Unflinching Faith in the Spiritual Master
In reference to the bona fide spiritual master who is purely teaching us what he has heard from his spiritual master without any adulteration, addition, or subtraction, it is clearly stated in the Svetasvatara Upanisad (6:23):
yasya deve parā bhaktir
yathā deve tathā gurau
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ
prakāśante mahātmanaḥ
"Only unto those great souls who have absolute, unflinching faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed."
Foolish mental speculators and envious so-called devotees say that we should not have such strong faith in the spiritual master. But when they say that we ask them, "Why then should we have faith in your words?" In other words, if we accept the truth that it is philosophically incorrect to trust our teacher, then logically we must also conclude that we cannot trust the person who teaches us no to trust our teacher. He is also giving us a teaching. If teachers cannot be trusted, we also must not trust the so-called teacher who tells us not to trust our teacher. The conclusion is that we should accept as our teacher he who is purely presenting the teachings of Krishna which are coming down to us through the system of disciplic succession, and we should not hear from those who concoct a message which deviates from the teachings of the previous acaryas.
If the disciple can clearly understand this, he will be protected from being poisoned by those who seek to break his faith in his spiritual master.
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I am chanting the Hare Krishna mahamantra with beads, yet I am not able to come over my depression. I have three children all well settled. I am aged 78. Kindly advise me.
Manian
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
yasya deve parā bhaktir
yathā deve tathā gurau
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ
prakāśante mahātmanaḥ
"Only unto those great souls who have absolute, unflinching faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed."
Foolish mental speculators and envious so-called devotees say that we should not have such strong faith in the spiritual master. But when they say that we ask them, "Why then should we have faith in your words?" In other words, if we accept the truth that it is philosophically incorrect to trust our teacher, then logically we must also conclude that we cannot trust the person who teaches us no to trust our teacher. He is also giving us a teaching. If teachers cannot be trusted, we also must not trust the so-called teacher who tells us not to trust our teacher. The conclusion is that we should accept as our teacher he who is purely presenting the teachings of Krishna which are coming down to us through the system of disciplic succession, and we should not hear from those who concoct a message which deviates from the teachings of the previous acaryas.
If the disciple can clearly understand this, he will be protected from being poisoned by those who seek to break his faith in his spiritual master.
Passing on the Knowledge from the Previous Acharyas
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Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:
Question: Advise Me. I'm Depressed.
Hare Krishna Hare RamaI am chanting the Hare Krishna mahamantra with beads, yet I am not able to come over my depression. I have three children all well settled. I am aged 78. Kindly advise me.
Manian
Answer: Chant at Least 64 Rounds of Japa Daily
If you are depressed, you need to increase your chanting. The more you increase your chanting, the more your depression will go away. Although our minimum is to chant at least 16 rounds a day, since you are retired and your children are all settled you should chant at least 64 rounds per day. In this way by filling your entire day with chanting Mr. Depression will go running away from your house finding no place where he can do his rascal business.Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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