meditational / hatha / astanga / etc

Imported quote 12949

After sitting on your seat, practice the three kinds of breathing exercises, and thus gradually control the life air, the mind and the senses. Completely free yourself from all material contamination, and with great patience begin to meditate on the Supreme Personality of Godhead. (More...)

Imported quote 12950

In this verse the entire yoga system is described in summary, and special stress is given to the breathing exercise for stopping the disturbing mind. The mind, by nature, is always oscillating, for it is very fickle, but the breathing exercise is meant to control it. This process of controlling the mind might have been very possible in those days millions of years ago when Dhruva Maharaja took to it, but at the present moment the mind has to be fixed directly on the lotus feet of the Lord by the chanting process. By chanting the Hare Krsna mantra one immediately concentrates on the sound vibration and thinks of the lotus feet of the Lord, and very quickly one is elevated to the position of samadhi, or trance. If one goes on chanting the holy names of the Lord, which are not different from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, naturally his mind becomes absorbed in thought of the Lord. (More...)

Imported quote 13150

In Badarikasrama Dhruva Maharaja's senses became completely purified because he bathed regularly in the crystal-clear purified water. He fixed his sitting position and by yogic practice controlled the breathing process and the air of life; in this way his senses were completely withdrawn. Then he concentrated his mind on the arca-vigraha form of the Lord, which is the exact replica of the Lord, and thus meditating upon Him entered into complete trance. (More...)

Imported quote 13152

Here is a description of the astahga-yoga system, to which Dhruva Maharaja was already accustomed. Astahga-yoga was never meant to be practiced in a fashionable city. Dhruva Maharaja went to Badarikasrama, and in a solitary place, alone, he practiced yoga. He concentrated his mind on the arca-vigraha, the worshipable Deity of the Lord, which exactly represents the Supreme Lord, and thus thinking constantly of that Deity, he became absorbed in trance. Worship of the arca-vigraha is not idol worship. The arca-vigraha is an incarnation of the Lord in a form appreciable by a devotee. Therefore devotees engage in the temple in the service of the Lord as arca-vigraha, a form made of sthūla (material) objects such as stone, metal, wood, jewels or paint. All of these are called sthūla, or physical representations. Since the devotees follow the regulative principles of worship, even though the Lord is there in His physical form, He is nondifferent from His original spiritual form. Thus the devotee gets the benefit of achieving the ultimate goal of life, that is to say, becoming always absorbed in thought of the Lord. This incessant thought of the Lord, as prescribed in the Bhagavad-gita, makes one the topmost yogi. (More...)

Imported quote 13868

Having attained to the stage of devotion, Maharaja Prthu became uninterested in the practices of jnana and yoga and abandoned them. This is the stage of pure devotional life as described by Rūpa Gosvami: anyabhilasita-sūnyam jnana-karmady-anavrtam/ anukūlyena krsnanusilanam bhaktir uttama. Real jnana means understanding that the living entity is the eternal servant of the Lord. This knowledge is attained after many, many births, as confirmed in Bhagavad-gita: bahūnam janmanam ante jnanavan mam prapadyate (Bg. 7.19). In the paramahamsa stage of life, one fully realizes Krsna as everything: vasudevaḥ sarvam iti sa mahatma sudurlabhaḥ. When one understands fully that Krsna is everything and that Krsna consciousness is the highest perfection of life, he becomes a paramahamsa, or mahatma. Such a mahatma or paramahamsa is very rare to find. A paramahamsa or pure devotee is never attracted by hatha-yoga or speculative knowledge. He is simply interested in the unalloyed devotional service of the Lord. Sometimes one who is formerly addicted to these processes tries to perform devotional service and the jnana and yoga practices at the same time, but as soon as one comes to the unalloyed stage of devotional service, he is able to give up all other methods of self-realization. In other words, when one firmly realizes Krsna as the supreme goal, he is no longer attracted by mystic yoga practice or the speculative empirical methods of knowledge. (More...)

