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54 THE PATH OF PERFECTION Moderation in Yoga 55
but everywhere: goloka eva nivasaty akhilatma-bhitah. He is like _ condition, we are disconnected from God. Actually, the word dis-
the sun, which is millions of miles away and yet is still present connected is not precise, because the connection is always there.
within this room. God is always supplying all our necessities. Since nothing can exist
In conclusion, the person who works in Krsna consciousness is without Krsna, we cannot be disconnected from Him. Rather, it is
the perfect yogi, because his mind is always absorbed in Krsna’s better to say that we have forgotten that we are connected to
activities. Sa vai manah krsna-padaravindayoh. In the Vedas we Krsna. Because of this forgetfulness, we have entered the criminal
also learn, tam eva viditvati mrtyum eti: ‘One can overcome the department of the universe. The government still takes care of its
path of birth and death only by understanding the Supreme Per- criminals, but they are legally disconnected from the civilian state.
sonality of Godhead, Krsna.” Thus perfection of yoga is the at- Our disconnection is a result of our engaging in so many nonsensi-
tainment of freedom from material existence and not some cal activities instead of utilizing our senses in the performance of
magical jugglery or gymnastic feat to befool innocent people. our Krsna conscious duties.
In this system of yoga, moderation is required; therefore it is Instead of thinking, ‘tI am the eternal servant of God, or
stated that we should not eat too much or too little, sleep too Krsna,”” we are thinking, ‘tI am the servant of my society, my
much or too little, or work too much or too little. All these ac- country, my husband, my wife, my dog, or whatever.”’ This is
tivities are there because we have to execute the yoga system with called forgetfulness. How has this come about? All these miscon-
this material body. In other words, we have to make the best use ceptions have arisen due to this body. Because I was born in
of a bad bargain. The material body is a bad bargain in the sense America, I am thinking that I am an American. Each society
that it is the source of all miseries. The spirit soul does not ex- teaches its citizens to think in this way. Because I am thinking that
perience misery, and the normal condition of the living entity is Iam an American, the American government can tell me, ‘‘Come
his healthy, spiritual life. Misery and disease occur due to material and fight. Give your life for your country.” This is alldue tothe .
contamination, disease, infection. So in a sense, material exis- bodily conception, therefore an intelligent person should know
tence is a diseased condition of the soul. And what is that disease? that he is suffering miseries due to his body and that he should not
. The answer is not a great mystery. The disease is this body. This act in such a way that he will continue to be imprisoned within a

body is actually not meant for me. It may be ‘‘my”’ body, but it is a material body birth after birth. According to Padma Purana, there
symptom of my diseased condition. In any case, I should identify are 8,400,000 species of life, and all are but different forms of con-

with this body no more than I should identify with my clothes. In tamination—whether one has an American body, an Indian body,
this world, we are all differently dressed. We are dressed as red a dog’s body, a hog’s body, or whatever. Therefore the first in-

men, brown men, white men, black men, yellow men, etc., or as struction in yoga is, ‘‘I am not this body.”

Indians, Americans, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, etc. All these Attaining liberation from the contamination of the material
designations are not symptomatic of our actual position but of our body is the first teaching of Bhagavad-gita. In the Second Chapter,
diseased condition. The yoga system is meant to cure this disease after Arjuna told Sri Krsna, ‘‘I shall not fight,’ the Lord said,

by connecting us again with the Supreme. ‘**While speaking learned words, you are mourning for what is not

We are meant to be connected with the Supreme just as our worthy of grief. Those who are wise lament neither for the living
hand is meant to be connected to our body. We are part and parcel nor the dead.” (Bg. 2.11) In other words, Arjuna was thinking on
of the Supreme, just as the hand is part and parcel of the body. the bodily platform. He wanted to leave the battlefield because he
When the hand is severed from the body, it is valueless, but when did not want to fight with his relatives. All his conceptions were
it is joined to the body, it is invaluable. Similarly, in this material within the bodily atmosphere; therefore after Arjuna accepted Sri

:
