Srila Prabhupada speaks on guru-tattva: who is the bona-fide guru

[Guest guest]

> "A neophyte Vaisnava or a Vaisnava

> situated on the intermediate platform can also accept disciples, but such

> disciples must be on the same platform, and it should be understood that

> they cannot advance very well toward the ultimate goal of life under his

> insufficient guidance. Therefore a disciple should be careful to accept an

> uttama-adhikari as a spiritual master."

>

> Any guru can take on disciples, but the uttama-adhikari is preferred. Now

> it does not say that the disciples of gurus of lesser faith go to hell.

> They cannot advance under *HIS* insufficient guidance so the books tells

> them to take shelter of an uttama-adhikari BUT NOT FOR REINITIATION! The

> devotional service is still valid else it would say the neophyte gurus are

> bogus. There are many pages devoted to exposing mayavadis and bogus gurus

> but here it is CLEARLY saying that neophyte gurus can accept disciples

> which means the devotional service they receive is VALID! Now Srila

> Prabhupada is an uttama-adhikari and his vani is nondifferent from him so

> they have to take shelter of Sastra and/or siksa-guru. The initiating

> guru fixes your devotional service so here the devotional service is STILL

> valid and eternally so! Some mental speculators selectively quote the

> above to tell people to go out and look for an uttama-adhikari and get

> reinitiated or that the neophyte gurus are bogus, but that's just

> speculation.

 

 

Some time ago a devotee posted on COM the above text in order to prove that

to become an initiating guru one doesn't have to have any God- or

self-realization, in other words, an initiating guru can be neophyte. This

is another example of trying to understand the words of a maha-bhagavata

Vaisnava on one's own, without proper guidance of a living Vaisnava of the

same calibre.

 

The statements of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada given below

ought to dismantle this Kali-yuga conception of guru-tattva, which has

created so much havoc and disturbance for the last twenty years. His verdict

is clear: a bona-fide guru must be fully self-realized and God-realized. He

"must have seen Krsna".

 

"Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from

him submissively and render service unto him. The *self-realized* souls can

impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth." (BG 4.34)

 

 

"When one has attained the topmost position of *maha-bhagavata* (perfected

devotee), he is to be accepted as a guru and worshiped exactly like Hari,

the

Personality of Godhead. *Only such a person* is eligible to occupy the post

of

guru." (Madhya 24.330p.)

 

 

"The word tattva-darsi refers to one who has *perfectly realized* the

Supreme

Personality of Godhead. Such a person can become a guru and propound

Vaisnava philosophy all over the world." (SB 5.15.4p.)

 

 

"So the qualification of guru is, he should be mahatma, and muni. Muni means

philosopher, and mahatma means *God-realized*. Really, mahatma means

God-realized." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.5.29 -- Vrndavana, August 10, 1974)

 

 

"Unless one is initiated by the right person, who always carries within his

heart the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one cannot acquire the power to

carry the Supreme Godhead within the core of one's own heart." (SB

10.2.18p.)

 

 

"Now, one may question, "Whether you have seen Krsna?" So how Krsna can be

seen? Yes. A spiritual master *must have seen Krsna*. Without seeing, he

cannot be spiritual master. But how Krsna can be seen? Krsna can be seen

by love." (Bhagavad-gita 4.34-39 -- Los Angeles, January 12, 1969)

 

 

"To go back to Godhead, the path is mahat-seva, to accept the

*self-realized*

spiritual master." (SB 7.15.41p.)

 

 

"Atma-vit means a *self-realized* soul or bona fide spiritual master. Unless

one is self-realized and knows what his relationship with the Supersoul

is, he cannot be a bona fide spiritual master." (SB 3.28.2p.)

 

 

"Whatever the bona fide, *self-realized* spiritual master says must be

accepted." (Second Chance 1: Separating the Men From the Animals)

 

 

"When by learning from the *self-realized* spiritual master one actually

engages himself in the service of Lord Visnu, functional devotional service

begins." (Adi 1.47p.)

 

 

"Therefore there is no possibility of receiving perfect knowledge without

approaching a *self-realized* Spiritual Master coming down in disciplic

succession." (Letter to: Janaki -- Los Angeles 28 February, 1969)

 

 

"The spiritual master is the mercy representative of the Lord. Therefore, a

person burning in the flames of material existence may receive the rains

of mercy of the Lord through the transparent medium of the *self-realized*

spiritual master." (SB 1.7.22p.)

 

 

"But in spite of reading and hearing such scriptures, unless one is in touch

with a *realized* spiritual master, he cannot actually realize the real

nature of self, etc." (SB 2.3.1p.)

 

 

"The bona fide spiritual master desires that his disciples know the process

of rendering transcendental service to the Lord, and the disciples also

know that they have to learn about the eternal relationship between God

and the living entity from a *self-realized* soul." (SB 3.7.38p.)

