Prabhupada : When the brahmana asked the woman who the man lying on the floor was, she answered that he was her spiritual master and that she was perplexed about who to do in his absence. At such a time the Supersoul immediately appears, provided the devotee is purified in heart by following the direction of the spiritual master. A sincere devotee who follows the instructions of the spiritual master certainly gets direct instructions from him from Supersoul. This is confirmed in Caitanya-caritamrta : guru-krsna- prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija. If the devotee serves his spiritual master sincerely, Krsna automatically becomes pleased. Yasya Prasadad bhagavad - prasadah. By satisfying the spiritual master, one automatically satisfies Krsna. Thus the devotee becomes enriched by both the spiritual master and Krsna. The Supersoul is eternally the friend of the living-entity and always remains with him. The Supersoul has been ready to help the living-entity, even before the creation of this ma
Spiritual (25)
Subject: Fw: Srila Prabhupada speaks: Yes. A spiritual master must have seen Kṛṣṇa. Without seeing, he cannot be spiritual master.
Srila Prabhupada Speaks out:
Yes. A spiritual master must have seen Kṛṣṇa.
Without seeing, he cannot be spiritual master.
Srila Prabhupada..."Yes. A spiritual master must have seen Kṛṣṇa. Without seeing, he cannot be spiritual master. But how Kṛṣṇa can be seen? Kṛṣṇa can be seen by love. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena [Bs. 5.38]. Premāñjana-cchurita-bhakti-vilocanena santaḥ sadaiva hṛdayeṣu vilokayanti. Just like if you are in love with somebody, you can see him constantly—he is always on your eyes, anyone you love—so similarly, Kṛṣṇa also can be seen by development of love. Otherwise how we can see Kṛṣṇa? He is so great, unlimited. Your eyes, your senses, are all limited. You cannot see the unlimited by your limited sense perception. But you can see... Not you can see, but svayam eva sphuraty adaḥ. When you are developed in the sense of love o
Christopher Grimmette shared a post.
Christopher Grimmette
Most of you must of seen this picture of the 11 conditioned souls pretending to be gurus tormenting a picture of Srila Prabhupad our true spiritual master. The destruction of "ISKCON" started with these 11 poisonous vipers.
It was clearly a mistake letting these false gurus languish in their egotistical ways. Loving the devotion of the misguided devotees. Yes it makes one sick.
Now here is the point. A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada did not make mistakes. So all you "cult of the guru" lovers who state he ordered these eleven, be elevated to Guru status are grotesquely wrong. You drink from the septic feet of imposters.
Srila Prabhupad looked at them and knew the truth. None of them were suitable. Therefore he proposed a "ritvik" system (priestly instructers) and stated that this was his wish. It was the wish of a spiritual master so high above any of us and they ignored it.
In the decades that have followed
Srila Prabhupada - "If there is no chance of directly serving the spiritual master,
then the devotee does serve him by remembering his instructions only.
There is no difference between the spiritual master's instructions and the spiritual master himself."
We should always remember that a person who is reluctant to accept a spiritual master for initiation is sure to become baffled in his endeavour to go back to Godhead. Such person who is not properly initiated may present himself as a great devotee but in fact he is sure to encounter many many stumbling blocks on his way of progressive march towards spiritual realisation and the net result is that he has to continue the term of his material existence without any relief. Such helpless person is compared with a ship without a rudder as such a careless ship cannot reach her destination. It is imperative therefore to accept a spiritual master if at all anyone desires to gain the favour of the Lord. Service of the spiritual master is esse
Hanumān: Excuse me; I have a lot of questions. I would like to ask you why we are so fortunate to have such a nice, genuine spiritual master as you, and some other have bogus spiritual master. Is it something of karma, or is this the pure mercy of yourself?
