Who can act as our spiritual master?

[krsna]

Who can act as our spiritual master?

 

Only that great personality who has been sent by the Lord from the spiritual

world into this world to deliver fallen souls like us, who delivers people

who are afflicted with the threefold miseries and sends them back to

Godhead, who is most dear to the Supreme Lord and who represents Him, and

who is the messenger of transcendental subject matter, is capable of acting

as our spiritual master. He is an actual devotee and an actual spiritual

master whose ax-like words remain always sharpened to sacrifice our

propensities for material enjoyment and dry renunciation.

A spiritual master is that person who has no concept, duty, or business

other than Krsna's service, and who understand that Krsna is the only object

of service. He is not eager to hear anyone's flattery and he is a brave

preacher of the Absolute Truth.

 

One who does not speak anything other than hari-katha, who does not instruct

others to do anything but serve Hari, and who does not himself engage even

for a moment in any activity other than such service, is qualified to be a

spiritual master. An insincere hypocrite cannot be guru. One who aspires for

mundane activities cannot become a spiritual master. Pseudo spiritual

masters should be exposed. If a spiritual master utilizes the ingredients

collected by his disciples-the wealth, alms, etc.-for his own enjoyment or

simply to accumulate gold, women, and fame, his disciples should totally

reject such a spiritual master, knowing him to be a cheater. We should not

hear anything from such dishonest persons. A person who usurps the

ingredients meant for Krsna's service can never be called a spiritual

master.

 

The Naradiya Puråna states, iha yasya harer dasye, karmana manasa

gira/ nikhilasv apy avasthasu, jivan-mukta? sa ucyate: "A person acting in

Krsna consciousness with his body, mind, intelligence, and words, is a

liberated person even within the material world, although he may be engaged

in many so-called material activities."

We need not associate with the atheists who have come to engage in social

service rather than Krsna's service. Such people can benefit neither

themselves nor others. While performing social service, they fall into

maya's pit and make others fall into that pit also. We do not associate with

those who make a show of chanting the holy names on beads just to cheat the

Lord, or who raise a great hue and cry yet do not see Krsna in every sound

vibration and Gaurasundara in every utterance. The goal of all knowledge is

to develop our relationship with Krsna.

 

If we develop a propensity to serve

the Lord under the spiritual master's order, in the association of devotees,

we will learn to see the entire world as made for the Lord's service. We

will then utilize everything we see for that service and thus attain

auspiciousness.

If we associate and serve that great personality who sees the Lord

everywhere, who sees everything in relation to the Lord, who sees his

spiritual master everywhere, who thinks himself humbler than a blade of

grass, who is more tolerant than a tree, who does not desire respect for

himself, who is always ready to respect others, and who in this way

constantly chants the Lord's holy name, then the path to perfection will

open. Simply out of good fortune, we obtain such a bona fide spiritual

master.

 

We cannot reach Gaurasundara's shelter by accepting a servant of

Maya as our spiritual master and thus maintaining our enjoying spirit.

Although Sri Gaurasundara may not currently be present in this world, if we

sincerely associate with guru and the Vaisnavas, dovetailing our mentality

with the mentality of such Vaisnavas-if we mix our desire with their

desire-then we will, by the mercy of Sri Gaurasundara, certainly attain

auspiciousness. If we can take complete shelter at the lotus feet of a

spiritual master who is conversant with the science of Krsna, then by his

proper association, service, and subordination we will attain ultimate

benefit.

 

(From Srila Bhaktisiddhanta "Amrta Vani", an upcoming book)