purpose
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The yogic process is to control the air passing within the body in different places called sat-cakra, the six circles of air circulation. The air is raised from the abdomen to the navel, from the navel to the heart, from the heart to the throat, from the throat to between the eyebrows and from between the eyebrows to the top of the cerebrum. That is the sum and substance of practicing yoga. Before practicing the real yoga system one has to practice the sitting postures because this helps in the breathing exercises which control the airs going upwards and downwards. This is a great technique which one has to practice to attain the highest perfectional stage of yoga, but such practice is not meant for this age. No one in this age can attain the perfectional stage of such yoga, but people indulge in practicing sitting postures, which is more or less a gymnastic process. By such bodily gymnastics one may develop good circulation and may therefore keep his body fit, but if one simply restricts oneself to that gymnastic process one cannot attain the highest perfectional stage. The yoga process, as described in the Kesava-sruti, prescribes how one can control his living force according to his desire and transmigrate from one body to another or from one place to another. In other words, yoga practice is not meant to keep the body fit because any transcendental process of spiritual realization automatically helps one to keep the body fit, for it is the spirit soul that keeps the body always fresh. As soon as the spirit soul is out of the body, the material body immediately begins to decompose. Any spiritual process keeps the body fit without separate endeavor, but if one takes it that the ultimate aim of yoga is to maintain the body, then he is mistaken. The real perfection of yoga is elevation of the soul to a higher position or the liberation of the soul from material entanglement. Some yogis try to elevate the soul to higher planetary systems where the standard of life is different from that of this planet and where the material comforts, life-span and other facilities for self-realization are greater, and some yogis endeavor to elevate the soul to the spiritual world, the spiritual Vaikuntha planets. The bhakti-yoga process directly elevates the soul to the spiritual planets where life is eternally blissful and full of knowledge; therefore bhakti-yoga is considered to be the greatest of all yoga systems.
(More...) A person is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogi [or mystic] when he is fully satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization. A person is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogi [or mystic] when he is fully satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization. Such a person is situated in transcendence and is self-controlled. He sees everything-whether it be pebbles, stones or gold-as the same.
(More...) Yoga practice is not meant for attaining any kind of material facility; it is to enable the cessation of all material existence. Thus practicing control of the body, mind and activities, the mystic transcendentalist attains to the kingdom of God [or the abode of Krsna] by cessation of material existence.
(More...) The ultimate goal in practicing yoga is now clearly explained. Yoga practice is not meant for attaining any kind of material facility; it is to enable the cessation of all material existence. One who seeks an improvement in health or aspires after material perfection is no yogi according to Bhagavad-gita. Nor does cessation of material existence entail one's entering into "the void," which is only a myth. There is no void anywhere within the creation of the Lord. Rather, the cessation of material existence enables one to enter into the spiritual sky, the abode of the Lord. The abode of the Lord is also clearly described in the Bhagavad-gita as that place where there is no need of sun, moon, nor electricity. All the planets in the spiritual kingdom are self-illuminated like the sun in the material sky. The kingdom of God is everywhere, but the spiritual sky and the planets thereof are called param dhama, or superior abodes.
(More...) A consummate yogi, who is perfect in understanding Lord Krsna, as is clearly stated herein (mat-cittah, mat-parah, mat-sthanam) by the Lord Himself, can attain real peace and can ultimately reach His supreme abode, the Krsna-loka known as Goloka Vrndavana. In the Brahma-samhita it is clearly stated (goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhutah) that the Lord, although residing always in His abode called Goloka, is the all-pervading Brahman and the localized Paramatma as well by dint of His superior spiritual energies. No one can reach the spiritual sky or enter into the eternal abode (Vaikuntha Goloka Vrndavana) of the Lord without the proper understanding of Krsna and His plenary expansion Visnu. Therefore a person working in Krsna consciousness is the perfect yogi, because his mind is always absorbed in Krsna's activities. Sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayoh. In the Vedas also we learn: tam eva viditvatimrtyum eti: "One can overcome the path of birth and death only by understanding the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krsna." In other words, perfection of the yoga system is the attainment of freedom from material existence and not some magical jugglery or gymnastic feats to befool innocent people.
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