Scriptural authority/GURU

[Guest guest]

Dear Dasanudas,

 

Thank you very much for your very extensive reply. I have already read a

large number of books by Srila Prabhupada, including the "Bhagavad-gita As

It Is", and I 'm in the course of reading the Srimad Bhaghavatam. Although

I know that at the end of the day, the only real GURU is PARAMATMA, there

are occasions when guidance from someone in the flesh would be highly

beneficial. As you rightly say, "we have to depend on the kind

mercy of God" to provide us with what we need and "ultimately we have to

pray very sincerely and let the Lord arrange to send us a qualified guru",

an opinion well mirrored by the posting of Visvanathan of 15/03.

 

But, as Natabara rightly pointed out in his posting of 16/03, it all depends

on one's karma in life, as shown by the 9th house in the birth chart which

relates to the Guru . If one is not meant to meet his or her Guru (and by

Guru, I mean a 'Spiritual Master', not just a simple 'teacher') in this

lifetime, then I expect it won't happen and if one is meant to be

cheated, then I suspect this will also happen. Do you agree?

 

Thank you for your insight.

 

Namaste

Dany

 

--

Bhaktisiddhartha Dasanudas <dasanu>

<gjlist>

Wednesday, March 14, 2001 7:08 PM

RE: [gjlist] Scriptural authority

 

>

> | >So I always recommend to people to accept the authority of Krsna,

sastra

> | and guru<

> |

> | But where do you find a BONA FIDE GURU that will fulfill such a role,

and

> | have the desired qualities?

> |

> |

> | Thank you for your comments.

> | Namaste.

> | Dany

> |

>

> Dany,

>

> We have to use our best intelligence and discrimination to search for a

> qualified guru, but in the end, we have to depend on the kind mercy of

God.

> We ourselves are unenlightened, therefore if we try to choose a guru on

our

> own strength we will invariably be cheated. We have to educate ourselves

in

> the qualities of pure devotion, and become qualified by attaining some

> degree of purity ourselves. Becoming vegetarian and chanting the Holy

Names

> of God will purify our body and intelligence. But still, without having

> perfection in self-realization ourselves, how do we know what to look for?

> Mere numbers of followers proves nothing. There are many phonies who would

> like to cheat us.

>

> So ultimately we have to pray very sincerely and let the Lord arrange to

> send us a qualified guru. It is good not to be in a hurry, but observe the

> prospective guru over a long period to verify his qualifications. For

> example, my guru Srila Prabhupada waited over 13 years before taking

> initiation from his guru Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati. And we have seen in

> ISKCON that some neophytes pretending to be guru managed to maintain the

> pretense for some time, but ultimately they fell down or were otherwise

> exposed as cheaters. So be very careful.

>

> The pure devotee of God is very rare. Krsna says in the Gita, "Out of many

> thousands among men, one may endeavor for perfection, and of those who

have

> achieved perfection, hardly one knows Me in truth." [7.3] So even among

> advanced devotees, it is very rare to find a completely pure devotee who

is

> presenting the teachings and purpose of the Lord in unadulterated form.

> Maybe once in a century or so, God sends His pure servant to represent

Him.

> Golokera prema-dhana, harinama sankirtana. The yuga-dharma is mercy coming

> down from above, it is not an ascending movement. The guru must be a

> resident of the spiritual world come down to earth to pick us up. An

> advanced student who is climbing up out of the material muck can of course

> help us, but this is second-class guru.

>

> Of course I can recommend my guru Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's books

for

> further transcendental education and enlightenment. Actually if you have

the

> vision, you can approach him through his books. His Bhagavad-gita As It Is

> is especially helpful, since it puts not only the Gita but the entire

Vedic

> literature in perspective. You can read it at www.asitis.com. The ultimate

> encyclopedia of Vedic lore is Srila Prabhupada's Srimad-Bhagavatam. You

can

> read various excerpts from it at

> http://www.webcom.com/~ara/col/books/CLAS/bhag/welcome.html and

> http://www.srimadbhagavatam.org/contents.html.

>

> Of course the best thing is to read the entire work with purports.

However,

> the next best alternative is to read the life story of Lord Krsna at

> http://www.krsnabook.com/. For a nice capsule biography of Srila

Prabhupada

> go to http://www.stephen-knapp.com/a_c_bhaktivedanta_swami_prabhupada.htm.

> Actually it is very difficult to describe or understand Srila Prabhupada's

> qualifications. His appearance in this world was literally an answer to

the

> prayers of many great devotees. He fulfilled prophecies made hundreds of

> years earlier by Lord Chaitanya, the incarnation of Lord Krsna Himself. So

> Srila Prabhupada is no ordinary guru, nor even a very great guru: he is

> considered a saktyavesa-avatar, or empowered incarnation of the Lord.

>

> Srila Prabhupada is certainly still accessible through his books and

> recordings if one has sufficient motivation and purity to receive his

> influence. Other than him I cannot really recommend anyone to approach as

> guru. In this vein I will conclude with a couplet by our predecessor guru

> Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur, who wrote, "He speaks ill who says that

Vaisnavas

> die, when thou art living yet in sound. Vaisnavas die to live, and living,

> spread the Holy Name around."

>

> All the best,

> Dasanudas

>

>

>

> gjlist-

>

>

>

> Your use of is subject to

>

>