Material conception (Lectures)

Expressions researched:
"conception of material" |"conceptions of material" |"material conception" |"material conceptions"

Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures

Lecture on BG Introduction -- New York, February 19-20, 1966:

Now the description of that eternal sky... When we speak of sky, because we have material conception of the sky, therefore we think of sky with sun, moon, stars, like that. But the Lord says that the eternal sky, there is no need of sun. Na tad bhāsayate sūryo na śaśāṅko na pāvakaḥ (BG 15.6). Neither in that eternal sky there is need of moon. Na pāvakaḥ means neither there is necessity of electricity or fire for illuminating because the spiritual sky is already illuminated by the brahma-jyotir. Brahmajyoti, yasya prabhā (Bs. 5.40), the rays of the supreme abode. Now in these days when people are trying to reach other planets, it is not very difficult to understand the abode of the Supreme Lord.

Lecture on BG 1.13-14 -- London, July 14, 1973:

Here also so-called woman, they are also puruṣa. They are thinking puruṣa. Puruṣa means enjoyer. Here woman is also thinking to enjoy, and the so-called man is also thinking to enjoy. Everyone. Nobody wants to serve. Everyone wants to be served. Puruṣa attitude. Everyone wants to be served. Nobody wants to serve. This is the material conception of life.

Lecture on BG 1.31 -- London, July 24, 1973:

So Arjuna is talking of the ultimate good. But he is talking ultimate good with the point of view from material conception. He does not know... He knows, but he is playing the part of a person who does not know that ultimate śreyas, ultimate good, is Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on BG 1.31 -- London, July 24, 1973:

Everyone is trying to become happy with society, friendship and love, children, wife, friends, money and house and land. This is the conception of material.... So Arjuna is thinking in material concept of life. He is not thinking that "My ultimate good is to satisfy Kṛṣṇa." This is the Bhagavad-gītā's purport. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. One has to change to satisfy Kṛṣṇa, not to satisfy himself or the family or the society or the nation, no.

Lecture on BG 2.1 -- Ahmedabad, December 6, 1972:

And in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam also, it is said, sa vai puṁsāṁ paro dharmaḥ. Paraḥ means transcendental, beyond this material conception. Kṛṣṇa, or the Absolute, Nārāyaṇa, that is para. Nārāyaṇaḥ paraḥ avyaktāt. Nārāyaṇa is not anything of this material world. Nārāyaṇa, Kṛṣṇa, Viṣṇu. The Absolute Personality of Godhead, He is not anything of this material world.

Lecture on BG 2.1 -- Ahmedabad, December 6, 1972:

And in the material world, whatever form we may have, we have got attachment for this body. Not only attachment, we are under the impression that "I am this body." Everyone. That is material conception of life.

Lecture on BG 2.1-10 and Talk -- Los Angeles, November 25, 1968:

The word Āryan is applicable to persons who know the value of life and have a civilization based on spiritual realization. Persons who are led by the material conception of life do not know that the aim of life is realization of the Absolute Truth, Viṣṇu, or Bhagavān. Such persons are captivated by the external features..."

Lecture on BG 2.1-11 -- Johannesburg, October 17, 1975:

This is, means, kāṅkṣati, desiring to possess this, possess... And when the body is lost, then śocati: "Oh, my father is lost. My brother is lost. My son is lost." Two business. So long there is no spiritual knowledge, we have got on the material conception of body two business—śocati, kāṅkṣati: desiring for things which we do not possess and lamenting for things which we have lost. This is our two business.

Lecture on BG 2.8 -- London, August 8, 1973:

As Kṛṣṇa is eternal, His name is also eternal. Pūrṇaḥ śuddhaḥ nitya-muktaḥ. There is no material conception in chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra. Abhinnatvān nāma-nāminoḥ. Nāma, the holy name and the Lord, they are abhinna, identical.

Lecture on BG 2.8 -- London, August 8, 1973:

Even if we get the kingdom of the demigods, asapatya, without any rival, still we cannot be happy so long we have got material conception of life. It is not possible.

Lecture on BG 2.12 -- New York, March 9, 1966:

Now, mukti means when we shall be liberated from the material existence and we shall get our spiritual life, proper. That is called mukti. Just like a person is suffering from disease, fever. Now, when he, he's out of feverish attack, he's called mukta. Rogya-mukta. Rogya-mukta means he's free from the disease. Similarly, mukti means because we are now encumbered with this material body, as soon as we become free from this material conception of life, that is called mukti. That is called brahma-bhūta.

