Matter means

Expressions researched:
"matter means"

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Matter means energy of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 1.15.27 -- Los Angeles, December 5, 1973:

They are searching after what is God, but here is God. Here is God. Therefore in the śāstra it is forbidden, arcā, arcye viṣṇau śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matir vaiṣṇave jāti-buddhiḥ. It is forbidden that when you worship Deity, you should not think that it is made of wood or stone or something else material. No. What is this material? Material is... Matter means energy of Kṛṣṇa. Just like the sunshine, or like the illumination of this light. It is the energy of this lamp. So it is not different. Similarly, as Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ (BG 7.4), this earth, water, air, fire, anything material, that is expansion of His energy.

1971 Conversations and Morning Walks

Matter means when it is covered by something, it is matter. That covering is unconsciousness.

Room Conversation -- August 17, 1971, London:

Prabhupāda: Everything. Sarvam idam khalv idaṁ brahma. Everything is Brahman. But when they are covered, that is called material exis...

Śyāmasundara: Each jīva is...

Prabhupāda: Just as sunshine is not covered, it is called cloudy. But this light, whatever light you are seeing, that is also sunshine. That is not different from the sunshine. And above the cloud, there is bright. So matter means when it is covered by something, it is matter. That covering is unconsciousness. That covering is also created of the sunshine, by the same energy. And then, by the same energy it is dissipated also. So the conclusion is living being, when it is covered by ignorance, that is material.

Therefore matter means when our consciousness is covered to understand Kṛṣṇa, that is matter.

Room Conversation -- August 17, 1971, London:

Śyāmasundara: Somehow or other, we create our own ignorance.

Prabhupāda: Everything is like that. Everything is spirit but at the same time, not spirit. Just like Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni (BG 9.4), "Everything is in Me, but I am not there." How is that everything is in Kṛṣṇa? How Kṛṣṇa is not there? He says like that.

Revatīnandana: Yes. He says because you can't see Him there.

Prabhupāda: Yes. Therefore matter means when our consciousness is covered to understand Kṛṣṇa, that is matter.

Śyāmasundara: I want to clear this up. Just like this table. It is full of millions of living entities, but there's not one...

Prabhupāda: Atom. Millions of atoms. But Kṛṣṇa says, "I am within the atom." So how you can say Kṛṣṇa is not there?

Revatīnandana: Now you were also telling me that Kṛṣṇa is in the atom as the jīva expansion.

Prabhupāda: Yes.

1973 Conversations and Morning Walks

Matter means where there is less feeling, and life means where there is acute feeling.

Morning Walk -- May 2, 1973, Los Angeles:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: I am not clear about the life equal to matter.

Prabhupāda: Life equal to matter means the same thing. Just like here you pinch, you feel, but here with a, I mean to say, iron instrument you pinch, you will not feel. Both things are the same, is it not? But here you feel, here you do not feel. So matter means where there is less feeling, and life means where there is acute feeling. That is meaning.

Matter means where there is absence of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In other things there is also consciousness.

Morning Walk -- May 2, 1973, Los Angeles:

Prabhupāda: This matter... You can understand by the finger. This matter, this nail, is production of this part. This part is life and this part is not life. But it is a production of this life. When you have cut your nails, you don't feel pain. But same instrument you touch your little, half inch down, immediately you feel pain. So therefore although qualitatively... This is also produced of matter, as produced of this part. But where there is feeling, that is spiritual, and where there is no feeling, that is matter. What is Kṛṣṇa consciousness? The human being is the same. But as soon as he feels that "There is Kṛṣṇa," he is spiritualist. As soon as he does not feel, he is materialist. That is the difference. It is the question of feeling. Matter means where there is absence of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In other things there is also consciousness. Because there is not Kṛṣṇa consciousness, it is material. And so far we are concerned, we have got the same consciousness, but Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Therefore we are superior, spiritual. So this material world means this part, and spiritual world means this part. This is the difference. Here you have got feeling. So the conclusion is when you have feeling in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is spiritual, that is superior. When you have no feeling of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, that is inferior. The same thing can be turned into superior and inferior by the change of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

1974 Conversations and Morning Walks

Matter means there are two things, spirit and matter. So anti-matter means spirit. That is our explanation. It is not matter.

Room Conversation with Robert Gouiran, Nuclear Physicist from European Center for Nuclear Research -- June 5, 1974, Geneva:

Prabhupāda: That they do not know, that "I am changing this body, and I am getting temporary engagement and wasting my time. And... But my problem, the change of body, death, is there. The death is there. Therefore my real problem is how to stop this death." That we want also. We do not wish to die. That is our propensity.

Robert Gouiran: Are you interested to know how we produce anti-matter in our laboratories from...?

Prabhupāda: Anti-matter, I have explained that, this... So our anti-matter is different. Anti-matter means spirit. But your anti-matter is different.

Robert Gouiran: Yes, it's just a word to define something.