Imported quote 13876

From the description in this verse, it appears that Maharaja Prthu had no desire to promote himself to the higher planetary systems. He wanted to return home immediately, back to Godhead. Although Maharaja Prthu stopped all practice of mystic yoga after realizing Krsna consciousness, he nonetheless took advantage of his previous practice and immediately placed himself on the brahma-bhūta platform in order to accelerate his return to Godhead. The aim of this particular system of asana, known as the sitting posture for liberation, or muktasana, is to attain success in kunḍalini-cakra and gradually raise the life from the mūladhara-cakra to the svadhisthana-cakra, then to the manipūra-cakra, the anahata-cakra, the visuddha-cakra, and finally to the ajna-cakra. When the yogi reaches the ajna-cakra, between the two eyebrows, he is able to penetrate the brahma-randhra, or the hole in his skull, and go to any planet he desires up to the spiritual kingdom of Vaikuntha, or Krsnaloka. The conclusion is that one has to come to the brahma-bhūta stage for going back to Godhead. However, those who are in Krsna consciousness, or who are practicing bhakti-yoga (sravanam kirtanam visnoḥ smaranam pada-sevanam), can return to Godhead without even practicing the muktasana process. The purpose of muktasana practice is to come to the brahma-bhūta stage, for without being on the brahma-bhūta stage, one cannot be promoted to the spiritual sky. As stated in Bhagavad-gita: mam ca yo 'vyabhicarena bhakti-yogena sevate/ sa gunan samatityaitan brahma-bhūyaya kalpate (Bg. 14.26). The bhakti-yogi, practicing bhakti-yoga, is always situated on the brahma-bhūta stage (brahma-bhūyaya kalpate). If a devotee is able to continue on the brahma-bhūta platform, he enters the spiritual sky automatically after death and returns to Godhead. Consequently a devotee need not feel sorry for not having practiced the kunḍalini-cakra or not penetrating the six cakras one after another. As far as Maharaja Prthu was concerned, he had already practiced this process, and since he did not want to wait for the time when his death would occur naturally, he took advantage of the sat-cakra penetration process and thus gave up the body according to his own free will and immediately entered the spiritual sky. (More...)

Imported quote 14106

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...)

Imported quote 16470

Prabhupada: Yes. Na mam karmani limpanti na me karma-phale sprha [Bg 4.14]. This is position. We are here under the pressure of karma-phala. By the result of our past lives' fruitive activities we have got this body, material body. That is also not our real body. That is the body of the prison house, just like when a criminal is put into the prison house, he is given a different dress. In hospital, in prison house, when a man is there, his original dress is taken. It is kept. When he's released from the hospital or jail, the same dress is again returned. Otherwise, his present dress is taken and a separate dress is given. Similarly, we have got our spiritual body, not that we are zero, as the Mayavadi thinks. We are not zero. We have got our spiritual body but very, very small. Very small. The measurement is given: one ten-thousandth part of the tip of the hair. Very minute. Anor aniyan mahato mahiyan [Katha Upanisad ]. (More...)

Imported quote 20918

Anyway I know the people of Tehran they like hatha yoga very much. I understand Parivrajakacarya Swami is teaching a course combining both hatha and bhakti yoga to attract the people. This is a very good idea. Somehow or other inject the bhakti yoga. That will save them from the degradations of sense gratification. (More...)

Imported quote 20987

We are not interested in these things like hatha-yoga and swimming. We do not encourage such useless activities. We would never take to such activities for earning money. We get money enough. We don't require to adopt any unauthorized means. At present we spend 8 lakhs of rupees every month and Krishna sends all money. Our process is to chant Hare Krishna. That is sufficient.

You are welcome to Vrndavana anytime.

I hope this meets you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Svami

(More...)

Imported quote 21049

Please accept my greetings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated Feb. 1, 1975 and have noted the contents. I am glad that you enjoyed our chanting. You are welcome to come again and again if you like. You should understand though that we are not very much concerned with the principles of Hatha-yoga. We practice Bhakti-yoga strictly and since Bhakti includes all other results obtained from practicing other yogas as it is declared in the Bhagavad-gita to be the culmination of all yogas it becomes unnecessary for us to apply any other techniques besides simply chanting and hearing about the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna who is called Yogesvara or the master of all yoga. Of course, it is certain that if one sits with straight spine it may be of some help in his ability to concentrate, but it cannot be considered as essential by any means. That thing which is really essential in Bhakti is to develop one's eternal dormant love for Krishna.

