We Must Regain Our Natural Healthy Consciousness

The living being in his natural healthy consciousness is always fully absorbed in serving Lord Sri Krishna, the transcendental source of all existence. As soon as he forgets Krishna he is plunged into an ocean of misery. This fall down of the living is nicely explained as follows in the Prema-vivarta:

kṛṣṇa-bahirmukha jīva bhoga-vāñchā kare
nikaṭa-stha māyā tāre jāpaṭiyā dhare

"Turning his face away from Krishna, the jiva develops the desire to enjoy. Standing nearby, Maya slaps him and seizes hold of him."

If we find ourselves in this unhealthy situation of having been captivated by Maya, the material energy, we should regularly chant the holy names of God under the guidance of the bona fide spiritual master. In this way we can gradually regain our original, healthy state of pure love of God and return to an immortal, youthful existence in the Lord's abode, Goloka Vrindavana.

Sri Sri Radha Damodar Accept Our Service
Shah Alam, Malaysia-7 June 2012

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version

Question: If the Guru Falls Down?

It was with great delight I read your answer to a question regarding "Should we read the previous acharyas' books?" wherein you have rightly glorified Srila Prabhupada and titled your answer "Don't jump over Srila Prabhupada." No doubt, it is a wonderful answer.

Next logical question that would follow is: What about grand or great grand disciples of Srila Prabhupada? What should they do? Should they jump over their guru and read Srila Prabhupada books or what? Everybody is not as fortunate as you to find a guru who is ably empowered like Srila Prabhupada. We often hear of gurus falling down. What should the grand disciples or great grand disciples do, so that they can continue to make spiritual progress without offending their guru or facing setbacks in an unfortunate and unforeseen fall down of their guru?

Very Humbly,

Sunil Goel

Answer: Disciple Can Carry Him Back to Godhead

Just as Prabhupada instructed us not to jump over his head to the previous acharyas, I am also instructing my disciples not to jump over Srila Prabhupada's head to the previous acharyas. Srila Prabhupada's books are unique in the history of Vaisnavism. No acharya has ever made the teachings of Krishna so comprehensible and practical. Therefore all devotees for at least the next 10,000 years should base their spiritual lives on the teachings found in Srila Prabhupada's books.

So the question remains, "Are my disciples jumping over my head by reading Srila Prabhupada's books?" The answer is a resounding "No" because they are doing so on my order. Jumping over the head means disobeying your spiritual master's orders. I have ordered my disciples to strictly follow the teachings in Srila Prabhupada's books and to fully absorb themselves in reading all of Srila Prabhupada's books again and again for their entire lives. In this way, even after my disappearance when I am no longer here to instruct them, they will be fully protected in their spiritual lives by remaining solidly connected with the greatest Vaisnava acharya in the history of the universe.

You are not properly understanding the potency of the guru-parampara system, the system of disciplic succession. Any disciple who purely follows Srila Prabhupada is ably empowered by him to transmit the full spiritual potency of Srila Prabhupada and the previous acharyas all the way back to Krishna Himself.

Any guru who falls down was not very qualified to be a spiritual master in the first place. Therefore anyone who is a seeking a spiritual master must be very careful to find a highly qualified guru who will never fall down. Highly qualified means unflinchingly dedicated to strictly following and presenting the teachings of Srila Prabhupada without any deviation.

Anyone who finds himself in the unfortunate position of having accepted a guru who fell down should remember how much that guru helped and inspired him in his Krishna consciousness and should repay the guru's kindness by trying to save him. In this connection Srila Prabhupada explains in his purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 4.12.33 that if the disciple is strong and the siksha or diksha guru is less advanced, the disciple can carry his spiritual master back to Godhead. Therefore even if the guru turns out to be less advanced or fallen by his deviation from Srila Prabhupada's teachings, if the disciple remains firm in his adherence to Srila Prabhupada's teachings, he can carry his spiritual master back to Godhead.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari