The Spiritual Master's Unlimited Love

The spiritual master is the pure representative of Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna, out of His unlimited compassion for those souls who are lost in the cycle of birth and death, sends the spiritual master to us to relieve us from our suffering in this material existence. Since the spiritual master purely represents the unlimited compassion of the Lord, he is empowered by the Lord to give us unlimited loving kindness. Therefore there is nothing more auspicious than coming in contact with a bona fide spiritual master. Such a blessing is described as follows in the Sri Caitanya Caritamrita:

brahmanda bhramite kona bhagyavan jiva
guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija

"According to their karma, all living entities are wandering throughout the entire universe. Some of them are being elevated to the upper planetary systems, and some are going down into the lower planetary systems. Out of many millions of wandering living entities, one who is very fortunate gets an opportunity to associate with a bona fide spiritual master by the grace of Krishna. By the mercy of both Krishna and the spiritual master, such a person receives the seed of the creeper of devotional service."---Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya 19.151

The miseries of material existence can only be removed by the mercy of the Lord, who sends His bona fide representatives to enlighten human beings and thus save them from all calamities.

Answers According to the Vedic Version

Request: Please Help Me...

I am facing a great hardship in chanting. I can listen to or do kirtan (group singing of the holy names) for 24 hours, but whenever I try to chant with beads my mind wanders and I am unable to concentrate on mantra.

Please help me in getting rid of this problem.

Thanks,

Your Servant

Answer: Disciplined Early Morning Chanting...

The key to focused japa chanting is to rise early in the morning and finish one's daily quota of japa chanting before sunrise. This time of the day is known as Brahma-muhurta. It is a very spiritual time of the day when it is very easy to keep one's mind fixed on the holy names. At this time of day the mode of goodness is predominate. This is why it is so easy to chant during this time period. Once the sun comes up the atmosphere shifts into the mode of passion, a time for activity and productivity, it is very difficult to sit and peacefully meditate on the holy names. If for some reason you cannot complete your japa before sunrise, then you must finish it before you take your morning meal. If you make this serious commitment and stick to it every day, you will be able to train your mind how to stay absorbed nicely during your japa chanting. It is simply a matter of training and practice.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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