Don't Bite the Hand that Feeds You

If you bite the hand that feeds you, you will not be able to ingest the food that is so kindly being given to you. Similarly if you are disrespectful to the spiritual master who is so kindly trying to save you from the cycle of birth and death, you will remain entangled in karma chakra, the cycle of birth and death. Therefore Lord Sri Krishna advises us how to approach the spiritual master:

tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinah

"Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth."--Bhagavad-gita 4.34

We would do well to follow this instruction of the Lord if we are at all serious about becoming delivered from this material existence.

Mantra Express Lecture at te University of Tartu 29 September--Tartu, Estonia

Sankarshan Das Mantra Express Lecture at the University of Tartu Estonia

Audience hearing Sankarshan Das Lecture at the University of Tartu Estonia

Sankarshan Das Mantra Express Lecture at the University of Tartu Estonia

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version

Question: When Does One Become a Disciple?

If one has accepted someone as one's spiritual master and has decided to serve him wholeheartedly and follow his instructions, is it that from that time onwards he is his spiritual master? Or is it only after the fire sacrifice initiation ceremony that he becomes a disciple?

Your servant,
Geetika

Answer: When He Surrenders to Sri Guru

The real meaning of being a disciple is to be fully surrendered to the orders and instructions of the spiritual master. As soon as one does this he is immediately as good as initiated. But still the initiation ceremony is required to formalize the guru/disciple relationship. This ceremony signs and seals the contract. Just like in my life, one fateful glorious morning in Austin, Texas in 1971 I accepted Srila Prabhupada into my heart as my eternal spiritual master, but still I had to wait for several months before he formally initiated me by chanting on my beads and giving me a spiritual name.

The Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (2.6) confirms the necessity of initiation:

adīkṣitasya vāmoru kṛtaṁ sarvaṁ nirarthakam
paśu-yonim avāpnoti dīkṣā-virahito janaḥ

"Unless one is initiated by a bona fide spiritual master, all his devotional activities are useless. A person who is not properly initiated can descend again into the animal species."

The essence of the guru/disciple relationship is to be fully surrendered to follow the instructions of the spiritual master. The initiation ceremony is when the disciple formally vows to be surrendered to the spiritual master's orders for all of eternity and the spiritual master agrees to take that particular disciple back to home, back to Godhead.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Little Sparrow Who Conquered the Ocean

Image
In his purport to Bhagavad-gita, Chapter 6, Text 24 Srila Prabhupada wonderfully teaches us the power of determinations by telling us the story of the little sparrow who conquered the ocean: "As for determination, one should follow the example of the sparrow who lost her eggs in the waves of the ocean. A sparrow laid her eggs on the shore of the ocean, but the big ocean carried away the eggs on its waves. The sparrow became very upset and asked the ocean to return her eggs. The ocean did not even consider her appeal. So the sparrow decided to dry up the ocean. She began to pick out the water in her small beak, and everyone laughed at her for her impossible determination. The news of her activity spread, and at last Garuda, the gigantic bird carrier of Lord Visnu, heard it. He became compassionate toward his small sister bird, and so he came to see the sparrow. Garuda was very pleased by the determination of the small sparrow, and he promised to help. Thus Garuda at once asked t
Read more

Heart Melting Reunion with Amarendra and Gayatri

Image
On Friday 26 June 2015 I was blessed with the greatest good fortune of meeting with two of the dearest devotees of my entire life, His Grace Amarendra Prabhu and his good wife, Srimati Gayatri devi dasi. I am eternally indebted to these great souls for how much they helped me in my spiritual life when I was a young devotee. When I was young brahmacari monk in 1973 I joined with the two of them in Gainesville, Florida. We were a three person preaching center, and they were just like a mother and father to me. I had so many wonderful Krishna conscious experiences in their association that I can hardly begin to describe them here. But at least may it suffice for me to say for now that Gayatri taught me what it means to be a soft-hearted devotee of the Lord and she gave me my first cooking lesson, teaching me how to make cauliflower pakoras, and Amarendra taught me the art of how to preach strongly, intelligently, and coolly to defeat opposing arguments. Recently Gayatri almost died. But
Read more

Who is this Krishna?

Image
Krishna is not a myth, nor is He an ordinary historical personality. He is the Supreme All-Attractive Personality of Godhead. He is the oldest of all while simultaneously maintaining the form of a 16 year old youth. He is all-attractive because he exceeds everyone in all of existence by possessing unlimitedly all the qualities that are attractive namely power, beautify, renunciation, knowledge, wealth, and fame. There is no one who equals or excels Him in the possession of these attractive qualities. This is why is accepted by all enlightened spiritualists as being God, the original source of all existence. The perfection of our existence is to re-establish our long forgotten loving relationships with Him. There Is No One More Amazing Than Krishna Video for the Day Don't Be a Hypocrite Answers According to Vedic Wisdom Question: Was Krishna a Real Person? Was Krishna a real person who lived on Earth? Ray Galindo Answer: He Was and He Still Is My Dear Ray, Pleas
Read more