Prabhupāda: No, that you can think—your spiritual master is nice, others bogus—but they do not think like that. (laughter) They will think their spiritual master is good, your spiritual master is bogus. But... there is standard who is spiritual master. Spiritual master means who is the best servant of God. One who does not agree the existence of spiritual ma..., ah God, he is bogus because he's not bona fide. Mūḍhā. One who does not accept the existence of God, he is mūḍhā. He's a rascal. He cannot... A rascal cannot become spiritual master.
Hanumān: How come we come to you?
Prabhupāda: That is another thing, but first of all we have to know who is spiritual master. The spiritual master is he, samit-pāṇiḥ śrotriyaṁ brahma-niṣṭham (M
BG Chapters 1 - 6
The dust on the mirror refers to a cleansing process of the mirror of the mind by so many spiritual methods. The best process is to chant the holy names of the Lord.
BG 3.38, Purport:
There are three degrees of covering of the living entity by which his pure consciousness is obscured. This covering is but lust under different manifestations like smoke in the fire, dust on the mirror, and the womb about the embryo. When lust is compared to smoke, it is understood that the fire of the living spark can be a little perceived. In other words, when the living entity exhibits his Kṛṣṇa consciousness slightly, he may be likened to the fire covered by smoke. Although fire is necessary where there is smoke, there is no overt manifestation of fire in the early stage. This stage is like the beginning of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. The dust on the mirror refers to a cleansing process of the mirror of the mind by so many spiritual methods. The best process is to chant the holy names of
Lokanātha: ...five thousand years back, until now, there's only thirty ācāryas...
Prabhupāda: Chain is broken when there are false spiritual masters. Otherwise it is not broken. Chain is broken if a so-called spiritual master speaks something manufactured. Then the chain is broken. Otherwise chain is not broken.
Morning Walk -- September 2, 1976, New Delhi
Real bhakti… that is raganuga-bhakti. This raganuga-bhakti, we have to come after surpassing the vaidhi-bhakti [regulative process]. In the material world, if we do not try to make further and further progress in devotional service, if we are simply sticking to the shastric [scriptural] regulation process and do not try to go beyond that...
The shastric process is kanishtha-adhikara, lowest stage of devotional service… This is nice beginning, but one has to go above this… If I become satisfied only with these regulative principles for worshiping… but if I have no other idea, then sa bhaktah prakrtah smrtah. Prakrta means on the material platform.
…So any devotee can fall down if he remains prakrta-bhakta. So he has to raise himself above this in the madhyama-adhikara [intermediate stage]…
Therefore, if we do not associate with the advanced devotees, uttama-adhikari, if we simply want to remain in the lowest stage of devotional service, then we are not making progress. Then we shall si
Baba Ram Dass, spiritual guru and LSD pioneer, dies at 88
HONOLULU (AP) — Baba Ram Dass, the 1960s counterculture spiritual leader who experimented with LSD and traveled to India to find enlightenment, returning to share it with Americans, has died. He was 88.
Dass’ foundation, Love Serve Remember, announced late Sunday that the author and spiritual leader died peacefully at his home earlier in the day. No cause of death was given.
He had suffered a severe stroke in 1997 that left him paralyzed on the right side and, for a time, unable to speak. More recently, he underwent hip surgery after he was injured in a fall in November 2008, according to his website.
Sudip Nair said; almost the entire population of young devotees get preached to remain humble, not criticize and not expose anything with the fear of committing Vaisnava Apradha. The poisoners use this tactic to keep them under their control so that no one sees through their deception. And even 99.99% of them ....., have no guts to openly expose the poisoners with the fear of getting...... blocked"
Joshua Davis “It is the duty of the disciples to take charge of the mission of the spiritual master and execute it properly. Otherwise the disciple should decide to die along with the spiritual master. In other words, to execute the will of the spiritual master, the disciple should be prepared to lay down his life and abandon all personal considerations.”
(Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4.28.50, purport)
The Glories of Srimati Gangamata Gosvamini
There was a beautiful girl in East Bengal named Saci devi, and she was the daughter of the King of Putiya. From the beginning of her life she heard about Lord Krsna, and from that time onward she gave her entire heart to Him. From the time she was about five years old, she used to worship Krsna, sing to Krsna, play with Krsna, and do everything with Him. When she was about sixteen years old she became maddened for Him.