Lecture on BG 2.14 -- London, August 20, 1973:

Actually the man who is drawing the rickshaw, he is also human being. And the man who is sitting in a nice Rolls Royce car, he is also human being. But the rascal, because he is sitting on a Rolls Royce car, he is thinking, "I am a Rolls Royce, and he is rickshaw." This is material conception of life, that according to the body, we are becoming designated, not as the soul.

Lecture on BG 2.55-58 -- New York, April 15, 1966:

So we should be very clever to understand about the spiritual life. We should not be dragged to this material conception of life due to this false affection. This bodily affection is false affection. Because the body will not exist.

Lecture on BG 2.55-58 -- New York, April 15, 1966:

Not only in human being. You'll find in the kingdom of the birds, in the beasts, that everyone is working, everyone is busy. Why? To end it into the sex life. That means in the this material conception of life everyone has become the servant of the senses. And in the spiritual conception of life he'll no longer be the servant of the senses, but he'll be the master of the senses. That is the difference.

Lecture on BG 2.58-59 -- New York, April 27, 1966:

Everything must be proved by symptoms. Just like a patient is cured means there is subsidence of the fever, for example; similarly, we are just trying to separate ourself from the material conception of life to our exact position. I am spirit soul, and consciousness is the symptom. And I have to be situated in pure consciousness, dovetailing myself with the supreme consciousness. That is the whole program.

Lecture on BG 3.16-17 -- New York, May 25, 1966:

This misconception of life will be the first installment of our profit by chanting, by regularly chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, by performing this yajña, the first installment. That first installment will be: I become liberated from the material conception of life at once.

Lecture on BG 3.18-30 -- Los Angeles, December 30, 1968:

The knower of the Absolute Truth is convinced of his awkward position in material association. He knows that he is part and parcel of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Kṛṣṇa and that his position should not be in the material creation. He knows his real identity as part and parcel of the Supreme who is eternal bliss and knowledge and he realizes that somehow or other he is now entrapped in the material conception of life. In his pure state of existence, he is meant to dovetail his activities in devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa. He therefore engages himself in the activities of Kṛṣṇa consciousness and becomes naturally unattached to the activities of the material senses which are all circumstantial and temporary.

Lecture on BG 4.9 -- Montreal, June 19, 1968:

The māyā's attraction, the last snare of māyā is in this material conception of life, that so many identification, "I am this," "I am that," "I am that," "I am big man," "I am rich man," "I am prime minister," then so on, so on. When we are frustrated in all these attempts, then we try to become God. I am God. This is the last snare of māyā.

Lecture on BG 4.11 -- New York, July 27, 1966:

Our difficulty is that instead of following the supreme leader, we are creating by mental concoction some leader according to our material conception of life, and we are following. That is our position.

Lecture on BG 4.12-13 -- New York, July 29, 1966:

In the lower nature, everyone thinks, "Oh, I am greater than you." The Hindus think, "Oh, we are greater than Muslim." The Muslim thinks, "We are greater than the Hindus." The Christian thinks that "We are greater than the Jews." The Jews thinks, "We are greater than..." This is material conception. But for Kṛṣṇa there is no lower or higher. Every living being—His part and parcel.

Lecture on BG 4.20-24 -- New York, August 9, 1966:

Just like the electric powerhouse is situated far away from your residential apartment, but from there the energy is being distributed and you are finding heat, cold, and so many things, electrically, you are working, so although the Supreme Lord is far, far away... Of course, He is not far, far away, but in our conception, in the material conception, because we cannot see... We are on a different planet. So by His energy He is not far away.

Lecture on BG 5.7-13 -- New York, August 27, 1966:

We are also eating, but for purifying the soul. So no work is different from the ordinary man, and the members of the society, they are also doing in the same way. They are also going to the store, purchasing things and preparing foodstuff, offering to Kṛṣṇa and eating. It appears that they are also eating, they are also sleeping, they are also working. But here everything is for ātma-śuddhaye. It is under such a regulation that one is becoming purer and purer and purer and purer. So yoginaḥ karma kurvanti saṅgaṁ tyaktvā. It has no connection with the material conception of life.

Lecture on BG 5.14-22 -- New York, August 28, 1966:

Just like sun rising, the darkness of the night at once dissipated, similarly, when we advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, spiritual knowledge, then our material conception of life is at once dissipated.

Lecture on BG 5.14-22 -- New York, August 28, 1966:

In the material conception of life we do not want what is unfavorable, but we want simply favorable. But the laws of nature, they are so cruel that they enforce upon us unfavorable things. But one who is transcendentally realized, he does not care for the unfavorable or the favorable. He knows that "When the time will come, either the favorable things will come or unfavorable things will come in the law of nature. Let me be engaged in my own business, Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on BG 5.14-22 -- New York, August 28, 1966:

Why shall he be put into miseries? That is not his position. He should be always in happiness. So their happiness they do not know here. In the material conception of life we do not know what is happiness. So those who are yogi, those who are transcendentalists, advanced in spiritual life, they know what is happiness. So ramante yoginaḥ anante (CC Madhya 9.29).

Lecture on BG 5.22-29 -- New York, August 31, 1966:

So one who is always engaged in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, automatically he becomes freed from lust, anger, and this is the stage of brahma-nirvāṇam. Brahma-nirvāṇam means cessation of material conception of life and be engaged in spiritual, transcendental position. That is called brahma-nirvāṇam.

Lecture on BG 6.4-12 -- New York, September 4, 1966:

We are generally conception of this bodily conception of our life. But the intelligent person who has made association with saintly persons, he can understand that "I am not this body." And the material conception of life is condemned in so many places.

Lecture on BG 6.6-12 -- Los Angeles, February 15, 1969:

It is said that God has no hands or legs. But He can accept anything you offer. God has no eyes, and ears, but He can see everything and He can hear everything. So these are contradiction. That means whenever we speak of seeing, we think somebody must have eyes like this. That is our material conception. God has eyes, He can see even in the darkness. You cannot see in the darkness. So He has got a different eye. God can hear. If God is in His kingdom which is millions and millions of miles away, but if you are talking something, whispering, conspiracy, He can hear. Because He is sitting within you.

Lecture on BG 6.11-21 -- New York, September 7, 1966:

Just like diseased man, he cannot enjoy life. His enjoyment of life is a false enjoyment. When he's cured, when he's in healthy life, then his enjoyment is bona fide. Similarly, so long we are in the material conception of life, we do not expect that we are enjoying. We are simply entangling. That means diseased man, if he enjoys, if he takes nice food. He cannot eat, but if he likes and takes stealthily, without the information of the medical physician, then he prolongs his diseases. That's all.

Lecture on BG 6.11-21 -- New York, September 7, 1966:

One may find, "This system is nice; that system is very difficult.' That is a different thing, but any system you adopt, the whole thing is that you have to purify your existence from the conception of material enjoyment to the conception of Kṛṣṇa consciousness enjoyment.

Lecture on BG 7.3 -- Nairobi, October 29, 1975:

The Brahman realization ahaṁ brahmāsmi, that is liberation from material conception of life that "I am not this matter. I am not this body, but I am spirit soul." Ahaṁ brahmāsmi. That is the first step of realization, self-realization. But that is not final. The final realization is that "I am eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa." That is final realization.

Lecture on BG 7.4 -- Nairobi, October 31, 1975:

So here Kṛṣṇa says that first of all our material conception of life... We are in the material world. We see everything as stone and wood and earth and water and fire and everything. We have got the capacity to see all these things. Here Kṛṣṇa says that this bhūmi, this earth; āpa, this water; anala, this fire; vāyu, air; kham, the sky, ether; mana, mind... That is still subtle. Up to ether, you can see, but the mind, which is still finer than the ether, mana, that you cannot see. Mind, everyone knows you have got mind, I have got mind, but you cannot see the mind, neither I can see your mind. Here is the subtle. First gross: bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ, up to ether. Ether also we cannot see, but we can understand here is ether by (claps) sound. As soon as there is sound, this is the understanding of ether. Ether, vāyu, you can touch, but you cannot see. Then fire, you can see. And then water, you can see also, and then earth—gross. From the finer, we are coming to the gross.

Lecture on BG 9.2 -- New York, November 22, 1966:

I haven't got this possession, material possession," then I think, "I am poor" or "rich." But one who is liberated from the material conception of life, then he has nothing to do, what he's possessing, what he's not possessing. He has nothing to do. That is liberation. If one is free from the material conception of life, then factually, either he possesses or not possesses, he has nothing to do with them. Therefore he's prasannātmā, he's joyful: "Oh. I have nothing to lose, nothing to gain. I am completely separate from here." This is liberation.

