Meditating (Lectures, SB)

Expressions researched:
"meditate" |"meditated" |"meditates" |"meditates" |"meditating" |"meditative"

Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures

Lecture on SB 1.1.1 -- London, August 7, 1971:

Pradyumna: Translation: "I offer my obeisances unto Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, who is the supreme all-pervading Personality of Godhead. I meditate upon Him, the transcendent reality, who is the primeval cause of all causes, from whom all manifested universes arise, in whom they dwell, and by whom they are destroyed. I meditate upon that eternally effulgent Lord who is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations and yet is beyond them. It is He only who first imparted Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmā, the first created being. Through Him this world, like a mirage, appears real even to great sages and demigods. Because of Him, the material universes, created by the three modes of nature, appear to be factual, although they are unreal. I meditate therefore upon Him, the Absolute Truth, who is eternally existent in His transcendental abode, and who is forever free of illusion." (SB 1.1.1)

Prabhupāda: Vyāsadeva is offering his obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Bhagavate, "unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as Vāsudeva." Vāsudeva means the son of Vasudeva. Even the leader of the impersonalists, namely Śaṅkarācārya, he has accepted that the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as the son of Vasudeva and Devakī.

Lecture on SB 1.1.1 -- London, August 7, 1971:

Pradyumna: Translation: "I offer my obeisances unto Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva, who is the supreme all-pervading Personality of Godhead. I meditate upon Him, the transcendent reality, who is the primeval cause of all causes, from whom all manifested universes arise, in whom they dwell, and by whom they are destroyed. I meditate upon that eternally effulgent Lord who is directly and indirectly conscious of all manifestations and yet is beyond them. It is He only who first imparted Vedic knowledge unto the heart of Brahmā, the first created being. Through Him this world, like a mirage, appears real even to great sages and demigods. Because of Him, the material universes, created by the three modes of nature, appear to be factual, although they are unreal. I meditate therefore upon Him, the Absolute Truth, who is eternally existent in His transcendental abode, and who is forever free of illusion." (SB 1.1.1)

Prabhupāda: Vyāsadeva is offering his obeisances unto the Supreme Lord, Kṛṣṇa. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Bhagavate, "unto the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is known as Vāsudeva." Vāsudeva means the son of Vasudeva. Even the leader of the impersonalists, namely Śaṅkarācārya, he has accepted that the Supreme Personality of Godhead appeared as the son of Vasudeva and Devakī.

Lecture on SB 1.1.2 -- London, August 17, 1971:

Just like the doll dancing, there is a man pulling the wire. These are the descriptions in the śāstras, or Vedic literatures. So we should not equalize or we should not place the demigods on the same level with God. That is offense. The Māyāvādīs, because they think that "God is formless, impersonal, but I cannot meditate upon anything which is formless. So let me imagine something." That is their theory. They say, "Let me imagine a form of God." Sādhakānāṁ hitārthāya brahmaṇo rūpa-kalpanaḥ. Kalpana, "imagine." The Māyāvādī philosophy is that, that "You imagine a form of God. Actually, there is no form of God." That is then theory. And we say, "No. Īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ (Bs. 5.1). He has got form, but not a form like me." That we know. It is a different type of form. Different material. Or we don't say material: different ingredient, spirit, complete spirit.

Lecture on SB 1.2.5 -- Melbourne, April 3, 1972, Lecture at Christian Monastery:

So this consistency of keeping water in liquid form is called dharma.

So as everything has got some particular characteristic, similarly we living entities, we must have some particular characteristic. And what is that? That is dharma and jñāna, to understand. Jñāna means knowledge: "What I am? Am I this body, or I am something else?" But if we study, if we meditate on this body... You study every part of your body. Take for example this finger. If you think, "Am I this finger?" the answer will be "No, it is my finger." Similarly, you study any part of your body. You will find that the part of body belongs to you. You'll say, "It is my leg, my hand, my hair, my nose." So many things, "my." Then where is the "I"? That is called jñāna. That is knowledge. Everything is "my," but where I am? Where I am?

Lecture on SB 1.2.5 -- Vrndavana, October 16, 1972:

Anyone, any devotee, any servant of Kṛṣṇa, as soon as he'll be questioned by somebody about Kṛṣṇa, he'll be very, very happy: "Oh, here is an opportunity to speak about Kṛṣṇa." Just like when Nāradajī inquired from Brahmā that "I know that you are everything, but at the same time, I see that you are meditating on somebody else. What is that?" So Nara... Brahmā welcomed this inquiry, "My dear Nārada, it is a very nice question. Now you have given me opportunity to speak about my master."

Lecture on SB 1.2.6 -- Calcutta, February 26, 1974:

Therefore it is called ahaituky apratihatā. And when one comes to that stage, then ātmā suprasīdati. The example is vivid. Just like Dhruva Mahārāja. Dhruva Mahārāja was insulted by his stepmother, and therefore he wanted, according to the instruction of his mother, to pray to God to retaliate the insult of stepmother. And he went to the forest and meditated and practiced how to approach the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Within six months he saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But when he saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead, he was fully satisfied. He said that kācaṁ vicinvann api divya-ratnam: "Sir, I came to search out some particles of glass. Now I have got divya-ratna, a valuable jewel or gem." Kācaṁ vicinvann api divya-ratnaṁ svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce (CC Madhya 22.42).

Lecture on SB 1.2.6 -- Hyderabad, April 18, 1974:

In the Satya-yuga, they were all saintly person. So that time it was possible to meditate. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum. That also Viṣṇu, meditation on Lord Viṣṇu. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ. And in the Tretā-yuga by performing great sacrifices. That is also not possible. You cannot perform big, big sacrifices. It is very costly affair. You require so much ghee, grains, and distribution of so many things. That is not possible. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ, dvāpare paricaryāyām. In Dvāpara-yuga the temple worship. Now this... We have got in India, especially in South India, many temples, more than two thousand, three thousand years old. So temple worship is very old, since five thousand, six thousand years. So that is also not possible.

Lecture on SB 1.2.14-16 -- San Francisco, March 24, 1967:

This verse we have been discussing in last meeting. In order to understand that Absolute Truth, it is the duty of everyone to hear, śrotavyaḥ kīrtitavyaś ca, and chant; and dhyeyaḥ, means meditating or remembering, dhyeyaḥ; and pūjya, and worshiping; nityadā, regularly. Whom? Bhagavān sātvatāṁ patiḥ, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the master of all righteous persons. He's master of everyone, but the devotees, they especially recognize that Lord is the master of everyone. And the demons, they do not care for God, and God also do not care for them. Let them do their own work and ripe (reap) their own fruit. God does not take responsibility for the demons, but He takes responsibility for the devotees.

Lecture on SB 1.2.15 -- Vrndavana, October 26, 1972:

Similarly, in that paramparā system... Evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayaḥ (BG 4.2). So we have to catch up the paramparā, disciplic chain, bona fide spiritual master, and from him we have to hear. Śrotavya.

Now, in the next verse it is said that yad-anudhyāsinā. Dhyeya. Simply by thinking of Kṛṣṇa, hearing about Kṛṣṇa, speaking about Kṛṣṇa, meditating upon Kṛṣṇa, worshiping Kṛṣṇa, you become perfect. That is assured in the Bhagavad-gītā: man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). So the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is very simple. We are teaching people that "Here is God, Kṛṣṇa. We can give you the name, address, form, and everything." Yes. Kṛṣṇa says, tad dhāma paramaṁ mama. He is giving His address. Yad gatvā na nivartante (BG 15.6). "Where you go, you don't require to come back." Tad dhāma paramaṁ mama.

Lecture on SB 1.2.15 -- Vrndavana, October 26, 1972:

There are many kinds of religious principles, but dharmān bhāgavatān. Prahlāda Mahārāja says, "Real dharma is Bhāgavatam," means our understanding our relationship with God, Bhagavān. That is real dharma. Dharmān bhāgavatān. So here the same thing is explained, that yad-anudhyāsinā yuktāḥ. Simply by chanting or hearing or meditating upon Kṛṣṇa, yad-anudhyāsinā yuktāḥ karma-granthi-nibandhanam. This asinā... Just like we require a knife to cut the knot, similarly, if we want to cut the knot of this material existence...

Lecture on SB 1.2.22 -- Vrndavana, November 2, 1972:

Even we cannot go to the other planet. But we have got instances... Just like Nārada Muni. Nārada Muni is traveling all over the universes, not only within the material world, but in the spiritual world, because he has got spiritual body. There is no material bondage.

These are very subtle matter, but one can realize if he meditates upon it. The yogis, they can, because they become, by yogic process, they become a little free from this material body, therefore they can transfer from one place to another very quickly. Even those yogis who are on this material platform, on this planet, they travel very quickly. There are many yogis still in India who take bath in four places daily in the, early in the morning. They take bath in Jagannātha Purī, in Rāmeśvaram, in Hardwar. In this way, four places they take bath. There are some books about the yogis. These things are written there. And actually we met some yogis and they said how quickly they can go from one place to another.

Lecture on SB 1.2.28-29 -- Vrndavana, November 8, 1972:

If you push forward further you'll find something green. But when you actually approach the hill, you'll find there are many houses, many animals, many trees, varieties. So the Absolute Truth, when it is realized by our limited understanding, the Absolute Truth appears as nirviśeṣa, impersonal Brahman. Similarly, when we try to meditate upon the Absolute Truth within our heart, He appears as Paramātmā. Yogis... Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). But at the ultimate issue, He's Vāsudeva, Kṛṣṇa, origin. Advaitam acyutam anādim. Anādi: Kṛṣṇa has no source. He's the original source of everything. Janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1). Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8). These things are there.

Lecture on SB 1.5.1-8 -- New Vrindaban, May 23, 1969:

"I have already planned it. If you don't fight, don't think that these persons who have assembled here, they will go back home. They are already finished. That plan is already made. Simply you take the credit, that you are Kṛṣṇa's friend, you have won the battle. That's all. I am giving you this chance of taking the credit." This is God. God hasn't got (chuckling) to labor and meditate and push nose, and he becomes God. No. God is God. Simply by His will, God. Everything is God. So this bluffing, that by meditation one can become, by silent, becoming silent, one become God, this condition... God is not under any condition. Why God should be under condition?

Lecture on SB 1.5.2 -- Los Angeles, January 10, 1968:

Therefore in this age of less-intelligence class of men, this, the yoga system as it is... Not bluff yoga, real yoga. Yoga indriya saṁyama. Oh, that is not possible, real yoga system. Controlling the senses, sit in a solitary place, and alone, with celibatic life, no sense enjoyment. There are so many rules and regulations. Not that... If I say that "Whatever you like you can do. You just meditate," what meditation you'll do? That is not possible in this age. Next stage of elevation is sacrifice. These are statement of the Vedic literature. (break)

Lecture on SB 1.5.2 -- Los Angeles, January 10, 1968:

...kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum. Meditation means meditating on Viṣṇu, on the Supreme Lord, this Viṣṇu form, as you have got in my front. Meditation. That is called yoga. By meditating on Viṣṇu, one realizes everything and gets some power, wonderful power. So Bhāgavata says that kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum. The perfection of life (is) attained in the Satya-yuga, or golden age, by meditating on Viṣṇu. That is meditation.

Tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ. The next stage, Tretā-yuga, by offering sacrifice. That is in the second age. And dvāpare paricaryāyām. In the next age, Dvāpara age, by temple worship, church worship. So Lord Caitanya says that kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva. Three times. Three times "no." That means meditation is not possible, sacrifice not possible, temple worship or church worship not possible.

Lecture on SB 1.5.13 -- New Vrindaban, June 13, 1969:

Vrata means vow, and dhṛta means who has taken vow that "I shall do this." These are the qualifications.

Now, when these qualifications are there, then Nārada Muni entrusts Vyāsadeva that "You can liberate all the conditioned souls." How? Conditioned souls... Samādhinā anusmara tad-viceṣṭitam: "Simply you try to contemplate, meditate, on the activities of the Supreme Lord." Samādhinā. This is samādhi. Yoga process means to come to the stage of samādhi. Aṣṭāṅga-yoga. Yoga means there are eight different stages, and the last stage is called samādhi. The first stage is yama, saṁyama, controlling the senses. Yoga indriya-saṁyama. The beginning of yoga system means you have to control your senses. This is the first beginning. It is not a play thing, that you do all nonsense and you become a yogi. No. These things are very clearly explained in the Bhagavad-gītā. You have to regulate your life. You have to stop sex life. You have to eat certain procedure. You have to sit under certain procedure.

Lecture on SB 1.5.13 -- New Vrindaban, June 13, 1969:

If the Supreme Lord is impersonal, then where is the question of activities? And how you can concentrate your mind something impersonal? Bhagavad-gītā says that kleśaḥ adhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām: "Those who are trying to meditate on the impersonal feature, impersonal feature, their process is very troublesome." Kleśo 'dhikataraḥ. Adhikatara means greater. Any spiritual realization, without painstaking, without accepting some voluntary trouble... And nobody can very easily..., eating, drinking, merrying. No, that will... That is not spiritual advancement. One has to accept voluntarily some principles. That is called tapasya. So dhyāna. Dhyāna means meditation. So that dhyāna.

Lecture on SB 1.5.13 -- New Vrindaban, June 13, 1969:

Then dhāraṇā. Dhāraṇā means meditating, then the subject matter will be fixed up in your heart. It will not move. Not that every day I am meditating on some new subject, no. The meditation is viṣṇu-mūrti. Actually those who are yogis, they meditate on the four-handed viṣṇu-mūrti. Mat-paraḥ. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said, mat-paraḥ: "unto Me," either Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu. That is meditation. Dhyāna, dhāraṇā. And one, when one is practiced meditating, first beginning from the lotus feet... These things are all explained in the Bhāgavata, Śrīmad-Bhāgavata, Bhagavad-gītā. Then gradually, when you are practiced to think of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet or Viṣṇu's lotus feet, then you proceed—then the thighs, then the waist, then the chest, then the mouth, I mean to, face, then... In this way, one after another, one after another, you have to meditate. In this way, when your meditation is fixed up, that is called dhāraṇā. Dhāraṇā. It is not moving. Dhyāna, dhāraṇā.

Lecture on SB 1.5.13 -- New Vrindaban, June 13, 1969:

So here it is stated that tad-viceṣṭitam. Whose? His activities. Whose activities? Urukramasya, "who acts wonderfully." Not that somebody is meditating—his activities should be described. What wonderful things he has done? We are accepting anyone as God, but we do not test what, what proof he has given to become God? Here is God: Urukrama. Here is God. We accept Kṛṣṇa as God. He has done from the very childhood uncommon, wonderful activities. We are not fool that we accept somebody, a nonsense having a great beard, and we accept God. No. We must see that he has wonderful activities. What is that wonderful activities? First of all test.

Lecture on SB 1.5.13 -- New Vrindaban, June 13, 1969:

So a spiritual master means one who knows Kṛṣṇa. And as soon as one knows Kṛṣṇa, he's liberated. Therefore a spiritual master is liberated. Or a spiritual master or anyone who knows kṛṣṇa-tattva, he immediately liberated. Akhila-bandha-muktaye. Samādhinā, that "This has to be meditated." Anusmara. This another word, anusmara. Anusmara means you don't manufacture your meditation. You try to follow the footprints who have had actually meditated. So then your meditation will be... Not that you manufacture some process of meditation and you get perfection. No, anusmara. And again he says... What is the subject matter of meditation? Tad-viceṣṭitam, the activities of the Lord. So if we simply remember how Kṛṣṇa is teaching Arjuna, what He is speaking, and how Arjuna is receiving, that is meditation. That is meditation.

Lecture on SB 1.5.13 -- New Vrindaban, June 13, 1969:

That is perfect reading of Bhagavad-gītā. It does not require to read Bhagavad-gītā by your academic education. If you simply hear from the authoritative source the instruction of Bhagavad-gītā, and if you simply meditate upon that speech, that instruction, "Oh, Kṛṣṇa instructed like this. Arjuna received like this. He questioned like this. He answered like this," that is meditation, perfect meditation, and you become liberated. Tad-viceṣṭitam. It is not very difficult job. Simply you have to receive. Therefore satya-śravāḥ, śuci-śravāḥ. Śuci-śravāḥ. You have to hear from the pure source, give aural reception, and think of it, meditate upon it. Simply by doing this, you are liberated. These are not bluff. Here is the evidence. Simply receive the message from the right source and contemplate and meditate upon that instruction. You are liberated.

Lecture on SB 1.5.13 -- New Vrindaban, June 13, 1969:

Then again, Śrīdhara Svāmī says that "This process is for giving liberation from all kinds of material bondage." Akhilasya bandhasya muktaye tam anusmara smṛtya varṇayata.(?) And again Śrīdhara Svāmī gives note herewith that "Not only you meditate, but you preach. That will help your meditation." Just like I am speaking to you. I am meditating simultaneously. Unless I remember, how can I speak to you? Unless my attention is concentrated without any diversion in Kṛṣṇa subject matter, how can I speak to you? So that is also samādhi. Don't think that one who is simply sitting, he is in samādhi. One who is preaching, he's also in samādhi, because he's thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Otherwise, how he can talk of Kṛṣṇa if he does not think of Kṛṣṇa? Śrīdhara Swami gives... Tam anusmara smṛtya varṇayata. Varṇayata means "Describe also, preach." Ity artha. Etac ca vakhyantaram iti madhyama-puruṣa-prayogaḥ.(?)

Lecture on SB 1.5.13 -- New Vrindaban, June 16, 1969:

"Like that...," no definite answer, because he does not know. This is our conditional life. This is our conditional life, that we do not know our position.

Therefore the same principle, as Nārada is asking Vyāsadeva, that "You try to meditate upon the activities of the Supreme Lord." Tad-viceṣṭitam, samādhinā anusmara tad-viceṣṭitam. "And you are already..." This, this meditation cannot be done by ordinary person. And that qualification he has got. He has already said that "You have got so many qualifications. So you can do that. And why you are, you shall meditate?" Now, the reason is, urukramasya akhila-bandha-muktaye: "You shall yourself be liberated from all conditional stage of life, and you shall be able to make others also." Unless you become liberated from the conditional life, you cannot make others liberated. You cannot imitate.

Lecture on SB 1.5.25 -- Vrndavana, August 6, 1974:

People will be so much disturbed. It is already disturbed. Gacchanti giri-kānanam. They'll leave their home, their family, and go to the forest, go to the hills, disgusted. So this is the Kali-yuga symptoms. So how one will clean the heart? He cannot sit even peacefully for a moment. Disturbed always. Disturbed in the mind, anxiety, full of anxiety. How it will be possible to meditate? This is all nonsense. This is not possible. In Kali-yuga meditation is not possible. The so-called meditation is a farce. Those who are trying to meditate... Therefore you don't see any improvement in their life. They're making a formal meditation, but they remain what they are. Don't improve anything. That is not possible.

Lecture on SB 1.5.35 -- Vrndavana, August 16, 1974:

Everything is there. Still, why you are searching after God? This is foolishness. This is foolishness. Owls', owls' philosophy. Owls' philosophy... The owl will not open the eyes to see the sun. Just open your eyes, you see, here is sun. "No, there is no sun." This is owls' philosophy. Close the eyes, meditate. And the God is here, "No, I'll not open my eyes."

So we do not follow this philosophy, owls' philosophy. We follow real philosophy. What is that real philosophy? Śruti-pramāṇam, evidence from the Vedas, history, aitihya-pramāṇa, history. And anumāna-pramāṇa. There are many, pratyakṣa, anumāna, aitihya... So out of that, there are so many evidential processes, but according to followers of the Vedic principle, their process is śruti-pramāṇam. Śruti-pramāṇam means if it is mentioned in the Vedas, Upaniṣad, then it is pramāṇam. Śruti-pramāṇam. So Vedas, there are four Vedas and 108 Upaniṣads, and then eighteen Purāṇas, then this Mahābhārata.

Lecture on SB 1.5.36 -- Vrndavana, August 17, 1974:

Just like Kṛṣṇa says that... What is that? Ap... The water, taste? Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya. Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ (BG 7.8). So Kṛṣṇa is teaching that "You try to understand Me in this way." Not whimsically, "I am meditating something." No. You meditate, but according to the will of Kṛṣṇa, bhagavac-chikṣayā, as He has taught. He says that you can meditate. This is very good subject matter of meditation. Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya. Very easy. Everyone is drinking water, and as soon as you get water and drink, if you meditate little what Kṛṣṇa has said, raso 'ham apsu kaunteya, "I am the taste of the water," where is the difficulty? Bhagavac-chikṣayā. Prabhāsmi śaśi-sūryayoḥ. As soon as you see light, sunlight, moonlight, immediately you can remember Kṛṣṇa: "This light is Kṛṣṇa."

Lecture on SB 1.7.2-4 -- Durban, October 14, 1975:

This meditation means bhakti-yoga. Meditation, that is the real meaning. Nowadays meditation has become a fashion, but meditation is described in the Vedic literature, dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). The yogis, they meditate, dhyānāvasthita. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā, the mind becomes fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, tad-gatena. Tat means transcendental Absolute Truth, oṁ tat sat. So tad-gatena manasā, mind being... Our mind is very restless, so it is very difficult. Five thousand years ago, when Kṛṣṇa instructed Arjuna to concentrate his mind, meditate, or meditate upon Supersoul, so Arjuna frankly admitted that it was not possible for him. He said to Kṛṣṇa, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, You are advising. That is nice. But it is not possible for me." Cañcalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa pramāthi balavad dṛḍham (BG 6.34). "Mind is so restless, just like wind blowing.

Lecture on SB 1.7.2-4 -- Durban, October 14, 1975:

Somebody is typing or printing books, somebody is going to sell books, somebody is collecting subscription, somebody is cooking for the temple Deity, Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa. So in this way, our inmates or our members are always engaged. Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31), this is recommendation of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Somehow or other, be engaged twenty-four hours in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Then your life will be successful.

So Kṛṣṇa advised, yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā (BG 6.47). So here Vyāsadeva sat in his āśrama, and began to meditate means he was thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Here it is said, bhakti-yogena.

Lecture on SB 1.7.2-4 -- Durban, October 14, 1975:

So if we meditate in bhakti-yoga, that is bhakti-yoga, as Kṛṣṇa advises that yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā, śraddhāvān... Śraddhāvān, with faith and love, if one thinks of Kṛṣṇa, bhakti-yogena, then everything is revealed to him, revealed to him. That is also confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā,

teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ

bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam

dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ

yena mām upayānti te

(BG 10.10)

Kṛṣṇa says, "Anyone who is engaged satatam." Satatam means twenty-four hours. He has no other thinking except Kṛṣṇa. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18). This is spoken about Mahārāja Ambarīṣa. He was the emperor of the whole world, he was doing his duty as a responsible king, but still sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ: he fixed his mind at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane: and when he used to speak, he used to speak about Kṛṣṇa. Vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane.

Lecture on SB 1.7.6 -- Geneva, May 31, 1974:

The whole trouble is our mind, our consciousness, unclean. So Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu has given us the saṅkīrtana movement for cleansing the heart, the consciousness, the mind.

So Vyāsadeva, under the instruction of his spiritual master Nārada, he meditated in bhakti-yoga, and he saw the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṇam. Pūrṇam means complete. So we are also puruṣa, living entities. Puruṣa means enjoyer. So we are trying to enjoy, but we are incomplete, not complete. We have got so much desire to enjoy, but we cannot because we are incomplete. There are... That song sung by Vidyāpati, that tātala saikate vāri-bindu-sama. Tātala saikate. In hot sand beach you require so much water.

Lecture on SB 1.7.6 -- Vrndavana, April 18, 1975:

Ṣaḍ-aiśvarya-pūrṇaḥ. That is Kṛṣṇa. Ṣaḍ-aiśvaryaiḥ pūrṇo ya iha bhagavān (CC Adi 1.3). So by bhakti-yoge, bhakti-yogena, by practicing... That is called meditation. Meditation means to find out the Supreme Complete Person. That is called meditation, not that anything you meditate, any nonsense. No, that is not meditation. Meditation is described, dhyānāvasthita. Dhyānāvasthita, engaged in meditation. Tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). Yogis, they by meditation, tries to find out the Supreme Person who is within everyone. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). So by meditation to find out the supreme Paramātmā within yourself, that is called yoga practice. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). This is yogi. So that yoga is perfect when you see Kṛṣṇa. That is also stated in the Bhagavad-gītā.

Lecture on SB 1.8.18 -- New York, April 10, 1973:

"You are invisible, invisible, although," antar bahir avasthitam, "You are within and without." God is within yourself. Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). Īśvara, the Supreme Lord, is situated in everyone's heart. The yoga system means to see, find out that God, Paramātmā, or meditate upon Him. Now the yoga system has come down as bodily exercise to keep the health very good, to reduce fat, this is yoga system. This is not yoga system. This is a bodily exercise. Real yoga is that God is within me, but He is invisible, alakṣyam. Antar bahiḥ, although He is within and without, still I cannot see.

Lecture on SB 1.8.22 -- Los Angeles, April 14, 1973:

So if you simply think only one verse, as it is explained here, and the paṅkaja, lotus, in reference with Kṛṣṇa's body, you can meditate the whole life how Kṛṣṇa is beautiful, how Kṛṣṇa is wise, how Kṛṣṇa's creation, how... This is meditation. Thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). Yoginaḥ means... Yogi means he's always thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Mat-paraḥ. That is yogi. These rascals are not yogi, thinking something impersonal and being harassed. Kleśo 'dhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām (BG 12.5). They are simply, they are simply laboring, adhikataraḥ, more and more. They cannot get anything substantial. Therefore after meditation: "Come on, give me cigarette. Come on. My throat is now dried up. Give me cigarette." That is not meditation.

Lecture on SB 1.8.22 -- Los Angeles, April 14, 1973:

So if you think of Kṛṣṇa always, satataṁ cintayanto mām (BG 9.14), "always thinking of Me," yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ, and endeavoring to advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness with vow, then we have to remain purified. Because Kṛṣṇa is purified. Paraṁ brahma paraṁ dhāma pavitraṁ paramaṁ bhavān (BG 10.12). You cannot approach Kṛṣṇa impurified. But if you think of Kṛṣṇa always, in this way, meditate upon Kṛṣṇa, then you'll be purified. Puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ (SB 1.2.17). That meditation can be possible by hearing and chanting. Then thinking will automatically come. That is the process of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam (SB 7.5.23). Smaraṇa means remember. If you chant and hear, then remembrance will automatically come. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam. Then you will be engaged in worshiping His lotus feet.

Lecture on SB 1.8.22 -- Los Angeles, April 14, 1973:

Then you will be engaged in worshiping His lotus feet. Arcanam. Then you'll be engaged in arcanam, the temple worship; vandanam, offering prayers; dāsyam, you'll engage yourself as servant; sakhyam, you'll become friend of Kṛṣṇa; ātma-nivedanam, and surrender everything to Kṛṣṇa. This is the process.

So each and every verse you should chant very perfectly, nicely, meditate upon it. That is the process of progress, advancement in spiritual life. We should get all these verses by heart, and chant, and offer prayer to the Lord, vandanam. Vandanam. These are meant for such purpose.

Lecture on SB 1.8.25 -- Los Angeles, April 17, 1973:

This is called tapasya. Tapasya means voluntarily accepting the difficulties of life. Sometimes tapasya, in the system of tapasya, in hot season, summer, in scorching heat of the sun, still they ignite some fire all around and sit down in the midst and meditate. There are some processes of tapasya like that. In chilly cold one goes into the water up to the neck and meditates. These things are prescribed in tapasya.

But Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu does not give you such prescription. He gives you very nice program: chant, dance and take prasādam. Still we are unwilling. We cannot accept this tapasya. You see. We are so fallen. Su-sukhaṁ kartum avyayam (BG 9.2). This is a kind of tapasya which is very easy to do and it is very pleasant. Still, we are not agreeable. We shall rot in the street, lie down anywhere and everywhere and still, I shall drink and have sex and lie down. So what can be done?

Lecture on SB 1.8.30 -- Los Angeles, April 22, 1973:

He was dealing just like ordinary human being. Not ordinary. When there was need, He proved Himself the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But generally He was known as ordinary human being.

Therefore Śukadeva Gosvāmī is describing Kṛṣṇa in a description when He was playing with the cowherd boys. Kṛṣṇa. So Śukadeva Gosvāmī is pointing out who is this cowherd boy? He said: itthaṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā, satām. The impersonalists, they are meditating upon the impersonal Brahman and feeling some transcendental bliss. And Śukadeva Gosvāmī says the source of that transcendental bliss is here, Kṛṣṇa. Ahaṁ sarvasya prabhavaḥ (BG 10.8). Kṛṣṇa is the source of everything. Therefore the transcendental bliss which the impersonalists try to experience by meditating upon impersonal Brahman, Śukadeva Gosvāmī says: itthaṁ satāṁ brahma-sukhānubhūtyā (SB 10.12.11).

Lecture on SB 1.8.32 -- Los Angeles, April 24, 1973:

If the Lord is situated in everyone's heart, if that is a fact, so if Kṛṣṇa is within your heart, within yourself, so if he immediately comes in your front, so what is the difficulty for Kṛṣṇa? He's already within, and He's all-powerful. Just like Dhruva Mahārāja. Dhruva Mahārāja, when he was engaged in meditation, the form meditation, four-handed Viṣṇu he was meditating upon. All of a sudden his meditation broke and he saw the same figure before him, immediately. Is it very difficult for Kṛṣṇa? He's already within you, and if He comes out...

Similarly if Kṛṣṇa is within the heart of everyone, Devakī also, so if He comes out before Devakī in the same four-handed form, is it very difficult for Kṛṣṇa? So people do not know. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says that: "You have to understand: janma karma me divyam (BG 4.9), transcendental birth. My activities, My birth."

Lecture on SB 1.8.32 -- Mayapura, October 12, 1974:

He can appear anywhere, everywhere. That is... Just like īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). He's situated in everyone's heart. So He is with everyone's... Every living being has got Kṛṣṇa. So Kṛṣṇa is already there in the heart. From the heart, if He appears in front... Just like Dhruva Mahārāja. He was meditating that Viṣṇu form of Kṛṣṇa, and all of a sudden he saw that Viṣṇu is not there. Then he opened his eyes. He saw Viṣṇu is in his front. So what is the difficulty for Kṛṣṇa? If He is within the heart and if He comes in your front, is it very difficult task for Him?

But the rascals, atheists, they cannot understand. Kṛṣṇa everywhere. That is explained here, yadoḥ priyasya anvavāye. He can appear... How it is? Malayasyeva candanam. The sandalwood is famous as produced in Malaysia, or Malaya. I think formerly they used to grow sandalwood in Malaysia. What...? What is that capital

Lecture on SB 1.8.35 -- Mayapura, October 15, 1974:

So Śukadeva Gosvāmī—yat-kīrtanaṁ yat-smaraṇam. Either you glorify Kṛṣṇa There are so many glorifications. The whole Bhāgavata is glorification. So you have got... This is... This is the glorification by Śukadeva Gosvāmī: yat-kīrtanaṁ yat-smaraṇam. Either you glorify or simply you meditate upon Him... Yat-smaraṇam. Yad-īkṣaṇam. Simply if you sit down in front of the Deity and go on seeing, bas, do nothing, simply see: "How nicely dressed is Kṛṣṇa. How nicely dressed is Rādhārāṇī," simply if you see, it is said, yad-īkṣaṇam, yad-īkṣaṇam. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam (SB 7.5.23). If you have no capacity to chant or if you have no such fixed-up mind—your mind is so disturbing that you cannot fix up your mind in Kṛṣṇa—then the chance is given: "Here is Deity. You simply see. Simply see." And if you are engaged in the service, there is good chance of seeing always, twenty-four hours. While you are cleansing the floor of the temple or the room, you are seeing. You are dressing—you are seeing.

Lecture on SB 1.8.35 -- Mayapura, October 15, 1974:

And to educate them, to rescue them from these clutches of avidyā-kāma-karmabhiḥ, is this śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam (SB 7.5.23). That is the sum and substance. So that is explained in this verse also by Śukadeva Gosvāmī, yat-kīrtanaṁ yat-smaraṇaṁ yad-īkṣaṇam. Kīrtanaṁ smaraṇam, and if you are unable to do that... Just like these children. They cannot meditate, but simply they sit down and see Kṛṣṇa: "Here is Kṛṣṇa. Here is Rādhārāṇī." That is also... A small child, he also gets the benefit. An animal gets the benefit—simply by seeing. Yad-vandanam. And if you are still more intelligent, then offer prayer. Either of these: yad-vandanaṁ yac-chravaṇaṁ yad-arhaṇam. The similar parallels(?), the arhaṇam. If you are expert, trained by your spiritual master how to worship, that is arhaṇam. And śravaṇam, the same thing. Yad-vandanam, offering prayers. Some way or other...

Lecture on SB 1.8.36 -- Los Angeles, April 28, 1973:

That is bhakti. Simply always be engaged in hearing and chanting about Krsna. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ.

Then further. As soon as you become expert in hearing and chanting, then the next stage is smaraṇam. Smaraṇam, thinking of. Anything you speak or hear, later on you contemplate, you meditate, smaraṇam. So smaraṇam is the third stage. First of all, one must begin with hearing, śravaṇam. Otherwise, what about, meditation? Therefore we must first of all hear about the subject matter of meditation. If you do not know the subject matter of meditation, where is the question of meditation? And that is chanting. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23). About Lord Viṣṇu. Actually yoga meditation means to see the form of the Lord, four-handed viṣṇu-mūrti within the heart. That is real meditation. Now these rascals, they have manufactured so-called meditation. That is not meditation.

Lecture on SB 1.8.39 -- Los Angeles, May 1, 1973:

Now you study this Vedic literature, what is this sun. The sun is described as the eyes of all the planets. Now you think over, meditate. Yes, it is a fact. Because unless there is sunrise, then you cannot see at night. That is not possible. And what is the sun? Sun is the eyes of the Lord. This is one... Moon is one eye, and the sun is one eye. And in Veda, in the Upaniṣad, it is said when Kṛṣṇa sees, then you can see. When Kṛṣṇa sees.

So Kṛṣṇa is seeing with His eyes the sun. Then you can see. This is fact. You cannot see anything if Kṛṣṇa does not see. So you think over of the sun. Then what is the sun? Now it is the king of all planets, rāja. Rāja means king.

Lecture on SB 1.8.42 -- Los Angeles, May 4, 1973:

You cannot see God by your these blunt eyes. That is not possible. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva (Bs. 5.38). You have to smear your eyes with the ointment of love. Then Kṛṣṇa will reveal. Kṛṣṇa will come in front of you. Just like Dhruva Mahārāja. Dhruva Mahārāja was undergoing tapasya and he was meditating upon Viṣṇumūrti within his heart. All of a sudden the Viṣṇumūrti disappeared. So his meditation broke, and immediately opened his eyes. He saw the Viṣṇumūrti in his front. He's there. So similarly, you think of Kṛṣṇa always, always think of, when you will be perfect, you'll see Kṛṣṇa in your front, talking with you. This is the process. You'll see one day. But you should not be very much hasty. Oh..., of course, that is good: "Why I am not seeing Kṛṣṇa? Why I am not Kṛṣṇa, seeing, seeing...?"

Lecture on SB 1.15.28 -- Los Angeles, December 6, 1973:

This is the process. In the Second Canto you'll find we have to think of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, First Canto and Second Canto are the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Then you gradually rise. When you are accustomed to think of Kṛṣṇa, that is called transcendental meditation. At any time, at any moment, if you immediately meditate, you'll see the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. That is transcendental meditation. Then gradually rise to think of this portion, this portion, this portion and, at last, the smiling face. That smiling face is compared with the Tenth Canto, Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This is explained.

Lecture on SB 1.15.29 -- Los Angeles, December 7, 1973:

Method is, here it is recommended by Arjuna, vāsudeva-anudhyānam. Anudhyānam. Anu means constantly, and dhyānam means meditation. They have manufactured so many meditation—without Vāsudeva. That so-called transcendental meditation club and yogāsana, but go there, what you meditate upon? Zero. That is there. They cannot say, "What is that meditation? And where is that transcendental meditation?" No rascal will be able to explain. But they'll call big, big words, "Transcendental meditation." And what is that transcendental meditation? Please explain. "Oh, that cannot be explained." You see. Is it not? But we have got (indistinct), vāsudeva-anudhyānam. You just say.

Lecture on SB 1.15.29 -- Los Angeles, December 7, 1973:

So nice thing for meditation. But why you are after zero? (laughter) Just see the rascaldom. Here is such nice object for meditation, and they are trying to meditate upon zero. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā says, kleśaḥ adhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām. Kleśa, that "Trouble is more." We can meditate upon Kṛṣṇa, immediately. We are constantly seeing Kṛṣṇa here. So as soon as I close my eyes, I see Kṛṣṇa. That is not very difficult. Anything you see, you'll be able to immediately have the form within your heart, immediately. So there is no difficulty, but they will create some difficult task. Therefore Bhagavad-gītā (says), kleśaḥ adhikataras teṣām. To fix up the mind on Vāsudeva, or Viṣṇu, that is also difficult. But those who are trying to fix up their mind on zero, their position is more difficult, adhikataram. Adhikataram means more.

Lecture on SB 1.15.29 -- Los Angeles, December 7, 1973:

Adhikataram means more.

So people are voluntarily accepting some nonsense method, and they are not happy. That is their misfortune. Misfortune. Narādhama. The, everything is there, but because they do not know... Duṣkṛtina, narādhama. Duṣkṛtina, duṣkṛtina means misfortunate, or always engaged in sinful activities. They'll not meditate upon Vāsudeva; they'll meditate on something, some color, some zero, or something like that. We do not know what kind of meditation there is. But real meditation, recommended in the Vedas, dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). Yogi. Yogis see the Supreme Personality of Godhead by meditation. Meditation, dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā, mind is absorbed in the Supreme Personality. That is the real process of yoga system and meditation—to see the form of Viṣṇu. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā, this is the recommended process, standard recommended process.

Lecture on SB 1.15.29 -- Los Angeles, December 7, 1973:

Because as soon as you become little inclined to see Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa within your heart, that means you have developed His love. Just like if you love somebody, you want to close your eyes and see his face, his..., your child, or your lover. Similarly, as soon as you practice this, how to see, meditate upon Kṛṣṇa, that means you develop. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti (Bs. 5.38). Then gradually it will increase, and you will be perfect. It is very easy. This process, Kṛṣṇa consciousness is so easy, and so pleasant, anyone can take. There is no difficulty. And if you become Kṛṣṇa consciousness, completely, always thinking of Kṛṣṇa, bahu anudhyānam, always, anudhyānam, thinking of Kṛṣṇa, thinking of Kṛṣṇa—anyone can do it—then you become perfect. Tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). That is the problem. Our, what is that problem? Problem is that we are full of anxiety.

Lecture on SB 1.15.32 -- Los Angeles, December 10, 1973:

"What I am? Wherefrom I have come? I am eternal. Why my body is not eternal? I would have been very happy if my body would have been eternal, but that is not being possible." Everyone knows. "But I desire that I may not die, my body may not be vanquished. That is my desire." But nobody is meditating upon this subject matter. They have learned some meditation—I do not know what kind of medi... This is meditation, matiṁ cakre. Svaḥ-pathāya matiṁ cakre nibhṛtātmā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ. So these things are to be solved. So Yudhiṣṭhira Mahārāja, now he will retire after this. So he will give up the kingdom. Not that... This is the Vedic system. However rich you may be, however prosperous you may be at your home or in your nation or in anyway as you think, but you have to think that "Actually these things are temporary. I am eternal. So what is my eternal function?" That is meditation. "What is my eternal function?

