The purpose of the yoga system is to make the mind into a friend instead of an enemy. In material contact, the mind is in a kind of drunken condition. As stated in Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 20.117),

Actually, every living entity is intended to abide by the dictation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is seated in everyones heart as Paramatma. When the mind is misled by the external illusory energy, one becomes entangled in material activities. Therefore, as soon as ones mind is controlled through one of the yoga systems, one is to be considered as having already reached the destination. One has to abide by superior dictation. When the mind is fixed on the superior nature, he has no alternative but to follow the dictation of the Supreme. The mind must admit some superior dictation and follow it. When the mind is controlled, one automatically follows the dictation of the Paramatma, or Supersoul. Because this transcendental position is at once achieved by one who is in Krsna consciousness, the devotee of the Lord is unaffected by the dualities of material existencedistress and happiness, cold and heat, etc. This state is called samadhi, or absorption in the Supreme.

Book knowledge without realization of the Supreme Truth is useless. This is stated as follows:

There are men in the modes of goodness, passion, and ignorance, and to reclaim all these conditioned souls, there are eighteen Puranas. Six Puranas are meant for those in the mode of goodness, six for those in the mode of passion, and six for those in the mode of ignorance. The Padma Purana is written for those in the mode of goodness. Because there are many different types of men, there are many different Vedic rituals. In the Vedic literatures there are descriptions of rituals and ceremonies in which a goat may be sacrificed in the presence of the goddess Kali. This is described in the Markandeya Purana, but this Purana is meant for the instruction of those in the mode of ignorance.

It is very difficult for one to give up his attachments all at once. If one is addicted to meat-eating and is suddenly told that he must not eat meat, he cannot do so. If one is attached to drinking liquor and is suddenly told that liquor is no good, he cannot accept this advice. Therefore, in the Puranas we find certain instructions that say in essence, All right, if you want to eat meat, just worship the goddess Kali and sacrifice a goat for her. Only then can you eat meat. You cannot eat meat just by purchasing it from the butcher shop. No, there must be sacrifice or restriction. In order to sacrifice a goat to the goddess Kali, one must make arrangements for a certain date and utilize certain paraphernalia. That type of puja, or worship, is allowed on the night of the dark moon, which means once a month. There are also certain mantras to be chanted when the goat is sacrificed. The goat is told, Your life is being sacrificed before the goddess Kali; you will therefore be immediately promoted to the human form. Generally, in order to attain the human form, a living entity has to pass through many species of life on the evolutionary scale, but if a goat is sacrificed to the goddess Kali, he is immediately promoted to the human form. The mantra also says, You have the right to kill this man who is sacrificing you. The word mamsa indicates that in his next birth, the goat will eat the flesh of the man who is presently sacrificing him. This in itself should bring the goat-eater to his senses. He should consider, Why am I eating this flesh? Why am I doing this? Ill have to repay with my own flesh in another life. The whole idea is to discourage one from eating meat.

Thus, because there are different types of men, there are eighteen Puranas to guide them. The Vedic literatures are meant to redeem all men, not just a few. It is not that those who are meat-eaters or drunkards are rejected. A doctor accepts all patients, and he prescribes different medicines according to the disease. It is not that he gives the same medicine for all diseases or that he treats just one disease. No, he offers a specific type of medicine to whomever comes, and the patient receives gradual treatment. However, the sattvic Puranas like the Padma Purana are meant for those in the mode of goodness, for those who immediately are capable of worshiping the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

In Brahma-samhita it is stated, isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah [Bs. 5.1]: The supreme controller is Krsna, who has an eternal, blissful, spiritual body. This is the Vedic pronouncement, and we thus accept Sri Krsna as the Supreme Lord. Those who are in the modes of passion and ignorance attempt to imagine the form of God, and when they are confused, they say, Oh, there is no personal God. God is impersonal, or void. This is just the result of frustration. Actually, God has His form. And why not? According to the Vedanta-sutra, janmady asya yatah: [SB 1.1.1] The Supreme Absolute Truth is He from whom everything emanates. It is easy to see that we have different types of bodies, different types of forms. We must consider where these forms are coming from. Where have these forms originated? We have to use a little common sense. If God is not a person, how can His sons be persons? If your father is just a void, if he is not a person, how can you be a person? If your father has no form, how can you have form? This is not very difficult; it is just a common sense question. Unfortunately, because people are frustrated, they try to imagine some form, or they conclude that because this material form is temporary and troublesome, God must be formless. Indeed, because all forms in this material world must perish, God, of necessity, must be formless.