Lecture on BG 9.4 -- Calcutta, March 9, 1972:

The Māyāvādī philosophers, they are mistaken, mistaking that when everything is expanded as God's energy, then why there is separate God? This is material conception. God is always separate from His energy. That is distinctly said here: mayā tatam idaṁ sarvam. Everything is emanation of God's energy, but still God is not there. If you worship the energy of God, that is not God-worshiping. Indirectly it is, but directly it is not.

Lecture on BG 9.11-14 -- New York, November 27, 1966:

Kṛṣṇa is within you. We have no realization. Due to my material conception of life, I have no realization. So you have to realize that Kṛṣṇa is there, and you have to purify yourself by service attitude. Then Kṛṣṇa will reveal. You will see, eye to eye.

Lecture on BG 9.23-24 -- New York, December 10, 1966:

But here, in our material conception of life, our only business is to encroach upon the right of others. That is our business. We are all encroaching on the rights of others. That is our business. So how you can expect peace?

Lecture on BG 9.29-32 -- New York, December 20, 1966:

The destruction of this body is not his destruction. The real destruction is that when we lose our spiritual consciousness, we lose our identity, that is destruction. That is destruction, that now, in our material conception of life, we are practically destroyed because, destroyed in this way, because as spiritual being, I have got my eternal life, I have got my blissful life, I have got my knowledge, full knowledge, but here I am living in a wretched condition that my life is not eternal, I am not blissful, and I am not in full knowledge. So don't you think that we are already destroyed?

Lecture on BG 9.34 -- New York, December 26, 1966, 'Who is Crazy?':

Because my form, my measurement is so small that we cannot see. It is not possible. It is ten-thousand, one ten-thousandth part of the tip of the hair. It is so small. So with our material eyes, or with your material conception, we cannot see the soul. But the soul is there, and the proof is, evidence is, because the soul is there, therefore the pea-like form, material body, is growing.

Lecture on BG 10.1 -- New York, December 30, 1966:

There are different kinds of species of life. Some of them are considered as lower. Some of them are considered higher. That is our material conception. And actually, according to the different qualities, according to the different modes of nature, there are different situations and there are lower grade, higher grade understanding also. That is a fact.

Lecture on BG 10.3 -- New York, January 2, 1967:

So one has to be disillusioned, means out of illusion. So whatever we are doing in this material conception of life, that is illusion. Therefore we cannot understand God. One who is not under the spell of illusion he can understand, asammūḍha. He can understand God. So first of all we have to understand whether we are not illusioned.

Lecture on BG 13.8-12 -- Bombay, October 3, 1973:

The material conception of life makes us very eager to receive honor from others. That is material education, rajas tamas. Rajas tamo-guṇa.

Lecture on BG 13.15 -- Bombay, October 9, 1973:

He never says that "By karma or by jñāna, by yoga, you can see Me." No. That is not possible.

bhaktyā mām abhijānāti

yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ

tato māṁ tattvato jñātvā

viśate tad-anantaram

(BG 18.55)

So we do not know actually in truth what is God; therefore with our material conception we think that God is nirākāra. God is not nirākāra. He has ākāra, but we have no power to see Him. And because we have no power to see Him, therefore God takes the form like this. He's God, He's not different from God, but He's visible to our blunt eyes.

Lecture on BG 16.7 -- Sanand, December 26, 1975:

Karma means to desire to be elevated in the higher planetary system, Svargaloka. (break) ...jñāna. The jñānīs, they are trying to elevate themselves to the impersonal Brahman. So these are not pure devotional service. (break) Anyābhilāṣitā-śūnyam (CC Madhya 19.167), no desire for material conception of life. So jñāna is also another desire, negative desire, to become free from this material world. That is desire.

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.2.6 -- Mauritius, October 5, 1975:

Artificially you have opened this United Nation, but your conception is, "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim." So how it can be, there can be unity? It is not possible. That is not brahma-bhūtaḥ stage. That is prakṛta stage, identifying with this body. So long you identify with this body when you are in the material conception of life, there is no question of spiritual understanding, there is no question of joyfulness, there is no question of freedom from lamentation and hankering and there is no question of equality. It is all false show.

Lecture on SB 1.2.17 -- San Francisco, March 25, 1967:

Kṛṣṇa, this sound, transcendental sound. Kṛṣṇa means the highest pleasure. Highest pleasure. Everyone, every living being, is seeking after pleasure, but he does not know how to seek pleasure. Therefore in this material conception of life we are being frustrated in every step for satisfying our pleasure. Because we have no information from which platform we can have pleasure.

Lecture on SB 1.2.17 -- San Francisco, March 25, 1967:

Even after the destruction of this body, the consciousness is not destroyed." That continues. Rather, consciousness transferred to another type of body makes me again alive to the material conception of life. And that is also described in the Bhagavad-gītā. Yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ tyajaty ante kalevaram (BG 8.6). At the time of death, if our consciousness is pure, then it is sure that next life is not material.

Lecture on SB 1.2.17 -- San Francisco, March 25, 1967:

Suppose you are diseased, suffering from some disease. You are lying on the bed. And you are eating in that stage, you are passing your nature's call in that way, and taking bitter medicines, and always you have to keep by the nurses clean. Otherwise, there is some obnoxious smell. In such a condition you are lying, and some friends come to you and ask you, "My dear such and such, how are you today feeling?" "Yes, I am today feeling well." What is this "well"? He's lying on the bed. He's passing his nature's calls in that way. He's eating bitter medicine, and he, he cannot move. All these inconveniences, and he says that "I am well." Similarly, in our material conception of life, if we think, "I am happy," that is foolishness.

Lecture on SB 1.3.1-3 -- San Francisco, March 28, 1968:

Just like in the Vedas it is said, pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate (Īśo Invocation). We cannot imagine. Pūrṇam means full. If you take full from the full, still the balance is full. That is the spiritual calculation. Just like if you have got hundred dollars and I take hundred dollars from you. Still, you have got hundred dollars. This is beyond material conception. Here, one minus one equal to zero, and in the spiritual world, one minus one equal to one.

Lecture on SB 1.7.5 -- Vrndavana, September 4, 1976:

People do not know it, how to become transcendental to this material conception of life and how to contact the supreme controller, Adhokṣaja. That is the only way. It is recommended... Not recommended; it is the fact. Bhakti-yoga, only by bhakti-yoga. There is no other way. So in the Bhagavad-gītā also it is stated, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ (BG 18.55). If you want to know Adhokṣaja, that is the real purpose of religion. Religion is not a type of ritualistic ceremonies. That is external. Real fact is how to contact the adhokṣaja who is beyond our material conception. But bhakti-yoga, if you take to bhakti-yoga, then it is possible. Anarthopaśamam. Then anartha will be cleansed-things which are not wanted.

Lecture on SB 1.7.41-42 -- Vrndavana, October 2, 1976:

So the boys and girls should be trained up how to inquire about the ultimate goal of life, Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu. That they do not know in the modern civilization. That they do not know. Not merely in the modern civilization. In the past also, those who were entrapped by the modes of material nature, ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā, the material conception of life, false ego... Ahaṅkāra this is called... Ahaṅkāra there is. But when we are in a false ahaṅkāra, that is our cause of all trouble, miseries.

Lecture on SB 1.8.27 -- Los Angeles, April 19, 1973:

A young woman is going to another young man at dead of night to dance with him. This will never be allowed in India. Still it is prohibited. But we find that all the gopīs as soon as they heard the flute immediately they came. So from material conception it is immoral, but from the spiritual conception, it is the greatest morality.

Lecture on SB 1.16.17 -- Los Angeles, January 12, 1974:

Spiritual means īśāvāsyam idaṁ sarvam (ISO 1), everything belonging to God. But when we think that "There is no God, I am God," or "It is mine," that is darkness. This consciousness is darkness. So Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement means to be situated above this material conception. Ahaṁ mameti (SB 5.5.8). Janasya moho' yam ahaṁ mameti. This conception, that "I am the proprietor, and everything belongs to me," this conception is called illusion. And this illusion increases by mental speculation. Ultimately, that mental speculator remains in darkness, but he thinks that he has become liberated. This is another darkness.

Lecture on SB 3.26.9 -- Bombay, December 21, 1974:

So, so far in this material conception of life there are two puruṣas, one, the living entity, and the other is the Supersoul. So above this... Living entity is the adhama-puruṣa, and the Supersoul is the madhyama-puruṣa, and Kṛṣṇa, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is uttama-puruṣa, the Supreme. And in this material world the adhama-puruṣa is called also nitya-baddha. Similarly, there are other living entities in the spiritual world, they are called nitya-mukta or nitya-siddha. They never come in this material world.

