Yoga As Meditation on Krishna – Yogis go to meditate in solitude

In India there are sacred places where Yogis 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 of chanting the Hare krishna mantra: Hare krishna, Hare krishna, krishna krishna, Hare Hare/Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare—is concerned, the more people present, the better. When Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu was performing kīrtana in India some five hundred years ago, He organized in each group sixteen people to lead the chanting, and thousands of people chanted with them. This participation in kīrtana, in the public chanting of the names and glories of God, is very possible and is actually easy in this age; but as far as the meditational process of yoga is concerned, that is very difficult. It is specifically stated in Bhagavad-gītā that to perform meditational yoga one should go to a secluded and holy place. In other words, it is necessary to leave home. In this age of overpopulation it is not always possible to find a secluded place, but this is not necessary in bhakti-yoga.

In the bhakti-yoga system there are nine different processes: hearing,chanting, remembering, serving, worshiping the Deity in the temple, praying, carrying out orders, serving krishna as friend and sacrificing for Him. Out of these, śravaṇaṁ kīrtanam, hearing and chanting, are considered the most important. At a public kīrtana one person can chant Hare krishna, Hare krishna, krishna krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, while a group listens, and at the end of the mantra, the group can respond, and in this way there is a reciprocation of hearing and chanting. This can easily be performed in one’s own home, with a small group of friends or with many people in a large public place. One may attempt to practice meditational yoga in a large city or in a society, but one must understand that this is one’s own concoction and is not the method recommended in Bhagavad-gītā.