Guest guest Posted April 22, 2006 Report Share Posted April 22, 2006 Haribol! Please accept my humble obeisances to all vaisnavas. Please could someone enlighten me on how to properly respect the spiritual master- especially when talking to him. I think I've developed an unhealthy habit of talking with too much familiarity with my guru and I really need to brush up on my ettiquette, but without sounding fake or like someone whose memorised meaningless honorific lines which may only end up insulting my guru's intelligence- which, trust me, is veeeeeerry sharp. In vedic times there are so many examples of Lord Krishna worshipping the brahmanas and speaking to them so sweetly, but how does one do this in practice when speaking to the guru? Does one have to tell him (the guru) he's great? with lots of wonderful adjectives? What exactly is it that the guru wants or expects in the address of his disciple? Please someone, who ideally is also initiated, have pity on my ignorance and take a few moments to reply to this query. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimbo pani Posted April 23, 2006 Report Share Posted April 23, 2006 It sounds as though you have a fairly close relationship with your Guru, being that you are able to speak with him regularly. I would think that you could offer your obeisances to him when you see him, and when you arise, with hands folded, say something simple like "Jai Srila Gurudeva". And perhaps upon leaving his darshan, say something like "You are an ocean of mercy." I wouldn't think that it would be necessary to overdo it, as his time is most likely limited and he would probably rather preach and interract with other devotees as well. If he visits your home, or on special days like Guru Puja, then those are times when you may glorify your Guru further, expressing your gratitude and appreciation, along with offering flowers at his lotus feet, and perhaps bathing his lotus feet. I doubt that he's expecting personal lavish praise on a daily basis. When one chants the mangal arotika prayers, as well as Gayatri mantra and other prayers, this is also a form of offering respects to one's Gurudeva. As long as he knows that you respect him, he's probably far more interested that you perform your daily sadhana and service to the best of your abilities. Hope this helps somewhat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gHari Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 Remember that guru will pass all respect on to his guru and Sri Krsna. He will be glad that you are respecting both through him. He will think "I am only what guru and Krsna made me. I am pleased that he is praising Krsna and my guru maharaja so nicely. I must show him favor because he loves my guru and Krsna so much". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhakta Don Muntean Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 Haribol! Please accept my humble obeisances to all vaisnavas. Please could someone enlighten me on how to properly respect the spiritual master- especially when talking to him. I think I've developed an unhealthy habit of talking with too much familiarity with my guru and I really need to brush up on my ettiquette, but without sounding fake or like someone whose memorised meaningless honorific lines which may only end up insulting my guru's intelligence- which, trust me, is veeeeeerry sharp. In vedic times there are so many examples of Lord Krishna worshipping the brahmanas and speaking to them so sweetly, but how does one do this in practice when speaking to the guru? Does one have to tell him (the guru) he's great? with lots of wonderful adjectives? What exactly is it that the guru wants or expects in the address of his disciple? Please someone, who ideally is also initiated, have pity on my ignorance and take a few moments to reply to this query. No ignorance that I see! In my humble opinion I think that your Guru might like to hear you preach in an expert manner - preach to him in a way so as to bring his KC interest under your control - so that means that you have to learn some things. That is where Prabhupada's books come in - even Srila Prabhupada read his own books! If you want to you may download a free older version of the veda base and you can use the search feature [much like searching] and thus approach the whole of the teachings of Srila Prabhupada on a topic by topic basis - in this way you can navigate through endless topics [being mindfull of proper context]. Find it here: http://www.winsite.com/bin/Info?26500000037010 It is a little older but it is everything and it is not all that complicated - if you have questions about the program just ask - I'll try to answer [or others may answer too] - it's not the windows version but it has all the books etc., and it's free. Your Guru should not be expected to answer all your questions. If he has only a few students - that may be another matter - but - I'm sure he has many. Better that you listen when he does speak and when you can learn something [i'm sure you know much now] - inspire him in a surprise discourse. Ys, BDM So Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 Haribol! All Glories to the vaishnavas. First of all a million thanks to nimbo pani, gHari and Bhakta Don Muntean for taking the time to respond to my query- I really appreciate it. I think that certainly of late I had been seeking the advice of my Guru a lot and it was the increased association which had prompted this feeling within me. My Gurudeva is so compassionate that He always makes time for His disciples when they need it- even though He has a *lot* of disciples