Lecture on SB 3.26.16 -- Bombay, December 25, 1974:

Just like Prahlāda Mahārāja was put to so many trials or tribulation by his father, but he was never afraid of. This is the sign of spiritual advancement, because so long I identify myself with this matter, there will be bhayam, and when I am out of this conception of material existence, when I understand that "I am spirit soul," ahaṁ brahmāsmi, then there is no more bhayam, no fearfulness.

Lecture on SB 3.26.18 -- Bombay, December 27, 1974:

So the Māyāvādī philosopher, they says, "When Bhagavān is everywhere—His action is visible in every step, every atom, everywhere—then the original..., where is the original form of Bhagavān? Everything is Bhagavān." That is called nirviśeṣavādi, nirākāravādi, "Bhagavān has no ākāra. He is finished. Because He is everywhere, therefore there cannot be any particular form of God." This is nirviśeṣavādi. That is material conception. Just like if we take something and make into pieces and throw it everywhere, the original form of that particular thing is finished. This is material conception.

Lecture on SB 3.26.28 -- Bombay, January 5, 1975:

In the material conception of life the senses are very prominent. So long we are under the bodily concept of life, our objective is to satisfy the senses. But the master of the senses is the mind, and the controlling Deity of the mind is Aniruddha. Therefore God's another name is Hṛṣīkeśa. And bhakti means to serve Hṛṣīkeśa, because He is the proprietor of the senses.

Lecture on SB 3.26.35-36 -- Bombay, January 12, 1975:

There are so many religious system—Hindu religion, Muslim religion, Christian religion—but they are all material conception of religion. Material conception means that we are in this material world, and through a process or system we are trying to understand what is God. That is called religion. Dharmaṁ tu sākṣād bhagavat-praṇītam (SB 6.3.19). The attempt to understand God and His laws, that is religion. So it doesn't matter whether it is executed through a system called Hindu religion or a system called Muslim religion or a system called Christian religion. If the objective is the same, Adhokṣaja, then that process is first-class religion.

Lecture on SB 3.28.20 -- Nairobi, October 30, 1975:

Don't think that Kṛṣṇa or God has no head, no tail. No. Sarvāvayava saṁsthitam. Virāṭa-mūrti. They are repeatedly said in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. But His avayava, different parts of the body, they are different from our, this material, at the present moment the material conception. That is different. He... Just like we can pick up our foodstuff by this hand. This hand is not just like Kṛṣṇa's hand. Kṛṣṇa's hand appears to be nonmoving. I think my hand is moving, but Kṛṣṇa is so powerful that even He has got the so-called statue hand, a metal hand or a stone hand, He can capture food which you offer.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Boston, April 28, 1969:

There are millions and millions of high-grade planets, and they are... There is Siddhaloka, perfectional, according to this material conception. They are called Siddhaloka. Siddhaloka means the residents of that planet can fly in the space without any mechanical or any support, aeroplane or anything like that.

Lecture on SB 5.5.19 -- Vrndavana, November 7, 1976:

Unless He is there Not that because He is spread everywhere—vāsudevaḥ sarvam iti (BG 7.19)—it does not mean He is finished. That is material understanding. In the materially, if you take a piece of paper and make it a small pieces and throw it, then the original paper is no longer existing. That is material conception. But spiritual conception? Pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate (Īśo Invocation). That is spiritual idea. If you take cent percent God from God, still He is cent percent. That is pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate. Īśāvāsyam idam.

Lecture on SB 5.5.31 -- Vrndavana, November 18, 1976:

Suppose my body is cut into pieces and thrown. Then where is my body? This is material conception. But spiritually, if my body is cut into thousands of pieces, still I'll remain.

Lecture on SB 5.5.34 -- Vrndavana, November 21, 1976:

So the physician, the doctor, surgeon, he wanted to give him anaesthetic, chloroform. He refused: "There is no need of. Let the operation go on. I shall see what is there within the belly." Strong-minded, here, even in material conception, he was, he undergo, underwent the surgical operation without any chloroform. So that is possible. If one is fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then he has no more bodily conception of life.

Lecture on SB 5.6.5 -- Vrndavana, November 27, 1976:

If I discuss about Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa līlā in my neophyte stage, Kṛṣṇa will be pleased. No. You must first of all purify yourself by the regulative principle. And when you are completely free, then from the material conception, then you understand what is Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa līlā.

