“Materialism does not mean that one has to possess so many things. The actual fact is one may be a perfect transcendentalist or spiritual man by possessing the whole world, and one may be a gross materialist without possessing a farthing. So this distinction can be made on the basis of consciousness. When one is Krishna conscious while possessing everything in the world, he is a perfect spiritualist, and one may have renounced everything in the world, but lacking in Krishna consciousness, he is a gross materialist.” (Letter, April 23, 1970)