I hope this meets you in good health.

Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

(More...)

The haṭha-yoga system is meant for controlling the five kinds of air encircling the pure soul by different kinds of sitting postures

The hatha-yoga system is meant for controlling the five kinds of air encircling the pure soul by different kinds of sitting postures-not for any material profit, but for liberation of the minute soul from the entanglement of the material atmosphere. (More...)

The Lord gives instruction to Arjuna as to how one can come to that position by the practice of mysticism or yoga, known as aṣṭāṅga-yoga, which is divisible into an eightfold procedure

Shutting out all external sense objects, keeping the eyes and vision concentrated between the two eyebrows, suspending the inward and outward breaths within the nostrils-thus controlling the mind, senses and intelligence, the transcendentalist becomes free from desire, fear and anger. One who is always in this state is certainly liberated. (More...)

After explaining the above principles of liberation in the Supreme, the Lord gives instruction to Arjuna as to how one can come to that position by the practice of mysticism or yoga, known as astahga-yoga, which is divisible into an eightfold procedure called yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi. In the Sixth Chapter the subject of yoga is explicitly detailed, and at the end of the Fifth it is only preliminarily explained. One has to drive out the sense objects such as sound, touch, form, taste and smell by the pratyahara (breathing) process in yoga, and then keep the vision of the eyes between the two eyebrows and concentrate on the tip of the nose with half closed lids. There is no benefit in closing the eyes altogether, because then there is every chance of falling asleep. Nor is there benefit in opening the eyes completely, because then there is the hazard of being attracted by sense objects. The breathing movement is restrained within the nostrils by neutralizing the up-and down-moving air within the body. By practice of such yoga one is able to gain control over the senses, refrain from outward sense objects, and thus prepare oneself for liberation in the Supreme. (More...)

This yoga process helps one become free from all kinds of fear and anger and thus feel the presence of the Supersoul in the transcendental situation. In other words, Krsna consciousness is the easiest process of executing yoga principles. This will be thoroughly explained in the next chapter. A Krsna conscious person, however, being always engaged in devotional service, does not risk losing his senses to some other engagement. This is a better way of controlling the senses than by the astahga-yoga. (More...)

The Patanjali yoga system is called aṣṭāṅga-yoga. Sometimes impersonalists pollute the Patanjali yoga system because they are monists.

The realization of the personal form of the Lord is the highest perfectional stage of yoga. In the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gita, where yoga practice is described, this realization of the personal form of the Lord is called the perfection of yoga. After practicing the sitting postures and other regulative principles of the system, one finally reaches the stage of samadhi-absorption in the Supreme. In the samadhi stage one can see the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His partial form as Paramatma, or as He is. Samadhi is described in authoritative yoga scriptures, such as the Patanjali-sūtras, to be a transcendental pleasure. The yoga system described in the books of Patanjali is authoritative, and the modern so-called yogis who have manufactured their own ways, not consulting the authorities, are simply ludicrous. The Patanjali yoga system is called astahga-yoga. Sometimes impersonalists pollute the Patanjali yoga system because they are monists. Patanjali describes that the soul is transcendentally pleased when he meets the Supersoul and sees Him. If the existence of the Supersoul and the individual is admitted, then the impersonalist theory of monism is nullified. Therefore some impersonalists and void philosophers twist the Patanjali system in their own way and pollute the whole yoga process. (More...)

According to Patanjali, when one becomes free from all material desires he attains his real transcendental situation, and realization of that stage is called spiritual power. In material activities a person engages in the modes of material nature. The aspirations of such people are (1) to be religious, (2) to be economically enriched, (3) to be able to gratify the senses, and at last, (4) to become one with the Supreme. According to the monists, when a yogi becomes one with the Supreme and loses his individual existence, that is the highest stage, called kaivalya. But actually the stage of realization of the Personality of Godhead is kaivalya. The oneness of understanding that the Supreme Lord is fully spiritual and that in full spiritual realization one can understand what He is-the Supreme Personality of Godhead-is called kaivalya, or, in the language of Patanjali, realization of spiritual power. His proposal is that when one is freed from material desires and fixed in spiritual realization of the self and the Superself, that is called cit-sakti. In full spiritual realization there is a perception of spiritual happiness, and that happiness is described in Bhagavad-gita as the supreme happiness, which is beyond the material senses. Trance is described to be of two kinds, samprajnata and asamprajnata, or mental speculation and self-realization. In samadhi or asamprajnata, one can realize, by his spiritual senses, the spiritual form of the Lord. That is the ultimate goal of spiritual realization. (More...)

