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THE PATH OF PERFECTION
should be situated in a sacred place. The  yogī  should then sit on it very firmly and should practice  yoga  by controlling the mind and the senses, purifying the heart, and fixing the mind on one point.” (Bg. 6.11–12) In these verses it is emphasized how and where one should sit. In the United States and other Western countries, there are many so-called  yoga  societies, but they do not practice  yoga  according to these prescriptions. “A sacred place” refers to a place of pilgrimage. In India, the  yogīs , the transcendentalists, or devotees, all leave home and reside in sacred places such as Prayāga, Mathurā, Vṛndāvana, Hṛṣīkeśa, and Hardwar and in solitude practice  yoga  where the sacred rivers like the Yamunā and the Ganges flow. So how is this possible in this age? How many people are prepared to find such a sacred place? In order to earn one’s livelihood, one has to live in a congested city. There is no question of finding a sacred place, but for the practice of  yoga , that is the first prerequisite.
Therefore in this  bhakti-yoga  system, the temple is considered the sacred place. The temple is  nirguna —transcendental. According to the  Vedas , a city is in the mode of passion, and a forest is in the mode of goodness. The temple, however, is transcendental. If you live in a city or town, you live in a place where passion is predominant, and if you want to escape this, you may go to a forest, a place of goodness. God’s temple, however, is above passion and goodness; therefore the temple of Kṛṣṇa is the only secluded place for this age. In this age, it is not possible to retreat to a forest; nor is it useful to make a show of practicing  yoga  in so-called  yoga  societies and at the same time engage in nonsense.
Therefore, in the  Bṛhan-nāradīya Purāṇa  it is said that in Kali-yuga, when people are generally short-lived slow in spiritual realization, and always disturbed by various anxieties, the best means of spiritual realization is chanting the holy names of the Lord.
harer nāma harer nāma   harer nāmaiva kevalam   kalau nāsty eva nāsty eva   nāsty eva gatir anyathā
Learning how to see God
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“In this age of quarrel and hypocrisy, the only means of deliverance is chanting the holy name of the Lord. There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way.”
This is the solution, the grand gift of Caitanya Mahāprabhu. In this age, other  yoga  practices are not feasible, but this practice is so simple and universal that even a child can take to it.