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THE PATH OF PERFECTION
māyā , and this brings about his conditioning or false indentification. This is very elaborately explained in the Seventh Chapter, First Canto, of  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam .
In conclusion, our actual position is that of spiritual sparks, full of light. Now we are temporarily covered by this illusory energy,  māyā , which is dictating to us. Acting under the influence of  māyā , we are becoming more and more entangled in the material energy. The  yoga  system is meant to disentangle us, and the perfection of  yoga  is Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Thus Kṛṣṇa consciousness is the most effective means by which we can disentangle ourselves from the influence of the material energy.
CHAPTER THREE
Learning How to See God
bandhur ātmātmanas tasya yenātmaivātmanā jitaḥ anātmanas tu śatrutve vartetātmaiva śatruvat
“For him who has conquered the mind, the mind is the best of friends; but for one who has failed to do so, his very mind will be the greatest enemy.” (Bg. 6.6)
The purpose of the  yoga  system is to make the mind into a friend instead of an enemy. In material contact, the mind is in a kind of drunken condition. As stated in  Caitanya-caritāmṛta  ( Madhya-līlā  20.117),
kṛṣṇa bhuli’ sei jīva—anādi-bahirmukha ataeva māyā tāre deya saṁsāra-duḥkha
“Forgetting Kṛṣṇa, the living entity has been attracted by the Lord’s external feature from time immemorial. Therefore the illusory energy ( māyā ) gives him all kinds of misery in his material existence.” The living entity is constitutionally spirit soul, part and parcel of the Supreme Lord. As soon as the mind is contaminated, the living entity, because he has a little independence, rebels. In this state, the mind dictates, “Why should I serve Kṛṣṇa? I am God.” Thus one labors under a false impression, and his life is spoiled. We try to conquer many things—even empires—but if we fail to conquer the mind, we are failures even if we manage to conquer an empire. Even though emperors, we will have within us our greatest enemy—our own mind.
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