Brahma-samhita specifically states that this conception is a mistake. Isvarah paramah krsnah sac-cid-ananda-vigrahah [Bs. 5.1]. God has form, but His form is sac-cid-ananda-vigraha. Sat means eternal, cit means knowledge, and ananda means pleasure. God has form, but His form is eternal and is full of knowledge and pleasure. We cannot compare His form to our form. Our form is neither eternal, full of pleasure, nor full of knowledge; therefore Gods form is different.

As soon as we speak of form, we think that form must be like ours, and we therefore conclude that the eternal, all-knowing, and all-blissful God must be without form. This is not knowledge but the result of imperfect speculation. According to Padma Purana, atah sri-krsna-namadi na bhaved grahyam indriyaih: [BRS. 1.2.234] One cannot understand the form, name, quality, or paraphernalia of God with ones material senses. Since our senses are imperfect, we cannot speculate on Him who is supremely perfect. That is not possible.

Then how is it possible to understand Him? Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau. By training and purifying our senses, we may come to understand and see God. Presently we are attempting to understand God with impure, imperfect senses. It is like someone with cataracts trying to see. Just because one has cataracts, he should not conclude that there is nothing to be seen. Similarly, we cannot presently conceive of Gods form, but once our cataracts are removed, we can see. According to Brahma-samhita, premanjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santah sadaiva hrdayesu vilokayanti: [Bs. 5.38] The devotees whose eyes are anointed with the ointment of love of God can see God within their hearts twenty-four hours a day. Purification of the senses is what is required; then we can understand the name, form, qualities, and pastimes of God. Then well be able to see God everywhere and in everything.

These matters are discussed thoroughly in the Vedic literatures. For instance, it is said that although God has no hands or legs, He can accept whatever we offer (apani-pado javano grhita). It is also stated that although God has neither eyes nor ears, He can see and hear everything. These are apparent contradictions, but they are meant to teach us an important lesson. When we speak of seeing, we think of material vision. Due to our material conception, we think that the eyes of God must be like ours. Therefore, in order to remove these material conceptions, the Vedic literatures say that God has no hands, legs, eyes, ears, etc. God has eyes, but His vision is infinite. He can see in darkness, and He can see everywhere at once; therefore He has different eyes. Similarly, God has ears and can hear. He may be in His kingdom, millions and millions of miles away, but He can hear us whispering, because He is sitting within. We cannot avoid Gods seeing, hearing, or touching.

This may not be understood at the present moment; therefore the Padma Purana states that when one becomes spiritually saturated by rendering transcendental service to the Lord, the transcendental name, form, qualities, and pastimes of the Lord are revealed. We cannot understand God by our own endeavor, but out of mercy God reveals Himself to us. If it is night, and you want to see the sun, you will have to wait for the sun to appear in the morning. You cannot go outside with a big torch and say, Come on, I will show you the sunlight. In the morning, when the sun rises of its own will, we can see it. Because our senses are imperfect, we cannot see God by our own endeavor. We have to purify our senses and wait for the time when God will be pleased to reveal Himself to us. That is the process. We cannot challenge God. We cannot say, O my dear God, my dear Krsna. Please come. I want to see You. No, God is not our order supplier. He is not our servant. When He is pleased, we will see Him; therefore this Krsna consciousness is a process by which we can please God so that He will reveal Himself to us.

