Initiation (?!) first step - admitting mistakes

[Guest guest]

>

> Admiting mistakes is vary rare thing to behold, especially

> among those, who are basing their power of authority on the

> image of "unalloyed, infalliable, all-knowledgeble person".

 

Prabhupada: Yes, they're also pure devotees because they're following my

instruction. Just like a technician, he is expert, but somebody is assisting

him.

So the assistants, because they are following the instruction of the expert,

therefore their work is also complete. So it is not necessarily that one has to

become pure devotee immediately. Just like we are also following the

instruction of

our spiritual master. I don't claim that I am pure devotee or perfect, but my

only

qualification is that I am trying to follow the instruction of the perfect.

Similarly... This is called disciplic succession. Just like here it is stated

that

Krsna is the original spiritual master and Arjuna is the original student. So

Arjuna said that sarvam etad rtam manye yad vadasi kesava [bg. 10.14]. "My dear

Krsna, whatever You are saying, I accept in toto," in the Tenth Chapter. Just

like

Dr. Radhakrishnan says, "It is not to Krsna, it is something else." He does not

accept in that way. He says that "Whatever You are saying, I accept it. You are

saying that You are the Supreme, I accept it. I don't say that You have got a

separate thing within. That is Supreme, You are not Supreme, as person." This

is

impersonalist. They do not know that Krsna has no such... A conditioned soul...

Just like we are, I am different from my soul. "I am" means my body, or I am

soul,

different from the body. So Krsna has no such differentiation. He does not know

that. Because he's not following Krsna, the perfect spiritual master. He's

following some rascal spiritual master. Therefore he has this mistake. But if

we

follow Arjuna and Krsna, then we get the perfect knowledge. We may not be cent

percent perfect, but as far as possible, if we follow the instruction as it is,

that much perfect. In this way one will get perfection.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Bhagavad-gita 2.1-10 and Talk -- Los Angeles, November 25,

1968

 

 

 

It is not that those who are preaching this Krsna cult, they are all perfect.

There

may be many deficiencies. Any conditional soul has got four deficiencies

naturally.

He is to commit mistakes. However great man he may be, surely, because he is

conditional soul, he'll commit mistake. You know. In our country Mahatma

Gandhi, he

was a great man undoubtedly, but he also committed mistake, so what to speak of

us?

A conditioned soul must commit mistake. And he must be illusioned. To accept

something as something else, that is called illusion. Just like illusion, best

example of illusion, is given that maya-maricika, to accept water in the

desert. An

animal sees that there is water in the desert, and being thirsty, he goes after

the

water, but the water also makes progress, and he also makes progress. In this

way

he dies. That is called illusion. Actually, there is no water, but he is

fleeing

after water. So for conditioned soul these are the defects. He is to commit

mistake, he is illusioned, and he has got a cheating propensity also. Everyone

is

thinking in transaction that "I have cheated that man very nicely. In business

transaction I have gained; he has lost." And of all the deficiencies, most

important deficiency is that our senses are imperfect. We say, "I want to see

God,"

but we forget that our eyes are so imperfect that I cannot see in the nearest

eyelid. As soon as I close my eyes, I do not see the eyelid. This is the power

of

my seeing. Therefore we should not be so much proud of our seeing power that

we'll

say that "I want to see God. Can you show me God?" This is not possible.

So these four deficiencies of conditioned soul are there; therefore we cannot

have

perfect knowledge by our mental speculation. That is not possible. We have to

receive knowledge from authorities. That is the process. Mahajano yena gatah sa

panthah [Cc. Madhya 17.186]. If we receive knowledge... Our process is that we

are

trying to receive knowledge from Krsna, the greatest mahajana, the greatest

authority, and if we follow the instruction of Krsna, then we are perfect. The

same

example, as Krsna Caitanya Mahaprabhu says,

amara ajnaya guru hana tara ei desa

yare dekha tare kaha ‘krsna'-upadesa

[Cc. Madhya 7.128]

This is necessary. It is not that you have to become completely perfect by

following certain process. If you simply perfectly follow the instruction of

Krsna,

then you become perfect. Other processes, yoga, dhyana, karma, jnana... There

are

many processes to make oneself perfect, but even becoming perfect, you cannot

understand Krsna. Yoginam. Manusyanam sahasresu kascid yatati siddhaye [bg.

7.3].

Siddhaye means perfection. Yatatam api siddhanam kascid vetti mam tattvatah.

Even

you become perfect, still, it is doubtful whether you have understood Krsna.

This

is the position.

Therefore the conclusion is that if you simply follow the perfect instruction

of

Krsna, then automatically you become perfect, however imperfect you may be.

 

>>> Ref. VedaBase => Pandal Lecture -- Bombay, April 6, 1971

[Guest guest]

> Pardon me? I'm not endorsing past lectures, I think it's

> personal business of anyone to decide, if he can find some

> benefit or not in them. The point is that if we find such

> lectures as full of deviating phylosophy, then we have to admit

> in total blindness over years, and first of all there should

> be some clear and free of sentiments explanation from mouths

> of our beloved higher authorities and GBC. They should exlain

> who is that only now they've found theological mistakes, and

> have to admit in their spiritual incompetence, at least till

> some extend.

 

I agree that some humility from those who misunderstood things side, will

always be welcome. I saw some signs of that in this year's GBC statement in

regards to Pradyumna prabhu etc, and that was a positive surprise. But I

think many of us need a lot more to really be satisfied, and to be convinced

that it is genuine humility, not just to satisfy the ears of today's

sceptical devotees.

 

Ys

Jatu