Prabhupāda: Yes, but we mean, anti-matter means there are two things, spirit and matter. So anti-matter means spirit. That is our explanation. It is not matter. Just like matter is destructible. Anti-matter means which is not destructible.

1975 Conversations and Morning Walks

Matter means it is sometimes manifest, sometimes not. But life is always existing.

Morning Walk -- March 2, 1975, Atlanta:

Prabhupāda: Matter is also there, but matter means it is sometimes manifest, sometimes not. But life is always existing.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Unless the matter is touched by life, it cannot...

Prabhupāda: Manifest. Just like this coat. It has not automatically come on my body. I have gathered it. Similarly, life is there, and it is gathering the matter to dress himself in a particular way. This is the varieties of life.

So the real thing is, matter means forgetfulness of God.

Room Conversation with Jesuit -- May 19, 1975, Melbourne:

Prabhupāda: This is matter, but when it is used for God, this is spirit.

Jesuit: Well, that's why I say it is figurative use.

Prabhupāda: The same example, just like...

Jesuit: It still remains wood.

Prabhupāda: ...the church is made of matter, wood and stone, but it is spirit, because here there is nothing other business than God. So the real thing is, matter means forgetfulness of God. Read that, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ.

1976 Conversations and Morning Walks

Matter means where there is no Kṛṣṇa sensation. That is matter.

Morning Walk -- April 16, 1976, Bombay:

Indian (2): We say both are right, parā and aparā.

Prabhupāda: We do not say. We say this material world also the energy of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa says, bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṁ mano buddhir eva ca, bhinnā me prakṛtir aṣṭadhā (BG 7.4). He claims, "It is Mine," so how you can reject it? We cannot say anything Kṛṣṇa's is false. There is some purpose. I give this example, this finger: here is sensation, and here is no sensation. But both of them belongs to my body. Matter means where there is no Kṛṣṇa sensation. That is matter. And as soon as there is Kṛṣṇa sensation, it is spirit. Our Gosvāmīs' formula is that. Prāpañcikatayā buddhyā hari-sambandhi-vastunaḥ. Everything has got relation with Kṛṣṇa.

1977 Conversations and Morning Walks

Matter means matter develops on spirit. Without spirit there is no existence of matter. Just like spirit means consciousness.

Talk with Svarupa Damodara -- June 20, 1977, Vrndavana:

Svarūpa Dāmodara: In order to make a distinction between that life and the matter, especially to the material scientific community, we were thinking of presenting in the manner that matter, though in the spiritual sense there is nothing like matter, but still, there is matter...

Prabhupāda: No, there is no... Matter means matter develops on spirit. Without spirit there is no existence of matter. Just like spirit means consciousness. You see in this finger. Here is consciousness, and little after, there is no consciousness, this nail. But the nail has grown from the skin. So therefore, from consciousness, unconsciousness... Not that from unconsciousness, consciousness.

Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Very good example.

Prabhupāda: Unconsciousness means absence of consciousness.

Matter means when the spirit is not discovered.

Talk with Svarupa Damodara -- June 20, 1977, Vrndavana:

Prabhupāda: Superior feature.

Svarūpa Dāmodara: Yes. But both are spirit in a sense.

Prabhupāda: Everything is spirit. Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. Therefore I say there is no matter. Only matter means when the spirit is not discovered. When people are rascals, then there is matter. When people are intelligent, there is no matter. Sarvaṁ khalv idaṁ brahma. Therefore Māyāvādī philosophy, that "You are thinking you are not God," that is māyā.

1973 Correspondence

Matter means actually Murder.

Letter to Bhakta dasa -- Bhaktivedanta Manor 3 August, 1973:

From your report I can understand that you are very enthusiastic. I like also your idea of celebrating Govardhana puja. This should be our programme to attract the general mass of people. If we go on preaching vigorously as we have been for another 25 year then all these other so called religions will disappear. After all what do they have to offer. In the Christian religion all we see is Christ's picture as he was crucified, so how people can be attracted to such thing? There is no science, philosophy, music, art, Prasadam, it is no wonder that the people are rejecting this nonsense. Not that Christ himself was nonsense, but those who are preaching in his name they are nonsense because they do not follow even the simplest of his orders. "Thou shalt not Kill." I have met with so many Christians and when I ask them why Christians are killing they cannot answer. The first principle of spiritual life is non violence. They will say Killing in this matter means actually Murder, but accepting even this argument, it means that the society in which Christ was preaching were composed of Murderers, so what kind of men they were, and practically we see it is a fact that because they murdered Lord Jesus Christ. At any rate there is nothing in the world thAT CAN COMPARE WITH our Movement of Chanting and dancing. So Chant dance and when you get tired take Prasadm, this is our actual solid preaching work all over the world.

1976 Correspondence

Matter means forgetfulness of Krsna.

Letter to Srutadeva -- Vrindaban 30 October, 1976:

It is correct that the brahmajyoti is comprised of spiritual souls and that ultimately nothing is impersonal. Dead matter means forgetfulness of Krsna.