Because people cannot see God, they readily accept anyone who says, I am God. Because people have no conception of God, they are eager to accept any rascal who comes along and proclaims himself to be God. People are fond of saying, I am searching after the truth, but in order to search for the truth, we must know what the truth is. Otherwise, how can we search it out? If we want to purchase gold, we must at least theoretically know what gold is, otherwise we will be cheated. Consequently, having no conception of the truth or of God, people are being cheated by so many rascals who say, I am God. In a society of rascals, one rascal accepts another rascal as God, and this is all the result of rascaldom. But all this has nothing to do with God. One has to qualify himself to see and understand God, and that process of qualification is called Krsna consciousness. Sevonmukhe hi jihvadau svayam eva sphuraty adah: by engaging ourselves in Gods service, we become qualified to see God. Otherwise it is not possible. We may be great scientists or scholars, but our mundane scholarship will not help us see God.

This Bhagavad-gita is the science of Krsna consciousness, and in order to understand Krsna, we must be fortunate enough to associate with a person who is in pure Krsna consciousness. We cannot understand Bhagavad-gita simply by acquiring an M.A., Ph.D., or whatever. Bhagavad-gita is a transcendental science, and it requires different senses in order to be understood. Our senses must be purified by the rendering of service, not by the acquiring of academic degrees. There are many Ph. D.s, many scholars, who cannot understand Krsna. Therefore Krsna appears in the material world. Although He is unborn (ajo pi sann avyayatma), He comes to reveal Himself to us.

Thus Krsna is realized by the grace of Krsna or by the grace of a Krsna conscious person who has realized Krsna by the grace of Krsna. We cannot understand Him through academic knowledge. We can only understand Krsna by acquiring the grace of Krsna. Once we acquire His grace, we can see Him, talk with Himdo whatever we desire. It is not that Krsna is a void. He is a person, the Supreme Person, and we can have a relationship with Him. That is the Vedic injunction. Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam: We are all eternal persons, and God is the supreme eternal person. We are all eternal, and God is the supreme eternal. Presently, because we are encaged within these bodies, we are experiencing birth and death, but actually we are beyond birth and death. We are eternal spirit souls, but according to our work and desires, we are transmigrating from one body to another. It is explained in the Second Chapter of Bhagavad-gita (2.20),

Just as God is eternal, we are also eternal, and when we establish our eternal relationship with the supreme, complete eternal, we realize our eternality. Nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam. God is the supreme living entity among all living entities, the supreme eternal among all eternals. By Krsna consciousness, by purification of the senses, this knowledge will be realized, and we will come to see God.

A Krsna conscious person has realized knowledge, by the grace of Krsna, because he is satisfied with pure devotional service. By realized knowledge, one becomes perfect. By transcendental knowledge one can remain steady in his convictions, but by mere academic knowledge one can be easily deluded and confused by apparent contradictions. It is the realized soul who is actually self-controlled, because he is surrendered to Krsna. He is transcendental because he has nothing to do with mundane scholarship. For him, mundane scholarship and mental speculation, which may be as good as gold to others, are of no greater value than pebbles or stones.

Even if one is illiterate, he can realize God simply by engaging himself in submissive, transcendental loving service. God is not subjected to any material condition. He is supreme spirit, and the process of realizing Him is also beyond material considerations. Therefore, one may be a very learned scholar and still not be able to understand God. One should not think that because he is very poor he cannot realize God; nor should one think that he can realize God just because he is very rich. God may be understood by an uneducated person and misunderstood by one with great education. The understanding of God, like God Himself, is unconditional (apratihata).

In Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.6) it is stated,

Sa vai pumsam paro dharmo yato bhaktir adhoksaje. Another name for God is adhoksaja, which means one who cannot be seen by materialistic attempts. That is to say that God conquers all our attempts to see Him materially. The word aksaja refers to experimental knowledge, and adhah means unreachable. So God cannot be reached through experimental knowledge. We have to learn to contact Him in a different way: through submissive hearing and the rendering of transcendental loving service.

True religion teaches causeless love of God. It does not say, I love God because He supplies me nice objects for my sense gratification. That is not love. God is great, God is our eternal father, and it is our duty to love Him. There is no question of barter or exchange. We should not think, Oh, God gives me my daily bread; therefore I love God. God gives daily bread even to the cats and dogs. Since He is the father of everyone, He is supplying everyone food. So loving God for daily bread is not love. Love is without reason. Even if God does not supply us our daily bread, we should love Him. That is true love. As Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, aslisya va pada-ratam pinastu mam adarsanan marma-hatam karotu va: I know no one but Krsna as my Lord, and He shall remain so even if He handles me roughly by His embrace or makes me broken-hearted by not being present before me. He is completely free to do anything and everything, for He is always my worshipful Lord, unconditionally. That is the sentiment of one who is established in pure love of God. When we attain that stage of love of God, we will find that everything is full of pleasure; God is full of pleasure, and we also are full of pleasure.

