Is a Spiritual Master Required?
Sometimes people ask, "I just want to love God and fully surrender unto him. So why do I need a spiritual master?" This is a very logical and intelligent question. Surrendering fully unto God means doing what He wants me to do. In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna clearly instructs to take shelter of a spiritual master. In the Adi Purana Krishna instructs that unless we are a devotee of His devotee we are not His devotee. So if we are serious about fully surrendering unto Lord Krishna, we have to obey His instruction by becoming a disciple of a bona fide spiritual master. ISKCON Founder-Acharya His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada used to say quoting the English maxim, "If you love me, love my dog." He used this saying to illustrate the importance of our taking shelter of a bona fide spiritual master. If we try to bypass this system and be a devotee of the Lord independently He will never accept our service. Therefore, if we are at all serious about achieving sp