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Guruvani has taken the correct stance. And I have to say that I agree with Guruvani that letters are for specific people and cannot be taken generically.

That is the way I see it too.

So you don't believe in the fact that by Krishna's mercy, one finds a guru? That's from the Sastra, by the way. If he happens to find a wrong guru or unqualified guru, it's partly his fault for not being sincere enough. I have to agree with Vijay on this point. I don't see his reasoning as 'very tired rationalization for bad leadership'. Can't just blame the fallen guru. If it's simply the Guru's fault, how come Krishna lead the person to that guru?

Dear Visnu prabhu, I already apologized for the use of inappropriate language (to BG prabhu). I did not extend that apology to you since my original post was directed at BG. However, if you've been offended in any way, please accept my apology. Regarding the Spiritual master's body, I'm not challenging the verdict of the Sastra. I simply asked you a question. You seem to believe that a Spiritual Master should never be overcome by disease and if he is, he is not bonafide. I therefore repeat my question- if the Spiritual Master's body is spiritual and therefore 'must' never exhibit sympoms of disease, how come his body exhibits signs of aging? Using your logic, I must conclude that Srila Prabhupada was 'not' bonafide because he exhibited signs of aging as well as suffered 'heart attacks' a few times.

I agree that if it comes from Srila Prabhupada's books, we should adopt it. LOL! That's funny. Strange that he would suggest something like that.

I stand corrected, please accept my apology for the harsh language and lack of courtesy. In another post, you claim that ISKCON has degraded after the departure of Srila Prabhupada. I'm not surprised you see it that way ... If you adopt the attitude of the common fly, you'll only find the rotten things because that is what you're looking for. ISKCON has done many wonderful things in the last 30 years. I've personally seen scores of people take up Krsna Consciousness. Many more temples have been built giving people a chance to understand Krsna Consciousness. I've seen vidoes of Chinese devotees chanting Hare Krsna. How is it that you don't see any of that? If you wish to remain blind to all of this and continue your blasphemy of senior devotees for very weak reasons, you cannot be convinced.

Gopal prabhu, Great post, very eloquently written. Certain instructions are meant for certain people. We should be careful to reference conversations of Srila Prabhupada with other people. In a book that Giriraj Maharaj wrote, he described a conversation that Srila Prabhupada had with a young American who had trouble understanding why chanting was so special if all service to Krsna was transcendental. He argued that it shouldn't matter if he didn't chant as long as he was engaged in other service. They went back and forth and finally Prabhupada said to him "Chant your 16 rounds, have prasadam and sleep all day, I have no objection" *(not the exact quote but words to that effect). Imagine if we were to take that line and claim that all we need to do is chant 16 rounds and we can sleep all day!

For someone with a username 'Visnu', I certainly expected more understanding of spiritual subjects and a demonstration of spiritual principles (trnad api sunicena ... if that rings a bell!) Anyways, since you've asked me stop talking whatever the **** mean, tell me dear Visnu, why does the Spiritual Master's body show signs of 'aging' if it is a spiritual body? And please 'read' and attempt to 'understand' some of the posts other devotees have posted, especially Kulapavana and Audarya prabhu's posts. Will give you some understanding.

What a load of nonsense. Typical ritvik ****. What is so strange about some great personalities suffering from diseases? They are in a material body, so diseases are sometimes inevitable. As regards your foolish claim that these great devotees are not bonafide because Krishna did not protect them, well then Haridas Thakur must have been a really fallen person because Mahaprabhu didn't protect him when he was being beaten and dragged through the market place. Get some intelligence!