highest form

Devotional service by the devotee in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the most perfect stage of the yoga system. Kṛṣṇa, or the Supersoul, dictates from within, while from without the devotee is helped by the spiritual master, who

This is the form of the Lord which is meditated upon by the followers of the yoga process, and it is pleasing to the yogis in meditation. It is not imaginary, but is factual, as proved by great yogis. The Lord is full in eight kinds of achievement, but for others these achievements are not possible in full perfection. (More...)

Krsna consciousness is the highest yoga performance by trained devotional yogis. Despite all the allurement of yoga practice, the eight kinds of yogic perfections are hardly achievable by the common man. But here it is described that the Lord, who appeared before the four sages, is Himself full of all eight of those perfections. The highest yoga-marga process is to concentrate the mind twenty-four hours a day on Krsna. This is called Krsna consciousness. The yoga system, as described in Srimad-Bhagavatam and Bhagavad-gita or as recommended in the Patanjali yoga process, is different from the nowadays practiced hatha-yoga as it is generally understood in the Western countries. Real yoga practice is to control the senses and, after such control is established, to concentrate the mind on the Narayana form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krsna. Lord Krsna is the original Personality of Godhead, and all the other Visnu forms with four hands decorated with conch, lotus, club and wheel-are plenary expansions of Krsna. In Bhagavad-gita it is recommended that one should meditate upon the form of the Lord. To practice concentration of the mind, one has to sit with the head and the back in a straight line, and one must practice in a secluded place, sanctified by a sacred atmosphere. The yogi should observe the rules and regulations of brahmacarya-to strictly live a life of self-restraint and celibacy. One cannot practice yoga in a congested city, living a life of extravagancy, including unrestricted sex indulgence and adultery of the tongue. Yoga practice necessitates controlling the senses, and the beginning of sense control is to control the tongue. One who can control the tongue can also have control over the other senses. One cannot allow the tongue to take all kinds of forbidden food and drink and at the same time advance in the practice of yoga. It is a very regrettable fact that many unauthorized so-called yogis come to the Western countries and exploit people's inclination towards yoga practice. Such unauthorized yogis even dare to say publicly that one can indulge in the habit of drinking and at the same time practice meditation. (More...)

Five thousand years ago Lord Krsna recommended yoga practice to Arjuna, but Arjuna frankly expressed his inability to follow the stringent rules and regulations of the yoga system. One should be very practical in every field of activities and should not waste his valuable time in practicing useless gymnastic feats in the name of yoga. Real yoga is to search out the four-handed Supersoul within one's heart and see Him perpetually in meditation. Such continued meditation is called samadhi, and the object of this meditation is the four-handed Narayana, with bodily decorations as described in this chapter of Srimad-Bhagavatam. If, however, one wants to meditate upon something void or impersonal, it will take a very long time before he achieves success in yoga practice. We cannot concentrate our mind on something which is void or impersonal. Real yoga is to fix the mind on the form of the Lord, the four-handed Narayana who is sitting in everyone's heart. (More...)

The Supersoul, being seated in everyone's heart, can witness everyone's activities-past, present and future. In the Upanisads the Supersoul is described as being seated with the individual soul as friend and witness. As a friend, the Lord is always anxious to get back His friend, the individual soul, and bring him back home, back to Godhead. As a witness He is the bestower of all benedictions, and He endows each individual with the result of his actions. The Supersoul gives the individual soul all facilities to achieve whatever he desires to enjoy in this material world. Suffering is a reaction to the living entity's propensity to try to lord it over the material world. But the Lord instructs His friend, the individual soul, how is also His son, to give up all other engagements and simply surrender unto Him for perpetual bliss and an eternal life full of knowledge. This is the last instruction of Bhagavad-gita, the most authorized and widely read book on all varieties of yoga. Thus the last word of Bhagavad-gita is the last word in the perfection of yoga. (More...)

It is stated in Bhagavad-gita that a person who is always absorbed in Krsna consciousness is the topmost yogi. What is Krsna consciousness? As the individual soul is present by his consciousness throughout his entire body, so the Supersoul or Paramatma is present throughout the whole creation by superconsciousness. This superconscious energy is imitated by the individual soul, who has limited consciousness. I can understand what is going on within my limited body, but I cannot feel what is going on in another's body. I am present throughout my body by my consciousness, but my consciousness is not present in another's body. The Supersoul or Paramatma, however, being present everywhere and within everyone, is also conscious of everyone's existence. The theory that the soul and the Supersoul are one is not acceptable because it is not confirmed by authoritative Vedic literature. The individual soul's consciousness cannot act in superconsciousness. This superconsciousness can be achieved, however, by dovetailing individual consciousness with the consciousness of the Supreme. This dovetailing process is called surrender, or Krsna consciousness. From the teachings of Bhagavad-gita we learn very clearly that Arjuna, in the beginning, did not want to fight with his brothers and relatives, but after understanding Bhagavad-gita he dovetailed his consciousness with the superconsciousness of Krsna. He was then in Krsna consciousness. (More...)

A person in full Krsna consciousness acts by the dictation of Krsna. In the beginning of Krsna consciousness, dictation is received through the transparent medium of the spiritual master. When one is sufficiently trained and acts in submissive faith and love for Krsna under the direction of the bona fide spiritual master, the dovetailing process becomes more firm and accurate. This stage of devotional service by the devotee in Krsna consciousness is the most perfect stage of the yoga system. At this stage, Krsna, or the Supersoul, dictates from within, while from without the devotee is helped by the spiritual master, who is the bona fide representative of Krsna. From within He helps the devotee as caitya, for He is seated within the heart of everyone. Understanding that God is seated within everyone's heart is not, however, sufficient. One has to be acquainted with God both from within and without, and one must take dictation from within and without to act in Krsna consciousness. This is the highest perfectional stage of the human form of life and the topmost perfection of all yoga. (More...)

For a perfect yogi, there are eight kinds of super-achievements: One can become lighter than air, one can become smaller than the atom, one can become bigger than a mountain, one can achieve whatever he desires, one can control like the Lord, and so on. But when one rises to the perfectional stage of receiving dictation from the Lord, that is greater than the stage of material achievements above mentioned. The breathing exercise of the yoga system which is generally practiced is just the beginning. Meditation on the Supersoul is just another step forward. But to obtain direct contact with the Supersoul and take dictation from Him is the highest perfectional stage. The breathing exercises of meditation practice were very difficult even 5000 years ago, otherwise Arjuna would not have rejected the proposal of Krsna that he adopt this system. This age of Kali is called the fallen age. In this age, people in general are short-living and very slow to understand self-realization or spiritual life; they are mostly unfortunate, and therefore if someone is a little bit interested in self-realization he is likely to be misguided by so many frauds. The only way to realize the perfect stage of yoga is to follow the principles of Bhagavad-gita as practiced by Lord Caitanya. This is the simplest and highest perfection of yoga practice. Lord Caitanya demonstrated this Krsna consciousness yoga system in a practical manner simply by chanting the holy name of Krsna, as prescribed in the Vedanta, Srimad-Bhagavatam, Bhagavad-gita, and many important Puranas. (More...)

The largest number of Indians follow this yoga process, and in the United States it is gradually spreading in many cities. It is very easy and practical for this age, especially for those who are serious about success in yoga. No other process of yoga can be successful in this age. The meditation process was possible in the golden age of Satya-yuga because people in that age used to live for hundreds of thousands of years. If one wants success in practical yoga practice, it is advised that he take to the chanting of Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, and he will actually feel himself making progress. In Bhagavad-gita this practice of Krsna consciousness is prescribed as raja-vidya, or the king of all erudition. (More...)

Those who have taken to this most sublime bhakti-yoga system, who practice devotional service in transcendental love of Krsna, can testify to its happy and easy execution. The four sages Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana and Sanat-kumara also became attracted by the features of the Lord and the transcendental aroma of the dust of His lotus feet, as already described in verse 43. (More...)

Yoga necessitates controlling the senses, and bhakti-yoga, or Krsna consciousness, is the process of purifying the senses. When the senses are purified, they are automatically controlled. One cannot stop the activities of the senses by artificial means, but if one purifies the senses by engaging in the service of the Lord, the senses can not only be controlled from rubbish engagement, but they can be engaged in the Lord's transcendental service, as aspired to by the four sages Sanaka, Sanatana, Sanandana and Sanat-kumara. Krsna consciousness is not, therefore, a manufactured concoction of the speculative mind. It is the process enjoined in Bhagavad-gita: man-mana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namaskuru. (Bg. 9.34) (More...)

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In the hatha-yoga system one has to practice bodily exercises, dhyana, dharana, asana, meditation, etc. One also has to sit in one place in a particular posture and concentrate his gaze on the tip of the nose. There are so many rules and regulations for the hatha-yoga system that it is practically impossible to perform it in this age. The alternative system of bhakti-yoga is very easy not only in this age but in others as well, for this yoga system was advocated long ago by Lord Siva when he advised the princes, the sons of Maharaja Pracinabarhisat. The bhakti-yoga system is not newly introduced, for even five thousand years ago Lord Krsna recommended this bhakti-yoga as the topmost yoga. As Krsna tells Arjuna in Bhagavad-gita: (More...)

[break] …devotional service to the Lord, without knowing that perfectional stage of devotion means attainment of the perfectional stage of yoga system. This sort of meditation by the gopis constantly about Krsna is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gita as the topmost position of a yogi. Krsna knew very well the psychology of the minds of women. When the beloved person of a woman is away from the sight, the woman thinks of the beloved more meditatively than the beloved being present before her. Krsna wanted to teach by the behavior of the gopis that anyone who is constantly in trance like the gopis surely attains ultimately the lotus feet of Krsna by such meditation, without any doubt. (More...)

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So Krsna was so friendly and very loving friend, not ordinary friend. Therefore Krsna said, "My dear Arjuna, don't be disappointed because you cannot execute this astahga-yoga. The first-class yogi is he who always thinks of Me." Yoginam api sarvesam mad-gatenantar-atmana [Bg 6.47]. One who has taken Krsna within his heart and always thinking of Krsna, satatam smartavyaḥ visnuḥ [Cc Madhya 22.113], this is the system. This is meditation. If one is thinking of Krsna twenty-four hours, that is the first-class meditation. You are seeing Krsna here, standing with Radharani. And if you see always, then you naturally you get impression of Krsna within the heart. And if you serve Krsna... Those who are engaged in service, just like they are offering this foodstuff, Krsna. They have prepared this foodstuff very nicely, thinking that "Krsna will eat. Let us do it very cleanly and attentively." And whatever they can offer, first-class thing... That is meditation, because they are thinking of Krsna, "This foodstuff will be taken by Krsna. This dress will be used by Krsna. These flowers will be offered to the lotus feet of Krsna." Real meditation is this. And that is the first-class yoga. Therefore Krsna is advising in the Seventh Chapter that "If you cannot think of Me, then you can think of Me in your ordinary dealings." Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya [Bg 7.8]: "I am the taste of the water." (More...)

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