Reading Srila Prabhupada Straight: Is there a formula?

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On 08 Nov 1999, webcon-reach wrote:

 

> Hare Krishna,

>

> There is no formula that guarantees going back to Godhead.

 

There is a guaranteed working process. If one purely serves the order of the

spiritual master, he is going back to Godhead; that's what this is saying:

 

"The bona fide representative of God is as good as God Himself. Or, in other

words, the loving representative of the Lord is more kind and more easy to

approach. A sinful soul cannot approach the Lord directly, but such a sinful

man can very easily approach a pure devotee of the Lord. And if one agrees to

put himself under the guidance of such a devotee of the Lord, he can also

understand the science of God and can also become like the transcendental pure

devotee of the Lord AND THUS GET HIS LIBERATION BACK TO GODHEAD, BACK HOME FOR

ETERNAL HAPPINESS." (Bhag. 2.7.46)

 

> -- Is following the orders of the guru enough? Not unless one follows all

the orders. If one follows selected orders, then the service may not be

enough. If one follows the orders, but has a tinge of personal desire, he is

not perfect in following orders.

 

The guru tells you to do something and you do it. That's what it means to

follow the order. He's not going to tell you ten million things.

 

"It is stated in Bhagavad-gita that no one is barred from rendering service to

the Lord . Whether one is a woman or a laborer or a merchant, if he engages

himself in the devotional service of the Lord he is promoted to the highest

perfectional state and goes back home, back to Godhead . The devotional

service most suitable for different types of devotees is determined and fixed

by the mercy of the spiritual master." (Bhag. 3.25.28)

 

> -- One may follow orders, rules, regulations, but if one does not have

the mercy of Guru and Krishna, he can never obtain love of God.

 

How can you receive a particular service to perform if he is not merciful to

you? You have to receive the devotional service from the spiritual master.

That's his mercy. That's what constitutes initiation (the seed of bhakti).

That's mercy. Since devotional service to Krsna is nondifferent from Him, you

are actually receiving Krsna through the mercy of guru (and vice-versa). You

ONLY meet up with a guru by Krsna's mercy! Then it's up to you whether you

are going to follow his direction (accept Krsna's mercy) or do your own thing

(reject Krsna's mercy).

 

> action. We should act so as to deserve mercy, but we cannot demand it in

> exchange for faithful service.

 

You can't have any devotional service to perform unless you have received some

mercy already.

 

> -- If one follows even 99% of the orders of the spiritual master, but

> offends Vaishnavas, he can never become elevated.

 

I said following purely; if you add your own mental concoctions or ideas to

that order, that's not following the order of the spiritual master.

 

> -- Following orders must be accompanied by development of love of God in

> order to reach fruition.

 

The devotional service itself is guaranteeing development of love of Godhead.

Or are you thinking of some other process for that??? Here you are also

thinking of the order of the spiritual master as some superficial activity to

devotional service.

 

> -- We cannot serve Krishna except if we are pure.

 

Yeah, and Srila Prabhupada is saying if we PURELY serve the order of the guru,

we are doing pure devotional service (see another ref. below).

 

>However, the spiritual

> master can accept our impure service and offer it to Krishna. It that way

> our service becomes pure. Prabhupada once told the pujaris, "You are not

> serving Krishna. I am serving Krishna and you are assisting me."

 

That's also true. If you can't purely serve the order of the spiritual master

then the guru personally has to accept/reject everything you do.

 

> I'm not trying to take a side in the "works versus faith" issue. I only

want to point out that no formula can be applied to everyone.

 

That's taking sides. You are saying the samething- following the order of the

spiritual master is not enough.

 

> personal process. We each need to take personal responsibility for doing the

> needful, while remembering, "All paths do not lead to the same destination."

 

Only devotional service is the path. Bhaktya-mam-abhijanati. And this

devotional service is the order of the spiritual master (or Krsna Himself) and

confirmed by sastra. There is no other path. All other paths have to

eventually come to this point.

 

Ref: 11/4/1972 Vrindavan:

 

"Actually, devotional service depends on the main principles,

s'ravan.am^ kiirtanam^ vis.n.oh. smaran.am^ paada-sevanam, arcanam^ vandanam^

daasyam. But within the category of daasyam,... Just like Hanumaan,

Hanumaanjii: he was engaged in the platform of daasyam. Arjuna was engaged in

the platform of sakhyam. So they were also working very hard . The Battlefield

of Kuruks.etra, it was not a place of sitting down very easily and silently.

When he was fighting, he was fighting just like a soldier . He took all the

duties of a soldier . But it was being fought

for Kr.s.n.a. That is the attraction . That is pure devotional service.

Kr.s.n.a also gave him certificate: bhakto 'si priyo 'si. "My dear Arjuna, you

are My dear friend and devotee." So by any action, if it is

dovetailed for the satisfaction of Kr.s.n.a, that is devotional service,

and one can attract Kr.s.n.a, attention of Kr.s.n.a. Attention of Kr.s.n.a can

be attracted by pure devotional service, WITHOUT ANY PERSONAL MOTIVE. If it is

... And that motive, that order, is received through the disciplic succession

of the spiritual master, how Kr.s.n.a will be pleased . In the present

condition, we do not know how Kr.s.n.a will be pleased, but we know from the

s'aastras ... We can know also from the direction of the spiritual master how

Kr.s.n.a will be pleased . Yasya prasaadaad bhagavat-prasaadah.. So

Vis'vanaatha Cakravartii T.haakura says you have to follow the direction of

the spiritual master . He's guiding as a leader . And if he's pleased, that

means Kr.s.n.a is pleased . Yasya prasaadaad bhagavat-prasaadah.."

 

your servant,

 

Virender

http://www.krishnasoft.com