The material world is illusory, ephemeral, transitory, changeful, impermanent and fleeting, yet still I would say that if we realize the intrinsic Light and Consciousness, we would see that even materiality, though changeful, is dependent upon the same spiritual laws. When you abide by Truth, Truth will protect you. Simplicity is the same: ultimately the simple ones are more reliable and believable. You can put your trust in them. A complex person you cannot trust.
     Therefore, to only teach outer courtesy is indoctrination since we are not changing the person inside. Subconsciously the person knows that he might be exposed and his worth is not that much. This creates a fear complex. Fear and ego together make him keep a self-image based upon a dual personality. This is what we may term materialism but I would not call it that. Simple materialism would be the life of matter, which is transitory, changeful and three dimensional, as we see it at this level. It has patterns; it has forms and colors and exists within the bounds of time and space. That materialism I cannot blame; it is perfectly all right. But complexity of personality is based on ignorance. It is not matter that should be shunned but ignorance.
     We may condemn matter but all the time our bodies exist on matter. We need food, water, clothing, housing, transportation, et cetera. All of these are material. I have seen that all those who condemn matter, whether in the good name of scholarship and philosophy or just as being mundane, are those who forget that their whole life exists on matter. They do not give up that. If the material is evil, I should not touch it anywhere, right? No food, no water, no clothing, no house, nothing. But they are always very security-conscious about these things while at the same time condemning matter. To me this is hypocrisy.

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WISDOM SHOWS MATTER QUITE IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT. It is illusory, no doubt, but at the same time it has its place in the third dimension, on which it exists. Beyond that it probably has no existence; in the fourth and fifth dimension it is not the same. I cannot condemn matter and drink water at the same time. I respect water; it quenches my thirst. On that level it is true and it is divine. It has electricity in it; it has molecules; it has light and vibrations. If I knew the spiritual science, I could convert water into Light. So water is not a lesser entity than I am, nor is any stone. A stone can be transformed into Light or vibrations, or just made to vanish. And if my body can also be full of Light, how is that stone a lesser entity than me, except in consciousness? The only difference is the level or degree of consciousness.
      So if I have to condemn matter or the material, I should condemn my body too. After a soul leaves the body, the body perishes anyway. It has no value any longer. Not to criticize or be judgmental, but if you carefully study people who condemn matter, you will see how attached they are to their own body. Therefore my outlook on vegetarianism is quite different. It is based upon, “Thou shalt not kill,” of course, but I feel that taking any visible life that oozes blood is the same in principle as taking the life of my son, my daughter, husband, wife or my own body. The animal has his own body and his kith and kin. If I am wishing that no nation should attack my country and that there should be no war, my simple solution is to stop killing other creatures, to understand that killing any being is wrong, whether it is human or animal. Killing is an animal instinct that has remained in the human being. Man wants to kill and therefore he will be killed. My view of vegetarianism is that by eating animal or flesh I am bringing the vibrations of violence into me. It’s not that vegetarians do not kill or commit crimes; they too can be greedy or stingy. We, as a kingdom of earth, all creatures, are joined together. The question arises: if we don’t kill other creatures, how are we going to survive? There are less-evolved foods like vegetables and fruits that have life too but contain juices, not blood. These have not evolved to the violent part of existence. Since you have to eat in order to survive, eating a lesser form of life is better. In that way you will be less likely to have violent thoughts.