Bhagavatam Teleconference

[suchandra]

Looks that people are realy satisfied with this new service.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008 Accept a Spiritual Master

By Rita

This Bhagavatam teleconference is one of the most enlightening
experiences of my life. I am grateful to Jaya Jagannatha dasa, his Guru Maharaj Radhanath Swami, and all the previous acharyas.

The goal of Gaudiya Vaishnavas is to establish Sri Krsna, the Supreme
Personality of Godhead, in the heart. Krsna tells us explicitly how to
achieve this goal in SB 1.1.2. "As soon as one attentively and
submissively hears the message of the Bhagavatam, by this culture of knowledge the Supreme Lord is established within his heart."





From this verse, we can understand that there are at least three
reasons why devotees should not try to approach Sri Krsna directly, but
should instead approach Krsna through a bona fide spiritual master. Those
three reasons are: (1) humility; (2) lack of qualification; and (3)
respect for the parampara system. Each of these three reasons are
discussed below.

1. Humility.

The "culture of knowledge" is described in the Bhaktivedanta purport to
Sri Isopanisad mantra 10, and in BG 13.8-12. The first quality of the
culture of knowledge is "humility." Therefore, one can not approach
Krsna unless he is humble.

Humility means not desiring to receive honor from others, and learning
to give proper respect to others. Those people who speak the message
of the Bhagavatam are most worthy of our respect. It is only through
their mercy that we may be able to achieve the highest perfection of life
-- establishing Krsna in the heart. We honor those speakers by
accepting them as "spiritual masters."

Accepting a "master" means to become submissive, and to accept the
master's word as law. This is in contrast to friends. Friends are equals.
With friends, each person speaks his own thoughts, and there never
needs to be any conclusion or agreement at the end of a conversation.

We can not reach spiritual perfection by having friends. Instead, we
must accept a bona fide spiritual master. In BG 4.3, Krsna tells
Arjuna, "That very ancient science of the relationship with the Supreme is
told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My friend and can therefore understand the transcendental mystery of this science."
Arjuna is qualified to cultivate knowledge because of his submissive
attitude -- not because of his friendly disposition. In the purport to SB
1.2.21, Srila Prabhupada writes that "Perfect knowledge is called
parampara, or deductive knowledge coming down from the authority [spiritual master] to the submissive aural receiver who is bona fide by service and surrender."

In order to approach Sr Krsna, we must cultivate knowledge. Knowledge
includes humility. Humility is manifested by submission to the spiritual master. Therefore, devotees should not try to approach Sri Krsna directly, but should instead approach Krsna through a bona fide spiritual master.

2. Lack of qualification.

Spiritual perfection means to "gain[] positive scientific knowledge of
the Personality of Godhead." SB 1.2.20. In other words, spiritual
perfection means to see or "realize" Krsna directly, with our own
spiritual eyes. Until we realize Krsna, we can see him only indirectly through
the scriptures or through the eyes of others [spiritual master].

We realize Krsna directly by "rendering devotional service." SB
1.2.12. The word "rendering" means that there are two aspects of devotional service -- offer and acceptance. Therefore, it is not merely enough that a devotee offer service to Krsna. The service must also be accepted by Krsna.

In the Nectar of Devotion, Srila Prabhupada explains the process of
rendering service to Krsna. Prabhupada describes the process of deity
worship on page 78 of Chapter 9, "Further Consideration of Devotional
Principles." Prabhupada writes that "Actually, in India the temples are
just like royal palaces. They are not ordinary buildings, because the
worship of Krsna should be performed in just the way that a king is
worshiped in his palace." In other words, deity worship must be carried out
with the opulence of Dwaraka.

Thus, Prabhupada describes the standard for deity worship. A devotee
can worship Krsna's deity form ONLY if he can render opulent service.
Therefore, when we offer food ("bhoga"), flowers, or songs to Krsna, the
offering must be worthy of a king. Otherwise, Krsna will not accept
the offering.

What can a devotee do if he is not qualified to make opulent offerings
worthy of a king? The answer is that the devotee should not offer
anything directly to Krsna, but should instead make the offering through
the spiritual master. Through the potency of the spiritual master
and the parampara (disciplic succession), the offering will be "fixed up"
until it is worthy of a king, and therefore acceptable to Krsna.

For example, assume that we desire to offer a cooked meal to Krsna.
The meal consists only of rice, vegetables, lentils, juice, and dessert.
Furthermore, we might not be an expert chef -- all of these preparations may be simple and the ingredients might be from an average grocery
store.

If we offer these foods to Krsna directly, he will not accept it. If
we offer these foods through the bona fide spiritual master, however,
our offering might be made acceptable.

Here's how it works. The offering is made to the spiritual master. We
plead with the spiritual master, "Please show me your mercy and accept
this miserable offering. I am so fallen that I can not offer anything
better. Please, please accept these foods so that I have the
possibility of doing better in the future. My entire life depends on you."

If the spiritual master determines that the disciple is sincere, he
will reveal his mercy by accepting the offering. Then, he inspects the
offering and fixes up some of the defects, and adds another preparation
or two. Then, he offers the food to his spiritual master. The
spiritual grandfather might accept the food or reject it. If he accepts it,
then the grandfather fixes up a few more defects, and adds some more
preparations.

This process continues until the offering reaches Srimati Radharani.
Srimati Radharani knows Krsna perfectly, so she fixes the offering so
that it is perfectly suited for Krsna's taste. Then, she makes the
offering directly to Krsna. Krsna will not reject anything offered by
Radharani. Therefore, if the unqualified devotee makes the offering through
the spiritual master and through Radharani, the devotee is guaranteed
success.

If, however, the unqualified devotee makes an offering directly to
Krsna, then the offering will not be accepted. Therefore, the food will
not be enjoyed by Krsna, but will be enjoyed only by the devotee. In
this case, the devotee's spiritual life will be ruined. "The devotees of
the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food
which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for
personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin." BG 3.13. Although this verse
implies that only the offer is required, in fact both offer and
acceptance are required.

Offerings made by an unqualified devotee directly to Krsna will be
rejected. Therefore, devotees should not try to approach Sri Krsna
directly, but should instead approach Krsna through a bona fide spiritual
master.

3. Respect for the parampara system

full article: http://beautifulbhagavatas.blogspot.com/