In this material world, all conditioned souls are under illusion. A doctor treats all patients, and although a patient may be delirious and insult the doctor, the doctor does not refuse to treat him. He still administers the medicine that is required. As Lord Jesus Christ said, we should hate the sin, not the sinner. That is a very nice statement, because the sinner is under illusion. He is mad. If we hate him, how can we deliver him? Therefore, those who are advanced devotees, who are really servants of God, do not hate anyone. When Lord Jesus Christ was being crucified, he said, My God, forgive them. They know not what they do. This is the proper attitude of an advanced devotee. He understands that the conditioned souls cannot be hated, because they have become mad due to their materialistic way of thinking. In this Krsna consciousness movement, there is no question of hating anyone. Everyone is welcomed to come and chant Hare Krsna, take krsna-prasada, listen to the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita, and try to rectify material, conditioned life. This is the essential program of Krsna consciousness. Therefore, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu said,

In this chapter, in which the Lord is teaching the principles of the yoga system, He here points out that a transcendentalist should always try to concentrate his mind on the Supreme Self. The Supreme Self refers to Krsna, the Supreme Lord. As explained before (nityo nityanam cetanas cetananam), God is the supreme eternal, the supreme living entity, the Supreme Self. The purpose of the entire yoga system is to concentrate the mind on this Supreme Self. We are not the Supreme Self. That should be understood. The Supreme Self is God. This is dvaita-vadaduality. Duality means that God is different from me. He is supreme, and I am subordinate. He is great, and I am small. He is infinite, and I am infinitesimal. This is the relationship between ourselves and God as we should understand it. Because we are infinitesimal, we should concentrate our mind on the infinite Supreme Self. In order to do this, we should live alone, and living alone means that we should not live with those who are not Krsna conscious. Ideally, this means that one should live in a secluded place, like a forest or a jungle, but in this age such a secluded place is very difficult to find. Therefore secluded place refers to that place where God consciousness is taught.

The transcendentalist should also carefully control his mind, and this means fixing the mind on the Supreme Self, or Krsna. As explained before, Krsna is just like the sun, and if the mind is fixed on Him, there is no question of darkness. If Krsna is always on our minds, maya, or illusion, can never enter. This is the process of concentration.

The transcendentalist should also be free from desires and feelings of possessiveness. People are materially diseased because they desire things and want to possess them. We desire that which we do not have, and we lament for that which we have lost. Brahma-bhutah prasannatma [Bg. 18.54]. One who is actually God conscious does not desire material possessions. He has only one desireto serve Krsna. It is not possible to give up desire, but it is possible to purify our desires. It is the nature of the living entity to have some desire, but in the conditioned state, ones desire is contaminated. Conditioned, one thinks, I desire to satisfy my senses by material possession. Purified desire is desire for Krsna, and if we desire Krsna, desires for material possessions will automatically vanish.

Therefore in this bhakti-yoga system, the temple is considered the sacred place. The temple is nirgunatranscendental. According to the Vedas, a city is in the mode of passion, and a forest is in the mode of goodness. The temple, however, is transcendental. If you live in a city or town, you live in a place where passion is predominant, and if you want to escape this, you may go to a forest, a place of goodness. Gods temple, however, is above passion and goodness; therefore the temple of Krsna is the only secluded place for this age. In this age, it is not possible to retreat to a forest; nor is it useful to make a show of practicing yoga in so-called yoga societies and at the same time engage in nonsense.

Therefore, in the Brhan-naradiya Purana it is said that in Kali-yuga, when people are generally short-lived slow in spiritual realization, and always disturbed by various anxieties, the best means of spiritual realization is chanting the holy names of the Lord.

This is the solution, the grand gift of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. In this age, other yoga practices are not feasible, but this practice is so simple and universal that even a child can take to it.