 

 

"In this verse the word prabhu is also significant. As stated before, when

one is completely self-realized and acts according to that position, he

can be called prabhu. The spiritual master is addressed as "Prabhupada"

because he is a *completely self-realized* soul. The word pada means

"position," and Prabhupada indicates that he is given the position of

prabhu, or the Supreme Personality of Godhead, for he acts on behalf of the

Supreme Personality of Godhead. Unless one is a prabhu, or controller of

the senses, he cannot act as spiritual master, who is authorized by the

supreme prabhu, or Lord Krsna." (SB 4.23.18p.)

 

 

"These are Vedic injunctions. One must take shelter of a *self-realized*

spiritual master, not a materially educated scholar or politician. One

must take shelter of a niskincana, a person engaged in devotional service

and free from material contamination." (SB 7.5.32p.)

 

 

"Person Bhagavatam is the *self-realized* bona fide spiritual master, and

*through him only* can one understand the lessons of Bhagavatam in order to

receive the desired result." (SB 1.3.40p.)

 

 

"Satisfaction of the *self-realized* spiritual master is the secret of

advancement in spiritual life." (Bg 4.34p.)

 

 

"The answer to your Istagosthi questions are as follows: Unless one is a

resident of Krishna Loka, one cannot be a Spiritual Master. That is the

first

proposition. A layman cannot be a Spiritual Master, and if he becomes so

then

he will simply create disturbance..."

 

"Your next question, whether the Spiritual Master was formerly a conditioned

soul, actually a bona fide Spiritual Master is never a conditioned soul..."

 

"You are correct when you say that when the Spiritual Master speaks it

should be taken that Krishna is speaking. That is a fact. A Spiritual Master

must be liberated. It does not matter if he has come from Krishna Loka or he

is liberated from here. But he must be liberated."

(Letter to: Mukunda -- New Vrindaban 10 June, 1969)

 

 

"One should not become a spiritual master unless he has attained the

platform of uttama-adhikari." (NOI 5p.)

 

 

"...the conclusion is that a spiritual master who is *one hundred percent*

Krsna

conscious is the bonafide spiritual master, for he can solve the problems of

life." (BG 2.8)

 

-----------

 

Sometimes we hear devotees interpreting the words "self-realized" or

"liberated" as having understood (superficially) oneself to be an eternal

servant of Krsna or being fully engaged (externally) in devotional service,

and so on. Here are some quotes from Srila Prabhupada revealing that by real

self-realization and liberation he means svarupa-siddhi, or understanding

one's relationship with the Lord in a particular rasa:

 

 

"When we are actually in the liberated stage of knowledge, we can understand

that our relationship with the Lord is in a particular rasa. That platform

is called svarupa-siddhi, or real self-realization." (Path of Yoga 7: Yoga

as Reestablishing

Relations with Krsna)

 

 

"And when we are actually in the liberated stage of all knowledge, we can

understand that "Our relationship with the Lord is in this way." That is

called svarupa-siddhi. That is real self-realization. That is real

self-realization." (Bhagavad-gita 6.1-4 -- New York, September 2, 1966)

 

 

"...we have got an eternal relationship with Krsna, either as father, or as

lover, or as servant, like that. So that is self-realization. When you

will be perfect in love, in loving Krsna, then in what status of life you

will love, that you will under... That will be revealed. That is called

svarupa-siddhi. So svarupa-siddhi is not something artificial. When one

becomes perfectly spiritually realized, then he understands what is his

relationship with Krsna..." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.38 --Bombay, December 7,

1974)

 

 

"When you are liberated, you will understand in which way you are related

with Krsna. That is called svarupa-siddhi." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 6.3.16-17 --

Gorakhpur, February 10, 1971)

 

 

"Svarupa-siddhi means to be engaged in the service of Lord. That is real

mukti,

mukti hitva anyatha rupam sva-rupena vyavasthitih. Purification." (The

Nectar

of Devotion -- Bombay, January 9, 1973)

 

 

"They are five relationship. Any one of them, when we are actually

liberated, free from material contamination, we being eternal part and

parcel of God, the particular relationship is revived. That is called

svarupa-siddhi, revival of our original relationship with God."

(Philosophy Discussion with Hayagriva dasa on William James)

 

 

"This lalasamayi stage of submission comes in the stage of perfect

liberation, which is technically called svarupa-siddhi, when the living

entity understands, by perfect spiritual advancement and revelation, his

original relationship with the Lord." (NOD 9)

 

 

"As soon as one is freed from all the dirt of material contamination, as

Maharaja Yayati was, one's original position as an associate of the Lord

is revealed. This is called svarupa-siddhi, or personal perfection."

(SB 9.19.26p.)

 

 

"When one is completely free from material attachment, the feelings of the

transcendental mellows are awakened in the heart of the devotee. That is

svarupa-siddhi, the perfection of one's eternal relationship with the

Supreme Lord." (Madhya 8.83)