There are different kinds of transcendentalists who are called yogīs-haṭha-yogīs, jñāna-yogīs, dhyāna-yogīs,and bhakti-yogīs-and all of them are eligible to be transferred to the spiritual world. The word yoga means "to link up," and the yoga systems are meant to enable us to link with the transcendental world. As mentioned in the previous chapter, originally we are all connected to the Supreme Lord, but now we have been affected by material contamination. The process is that we have to return to the spiritual world, and that process of linking up is called yoga. Another meaning of the word yoga is "plus." At the present moment we are minus God, or minus the Supreme. When we add Kṛṣṇa-or God-to our lives, this human form of life becomes perfect.
At the time of death we have to finish that process of perfection. During our lifetime we have to practice the method of approaching that perfection so that at the time of death, when we have to give up this material body, that perfection can be realized.
prayāṇa-kāle manasācalena
bhaktyā yukto yoga-balena caiva
bhruvor madhye prāṇam āveśya samyak
sa taṁ paraṁ puruṣam upaiti divyam
Just as a student studies a subject for four or five years and then takes his examination and receives a degree, similarly, with the subject of life, if we practice during our lives for the examination at the time of death, and if we pass the examination, we are transferred to the spiritual world. Our whole life is examined at the time of death.
yaṁ yaṁ vāpi smaran bhāvaṁ
tyajaty ante kalevaram
taṁ tam evaiti kaunteya
sadā tad-bhāva-bhāvitaḥ
There is a Bengali proverb that says that whatever one does for perfection will be tested at the time of his death. InBhagavad-gītā Kṛṣṇa describes what one should do when giving up the body. For the dhyāna-yogī (meditator) Śrī Kṛṣṇa speaks the following verses:
yad akṣaraṁ veda-vido vadanti
viśanti yad yatayo vīta-rāgāḥ
yad icchanto brahmacaryaṁ caranti
tat te padaṁ saṅgraheṇa pravakṣye
sarva-dvārāṇi saṁyamya
mano hṛdi nirudhya ca
mūrdhny ādhāyātmanaḥ prāṇam
āsthito yoga-dhāraṇām
In the yoga system this process is calledpratyāhāra, which means "just the opposite." Although during life the eyes are engaged in seeing worldly beauty, at death one has to retract the senses from their objects and see the beauty within. Similarly, the ears are accustomed to hearing so many sounds in the world, but at the moment of death one has to hear the transcendental oṁkāra from within.
oṁ ity ekākṣaraṁ brahma
vyāharan mām anusmaran
yaḥ prayāti tyajan dehaṁ
sa yāti paramāṁ gatim
In this way, all the senses have to be stopped in their external activities and concentrated on the form of viṣṇu-mūrti,the form of God. The mind is very turbulent, but it has to be fixed on the Lord in the heart. When the mind is fixed within the heart and the life air is transferred to the top of the head, one can attain perfection of yoga.
At this point the yogī determines where he is to go. In the material universe there are innumerable planets, and beyond this universe there is the spiritual universe. The yogīs have information of these places from Vedic literatures. Just as one going to America can get some idea what the country is like by reading books, one can also have knowledge of the spiritual planets by reading Vedic literatures. Theyogī knows all these descriptions, and he can transfer himself to any planet he likes, without the help of spaceships. Space travel by mechanical means is not the accepted process for elevation to other planets. Perhaps with a great deal of time, effort, and money a few men may be able to reach other planets by material means-spaceships, space suits, etc.-but this is a very cumbersome and impractical method. In any case, it is not possible to go beyond the material universe by mechanical means.
