The Perfection of Yoga

  1. Yoga as Rejected by Arjunaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Perfection of Yoga 1: Yoga as Rejected by Arjuna

    There have been many yoga systems popularized in the Western world, especially in this century, but none of them have actually taught the perfection of yoga.
  2. Yoga as Work in Devotionplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Perfection of Yoga 2: Yoga as Work in Devotion

    We have heard the names of so many different yogas and yogīs, but in Bhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa says that the actual yogī is he who has surrendered himself "fully unto Me."
  3. Yoga as Meditation on Kṛṣṇaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Perfection of Yoga 3: Yoga as Meditation on Kṛṣṇa

    Yoga as Meditation on Kṛṣṇa

    In India there are sacred places where yogīs go to meditate in solitude, as prescribed in Bhagavad-gītā. Traditionally, yoga cannot be executed in a public place, but insofar as kīrtana-mantra-yoga, or the yoga
  4. Yoga as Body and Mind Controlplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Perfection of Yoga 4: Yoga as Body and Mind Control

    Yoga as Body and Mind Control

    Throughout Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa was encouraging Arjuna to fight, for he was a warrior, and fighting was his duty. Although Kṛṣṇa delineates the meditational yoga system in the Sixth Chapter, He does not stress it or encourage Arjuna to pursue it as his path. Kṛṣṇa admits that this meditational process is very difficult:
  5. Yoga as Freedom from Duality and Designationplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Perfection of Yoga 5: Yoga as Freedom from Duality and Designation

    Yoga as Freedom from Duality and Designation

    This material world is a world of duality---at one moment we are subjected to the heat of the summer season and at the next moment the cold of winter. Or at one moment we’re happy and at the next moment distressed. At one moment honored, at the next dishonored. In the material world of duality, it is impossible to understand one thing without understanding its opposite. It is not possible to understand what honor is unless I understand dishonor. Simi…
  6. The Fate of the Unsuccessful Yogīplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Perfection of Yoga 6: The Fate of the Unsuccessful Yogī

    The Fate of the Unsuccessful Yogī

    It is not that Bhagavad-gītā rejects the meditational yoga process; it recognizes it as a bona fide method, but it further indicates that it is not possible in this age. Thus the subject in the Sixth Chapter of
  7. Yoga as Reestablishing Relations with Kṛṣṇaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Perfection of Yoga 7: Yoga as Reestablishing Relations with Kṛṣṇa

    Yoga as Reestablishing Relations with Kṛṣṇa

    We have heard many times of the yoga system. The yoga system is approved by Bhagavad-gītā, but the yoga system in Bhagavad-gītā is especially meant for purification. The aim is threefold: to control the senses, to purify activities and to link oneself to Kṛṣṇa in a reciprocal relationship.
  8. The Perfection of Yogaplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Perfection of Yoga 8: The Perfection of Yoga

    The Perfection of Yoga

    It is a fact, therefore, that in the progress of the living entity toward the perfection of yoga, birth in a family of yogīs or devotees is a great boon, for such a birth gives one special impetus.

    " prayatnād yatamānas tu