How to Gain from Pain

Nobody likes pain. Everyone abhors it. But yet we are all forced to suffer it. This is the sad reality of this material world. But the devotee of the Lord experiences pain differently. He sees it as the mercy of the Lord to help him come closer to Lord and become free once and for all from all the sufferings of this material existence. In other words, for a devotee, pain is a blessing, not a curse. He takes it as a powerful reminder that he is not his body and that the material world is not his real home. Even in physical fitness training it is sometimes said, "No pain. No gain." So a devotee is not afraid of pain. When it comes, he takes it as the special blessing of the Lord to expedite his achieving the supreme gain of going back to home, back to Godhead.

Lord Krishna Awaits You in Goloka Vrindavan 

Lord Krishna Awaits You in Goloka Vrindavan

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version

Question: Initiation Means Automatic Liberation?

Dear Gurudeva,

Please accept my humble obeisances at your lotus feet

A guru promises to lead the disciple back to his spiritual home, and the disciple promises to strictly follow guru’s order. If the disciple fails to uphold his side of the contract, then the guru, by his promise, absorbs and suffers for the sinful act committed by the disciple. Gurudeva, does this not mean that an initiated devotee is guaranteed to go back to Godhead, whether he strictly follows guru’s orders or not?

Hare Krishna

Your humble servant,

Deodat

Answer: No. You Still Have to Surrender to Krishna.

Although having one's sins neutralized helps one to surrender to Krishna, it does not qualify him to go back to Godhead. The only qualification for going back to Godhead is when the disciple fully surrenders himself unto Krishna. The guru cannot do this for him. The disciple must do this himself. It is sometimes said that you can lead a horse to the water, but you can't force him to drink. In a similar way, the spiritual master can lead you to path of bhakti, but he cannot force you to surrender. That is totally up to you, whether you will surrender to Krishna or not.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

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