Yoga as Meditation About God...

In India there are sacred places where yogis go to meditate in solitude, as prescribed in Bhagavad-gita. Traditionally, yoga cannot be executed in a public place, but insofar as kirtana - mantra-yoga, or the yoga of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra:

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

is concerned, the more people present, the better. When Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu was performing kirtana in India some five hundred years ago, He organized in each group sixteen people to lead the chanting, and thousands of people chanted with them.

This participation in kirtana, in the public chanting of the names and glories of God, is very possible and is actually easy in this age; but as far as the meditational process of yoga is concerned, that is very difficult. It is specifically stated in Bhagavad-gita that to perform meditational yoga one should go to a secluded and holy place. In other words, it is necessary to leave home. In this age of overpopulation it is not always possible to find a secluded place, but this is not necessary in bhakti-yoga.

In the bhakti-yoga system there are nine different processes:

... Hearing
... Chanting
... Remembering
... Serving
... worshiping the Deity in the temple
... praying
... carrying out orders
... serving Krishna as a friend
... and sacrificing for Him.

Out of these, sravanam kirtanam, hearing and chanting, are considered the most important. At a public kirtana one person can chant Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, while a group listens, and at the end of the mantra, the group can respond, and in this way there is a reciprocation of hearing and chanting.

This can easily be performed in one's own home, with a small group of friends or with many people in a large public place. One may attempt to practice meditational yoga in a large city or in a society, but one must understand that this is one's own concoction and is not the method recommended in Bhagavad-gita.

Where to find pure happiness without even a tinge of frustration? What is the nature of such happiness? The practical science of Yoga, as explained in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, will answer all this intelligent questions. Click here for more information...

The Mind Can be Easily Cleansed by Chanting God's Names...

The whole process of the yoga system is to purify oneself. And what is this purification? Purification ensues upon the realization of one's actual identity. Purification is realizing that "I am pure spirit - I am not this matter."

Due to material contact, we are identifying ourselves with matter, and we are thinking, "I am this body." But in order to perform real yoga one must realize his constitutional position as being distinct from matter. The purpose of seeking out a secluded place and executing the meditational process is to come to this understanding. It is not possible to come to this understanding if one executes the process improperly. In any case, this is the consideration of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu:

harer nama harer nama
harer namaiva kevalam
kalau nasty eva nasty eva
nasty eva gatir anyatha

"In this age of quarrel and disagreement (Kali-yuga), there is no other way of spiritual realization but this chanting of the names. There is no other way, there is no other way, there is no other way." (Cc. Adi 17.21)

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