Just like nowadays nobody is going. Formerly they are going to the Himalayan mountain, and there is very cold. And the tapasya... There is practice, method: in high scorching heat the saintly person or sages, they will ignite fire all round. Already there is high temperature, and still they will get fire all round and go on, meditation. This is tapasya. 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. So where is the difficulty? But the age is so fallen that even these primary tapasya we cannot execute. That is the difficulty.
Meditation (Lectures, SB cantos 3 - 12)
Lectures
Srimad-Bhagavatam Lectures
I have several times discussed this point. The preliminary process-yama, niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, dhyāna, dhāraṇā, samādhi—the eight processes... To control the senses, to control the mind, to practice sitting postures... Under certain physical posture the mind become concentrated. So there are different āsanas. Then meditation, then contemplation, then absorption. These things are preliminary process. But actually, the yoga means to attain ultimate benediction, niḥśreyasāya. What is that niḥśreyasāya? Now, spiritual realization. That is niḥśreyasāya.
Spiritual realization..., there are different stages of spiritual realization.
First spiritual realization is to understand oneself that "I am not matter; I am spirit." This is the first stage of spiritual realization—when one firmly convinced. How? By knowledge. By knowledge. Just we are conscious, "I am Indian." You are conscious that you are American.
Immediately I am accepting something and again rejecting. Everyone has got this experience. Therefore he frankly said that "To control the mind is not possible for me. I cannot do so."
So now just try to understand the... A personality like Arjuna is not ordinary man. He was advised by Kṛṣṇa to practice this yoga system, meditation, generally. Actually yoga system means meditation. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). The yogis, they dhyānāvasthita manasā, mind being absorbed in meditation and concentrates the mind on Viṣṇu form of the Lord, four-handed Viṣṇu. That is dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1).
Therefore Kṛṣṇa said, "My dear Arjuna, don't be disappointed because you cannot execute this aṣṭāṅga-yoga. The first-class yogi is he who always thinks of Me." Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā (BG 6.47). One who has taken Kṛṣṇa within his heart and always thinking of Kṛṣṇa, satataṁ smartavyaḥ viṣṇuḥ, this is the system. This is meditation. If one is thinking of Kṛṣṇa twenty-four hours, that is the first-class meditation. You are seeing Kṛṣṇa here, standing with Rādhārāṇī. And if you see always, then you naturally you get impression of Kṛṣṇa within the heart. And if you serve Kṛṣṇa... Those who are engaged in service, just like they are offering this foodstuff, Kṛṣṇa. They have prepared this foodstuff very nicely, thinking that "Kṛṣṇa will eat. Let us do it very cleanly and attentively."
And if you serve Kṛṣṇa... Those who are engaged in service, just like they are offering this foodstuff, Kṛṣṇa. They have prepared this foodstuff very nicely, thinking that "Kṛṣṇa will eat. Let us do it very cleanly and attentively." And whatever they can offer, first-class thing... That is meditation, because they are thinking of Kṛṣṇa, "This foodstuff will be taken by Kṛṣṇa. This dress will be used by Kṛṣṇa. These flowers will be offered to the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa." Real meditation is this. And that is the first-class yoga. Therefore Kṛṣṇa is advising in the Seventh Chapter that "If you cannot think of Me, then you can think of Me in your ordinary dealings." Raso 'ham apsu kaunteya: (BG 7.8) "I am the taste of the water."
Everyone is going, trying to reach the ultimate Absolute Truth. But it is simply a partial understanding. By jñāna-yoga, dhyāna-yoga, karma-yoga, you can understand partially the Absolute Truth. But bhakti-yoga you can understand completely. Therefore Kṛṣṇa says in the Bhagavad-gītā, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti (BG 18.55). He does not say, "By jñāna, by karma, by meditation, one can understand Me fully." No. He does not say. He says clearly, bhaktyā mām abhijānāti yāvān yaś cāsmi tattvataḥ: (BG 18.55) "Tattvataḥ, in truth what I am, that can be understood only by bhakti-yoga." You see Bhagavad-gītā.
So to understand the Absolute Truth you have to accept this sāṅkhya-yoga or bhakti-vitāna-yogam. Then you will understand very... Because question was, by Devahūti, that manda-dhīḥ sukhaṁ buddhyeya. Sukhaṁ buddhyeya: "Very easily, without any much trouble, I may understand.
That is the way. First of all you try to see. And when you are practiced... 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.
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.
Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). The yogi's business is, by controlling the mind, focus it toward Kṛṣṇa or Lord Viṣṇu. That is real yoga system.
So as soon as you focus your mind upon Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu, that is bhakti-yoga. Either you do it by meditation or do it twenty-four hours by practical application of your activities for Kṛṣṇa, that is called bhakti-yoga. And that is called samādhi. Even if you are going to some place for Kṛṣṇa's business, to see the police commissioner or going to the court for some degree or..., because you are doing—you are concentrating your mind on Kṛṣṇa—that is called yoga, bhakti-yoga. Bhakti-yoga is so, so easy. Yat karoṣi yaj juhoṣi yad aśnāsi, yat tapasyasi kuruṣva mad-arpaṇam (BG 9.27). The result should be given to Kṛṣṇa.
That is not niḥśreyasārthāya, that is simply a temporary appeasement. That because I am disgusted with this material varieties, let it be zero, void. That is a temporary solace. We cannot remain without varieties. That is not possible. If there is nobody here, and you sit down, make meditation, you can sit down for fifteen minutes or twenty minutes, then you will go away. This is not possible because the spirit soul, either the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Supreme Soul, or the living entity, he is also spirit, both of them are Brahman. Para-brahman and ordinary Brahman. We are ordinary Brahman and Kṛṣṇa is the Supreme Brahman. So Brahman, either Supreme or ordinary is seeking after happiness. That is Brahman life. Seeking after happiness. Just like Kṛṣṇa is Para-brahman, but He is also seeking happiness with Rādhārāṇī and the gopīs and the cowherds boy and the cows and the calves.
Vyāsadeva, Vyāsadeva, when he was instructed by his spiritual master Nārada Muni to write Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, at that time, by bhakti-yoga meditation, he could see the Supreme Personality of Godhead and this māyā also. But it is said, māyāṁ ca tad-apāśrayam. Māyā is situated in the back side, back side, without any influence upon Kṛṣṇa, apāśrayam, under the control. So māyā is always controlled. Kṛṣṇa is the controller of māyā.
He knows how to protect himself, disinfectant.
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.'
"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.
The first group, who are interested in pious activities, they are karmīs. And those who are neither interested in pious activities or impious activities—they want to stop all kinds of activities... Just like the Buddha philosophy says, nirvāṇa: "Stop the activities of the mind or desires." On that status also, it is not possible to control the mind, meditation. And... These mukti-kāmī. And then siddhi-kāmī, the yogis, they also cannot control the mind, what to speak of ordinary man who are neither interested in pious activities or in mukti or yogic perfection?
So this Aniruddha is the objective of meditation for the yogis. Nowadays they have manufactured so many objective, but that is not authorized. The authorized is that you have to concentrate your mind upon the form of Viṣṇu known as Aniruddha. That is the real meditation. Viṣṇu has got many forms. "Many forms" means the Viṣṇu forms are all catur-bhuja, four-handed, and the symbolic representation of each hand is śaṅkha-cakra-gadā-padma: the conchshell, the disc, śaṅkha-cakra, gadā, the club, and the lotus flower. Now the Lord is differently named... Ordinarily, there are twenty-four names. So those names are there according to the situation of the symbolic representation.
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. Dravya-sphuraṇa-vijñānam indriyāṇām anugrahaḥ.
So Kṛṣṇa is there within your heart, and as soon as you engage yourself in the service of Kṛṣṇa, beginning with sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane (SB 9.4.18) concentrating your mind, that is the yoga system.
Meditation means to concentrate the mind on the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, not something fictitious, but this is tangible. 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?
And our Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is trying to teach this knowledge to the world, the best welfare activities. They are all in illusion. Some of them are thinking there is no Kṛṣṇa, and some of them are thinking, "If there is Kṛṣṇa"—Kṛṣṇa means God—"I am also God. I am equal." And some of them are thinking that "By meditation, by spiritual advancement, now I am greater than Kṛṣṇa." Yes. They are not, neither equal nor below, but they are thinking greater than Him. "With the progress of time the human being is advancing in knowledge. So by their meditational power, they can become greater than Kṛṣṇa." So that is foolishness. That is not possible. This is also māyā. Just like māyā is acting in so many ways. Sometimes we are thinking, "There is no Kṛṣṇa, no God. We are, every one of us are God."
And impersonal Brahman for the jñānīs. And Bhagavān, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is the shelter of both Para-brahman, I mean to say, impersonal Brahman, and Paramātmā... Yad advaita brahma upaniṣadi. Upaniṣadi, in the Upaniṣad, Vedic Upaniṣad, the impersonal Brahman is described. And the yogis, by meditation, they try to understand the Supreme Absolute Truth by seeing the Viṣṇu form, four-handed Viṣṇu. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1).
So yogis, the jñānīs, they have got their function, to realize the Absolute Truth. Similarly, bhakta. Bhakta, they want to worship the Personality of Godhead in a temple just like we are trying to do, to have a temple here nice. We have got already. Our function is going on.
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.
So dhyāyed devaṁ samagrāṅgam. The dhyāna, the meditation, should begin from the lotus feet. As soon as you begin kīrtana, first of all concentrate your mind on the lotus feet, not all of a sudden jump over the face. Be practiced to think over the lotus feet, then still higher, the knees, then the thighs, then the belly, then the chest. In this way, at last go to the face. This is the process. It is described in the Second Canto. The process is how to think of Kṛṣṇa. Man-manā bhava mad-bhaktaḥ. This is meditation. So this... By kīrtana it becomes very easy. If you chant Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra twenty-four hours like Haridāsa Ṭhākura... That is not possible.
This is the character of Mahārāja Ambarīṣa, that whenever he would talk, he would talk about Kṛṣṇa. This is kīrtana. He won't talk anything else. Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18). Whenever he will think, he will think of Kṛṣṇa—His lotus feet, His body, His hands, His flute. This is meditation. Meditation means that... Trance means when your mind is so fixed up on Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu that not for a second your mind is deviated from the Kṛṣṇa's form. That is called trance. Not artificially. You can practice it. If you see Kṛṣṇa daily in the temple, if you worship, you offer your obeisances—man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65)—naturally you will think of Kṛṣṇa twenty-four hours, and that will make you more pious, because without being pious, nobody can think of Kṛṣṇa. Yeṣāṁ anta-gataṁ pāpam. Pious means there is no reaction of sinful life. It is all squared up. That you can do at any moment.
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. Therefore Deity worship is so essential for the neophyte. He can have always the opportunity to think of the Supreme Lord by the impression of the Deity within the mind. Śayānam. Even in lying down, even talking.
Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane (SB 9.4.18). Now there are books. Either you chant, sit down in the Deity room in front of the Deity, see how āratrika is going on, how Deity is nicely dressed with flower, ornaments, so if you constantly be engaged in thinking of the Deity, that is first-class meditation, not artificially going to That is not possible at the present moment, that, as it is recommended in the Bhagavad-gītā, you have to select a very solitary place and you have to sit down under certain posture, looking half-opened eyes on the tip of the nose so that you may not sleep in the name of meditation. There are so many. And you have to follow brahmacārya. All these rules and regulations are there: dhyāna, dhāraṅā, āsana, prāṇāyāma. Prāṇāyāma. Then? What is called? Pratyāhāra.
Five thousand years ago, when Kṛṣṇa explained this haṭha-yoga system in the Sixth Chapter to Arjuna Arjuna was honest man. 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.
- kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ
- tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ
- dvāpare paricaryāyaṁ
- kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt
- (SB 12.3.52)
The meditation which was possible in the kṛte, in the Satya-yuga... Satya-yuga continued for twelve lakhs of years; then Treta-yuga, eight lakhs of years... No, Satya-yuga, eighteen lakhs; then Treta-yuga, twelve lakhs; then Dvāpara-yuga, eight lakhs; and Kali-yuga, four lakhs. Altogether forty-three. So bhakti-yoga includes everything. So this process, this arcanā process. If we... Everyone alternately they should learn how to worship. That will give the impression of the Lord within the heart, and then, either you are walking or you are sitting or you are lying or you are eating or you are talking, you'll always think of Kṛṣṇa. This is the process. It will be automatically done.
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.
Hari-nāma, this chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, one should practice always. Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. So prekṣaṇīya ihitaṁ dhyāyet. This is meditation. Dhyāyet chuddha-bhāvena, śuddha-bhāvena. Not artificial. But even if you do artificially, you will be purified by chanting. Artificially, if we do... That is in the śāstra. Still, the chanting of the holy name is so powerful that it will make you... 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.
He has got... He appears before us just like a stone idol or statue, but He has got all the capacity of the limbs of the body, sarvāvayava. He has kindly appeared before us so that we can see. Here it is recommended that saṁyujyād aṅge. You have to see each and every part of the body, limb of Kṛṣṇa. That is meditation.
This arca-vigraha... By offering worship to the Deity, you see the lotus feet is there, the ankle is there, the mark in the sole is there. Everything is there. So each and every part you study and understand, "Kṛṣṇa is here. Kṛṣṇa is there." This is meditation. It is not that the rascal's theory that God is everywhere except in the temple. No. It is not like that.
He is everywhere. Now He has appeared in this temple specifically to show His mercy how we can study very analytically: "Here is feet. Here is hand. The feet is marked with these symptoms. His hand is like this. His flute is like this. His hair is like this. Eyes are..." Study everything minutely. Then that is meditation, and this will help you to think of Kṛṣṇa constantly, and that will be trance, samādhi, samādhi, practical. It is not to be imaginary. The Māyāvādīs, they think that it is imagination. No, it is not imagination. It is confirmed by the śāstras, sādhu śāstra guru vākya.
So don't be misled by the Māyāvādīs. As we have got our ācāryas, they are instructing, as Bhāgavata is instructing, Bhagavad-gītā is instructing, we have to follow. And if we cannot follow, then we should see the ācāryas, how they are doing. Mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ (CC Madhya 17.186).
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?
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?
Mayādhyakṣeṇa prakṛtiḥ sūyate sa-carācaram (BG 9.10). This is the information. Don't think that material nature is working automatically. No. This is not possible. Behind this material nature, the big machine, there is the operator, God. That you should understand. (break) This is meditation. If you become sober and think of everything, that is meditation. Meditation means the subject matter must be very sober and you think over and find out the solution. That is meditation.