Lecture on SB 6.1.15 -- London, August 3, 1971:

Guest (5): If one realizes the impersonal Brahman, what progress can be made here from this?

Prabhupāda: So if you realize impersonal Brahman, there is chance of falling down again to the material conception. Because you are person, you cannot remain in impersonal stage. Therefore to elevate, to be elevated in the impersonal stage means there is chance of falling down again. But if you elevate yourself to the personal conception of the Absolute Truth, there is no falldown.

Lecture on SB 6.1.15 -- New York, August 1, 1971:

Simply we have to follow the regulative principles as they're enjoined by the ācāryas, as they're... Very simple method. And by chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, as much as possible, then we keep the standard. We keep the standard means we keep ourself in liberated state. Simply we have to be cautious that māyā, or material conception of life, may not again attack us.

Lecture on SB 6.2.15 -- Vrndavana, September 18, 1975:

Purification does not mean that you are senseless. No. Just like cataract operation of the eyes does not mean pluck out the eyes. No. The eyes will remain; the cataracts will be taken away. Then you will see. So when your material conception of life is finished, ahaṁ brahmāsmi. That is called ahaṁ brahmāsmi. And to simply realize ahaṁ brahmāsmi will not stay. You have to go further.

Lecture on SB 7.6.1 -- San Francisco, March 15, 1968:

The Supreme Lord is called Viṣṇu, all-pervading, the word used here, viṣṇoḥ. Viṣṇu means who is all-pervading at the same time He's a person. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is person; at the same time, He is all-pervading. How it is? In our material conception we cannot imagine, but there is a proof in your presence.

Lecture on SB 7.7.32-35 -- San Francisco, March 17, 1967, (incomplete lecture):

A person who is very highly learned, very gentle, civilized, vidyā-vinaya-sampanne brāhmaṇe, and a brāhmaṇa, still higher, intellectual personality, gavi, a cow, hasti, means an elephant, śuni, the dog, śva-pāke ca, and the dog-eaters, śuni caiva śva-pāke ca paṇḍitāḥ sama, all these—there are different varieties of living condition—but still, one who is in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, he sees everyone on the same level. How it is, that? Has he become a madman, that a highly intellectual person and the dog, he sees on the equal level? Yes. Because he is not seeing on the material platform; he is seeing on the spiritual platform. In the spiritual platform, there is no distinction. The all distinction is due to our material conception of life.

Lecture on SB 7.7.32-35 -- San Francisco, March 17, 1967, (incomplete lecture):

Just like somebody hears that in some business he has earned ten millions of dollars. He becomes so much, I mean to say, enthusiastic, "Oh, I have got this," and dances and like that. This is, of course, material conception. Similarly when one has actually in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, in developed position, his symptom will be that as soon as he hears of Kṛṣṇa, or God, he becomes immediately ecstatic and begins to dance and cry and sing just like a madman.

Lecture on SB 7.9.11 -- Montreal, August 17, 1968:

Prabhupāda: That is the difference between material mind and spiritual mind. Because you are thinking that you are this body, this is material conception. Therefore everything is material—mind, intelligence, and identification, everything material. Similarly, if you think, that thinking means mind, that you are Kṛṣṇa's, then everything is spiritual. That we have to practice. That is Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

Lecture on SB 7.9.11 -- Mayapur, February 18, 1976:

This daridra-nārāyaṇa-sevā has come under this misunderstanding that "We have to serve God, so when God comes as daridra, then we shall give. When God comes with Lakṣmī, with Sītā, with Rādhārāṇī, no, no, that is not required. We don't want to serve that God. We want to serve when God comes as poor man, as invalid with a stick, and begs. Oh I am so great. I am giving God." This is nonsense. This is not... What God cares for you? But they have conceived that, that "God, although He is great, he becomes a small beggar and begs from me." This is material conception of understanding.

Lecture on SB 7.9.13 -- Mayapur, February 20, 1976:

In spiritual world everyone knows that "The Lord is our master, and we are all servants." That is spiritual world. And material world means that "Why there should be one master? We are all master. Why you are searching after one God? Don't you see? All we are Gods, loitering in the street, especially the poor God, daridra-nārāyaṇa." This is all material conception.