Lecture on SB 1.15.46 -- Los Angeles, December 24, 1973:

Pradyumna:

te sādhu-kṛta-sarvārthā

jñātvātyantikam ātmanaḥ

manasā dhārayām āsur

vaikuṇṭha-caraṇāmbujam

(SB 1.15.46)

Translation: "They all had performed all the principles of religion and as a result rightly decided that the lotus feet of the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa are the supreme goal of all. Therefore they meditated upon His feet without interruption."

Prabhupāda: Te sādhu-kṛta-sarvārthā. Artha means interest. Everyone has some interest. The animals have got also interest. The man has got some interest. The big politician, he has also interest. Everyone has got interest. But nobody knows what is real interest. That is missing. Everyone has created his interest and he is working in that way. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). Real interest is, for the human being, to know what is God, what is my relationship with Him, and how I shall achieve the highest perfection of life. That is real interest.

Lecture on SB 1.15.47-48 -- Los Angeles, December 25, 1973:

Pradyumna: "Thus by pure consciousness due to constant devotional remembrance, they attained the spiritual sky, which is ruled by the Supreme Nārāyaṇa, Lord Kṛṣṇa. This is attained only by those who meditate upon the one Supreme Lord without deviation. This abode of the Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa, known as Goloka Vṛndāvana, cannot be attained by persons who are absorbed in the material conception of life. But the Pāṇḍavas, being completely washed of all material contamination, attained that abode in their very same bodies." (SB 1.15.47-48)

Prabhupāda: Tad-dhyāna udriktayā. Dhyāna means meditation. So the Pāṇḍavas, always they were thinking of Kṛṣṇa. While they were eating, they were sitting, they were sleeping, they were talking, they were fighting-Kṛṣṇa. This is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. When Arjuna was fighting, so there was also Kṛṣṇa. When they were dealing in politics with Duryodhana, there was Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is his friend, always talking with him, staying with him, sleeping with him, eating with him.

Lecture on SB 1.16.6 -- Los Angeles, January 3, 1974:

If we stop hear Kṛṣṇa talking, then that is negation. If we stop artificially these mundane talks, that will be artificial. You cannot sit down. If I say that the so-called meditation... So meditation is artificially stopping mundane activities. That is meditation. But how long you will do that? He is becoming suffocated, "When I shall talk? When I shall talk? I am meditating, meditating, meditating." But how will it stop? That is not possible. Just like these Māyāvādī philosophers, they say, "Become desireless, no more desire." That is not possible. I am a living entity. How can I be desireless? It is not possible.

Lecture on SB 1.16.20 -- Hawaii, January 16, 1974:

So Lord Śiva was engaged in meditation after the death of his wife. In the meantime, his wife took birth in the Himalaya. So now he, he has to be induced to unite with this Pārvatī. So there was plan made. The plan made that Pārvatī, young age, beautiful girl, and Lord Śiva is meditating naked, and she was offering worshipable flowers on the genital. Still, he was not disturbed. Young girl touching the genital of a person, but he is not disturbed. That is dhīraḥ, that is the example of perfection of dhīraḥ. Even in the presence of being agitated, one who is not agitated, that is called dhīraḥ. Otherwise, everyone becomes agitated. That is natural. A young boy sees another young man or a young man sees another young girl. Natural sex appetite, natural. But one who can control that, that is dhīraḥ. That is dhīraḥ. Dhīras tatra na muhyati. That is yoga practice. That is yoga practice, controlling. "When there will be need, I shall use it."

Lecture on SB 1.16.22 -- Hawaii, January 18, 1974:

So śrīmad-bhāgavatam amalaṁ purāṇam. The study of Bhāgavatam means complete knowledge. This is the mature contribution of Vyāsadeva to the human society. Lokasyājānato vidvāṁś cakre sātvata-saṁhitām (SB 1.7.6). Before writing, by the instruction of his spiritual master, Vyāsadeva meditated in bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yogena manasi samyak praṇihite amale. Samyak praṇihite 'male, apaśyat puruṣaṁ pūrṇaṁ māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayam (SB 1.7.4).

Lecture on SB 1.16.22 -- Hawaii, January 18, 1974:

Even there is instruction by higher authorities that within this body there is the soul... Dehino 'smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanam (BG 2.13). Dehino 'smin dehe, in this body, dehī. The dehī... Dehī means the possessor, the owner of the body. It is said clearly, and we can understand that when I meditate upon my body, actually what I am. So if one is deep thinker, he'll immediately understand that "I am not this body." Take, for example, study on this finger; and if you think, "I am this finger"? No, you'll come to the conclusion, "It is my finger." Any part of your body, you study; you'll never agree that "I am this." It is "I am in possession of this." We say also, "My body, my finger, my head, my hand." And where is that "I"? You are simply thinking, "My, my, my, my," but where is that "I"? But they have no brain. And still, they're passing on as great philosopher, great scientist, and getting Nobel Prize.

Lecture on SB 2.1.1-5 -- Melbourne, June 26, 1974:

So he, out of negligence, he took the dead snake and wrapped over the neck of the meditating sage. This news was spread and his son, twelve years old only, he heard that his father was insulted. So immediately he cursed that this snake would bit him within seven days. So this news was brought, although the father, after his meditation was over, he was very..., he was sorry that such a great king has been cursed. So he was very, very sorry, but what can be done? The brāhmaṇa boy's curse must be effective. That because in those days brāhmaṇas, even by caste, was very, very strong in spiritual strength. So when Parīkṣit Mahārāja was informed that he was to die within seven days, he accepted the curse: "Yes, I was wrong to insult the sage." Otherwise, he could counteract.

Lecture on SB 2.1.2 -- Mombassa, September 13, 1971:

They are almost animal. The animal cannot think beyond his body. A dog is thinking, "I am this body." The cat is thinking, "I am this body." Beyond this he has no power. He is so low-grade. Therefore, he is called animal. But a human being can understand that "I am not this body." A human being can meditate, he can see his hands. Am I this hand? Am I this finger? No. The answer will come, "No, it is my hand. It is my finger."

Similarly, you study—this is called meditation—you study yourself. So many things, so many subject matter. Take, for example, miseries of life. You can meditate upon that "I don't want these kind of miseries, but they are enforced upon me." This is subject matter for meditation. So a man dies.

Lecture on SB 2.1.3 -- Delhi, November 6, 1973:

There are different tattvas. So śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. If you engage yourself in śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam, that should be for Viṣṇu, not for any other, anyone else. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam. Smaraṇam, meditation. That is also Viṣṇu. The yogis, those who are actually yogis, they meditate upon the viṣṇu-mūrti within the heart. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). Yogis, their meditation, Viṣṇu.

So this kṛṣṇa-praśna, Kṛṣṇa question and Kṛṣṇa answer, this is loka-hitam. Anyone hears... In another place Śrī Bhāgavata says, śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ (SB 1.2.17). "About Kṛṣṇa, if you hear and speak, it is automatically puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ." As it is said, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23). So this śravaṇam Kṛṣṇa, Viṣṇu, means puṇya, puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ.

Lecture on SB 2.3.20 -- Los Angeles, June 16, 1972:

So the fact is that "One who has not listened to the messages about the prowess and the marvelous acts of the Personality of Godhead ..." Now, they have got ... These Māyāvādīs, they have got their ears, but they cannot hear about the activities of the Lord. They'll reject, "Oh, this is all māyā. Let us meditate." So their, these earholes is compared with the snake holes.

When you go, walk on the paddy field, you will find so many holes. Have you got experience? There are so many holes. Even on the beach, you will find so many holes. But especially in the agricultural field there are holes, because the paddy ... The rats and mouse, they come to eat the paddies, and they make hole to live there. And the snakes take advantage.

Lecture on SB 2.3.22 -- Los Angeles, June 19, 1972:

The forms of the Lord is not imagination. They say that they imagine some form. Sādhakānāṁ hitvārthāya brahmaṇo rūpa-kalpanaḥ. The Māyāvādī philosophers, due to their poor fund of knowledge, they think that "The Absolute Truth is formless, but because we cannot meditate upon formless, something formless, let us imagine some form." Imagine. Nirviśeṣa-vādī, nirākāra-vādī, they imagine forms.

Therefore, their philosophy, that "Any form you like, you can concentrate. Because after all, there is no form. But for your present facility, you can imagine some form." But there is also mistake on their part, because they say "Imagine any form." Generally, they prescribe the form of Lord Śiva, the form of Lord Viṣṇu, the form of Durgā, the form of the sun, and the form of Gaṇeśa. Pañcopāsanā.

Lecture on SB 2.9.3 -- Melbourne, April 5, 1972:

And if I say "my, mine, Kṛṣṇa is mine. I am Kṛṣṇa's, Kṛṣṇa is mine." That is perfect "I" and "mine." "I am Brahman, I am God, I am the Supreme, I am moving the stars"—just like these rascals, they think like that—that is rascaldom. There are so many rascals, they think like that, meditate, "I am the Supreme, I am moving the star. I am moving the sun. It is being controlled by me." That is their meditation. That is explained there. That is their meditation. Is it not? Does not somebody meditate like that? They do not take actual, whether actually he is able to move the sun and moon, but foolishly thinking like that. They are taught that "If you simply think like that, then one day you will become." How impractical proposition.

Lecture on SB 3.12.19 -- Dallas, March 3, 1975:

These are the items of tapasya. There is scorching heat and they will arrange that. There is pinching, chilly cold, less than hundred degree, and they will go under water and put the body up to this and meditate. These are the items of tapasya. Tapasya. So for God realization formerly people used to undergo such severe type of penances, and at the present moment we are so fallen, we cannot tolerate these four principles? Is it very difficult? We are imposing some tapasya, that "Don't indulge in these things. No illicit sex, no intoxication, no meat-eating, no gambling." These are the items of tapasya for advancing in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So is it very difficult? It is not difficult. If one can practice, go within the water up to the neck in chilly pinching cold, is it more difficult to give up illicit sex and meat-eating and intoxication? We are not advising, "No sex." Illicit sex.

Lecture on SB 3.12.19 -- Dallas, March 3, 1975:

So tapasya required. If we want advancement in spiritual life, we must accept some sort of tapasya. In the Kali-yuga we cannot accept such severe type of tapasya as in the cold, we go underneath, under water, sometimes drowning or sometimes up to this, and then meditate or chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That is not possible. The minimum. So tapasya must be there.

So we should note it by this verse that some sort of tapasya must be done if we are serious about God realization. That is wanted. And then the first realization is jyoti, brahma-jyotir. Generally, the Māyāvādī transcendentalists, they think that this realization of brahma-jyotir is all in all. The yogis, they think that realization of sarva-guhāvāsam, sarva-bhūta-guhāvāsam... Īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe arjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61). God is there in everyone's heart. This is accepted in all śāstra. In the Bhagavad-gītā says, here also it is said, sarva-bhūta-guhāvāsam.

Lecture on SB 3.22.21 -- Tehran, August 10, 1976:

Pradyumna: (leads chanting, etc.)

maitreya uvāca

sa ugra-dhanvann iyad evābabhāṣe

āsīc ca tūṣṇīm aravinda-nābham

dhiyopagṛhṇan smita-śobhitena

mukhena ceto lulubhe devahūtyāḥ

(SB 3.22.21)

Translation: "Śrī Maitreya said: O great warrior Vidura, the sage Kardama said this much only and then became silent, thinking of his worshipable Lord Viṣṇu, who has a lotus on His navel. As he silently smiled, his face captured the mind of Devahūti, who began to meditate upon the great sage."

Prabhupāda: Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane (SB 9.4.18). There is one instance of Kṛṣṇa consciousness, how the devotee does not lose a single moment without thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Satataṁ kīrtayanto mām (BG 9.14). Kīrtaniyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31). This instruction we get. So, sadā tad bhāva-bhāvitaḥ (BG 8.6). If you practice like that, then there is chance of being transferred to Kṛṣṇa just after leaving this body. So somehow or other you should be absorbed in the thought of Kṛṣṇa. We get all these examples from authorities. Just like Ambarīṣa Mahārāja, he was emperor, very responsible man. But sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor: he kept his mind always on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor (SB 9.4.18).

Lecture on SB 3.25.3 -- Bombay, November 3, 1974:

He is very pleasantly with His consort, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, and enjoying playing on His flute. There is no anxiety. That is God. If God has got anxiety, then what class of God He is? No. So that anxietyless God you'll find in Kṛṣṇa. The demigods... Take any demigod, even Lord Brahmā. He's also anxiety. He's meditating. And... Lord Śiva is dancing with his triśūla. He has got something to do, to annihilate. He has got anxiety. Goddess Kālī. She's also standing with sword and so many things. So they have got activities. Durgā, she is engaged in so many activities. But Kṛṣṇa, you'll find always svacchandātmā, always peaceful. Kṛṣṇa, when He's engaged in killing some demons, that Kṛṣṇa is different from the original Kṛṣṇa. That is Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa. That is Vāsudeva. Kṛṣṇa personally does not go anywhere. Padam, padam ekaṁ na gacchati. Giving up Vṛndāvana, He does not go even step away. That is original Kṛṣṇa. And other things, other activities which are done by Kṛṣṇa, that is Vāsudeva Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 3.25.17 -- Bombay, November 17, 1974:

At least, we control our family members, my wife, my children. Or if I am bigger, I control my office, or I control my factory, I control the country, I become president. In this way, controller, controller, bigger controller, bigger controller, you go to the Brahmā, the controller of the universe. But he is also not Supreme Controller. It is said, tene... Brahmā is meditating. Although he is the greatest creature, living creature, within this universe, he's also meditating to learn controlling. Tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye muhyanti yat sūrayaḥ. He learned first of all how to control over the universe. Then he became Brahmā. Of course, he was born Brahmā, but still, he was to be educated. Just like we require to be educated. So Brahmā was educated. So who educated him? Kṛṣṇa. Aham ādir hi devānām (Bg 10.2). Kṛṣṇa says. Aham ādir hi devānām. Deva, the original deva, is Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Maheśvara. So Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa is Viṣṇu, but He is the instructor of Brahmā and Śiva also. This is the shastric conclusion. That is greatness.

Lecture on SB 3.25.36 -- Bombay, December 5, 1974:

Try to see the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, and when you are practiced to this habit, even after visiting the temple if you go home, if you are practice to see the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, that is meditation. So darśanīya avayavaiḥ: "Different limbs." First of all feet, then the thighs, then the belt, then the chest, then you reach the smiling face. Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa's form... If you meditate on Kṛṣṇa's form, that is Kṛṣṇa. So we associate with Kṛṣṇa, His smiling face, His flute, His hand, His dress, His consort, Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī, or any other, gopīs, surrounded by. In this way, practice this habit of observing the Supreme Lord. Therefore He has appeared, arcā-vigraha, so that we can see Him.

Lecture on SB 3.25.39-40 -- Bombay, December 8, 1974:

That is śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam (SB 7.5.23), always thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Simply if you... Meditation, that is meditation. If you meditate about Kṛṣṇa always, then you become the first-class yogi. That is said in the Bhagavad-gītā in the Sixth Chapter, yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā (BG 6.47).

So this movement is teaching everyone always to be Kṛṣṇa conscious, to become first-class yogi, and take Kṛṣṇa as everything—priya, suta, sakhā, guru, everything. That is called bhakta. So in this way, visṛjya sarvān anyāṁś ca. Visṛjya means giving up completely. If you want a son, all right, Kṛṣṇa is prepared to become your son. If you want a lover, all right, Kṛṣṇa is prepared to become your lover. If you want a friend, Kṛṣṇa is prepared to become your friend.

Lecture on SB 3.26.15 -- Bombay, December 24, 1974:

So saguṇa, this word... The Māyāvādī theory is saguṇa worship and nirguṇa worship. Saguṇa worship means when you worship a deity, in form, that is called saguṇa worship. And when you meditate upon impersonal, that is nirguṇa. That is their theory. But meditation is not possible unless there is form. Without form, meditation means... That is stated in the Bhagavad-gītā, kleśaḥ adhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām: "One who is trying to meditate upon the impersonal Brahman," kleśaḥ, "it is very troublesome," because we are not accustomed to concentrate our mind, meditate upon anything which is impersonal. That is not possible. We simply try to do that under labor, under trouble, kleśaḥ adhikataras teṣām avyaktāsakta-cetasām, whereas devotee, he immediately sees Kṛṣṇa in the temple: "Here is Kṛṣṇa. Here is Rādhārāṇī.'

Lecture on SB 3.26.22 -- Bombay, December 31, 1974:

He thought that "My stepmother has insulted. I shall go to God and take from Him such opulence which is many, many millions times better than my father's." That was his ambition. But when he actually saw Lord Viṣṇu standing... He was meditating Viṣṇu. All of a sudden he saw the Viṣṇu is missing within the heart. Then his meditation broke, and he saw Lord Viṣṇu is present before him. So this is not very difficult for Lord Viṣṇu. He is always within your heart, and if He likes, He can come outside and become visible by you. That is not very difficult. So when he saw Viṣṇu and Viṣṇu offered, "My dear boy, what do you want? Take benediction," so he said, svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce.

This is perfection: "I am fully satisfied." Svaccha, śānta, no demand. No demand. That is position, no demand. Svāmin kṛtārtho 'smi varaṁ na yāce. This is the highest perfection. That is called svacchatvam avikāritvaṁ śāntatvam.

Lecture on SB 3.26.28 -- Bombay, January 5, 1975:

So dhyānāvasthita-manasā..., dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā yaṁ paśyanti yoginaḥ. Yogis, they are desirous of mystic power, eight kinds of mystic power. They also meditate on the Supreme Lord. And the feature of the Supreme Lord on which the yogis meditate by concentrating their mind is called Aniruddha. Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha..., Vāsudeva, Saṅkarṣaṇa, Aniruddha, Pradyumna. So this is described. Aniruddha is the Deity of the mind, and mind is the central sense of all senses. Indriyāṇi parāṇy āhur indriyebhyaḥ paraṁ manaḥ (BG 3.42). In the material conception of life the senses are very prominent. So long we are under the bodily concept of life, our objective is to satisfy the senses. But the master of the senses is the mind, and the controlling Deity of the mind is Aniruddha.

Lecture on SB 3.26.29 -- Bombay, January 6, 1975:

Therefore Vedic knowledge is called apauruṣeya. It is not manufactured or concocted by some mental speculator. It is coming from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and it was imparted first of all to Lord Brahmā, not by personal presentation, but through the heart. Brahmā is the original person to understand Vedic knowledge. So after his birth he meditated for hundreds of years, and by meditation, through his heart the knowledge of Vedas, śruti, became revealed. Tene brahma hṛdā ādi-kavaye. Ādi-kavi means Brahmā. And Brahman means Vedic knowledge. So we have to accept in that way. There is no physical science which can ascertain all this, how the things are taking place. But they are coming. In this way we have to learn from the śruti.

Lecture on SB 3.26.31 -- Bombay, January 8, 1975:

You can train up your mind if you simply keep your mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa is here, and you see Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, and if you practice to meditate upon Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, Kṛṣṇa's bodily feature, then immediately your mind becomes controlled. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18). Ambarīṣa Mahārāja, he was the emperor of the world. He had to manage many political affairs. But he was one of the topmost devotees at the same time. Why? Because... About him it is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that he practiced this yoga system, the topmost yoga system. What is that? Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ: "He kept always his mind at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa." And his legs engaged for going... He was king, emperor. He had no business to go. But still, he was using his legs to go to the temple.

Lecture on SB 3.26.31 -- Bombay, January 8, 1975:

Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). That is the yoga practice of meditation, but not that he, the yogi, does not know what he is thinking. That is not yoga. This is simply show. Real yoga is to meditate upon the lotus feel of Kṛṣṇa. That is real yoga. Dhyānāvasthita. Dhyāna. Dhyāna means meditation. So they sit down in dhyāna. What is the subject matter of dhyāna? The subject matter of dhyāna is the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu. That is dhyāna, dhyāna-yoga. That is... Then you get yogic perfection. And Kṛṣṇa recommends in the Bhagavad-gītā how first-class yoga is thinking of Kṛṣṇa:

Lecture on SB 3.28.18 -- Nairobi, October 27, 1975:

Harikeśa: "The glory of the Lord is always worth singing, for His glories enhance the glories of His devotees. One should therefore meditate upon the Supreme Personality of Godhead and upon His devotees. One should meditate on the eternal form of the Lord until the mind becomes fixed."

Prabhupāda:

kīrtanya-tīrtha-yaśasaṁ

puṇya-śloka-yaśaskaram

dhyāyed devaṁ samagrāṅgaṁ

yāvan na cyavate manaḥ

(SB 3.28.18)

This is called meditation. Yāvan, so long the mind is disturbed and deviates from our subject of meditation, one should practice this kīrtana. Kīrtanīyaḥ sadā hariḥ (CC Adi 17.31). Caitanya Mahāprabhu advises that the devotee should chant always, twenty-four hours, kīrtanya: "It is worth singing." It is worth singing, why? Puṇya ślokasya, puṇya ślokasya. Puṇya śloka yaśaskaram. Even if you do not fix up your mind... Kīrtana means fix up your mind, but even if you do not fix up your mind, then you are still gainer. The more you glorify the Lord, you become pious simply by kīrtana. It is not necessary that you understand, but if you go on chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra, then you become pious. Puṇya-śloka. Kṛṣṇa's another name is Puṇya-śloka, Uttama-śloka. Simply by chanting "Kṛṣṇa," you become pious.

Lecture on SB 3.28.19 -- Nairobi, October 29, 1975:

This is meditation. These haṭha-yogis, they meditate in their impersonal feature, but our meditation, Vaiṣṇava, devotees' meditation is very easy. For the haṭha-yogis, they have to select place, āsana. Dhyāna, dhāraṅā, āsana... Āsana is also one of the activities. But here, in Vaiṣṇava philosophy, you are seeing the Deity always, at least daily, so you have got some impression that "Our temple Deity is like this." That impression, either you are sitting in one place without any activities, sthitaṁ vrajantam... While walking on the street also, you can think of this Deity. There is no difficulty, either you are sitting or you are walking or you are standing, any way. Because the mind is there in Kṛṣṇa, in Kṛṣṇa's form.

Lecture on SB 3.28.19 -- Nairobi, October 29, 1975:

He flatly denied, "Kṛṣṇa, these things cannot be done by me." Because in those days, especially a person like Arjuna, why he should speak lies? This meditation is not possible. It was only possible in the Satya-yuga when people were very peaceful, long duration of life, there was no artificial necessities of life. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum. At that time, to meditate upon Viṣṇu and for years Just like Vālmīki Muni. He practiced meditation for sixty thousands of years. Then he got perfection. At that time people used to live for 100,000.

So this meditation is very difficult to execute at the present moment. That is the verdict of the Vedic literature.

Lecture on SB 3.28.19 -- Nairobi, October 29, 1975:

So this is practice. First of all think of the Deity. First of all think of the lotus feet, then the knees, then the eyes, then the belly, then the chest. In this way, as you become practiced, then go further, advance. In this way, when you become fully practiced, then automatically, in whatever condition you are, you will be able to meditate upon Kṛṣṇa. That is the highest perfection of life. Satataṁ kīrtayanto mām (BG 9.14). Satataṁ cintayanto mām. If you always think of Kṛṣṇa, always chant... Chanting is also meditation. As soon as you chant, you immediately remember Kṛṣṇa, His form, His name, His quality, His pastimes. So where is difficulty? The Gosvāmīs practiced it.

Lecture on SB 3.28.19 -- Nairobi, October 29, 1975:

Because it is directly associating with God. Dhyāyet. So as soon as chant, immediately there will be meditation, śuddha-bhāvena cetasā, by consciousness, by the mind, by intelligence. So this is the recommendation.

(reads purport) "The process of meditating on the form of the Supreme Personality of Godhead within oneself and the process of chanting the glories or pastimes of the Lord are the same." There is no difference. This is called advaya-jñāna: no difference, absolute. Either you chant, hear, or you try to see within your heart the Supreme Lord—the same thing. "The only difference is that hearing and fixing the mind on the pastimes of the Lord is easier than visualizing the form of the Lord within one's heart, because as soon as one begins to think of the Lord, especially in this age, the mind becomes disturbed, and due to so much agitation, the process of seeing the Lord within the mind is interrupted."

Lecture on SB 3.28.19 -- Nairobi, October 29, 1975:

"The only difference is that hearing and fixing the mind on the pastimes of the Lord is easier than visualizing the form of the Lord within one's heart, because as soon as one begins to think of the Lord, especially in this age, the mind becomes disturbed, and due to so much agitation, the process of seeing the Lord within the mind is interrupted." Suppose one is big businessman. He is always thinking of his business, how to sell this, how to purchase this. This is... His mind is absorbed with these things. So if he sits down to meditate upon the Lord, it will not be possible. It will not be possible. His mind will be disturbed, and he will think of his business transaction. So that is natural. But if you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa loudly, you will be forced to hear "Kṛṣṇa," and that Kṛṣṇa immediately comes within your mind by force. So it is better process than sit down and think of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 3.28.19 -- Nairobi, October 29, 1975:

"When there is sound vibrated passing the transcendental pastimes of the Lord, however, one is forced to hear. That hearing process enters into the mind, and the practice of yoga is automatically performed. For example, even a child can hear and derive the benefit of meditating on the pastimes of the Lord simply..." Now, just like these children. They do not understand English, they do not understand language, but when there will be chanting, they will stand up and dance. See how this process is easy. There is no question of language understanding, no question of being young or child. Anyone who will hear the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa Mantra, he will be enthused immediately, and that is natural. Unless he is covered with sinful activities very much, he will be enthused. Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). But even if he is covered with sinful activities, by chanting, immediately the process of cleansing begins.

Lecture on SB 3.28.19 -- Nairobi, October 29, 1975:

"Any kīrtana will do." No. He doesn't say. Satataṁ kīrtayanto mām yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ (BG 9.14).

So everything is there. Stick to Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra and see the Deity always and have impression of the Deity. In whichever position you are, you'll be meditating and your life will be successful.

Lecture on SB 3.28.20 -- Nairobi, October 30, 1975:

Girl devotee (2): Śrīla Prabhupāda, when we chant japa in front of arca-mūrti, do we then therefore, by this verse, meditate on Kṛṣṇa limb by limb?

Prabhupāda: Hm?

Brahmānanda: When we chant japa in front of the Deity, does that correspond to this verse of meditating on the Lord limb by limb?

Prabhupāda: Yes. You can see. The Lord is everywhere. You can... Anyone can think. All right. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa.

Devotees: All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda. (end)

Lecture on SB 3.28.21 -- Nairobi, November 1, 1975:

Sañcintayed bhagavataś caraṇāravindam. This is the beginning of meditation, sañcintayet. It is not nirviśeṣa, nirakara meditation. What is that meditation? Here it is, direction, sañcintayet. Sañcintayet means meditation. What about, meditation? Sañcintayed bhagavataś caraṇāravindam. First of all meditate on the lotus feet, caraṇāravindam, lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. And if you minutely see, then you will find the symptoms are there. Our feet and Kṛṣṇa's feet, there is difference. Why difference? Because on the sole these marks are there. What is that? Vajra aṅkuśa, dhvaja, saroruha. Four things are there: thunderbolt, mark of thunderbolt; and kuśa, the mark of... What is that instrument which controls the elephant?

Lecture on SB 3.28.21 -- Nairobi, November 1, 1975:

Huh? Yes, gradually. No, no. First of all see the lotus feet and meditate. When you are fully practiced to see the lotus feet simply by thinking of Kṛṣṇa, then that business is finished. Then go up, then go up, then go up, then go up. Then see the face. This is the process of meditation. Not... Therefore I said, "Not jumping over the face, rasa-līlā." What do you know about Kṛṣṇa's līlā, rāsa-līlā? First of all study what is Kṛṣṇa, then Kṛṣṇa's rāsa-līlā. Any other?

Lecture on SB 3.28.21 -- Nairobi, November 1, 1975:

He'll give you intelligence. He is within you. Therefore I was saying, "First of all become fit. First of all deserve. Then desire." Why foolishly you desire something for which you do not deserve? That is your fault. That is misuse. Don't desire something without being deserving. So these are the process given how to think, how to meditate upon Kṛṣṇa. So practice it. Become qualified. Then you'll see everything. Without being qualified, why you want to see? This devotional service means practicing how to become qualified.

Lecture on SB 5.5.2 -- Boston, April 28, 1969:

So this lecture I began in Buffalo, and I am continuing that. So my request is that... We have got many centers. This is also center, one of the centers. We are not meant for giving you any bluff, that "You give me some fee," or "I shall give you some mantra, and whatever you like you can do, and if you meditate or do that, then you'll become one with God." These things are not our business. We are following strictly the principles of Vedas, the principles laid down by great authorities, and if we accept them, then we'll get the required perfection of life. And they are not very difficult. They are not very difficult. Just like our process is simply to chant. Simply by chanting this Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, gradually you'll develop your spiritual life without any pain.

Lecture on SB 6.1.6 -- Los Angeles, January 3, 1970:

And he got salvation, within seven days. There are nine different process of executing Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Several times I have described that nine processes. The first process is hearing. The second process is chanting. The third process is remembering, or meditating. The fourth process is serving the Lord. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam (SB 7.5.23). Pāda-sevanam means to serve the lotus feet of the Lord. Then arcanam. Arcanam means temple worship. Just like in this temple you see there is Deity, Kṛṣṇa's Arca-mūrti or Deity, or idol, whatever you call, and we are offering flowers and fruits and cooked foodstuff, whatever we can get by the mercy of Kṛṣṇa. And we offer it, "Kṛṣṇa, You have kindly sent this foodstuff." This is acknowledgement. You cannot manufacture this nice fruit. It is not in your power.

Lecture on SB 6.1.11 -- New York, July 25, 1971:

The Red Indians also had some religion.

So, apart from that historical point of view, the Vedic culture prescribes tapasya. Tapasya. Tapasya means voluntarily accept some bodily inconvenience. That is called tapasya. There are many tapasvīs undergoing austerity. They meditate in winter in water up to..., up to the neck, standing within water, meditating. To stand within water in winter, severe cold, is not very comfortable business, but they voluntarily accept it. This is called tapasya. And summer season, they blaze fire all round and sit down in the midst and meditate. I am giving you some of the examples, how severely they accept tapasya. So tapasya is required. Without tapasya you cannot make advancement in spiritual life, or life of knowledge.

Lecture on SB 6.1.13-14 -- New York, July 27, 1971:

The dhīra example is given by Kālidāsa Paṇḍita, a great poet in India, Sanskrit poet, long, long ago. He has written one book: Kumāra-sambhava. Kumāra-sambhava. In our college we read that book in Sanskrit class. Kumāra-sambhava. So he has given one example of dhīra about Lord Śiva, Mahādeva. He was meditating and the demigods, they had a plan, that "The demons are fighting with us. We are being defeated. We want a commander in chief, who must be born out of the semina of Lord Śiva." But he was in meditation. So how to do it? So Pārvatī, she was sent. She was young girl. And she was worshiping the genital of Lord Śiva. So a young girl, touching the genital, and she's present, but still Lord Śiva was in meditation.

Lecture on SB 6.1.13-14 -- Los Angeles, June 26, 1975:

So in this way we have to understand what is God. God is not a petty thing, that He dies, or one is manufactured by meditation, he become God. This kind of God has no value. God is always God. Kṛṣṇa, when He was a child, He had no opportunity to meditate. He was a child playing on the lap of His mother. And when Pūtanā came and wanted to kill the child, the small child God, He killed Putana, a big demon. So even He was at that time three months old, still... And not only Pūtanā, many other demons. And then, when He was six or seven-years-old boy, so at that time there was crisis in Vṛndāvana, and He lifted the Govardhana Hill with His finger. This is God. Aiśvaryasya samāgrasya vīryasya yaśasaḥ śriyaḥ (Viṣṇu Purāṇa 6.5.47). God has got unlimited strength. You have seen in Kṛṣṇa picture: Kṛṣṇa is killing so many demons. That horse demon? Kesi, Kesi.

Lecture on SB 6.1.13-14 -- Honolulu, May 14, 1976:

The limit is hundred years, but who is going to live hundred years? Nobody. If one is eighty, seventy years, it is considered... Within sixty, seventy years everyone finished. But the age limit is hundred years. So what tapasya he'll do? What meditation he will do? In the Satya-yuga, by meditation one could get perfection. Just like Valmiki Muni. He meditated for sixty thousands of years. Because in those days a man used to live for 100,000's of years. Gradually it is reducing. In the Satya-yuga man and woman used to live, human being, up to 100,000's of years. Then, next yuga, it was ten thousands of years, reduced by ten times. And then, next yuga, next millennium, it is one thousands of years. And now, in the Kali-yuga, it is one hundred years. So it is very difficult to perform tapasya. But the recommendation is there, tapasā brahmacaryena (SB 6.1.13).

Lecture on SB 6.1.14 -- Bombay, November 10, 1970:

If you teach one child that "If you meditate upon Kṛṣṇa within," that is easier? Or if you say that "The fire which you are cooking on, this is Kṛṣṇa's"? Which is easier? So why you become more than child? You should remain always child, then you will get knowledge, real knowledge. That is the mistake. "I am now grown up. I cannot accept as child." What is the difference between child? A child also learns ABCD and a grown up man also uses ABCD. In what sense he is grown up? The ABCD is there. But when you are grown up can you give up ABCD? Can you give up ABCD when you are grown up? What do you mean by grown up? What is the difference between child and you? You also use ABCD, he also uses ABCD. But his knowledge of ABCD is not so perfect as yours.

Lecture on SB 6.1.15 -- Auckland, February 22, 1973:

There are nine items. Śravaṇam, hearing, chanting. Hearing and chanting, kīrtanam. Smaraṇam, thinking of Kṛṣṇa. Anyone can think of Kṛṣṇa. Here is Kṛṣṇa's form. You see and get the form within your heart and think of Kṛṣṇa, meditate. Where is the difficulty? There is no difficulty. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. You hear about Kṛṣṇa, Bhagavad-gītā, Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. You haven't got to do anything. And kīrtanam also. Hearing means somebody is speaking and others are hearing. There must be somebody chanting. Just like I am chanting, I am speaking—you are hearing. So śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam. And as soon as we hear and chant, we remember also, smaraṇam. The vandanam, offering prayers. Everyone goes to the temple, to the church, offers prayer. That is also bhakti. Śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam (SB 7.5.23).

Lecture on SB 6.1.15 -- Los Angeles, June 27, 1975:

Even after so much tapasya... There are many instances. Just like Viśvāmitra Muni. Viśvāmitra Muni was a king. He wanted to become a brāhmaṇa, and he practiced mystic yoga for many years. Still, he became a victim of a woman, Menakā. He was meditating, closing eyes, and Indra sent this woman, Menakā. And simply by hearing the sound of the bangles, ching, ching, ching, "Oh, there is woman. Yes, very nice," (laughter) all mystic yoga finished. Then he begot one daughter. That..., her name is Śakuntalā, the famous beautiful daughter. So that history is there.

Lecture on SB 6.1.34-39 -- Surat, December 19, 1970:

Revatīnandana: In the First Chapter, God Realization booklet, First Chapter, Second Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the process described there where it says that the gross materialists can begin meditating on the syllable om and then try to contemplate the universal form. That is not recommended for this age, right?

Prabhupāda: No, that is not for the advanced stage. Those who cannot... Just like the materialistic persons, they cannot understand why we are worshiping Deity. They are puzzled. They think, "Why these fools are taking one brass doll and worshiping as God?" They laugh. You see? They cannot understand. They are hard... What is called? It is impossible for them. Therefore they have been recommended that "You think of God, the universal form." That they like, their meditation, that universal form. They cannot understand or concentrate on this form, kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28), dvi-bhuja-muralīdhāra, Śyāmasundara form.

Lecture on SB 6.1.42 -- Los Angeles, July 23, 1975:

This is the injunction of the śāstra, that in the Satya-yuga people used to live for 100,000's of years. At that time you could meditate upon for sixty thousand years. Still, forty thousand years you can live perfectly. But it is not possible now. Therefore the supreme perfection attained in the Satya-yuga by meditation was possible in the next yuga, Tretā-yuga, by performing sacrifices. Tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ. Dvāpare paricaryāyām. In the next age, by worshiping Deity, paricaryāyām. Kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt: the same result you will get. Because Kali-yuga, it is very difficult to be fixed up in meditation or to perform very costly yajñas or to perform worship of the Deity. That is also difficult. I am very much pleased that you are worshiping Deity very nicely, gorgeously.

Lecture on SB 6.1.63 -- Vrndavana, August 30, 1975:

And graha-grasto vicetasaḥ. Graha-grasta. Just like when we are haunted by ghost—a ghost captures, then vicetasaḥ, we are lost, lost of our our consciousness, our intelligence—he became like that. Tām eva manasā dhyāyan. Then, instead of meditating on Kṛṣṇa, he began to meditate on the lusty affairs of the śūdra and the śūdrāṇī.

Therefore, in the Kali-yuga the so-called meditation is a farce. Because we are always seeing these lusty affairs before our eyes, naturally when we close our eyes and meditate, instead of thinking of Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu, we shall think of woman and other things. Therefore it is not possible. In the Kali-yuga it is not possible. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum (SB 12.3.52). In the Satya-yuga it was possible, meditation on Viṣṇu, not on other things. But now, in this Kali-yuga, we are infected with so many lusty desires that it is not possible.

Lecture on SB 6.1.64-65 -- Vrndavana, September 1, 1975:

So after seeing the woman, he was meditating always, twenty-four hours, about the subject, lusty desires. Kāmais tais tair hṛta-jñānāḥ (BG 7.20). When one becomes lusty, then one becomes lost of all intelligence. The whole world is going on on the basis of these lusty desires. This is material world. And because I am lusty, you are lusty, every one of us, so as soon as my desires are not fulfilled, your desires are not fulfilled, then I become your enemy, you become my enemy. I cannot see you are making very good progress. You cannot see me making very good progress. This is material world, envious, lusty desires, kāma, krodha, lobha, moha, mātsarya. This is the basis of this material world.

Lecture on SB 6.1.64-65 -- Vrndavana, September 1, 1975:

So this man, although he was being trained up as a brāhmaṇa, his attention was diverted all of a sudden by seeing one śūdra and śūdrāṇī embracing, kissing, talking. So that became his meditation. Instead of meditating on Viṣṇu, he began to meditate on that śūdrani. Svayam eva toṣayām āsa. In the first verse, tan-nimitta-smara vyāja-graha-grasto vicetasaḥ. He became mad, vicetasa, bewildered, as if haunted by ghost. Tām eva manasā dhyāyan. Always meditating, "How shall I get that woman? How shall I please that woman so that she may satisfy my lusty desires?" Therefore tām eva toṣayām āsa: "His only business was how to please her." Now they require money. So he was not earning money, but pitṛyeṇa, whatever money he inherited from the father's earning... The son generally inherits father's property. He was the only son.

Lecture on SB 6.2.11 -- Vrndavana, September 13, 1975:

Formerly tons and tons of food grains, ghee were sacrificed. That is yajña. So this is not possible. Up to Tretā-yuga it was possible. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum. Meditation, this is a farce. So many foolish people, they are misled by other rascal: "meditation." What meditation? Meditation is so easy thing? Vālmikī Muni meditated for sixty thousands of years. Then he got perfection. So who will get that opportunity? It is all farce. Meditation is farce. Yajña, the so-called yajña, is also farce because there is no yajñic brāhmaṇa. The yajñic brāhmaṇa would ignite fire by mantra, not matches. So where is that yajñic brāhmaṇa? So this is not possible.

Lecture on SB 6.3.18 -- Gorakhpur, February 11, 1971:

Because they are always protected, no enemy can harm to them. Ajāta-śatru. As Kṛṣṇa is ajāta-śatru, no enemy can harm to Him, there are śatrus or enemies of Kṛṣṇa, as you will read from the Kṛṣṇa ... Thousands and thousands of the demons, from the very beginning of His birth there are enemies. When Kṛṣṇa is born... (aside:) Don't meditate. Just hear. These are important things. Kṛṣṇa, as soon as He is born, there is enemy present, Kaṁsa. As soon as He is grown little, two months, three months, there is enemy-Pūtanā, Agha, Baka. So even God, Kṛṣṇa, has got enemies, so why not of the devotees? The devotees' enemy... Just like Hiraṇyakaśipu. He is enemy of his son, five-years-old son. So you don't think that because one has become Kṛṣṇa conscious, he has no enemy. Don't judge in that way: "Oh, he is Kṛṣṇa conscious. Why there is enemy? Why somebody criticizes him?

Lecture on SB 6.3.18 -- Gorakhpur, February 11, 1971:

"What kind of Vaiṣṇava you are?" Pratiṣṭhāra tare nirjanera ghare: "And simply for cheap popularity, 'Oh, he is a Vaiṣṇava. He is chanting. All right.' " Pratiṣṭhāra tare nirjanera ghare tava hari..., nirjanera ghare. No botheration, because if there is no preaching, there is no botheration. You can sit down and show people, "I have now become a very liberated soul," and chant and meditate. That means sleeping. This sort of business is condemned by my Guru Mahārāja. Pratiṣṭhāra tare nirjanera ghare tava hari-nāma kevala. This is simply cheating. He did not approve this kind of business. He did not approve. He wanted to see that everyone is engaged in preaching work, some sort of preaching work, either indoor or outdoor.

Lecture on SB 6.3.18-19 -- Gorakhpur, February 12, 1971:

As I have explained yesterday, devotees will have enemies. Kṛṣṇa had enemies. This world is such, envious. Ordinarily, they are envious. The whole world is full of enviousness. Even the greatest personalities like Indra, he is also envious. If somebody is undergoing great austerities, thus Indra becomes envious. Just like Viśvāmitra. Viśvāmitra was meditating by the yoga process. Immediately Indra became disturbed: "Oh, this man is practicing so much severe austerities. He may capture my post some day. So this man must be curbed down immediately." Just like in political party, everyone is thinking, "Oh, this man is becoming greater than me. So he should be curbed down; he should be checked. Otherwise, some day he may occupy my ministership." This is the position of the world. Everyone is envious.

Lecture on SB 7.5.22-30 -- London, September 8, 1971:

So they are absolute. But still, as it is convenient, you can accept any one of them and you advance in devotional service.

So he said, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇu smaraṇam. If you have no time to hear, to go to the temple or to hear the speeches of the ācāryas, at home you can simply remember the Lord. This Rādhā-Kṛṣṇa mūrti, if you simply remember, meditate, that will also do. Smaraṇaṁ pāda-sevanam. Pāda-sevanam means to serve, giving service, rendering service to the lotus feet of the Lord, just like devotees do. They bring flowers, tulasī, and offer to the lotus feet of the Lord. The worshiping of the Lord begins from the leg, from the lotus feet, not directly to the head. That is the way. So pāda-sevanam. Then arcanam. Arcanam means the offering ārātrika, offering bhoga, cleansing the Deity room and dressing the Lord, changing the flowers. These are called arcanam. Vandanam. If you cannot do this, then offer prayers. Just like in Christian church they offers prayers.

Lecture on SB 7.6.1 Excerpt -- San Francisco, March 16, 1968:

So therefore Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommends that ramyā kācid upāsanā vraja-vadhū-vargeṇā yā kalpitā. There is no better method of worship than it was conceived by the gopīs. And what was that? The gopīs were twenty four hours, they were always Kṛṣṇa conscious. They were requesting Kṛṣṇa, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, many, many yogis, many, many saintly persons, they go to the forest and meditate upon Your lotus feet. But they cannot fix up. They meditate Your lotus feet, but still, they think of something else. They are not perfect. Their meditation fails. But in our case Your lotus feet is so much fixed up in our heart that we are thinking of You and we cannot discharge our family duties. So kindly get out of our heart." Just see. "Please excuse. Kindly go out of our heart so that I, we can do our duties."

Lecture on SB 7.6.2 -- Toronto, June 18, 1976:

The real aim of life is how to go back to home, back to Godhead. They do not know it. Na te viduḥ. Generally, people do not know what is the aim of life. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇuḥ. All the Vedic mantra says. The Ṛg Veda mantra says, om tad viṣṇoḥ paramaṁ padam. That is the... Everyone must meditate upon Lord Viṣṇu. Meditation means to think of Lord Viṣṇu within the heart. I think we have seen many pictures that īśvaraḥ sarva-bhūtānāṁ hṛd-deśe 'rjuna tiṣṭhati (BG 18.61), the Supreme Lord is sitting in everyone's heart, and that Lord's mūrti form is Viṣṇu-mūrti. So dhyāna, yoga, all this means to concentrate the mind in Viṣṇu-mūrti. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). Yogi, what is their business? Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā.

Lecture on SB 7.6.2 -- Toronto, June 18, 1976:

Concentrating the mind, meditating upon the Viṣṇu-mūrti. Nowadays, they have invented some system of yoga, some light, something like that. But that is not the sastric injunction. Sastric injunction is to think of Lord Viṣṇu within the heart. He's already there, and we have to search out. That is called meditation. That is called dhyāna.

But in this Kali-yuga it is little difficult. Why little? It is very, very difficult to sit down in one place and meditate upon Lord Viṣṇu within the heart. Not only sit down in one place—it is recommended that we should sit down in a sacred place and in a secluded place. Not that it is a fashion, some hundreds of men sitting together and meditating. What meditating? That is not the process. You'll find in the Bhagavad-gītā it is recommended to sit down in a sacred and secluded place. That is called dhyāna. And sitting in a right-angle posture and the eyes half-closed. Not fully closed. If you fully close then you will sleep.

Lecture on SB 7.6.2 -- Toronto, June 18, 1976:

You have to sit down in a secluded place, in what is called, yoga-āsana, straight body and not sleeping, half-open eyes and looking over the tip of the nose. There are so many methods. That is called meditation. But this kind of meditation is very, very difficult in this age. If one can perform, it is welcome, but it is very difficult. In the Kali-yuga, if I sit down to meditate upon, then I shall think of my family, my business, my friend, so many things. It is not possible. Therefore śāstra recommends,

kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ

tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ

dvāpare paricaryāyāṁ

kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt

(SB 12.3.52)

In the kṛte, means Satya-yuga, when people used to live for one hundred thousands of years, at that time it was possible. Just like Valmiki Muni meditated for sixty thousands of years. So actually this meditation, dhyāna, dhāraṇā, prāṇāyāma, pratyāhāra, the yogic system, it is recommended in the śāstras, the Bhagavad-gītā also it is there, but in this age it is not possible. Even Arjuna denied.

Lecture on SB 7.6.2 -- Toronto, June 18, 1976:

Tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye vāyor iva suduṣkaram. It is not possible. But Arjuna was a pure devotee. He was always thinking of Kṛṣṇa. He had no other business. Therefore Kṛṣṇa, to encourage Arjuna, He said that "Don't be disappointed. Because you are thinking that you are unfit to meditate upon Lord Viṣṇu, don't be disappointed. The first-class yogi... You are first-class yogi." Why? Because,

yoginām api sarveṣāṁ

mad-gatenāntarātmanā

śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ

sa me yuktatamo mataḥ

(BG 6.47)

Anyone who is thinking of Kṛṣṇa always within the heart, he's first-class yogi. Therefore kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt. This is first-class yoga system. In this age, Caitanya Mahāprabhu recommended, in the śāstra also it is recommended, that harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma eva kevalam kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva (CC Adi 17.21).

Lecture on SB 7.6.3 -- Montreal, June 16, 1968:

"This human form of body, it is very rarely obtained. It is not to be misused." That is the first knowledge. But people are not educated in that way. They are encouraged that go on, sense enjoyment: "Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy." Some rascal comes, so he also says, "All right, go on. Enjoy. Simply meditate for fifteen minutes." But actually, this body is not meant for aggravating sense enjoyment. We require sense enjoyment because that is a demand of the body. If we want to keep body in healthy condition, then the demands of the body—eating, sleeping, mating, and defending—must be provided. But it should not be aggravated. Therefore in the human form of life, tapasya. Tapasya means austerity, penance, vows. These are the teachings of all scriptures. Either you take Hindu scripture or Christian scripture or Muhammadan scripture, in every scripture human form of life is meant for training. Tapo divyam (SB 5.5.1).

Lecture on SB 7.6.3-4 -- San Francisco, March 8, 1967:

Tat-prayāso na kartavyo yata āyur-vyayaḥ param: you should not try to spoil your life, spoil your valuable life for something which is not very much beneficial for you. And what is that thing beneficial? Self-realization. Self-realization, "What I am." This is the product of meditation. If you want to meditate, meditation means to attempt to understand oneself, "What I am." That is real meditation. Meditation does not mean that... Of course, this voidness, meditation in voidness, is another negative attempt that "This body is nothing." But actually, I am not void. I am spirit soul. And because I have no information of the spirit soul, therefore I simply try to think of the negative side of this bodily existence. That is called voidness. Simply negative... Now, "I am not this body. I am not this body." "I am not this body," that's all right.

Lecture on SB 7.6.3-4 -- San Francisco, March 8, 1967:

So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness is direct engagement of spiritual activities. This is the concession, this is the concession of this age. We have got very little opportunity in the present age to meditate. It is very difficult. The so-called meditation for fifteen minutes and twenty-three hours all kinds of nonsense activities will never help you. Therefore meditation is out of question at the present age. I am not speaking from my own whims. It is stated in the śāstra. In the śāstra it is said that kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum (SB 12.3.52). Meditation on Viṣṇu was possible in the golden age, or in the Satya-yuga. Satya-yuga means at that time the people used to live for one hundred thousands of years. And they were all perfect in religious life. There was no flaw. Then came the Tretā-yuga, when they were perfect three-fourths and the duration of life reduced to ten thousand years.

Lecture on SB 7.6.3-4 -- San Francisco, March 8, 1967:

Therefore the injunction of the authorized scripture is that kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum. In the golden age when people used to live for one hundred thousands of years, meditation was possible. Because we understand Valmiki Muni, he got perfection by meditation after meditating sixty thousands of years. And similarly, Kardama Muni, he got perfection by meditation after ten thousands of years meditation. So meditation process is difficult process, and it is not possible in this age. This is the injunction of the śāstra. Simply we can waste our time by so-called meditation, but real meditation is not achievable at the present age. Therefore the prescription is kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ. In the first millennium, meditation was possible. In the second millennium, sacrifice. Big, big yajña or sacrifice was performed by people. And the third millennium, temple worship.

Lecture on SB 7.6.3-4 -- San Francisco, March 8, 1967:

So our policy, those who are serious about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they should not waste their time for sense gratification. And because the body is there, we are not free from the body, there are demands of the senses. So that should be controlled. That is the process in every line of action, either you meditate or you perform sacrifices, do anything. The real process is to control the senses. So try to control the senses as far as possible and utilize your time for advancing Kṛṣṇa consciousness. And the process is very simple—simply chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa. Hare Kṛṣṇa. So make your life regulated. There is no denial. It is not that you cannot eat or you cannot sleep or you cannot have sex life or you cannot defend yourself. Do all these things according to the rules and regulations. But don't waste your time for artificial increment of sense gratification. Don't do that. You require to eat to maintain your body and soul together. You eat. Yuktāhāra-vihārasya yogo bhavati siddhi-daḥ (?).

Lecture on SB 7.6.3-4 -- San Francisco, March 8, 1967:

Prabhupāda: That's all right, don't talk back. Which is the subject matters which you do not know, don't talk.

Guest (1): Okay.

Prabhupāda: Now, so far I know, that Maharishi says that you meditate for fifteen minutes daily. Is it correct?

Guest (1): Twice a day.

Prabhupāda: Twice a day, for thirty minutes.

Guest (1): Anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour.

Prabhupāda: All right, two hour. (laughter) That's all right?

Lecture on SB 7.6.3-4 -- San Francisco, March 8, 1967:

Prabhupāda: But then explain. What is that?

Guest (1): He says that to meditate twice a day.

Prabhupāda: That's all right. What is that meditation process?

Guest (1): Okay, you're given your mantra, and when you sit there and meditate, you think...

Prabhupāda: Do you know that mantra?

Guest (1): Yes, but I can't speak it.

Prabhupāda: You cannot speak. It is secret?

Lecture on SB 7.6.6-9 -- Montreal, June 23, 1968:

Yes. Devotional service are discharged in nine different ways: śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ (SB 7.5.23), to hear about the Lord from proper source, and kīrtanam, and to glorify the Lord; smaraṇam, meditating upon the Lord; pāda-sevanam, to engage oneself in the service; arcanam, worshiping; prayer... There are nine different ways of devotional services. So you can accept nine all together or eight or seven or six or five or four or three or two. So even you accept one, you will advance. If you simply come here and hear this chanting, your devotional service will be perfected one day. So although there are nine different processes, but if you can accept even one, you will be advanced in devotional service. Yes?

Lecture on SB 7.7.22-26 -- San Francisco, March 10, 1967:

It has got the same soul. As the elephant has got the same soul, similarly, the bacteria has also got the same soul. Atraiva mṛgyaḥ puruṣo neti neti. Now you have to analyze. You have to analyze what is soul and what is not soul. That requires intelligence. Just like the other day I explained to you that if you think yourself, meditate on your self, that "Am I this hand? Am I this leg? Am I these eyes? Am I this ear?" oh, you'll say, "No, no, I am not this hand. I am not this leg." You'll understand. If you meditate, you'll understand. But when you come to the point of consciousness, you'll say, "Yes, I am this." This is meditation. This is meditation, analytical study of yourself.

Lecture on SB 7.7.22-26 -- San Francisco, March 10, 1967:

So very soon, if you try to meditate what you are and what you are not, by this analytical self-study, you can understand that you are not this body, you are this consciousness. And this consciousness, what is that consciousness? It is the effulgence of the soul. Consciousness is also not you are. It is just like this lamp has got some effulgence and illumination. Similarly, the soul has got illumination. That illumination is this consciousness. So this illumination, this consciousness is also limited. Your consciousness, my consciousness, they are limited. You cannot perceive or understand what I am thinking; I cannot perceive or understand what you are thinking. If you are feeling, I mean to say, uncomfortable, I do not understand it. And if I am feeling happy, you do not understand it. In this way, if you make analytical study, you'll know that every one of us is individual and we have got individual consciousness, limited consciousness, not extensive.

Lecture on SB 7.7.28, 32-35 -- Mombassa, September 11, 1971:

Sādhya means respect. Whatever highest respect you have got, that should be offered to the spiritual master. Sarva-sādhya-paṇena(?). Then tat-pādāmburuha..., tat-pādāmburuha-dhyānāt..., tat-pādāmburuha-dhyānāt tat liṅga ārhaṇa ādi. Īkṣa ārhaṇa ādi. So the linga. Linga means the form, the Deity. Tat-pādāmburuha-dhyānāt. Always meditating upon the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. This Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare, Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Rāma... As soon as we hear this sound, immediately we remember the form of Kṛṣṇa. Immediately we concentrate on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. This chanting is perfect. But I am chanting and I am thinking of and planning something else, that is aparādha. But that does not mean we shall stop. But we should try, abhyāsa-yoga, we should try to make it our habit by chanting the Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, we should immediately remember the form, quality, pastimes of Kṛṣṇa.

Lecture on SB 7.7.30-31 -- Mombassa, September 12, 1971:

Kṛṣṇa is never morose or full of anxiety. Why? Why God should be full of anxiety? Kṛṣṇa, you will never find that He is in meditation. Whom He will meditate? He is the Supreme Personality of God Himself. You will find Lord Siva is in the pose of meditation, but you will never find Kṛṣṇa in meditation. Therefore, He is the Supreme Lord. And He says personally that mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañjaya (BG 7.7). "Dhanañjaya, Arjuna, just take it from Me. There is no other superior authority than Me." And that's a fact. So when Kṛṣṇa was present on this planet, He showed that nobody in the history of the world is superior than Kṛṣṇa. He showed as much as possible you can understand. Otherwise, still He has got immense power, unlimited power. So the point is Prahlāda Mahārāja is trying to convince his demon...

Lecture on SB 7.9.5 -- Mayapur, February 12, 1976:

There are many thousands of temples in India, very old, five thousand, three thousand years old. Why? The ācāryas wanted to give facility to the common man to enter into spiritual life. That is the idea.

It is not childish. Rather the so-called meditation is childish. You cannot, if you do not know what is God, how you can meditate upon Him? Meditation means, dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yogino. The yogis perform meditation. Why? To concentrate their mind on the Viṣṇu form. You'll find some picture that everyone is depicted with the Viṣṇu form in the core of the heart. That is real yoga. Indriya-samyamaḥ. Real yoga means indriya-samyamaḥ. Our senses are so much disturbed, agitated always. So if you can control your sensory organs to your, employ them in the matter of understanding God, yoga indriya-samyamaḥ.

Real purpose of yoga is to control the senses. Very, very difficult.

Lecture on SB 7.9.5 -- Mayapur, February 12, 1976:

In Kali-yuga it is very, very difficult to control the mind, to practice meditation. So there is no use of practicing the so-called meditation. Meditation was possible in the Satya-yuga. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum (SB 12.3.52). That is also Viṣṇu, dhyāyataḥ. To meditate upon Lord Viṣṇu. That was possible in the Satya-yuga. It is not possible in the Kali-yuga, kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt. Kali-yuga, this is, even the child, (indistinct). Beginning from the child, a small child, one year old, they are taking part. Practically you can see. They are taking flower, offering. It is imitation, but the effect is there, the same. Either you imitate or you do real, effective. Just like if you touch fire, either knowingly or unknowingly, it will act. It will act. Similarly, sv-alpam apy dharmasya, either this child, the children, they imitate the elderly person offering flower, taking prasādam, offering obeisances, they're as good as their father and mother. This is devotional service.

Lecture on SB 7.9.10 -- Montreal, July 10, 1968:

That śama. Śama means the equilibrium of the mind. Dama. Dama means controlling the senses. Śamo damas tapaḥ, austerity. Tapa means... Tapa means from tapa, heat. Just like this heat is not tolerable. I require the fan. So tapa means to accept voluntarily some physical trouble. That is called tapa. There are many sages who, in, during summer, they will burn fire all sides and meditate. There is already high temperature, 112 degrees in India. Sometimes 180 degree, and still they have fire all sides, all sides. Yes. And they are meditating, not disturbed. So this is called voluntarily tapa. And in winter season, when the temperature is forty degrees, fifty degrees, is of course, not below zero, anyway, he goes to the water and dip into the water simply keeping the mouth up and meditating. So there are some severe processes for tapasya. So this is one of the good qualities.

Lecture on SB 7.9.10 -- Montreal, July 10, 1968:

The jñāna system, the yoga system is by force they are trying to detach. That is not possible. It may be possible for the time being. Just like Viśvamitra, a great sage. These are the historical references. He was a very great king and he wanted to realize self, and he began to meditate in the forest alone, as it is, this yoga system, that "He must be in secluded life. He must make his seat in a very sacred place and sit in this posture." There are... So he followed everything completely, perfect yogi. But as soon as Indra saw that "This man is performing a great yoga system. He may not acquire my position," so he sent one beautiful girl, Menakā, to entice him. So she came, she began to dance before her (him), and there was tinkling sound, and at once his meditation broke. And she was very beautiful, coming from heaven, so he became attached, and the woman became pregnant. Then she got a child, Śakuntala, and then Viśvamitra came to this senses:

Lecture on SB 7.9.10 -- Montreal, July 10, 1968:

Guest (1): I'd like to ask. A vipra means he has the twelve qualifications, and he also has the qualification of faith. I don't understand exactly what it means when Prahlāda Mahārāja says that I should be meditating on a follower who has no faith in God or God watching him.(?)

Prabhupāda: No. A vipra, because he is studying... Vipra means one who is engaged in the studies of Vedas. That is... Veda-pathād bhaved vipraḥ. So if he is studying Vedas, then must be qualified with all the good qualities. Because just like Bhagavad-gītā, it is said that "These are the good qualities." So study means to accept the instruction. Study does not mean simply to become a book... No. Study means to apply practically in life what you learn from the Vedas. So if anyone is seriously studying, then naturally he is qualified with all the good qualities. Yes. No. You can say.

Lecture on SB 7.9.11-13 -- Hawaii, March 24, 1969:

"Oh, again servant?" But he's actually servant of intoxication. That will continue. But as soon as he's requested that "You become servant of Kṛṣṇa," "Oh, this is nonsense. They are old-type people. We have invented something new, to become servant of sex and intoxication." And if somebody says, "Yes, it is all right. You go on with this. Simply meditate for fifteen minutes daily and you'll actually realize that you are God..." This is asuric. This is asura. Asuras will never accept that there is separate... (end)

Lecture on SB 7.9.12 -- Montreal, August 18, 1968:

"Why? Why you conclude like that?" "That in every temple I saw, that the god, deity, is doing something. But here I see the God is enjoying. He has nothing to do." Very nice conclusion. This is Vedic conclusion. Why, if he's God...? Nowadays the nonsense are becoming God by meditation. But does it mean by meditation one can become God? Do you think a dog meditates and becomes God? This is all nonsense. (shouting:) God is God! Always God! Just like Kṛṣṇa. He's God in the lap of His mother. The Putānā, the demonic woman, came to poison the child. She came in a very beautiful girl's dress and asked Yaśodā, "Oh, Yaśodāmayī, you have got very nice baby. Will you kindly give me? I can offer my breast." Yaśodāmayī was very simple village woman. "Oh, yes, you can take my child."

Lecture on SB 7.9.12 -- Montreal, August 19, 1968:

No. Very nicely means sincerely and with great attention. The process is the highest yoga system. This transcendental vibration, if you simply concentrate your mind on the vibration "Hare Kṛṣṇa..." Other kinds of yoga system is not possible in this age. You cannot meditate on a particular subject matter because mind is so agitating and changing that you try to fix up your mind on a particular subject matter, but mind flickers from one subject to another, another, to another. Then it becomes something else. But this vibration is so nice that even if your mind is flickering, the sound will force you to, I mean to say, draw your attention. "Hare Kṛṣṇa." So therefore... And it is very easy. For other sort of meditation, you have to learn how to sit down, how to fix up your body. You have to select a nice place, a solitary place, a purified place. You have to sit down in a certain posture. So many things.

Lecture on SB 7.9.19 -- Hamburg, September 7, 1969, (with German Translator):

We do not recommend that unnecessarily you should give trouble to the body. We do not recommend any man to go to the forest for spiritual realization. We simply recommend that you try to understand what is your constitutional position. If you actually think or meditate very cool-headed what is your actual position, first of all you shall realize that you are not this body. If you meditate in a solitary place... Meditation means to keep yourself alone and in a solitary place. So in the beginning, if you meditate as to "What I am? Am I this body? Am I this mind? Am I this intelligence?" in this way, if you search out, you will find that you are neither of these. Ultimately, you'll search out that you are consciousness.

Lecture on SB 7.9.34 -- Mayapur, March 12, 1976:

A particularly mention, hṛd-deśe, "within the core of the heart." He doesn't say that "Īśvara is situated on your finger." No. Within the heart. The particular place is mentioned. Therefore the yogis' practice, real yoga practice, means to find out Kṛṣṇa within the heart. That is real yoga. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). This is yogi. Yogis meditate. What for meditation? To find out Kṛṣṇa within the heart. That is yoga, not to show magic and gymnastic. No, that is not. That gymnastic yoga, that is not yoga. Real yoga is to find out Kṛṣṇa within one's own heart. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti... That yoga means you have to come to the platform of prema, love, not that simply official practice, you can see. You have to come to the platform... Without having love connection with Kṛṣṇa, it is not possible to see Him. You may practice this haṭha-yoga or gymnastic yoga for many, many births—you cannot see Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa can be seen when you smear with love ointment in your eyes. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena (Bs. 5.38).

Lecture on SB 7.9.44 -- Delhi, March 26, 1976:

Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: "Śaraṇam—to take shelter of; bhramataḥ—the living entities rotating and wandering throughout the universe; anupaśye—I can see actually from authorized evidence. Translation: My dear Lord Nṛsiṁha-deva, I see there are many saintly persons indeed, but they are simply interested for their own deliverance, and thus, without caring for big, big cities and towns, they go to the Himalayan forest for meditating, taking mauna-vrata, the vow of silence. They are not interested to deliver others. So far I am concerned, I do not wish to be liberated alone and leave aside all these poor fools and rascals. I know that without Kṛṣṇa consciousness, without taking shelter of Your lotus feet, nobody can be happy, and therefore I wish to bring them to You, to the shelter of Your lotus feet."

Prabhupāda:

prāyeṇa deva munayaḥ sva-vimukti-kāmā

maunaṁ caranti vijane na parārtha-niṣṭhāḥ

naitān vihāya kṛpaṇān vimumukṣa eko

nānyaṁ tvad asya śaraṇaṁ bhramato 'nupaśye

(SB 7.9.44)

This is the conviction of a (person) perfectly convinced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. The preacher who are preaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness, they must be convinced that without accepting Kṛṣṇa consciousness, nobody has any means of escaping these stringent laws of material nature. It is everywhere stated. In the Bhagavad-gītā also it is stated, mām eva ye prapadyante māyām etāṁ taranti. Unfortunately, the conditioned souls, although they are very, very much afflicted with the pressure of material nature, they have become callous. Every moment, every second, they are being controlled, and still they are thinking they can do anything and everything independently. So in this way they are suffering. But a learned, saintly person...

Lecture on SB 11.3.21 -- New York, April 13, 1969:

And they are trying to become happy in so many other ways.

But that is not the way of seeking happiness. If we actually want to be happy, then you have to inquire about your constitutional position, what I am. That is meditation, to know. You just think over yourself, "Whether I am this body?" If you think that... Suppose you think over your, meditate upon your finger. You'll come to the conclusion that "I am not this finger. It is my finger. I am not this finger." Because if the finger is cut off, that I am not dead, therefore I am not finger. It is very easy to understand. So you meditate on every part of your body. You'll come to the conclusion, if you are sane, that "I am not this body. The body is mine. I am not this dress. The dress is mine." That is the conclusion. Then what I am?