36 THE PATH OF PERFECTION Learning How to See God 37

consciousness movement, there is no question of hating anyone. ing alone’’ means that we should not live with those who are not
Everyone is welcomed to come and chant Hare Krsna, take krsna- Krsna conscious. Ideally, this means that one should live in a
prasdda, listen to the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita, and try to rec- secluded place, like a forest or a jungle, but in this age such a
tify material, conditioned life. This is the essential program of secluded place is very difficult to find. Therefore ‘‘secluded place”’
Krsna consciousness. Therefore, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, refers to that place where God consciousness is taught.

7 7 : ; : The transcendentalist should also carefully control his mind,
yare dekha, tare kaha ‘krsna “upadesa and this means fixing the mind on the Supreme Self, or Krsna. As
dmara ajfdya guru hand tara’ ei desa explained before, Krsna is just like the sun, and if the mind is

fixed on Him, there is no question of darkness. If Krsna is always
“Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Sri Krsna as they } on our minds, maya, or illusion, can never enter. This is the pro-
are given in Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. In this way ' cess of concentration.
become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this The transcendentalist should also be free from desires and feel-
land.” (Cc. Madhya 7.128) ings of possessiveness. People are materially diseased because
a they desire things and want to possess them. We desire that which
yogi yunjita satatam — we do not have, and we lament for that which we have lost.
atmanam rahasi sthitah Brahma-bhiitah prasannatma. One who is actually God conscious
ekaki yata-cittatma ; does not desire material possessions. He has only one desire—to
nirasir aparigrahah serve Krsna. It is not possible to give up desire, but it is possible to
. oo purify our desires. It is the nature of the living entity to have some
“‘A transcendentalist should always try to concentrate his mind on desire, but in the conditioned state, one’s desire is contaminated.
the Supreme Self; he should live alone in a secluded place and Conditioned, one thinks, ‘I desire to satisfy my senses by ma-
should always carefully control his mind. He should be free from terial possession.”’ Purified desire is desire for Krsna, and if we
desires and feelings of possessiveness.” (Bg.6.10) desire Krsna, desires for material possessions will automatically
In this chapter, in which the Lord is teaching the principles of vanish.
the yoga system, He here points out that a transcendentalist
should always try to concentrate his mind on the Supreme Self. Sucau dese pratisthdpya
‘The Supreme Self’ refers to Krsna, the Supreme Lord. As ex- sthiram Gsanam dtmanah
plained before (nityo nitydnam cetanas cetananam), God is the naty-ucchritam nati-nicam
supreme eternal, the supreme living entity, the Supreme Self. The caildjina-kusottaram
purpose of the entire yoga system is to concentrate the mind on
this Supreme Self. We are not the Supreme Self. That should be tatraikdgram manah krtva
understood. The Supreme Self is God. This is dvaita-vada— yata-cittendriya-kriyah
duality. Duality means that God is different from me. He is upavisydsane yufjyad —
supreme, and I am subordinate. He is great, and I am small. He is yogam dtma-visuddhaye
infinite, and I am infinitesimal. This is the relationship between
ourselves and God as we should understand it. Because we are in- “To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should
finitesimal, we should concentrate our mind on the infinite lay kusa grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and
Supreme Self. In order to do this, we should live alone, and “‘liv- a soft cloth. The seat should neither be too high nor too low and

