The Deeper You Dive, the More Ecstatic It Gets

Krishna consciousness is astounding in the way that it gets ever-increasingly ecstatic the deeper and deeper that you dive into in it. Of course to experience it like this requires that you remain steady in your practice. One who is not steady in his practice will also taste nectar, but it will be intermittent, not the same kind of ever-increasing nectar experienced by the steady devotee. So the key is that just as you eat every day to nourish your body, you should chant the Hare Krishna mahamantra every day to nourish your soul.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Diving into the Krishna Bhakti Ocean Riga, Latvia Home Kirtan--April 2009

Diving into the Krishna Bhakti Ocean Riga, Latvia

Answers According to the Vedic Version:

Question: Is it Right to Fall at Guru's Feet?

Is it right for a person to fall to feet other than Krishna? I never feel to. Even if he is a spiritual master, he is below God. Why should I fall at his feet? Are they equal to Krishna? They never can be. Then why should one do like this? I'm ignorant. Please give me knowledge.

Regards,

Vishnu

Answer: You Must.

I appreciate very much the way that you honestly revealed your doubts and humbly requested to be enlightened with knowledge. This way of submissive inquiry is the proper way to approach the spiritual master.

The bona fide spiritual master never claims that he is God and never allows anyone else to present that he is God. He is the humble servant of God and always presents Himself as such teaching his disciples how they also can become the humble servants of God.

When we seriously take up the service of Lord Krishna according to the instructions which He has given in the revealed scriptures, we will discover that He orders to become the devotees of His devotees. Therefore because we want to be His devotees we dutifully bow down at the feet of His devotees offering them all respect as His representatives.

Even in ordinary life we see that a policeman is not the government. He is an ordinary citizen just like you and me. But when he is on duty as a policeman and issues us a citation for driving too fast we must offer him all respect as the government by obeying his instructions.

Similarly, if we are really surrendered to Krishna we will follow His instruction that we should become the devotees of His devotees. This instruction is found in the Adi Purana as follows:

ye me bhakta-janāḥ pārtha
na me bhaktāś ca te janāḥ
mad-bhaktānāṁ ca ye bhaktās
te me bhakta-tamā matāh

"The person who claims to be My devotee is not My devotee. Rather it is the devotee of My devotee who is My actual devotee."

So if we refuse to bow down to Krishna's devotees on the plea that they are not Krishna, Krishna will never accept our devotion to Him. In other words, we cannot be truly devoted to Krishna unless we are devoted to His devotees. In conclusion, the secret of success in spiritual life is to become the devotee of Krishna's devotees because this the only way that Krishna will accept our devotion.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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