48 THE PATH OF PERFECTION

This is the sankhya-yoga system, as first practiced by Lord
Kapiladeva, an incarnation of God. By sitting straight, staring
Steadily at the tip of one’s nose, subduing one’s mind, and ab-
staining from sex, one may be able to concentrate the mind on the
visnu-murti Situated within the heart. When we refer to the Visnu
form, or visnu-murti, we refer to Sri Krsna.

In this Krsna consciousness movement we are meditating
directly on Sri Krsna. This is a process of practical meditation. The
members of this movement are concentrating their minds on
Krsna, regardless of their particular occupation. One may be work-
ing in the garden and digging in the earth, but he is thinking, ‘‘I
am cultivating beautiful roses to offer to Krsna.’’ One may be
cooking in the kitchen, but he is always thinking, **I am preparing
palatable food to be offered to Krsna.’ Similarly, chanting and
dancing in the temple are forms of meditating on Krsna. Thus the
boys and girls in this Society for Krsna consciousness are perfect
yogis because they are meditating on Krsna twenty-four hours a
day. We are teaching the perfect yoga system, not according to our
personal whims but according to the authority of Bhagavad-gitd.
Nothing is concocted or manufactured. The verses of Bhagavada-
gitd are there for all to see. The activities of the bhakti-yogis in this
movement are so molded that the practitioners cannot help but
think of Krsna at all times. “‘Meditate upon Me within the heart,
and make Me the ultimate goal of life,”’ Sti Krsna says. This is the
perfect yoga system, and one who practices it prepares himself to
be transferred to Krsnaloka.

yunjann evam sadatmanam
yogi niyata-manasah

Santim nirvana-paramam
mat-samstham adhigacchati

‘‘Thus practicing control of the body, mind, and activities, the
mystic transcendentalist attains to the kingdom of God [or the
abode of Krsna] by cessation of material existence.”’ (Bg. 6.15)
It is stated in Sanskrit in this verse, santim nirvana-paramam;
that is, one attains peace through nirvana-paramam, or the cessa-

Moderation in Yoga 49

tion of material activities. Nirvana does not refer to void, but to
putting an end to materialistic activities. Unless one puts an end to
them, there is no question of peace. When Hiranyakasipu asked
his five-year-old son Prahlada Maharaja, ‘‘My dear boy, what is
the best thing you have thus far learned?”’ Prahlada immediately
replied, tat sadhu manye ’sura-varya dehinam sada samudvigna-
dhiyam asad-grahat: ‘‘My dear father, O greatest of the demons,
materialistic people are always full of anxiety because they have
accepted as real that which is nonpermanent.”’ The word asad-
grahat is important because it indicates that materialists are always
hankering to capture or possess something that is nonpermanent.
History affords us many examples. Mr. Kennedy was a very rich
man who wanted to become President, and he spent a great deal
of money to attain that elevated position. Yet although he had a
nice wife, children, and the presidency, everything was finished
within a second. In the material world, people are always trying to
capture something that is nonpermanent. Unfortunately, people
do not come to their senses and realize, ‘‘l am permanent.
I am spirit soul. Why am I hankering after something that is
nonpermanent?”

We are always busy acquiring comforts for this body without
considering that today, tomorrow, or in a hundred years this body
will be finished. As far as the real ‘‘I’’ is concerned, ‘‘I am spirit
soul. I have no birth. I have no death. What, then, is my proper
function?’’ When we act on the material platform, we are engaged
in bodily functions; therefore Prahlada Maharaja says that people
are anxious because all their activities are targeted to capturing
and possessing something nonpermanent. All living entities—
men, beasts, birds, or whatever—are always full of anxiety, and
this is the material disease. If we are always full of anxiety, how
can we attain peace? People may live in a very nice house, but out
front they place signs saying, ‘‘Beware of Dog,” or ‘‘No
Trespassers.’” This means that although they are living comfort-
ably, they are anxious that someone will come and molest them.
Sitting in an office and earning a very good salary, a man is always
thinking, ‘‘Oh, I hope I don’t lose this position.” The American
nation is very rich, but because of this, it has to maintain a great

i
