 Inglis writes that "Living in the Material World" contrasts not only the physical with the spiritual, but also a number of other issues for Harrison, including "past and present, West and East, noise and calm". Leng notes the irony in the fact that although Harrison's experience with the Beatles "cast him into the material world", his exposure to Eastern philosophy came through that same experience, and thus the Beatles were "both his nemesis and his saviors".