No, you have to accept. These are the tapasyas. We cannot avoid. If we actually want to avoid this body, working like cats and dogs, like animals, then we have to undergo tapasya, a very simple tapasya.
In this age, it is not possible that as big, big saintly persons they go to the forest and undergo meditation in Himalayan mountain under the snow and so many dif... No food, no shelter, secluded place, there are so many animals. That kind of tapasya is not possible in this age. You remain. We have constructed big, big nice building. But because the building is there, you simply come here as free guest and make life very easy for eating and sleeping, that is not tapasya. That is not tapasya. You must be very careful how to keep the temple very cleansed, yourself clean, worshiping the Deity. That is recommended.
The Supreme Personality of Godhead. He accepted. Arjuna accepted. Arjuna listened to Kṛṣṇa about Bhagavad-gītā, and he understood that "Here is the Supreme Person." Not only that, he admitted that "Not that I'm Your friend." Just like it has become a fashion if I like somebody I make him God. Kṛṣṇa is not that type of God, by meditation or by votes. He is God. Kṛṣṇas tu bhagavān svayam (SB 1.3.28). Just like when He was only three months old on the lap of His mother, the Pūtanā came to kill Him. But He killed that Pūtanā rākṣasī. He was that time also God, when three months old. And He had not to undergo the austerities of meditation.
Prabhupāda: You come forward. I shall train you.
Acyutānanda: Does Śrīla Prabhupāda agree with the work of Ramakrishna Mission, Maharishi, meditation, and Divine Light Mission now working in America?
Prabhupāda: What is that?
Pañcadraviḍa: Do you agree with the work of the Ramakrishna Mission, Mahesh Yogi, and Divine Light Society that are working in America?
Prabhupāda: I do not study them. I simply study Bhagavad-gītā, that's all. And Kṛṣṇa says, sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śaraṇaṁ vraja (BG 18.66). I believe that. That's all.
This is the process, very simple process. And Hare Kṛṣṇa. And if you want Of course, knowledge will come automatically. If your heart is purified by this śravanaṁ kīrtanam method, ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12), then the heart will be purified. And God is situated within your heart. Then, as soon as your heart is purified, you'll be able to see God within yourself, within your heart. That is called meditation. You see God within yourself and see constantly: "Here is God. Here is Kṛṣṇa." That is meditation.
The first class yogi is, who is always thinking of Me. He is first-class. Yogi's business is to see God within the heart. That is real yogi. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yogino. Yogi's business is to see in meditation always Kṛṣṇa or Viṣṇu within the heart. That is real yogi. Dhyānāvasthita, by meditation one has to see continually. That is called samādhi.
So inquired his servants, "What is this?" "This is old man. Everyone has to become like this." That was the inspiration of understanding. Why he should be like that? Why one should become old man? Why he should walk on sticks? So these inquiries made him Buddha, Lord Buddha, by meditation. That is his pastime. That means one should understand by nature study, why this man is diseased, why this man is old, why this man is suffering. Then bodhayantaḥ parasparam, then the inquisitiveness can lead him to the proper knowledge. And where to get that proper knowledge? That is guru. Tad-vijñānārthaṁ sa gurum evābhigacchet (MU 1.2.12). But if there is no inquiry, if one is dull like stone and tree, then how there will be inquiry?
So they gather round them. But these rascals cheat them. Somebody says, "I am incarnation of God, and I can make my secretary, woman, pregnant, and marry and get some money." This is going on. And somebody is Transcendental Meditation. What is the result of prāna...? He'll will get strong. He will get money. Your health will be right. These things are going on.
But śāstra says that you should not..., you are rascal. You should not become a guru because you have no power to save your disciple from the clutches of imminent death. We will not cheat others. Gurur na sa syāt, this is Bhāgavatam. You are rascal if you are not confident that you can save him from the clutches of birth and... This is my problem.
I am a politician. I am a military man. I have to fight. I have to see so many things. How can I control my mind? It is not possible."
So that is fact. This controlling the mind by the yogic process, by meditation, is impossible. (break) ...read so many śāstras, the essence of the śāstra. That is the duty of the ācārya. The essence of the śāstra should be presented to the fools and rascals so that, just like Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he presented himself before His guru that guru more mūrkha dekhi' karila śāsana: (CC Adi 7.71) "My guru found Me a great rascal." Caitanya Mahāprabhu was not a rascal, but He presented Himself as a rascal because we are rascals.
So you simply concentrate your mind unto the person of Kṛṣṇa, mayy āsakta-manāḥ. Here is Kṛṣṇa. We can see Kṛṣṇa. So if we simply concentrate our mind, meditation Sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa-padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane (SB 9.4.18). This was the practice done by Ambarīṣa Mahārāja.
So Durvāsā Muni, he was a great yogi, and he became very much envious that "Here is a person who is a gṛhastha and a kṣatriya, he is not even a brāhmaṇa, and he does not practice anything. He is always engaged in his royal activities, and this man is so famous as a great person, great devotee.
So in this Kali-yuga, to control the mind the yoga practice and this practice and..., this is all failure. It will never be possible. It was possible in the Satya-yuga. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum (SB 12.3.52). Now they have manufactured so many meditation. The real meditation is dhyāyato viṣṇu, the Viṣṇu form, four-handed Viṣṇu form, and always try to see Him. That is wanted. These rascals have manufactured something, some light, some this, some that—yoga practice, sleeping. This will not help. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). Yogis' meditation means to see Viṣṇu mūrti. That is wanted. But they are impersonalists: "Viṣṇu is māyā. Why shall I think of Viṣṇu? Let me see some light." What is that nonsense light? That is also māyā. So what is the wrong there, instead of seeing the light if you see the Viṣṇu form? "No, the light is good. Oṁ is good." But when there is question of personal meditation, they protest.
That is not possible. You have got eyes, and if you want to suppress your eyesight, "I shall not see anything," is that possible? That is not possible. Yes, I have got my eyes, but I want to see Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma. That is wanted. That is wanted. Not that "No, I shall not see." Even meditation, so-called meditation, that is also seeing. Real meditation, seeing within. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasaḥ paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ. Paśyanti, this word is used. Paśyanti means sees, but within, not without. Meditation means seeing within. Not that without seeing. Concentrating the mind to see the form of Lord Viṣṇu, that is real meditation. And without seeing Lord Viṣṇu, that is (indistinct). If you want to fix up my mind into nothing, they say nothingness, that is not possible.
"My dear Kṛṣṇa, this is not possible for me. I am a family man and a politician. I cannot control my mind. It is not possible." So nowadays, after five thousand years when Arjuna thought himself incapable of controlling the mind by the so-called yogic process, how it is possible now—this world has so much deteriorated—to practice this meditation and yoga process and control the mind? It is impossible. That is not possible. It is simply humbug. You have to
Therefore śāstra gives us the instruction, kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇum (SB 12.3.52). Kṛte mean in the Satya-yuga, when man used to live for one hundred thousands of years. Just like Valmiki Muni, he underwent meditation for sixty thousands of years, and he attained success.
And the duration of life in Satya-yuga was hundred thousands of years, and in the Treta-yuga it was one thousands of years. No? Ten thousands of years. And in the Dvāpara-yuga one thousand years. And now it is one hundred. That is also not all. So this age is not suitable for yogic meditation. That is not possible. Therefore śāstra gives us instruction that "Self-realization which was possible in the Satya-yuga by meditation, the same thing was made possible in the Treta-yuga," kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ, "by performing big, big sacrifices." That is Treta-yuga. And Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ, dvāpare paricaryāyām: "In Dvāpara-yuga by worshiping the Deity."
This is science. Aihiṣṭhaṁ yat tam punar-janma-jayāya. He inquired—he was a brāhmaṇa, great sage—that "You have taken so much trouble that you are living in the forest, you are undergoing meditation and other regulative principles—why?" Punar-janma-jayāya: "To stop next birth." Punar-janma-jayāya, the Buddhist philosophy, punar-janma-jayāya means they take it that no more birth, but finish this business in the different way. They do not believe that there is next life, but dismantle this material condition of life. That is their nirvāṇa theory. Because Buddha philosophy was taught not amongst very intelligent person, atheist class of men. So that is punar... They are also trying for punar-janma-jayāya. The Christians, the Lord Christ, he also said that "Come to kingdom of God," not repetition of birth here again and again.
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. So Kālidāsa—here is the example of dhīra. He's called dhīra. In spite of presence of a young girl touching the genital, he's not, I mean to say, disturbed. Just like Haridāsa Ṭhākura. You have heard the Haridāsa Ṭhākura. He was chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, and somebody wanted to cut down. He was young man. So young prostitute was sent at dead of night.
And the Kṛṣṇaloka planet is distributing the shining. You see the sky is bluish because the rays of the body of Kṛṣṇa is also bluish. And that is reflected in each universe. Therefore we see the sky bluish, Kṛṣṇa's color.
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.
In this age every man is alpāyuṣaḥ. Alpāyuṣaḥ means very short-living. 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).
So brahmacarya, tapasya begins—brahmacarya, celibacy, no sex life. That is the beginning of tapasya. Meditation means tapasya. So tapasā brahmacaryeṇa śamena (SB 6.1.13). Śama, to control the senses, to keep in equilibrium. Senses may not be agitated. Damena, even it is agitated, by my knowledge I have to curb down. Just like if I become agitated by seeing a beautiful girl, or for woman, a beautiful boy... That is natural. Yuvatīnāṁ yathā yunor yunor yathā yuvaḥ(?). Young boy, young girl, they are naturally attracted. There is nothing surprising. But tapasya means that "I have taken vow, no illicit sex." That is knowledge. "Why? Even if I am attracted, I shall not do this."
The more we serve, then we become dedicated to Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa says on the Bhagavad-gītā the same thing: teṣāṁ satata-yuktānāṁ bhajatāṁ prīti-pūrvakam (BG 10.10). Persons who are twenty-four hours engaged, satata-yuktānām... Satata means twenty-four hours. Not that five minutes or fifteen minutes meditation, and then do all nonsense. No. Twenty-four hours one should be engaged in the service of the Lord. Twenty-four hours. That we are doing. Whatever he knows, whatever talent he has got, use for Kṛṣṇa. That is twenty-four hours' engagement.
So he is suggesting that kecit. People are more inclined to take to the... Those who are absolutely in the rotten condition of life, not for them, but those who are little above the rotten condition... Animals. Rotten condition of, means like animals, cats and dogs. Above them, human life, they take to pious activities or meditation or mystic yoga process, just to purify. So these processes are not sufficient. Therefore Śukadeva Gosvāmī is suggesting next, kecit. That kecit word is very significant. Kecit means somebody, somebody. Who are the somebody? Kecit kevalayā bhaktyā (SB 6.1.15), pure devotional service. And how they become?
So somehow or other, Kṛṣṇa, if we get Kṛṣṇa arisen in our heart... Sa vai manaḥ-kṛṣṇa-padāravindayoḥ (SB 9.4.18). If we simply concentrate our mind, that is real meditation, to think of Kṛṣṇa—man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65)—then everything will be cleansed automatically. Kṛṣṇa says in the...
- śṛṇvatāṁ sva-kathāḥ kṛṣṇaḥ
- puṇya-śravaṇa-kīrtanaḥ
- hṛdy antaḥ stho hy abhadrāṇi
- vidhunoti suhṛt satām
- (SB 1.2.17)
Kṛṣṇa is there already, just like friend. Kṛṣṇa is always ready to give us instruction so that we can get out of this miserable condition of life. Kṛṣṇa is ready. He is coming to give you instruction. Simply you have to follow; then everything will be all right.
They are better than the karmīs. They want to merge into the impersonal Brahman effulgence, jñānī. And yogi, they... Actual, their business is, yogi, dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). The yogis, they are always in meditation and thinking of Kṛṣṇa. That is real yogi, not to show some gymnastic feats. These things are required to concentrate the mind. But where to concentrate the mind? Concentrate the mind in the Supreme Soul, or Kṛṣṇa, or Viṣṇu. That is yoga system. So a Kṛṣṇa conscious person is above all of them because by nature, by chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa mantra, he cannot think anything else except Kṛṣṇa. He is worshiping the Deity in the temple, he is going to distribute books, Kṛṣṇa books, he is talking of Kṛṣṇa, he is eating kṛṣṇa-prasādam, and always absorbed in Kṛṣṇa.
This practice, Kṛṣṇa consciousness, means to practice this, how to fix up the mind always at the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa also advised the same thing: man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru (BG 18.65). Mayy āsakta-manaḥ pārtha yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ. This is yoga, meditation. If you simply sit down in a place and you... It is recommended that in a solitary place and sitting straight, right angle, and not closing the eyes but half open—this is yoga practice—and looking over this point of nose, and observing celibacy, brahmacarya, following the rules and regulations, in this way you can practice yoga. Not that you can do whatever nonsense you like and you have become a yogi. This bluff is going on. The yoga system—first yoga indriya-saṁyamaḥ, to control the senses. And now it is going on, transcendental meditation, that "After practicing yoga you will increase your sex power." This is going on.
So many gurus come from India in this country, all rascal, but they will not speak what Kṛṣṇa has instructed. Maybe for the first time this has begun in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Otherwise all rascals, they instructed something else, some meditation, this, that, all cheating.
Real guru is he who instructs what Kṛṣṇa has said. It is not that you maufacture your teaching. No. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu. There is no need of manufacturing. The instruction is already there. You have simply to say, "This is this." That's all. Is it very difficult task? Father said, "This is microphone." A child can say that "Father said this is microphone." He becomes guru. Where is the difficulty? The authority, father, has said, "This is microphone." A child only can say, "This is microphone."
This Brahman is impersonal Brahman, and still, you have to go above. When... Brahmeti paramātmeti bhagavān iti (SB 1.2.11). In the beginning, Brahman realization, impersonal. Then, as you gradually increase, then Paramātmā realization. That is meditation. That is meditation. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). The yogis, by meditation, they observe the Supreme Personality of Godhead Viṣṇu within the heart. That is yoga system perfection. And above that, there is personal realization, Bhagavān. So when you realize the Personality of Godhead, then you become a Vaiṣṇava. This is gradual steps.
So this dvija, as soon as he contacted a prostitute... Prostitute, unchaste, puṁścalī. Another name is puṁścalī. Those who are, I mean to say, moved by another person, they are called puṁścalī. They become captivated by another person. So they, another name is prostitute.