Nectar of Devotion Lectures

The Nectar of Devotion -- Vrndavana, November 11, 1972:

For a mahā-bhāgavata, he has no such conception, material conception, because he sees everywhere Kṛṣṇa. Sthāvara-jaṅgama dekhe nā dekhe tāra mūrti (CC Madhya 8.274). He's seeing one tree, but he is, he's forgetful of the tree. He's seeing energy of Kṛṣṇa. As soon as he sees the energy of Kṛṣṇa, he sees Kṛṣṇa. Therefore instead of seeing the tree, he sees Kṛṣṇa.

The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 29, 1973:

Prabhupāda: This kind of conception, that "I shall become God," or "I shall declare myself God," this is also material conception. This is not spiritual conception. Spiritually, nobody can become God except God. But he has no knowledge of God. He's thinking that he's God.

Sri Caitanya-caritamrta Lectures

Lecture on CC Adi-lila 7.108 -- San Francisco, February 18, 1967:

But our "greatest" idea is that one who can swallow millions of skies within Himself, He is greatest. The material conception, they cannot go further. They can simply think of the greatest: the sky. That's all. "As great as the sky." But we Vaiṣṇava, we see that Kṛṣṇa has within His mouth millions of skies. So who is greatest? Kṛṣṇa is greatest or the sky is greatest?

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 20.125 -- New York, November 27, 1966:

And development of that Kṛṣṇa consciousness will be ended in love of, full love of Kṛṣṇa. When we reach that stage, love of God, love of Kṛṣṇa, then we love everyone because Kṛṣṇa is everyone. Without coming to that central point, our love on the material conception of life—equality, fraternity, brotherhood—are all simply cheating process.

Lecture on CC Madhya-lila 21.62-67 -- New York, January 6, 1966:

Even Brahmā, who is supposed to be in full knowledge of Vedic literature... He is the father of Vedic literatures. He handed over the Vedas to Nārada. Still, that ahaṅkāra, "I am something," is there even in Brahmā, and what to speak of ordinary living entities like us? This material conception of life is like that, "I am" and "mine." Ahaṁ mameti (SB 5.5.8). Ahaṁ mameti. "I am something, supreme," and "It is mine." This is the material disease.

Festival Lectures

His Divine Grace Bhaktiprajnana Kesava Maharaja's Disappearance Day Lecture, (Srila Prabhupada's Sannyasa Guru) -- Seattle, October 21, 1968:

My Guru Mahārāja (Prabhupāda begins to cry, choked voice) pulled me out from this material life. I have not lost anything. He was so kind upon me. I have gained. I left three children, I have got now three hundred children. So I am not loser. This is material conception. We think that we shall be loser by accepting Kṛṣṇa. Nobody is loser.

General Lectures

Lecture Engagement and Prasada Distribution -- Boston, April 26, 1969:

There is no, I mean to say, difference between the Supreme Person and His name. Just like in the material conception there is difference. If you want water, simply by chanting, "water, water," your satisfaction will not be there. But in the spiritual world, everything being absolute, there is no difference between the name Kṛṣṇa and the person Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture -- Bombay, March 19, 1972:

We are neither different nor one, simultaneously, and therefore it is called inconceivable, acintya. In our material conception we cannot think that one thing may be simultaneously one with another and different from another. So this is our position: jīva is śakti-tattva and bhagavān is śaktimān-tattva.

Philosophy Discussions

Philosophy Discussion on Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibnitz:

But just like we impregnate a woman by sex behavior, but here it is said that He simply glanced over the material nature, total material energy, and the creation begins. Sa aikṣata. So because He is omnipotent, He can impregnate the material nature not by sex behavior but simply by glancing, and the material nature immediately becomes agitated, and things begin to happen. So the original cause is glancing over material nature by God. But we materialists, we cannot think how by simply glancing, the material nature is set into motion. That is material conception.

Philosophy Discussion on Hegel:

Just like I am dreaming so many things, I am dreaming; there is nothing such thing, still I am dreaming. I am feeling that I am fallen in a dark well and I am now suffocating. But actually there is no well, there is no suffocation, but I'm thinking because I've fallen or I am absorbed in dream, therefore all these conceptions, material conceptions, māyā, exactly like dreaming.

Philosophy Discussion on William James:

Prabhupāda: Morality means to execute the orders of God. If God is satisfied then it is moral. Otherwise our so-called convention in this material conception of life, "This is good," "This is bad," they are described as mental concoction. We must have clear orders from God, and if we execute it for the satisfaction of God, this means, in other words, morality means the action which satisfies God, the Supreme Lord. That is morality.