Guest: I practice transcendental meditation myself and some of the concepts (indistinct) as far as levels of consciousness (indistinct) use the word cosmic consciousness and God consciousness and I was wondering how Kṛṣṇa consciousness would relate to this cosmic consciousness.
Prabhupāda: What do you understand by "cosmic consciousness?"
Guest: Transcendental consciousness simultaneous...
Prabhupāda: Just explain, just try to explain what do you mean by "cosmic consciousness."
Guest: Being in a transcendental state simultaneously with the waking, dreaming, and deep sleep states, the relative states (indistinct) and having the transcendental state also. Being...
Prabhupāda: What is the distinction between transcendental stage and this stage?
Guest: The transcendental pure being, pure existence, pure consciousness, pure awareness and the other states are (indistinct).
Prabhupāda: And what is impure?
Guest: Not impure. They...
Prabhupāda: Then how you distinguish pure?
Guest: The object of perception is...
Prabhupāda: What is that object of perception that is pure?
Guest: The perceiver and the object perceived would be one.
Prabhupāda: What is that object? Give me tangible example.
Guest: In relative existence it would be that which exists and...
Prabhupāda: What is that relative? Relative means there must be something absolute. When you speak of relative... Just like you are son, relative. Immediately the conception of father must be there otherwise how it is relative? So as soon as you say relative, what is the absolute?
Guest: The absolute is... I can't say
Prabhupāda: Then you have no conception of the absolute. You cannot explain.
Guest: It's...
Prabhupāda: You are simply... Your meditation means you are simply in the relative.
Guest: It's not...
Prabhupāda: You are giving definition in the... Just like you do not know what it is. You say simply "It is not this," that's all. But you do not know what it is. That is not concrete definition. If I say, "This is not watch. This is not book. This is not light. This is not microphone." I can go on thousands of years saying, "This is not, this is not, this is not," but that does not mean it is this. And if you know it immediately say, "It is glass, spectacle." That means you do not know it. Simply negation, "This is not, this is not, this is not," is not the realization of the Absolute. You must give concrete idea of the Absolute. That is transcendental meditation.
Guest: I'm working on it.
Prabhupāda: Eh?
Guest: I'm working on it.
Prabhupāda: So you are working, you are not realized. But we are giving concrete absolute truth. That is Kṛṣṇa. That is explained in the Bhagavad-gītā, how He is concrete Absolute. It is just like this. You are studying this article. You are simply trying to understand it. "It is not this, it is not this, it is not this." But if you take it from an authorized person who knows what it is, that "This is spectacle," your knowledge is immediately there. So here the Absolute is speaking about the Absolute. So if you understand Him, Kṛṣṇa, then immediately understand Absolute. Yes.