So here also Ajāmila, although he's a cheat, he's a rogue, he's a thief, he has learned all the bad quality, but still the sneha, the affection, that is not lost. So this is natural. Similarly, we have got a natural feeling for Kṛṣṇa. If you study thoroughly, that is called meditation, that "Whom I love." Say for the first time, I love my body. If there is some danger I try to protect myself from the danger. That means I love my body. So the next question will be: "Then why don't you love a dead body?" Suppose your wife or husband, you love, because the husband and wife is in the body, dehino 'smin yathā dehe (BG 2.13). So I love the body because the spirit soul is there. This is right conclusion. Otherwise who is going to love a dead body? Nobody. Now if wife's husband has died, son has died, he's crying. You can say that "Why you are crying?" "Oh, my son is gone, my husband is gone." "Nobody gone. It is lying here." "No, no, no. He's not."
Sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭa, mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca (BG 15.15). Everything is there. The Lord and the living entity, both are within his heart.
So those who are yogis, they want to find out that "God is sitting with me. Let me see by meditation." That is yogi's business. Dhyānāvasthita tad gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yogina. This is yoga system. Dhyānāvasthita tad gatena manasā paśyanti. Not that manufacturing something nonsense, just so that you'll be stout and strong to enjoy sex, or your power of business brain will expand. This is not yoga. These all bluff. Real yoga system is to find out within the heart where is God. My business is that I've forgotten God. The karmīs, they..., karmīs, real karmīs, they do not forget.
"Why you are not in here? Come with Me. Enjoy with My dance." Similarly, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu also you see dancing. Śrī-kṛṣṇa-caitanya prabhu-nityananda śrī-advaita-gadādhara śrīvāsādi... All dancing. Saṅgo-paṅgāstra-pārṣada. So the life is this enjoyment, dancing. That is life, not meditation, "For fifteen minutes' meditation I become God. That's all." (laughter) These are all rascals. Enjoyment is real life. Enjoyment. That enjoyment, not this material world, the sex. No. Above this. Transcendental. That we find information in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
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. They cannot. But by this arca process we are giving chance to everyone. But for the materialistic person it is difficult. They think that they are idol worshipers. But actually, the Vaiṣṇavas, they are not so fools that they will worship an idol. Therefore they have been recommended to concentrate on the universal form.
So this word is a very important word, vāsudevokta-kāriṇaḥ. A devotee has nothing to do anything more except to execute the order of Kṛṣṇa. That is transcendental platform. They do not know what is transcendental plat... Transcendental meditation means to think of Kṛṣṇa always. That is transcendental meditation. That is said in the Bhagavad-gītā:
- yoginām api sarveṣāṁ
- mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā
- śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ
- sa me yuktatamo mataḥ
- (BG 6.47)
Who is the first-class yogi? Kṛṣṇa says, "That person who is always thinking of Me Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ. There are many varieties of yogis, but this person, who is thinking of Me, he has no more to think any other thing." Yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntar-ātmanā: within the core of the heart, he's thinking of Kṛṣṇa. This is the ideal transcendental meditation, meditation. It has become a medicine now. (laughter) To become fatty, to have more power for sex, it is not meditation, but medicine.
He immediately showed. When there was attempt to kill Him by the Pūtanā, immediately He showed His Godly power. So we have to study like that, that God in any circumstances is God. God is never made. Any circumstances, God is God. God... Not that by meditation, pressing your nose, you become God. No. That is not God. God is God. So all the...
Therefore Rūpa Gosvāmī says,
- śruti-smṛti-purāṇādi-
- pañcarātra-vidhiṁ vinā
- aikāntikī harer bhaktir
- utpātāyaiva kalpate
- (Brs. 1.2.101)
"Their conception of God or devotional service to God without reference to the Vedas, śruti and smṛti, and the purāṇas," śruti-smṛti-purāṇa, pañcarātra-vidhi, "the Nārada Pañcarātra, these regulative principles, without reference to these regulative principles, if one, anyone, claims that he has become a devotee of the Lord, it is simply disturbance." It is simply disturbance.
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. But in India you will find there are so many temples. Of course, it requires the energy. Otherwise here also, there are so many churches.
That will never be impaired. Anywhere you chant, you will be successful, anywhere. Sit down. If you chant without any offense, then kalau tad dhari-kīrtanāt. But if possible, open nice centers, worship nicely. That will be very good. But if you are unable to do anything, either the meditation or offering sacrifices, worshiping the Deity, in this age, simply if you sincerely chant without any offense, then your life is sure to be successful.
Now how it is possible? You'll see in the mind. Suppose you close your eyes, but there are so many impressions, they will come within the mind. Even if you close your eyes. The so-called meditation means he has closed his eyes but he's thinking of his beloved or his business or something like, something like that. So is not possible. First of all, you have to fix up your mind in Kṛṣṇa. Always think of Kṛṣṇa. That is advised by Kṛṣṇa. Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru. These four principles guarantees, Kṛṣṇa says. Mām evaiṣyasi asaṁśayaḥ (BG 18.68). If you simply execute these four things, then Kṛṣṇa guarantees, asaṁśaya, without any doubt you are coming back to me, back to home, back to Godhead. It is so nice. So mind engaged in Kṛṣṇa.
Does it require any yoga system? But people are fallen so down that they have invented because people want it, and these rascals, they exploit. This is going on. So real yoga system means to control the senses, not to increase or indulge. They are clearly advertising in the Western countries, "Transcendental meditation. There is no restriction. There is no question of faith," and so many things, means as people want it. They want money, and they advertise like that. People do not want to follow the religious principles. People do not want any restriction. They advertise, "Yes. You haven't got to follow any restriction. You haven't got to believe in some religion. You simply pay me $127, and I give you mantra, and you become happy." This is going on.
Yoga means not reducing fat or this or... No. Yoga means controlling the mind, controlling the senses, and concentrate it upon Viṣṇu, Kṛṣṇa. Mat para. Yogaṁ yuñjan mad-āśrayaḥ. That is yoga. When we take shelter of Kṛṣṇa and practice yoga, then it will be successful, not that transcendental meditation, this, all foolish things. No. So we have to control the mind. If you want liberation from this material world, you have to control your mind. Therefore Ambarīṣa Mahārāja, he showed us example that sa vai manaḥ kṛṣṇa padāravindayor vacāṁsi vaikuṇṭha-guṇānuvarṇane (SB 9.4.18). Simply engage your mind thinking of Kṛṣṇa and talk of Kṛṣṇa. Then this agitation will not disturb you.
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.
Therefore śāstra said, kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ tretāyāṁ majato makhaiḥ. You can realize Viṣṇu because Viṣṇu is the ultimate goal of life. But we do not know it. Na te viduḥ svārtha-gatiṁ hi viṣṇum (SB 7.5.31). So that Viṣṇu meditation was possible in the kṛte, in the Satya-yuga, when a man used to live for hundred thousands of years. And then reduce. The next age it is ten thousand of years. Then again, in the next age, it is one thousands of years. And now it is reduced to one hundred years.
In the Kali-yuga you perform perfect meditation by loudly chanting, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare. This is the recommendation of the śāstra—not only one, but many śāstras. In the Bhāgavata also it is said,
- kaler doṣa-nidhe rājan
- asti hy eko mahān guṇaḥ
- kīrtanād eva kṛṣṇasya
- mukta-saṅgaḥ paraṁ vrajet
- (SB 12.3.51)
So there are dangers in this material world. It is very dangerous place, padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadām (SB 10.14.58), every step, not only spiritually, materially also. Suppose you are out of this temple, there is every chance you may be dashed by a motorcar and die.
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.
Makha means yajña. You cannot perform yajña now. It is not possible. Where is the ghee? Where is the grain? People are starving without food grains. How you can... 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.
That was the system. And because there is no such powerful yajñic brāhmaṇa at the present moment, therefore all kinds of yajñas are forbidden at the present moment. Kalau tad hari-kīrtanāt. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ (SB 12.3.52). This is the injunction of the śāstra, that in the Satya-yuga, meditation on Viṣṇu... Now they have manufactured meditation in so many ways, but actually meditation means dhyāyato viṣṇu. Viṣṇu-mūrti, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, meditation, focusing the mind on the form of four-handed Viṣṇu, that is yoga.
Perfection of life was attained in the Satya-yuga... Because in the Satya-yuga there is no disturbance. Every man is perfectly religious and peaceful, and therefore they could concentrate their mind focusing their mind on Viṣṇu. So this dhyāna, meditation, was possible in the Satya-yuga. Kṛte yad dhyāyato..., tretāyāṁ yajato makhaiḥ. Then, next stage, next yuga is performance of sacrifices. People, the brāhmaṇas, were so powerful that they could give the desired result by performing sacrifices, and there were means of securing the ingredients. Just like tons of ghee is wanted. Where is ghee? It is all dalda. Where you can perform sacrifice? (laughter) Ghee is finished. You cannot secure even the ingredients. There is no qualified brāhmaṇa. Therefore yajña is not possible in this age. Kṛte yad dhyāyato viṣṇuṁ tretāyām..., dvāpare paricaryāyām (SB 12.3.52).
The whole world, nirviśeṣa-śūnyavādi... Nirviśeṣa... Means the impersonalists and voidists, that's all. They have no understanding what is Personality of Godhead. Gobhir indriyair hṛdā cittena na vicakṣate. One cannot, a gobhiḥ, by exercise of the senses. Gobhiḥ and indriyair hṛdā, heart also, meditation. The jñānīs, the speculators, they are speculating by sensual activities, and the yogis, they are trying to find out the Supreme within the heart, cittena. So na paśyanti: "But they cannot see." They cannot see. So jñānīs, the yogis, they cannot understand. Although they are trying for it, they cannot understand. It is clearly said, hṛdā girā vāsu-bhṛto vicakṣate. Yad vāca nābhūd dhṛtaṁ yan manaḥ manute ityādi śruteḥ.(?) And he is giving recitation from the Vedas: yad vāca nābhūd dhṛtaṁ yan manaḥ manute ityādi śruteḥ. Avann mānasa-gocaraḥ.(?)
Therefore you will find in the history of India many great kings, even at very young age they left. Just like Bhārata Mahārāja. Bhārata Mahārāja, at the age of twenty-four years only, he left his young wife, young children and the whole empire, Bharatvarsa, and went to the forest for meditation. There are many instances.
So Prahlāda Mahārāja, when he was inquired by his father that "Who has taught you this Kṛṣṇa consciousness...?" Because he knew that "He is my son, king's son. He does not go to mix with anyone else. He simply takes his lesson from the appointed teachers. How is that this boy, five years old only, and he is so much Kṛṣṇa conscious?" So he was surprised. He asked him that "How you have taken to this Kṛṣṇa consciousness?"
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." That was their prayer. Therefore that is Kṛṣṇa consciousness, ideal Kṛṣṇa consciousness. You have to mold your life in such a way that you cannot think of Kṛṣṇa, you cannot think but Kṛṣṇa, only. The gopīs were doing their duties. They were household..., housewife, girls. They had their husbands, children. But in spite of all these things, they were thinking of Kṛṣṇa.
So we have to continue the spiritual stand on spiritual platform by Kṛṣṇa consciousness, always remembering Kṛṣṇa. Smartavyaḥ satataṁ viṣṇuḥ vismartavyo na jātucit. This is the process. You have to remember always Kṛṣṇa, Viṣṇu. That is called meditation. That is called samādhi.
The samādhi, the meditation which is going on, some rascaldom, that is not meditation. Meditation means always thinking of Viṣṇu. That is meditation. So this Kṛṣṇa consciousness is perfect meditation. Always thinking. And it is certified in Bhagavad-gītā, yoginām api sarveṣāṁ mad-gatenāntarātmanā (BG 6.47). Mad-gatenāntarātmanā śraddhāvān bhajate yo māṁ sa me yuktatamo mataḥ. So Kṛṣṇa said, he is first-class yogi who is constantly in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Yogi means that he has no other business. The sannyāsī and yogi is the same because yogi has no other business. He is simply trying to concentrate his mind on the Viṣṇu. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). Yoginaḥ, not these black yogis. The real yogi. Real yogi means he is always in meditation, dhyānāvasthita. Dhyāna means meditation. Dhyānāvasthita manasā. Where meditation is performed? In the mind. That means concentrating the mind. Dhyānāvasthita manasā. Then what is that concentration? Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). Yam, whom. That means the Supreme Viṣṇu. One who sees the Supreme Viṣṇu always within his mind by concentration, he is called yogi. Yogi does not mean to show some magical or gymnastic feats.
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).
Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā. 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?
Yes. Naturally, if you close your eyes and you have no subject matter to think, what will be this, you will sleep, that's all. That is not yoga system. 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.
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. "Kṛṣṇa, You are recommending me to undergo the process of yoga, but it is not possible for me." 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.
So here also the same thing is repeated. 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.
No. It does not stop to act. Because that is the active principle. Because the spirit is there within this body, therefore the body's acting. Now, suppose I am not this body. Then does it mean that the spirit has no activity? So this is now wrong theory. Spirit has various activities, but you do not know. That is illusion. So meditation means to understand oneself, that "I am not this body; I am spirit soul," and farther advancement of that meditation is to know that what are the activities of the spirit soul, and when one is actually engaged in those spiritual activities, that is the perfection of meditation.
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.
That is also doubtful. So therefore in this age, the sastric injunction... 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.
Devotee: If meditation without chanting was at one time successful, why is it now deficient?
Prabhupāda: Because the time has changed. You have to take, consider according to the time, circumstances, atmosphere. Here, at the present moment, our mind is so disturbed that concentration of meditation is not possible. But this chanting, as soon as we chant, by force our mind is engaged in chanting and hearing, by force: "Hare Kṛṣṇa." So even my mind is disturbed, by the vibration I am attracted. So that is, this meditation is recommended. Other meditation, if I sit down and think, I am thinking of the lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, which is red. At once a red bird comes in my vision and the bird begins to fly and it goes away. You see? So that kind of artificial meditation will not succeed. Meditation is not actually possible in this age. Yes?
Guest (1): Apparently, I have trouble with the definition of meditation. You say that chanting is the way to attain...
Prabhupāda: Yes. I don't say, it is there...
Guest (1): Yeah, okay, right. Transcendental meditation by the Maharishi is not a form of meditation under concentrating powers. I was wondering...
Prabhupāda: What is that transcendental meditation? Can you explain?
Guest (1): If I could I would do.
Prabhupāda: You cannot. You cannot explain?
Guest (2): I think he had an explanation.
Guest (3): We're talking of the teaching of the Maharishi.
Prabhupāda: So what is that teaching? You don't know. Then don't talk. (everyone laughs)
Prabhupāda: For two hours daily, one hour morning, one afternoon.
Guest (1): All right.
Prabhupāda: So if one is engaged in meditation for two hours and if other is engaged for twenty-four hours, whose meditation is perfect?
Guest (1): Uh, I don't know.
Prabhupāda: You don't know?
Guest (1): The Maharishi hasn't...
Prabhupāda: You don't know?
Guest (1): The Maharishi hasn't...
Prabhupāda: No, don't take the Maharishi. I mean to say, if somebody is engaged in meditation for two hours and other is engaged for twenty-four hours, then whose meditation value will be greater?
Guest (1): Then there are two types of meditation, there's a two-hour meditation...
Prabhupāda: First of all you answer this.
Guest (1): Pardon me? I missed it.
Prabhupāda: First of all you answer this.
Guest (1): Pardon me? I missed it.
Prabhupāda: I am just telling that a person is engaged in meditation for two hours, and another person is engaged in meditation for twenty-four hours. Whose meditation is valuable?
Guest (1): The twenty-four hours.
Prabhupāda: Is it not?
Guest (1): Are you asking me to go out and chant all day long?
Prabhupāda: Huh?
Guest (1): Are we supposed to chant twenty-four hours?
Prabhupāda: Not only chanting. There are other engagements.
Guest (1): Right. That's what the Maharishi says also.
Prabhupāda: So, twenty-four hours... Now, that meditation, what is that, what Maharishi says you do not know you say just now, that you do not know.
Guest (1): I don't know as well as the Maharishi knows, but I'd like to. Perhaps you can explain.
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, one more thing. Transcendental meditation by the Maharishi is not a concentrating process. It's a process of using the mantra to get into the meditation. And once reaching the point of deep meditation, thoughts will just occur. And there's no concentrating procedure at all. And this is why I had a question in the first place, in that you said meditation'w impossible because it's a concentrating process. Well, Maharishi's meditation is not the concentrating...
Prabhupāda: Then he has manufactured something. It is not stated in the standard book. You see Bhagavad-gītā and Patanjali system, yoga system, that is differently stated.
Prabhupāda: Then he has manufactured something. It is not stated in the standard book. You see Bhagavad-gītā and Patanjali system, yoga system, that is differently stated.
Guest (1): I see.
Prabhupāda: In the Bhagavad-gītā, the meditation has to be concentrated upon the Viṣṇu. Mat-para. The word is mat-para. One has to concentrate his meditation upon the form of Viṣṇu. Nothing else. That is real meditation. But if Maharishi has manufactured his own way of meditation, I cannot comment upon it. Because we have to comment on the books of authority. Any other question? All right. (end)
One who goes to the forest, he is called vānaprastha. From vana, the word vana, has come vānaprastha. Pañcāśordhvaṁ vanaṁ vrajet, that "After fifty years of age one must go to the forest for meditation, for tapasya, austerity." And when he is perfectly trained up... This training is given from brahmacārī life, gṛhastha life also, but people are not taking training. They are not kuśalam. Actually they do not know what is the aim of life. They are cats and dogs. So one who is kuśala, actually knows the aim of life, for him, yateta ksemāya bhavam āśritaḥ. Because in the material existence it is simply suffering. But these foolish men, they do not understand. They are thinking, "Enjoyment." How you can enjoy? Kṛṣṇa says, duḥkhālayam aśāśvatam: (BG 8.15) "This is a place for suffering."
People have become so much degraded that it is not possible. Therefore direct method. Direct method: chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. That will revive your old consciousness. Chant Hare Kṛṣṇa. Caitanya Mahāprabhu says, kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva nāsty eva gatir anyathā: "In this age there is no other alternative, there is no other alternative." The so-called meditation, yoga or karma, jñāna, mental speculation—everything will fail. They are, of course, standard processes, but that is not possible to execute in the present age. What is to speak of present age, even five thousand years ago, when Arjuna was taught to learn yoga system... That is also mentioned in the Bhagavad-gītā, the practice of yoga, the sitting posture, the breathing exercise, and controlling the senses and regulating eating, sleeping.
So many things, they are recommended. And after hearing, Arjuna said, "My dear Kṛṣṇa, it is not possible for me." Actually, Arjuna was a fighter, a military man. Where is his time to practice this meditation, all these things? He frankly admitted. But we are so proud that we want to surpass even a personality like Arjuna.
So these things are not possible in this age. If somebody is imitating, that is simply imitation. So imitation has no value. The real thing is this meditation: you chant and hear. This meditation. Meditation means to absorb your mind in the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is meditation, real meditation. In all the standard scriptures and in yoga practice formula, the whole aim is to concentrate one's mind in the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Kṛṣṇa says that "I am also kṣetra-jña, knower of the body, but I know everyone's body." That is the difference between Kṛṣṇa, Paramātmā, the Supersoul, and the individual soul. The Māyāvādī philosophers, they make one. That is not possible. Kṣetra-jña, āśraya, avikriya—unchangeable. Sva-dṛk—he can see himself by contemplation, by meditation. Sva-dṛk, hetuḥ—cause. Vyāpaka-all—pervading. I am all-pervading within this body, in my body. I am not all-pervading in your body. If I pinch your body I do not feel any pain, but if I pinch my body I feel pain. Therefore, "I am all-pervading", means I am all-pervading in this body by consciousness. Anywhere you touch, the consciousness is there feeling touch. Vyāpaka, asaṅgī.
So, as the poor man goes to the river side and by straining the water by—they have a specific process, they find out some gold—similarly, a person kṣetreṣu deheṣu ātma adhyātma-vid brahma-gatiṁ labheta (?). This meditation means thinking very deeply what I am, what I am. And the process of the yoga system is the same system as you strain water and find out gold. Similarly, if you follow the yoga system, dhyāna, dhāraṇa, āsana, prāṇāyāma—that is mechanical—then you will find that "I am the spirit soul and there is Supreme Soul, Kṛṣṇa." That is possible. That is really perfection of yoga practice. Not that simply pressing the nose, no. Actually perfection of yogic meditation is to understand the self; the soul is there and the Supersoul is there. The process is there.
"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.
So anvaya-vyatirekeṇa vivekena uśatātmanā. Those who are advanced in knowledge, directly and indirectly, by contemplating, by meditation, they can find out. It is not difficult. The process is anvaya, directly, and vyatirekeṇa, indirectly, and vivekena... Vivekena means with deliberation, with deliberation. Now, take for example if you think that "This finger is..., I am this finger." No, you are not this finger because if you cut your finger, then you'll live. Therefore you are not finger. This is viveka. This is deliberation. Similarly, you can study.
Devotional service means to serve the master of the senses with your purified senses. That's all. You haven't got to stop your sensual activities, but now you are serving the senses by the dictation of the senses. Now, while you will serve the master of the senses, then your perfection will come.
So Prahlāda Mahārāja is advising, "My dear boyfriends," tad bīja-nirharaṇaṁ yogaḥ, "you practice yoga just to become master of your senses." Not that officially I sit down, fifteen minutes' meditation, and next moment I am master of my senses. This is not yoga. Here it is called bīja-nirharaṇaṁ yogaḥ. Just practice such kind of yoga by which you can kill the seed of your servant of this material world.
The lotus feet of Kṛṣṇa, dhyānāt, that is meditation. Tat-pādāmburuha-dhyānāt tal-liṅgekṣārhaṇādibhiḥ. To come to the temple, Deity worship is meant for that purpose, just to see the form of Kṛṣṇa so that we may remember. Always, 24 hours we can see. It is not idol worship. The rascal atheists, they can say like that, but our process is this. Guru-sevā, offering all respect to guru, and always thinking of Kṛṣṇa's lotus feet, seeing His forms in the temple, worshiping Him as they are described, as they are prescribed in the śāstras, this is the process. Tal-liṅgekṣārhaṇādibhiḥ. Tasya liṅgānām mūrtinām īkṣaṇa, īkṣaṇam ca arhaṇam ca ādi yeṣām bandhanādinam tasya(?).
