Contributed by Shukadeva Dasa, Bangalore

Actual meditation in yoga aims at seeing the four-armed Vishnu murti, which is the form of the Lord within the heart. That is real meditation. Now rascals have manufactured other methods they call meditation, but these are not actually meditation. The senses are very restless, going this way and that way with the mind, but by the ashtanga-yoga system, which regulates one's sitting posture, one's breath, and so on, one can control the senses and concentrate the mind on the form of Vishnu. This concentration is called samadhi, and it is the real goal of yoga. Thus the ashtanga -yoga system aims at coming to the point of smaranam, or remembering theSupreme Lord.