention to the VIBRATION of the Holy Name. We do not believe in the statements of the shastras, describing the glories of the Holy Name. We have faith in our own abilities to solve life's problems. We never take shelter of the Holy Name. We think "FIRST let me adjust everything so I am secure with house, car, money, wife, children, friends, etc., then I will chant Holy Name. But this needs immediate attention." No one believes Krishna's promise, "I will protect what you have, I will provide what you need. Just surrender unto Me. Don't worry, I will protect you." We take it as a cliche, rhetoric, philosophy. But we never believe it. We must practice trusting in Krishna, feeling ourselves completely helpless, humble and meek, always expecting the mercy of the Lord. Like Draupadi, who at first clenched her saree with one hand and appealed to the Lord with the other. When she finally threw up both hands in desperation, Krishna responded. We must be desperate. No way out. Full surrender. No reservation, no condition, no expectation, no calculation. Complete surrender.