by Satsvarupa dāsa Adhikārī (ISKCON-Boston)

First let me offer my humble obeisances to my spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the pure servant of God and thus the knower of the scripture. All transcendental knowledge contained in this essay emanates from his teachings, which are exactly in line with the disciplic succession going back to Lord Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead and original source of this narration of Kardama Muni. The disciple of Srila Prabhupada has simply to present the teachings of the spiritual master intact; then there will be good benefit for the reader seeking self-realization and spiritual happiness.

In the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krsna teaches the mystic yoga process complete with sitting postures and the method of meditation under strict regulations. At the conclusion of the chapter, in the last verse, the Lord describes the topmost yogi: "He who, full of faith, offers everything to Me and worships Me, is the most united with Me in yoga." Nowadays the yoga system, as taught authoritatively in Bhagavad-gita and the Patanjali-yoga-sutra, is not being followed. Instead, false teachers are allowing their students to engage in all kinds of material sense gratification whiled collecting a fee from them and inducing them to think in their meditation that they are one with God. Such students of false cheaters cannot actually be making spiritual progress in yoga.