krsna

Once a Guru handed over some grains of wheat to two of His disciples and told them,

'Preserve these grains carefully until I return'.

On His return after a year, the Guru approached the first disciple and asked him,

'Have you preserved the wheat carefully ?'

Replying in the affirmative the disciple brought forth the container with the wheat grains and showed it to the Guru saying,

'The wheat You had given me is just as it was'.

Then the Guru approached the second disciple and asked him the same question. The disciple then took the Guru to a nearby field. The Guru was overjoyed seeing a field flourishing with the wheat crop everywhere.

In the same way, one should spread the Holy Name and spiritual knowledge (divya-jnana) imparted to one by the Guru, to others.

<CENTER>1. Krsna

2. Brahma

3. Narada

4. Vyasa

5. Madhva

6. Padmanabha

7. Nrhari

8. Madhava

9. Aksobhya

10. Jaya Tirtha

11. Jnanasindhu

12. Dayanidhi

13. Vidyanidhi

14. Rajendra

15. Jayadharma

16. Purusottama

17. Brahmanya Tirtha

18. Vyasa Tirtha

19. Laksmipati

20. Madhavendra Puri

21. Isvara Puri, (Nityananda, Advaita)

22. Lord Caitanya

23. Rupa, (Svarupa, Sanatana)

24. Raghunatha, Jiva

25. Krsnadasa

26. Narottama

27. Visvanatha

28. (Baladeva) Jagannatha

29. Bhaktivinoda

30. Gaurakisora

31. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura

32. Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada" </CENTER>

Devotee: Jaya Sri Guru.

Prabhupada: Have kirtana.

Devotees: All glories to Srila Prabhupada. (devotees offer obeisances) :namaskar:

Prabhupada: Vibration of this mantra will purify. Even if we do not understand the meaning, try to vibrate the mantra.

(end)

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.3.1-4 -- Los Angeles, May 24, 1972

Just as by digging the ground with a shovel (spade) one obtains water, so by serving a bona-fide spiritual master the serious disciple attains realized knowledge.( vijana)

Manu-smrti 2.218

Doomed without a guru? Why? Sri Guru is always there in your heart, and when you are redy, He will take you to His representative.

 

The same applies to being with a guru. Do not be worried that your chosen guru is less than worthy. Sri Guru is still there, watching both of you. When the time comes to move on - Sri Guru will guide you to the next level.

 

Sri Guru is always with you. Just look in your heart and listen to His voice.[/quote]

 

 

 

 

 

Do you really need help? If so, Krsna will send Guru to help you without a doubt!

 

 

 

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INSIDE confirmed OUTSIDE

 

 

 

 

Whatever you are instructed by the Caitya Guru(Paramatma) internally may be confirmed by the instructor (siksa) or initiator (diksa) externally

 

 

 

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"Regarding your question of Paramatma: you are fortunate enough for your sincere service, Krishna as Paramatma Who is sitting within your heart is now dictating. Krishna is so kind that He wants to help us as Spiritual Master in two ways. He helps us from within as Caitya Guru and He expands Himself externally as Siksa Guru (as instructor) and diksa Guru (initiator). So the principle is that whatever you are instructed by the Caitya Guru internally may be confirmed by the instructor or initiator externally. Then your progress will be complete."

 

Srila Prabhupada Letter to Sivananda, 05-21-69

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"Regarding your question of Paramatma: you are fortunate enough for your sincere service, Krishna as Paramatma Who is sitting within your heart is now dictating. Krishna is so kind that He wants to help us as Spiritual Master in two ways. He helps us from within as Caitya Guru and He expands Himself externally as Siksa Guru (as instructor) and diksa Guru (initiator). So the principle is that whatever you are instructed by the Caitya Guru internally may be confirmed by the instructor or initiator externally. Then your progress will be complete."

Srila Prabhupada Letter to Sivananda, 05-21-69

<CENTER style="PADDING-RIGHT: 3ex; PADDING-LEFT: 3ex"></CENTER><CENTER style="PADDING-RIGHT: 3ex; PADDING-LEFT: 3ex"> </CENTER><CENTER style="PADDING-RIGHT: 3ex; PADDING-LEFT: 3ex">First thing is knowledge</CENTER>

"Well initiation or no initiation, first thing is knowledge... knowledge. Initiation is formality. Just like you go to a school for knowledge, and admission is formality. That is not very important thing."

Srila Prabhupada Press Interview, 10-16-76, Chandigarh

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"The initiating spiritual master (diksa-guru) shows his cause-less mercy by giving his disciples instructions in chanting the mantra. By so doing, he points the disciples in the direction of the truths pertaining to the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna. I consider the numerous instructing spiritual masters (siksa-gurus) to be more important, for they show more mercy by training the sadhakas in all the essential aspects of sadhana-bhakti."

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur, Kalyana-kalpataru

<CENTER style="PADDING-RIGHT: 3ex; PADDING-LEFT: 3ex"></CENTER><CENTER style="PADDING-RIGHT: 3ex; PADDING-LEFT: 3ex"> </CENTER><CENTER style="PADDING-RIGHT: 3ex; PADDING-LEFT: 3ex">Siksa and diksa-guru</CENTER>

"Prabhupada: "Then so siksa and diksa-guru... A siksa-guru who instructs against the instruction of spiritual, he is not a siksa guru. He is a demon. Siksa-guru, diksa-guru means... Sometimes a diksa-guru is not present always. Therefore one can take learning, instruction, from an advanced devotee. That is called the siksa-guru. Siksa-guru does not mean he is speaking something against the teachings of the diksa-guru/Acarya. He is not a siksa-guru. He is a rascal."

Srila Prabhupada Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 17:1-3, 07-04-74, Honolulu

<CENTER style="PADDING-RIGHT: 3ex; PADDING-LEFT: 3ex"></CENTER><CENTER style="PADDING-RIGHT: 3ex; PADDING-LEFT: 3ex"> </CENTER><CENTER style="PADDING-RIGHT: 3ex; PADDING-LEFT: 3ex">It is imperative that a serious person accept a bona fide spiritual master in terms of the sastric injunctions</CENTER>

"If one develops love for Krsna by Krsna conscious activities, one can know the Supreme Absolute Truth, but he who tries to understand God simply by logical arguments will not succeed, nor will he get a taste for unalloyed devotion. The secret is that one must submissively listen to those who know perfectly the science of God, and one must begin the mode of service regulated by the preceptor. A devotee already attracted by the name, form, qualities, etc., of the Supreme Lord may be directed to his specific manner of devotional service; he need not waste time in approaching the Lord through logic. The expert spiritual master knows well how to engage his disciple's energy in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, and thus he engages a devotee in a specific devotional service according to his special tendency. A devotee must have only one initiating spiritual master because in the scriptures acceptance of more than one is always forbidden. There is no limit, however, to the number of instructing spiritual masters one may accept. Generally a spiritual master who constantly instructs a disciple in spiritual science becomes his initiating spiritual master later on.

One should always remember that a person who is reluctant to accept a spiritual master and be initiated is sure to be baffled in his endeavor to go back to Godhead. One who is not properly initiated may present himself as a great devotee, but in fact he is sure to encounter many stumbling blocks on his path of progress toward spiritual realization, with the result that he must continue his term of material existence without relief. Such a helpless person is compared to a ship without a rudder, for such a ship can never reach its destination. It is imperative, therefore, that one accept a spiritual master if he at all desires to gain the favor of the Lord. The service of the spiritual master is essential. If there is no chance to serve the spiritual master directly, a devotee should serve him by remembering his instructions. There is no difference between the spiritual master's instructions and the spiritual master himself. In his absence, therefore, his words of direction should be the pride of the disciple. If one thinks that he is above consulting anyone else, including a spiritual master, he is at once an offender at the lotus feet of the Lord. Such an offender can never go back to Godhead. It is imperative that a serious person accept a bona fide spiritual master in terms of the sastric injunctions. Sri Jiva Gosvami advises that one not accept a spiritual master in terms of hereditary or customary social and ecclesiastical conventions. One should simply try to find a genuinely qualified spiritual master for actual advancement in spiritual understanding."

Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi lila 1:35

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Prabhupada:

To glorify Srimati Radharani. So if Radharani's pleased, he'll be able to approach Krsna very easily. And that is the goal of our life. That is the goal of life. Vita-raga-bhaya-krodha man-maya mam upasritah [bg. 4.10]. Mam upasritah means you have to take... You cannot take shelter of Krsna directly. You have to take shelter of His potency.

Krsna is therefore trying to help us. Guru-krsna-krpaya paya bhakti-lata-bija

[Cc. Madhya 19.151]. He is within. He is called caitya-guru. If you are purified... Krsna...

Buddhi-yogam dadami tam. He'll directly speak you. And so long you cannot, then He sends His representative, the spiritual master, the guru. You can ask through the spiritual master about Krsna. Yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah **.

So in this way we have to be absorbed in the thought of Krsna. We have to take shelter of Krsna. Then... If you take shelter of Krsna, this jnana...

The same thing. Krsna will speak. Krsna is within you. Simply you have to take shelter of Krsna, always thinking of Krsna, chant

(end)

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Bhagavad-gita 4.10 -- Calcutta, September 23,

Guru is the mouthpiece of Krsna.

Guru speaks as Krsna wills him to speak.

Guru is the intelligent form-direction speaking personified.

Guru says, " The Buck Stops Here! "(At KRSNA's Lotus Feet!)

Devotee: Can you give some practical advice as far as chanting kirtan and japa?

Vishnujana Swami: Kirtan is to be executed constantly. Lord Chaitanya went through the streets and He invited everyone to join in the sankirtan movement, constantly chanting the holy names of the Lord. So arrangements should be made for the chanting of the holy names of the Lord to go on in every town and village, constantly. In every media -- radio, television, etc. -- chanting should be going on, along with nice dancing and feasting. That's the program.

Then, as far as japa is concerned, one has to chant personally for his advancement in Krishna Consciousness, 16 rounds daily on his beads. There are helps in chanting attentively. One of these helps obviously is simply the beads. The beads are given to you by the Spiritual Master, and you chant Hare Krishna, paying attention to each bead. And this vow of chanting attentively, on each bead, this vow impresses the Supreme Lord.

He sees that you are serious, and He gives you realization. It's that simple. You chant in regulation and vow; the Supreme Lord sees,

"Oh, he is serious. He's keeping his vow,"

and then He gives you realization.

If you don't chant attentively, if you don't, you're thinking of making the 10 kinds of offenses while chanting, then the Lord will see that you're desiring something else. After all, you can't fool Him -- He's living right there within your heart. He knows your desire before you even speak or think.

So, if while you're chanting you're committing offenses, thinking of sense gratification, being attached to material objects, then the Lord will know what you really want, and therefore you won't feel the bliss of chanting offenselessly. The Lord won't allow you to feel that, because you are desiring other things. See, the main thing is to realize that

"I'm dealing with Krishna."

That's the main thing.

That this chanting --

"I'm being with Krishna; therefore I have to be very careful."

Krishna can't be fooled like you can fool me. You can easily fool me, that you are chanting attentively, you see. That's easy to fool me because my senses are imperfect... [break] ...Actually, if you see me come in the room and you are thinking something nonsense and doing something nonsense, and immediately you feel ashamed, actually you should feel that way twenty-four hours a day, because Krishna is always there, witnessing. You know how it is that you'll be doing some nonsense and you're thinking that no one is watching.

"No one knows what I am thinking."

But as soon as your godbrother comes in and suspects you, then immediately you feel ashamed,

"Oh, I'm doing something which is not good."

Now, the difficulty here is that you don't realize that it's not good for you. It's not that you're offending me; you're hurting yourself -- this is what they don't understand, you see. This means that he doesn't understand that he's hurting himself.

So herein lies a great difficulty: there's a blind spot in our consciousness, that we don't know that our actions are directly harming our development in Krishna Consciousness, if we're not humble in dealing with Krishna at every moment. We don't understand that. We don't give that value, you see, we think we're simply socially existing. That if I do some offense, then my godbrother will criticize me and I have to bear his criticism.

No. You're hurting yourself for not realizing that you're dealing with Krishna. That is the worse suffering. That's the worst illusion, you see. Therefore japa is meant as an individual practice of Krishna Consciousness. So that for some time, at least two hours during the day, you stop socially dealing. You understand?

You stop socially dealing and you realize that,

"I am dealing with Krishna."

If I make offense in thought, well here's the holy name right on my lips; the Lord is right there, and He is witnessing. You can easily fool me as we're going through the day's activities, if you're looking lustfully on a girl or this or that. That's easy, you see, and if I catch you, you can feel that,

"Oh, Vishnujana has caught me,"

or this or that.

But the difficulty is that you don't realize that you're dealing with Krishna. Therefore one of the beautiful aspects of japa is it forces you to realize that

"When no one else is around, and I'm chanting Hare Krishna, I'm dealing with Krishna."

And,

"Unless I do it properly, then I'm being offensive to the Lord."

There's no one else to hurt but me. I can't hurt Vishnujana, I can't hurt this one, I can't hurt that one, you see. I can't offend them, all I can do is offend God and myself. Therefore, this solitary chanting of japa is also recommended. Japa is done individually.

Sometimes I see devotees, they have a collective japa class. No, japa means individually, we are chanting, for two hours. So try to utilize that time, scrutinizingly...

VSN: Bhagavad-gita Class 4.36 - St. Louis, Missouri -- March 27, 1973 >>> Ref. VedaBase => VSN: Bhagavad-gita

"Softness of the heart is compared with honey, with butter and with nectar. And the condition of the mind is compared with sunshine. As honey and butter become melted even in slight sunshine, so soft-hearted persons become easily melted. Nectar, however, is by its nature always liquid. And the hearts of those who are in pure ecstatic love with Krsna are by nature always liquified, just like nectar."

-- Nectar of Devotion

Yes, Absolutely. Physically means Spiritually!

Yes, in the Present means eternally Present, Here And Now Forever!

Yes, Spiritual Master means Guru who Krsna has sent to you personally, as His means of delivering you according to your desire to want to know, reciprocate with and love Krsna!

Yes, Guru is an absolute requirement without which Krsna will never be pleased. It is His way of manifesting before you, a fallen conditioned soul in need of causelesss mercy and hence revealing his very self in the form of the spiritual master.

Krsna will not look at your face otherwise; insubordanation or trying to reach Krsna without the help of Guru is not allowed.

The way, the truth and the life to Krsna is through Guru, there is no other method of approaching the divinity except and save through the via medium of His Divine Grace, the spiritual master!

Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura recommends that we become humble by practicing the following meditation:

"The earth, which is always visible to me, is the expansion of the lotus feet of my Lord, who is always to be meditated upon.

All moving and nonmoving living beings have taken shelter of the earth and are thus sheltered at the lotus feet of my Lord.

For this reason I should respect every living being and not envy anyone. In fact, all living entities constitute the Kaustubha gem on my Lord's chest.

Therefore I should never envy or deride any living entity."

By practicing this meditation one can achieve success in life.

(SB 12.11.24, purp.)

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Originally Posted by Sarva gattah

Letters, 1975

Melbourne

My Dear Madhudvisa Swami:

If one does not follow the regulative principles, then he will leave. That is a fact. This is the function of the GBC, to see that one may not be taken away by maya. The GBC should all be the instructor gurus. I am in the initiator guru, and you should be the instructor guru by teaching what I am teaching and doing what I am doing. This is not a title, but you must actually come to this platform. This I want.

I hope this meets you in good health.

Your ever well wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

ACBS/bs

-

Nice letter. ***** Come to the platform of practical devotional service, act on the platform of the soul, theory becomes practice. Intruct by practicing youself, become guru by showing how it is done.

Quote:

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD style="BORDER-RIGHT: #666666 1px solid; PADDING-RIGHT: 3ex; BORDER-TOP: #666666 1px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 3ex; BORDER-LEFT: #666666 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #666666 1px solid" bgColor=#e0e0e0>Originally Posted by indulekhadasi

Why are highly confidential letters posted out for everyone to read?

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Some were highlly confidential when they were wriiten 30 or so years ago but now they are historical writings that historians can study. There is even a letter to me that is very confidential and personal, where Prabhupada chastises me, but I see that letter now as an historical statement about what being a disciple of Guru actually mean.

 

What does it actually mean to become a disciple of a bona-fide Guru?

It means the disciple must become bona-fide himself by surrender, inquiry and service. And especially the disciple must willingly accept being reprimanded by the guru in order to become purified, rectified and free from all anarthas ( ie.,unwanted material desires).

ok

There are no pockets in a shroud.

~Author Unknown

You may have never met a real bhakta,

but that doesnt mean that they don't exist.

We cannot say , 'like me everyone else'. or

Atmavan manyate jagat

Pray to Krsna that

He may send you one

from His own abode

so that you may finally get a glimpse

of true soft-heartedness and pure devotion mood.

The real measure of your wealth

is how much you'd be worth

if you lost all your money.

~Author Unknown

 

 

tad-vag-visargo-janatagha-viplavo

 

yasmin prati-slokam abaddhavaty api

 

namany anantasya yaso'nkitani yac

 

chrnvanti gayanti grnanti sadhavah

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