Prabhupāda: It is very difficult in this age. Then you have to restrain yourself in so many things. Complete free from sex life. You have to eat under certain direction, you have to... So many things there are. These rules are not followed. Simply they have got some bodily gymnastic sitting posture. They are thinking, "I am practicing." No. That is one of the items. So all the items cannot be observed in this age. Therefore it is wasting. (Break) "...yogis, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all." This is the goal of yoga practice. So that is possible very easily by this movement, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, not by any other process. And the ultimate goal is here. One should be always abiding with God, worshiping Him, transcendental loving service, and intimately united with Him, intimately. This intimate unity means that five kinds of relationship. That is the perfection of yoga. When Kṛṣṇa has advised yoga practice, sāṅkhya-yoga... You have Bhagavad-gītā? There is sāṅkhya-yoga. You'll find in the forty-seventh verse. This is the version.
Gymnastic (Conversations)
Conversations and Morning Walks
1969 Conversations and Morning Walks
1973 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: And when Kṛṣṇa descends, He practically demonstrates all the symptoms of God. So then we accept God. And it is confirmed by authorities. Just like Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa Himself says that "I am the Supreme." Arjuna accepts, the direct listener from God. And later on, the ācāryas, big, big ācāryas, who control the society, just Śaṅkarācārya, Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, they accept. Latest, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He accepts. So our guru-paramparā all accepts Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa describes Himself. So where is the difficulty to understand God? The symptoms are there in the śāstras. And those symptoms are visible in Kṛṣṇa. Just like everyone can understand, "God is all powerful." So Kṛṣṇa showed that He is all powerful. So there is no difficulty to understand. So our method is easy. Instead of intellectual gymnastic, we take it very easily. And that acts. Now, so far our Society is concerned, we accept Kṛṣṇa as God. We're preaching Kṛṣṇa as God. So we have no difficulty. It is acting practically.
1974 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Yes. Gymnastic. Just like a man, by bodily exercise, he becomes a little strong. His digestive function becomes very easy, he can eat more. He can enjoy more sex life. These benefits they want. And if you promise all these benefits, they become attracted. And they cannot understand, tyaktvā dehaṁ punar janma naiti mām eti kaunteya (BG 4.9). After giving up this body, we do not accept anymore material body, but go to back to home, back to... These things they cannot understand.
Yogeśvara: Can we take a picture right here, Śrīla Prabhupāda?
Prabhupāda: It is beyond their understanding.
Prabhupāda: ...not for any spiritual advancement.
Paramahaṁsa: Well, they say it's important for them... (break) ...to elevate themselves to higher types of yoga by first going through the gymnastics.
Prabhupāda: Yes. But gradually they will eat more meat and drink more wine. They, do they follow these principles: no intoxication, no meat, the so-called yoga practitioners?
Paramahaṁsa: Some, some do.
Prabhupāda: So it is not compulsory.
Bhagavān: One thing is, though, that people all over the world have great, great interest in India. They're looking for something in India.
Prabhupāda: You are calling us sectarian because you do not know what is yoga. You tell them that. Do you know what is yoga?
Yogeśvara: They'll say: "Well, even the Gītā describes so many..."
Prabhupāda: They have been cheated by some cheaters that this practice, gymnastic practice, is yoga. That's all. They do not know what is yoga. Yoga-indriya-saṁyama. Even... All yoga systems, Patañjali's system. So indriya... Where is indriya-saṁyama? They are gratifying their senses to the fullest extent. And what is their yoga? That is described... You do not read the Sixth Chapter of Bhagavad-gītā. Why don't you explain them that, that "You are yogi... You not yogi. You only making some farce. Where is your yogi? Are you going to a solitary place? Are you practicing alone, sitting on your seat like as they are described, and looking on the point of the nose? Are you doing that? You are not yogi. You are simply a caricature. You are not yogi." Don't accept them as yogis.
Prabhupāda: Yes. He said that "Swamiji, you are doing the greatest work, that God's name you are distributing." He said like that. And when the record was going on, he was very rapt attention, he was very... So actual yogi means he'll be attracted by bhakti-yoga. And these gymnasticians, what they'll understand about yoga? That is a process to control the mind. Those who are too much bodily concept of life, for them that exercise is required. But that is also not properly done. They must find out a very sacred place and practice yoga alone, not with group. Group is possible in bhakti-yoga, not this haṭha-yoga. That is not possible. The first attempt is condemned. Therefore all the yogis in India, actually those who are practicing yoga, they'll live outside human society. They never live in the city and get students to get them practice. And take thirty-five dollar fee. These are all bogus.
