Yoga

Through practice of the eightfold Yoga system-Astanga Yoga, that is, which consists of posture, controlling the breath, concentration, meditation, etc.-the yogis can realize the partial manifestation of the Supreme Person, Which is known as the Supersoul, or Paramatman. This Paramatman is situated in everyone's heart as the indwelling Witness and Guide. In the Upanishads the relationship between the individual soul and the Supersoul is compared to two birds sitting in one tree. One bird is eating the fruit of the tree, while the other bird simply sits and watches. The individual soul is compared to the eating bird, and the Paramatman to the bird who is watching. The Paramatman witnesses all our actions, and awards us the fruits of these actions:

He is also waiting to help us go back to home, back to Godhead, should we decide to turn to Him for guidance. He is our dearmost Friend. But the conditioned souls have chosen to ignore Him. Still, He is so kind as to stay with us constantly, and to try converting us to our real and happy state.

Realization of the Supersoul is a step higher than realization of the impersonal Brahman. It recognizes both eternity (Sat) and knowledge (Chit). Yet the bliss, Ananda, of full spiritual realization is still missing. Narada Muni, a very great saint, says in The Srimad Bhagwatam:

In the Sixth Chapter of The Bhagavad-gita, Krishna describes the Yoga system to Arjuna, and Arjuna rejects it as being too difficult. Arjuna was such a very intelligent man that he understood The Bhagavad-gita in about an hour, as it was spoken to him by Lord Krishna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. Today men are studying The Gita for lifetimes and still cannot understand it. Also, Arjuna had the qualification of being Krishna's friend and devotee. Yet he said:

If the great-souled Arjuna rejected this system as being too difficult for him 5,000 years ago, how can we, who are far inferior to Arjuna and who are living in an age that is very unconducive to spiritual practice, hope to perfect this system of Yoga? Our duration of life is shortened, we have poor memory, meager intelligence, and are unfortunate in so many ways. This Yoga system was the recommended means for spiritual realization in the "Satya Yuga," or Golden Age of a long-gone antiquity. Now we are in the midst of a new age, called "Kali Yuga," which is characterized by quarrel, chaos, and heavy iron industry. And for realization in this age the chanting of the Holy Names of God is recommended by many authorities and Scriptures. According to Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Who appeared some 500 years ago in India:

In Satya Yuga, by practicing the Yoga system-with devotion-one could realize Krishna, the Supreme Person. But even then there were many pitfalls along the way. For example, some yogis might become attracted by the development of their mystic powers. The yogi who misuses these powers for personal gain surely brings his spiritual progress to a halt.

Other yogis, having realized the Paramatman, think that they have realized the Absolute Truth in full, and therefore do not go on to realize the Supreme Person, of Whom the Supersoul is only a partial manifestation. Others are caused to fall down by attraction for material sense enjoyment. The senses are artificially controlled by the Yoga system, but as soon as some opportunity for sense enjoyment presents itself, the senses may again exert themselves to take advantage of it. Another mistake is to falsely identify the individual soul with the Supersoul, and again come to the faulty conclusion that one is God Himself.