How can a person tell he has a genuine guru?

[krsna]

Reporter: How can a person tell he has a genuine guru?

 

Srila Prabhupada: Can any of my students answer this question? Disciple: Once I remember John Lennon asked you, "How will I know who is the genuine guru?" And you answered, "Just find out the one who is most addicted to Krishna. He is genuine."

 

Srila Prabhupada: Yes. The genuine guru is God's representative, and he speaks about God and nothing else. The genuine guru is he who has no interest in materialistic life. He is after God, and God only. That is one of the tests of a genuine guru: brahma-nistham. He is absorbed in the Absolute Truth. In the Mundaka Upanisad it is stated, srotriyam brahma-nistham: "The genuine guru is well versed in the scriptures and Vedic knowledge, and he is completely dependent on Brahman." He should know what Brahman [spirit] is and how to become situated in Brahman. These signs are given in the Vedic literature. As I said before, the real guru is God's representative. He represents the Supreme Lord, just as a viceroy represents a king. The real guru will not manufacture anything. Everything he says is in accordance with the scriptures and the previous acaryas. He will not give you a mantra and tell you that you will become God in six months. This is not a guru's business. A guru's business is to canvass everyone to become a devotee of God. That is the sum and substance of a real guru's business. Indeed, he has no other business. He tells whomever he sees, "Please become God conscious." If he canvasses somehow or other on behalf of God and tries to get everyone to become a devotee of God, he is a genuine guru.

 

[gHari]

He knows his guru and all predecessor gurus were bona fide. Then there can be no doubt.

 

This is not to say that we do not still have to cry for Krsna, but with guru we can develop that absolute attachment/greed/need for Krsna that will bring us honestly naturally to absolute unbearable desolation.

 

Krsna will then want to see us; He is too kind to let our hearts drop endlessly into that bottomless pit of despair.

 

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[krsna]

Who's a Genuine Guru?

John Lennon: Yes, we should go to a true master. But how are we to tell one from the other?

 

 

Srila Prabhupada: It is not that you can go to just any spiritual master. He must be a member of a recognized sampradaya, a particular line of disciplic succession.

 

 

John Lennon: But what if one of these masters who's not in the line says exactly the same thing as one who is? What if he says his mantra is coming from the Vedas and he seems to speak with as much authority as you? He could probably be right. It's confusing like having too many fruits on a plate.

 

 

Srila Prabhupada: If the mantra is actually coming through a bona fide disciplic succession, then it will have potency.

 

 

John Lennon: But the Hare Krishna mantra is the best one?

 

 

Srila Prabhupada: Yes.

 

 

Yoko Ono: Well, if Hare Krishna is the best one, why should we bother to say anything else other than Hare Krishna?

 

 

Srila Prabhupada: It's true, you don't have to bother with anything else. We say that the Hare Krishna mantra is sufficient for one's perfection, for liberation.

 

George Harrison: Isn't it like flowers? Somebody may prefer roses, and somebody may like carnations better. Isn't it really a matter for the individual devotee to decide? One person may find that Hare Krishna is more beneficial to his spiritual progress, and yet another person may find that some other mantra may be more beneficial for himself. Isn't it just a matter of taste, like choosing a flower? They're all flowers, but some people may like one better than another.

 

 

Srila Prabhupada: But still there is a distinction. A fragrant rose is considered better than a flower without any scent.

 

 

Yoko Ono: In that case, I can't

 

 

Srila Prabhupada: Let's try to understand this flower example.

 

 

Yoko Ono: O.K.

 

 

Srila Prabhupada: You may be attracted by one flower, and I may be attracted by another flower. But among the flowers a distinction can be made. There are many flowers that have no fragrance and many that have fragrance.

 

 

Yoko Ono: Is that flower that has fragrance better?

 

 

Srila Prabhupada: Yes. Therefore, your attraction for a particular flower is not the solution to the question of which is actually better. In the same way, personal attraction is not the solution to choosing the best spiritual process. In Bhagavad-gita [4.11], Lord Krishna says, "All of them -- as they surrender unto Me -- I reward accordingly. Everyone follows My path in all respects, O son of Pritha." Krishna is the Supreme Absolute. If someone wants to enjoy a particular relationship with Him, Krishna presents Himself in that way. It's just like the flower example. You may want a yellow flower, and that flower may not have any fragrance. That flower is there; it's for you, that's all. But if someone wants a rose, Krishna gives him a rose. You both get the flower of your choice, but when you make a comparative study of which is better, the rose will be considered better.

 

 

Yoko Ono: I see a pattern in what you've said. For instance, you said that Hare Krishna is the most superpowerful word. And if that is true, then why do we bother to utter any other words? I mean, is it necessary? And why do you encourage us, saying that we're songwriters and all, to write any other song than Hare Krishna?

 

 

Srila Prabhupada: Chanting the Hare Krishna mantra is the recommended process for cleaning our hearts. So actually one who chants Hare Krishna regularly doesn't have to do anything else. He is already in the correct position. He doesn't have to read any books.

 

 

Yoko Ono: Yes, I agree. So why do you say that it's all right to write songs, speak, and all that? It's a waste of time, isn't it?

 

 

Srila Prabhupada: No, it's not a waste of time. For instance, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu would spend most of His time simply chanting. He was a sannyasi, a member of the renounced spiritual order of life. So, He was criticized by great sannyasis, who said, "You have become a sannyasi, and yet You do not read the Vedanta-sutra. You are simply chanting and dancing." In this way, they criticized His constant chanting of Hare Krishna. But when Caitanya Mahaprabhu met such stalwart scholars, He did not remain silent. He established the chanting of Hare Krishna by sound arguments based on the Vedic scriptures.

 

[gHari]

"He travelled south to Totadri and then to Shrirang Kshetra. Here, he offered sincere devotion to Ramanujacharya, the exponent of Vishishtadvaita. Soon, Ramanujacharya appeared in a divine vision and initiated him into Vaishnavism. Ramanand Swami then travelled to Vrindavan, the city of Lord Krishna's divine sports.

 

His purity of devotion to Lord Krishna then culminated in His divine darshan, the acme of his spiritual endeavours. Yet this profound experience neither induced him to stay in Vrindavan, nor to return to Ayodhya; both sacred and ideally suited for founding a fellowship."

 

That described a pastime of the spiritual master of Sahajanand Swami. Sahajanand Swami is also commonly known now as Swaminarayan.