Saci devi was not only beautiful, but she was very intelligent and used to study Sanskrit and Bengali. Her father and mother were worried for her marriage, but she totally refused to marry. She told her father, "My marriage has already been done. There is no need of another marriage. Don't be worried. I will go to Vrndavana and I will meet my beloved there."
She took her Deities and was ready to go to Vrndavana alone, on foot, which was a three to four thousand mile journey. There were no airplanes or any modern conven
Srimad-Bhagavatam
SB Introduction
The ideals of spiritual communism, according to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, are based more or less on the oneness of the entire human society, nay, of the entire energy of living beings
SB Preface:
We must know the present need of human society. And what is that need? Human society is no longer bounded by geographical limits to particular countries or communities. Human society is broader than in the Middle Ages, and the world tendency is toward one state or one human society. The ideals of spiritual communism, according to Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, are based more or less on the oneness of the entire human society, nay, of the entire energy of living beings. The need is felt by great thinkers to make this a successful ideology. Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam will fill this need in human society. It begins, therefore, with the aphorism of Vedānta philosophy janmādy asya yataḥ (SB 1.1.1) to establish the ideal of a common cause.
PURPORT
"...This indicates that a devotee’s wife must be prepared to act in such a way. Similarly, a devoted disciple of the spiritual master would rather die with the spiritual master than fail to execute the spiritual master’s mission. As the Supreme Personality of Godhead comes down upon this earth to reestablish the principles of religion, so His representative, the spiritual master, also comes to reestablish religious principles. It is the duty of the disciples to take charge of the mission of the spiritual master and execute it properly. Otherwise the disciple should decide to die along with the spiritual master. In other words, to execute the will of the spiritual master, the disciple should be prepared to lay down his life and abandon all personal considerations.
TEXT 50
citiṁ dārumayīṁ citvā
tasyāṁ patyuḥ kalevaram
ādīpya cānumaraṇe
vilapantī mano dadhe
SYNONYMS
citim—funeral pyre; dāru-mayīm—made with wood; citvā—having piled up; tasyām—on that; patyuḥ—of the husband; kalevar
According to the Vaiṣṇava regulative principles, one must be initiated as a brāhmaṇa. The Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (2.6) quotes the following injunction from the Viṣṇu-yāmala:
adīkṣitasya vāmorukṛtaṁ sarvaṁ nirarthakam
paśu-yonim avāpnotidīkṣā-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.’”
Hari-bhakti-vilāsa (2.10) further quotes:
ato guruṁ praṇamyaivaṁsarva-svaṁ vinivedya ca
gṛhṇīyād vaiṣṇavaṁ mantraṁdīkṣā-pūrvaṁ vidhānataḥ
“‘It is the duty of every human being to surrender to a bona fide spiritual master. Giving him everything — body, mind and intelligence — one must take Vaiṣṇava initiation from him.’”
"One should not proudly think that one can understand the transcendental loving service of the Lord simply by reading books... One must accept a Vaisnava guru (adau gurv-asrayam), and then by questions and answers one should gradually
Letter to Pat Keller
I am very glad to hear that you are very serious to become a devotee of Krsna, and that your Christian background has led you to Krsna Consciousness. Actually there is no difference or contradiction between Christian religion and Krsna Consciousness movement, and because the science of devotional service is absolute, just like 2+2=4 in any country of the world, therefore we say it is nonsectarian and open for everyone. But one thing is, Krsna says in Bhagavad-gita mam ekam, "unto Me", so why we should divide our attention to others? "Sarva dharman paritajya, mam ekam saranam vraja:" just give up all varieties of religious dharmas and surrender unto Me, that is Krsna's final word. So if you want to make progress in Krsna Consciousness, do not divert your attention unnecessarily to other, "mam ekam," only unto Me, otherwise your spiritual life will not be very progressive.
