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re: Cultivating a relationship with the spiritual master
>Hare Krsna Prabhu,
>
>Please accept my humble obeisances.
>All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
>All glories to Sri Sri Radha Krishna.
>
>Thanks a lot for this e-mail. I was looking forward to receive this e-mail. I
>am very inrested in Krsna conciousness. My parents made me a devotee. I'm in
>the movement fo 7 years now. I'm a student from the university. Infact, I
>am from ........ but I am studying here.
>
>I like to know how I can improve my chanting. I chant my rounds in the morning
>and during the day. I want to wake up early at 4.00 a.m but I always find it
>hard. I always feel sleepy as I study late at night and can't wake up in the
>morning. Ca you please give me some advice on how I can improve? On this I
>noticed since I chanting my sixteen rounds is that i feel happy while chanting
>and i don't get angry like i was before. I feel that my life has improved.
>
>I would also know how to serve a Guru Maharaj. Today ...... Maharaj is coming
>to ........ I like him a lot and has accepted him as my Guru. My parents are
>telling me to take all my time to think about which Guru to choose. I am
>hesitating and don't know if I have to tell Maharaj that i want to aspire from
>him. May be I have to wait and know more about ....... Maharaj. Can you please
>help me and tell me what I must do?
>
>Please forgive me if I have comitted any offenses in this letter.
>
>Hari Bol
Dear Mataji
Hare Krishna. Please accept my humble obeisances, all glories to Srila
Prabhupada!
Thanks for the letter and your questions. It's fantastic your parents trained
you in Krishna consciousness. That's the real business of parents, to bring
nice Krishna conscious children into the world and train them as devotees.
"I have been informed by Devananda that your wife has borne you one nice
son. So this is very good news. You may give him the name Nirmala Candra.
Nirmala means without any flaws or without contamination and Candra means moon.
So the name Nirmala Candra refers specifically to Lord Caitanya who is known as
the Spotless Moon of Gauda. Now you husband and wife must work together
combinedly with great responsibility for raising your new child in ideal Krsna
consciousness. Children learn by imitation of their parents, so if you both set
Krsna conscious example the child will very naturally and easily become
advanced in Krsna consciousness by following. Please offer my blessings to your
good wife, Laksmimoni, and your son." (From Srila Prabhupada's letter to
Jagadisa 9 July 1970)
As for getting up early in the morning it's difficult if we go to bed late at
night. We have to arrange our life so we can get up early in the morning,
before 4:00am, as Srila Prabhupada has instructed us to. Of course it's
sometimes difficult and sometimes we may feel tired but it is one of the
important aspects of Krishna consciousness. As soon as you start chanting Hare
Krishna you won't feel tired anymore. You say already you feel happy when you
chant and don't get angry like before, so it is already working, the happiness
will increase and you will become more advanced in Krishna consciousness as you
chant more. That is the sign of a devotee -- someone who is happy while
chanting Hare Krishna, someone who wants to chant Hare Krishna always.
Your studies will be easier and take less time when you're getting up early in
the morning, you will also be able to chant most of your 16 rounds in the
morning and that will mean you have more time during the day and so you will be
able to take rest at a reasonable time.
The early morning time, 1.5 hours before the sun rises is called the "brahma
muhurta" and it's a very auspicious time. Spiritual activities performed during
this time have more effect that at any other time, so if we want to advance in
Krishna consciousness we have to do whatever is necessary to rise early in the
morning.
"The great souls are always chanting about Krsna. Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna
Krsna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. They are also
endeavoring with great determination in their devotional service. For instance,
in the Krsna consciousness temples the devotees rise early in the morning, at
4:00 A.M., and they immediately bathe. Then they go to mangala-arati at 4:30,
and after mangala-arati they study the Vedic literatures. These are the
processes by which we can awaken our dormant love for Krsna. Because we are
part and parcel of Krsna--just as a son is part and parcel of his father--there
is a natural love between us. However, somehow or other the son leaves home and
forgets his father. The father, of course, never forgets his son. He thinks,
"Oh, my son has left. If he would only come back!" Krsna thinks in this way. We
are all sons of Krsna, and Krsna is more anxious to get us back home, back to
Godhead, than we are to go. Therefore Krsna comes and says, "You rascal! Give
up all this nonsensical material engagement. You have manufactured so many
religions and dharmas. Just give them all up and simply surrender unto Me."
