Ride the Waves to Krishnaloka

In this world everyone is looking for the sweetest pleasure that they can find. But no matter how hard they look they never find complete total satisfaction. Therefore we recommend that everyone throughout the entire world should try diving into the sweet ocean of Hare Krishna kirtan because there is truly nothing more sweet and enlivening than this. When we chant Hare Krishna and dance in ecstasy we can feel how we are riding the waves of transcendental bliss out of this world of unlimited suffering into the Lord's most amazing abode known as Krishnaloka.

All the pleasures of this material world become reduced to insignificance for one who dives into the ocean of unlimited nectar:

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Srila Prabhupada Leads the Devotees Chanting and Dancing in Ecstasy

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Can I Hear from This Guru?

Hare Krishna,

I have taken mantra diksha (initiation) from a guru in an Ahmadabad ashram, who gives pravachan (spiritual teachings) throughout India. But I read your emails every day because I like them very much. So according to you, is it fine to hear the teachings of this spiritual master? Hundreds of thousands of people hear from him and believe in him.

Please guide me.

Santosh

Answer: Only If He is Bona Fide

Just because a guru is popular does not necessarily mean that he is bona fide. We have to see if he presenting the Vedic wisdom properly in the same way that it has been presented by the great acharyas throughout the ages such as Narada, Asita, Devala, and Vyas.

Because we are presently in the Kali Yuga, the age of quarrel and hypocrisy, we see that there is predominance of bogus gurus, who although expert in the art of attracting large numbers of followers are not in the least bit qualified to deliver their followers from the cycle of birth and death. So we cannot judge the authenticity of a guru based on his popularity. We must simply see if he is Krishna conscious and he is presenting the Vedic wisdom strictly according to the descriptions given in the Vedic literature and confirmed by the great saintly teachers of the past.

If he is deviating, we should abandon him immediately so that we will not be misled. And then we should seek out and take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master, one who is fully Krishna consciousness, who is presently the Vedic wisdom as it has been carefully handed down throughout the ages by the great acharyas. This is how we will be successful in escaping the cycle of birth and death and to returning to our original home in that wondrous spiritual sky.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari