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In the name of yoga

Srimad-Bhagavatam

SB Canto 3

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.
SB 3.15.45, Purport:

Five thousand years ago Lord Kṛṣṇa 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 samādhi, and the object of this meditation is the four-handed Nārāyaṇa, with bodily decorations as described in this chapter of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. 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 void or impersonal. Real yoga is to fix the mind on the form of the Lord, the four-handed Nārāyaṇa who is sitting in everyone's heart.

Unfortunately, people in this age, especially persons who are of a demoniac nature, want to be cheated. Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead sends great cheaters who mislead them in the name of yoga and render their lives useless and doomed.
SB 3.21.7, Purport:

The words samprapede harim mean that in various ways Kardama Muni satisfied the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Hari, by his devotional service. Devotional service is also expressed by the word kriyā-yogena. Kardama Muni not only meditated but also engaged in devotional service; to attain perfection in yoga practice or meditation, one must act in devotional service by hearing, chanting, remembering, etc. Remembering is meditation also. But who is to be remembered? One should remember the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Not only must one remember the Supreme Person; one must hear about the activities of the Lord and chant His glories. This information is in the authoritative scriptures. After engaging himself for ten thousand years in performing different types of devotional service, Kardama Muni attained the perfection of meditation, but that is not possible in this age of Kali, wherein it is very difficult to live for as much as one hundred years. At the present moment, who will be successful in the rigid performance of the many yoga rules and regulations? Moreover, perfection is attained only by those who are surrendered souls. Where there is no mention of the Personality of Godhead, where is there surrender? And where there is no meditation upon the Personality of Godhead, where is the yoga practice? Unfortunately, people in this age, especially persons who are of a demoniac nature, want to be cheated. Thus the Supreme Personality of Godhead sends great cheaters who mislead them in the name of yoga and render their lives useless and doomed. In Bhagavad-gītā, therefore, it is clearly stated, in the Sixteenth Chapter, verse 17, that rascals of self-made authority, being puffed up by illegally collected money, perform yoga without following the authoritative books. They are very proud of the money they have plundered from innocent persons who wanted to be cheated.

Correspondence

1974 Correspondence

We have to examine whether the person who is presenting himself as our guru is actually in knowledge of the science of Krsna or whether he is leading us away from Krsna, or leading us to hell in the name of yoga mysticism. In this connection, the chanting of Hare Krsna is very efficacious because it develops personal relationship with the Personality of Godhead and cleans the heart of sinful reactions.
Letter to Trista Hubbarth -- Bombay 3 May, 1975:

You have very thoughtfully asked me what do I think of the Self Realization yoga and meditation. We are not concerned with other religions or yogas in terms of competition or sectarian spirit. Actual spiritual knowledge is to take the authoritative statements from the scriptures and from the great acaryas, spiritual masters in disciplic succession. Other's opinions are not important. For example, in the Bhagavad gita, Lord Krsna gives His opinion, but He is accepted as the Supreme Personality of Godhead by all the great sages of the Vedic philosophy including Vyasadeva the compiler of all the scriptures, as well as Narada, Brahma, Siva and in the modern time, Ramanuja, Sankaracarya, Lord Caitanya, etc. They all confirm that Krsna is the supreme truth, the Personality of Godhead. Although this is plainly described throughout the Vedas, you will not find it in the teachings of the so called swamis and yogis who are teaching nowadays. Therefore you have intelligently discovered that in my Bhagavad-gita the approach is very different from what you have found elsewhere. That is because I am not trying to avoid Krsna or give some misinterpretation, but I have accepted the actual Bhagavad-gita, wherein Krsna says, Mattah parataram nanyat (BG 7.7), there is no higher than Me. Nowadays so called gurus are promising us that we ourselves can become equal to God or that God is impersonal, or that everyone is God, but nowhere is this stated in the Bhagavad-gita or any other Vedic literature, nor is it taught by any of the great spiritual masters above mentioned.

My point is that when we say "self realization" it does no means that one should realize that He is the Supreme. Real self realization means to understand that you are the eternal servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and perfection is to develop love or bhakti, loving service in relationship with that Supreme Personality of Godhead. One who teaches other conclusion from that of the Bhagavad-gita and the succession of acaryas is certainly not a guru, and in fact according to Lord Krsna, he is a fool, (the word Krsna uses is mudha, ass, rascal). So we have to examine whether the person who is presenting himself as our guru is actually in knowledge of the science of Krsna or whether he is leading us away from Krsna, or leading us to hell in the name of yoga mysticism. In this connection, the chanting of Hare Krsna is very efficacious because it develops personal relationship with the Personality of Godhead and cleans the heart of sinful reactions. Please go on reading our literatures and pray to Krsna to give you the right direction from within how to approach a bona fide spiritual master for advancing in spiritual life.

Page Title:In the name of yoga
Compiler:Visnu Murti
Created:10 of Jul, 2010
Totals by Section:BG=0, SB=2, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=0, Let=1
No. of Quotes:3