("Teachings of Lord Kapila" -- Text 14)
To improve our chanting of Hare Krishna we just have to keep chanting at least
16 rounds a day and following the four regulative principles (no illicit sex,
no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication) and try to chant attentively,
try to pronounce and hear every word nicely. Sometimes our mind may wander but
if we always bring it back to concentrating on the transcendental vibration of:
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare
then our chanting will improve. Krishna consciousness is so nice that there is
no time when it won't get better, we can improve our chanting unlimitedly and
there will still be room for an unlimited amount of improvement... Krishna is
unlimited and He has descended in the form of His holy name. The Hare Krishna
maha-mantra is Krishna and has all the potencies of Krishna personally present.
Krishna is personally present in the form of His holy name, we just have to
realize it:
nama cintamanih krsnas
caitanya-rasa-vigrahah
purnah suddho nitya-mukto
'bhinnatvan nama-naminoh
" 'The holy name of Krsna is transcendentally blissful. It bestows all
spiritual benedictions, for it is Krsna Himself, the reservoir of all pleasure.
Krsna's name is complete, and it is the form of all transcendental mellows. It
is not a material name under any condition, and it is no less powerful than
Krsna Himself. Since Krsna's name is not contaminated by the material
qualities, there is no question of its being involved with maya. Krsna's name
is always liberated and spiritual; it is never conditioned by the laws of
material nature. This is because the name of Krsna and Krsna Himself are
identical.'" (Padma Purana)
You have been very fortunate to have such nice Krishna conscious parents. You
should listen to them now also when they are advising you to wait before taking
initiation from a spiritual master, it's not a cheep thing, it means
surrendering to someone and worshipping him on the same level as Krishna. So it
is a very serious thing. Taking initiation from an unqualified "spiritual
master" can destroy your spiritual life. It has done that for many thousands of
ISKCON devotees already. So many bogus gurus have cheated so many ISKCON
devotees and the cheating is still going on now. They have a regular program of
advertising ordinary men as "gurus". But the guru is not an ordinary man, he is
"saksad hari", directly Krishna. Not that he is actually Krishna, but he is to
be worshipped on the same level as Krishna as he is Krishna's representative. A
real spiritual master will never say anything that Krishna does not say as it
has come to him through the bona-fide disciplic succession. A real guru doesn't
have his own ideas, he presents Krishna's ideas...
"To understand these subjects, we should be careful to approach Krsna's
representative. We should not approach a bogus guru, who is like a blind man
trying to lead other blind men. We must go to one who has open eyes, to one who
has seen the Absolute Truth. The Absolute Truth is there, just as the sun is
there for everyone to see. The sun does not hide, but a person can try to hide
from the sun by closing his door. One must open the door in order to see the
sun. Similarly, Krsna is there, God is there, and we have to come to Krsna and
take the lessons of Bhagavad-gita to learn who and what God is. Rascals will
not do this, but will simply manufacture some philosophy or other.
"There is actually no difficulty because Krsna's instructions are there, and
Krsna Himself is there. Krsna is so kind that He says, "All right, if you
cannot understand Me in this way, just see Me in water. Come on, if you do not
understand Me in that way, just see Me in the sunshine." Is this very
difficult? There is nothing difficult about it, but we are very obstinate. Maya
is also very strong, and as soon as we try to accept Krsna as the Supreme Lord,
maya will whisper in our ear, "No, no. There are many gods. Why are you
accepting Krsna?" However, the sastras say, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam...
