Contact with God - The Ultimate Goal of Yoga
The fundamental problem of material existence is a profound sense of disconnection. Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that the living entities are currently suffering because they are out of contact with their supreme source, the Personality of Godhead. The entire Vedic system, particularly the science of yoga, is designed specifically to cure this condition of viyoga (disconnection) and re-establish the soul's eternal, blissful contact with the Supreme Lord.
The Root of Unhappiness and the Goal of Yoga
The widespread dissatisfaction found in the material world is not due to a lack of technological or economic advancement, but a lack of spiritual connection. Śrīla Prabhupāda emphasizes that the true, singular aim of any yoga practice is to bridge this gap and contact the Supreme.
- We are being out of contact with God; we are not very happy. The whole world is unhappy.
- We are now viyoga, without any contact with the Supreme Lord, Personality of Godhead, material conditioned life; therefore we have to make connection with Him. That is called yoga.
- To contact the Supreme, the Supersoul, the Supreme Lord. That is the aim and object of yoga process.
- The ultimate goal of yoga is to come in contact with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Unless this point is achieved, one's so-called yoga practice is simply labor without any benefit.
Absolute Nature of Divine Contact
Contacting God does not require traveling to a distant physical location. Because the Absolute Truth is non-different from His energies, Śrīla Prabhupāda explains that one can immediately contact the Lord simply by associating with His name, His form, His pastimes, or His authorized representatives.
- If you associate with any one of them, either God personally or with His name or with His form or with His quality or with His paraphernalia, immediately you become in contact with God. This is the science.
- Chanting of Hare Krsna mantra means to come in contact with the Supreme Lord and increase my love for Him. That is the point.
- The Lord is absolute in all respects, and thus there is no difference between Him and the subject matter heard about Him. Therefore, hearing about Him means immediate contact with Him by the process of vibration of the transcendental sound.
- Among all the living entities wandering throughout the universe, one who is most fortunate comes in contact with a representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and thus gets the opportunity to execute devotional service.
Purifying Power of the Supreme
When a conditioned soul successfully contacts the Supreme Lord, the effects are immediate and transformative. Śrīla Prabhupāda notes that this divine contact acts as a supreme sterilizing agent, clearing away accumulated sins and converting mundane material dualities into pure spiritual energy.
- The Lord is never contaminated by sins; on the contrary, the sinful living entities become sterilized by contact with the Lord.
- By hearing the narration of the pastimes of the Lord, one contacts directly the Personality of Godhead, and, as explained before, by hearing about the Personality of Godhead, from within, all accumulated sins of the mundane creature are cleared.
- If he is in constant contact with the Supreme Lord by devotional service, the conditioned living entity also becomes freed from the infection of maya. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-gita: sa gunan samatityaitan (Bhagavad-Gita 14.26).
- Joy and sorrow, loss and gain, sin and piety, and honor and dishonor, are converted into spiritual energy by being brought into contact with the Supreme Lord.
The Perfection of Eternal Love
The ultimate result of this sustained contact is the awakening of profound, unalloyed love (prema). Śrīla Prabhupāda describes that in this highly elevated state, the devotee completely forgets all past material struggles and cannot bear to live even for a moment without being in direct contact with the Lord.
- In the material world, if one is successful after hard labor, he is very pleased. Similarly, the devotee forgets all his labors and austerities as soon as he contacts the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- When the complete plant takes shelter under the lotus feet of the Supreme Lord, one becomes fully absorbed in love of God; then he cannot live even for a moment without being in contact with the Supreme Lord.
- Even in animal kingdom. A lion also loves the cubs. The love is there. Prema, it is called prema. So therefore this loving affair is there also in God. And when we come in contact with God our dealings will be simply on the basis of love.
- One can attain direct contact with the Supreme Personality of Godhead in full Krsna consciousness and revive one's eternal relationship with Him as lover, as Supreme Soul, as son, as friend or as master.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the miseries and frustrations of the material world are fundamentally symptoms of the soul's lost contact with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As Śrīla Prabhupāda makes abundantly clear, the only viable solution to this pervasive unhappiness is the authentic process of yoga—specifically bhakti-yoga—which is entirely dedicated to re-establishing this vital link. Because the Lord is absolute, this contact is easily and immediately accessible to anyone who sincerely associates with His holy name, His transcendental form, or His pure devotees. When the soul makes this divine contact, the deep-rooted infections of material existence are sterilized, and the dualities of joy and sorrow are transformed into spiritual energy. Ultimately, by maintaining constant contact with Kṛṣṇa through loving devotional service, the living entity awakens its original spiritual power, permanently escaping the miseries of viyoga to relish eternal, blissful association with the Supreme Lord.
Dive Deeper into Śrīla Prabhupāda's Vani
Śrīla Prabhupāda lives within his instructions. This article is a summary of the profound truths found in the Vaniquotes category Contact with God. We invite you to visit this link to study the complete compilation and experience the teachings in their direct, verbatim form.