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Drew Lawrence
How did we come to be in the material world if our original position was living with God in the spiritual world? Why would we come down here to a place where there is birth, suffering, old age disease and death? The answer is that God gives us independence and free will always. He does not force us to do anything. When a child says to the father that he wants to do such and such, the father says no, you shouldn’t do it. It is not a good idea. But the child insists and wants to do it anyway. So the father relents and says okay, you can do it but you do so at your own risk. He gives permission because he loves his child. It is similar with God and we, His children, when we want to come down here to the material world and enjoy separately from Him. We like to think we know better.
"In answer to your second question, you should know that Arjuna and Kunti Devi are not in Krishna Loka. They are associated with Krishna eternally only in the material world. Just as Krishna is always in the spirit world and similarly he is always in the material world and His hobbies also happen there. In the material world, Krishna also has eternal associates such as Arjuna and Kunti Devi. There is a difference between body and soul of Arjuna and Kunti Devi. But while Arjuna is with Krishna in innumerable different material universes, while there is still only a spiritual soul who is Arjuna. This spiritual soul expands in many different bodies and so you can understand that there are also incarnations of devotees as well as incarnations of Krishna. This is the power of the spiritual soul, which is unlimited. Such a concept can not be understood while you're still in the conditioned state."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter to Saradiya, December 12, 1968)
Hare Krishna!
Many arguments are made in this respect, that as long as we don't cut the animal we do not incur sin.
In the Mahabharata, there is a verse which states that one who sells the animal, one who buys the animal, one cuts the animal,one who cooks the animal, one who serves the animal and one who eats the animal, all are bound equally by the chain of Karma.
But leaving the spiritual aspect of it, anatomically, the human body is not structured to eat animal flesh. Studies have shown the length of the intestine of a tiger is 4 times the length of it's torso so when it eats flesh the toxins in the flesh are not kept for long in the intestine and are expelled at the earliest. Also the concentration of acid secreted in the stomach is so strong that it burns the bacteria in the flesh. While in the cow, the length of the intestine is 12 times it's torso and so the food takes longer time to be expelled from the body. We have seen that the incidence of the Mad Cow disease (bovine spongi
Happiness is fleeting. I hate when people ask "are you happy" because it is ephemeral. Better to be content. Am I content? Not always, but I am working on it. I judge a religion by its followers. Srila Prabhupada's REAL disciples all work to make the world better in some way, to lift up the fallen, to spread that ephemeral happiness by sankirtana. Some of my fondest memories are sankirtana. Our religion is about IMPROVING ourselves. We will never be perfect in the material world. That is why we try to fix our mind on Krishna, to get to the spiritual world where we CAN be perfect, and happiness is NOT ephemeral. So, improve, be content, because God owns EVERYTHING. What you have is a gift. treasure it, and pass it along. I guess, I remember a lot of homeless in the temple on feast days. Who later became devotees. I honestly cannot see that happening today. And I am thinking of the middle "80s, even AFTER Srila Prabhupada's death. This outreach, however wa
Courtesy Ines Naradic, ie Naradakunda devi dasi; Meaning of Perfect
Prabhupada: Yes. Acarya is explained, bhakti-samsanah: “One who’s preaching the cult of devotional service, he’s acarya.” Then why should you find any discrepancy?
Jayadvaita: Because we see … For instance, sometimes the acarya may seem to forget something or not to know something, so from our point of view, if someone has forgotten, that is an imperfection.
Prabhupada: Then you do not understand. Acarya is not God, omniscient. He is servant of God. His business is to preach bhakti cult. That is acarya.
Jayadvaita: And that is the perfection.
Prabhupada: That is the perfection. Hare Krsna.
Jayadvaita: So we have a misunderstanding about what perfection is?
Prabhupada: Yes. Perfection is here, how he is preaching bhakti cult. That’s all.
Satsvarupa: Prabhupada, in one purport in the Bhagavad-gita, you write that a disciple of a bona fide spiritual master is supposed to know everything.
Prabhupada: Yes, if he follows th