Prabhupāda: Disease is there. Therefore, if you want to taste what is God, then you first of all try to cure your disease. Our disease, material disease is the lusty desire. Lusty desire is so strong that you will find it is existing amongst the so-called religionists performing religious rituals. But the same disease is there, that "If I execute the rituals, then I shall be promoted to the heavenly kingdom (indistinct)." Similarly, the so-called monist philosophers, meditation, this, that, the disease is there: "I shall become God." Similarly, the yogis, they can perform so many gymnastics, but the disease is there. The disease is cured when he is a devotee of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa-bhakta niṣkāma, ataeva 'śānta' (CC Madhya 19.149). By kṛṣṇa-bhakti, you cure the disease. Hṛd-rogaḥ kāmam apahinoty acireṇa dhīraḥ. This is the only... Unless you have cured your material disease, you have to remain in this material world in any form and fulfill your material desire. The ant is also trying and Lord Brahmā is also trying.
1975 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: He speaks something of material prosperity. So He has nothing to do with God.
Devotee (1): It's just a kind of training of mind.
Prabhupāda: That's it. Just like gymnastic. You exercise; you become bodily strong. That's all.
Guest (2): Sai Baba?
Prabhupāda: Sai Baba, he also says, "I am Bhagavān." Therefore he's bogus. How you can say yourself that you are Bhagavān, God? What is your power? What you have shown? And this is cheap. Now, supposing Sai Baba is God. So people accept him God, why? Because he shows some jugglery. He creates little gold. Is it not? So if, by creating gold, he is God, then there is bigger God who has created gold mine. Why shall I go to this tiny god? I must go to the big God who has created gold mine.
Prabhupāda: Yes this is bhakti-yoga. Yes, bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yogena manasi. Bhakti-yogena manasi (SB 1.7.4). There is a verse in Bhāgavata. Real yoga means bhakti-yoga.
- yoginām api sarveṣāṁ
- mad-gatenāntarātmanā
- śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ
- sa me yuktatamo mataḥ
- (BG 6.47)
Of all the yogis... There are different kinds of yogis. We receive this authorized version, that yoginām api sarveṣāṁ. Of all the yogis, the first-class yogi is he who is thinking of Kṛṣṇa always within the heart. Mad-gata antarātmanā, antarātmanā śraddhāvān bhajate. That is our process. We are chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa, so we're thinking of Kṛṣṇa. This is the first-class yoga system. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). In the Vedic... Yes. Dhyāna, meditation, means thinking of the Supreme. And that is real yoga, not this gymnastic. That is physical.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Congress just passed a law that the health education, means the gym, gymnastic classes... Every day there's physical education class?
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Must be co-educational. They must be. They passed a law like that.
Dharmādhyakṣa: Soon they'll get so disgusted with this association, they'll all want to become brahmacārīs.
Revatīnandana: When we noticed that this amusement pier was torn down, I didn't think that it meant that they were less interested in amusement, but they have become more degraded in their approach. The amusement pier... They come here instead to be naked on the beach for their amusement. Or they stay home and use intoxicants mostly. That is increasing. (break) ...like a prostitute house. And almost every place they are, not even one part of the city anymore, but you see them everywhere.
Prabhupāda: The woman gives massage?
Prabhupāda: A yogi can become very small. If you put him in a room, he will come out. You lock it. He will come out. If there is little space, he will come out. That is called anima. He can fly in the sky, float in the sky. That is called laghima. In this way, if somebody can show this magic, then immediately he is accepted as very wonderful man. So yogis, they... The modern yogis, they simply show some gymnastic, but they have no power. So I am not speaking of these third-class yogis. Real yogi means he has got some power. That is material power. So yogis also want this power. And jñānīs also want salvation from the unnecessary working like ass, the karmī. And karmīs want material profit. So they want, everyone. But the bhaktas, devotees, they don't want anything. They want to serve God out of love. Just like a mother loves her child. There is no question of profit. Out of affection, she loves. So when you come to that stage, to love God, that is perfection. So these different processes, karmī, jñānī, yogi and bhakta, out of these four processes, if you want to know God, then you have to accept this bhakti.
Yaśomatīnandana: (break) ...people, they are nice pious people, and they have accepted some of these gymnastic people as their guru. So they say, "Oh, our guruji is here. We have to go see our guruji," this, that. So how should we speak to them or how should we preach to them?
Prabhupāda: That you cannot do immediately unless he understands your philosophy. Paraṁ dṛṣṭvā nivartate (BG 2.59). Unless they understand that this philosophy is better than that, how he can give it up?
Yaśomatīnandana: Sometimes they even say that "You have your guru and I have my guru. It's all the same thing."
1976 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Yes.
Rāmeśvara: "In the yoga system, as described in this chapter, there are two kinds of samādhi, called samprajñāta-samādhi and asamprajñāta-samādhi. When one becomes situated in the transcendental position by various philosophical researches, it is called samprajñāta-samādhi. In the asamprajñāta-samādhi there is no longer any connection with mundane pleasure, for one is then transcendental to all sorts of happiness derived from the senses. When the yogi is once situated in that transcendental position, he is never shaken from it. Unless the yogi is able to reach this position, he is unsuccessful. Today's so-called yoga practice, which involves various sense pleasures, is contradictory. A yogi indulging in sex and intoxication is a mockery. Even those yogis who are attracted by the siddhis, or perfections, in the process of yoga are not perfectly situated. If the yogis are attracted by the by-products of yoga, then they cannot attain the stage of perfection as is stated in this verse. Persons, therefore, indulging in the make-show practice of gymnastic feats or siddhis should know that the aim of yoga is lost in that way.
