Guest: Is Kṛṣṇa consciousness the knowing, or the awareness, of the Absolute?
Prabhupāda: Certainly. Otherwise, why you are laboring so hard? To know yourself, know the Absolute. Three . . . five things. Kṛṣṇa consciousness means to know perfectly well five things. What are those? God, living entities, and this material nature, the time factor and the activities. God, the supreme controller.
However you may declare there is no God, there is a supreme controller. That we have to admit. There are so many things that which does not depend on our so-called scientific advancement of knowledge. It depends completely something else. Supreme controller. So that is God. They may call it nature, but they do not know nature, what is nature.
So God, and we are living entities. We are godly. We have got the same activity. As God is the creator of the whole universe, we are also creator of some skyscraper building or a city like Montreal or New York. We may do that. But in comparison to the God's creation and my creation, there is no comparison. It is very insignificant. If you go high up on the sky, you will see this globe is just like a point. And there are millions and trillions of globes and planets like this.
They are full of all opulences as you find here. So that is God's creation. In comparison to that creation, suppose if you have created a city or a skyscraper building. What is there? That is called living entity, minute; and the Lord: greatest. God is great; you are minute. Understanding of God, understanding of the living entities.
Then try to understand this material nature. What is this material nature? The material nature is exactly like your body. This body is working so nicely because you, the soul, is present within this body. That is a fact. You do not know how your hairs are growing, how your nails are growing. You are claiming, "It is my hair it is my nail" but can you explain how it is growing? No.
Similarly, the nature's work is going on wonderfully. Just like my . . . that is . . . so many things are going on wonderfully due to the presence of the spirit soul. Similarly, all this nature's work is going on so wonderfully due to the presence of God, the Supersoul. This is understanding of the material nature.
Then God, living entity, material nature, and then time. Time is eternal. There is no past, present and future. It is my calculation, according to . . . that is relativity. That is the modern scientific proposition by Professor Einstein. Your time and my time . . . he has also stated that the time factor in the higher planets are different. In the higher planet the time factor—our six months makes their one day. Just like our so many yugas makes twelve hours of Brahmā. So time is according to the different object. But time is eternal. Actually, there is no past, present, future or limitation. This is understanding of time.
So God, living entity, material nature, time and the activities. What are these activities? The activities are not eternal; they are temporary. You have got this temporary American body. You are thinking "American." You are busy twenty-four hours as American. I am Indian. Or these boys . . . the boy's activities are different, the woman's activities are different, man's activities are different, the Russian's activities are different, and American's activities, different. All different activities. So therefore activities are temporary. Temporary, according to the time, according to the atmosphere, according to the body, the activities are . . .
Just like the dog, unnecessarily running this side, this side. He thinks that, "I am very busy." He is very busy. He is businessman. But you are calling, "A nonsense dog is running here and there." Similarly, all these activities by your motorcar, they may think it is very important, but those who are in the higher status, they are thinking like dog is going this side, that side, this side, that side. So the activities are temporary.