Is siksa guru better than diksa guru?

Thought For the Day

The Ultimate Self Realization Course

"Godhead is light. Nescience is darkness. Where there is Godhead there is no nescience."

Is the Siksha Guru More Important than the Diksha Guru?

A bogus idea has been presented in ISKCON that the siksha guru, the instructing spiritual master, is more important than the diksha guru, the initiating spiritual master. The idea is that if you don't like the instructions you are receiving from your spiritual master you can choose someone else to take your instructions from on how to practice Krishna consciousness. I don't what is the motive of someone who would preach such things which are against Srila Prabhupada's teachings. Such preaching is very dangerous because it can cause great confusion and turmoil in ISKCON. Here is what Srila Prabhupada has told us in this connection:

"Then so śikṣā and dīkṣā-guru... A śikṣā-guru who instructs against the instruction of spiritual master.., he is not a śikṣā-guru. He is a demon. Śikṣā-guru, dīkṣā-guru means... Sometimes a dīkṣā-guru is not present always. Therefore one can take learning, instruction, from an advanced devotee. That is called the śikṣā-guru. Śikṣā-guru does not mean he is speaking something against the teachings of the dīkṣā-guru. He is not a śikṣā-guru. He is a rascal."

An example is this connection is that Srila Prabhupada told me that I had been trained up under expert guidance of Vishnujana Swami. So Vishnujana Swami was my siksha guru. But if he ever had told me something that is against Srila Prabhupada's teachings I would have rejected that and stuck with the instructions I was getting from Srila Prabhupada.

So if you hear someone preaching that you can ignore your diksha guru's instructions and take your guidance from someone else, you should not hear anything more from that person because he is preaching bogus philosophy.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Vishnujana Swami Leads Kirtan

Urgent! Please Help Us Make the World Krishna Conscious.

Donate Now by Clicking Here

Questions and Answers

Hare Krishna
All glory to Srila Prabhupada

What is the difference between devotional service in practice and spontaneous devotional service?

Thank you for clearing out my doubts.

Hari bol

J Raul Cardenas

Answer

From: Chennai, India

My Dear Raul,

Please accept my blessings.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Devotional service in practice is done under the order of the spiritual master like rising early in the morning. When one becomes more advanced he does these things because he feels an attraction for them. This is called spontaneous devotional service. This is described more in Sri Caitanya Caritamrita, Madhya Lila, Chapter 22, Text 109:

TRANSLATION
”Those who have not attained the platform of spontaneous attachment in devotional service render devotional service under the guidance of a bona fide spiritual master according to the regulative principles mentioned in the revealed scriptures. According to the revealed scriptures, this kind of devotional service is called vaidhī bhakti.

PURPORT
In the beginning, one has to hear from a bona fide spiritual master. This is favorable for advancing in devotional service. According to this process, one hears, chants, remembers and engages in Deity worship, acting under the directions of the spiritual master. These are the essential primary activities of devotional service. Devotional service must not be executed for some material purpose. One should not even have a desire to merge into the Absolute Truth. One has to render such service out of love only. Ahaitukī, apratihatā. Devotional service must be without ulterior motives; then material conditions cannot check it. Gradually one can rise to the platform of spontaneous loving service. A child is sent to school by force to receive an education, but when he gets a little taste of education at an advanced age, he automatically participates and becomes a learned scholar. One cannot force a person to become a scholar, but sometimes force is used in the beginning. A child is forced to go to school and read and write according to the instructions of his teachers. Such is the difference between vaidhī bhakti and spontaneous bhakti. Dormant love for Kṛṣṇa exists in everyone’s heart, and it simply has to be awakened by the regulative process of devotional service. One has to learn to use a typewriter by following the regulative principles of the typing book. One has to place his fingers on the keys in such a way and practice, but when one becomes adept, he can type swiftly and correctly without even looking at the keys. Similarly, one has to follow the rules and regulations of devotional service as they are set down by the spiritual master; then one can come to the point of spontaneous loving service. This love is already there within the heart of everyone (nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema).
Spontaneous service is not artificial. One simply has to come to that platform by rendering devotional service according to the regulative principles. Thus one has to practice hearing and chanting and follow the other regulative principles by washing the temple, cleansing oneself, rising early in the morning, attending maṅgala-ārati and so on. If one does not come to the platform of spontaneous service in the beginning, he must adopt regulative service according to the instructions of the spiritual master. This regulative service is called vaidhī bhakti.

Hoping this meets you in the best of health.
Your ever well-wisher,

Sankarshan Das Adhikari

For ecstatic lectures click here.

Have You Gotten My Memoir Yet?

In it I tell the amazing story of how I came to consciousness.
You can order a copy right now by clicking on the photo