Generally most of us are under the influence and control of our mind and senses. We totally follow the dictates and demands of the mind and the body. We are servants of the senses. They demand and we simply follow out their orders.
A few souls may be able to defer sense gratification, or delay reward for a while, perhaps due to a goal in the future that is more important than the immediate demands. For example we may fast from food in order to lose weight. Or we may want to save money for the future and not spend it now.
However, even those sacrifices in the present are made for the pleasure of our future mind and body. In adulthood the brain is capable of thinking ahead and controlling the desires and senses in order to create a better future for ourselves.
But who among us can say that they have been able to identify not as this body and mind but as a transcendent self? Who can say that they have risen above bodily identification altogether? Yet that is precisely what the path of transcendence is all about. It is about remembering oneself as the person who existed before this body and mind were created.
This is the focus of the yogi. A yogi is one who sees themselves through the eyes of shastra (the sacred texts or scriptures). By understanding the message of these sacred texts on consciousness, and practicing the art of yoga, the yogi is able to remember their true identity.
And when you remember that you have always existed and are eternal and will continue after the death of this body, then naturally you think about the real self. That is real long term thinking. Then there is less reason to follow the dictates of the mind and senses for immediate gratification and a willingness to do what is best for the real self on the real long term journey of many lifetimes.
Only by identifying as an eternal soul, will one be able to transcend the dictates of the senses. This capacity is very rare, yet it facilitates long term thinking. It empowers the yogi to place the demands of the senses as secondary to the demands of the self as consciousness.
It allows one to see through the temporary allures of the body and thus become a master of the senses, not their servant. The choice is ours and, of course, the balance is important. One needs to keep body and soul together to perform yoga and be of greater service. Yet any indulgence that obstructs the true goal of the real self will be avoided.
This is the meaning of applying a transcendental perspective to life. it depends on how you identity. Only a fool identifies with the clothing they wear and thinks themselves to be a doctor simply because they wear the white coat, or a pilot because they have the uniform.
Similarly, from the transcendent perspective, we may feel this body to be the self, but it is merely a temporary covering for the eternal consciousness who animates the body. Therefore, we no longer take the demands of the body to be primary. They are secondary to the desires of consciousness which aims to leave this body and continue when it naturally occurs that the body ends.
The yogi has a longer timeline for retirement in that sense. And so the long term plans for eternal liberation may be more important then the short term plans for satisfaction of the senses. This can't be faked, of course. It comes from realization and learned knowledge from the ancient texts on consciousness.
Bhagavad Gita ch 6:25-26
शनै: शनैरुपरमेद्बुद्ध्या धृतिगृहीतया । आत्मसंस्थं मन: कृत्वा न किञ्चिदपि चिन्तयेत् ॥ २५ ॥
यतो यतो निश्चलति मनश्चञ्चलमस्थिरम् । ततस्ततो नियम्यैतदात्मन्येव वशं नयेत् ॥ २६ ॥
śanaiḥ śanair uparamed buddhyā dhṛti-gṛhītayā ātma-saṁsthaṁ manaḥ kṛtvā na kiñcid api cintayet yato yato niścalati manaś cañcalam asthiram tatas tato niyamyaitad ātmany eva vaśaṁ nayet
śanaiḥ—gradually; śanaiḥ—step by step; uparamet—hesitated; buddhyā—by intelligence; dhṛti-gṛhītayā—carrying the conviction; ātma-saṁstham—placed in transcendence; manaḥ—mind; kṛtvā—doing so; na—nothing; kiñcit—anything else; api—even; cintayet—be thinking of yataḥ—whatever; yataḥ—wherever; niścalati—verily agitated; manaḥ—the mind; cañcalam—flickering; asthiram—unsteady; tataḥ—from there; tataḥ—and thereafter; niyamya—regulating; etat—this; ātmani—in the self; eva—certainly; vaśam—control; nayet—must bring in
TRANSLATION Gradually, step by step, with full conviction, one should become situated in trance by means of intelligence, and thus the mind should be fixed on the Self alone and should think of nothing else. From whatever and wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the Self.
PURPORT By proper conviction and intelligence one should gradually cease sense activities. This is called pratyāhāra. The mind, being controlled by conviction, meditation, and cessation of the senses, should be situated in trance, or samādhi. At that time there is no longer any danger of becoming engaged in the material conception of life. In other words, although one is involved with matter as long as the material body exists, one should not think about sense gratification. One should think of no pleasure aside from the pleasure of the Supreme Self. This state is easily attained by directly practicing Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The nature of the mind is flickering and unsteady. But a self-realized yogī has to control the mind; the mind should not control him. One who controls the mind (and therefore the senses as well) is called gosvāmī, or svāmī, and one who is controlled by the mind is called godāsa, or the servant of the senses. A gosvāmī knows the standard of sense happiness. In transcendental sense happiness, the senses are engaged in the service of Hṛṣīkeśa or the supreme owner of the senses—Kṛṣṇa. Serving Kṛṣṇa with purified senses is called Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is the way of bringing the senses under full control. What is more, that is the highest perfection of yoga practice.
Reference: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translation and commentary by Swami A. C. Bhaktivedanta, original Macmillan 1972 edition. Freely available at www.prabhupadabooks.com.
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