According to Patanjali, when one is fixed in constant realization of the supreme form of the Lord, that is the perfectional stage, as attained by Kardama Muni. Unless one attains this stage of perfection-beyond the perfection of the preliminaries of the yoga system-there is no ultimate realization. There are eight perfections in the astahga-yoga system. One who has attained them can become lighter than the lightest and greater than the greatest, and he can achieve whatever he likes. But even achieving such material success in yoga is not the perfection or the ultimate goal. The ultimate goal is described here: Kardama Muni saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead in His eternal form. Devotional service begins with the relationship of the individual soul and the Supreme Soul, or Krsna and Krsna's devotees, and when one attains it there is no question of falling down. If, through the yoga system, one wants to attain the stage of seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead face to face, but is attracted instead to attainment of some material power, then he is detoured from proceeding further. Material enjoyment, as encouraged by bogus yogis, has nothing to do with the transcendental realization of spiritual happiness. Real devotees of bhakti-yoga accept only the material necessities of life absolutely needed to maintain the body and soul together; they refrain completely from all exaggerated material sense gratification. They are prepared to undergo all kinds of tribulation, provided they can make progress in the realization of the Personality of Godhead. (More...)

The yogic practices in general and haṭha-yoga in particular are not ends in themselves; they are means to the end of attaining steadiness.

The yogic practices in general and hatha-yoga in particular are not ends in themselves; they are means to the end of attaining steadiness. First one must be able to sit properly, and then the mind and attention will become steady enough for practicing yoga. Gradually, one must control the circulation of vital air, and with such control he will be able to withdraw the senses from sense objects. In the previous verse it is stated that one must observe celibacy. The most important aspect of sense control is controlling sex life. That is called brahmacarya. By practicing the different sitting postures and controlling the vital air, one can control and restrain the senses from unrestricted sense enjoyment. (More...)

This system of yoga for controlling the breathing process is called prāṇāyāma, and in the beginning it is practiced in the haṭha-yoga system through different sitting postures.

And there are even others who are inclined to the process of breath restraint to remain in trance, and they practice stopping the movement of the outgoing breath into the incoming, and incoming breath into the outgoing, and thus at last remain in trance, stopping all breathing. Some of them, curtailing the eating process, offer the outgoing breath into itself, as a sacrifice. (More...)

This system of yoga for controlling the breathing process is called pranayama, and in the beginning it is practiced in the hatha-yoga system through different sitting postures. All of these processes are recommended for controlling the senses and for advancement in spiritual realization. This practice involves controlling the air within the body to enable simultaneous passage in opposite directions. The apana air goes downward, and the prana air goes up. The pranayama yogi practices breathing the opposite way until the currents are neutralized into pūraka, equilibrium. Similarly, when the exhaled breathing is offered to inhaled breathing, it is called recaka. When both air currents are completely stopped, it is called kumbhaka-yoga. By practice of kumbhaka-yoga, the yogis increase the duration of life by many, many years. A Krsna conscious person, however, being always situated in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, automatically becomes the controller of the senses. His senses, being always engaged in the service of Krsna, have no chance of becoming otherwise engaged. So at the end of life, he is naturally transferred to the transcendental plane of Lord Krsna; consequently he makes no attempt to increase his longevity. He is at once raised to the platform of liberation. [Bg. 14.26] A Krsna conscious person begins from the transcendental stage, and he is constantly in that consciousness. Therefore, there is no falling down, and ultimately he enters into the abode of the Lord without delay. The practice of reduced eating is automatically done when one eats only Krsna prasadam, or food which is offered first to the Lord. Reducing the eating process is very helpful in the matter of sense control. And without sense control there is no possibility of getting out of the material entanglement. (More...)

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