And similarly, He is enjoying with His cowherd boyfriends, with girlfriends, gopīs, with His mother, everywhere Kṛṣṇa you will find ānandamayo. Ānandamayo 'bhyāsāt (Vedānta-sūtra 1.1.12).
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 in last day meeting we have discussed that we have to crush the seed of this material existence. Bīja-nirharaṇaṁ yogaḥ. Bīja. So long the seed is there, we may practice something for spiritual realization, meditation, or the gymnastic yoga—or there are so many other things—but the seed is there. We may be forgetful of our existence, nirvāṇa, void, or hallucination. But because the bīja, the seed, is there, as soon as the effect of such imperfect method is finished, again you come to that Again. This is the bīja. The same example, just like weeds in the field. They appeared completely dried up. There is no more. But as soon as there are drops of rain, oh, again it becomes green. Because the seed is there. So if you want to wipe out the seed of this material existence, then Prahlāda Mahārāja recommends that tatropāya-sahasrāṇām.
There is no question of spiritual understanding. Mental speculation, speculators, they are not on the spiritual platform. They are on the material platform. So here And the yogis. Yogis, still more further advanced from jñāna, from the mental speculative platform, when one comes to the platform of finding out the soul within by meditation, they are still elevated. So But the bhaktas, they are already engaged. They have not only found out the Supreme Personality of Godhead, but they are actually engaged in His service. They are called bhaktas, devotees.
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.
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.
Simply inquire and be ready how to serve Kṛṣṇa. Ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīla Ānukūla. Not your satisfaction but Kṛṣṇa's satisfaction. That is called ānukūla, favorable. Ānukūlyena kṛṣṇānuśīlanam (CC Madhya 19.167). And anuśīlanam means activity, not that "In trance I am in meditation." That is also Something is better than nothing, but real devotional service is activity. One must be active, and the best activity is to preach the glory of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the best activity. Na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu kaścid me prīya-kṛttamaḥ.
So there are some severe processes for tapasya. So this is one of the good qualities.
But in this age it is very difficult. To undergo such voluntary tribulations for realization, self-realization, meditation is not possible in this age. Therefore the Vedic injunction is that "You simply chant Hare Kṛṣṇa." Harer nāma harer nāma harer nāma eva kevalam (CC Adi 17.21). You don't have to take any botheration. In whatever position you are, you just try to consent in your mind to hear the sound of Hare Kṛṣṇa, best type of meditation, because it is not possible to acquire all these qualities, tapa. So śamo-damas-tapa-śaucam. Śaucam means cleanliness, hygienic principles, to take bath thrice, at least once, daily. Therefore to keep no hair is better. You wash, there is no question of moisture in the hair. And those who have got big hairs, they cannot take daily bath.
"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: "Oh, I left my kingdom, I came to forest for meditation. Again I am going to be another kingdom." So he decided that "I shall go away." So Menakā tried to entice him, "Oh, why you shall go? You just see how nice girl you have got. Just see." There is a picture. Perhaps you have seen. And Viśvamitra is doing like this: "Don't show me anymore. Let me go away." Of course, he was very much advanced. He could go.
Sweet rice, the more it is cooler, then it is tasteful. But milk, if you take cool, that is not tasteful. Milk you have to take hot, but not the sweet rice. So he wanted to test whether it is too hot. So his finger burned, and then his meditation broke. He saw there is no rice but finger is burned. In this way the brāhmaṇa was immediately taken to Vaikuṇṭha.
So Kṛṣṇa can be offered in any circumstances. Kṛṣṇa can be pleased, provided you want to please Kṛṣṇa, provided you want to serve Kṛṣṇa. There is no question of... That is already explained, that dana jana, riches or learning or respectability, all these things cannot satisfy Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa wants only your heart—"Kṛṣṇa, You are my eternal master. I am Your eternal servant. Please engage me in Your service."
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." But her intention was, she smeared poison on her breast, as soon as Kṛṣṇa will suck, then the child will die. So this is the demonic spirit. They want to kill Kṛṣṇa always. That's all.
And she appeared, oh, a great giantlike demon. You know the story, Putānā.
So this God, this child God in the lap of His mother, He's God. He did not become God by meditation, by penance, or by austerity or by following the rules and regulations. Why? He's substantially God. The God's manifestation is always there. That is God. Na tasya kāryaṁ kāraṇaṁ ca vidyate. He has nothing to do. If anyone has to do something to become God, he's a dog. He's not God. Immediately. Immediately understand. If somebody advertises that by meditation he has become God, by worshiping such and such deity he has become God, immediately take that he is dog. Because the Vedic definition says, na tasya kāryaṁ kāraṇaṁ ca vidyate.
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. Those things are not possible at the present age because we are so much disturbed by the present atmosphere, everyone. Just like this morning you have news that the Russians have captured Czechoslovakia. How much distressed they are. I heard from the newspaper that several of them were crying. So this is the position. Padaṁ padaṁ yad vipadam (SB 10.14.58). Every step, there is danger.
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.
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.
Mind, intelligence, ego, ahaṅkāra itīyaṁ me bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā. So they are subtle form of matter. So yogic exercise means to control the mind, dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā. In order to make the mind controlled and fully fixed up on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, that is required in yoga meditation. Dhyānāvasthita, one remains in meditation. What for? Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā, just in order to make the mind completely, completely absorbed in Kṛṣṇa. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti. By concentrating the mind upon Kṛṣṇa, generally Lord Viṣṇu, dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā paśyanti yaṁ yoginaḥ (SB 12.13.1). They are also material endeavor. They are not spiritual. Because spiritual life begins when one understands fully that he is not this body. That is the beginning of instruction in the Bhagavad-gītā.
One is not happy, but he's thinking, "I am happy." 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."
Nowadays hunting is going on for eating purpose. No, that is not the law. So Mahārāja Parīkṣit was in the hunting excursion and he became very thirsty. So he entered one āśrama of saintly person. He was at that time on meditation. So he entered, and he asked him, "Give me drinking water. I am very thirsty." He thought, "It is āśrama." But the sage who was engaged in meditation could not hear him. So the king became little disgusted that "I am king. I am asking water, and this man is silent." So he became little enraged, and there was a dead snake. So he took that snake and coiled over his neck and went away.
Then what will happen? Ceto-darpaṇa-mārjanam (CC Antya 20.12). Your, if you chant the holy name of God, then your heart which is considered to be mirror... Just like you see your face on the mirror, similarly, you can see your position on the mirror of the heart, core of the heart. You can see. That is called meditation. So at the present moment our heart is covered with the dust of material conception. "I am Indian," "I am American," "I am this," "I am that," "I am that." This is all dust. You have to cleanse this. Just like on the mirror if there is a layer of dust you cleanse it. Then you see your real face.
| Page Title: | Meditation (Lectures, SB cantos 3 - 12) |
| Compiler: | Visnu Murti, RupaManjari |
| Created: | 07 of Apr, 2012 |
| Totals by Section: | BG=0, SB=0, CC=0, OB=0, Lec=123, Con=0, Let=0 |
| No. of Quotes: | 123 |