How to Control the Mind by Yoga...

If one wants to engage in yoga at home, then he has to make certain that his other engagements are moderate. He cannot spend long hours of the day working hard to simply earn a livelihood. One should work very moderately, eat very moderately, gratify the senses very moderately and keep his life as free from anxiety as possible. In this way practice of yoga may be successful.

What is the sign by which we can tell that one has attained perfection in yoga? Krishna indicates that one is situated in yoga when his consciousness is completely under his control.

"When the yogi, by practice of yoga, disciplines his mental activities and becomes situated in Transcendence - devoid of all material desires - he is said to have attained yoga." (Bg. 6.18)

One who has attained yoga is not dependent on the dictations of his mind; rather, the mind comes under his control. Nor is the mind put out or extinguished, for it is the business of the yogi to think of Krishna, or Vishnu, always. The yogi cannot allow his mind to go out. This may sound very difficult, but it is possible in Krishna consciousness. When one is always engaged in Krishna consciousness, in the service of Krishna, then how is it possible for the mind to wander away from Krishna? In the service of Krishna, the mind is automatically controlled.

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...

Nor should the yogi have any desire for material sense gratification. If one is in Krishna consciousness, he has no desire other than Krishna. It is not possible to become desireless. The desire for sense gratification must be overcome by the process of purification, but desire for Krishna should be cultivated. It is simply that we have to transfer the desire. There is no question of killing desire, for desire is the constant companion of the living entity.

Krishna consciousness is the process by which one purifies his desires; instead of desiring so many things for sense gratification, one simply desires things for the service of Krishna. for example, we may desire palatable food, but instead of preparing foodstuffs for ourselves, we can prepare them for Krishna and offer them to Him. It is not that the action is different, but there is a transfer of consciousness from thinking of acting for my senses to thinking of acting for Krishna.

We may prepare nice milk products, vegetables, grains, fruits and other vegetarian dishes for Krishna and then offer them to Him, praying, "This material body is a lump of ignorance and the senses are a network of paths leading to death. Of all the senses the tongue is the most voracious and difficult to control. It is very difficult to conquer the tongue in this world; therefore Sri Krishna has given us this nice prasada, spiritual food, to conquer the tongue. So let us take this prasada to our full satisfaction and glorify Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha and Krishna and in love call for the help of Lord Caitanya and Nityananda Prabhu."

In this way our karma is sacrificed, for from the very beginning we are thinking that the food is being offered to Krishna. We should have no personal desires for the food. Krishna is so merciful, however, that he gives us the food to eat. In this way our desire is fulfilled.

When one has molded his life in such a way - dovetailing his desires to Krishna's - then it is to be understood that he has attained perfection in yoga. Simply breathing deeply and doing some exercises is not yoga as far as Bhagavad-gita is concerned. A whole purification of consciousness is required.