isvarah paramah krsnah. "Krsna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead." We
should take our lessons from the acaryas and the sastras. At least in India
there are many great acaryas--Ramanujacarya, Madhvacarya, Visnusvami, and even
Sankaracarya and Guru Nanak. All of these have accepted Krsna as the Supreme
Personality of Godhead. Why, then, should we reject Him? Why should we accept a
competitor? We should not simply engage in mental speculation but should accept
Krsna in full consciousness and be happy. This is made possible by the help of
the guru." (From the "Teachings of Lord Kapila" Verse 20)
I would very strongly advise you to wait and in the meantime become very
fixed-up in Krishna consciousness by rising early, continuing to chant at least
16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and following the four regulative
principles. You should take advantage of Srila Prabhupada's association, he is
living in sound and you can take advantage of that. You can read Srila
Prabhupada's books; you can go with him on his morning walks; listen in on his
conversations with scientists, business-men, devotees, priests, and so many
others; you can sit down in his Bhagavad-gita classes and Srimad-Bhagavatam
classes and you can read his letters. So why not take full advantage of Srila
Prabhupada's association? PERHAPS IN YOUR HOUSE YOUR PARENTS MIGHT LIKE TO
ARRANGE A REGULAR PROGRAM FOR HEARING FROM SRILA PRABHUPADA. You can have a
program every morning and evening, chant Hare Krishna, offer Aroti and hear
something from Srila Prabhupada and read something from his books. Then you can
talk about what Srila Prabhupada said. It is such a nice program and will
enliven all the members of the family.
ISKCON is in a difficult position at the moment, they have so many "gurus" now
(100+) but they are not like Srila Prabhupada. But guru is one, real gurus are
like Srila Prabhupada, there are not two types of guru.
"In this verse Srila Rupa Gosvami advises the devotee to be intelligent
enough to distinguish between the kanistha-adhikari, madhyama-adhikari and
uttama-adhikari. The devotee should also know his own position and should not
try to imitate a devotee situated on a higher platform. Srila Bhaktivinoda
Thakura has given some practical hints to the effect that an uttama-adhikari
Vaisnava can be recognized by his ability to convert many fallen souls to
Vaisnavism. One should not become a spiritual master unless he has attained the
platform of uttama-adhikari. A neophyte Vaisnava or a Vaisnava situated on the
intermediate platform can also accept disciples, but such disciples must be on
the same platform, and it should be understood that they cannot advance very
well toward the ultimate goal of life under his insufficient guidance.
Therefore a disciple should be careful to accept an uttama-adhikari as a
spiritual master." (From Srila Prabhupada's purport to Text 5 of "Nectar of
Instruction")
So you have to take an uttama-adhikari (devotee on the topmost platform) as
your spiritual master, otherwise you cannot advance very well toward the
ultimate goal of life under a lesser-qualified spiritual masters insufficient
guidance.
"The guru must be situated on the topmost platform of devotional service. There
are three classes of devotees, and the guru must be accepted from the topmost
class. The first-class devotee is the spiritual master for all kinds of people.
It is said: gurur nrnam. The word nrnam means "of all human beings." The guru
is not limited to a particular group. It is stated in the Upadesamrta of Rupa
Gosvami that a guru is a gosvami, a controller of the senses and the mind. Such
a guru can accept disciples from all over the world. Prthivim sa sisyat. This
is the test of the guru." (From Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya-Lila 24.328)
"Srila Prabhupada: Yes, the spiritual master is one who solves all confusion.
If the spiritual master cannot save his disciple from confusion, he is not a
spiritual master. That is the test.
samsara-davanala-lidha-loka-
tranaya karunya-ghanaghanatvam
praptasya kalyana-gunarnavasya
vande guroh sri-caranaravindam
"This whole confused world is just like a blazing forest fire. In a forest fire
all the animals are confused. They do not know where to go to save their lives.
In the blazing fire of the material world, everyone is confused. How can that
blazing forest fire be extinguished? It is not possible to utilize your
man-made fire brigade, nor is it possible to simply pour buckets of water. The
solution comes when rain from the clouds falls on the forest fire. Only then
can the fire be extinguished. That ability is not in your hands, but is in the
mercy of God. So, human society is in a confused state, and it cannot find a
solution. The spiritual master is one who has received the mercy of God, and he
can deliver the solution to the confused man. One who has received the mercy of
God can become a spiritual master and deliver that mercy to others.
Mr. O'Grady: The problem is to find this spiritual master.
"Srila Prabhupada: That is not the problem. The problem is whether you are
sincere. You have problems, but God is within your heart. Isvarah
sarva-bhutanam. God is not far away. If you are sincere, God sends you a
spiritual master. Therefore God is also called caitya-guru, the spiritual
master within the heart. God helps from within and from without. Everything is
thus described in the Bhagavad-gita. This material body is like a machine, but
within the heart is the soul, and with the soul is the Supersoul, Krsna, who
gives directions. The Lord says, "You wanted to do this; now here is the
chance. Go and do it." If you are sincere, you say, "Now, God, I want You."