around the world. I definately appreciate the concept of making selfless service the offering of respect and gratitude to my Gurudeva from what you have all kindly contributed. I remember Srila Prabhupada said that vani association is much more powerful that vapuh, and that it was His spiritually weaker disciples to whom he had to give more of his personal time. So I really hope I can become spiritually stronger. I had a small realization today, as today I had for the first time in a long time the inclination to lie down and really pray (as opposed to just chant my rounds). Having a Spiritual master doesn't mean one should pray less because one has the resource of having a servant of the Lord to ask questions to. Praying sometimes underestimated (well it was my me) I think- becuase its always "chant, chant, chant- chanting will solve all your problems", but often praying to the Lord is much more effective as your mind is really concentrated. Just a personal observation and it is no way meant to minimise the chanting of the Holy Names which is always the paramount spiritual practice for all followers of Lord Chaitanya MahaPrabhu. I can imagine that for most of the devotees reading this it must be a pretty basic realization. Anyway, after having a "good old pray" over something that I was considering asking my Gurudev about, the intensity over the problem has dissapeared and my heart feels calm. How merciful the Lord is; truly how can we do *anything* without His grace? The final thing that wished to comment on was the final post by Bhakta Don Muntean as it caught me so much with surprise. "In my humble opinion I think that your Guru might like to hear you preach in an expert manner - preach to him in a way so as to bring his KC interest under your control - so that means that you have to learn some things." Dear Bhakta Don Muntean prabhuji, perhaps you have mistaken me for some very advanced devotee who has the capacity to preach to my Gurudev, but personally I don't feel the means (the advancement in devotion) or the inclination (I don't wish to kill whatever humility I am trying to develop in my fallen heart) to do such a thing as preach to my Gurudeva. Perhaps I have misunderstood what you are trying to say (if so please correct me) but my feeling is that to "preach to him in a way so as to bring his KC interest under your control" would be a very audacious and offensive thing to even attempt- to even think about. I don't know, perhaps I have not really grasped what you mean to say but the above was my understanding. Please forgive me if I am wrong. "Your Guru should not be expected to answer all your questions." - Yes I think thats something that strck me as very true and I will keep it in my mind in the future. "Better that you listen when he does speak" yes my Gurdevas words are quite measured and tend to contain a lot of meaning in a few words. I have noticed that to really listen I have to stop concentrating on what I mean to say and just be silent so as to really assimilate what He's saying. "and when you can learn something [i'm sure you know much now] - inspire him in a surprise discourse."- this final comment really made me laugh out loud; I don't see what I could have a "surprise discourse" with my Gurudeva about. Really, I'm lucky to have a Gurudev who is vastly learned in the scriptures as well as being highly advanced in devotion. I am really a blip compared to Him. Actually, composing this post has led me to the realization of that fact. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me come to these realizations; my heartfelt obeisances to you all. Jaya Srila Gurudeva! Jaya Srlia Prabhupada! Jaya Sri Nityananda Prapbhu! Jaya Sri Krishna Chaitanya MahaPrabu! Jaya Sri Sri Radha Krishna! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimbo pani Posted April 25, 2006 Report Share Posted April 25, 2006 Dear Trying, I believe I understand the dilemma which you are trying to express: that due to your regular and fairly extensive association with your Gurudeva, and even becoming somewhat "familiar", you wish to clarify the proper etiquette. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) Your situation is somewhat unique, as most of us probably have not had that kind of close, daily interraction with our Spiritual Masters. The tendency to become familiar is probably fairly common amongst those who are or who have been in your situation. How to maintain a mood of awe and reverence? Most likely it is easier said than done. However, praying, (as you mentioned), and especially reciting prayers from previous Acharyas (recommended in NOD) such as Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur and Srila Narottama das Thakur will surely help. There are some sweet songs devoted towards internalizing one's faith in Sri Guru, as well as towards Sri Nityananda Prabhu. As you know, the Guru is a manifestation of Nityananda Prabhu's causeless mercy and compassion. Remembering your devotional mood of awe and reverence for Lord Nityananda, you can transfer that same mood towards your Gurudeva and overcome these feelings of familiarity. Sometimes the tendency may exist whereby we overcompensate our feelings of familiarity by overglorifying (externally) our Gurudeva while in his physical presence. However, he knows our hearts, which is why it is more important to internalize our moods. Then, when we offer obeisances and say "Jai Srila Gurudeva", it will be genuine, and the Guru will surely sense what is heartfelt and what is not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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