1977 Conversations and Morning Walks
Prabhupāda: Yes. But we are convinced that we have got authorities. Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He cannot cheat me. He is perfect. So whatever knowledge He gives, that is our position, Kṛṣṇa conscious. "Whatever Kṛṣṇa says, that's all." And that's a fact. But they do not take Kṛṣṇa as authority, but another rascal, Dr. Frog, he's authority. We believe Kṛṣṇa. Mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat: (BG 7.7) "Nobody is better authority than Me." And we see our gurus, they accept. So we are in safe side. Just like if a child takes information from his guru, mother, he's safe side. So we are in the safe side. They are not in the safe side. They are hovering, speculation. Speculation is no knowledge. Harāv abhaktasya kuto mahad-guṇā manorathenāsati dhāvato bahiḥ (SB 5.18.12). And mental speculation means they will remain in ignorance because there is no knowledge. It is simply gymnastic of the mind. It is no knowledge.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: They're starting to catch on to him now, and when they do it's going to be a big scandal because he really made it into the American..., all over the world, but especially in America. He even got into the Army. They were teaching Transcendental Meditation in the Army. Even in schools... He had it in public schools. He said, "It is not at all religious. It's science, and it should be taught. Just like you teach gymnastics, you should also teach this." So if this becomes exposed, oh... It'll also hurt us indirectly, but actually it'll be good for us. But naturally they'll think that "All of these groups are now bogus." He's very much accepted in the public mind. But now the Congressional committees are investigating him.
Prabhupāda: And ours is accepted.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: Our is very accepted.
Prabhupāda: That's a great achievement.
Prabhupāda: They have also manufactured. (laughter) This is going on. So Vedic injunction is tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum eva abhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). Guru is required to understand tad-vijñānam, transcendental science, not for any material understanding. Material understanding, there are so many chemists, (sic:) physists and many other department of... When we speak of guru, it means beyond this material world. For that purpose we require guru. So... Just like now it is being very much advertised that "You execute meditation. Your mind will be strong. Your health will be strong." That means from material point. But keeping your health strong, the medical science is there and so many other thing. But people are taking advantage of this yoga system. The śāstra says that dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). He is yogi who is meditating and mind is fully absorbed in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise it is material. Material things does not require... Maybe a gymnastic, muṣṭika.
Prabhupāda: Bhajahū re mana, śrī-nanda-nandana-abhaya-caraṇāravinda re. This is a song composed by Govinda dāsa, a great poet and Vaiṣṇava. He says, addressing his own mind Because mind is the center of all elevation. In the Bhagavad-gītā it is said that if you have your mind controlled, then your mind is the best friend. But if your mind is uncontrolled, then he is your greatest enemy. So we are seeking after friend or enemy. So both of them are sitting with me. If we can utilize the friendship of the mind, then we are elevated to the highest perfectional stage. But if we create mind as my enemy, then my path to hell is clear. Therefore Govinda dāsa Ṭhākura, he is addressing his mind. The yogis try to control the mind by different gymnastic process. That is also approved. But it takes a long time, and sometimes there are failures. In most cases they are failures. Even a big yogi like Viśvāmitra, he also failed, what to speak of these teeny and nonsensical yogis.
Prabhupāda: This is a quotation from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam in Brahmā's prayer to Kṛṣṇa. The purport is that you should give up this bad habit of speculation. Jñāne prayāsam. Prayāsam means endeavor: "I shall get this knowledge by speculating." This is called jñāna-prayāsam, endeavoring uselessly for knowledge. So udapāsya. You give it up. Jñāne prayāsam udapāsya namanta. Just become submissive. Don't think yourself very learned. Because if the senses are imperfect, how you can be learned? Whatever you see, that is imperfect. Just like we see the sun every day, with these eyes. And what do we see? It appears just like a disc. But is it a disc? It is fourteen hundred times bigger than this earth. So what is the value of your seeing? You cannot even see what is behind the wall. Still, you are proud of your seeing power-"Can you show me? Can you show me God?" And what power you have got to see? That he does not consider. He thinks, "I have got seeing power." Similarly, you study every sense-they are all imperfect, blunt. So any knowledge you acquire by gymnastic of the senses-useless. This is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's teaching. Not just Caitanya Mahāprabhu's, it is also the Bhāgavata's teachings as well. So we have to give up this nonsense idea, that "I can attain to perfect knowledge by speculation, manodharma, mental gymnastic." This will not help us.
| Page Title: | Gymnastic (Conversations) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 27 of Jun, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=0, Con=18, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 18 |