Then He will give you directions. "Yes, now you come and get Me like this."
This is His kindness. However, if we want something else, that is all right. We
can have it. God is very kind. When I want something, He is in my heart
directing me and telling me how to have it. So why should He not give
directions on how to have a spiritual master? First of all we must again be
eager to revive our God consciousness. Then God will give us a spiritual
master."
And you have to test your intending spiritual master. It is no good taking
initiation from someone because "you like him", "he seems nice"... or "all the
devotees say he's a pure devotee..." You have to test for yourself.
"Once Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu said, "You must at least have enough sense to
test to find out who is a spiritual master and who is not." For instance, if we
want to purchase something, we must at least have some idea of what that thing
is, otherwise we will be cheated. If we want to purchase a mango from the
market, we must at least know what type of food a mango is and what it looks
like. Similarly, we must have some preliminary knowledge of the qualifications
for a bona fide spiritual master. Bhagavad-gita itself gives some information
about the succession of spiritual masters. Lord Sri Krsna says:
imam vivasvate yogam
proktavan aham avyayam
vivasvan manave praha
manur iksvakave 'bravit
evam parampara-praptam
imam rajarsayo viduh
sa kaleneha mahata
yogo nastah parantapa
sa evayam maya te 'dya
yogah proktah puratanah
bhakto 'si me sakha ceti
rahasyam hy etad uttamam
"I instructed this imperishable science of yoga to the sun-god Vivasvan, and
Vivasvan instructed it to Manu, the father of mankind, and Manu in turn
instructed it to Iksvaku. This supreme science was thus received through the
chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way.
But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as
it is appears to be lost. That very ancient science of the relationship with
the Supreme is today told by Me to you because you are My devotee as well as My
friend; therefore, you can understand the transcendental mystery of this
science." (Bg. 4.1-3)
"That original spiritual disciplic succession was broken, but now we can
receive the same message by studying Bhagavad-gita. In Bhagavad-gita Krsna
speaks to Arjuna just as in a far distant time He spoke to the sun-god. If we
accept the words of Arjuna and Krsna, it may be possible for us to understand
Bhagavad-gita, but if we want to interpret it in our own way, the results will
be nonsensical. The best way to understand Bhagavad-gita is to accept a bona
fide spiritual master. This is not very difficult.
"Arjuna says that he accepts all that Krsna has said to him because Krsna is
the Supreme personality of Godhead:
nasto mohah smrtir labdha
tvat prasadan mayacyuta
sthito 'smi gata-sandehah
karisye vacanam tava
"Arjuna said, My dear Krsna, O infallible one, my illusion is now gone. I have
regained my memory by Your mercy, and now I am fixed without any doubt,
prepared to act according to Your instructions." (Bg. 18.73)
"As Arjuna, we should accept Krsna as the Supreme personality of Godhead and do
as He says:
yat karosi yad asnasi
yaj juhosi dadasi yat
yat tapasyasi kaunteya
tat kurusva mad-arpanam
"O son of Kunti, all that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give
away, as well as all austerities that you may perform, should be done as an
offering unto Me." (Bg. 9.27)
"By accepting Krsna in this spirit, we can attain complete knowledge. If,
however, we do not accept Krsna and interpret Bhagavad-gita in our own way,
then everything will be spoiled.
"If we are sincere, we will get a sincere spiritual master by the grace of
Krsna. If, however, we want to be cheated, Krsna will send us a cheater, and we
will be cheated throughout our lives. That is actually going on. For those who
do not want to understand Krsna as He is but want to understand by dint of
their own imperfect vision, Krsna, God, remains unknown." (Form "Elevation to
Krishna Consciousness" Chapter 5)
So I would strongly suggest you take shelter of Srila Prabhupada and READ HIS
BOOKS. Most "devotees" are not reading his books... That is the problem...
Thanks for the letter. Keep chanting Hare Krishna and be happy!
Your servant
Madhudvisa dasa
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Chant Hare Krishna and be happy! All glories to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada!