Upakarika or helper gurus of Srila Prabhupada, & is he taking all of us BTG ?

krsna · March 21, 2005

Great Souls Sometimes Re-appear

Can devotees appear, disappear and then re-appear? Well, in a way, all souls are re-appearing again and again by the process of reincarnation. This report is very different from that, it’s about the re-appearance of great saints who once walked this earth, and who are not obliged or forced to reincarnate into a material body again, but sometimes re-appear in their devotee form. It’s about life after the disappearance of the soul from a material body, and the difference between great acharyas and ordinary souls in this regard. It is about how and why great acharyas appear, and after disappearance, they sometimes they give special re-appearances, and are always giving mercy to the conditioned souls. Evidence is taken from the VedaBase, and some scientific evidence is taken from Sadaputa dasa’s writings.

Appearance and disappearance are the same

On Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s disappearance day, 12/13/73, Srila Prabhupada said-

“So there are two phases, prakata and aprakata, appearance and disappearance. So we have nothing to lament on account of disappearance because Krsna and Krsna's devotee... Not only devotees, even the nondevotees, nobody disappears. >> Srila Bhaktisiddhanta’s Disappearance Day - LA, Dec 13/73

For the devotee of Krishna, appearance and disappearance is the same thing. Every soul is eternal, but the great devotees are sat-cid-ananda before, during, and after their earthy pastimes. They are full of knowledge and bliss before they appear, they have the same consciousness while in an earthy body, and after they leave that body, they are still in prema consciousness. Ordinary souls are in ignorance before and after the occupancy of a material body, but this is not the case for Vaisnavas. Most of us don’t know where we were before birth, and don’t know what exactly will happen after death. But for the acharya, and the faithful devotee, death is like easily walking through a door into Vaikuntha.

Srila Prabhupada and the previous acharyas are always approachable by sincere souls-

Srila Prabhupada- “Vaisnava is always thinking himself helpless, helpless. And begging help from the previous acarya.” Bhagavad-gita 1.20 and- “The whole process is that we should always pray for the mercy of the superior acaryas and keep company with pure devotees. Then it will be easier for us to advance in Krsna consciousness and receive the mercy of Lord Caitanya and Lord Krsna.” > purport of song by Narottama dasa Thakura

Here, we see that Srila Prabhupada advises us to pray to the “superior acharyas” and beg for their help, or mercy. Praying for help from personalities who previously walked on this planet assumes that they are there within the range of our petition, they can hear us, they can reciprocate to our requests, and help us and bless us. Such personalities are great acharyas, and they are still living gurus, whether in material bodies, or out of material bodies. They are still on this planet, as seen in the next quote.

Even though great acharyas disappear, sometimes they give special re-appearance in personal forms-

O.B.L. Kapoor: "Prabhupada used to practice sadhana there. Even after their disappearance, the siddha (perfected) souls have a double personality, so to say. In one form they live in Golok Vrindavan, celestial Vrindavan. In another form they live in this world, in the form they used to live before as a sadhaka. Sometimes they also give darsan to their disciples. Nobody has gone anywhere else. Everybody is here. All the great souls are still here. If your heart is pure, you can have their darsan. Nobody has gone anywhere, everybody is here. It has been recorded that Jiva and Rupa Goswamis have given darsan to several devotees." > Ref. VedaBase => Prabhupada at Radha-Damodara 11

Here is it said, “Nobody has gone anywhere.” This is the statement of O.B.L. Kapoor, Srila Prabhupada’s godbrother, a long time Brijabasi. All the great acharyas are still here, still today, in Vrndavan India. It stands to reason, that since Lord Krishna is still here in His supreme abode, the earthy abode of Vrndavan, which is non-different from the original Goloka, then all His confidential associates are also with Him. Lord Krishna is never alone, He is always in the company of His eternal confidantes. Srila Prabhupada is still there too, with his Lord Krishna and Srila Rupa Gosvami and all the great acharyas. They are all in their sadhaka forms, in their beautiful forms as they appeared as devotees here on this earth. If we had a pure heart, then we could see them, (of course, nobody would believe us.) I once saw a painting of Srila Prabhupada and Srila Rupa Gosvami here in a room of our temple here in New Vrindavan, which depicted a transcendental meeting of our Srila Prabhupada and Srila Rupa Gosvami, and here are some accounts, which verify this transcendental meeting.

Great acharyas appear to Srila Prabhupada, in dream and in vision-

Gopal Ghosh: "That is where Prabhupada got the idea for ISKCON. It is where Prabhupada did his own personal bhajan. and there many times he told me that Rupa and Jiva Goswamis appeared to him in dreams. > PRD 11: "My Eternal Residence" * * * A disciple and former personal servant of Srila Prabhupada said that Srila Rupa Gosvami once appeared to Srila Prabhupada while he was staying at the Radha-Damodara temple in Vrndavana. Before coming to America in 1965, Srila Prabhupada lived here as a renounced sannyasi chanting Hari Nama, praying to Radha-Damodara and the Gosvamis, and translating the Srimad Bhagavatam into English. One day while honoring maha-prasadam, Srila Prabhupada was looking out of the window at the samadhi of Sri Rupa Gosvami. Suddenly, Sri Rupa Gosvami appeared before Srila Prabhupada and spoke these most encouraging words:

"Maharaja, don't worry about anything. Go ahead and travel to the West and preach. Just preach the message of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the chanting of Hare Krishna. You'll be successful. I guarantee because I will be right with you all the time." > GVSV: Darsana Stories

So we see that Jiva and Rupa Gosvamis have given darshan to several devotees, and Rupa Gosvami gave his personal darshan to Srila Prabhupada, and conferred upon him spoken words of blessings and assurance of success in his mission. Srila Prabhupada didn’t mention this to us, but Lord Krishna arranged that this be told, in order to glorify His devotee, Srila Prabhupada. We can be assured from Srila Prabhupada’s recommendation above, that if we sincerely pray to the previous acharyas, then they will surely hear and bless us. We have heard accounts of many devotees, old and young, who’ve had Srila Prabhupada’s darshan in either dream or visions.

One of the most famous and amazing re-appearance darshans of past acharyas, ever recorded in the written documents of Vaisnava history, was at the Kheturi festival organized by Narottam Das Thakur, in the early 1500’s-

This is accepted by Gaudiya Vaishnavas as an objective fact for a number of reasons, not least of which may be the miraculous occurrence that has been documented by all biographers of the period: Mahaprabhu and all His associates, many of whom had left the mortal world more than fifty years earlier, personally appeared at the Kheturi festival and danced at the height of Narottam's blessed kirtan. Thousands of attending devotees bore witness to this sacred event. The author of Bhakti-ratnakara incredulously asks, "Who can describe the incomparable happiness of the devotees when in the midst of the kirtan the munificent Shri Chaitanya and His associates descended for the pleasure of His devotees? Like a flash of lightning in the middle of a mass of beautiful clouds, Shri Chaitanya Himself appeared within the multitude of His followers." According to the Prema-vilas, Mahaprabhu appeared with Nityananda Prabhu, Shri Adwaita, Gadadhar, Shrivas Thakur, Haridas Thakur, Swarup Damodar, Rupa-Sanatan, and many others. Who, indeed, can imagine the heightened bhava as Jahnava saw her departed husband in the midst of the kirtan? Who can imagine the feeling of Adwaita Acharya's sons when they saw their father singing and dancing as if he were a young man? How did Shrivas Thakur's brothers stop themselves from crying when they saw Shrivas himself dancing in front of Mahaprabhu, just as they remembered him? In fact, they could not control themselves and were carried away by the ecstasy of being reunited with the Lord and His associates. By experiencing Vipralambha-bhava (intense separation) they were all to experience sambhoga, or divine union. >>Ref. VedaBase, VS > The Lord Descends

Why and how the great acharyas are sent directly from the spiritual world

Gaudiya Vaisnavas therefore worship Srila Gurudeva (the spiritual master) in the light of his being the servitor of the Personality of Godhead. In all the ancient literatures of devotional service and in the more recent songs of Srila Narottama dasa Thakura, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and other unalloyed Vaisnavas, the spiritual master is always considered either one of the confidential associates of Srimati Radharani or a manifested representation of Srila Nityananda Prabhu. > Adi 1.47P

And prominent acharyas are manjaris- In their pure spiritual forms as maidservant manjaris, the six Goswamis plus Lokanatha and Krishna das Kaviraj Goswamis comprise the inner circle of manjaris. Since Lord Chaitanya's time, all the Gaudiya Vaisnava acaryas, in their spiritual manjari forms, serve Lalita, Visakha, and Radha-Shyamasundar under the direction of Sri Rupa Manjari (Rupa Goswami). The spiritual forms of the prominent Gaudiya Vaisnava acaryas are listed here: 1. Rupa Goswami - Rupa Manjari, 2. Jiva Goswami - Vilas Manjari, 3. Sanatana Goswami - Labanga Manjari, 4. Raghunatha das Goswami - Rati, Rasa Manjari, 5. Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami - Raga Manjari, 6. Gopala Bhatta Goswami - Guna, Ananga Manjari, 7. Krishna das Kaviraj - Kasturi Manjari 8. Lokanath Goswami - Manjulali Manjari, 9. Narottama das Thakur - Camak Manjari, 10. Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur - Vinoda Manjari, 11. Jagannath das Babaji - Rasika Manjari, 12. Bhaktivinoda Thakur -Kamala Manjari, 13. Gaurakisor das Babaji - Guna Manjari, 14. Bhaktisiddhanta - Nayana Manjari.

In the Teachings of Lord Caitanya, Srila Prabhupada describes the manjaris:

"It is very difficult to express the manjaris' dealings with Krishna because they have no desire to mix with Krishna or enjoy Him personally. Rather, they are always ready to help Radharani associate with Krishna. Their affection for Krishna and Radharani is so pure that they are simply satisfied when Radha and Krishna are together. Indeed their transcendental pleasure is in seeing Radha and Krishna united. The actual form of Radharani is just like a creeper embracing the tree of Krishna, and the damsels of Vraja, the associates of Radharani, are just like the leaves and flowers of that creeper." (TLC p. 331)

At the present time, the spiritual form of Srila Prabhupada is unknown, but from his activities, writings, and lectures we can understand that he is a very dear and confidential associate of Sri Rupa Goswami. >>> Ref. VedaBase => PRD 6: Sannyasa Years at Radha-Damodara

We do not know for certain what Srila Prabhupada’s eternal spiritual identity is, but we can know for certain that Srila Prabhupada is a confidential associate of Srila Rupa Gosvami, and serves him in a similar way like the other prominent acharyas, who are manjaris. Srila Prabhupada said in later years that he “received great inspiration from Rupa Goswami, and that the plans for the Krishna consciousness movement were formulated during his years at Radha-Damodara.” He gave us a hint of his Swarupa identity with Lord Krishna in his poem “Prayer to the Lotus Feet of Lord Krishna,” written on board the Jaladuta when he crossed the ocean – “O dear friend, in Your company I will experience great joy once again. In the early morning I will wander about the cowherd pastures and fields. Running and frolicking in the many forests of Vraja, I will roll on the ground in spiritual ecstasy. Oh when will that day be mine?” > JD 8.1: Prayer unto the Lotus Feet of Krsna

Lord Krishna sends His representative from the spiritual world-

Krsna is the father of all living entities. He is not happy that all these souls in the material world are rotting like hogs. Therefore He sends His representatives. In the case of Lord Jesus Christ, Krsna sent His son. Lord Jesus claimed to be the son of God. Everyone is a son of God, but this son was an especially favorite son, and he was sent to a particular place to reclaim the conditioned souls back home, back to Godhead. >>> Ref. VedaBase => SC 10: The Next Life: It's Up to Us.

Srila Prabhupada confirms that Lord Krishna personally sends His special and confidential servants to this material world to reclaim the conditioned souls and bring them back to Godhead. Most all of the great acharyas in our parampara are eternal associates of Lord Krishna, personally sent to this earth by Him, as seen in the above information that the recent acharyas are maidservant manjaris to the six Gosvamis and Krishna dasa Kaviraja in their original manjari forms, under the direction of Sri Rupa Manjari.

Lord Caitanya sends his great devotee, Srila Prabhupada-

Lochan Das Thakur, in his Chaitanya Mangal, predicted that a sena-pati, or a "great general," would come and accomplish this mission. This was Srila Prabhupada. Also, Bhaktivinode Thakur, in an article entitled "Nityananda Suryodoy," which was published in the 1800s, in his Sajjana-toshani magazine -- he predicted that soon a time is coming when the chanting of Krishna's name will be heard in England, France, Russia, Germany, and America. Srila Prabhupada brought this to fruition. There is also one document from the fifteenth century. It is called the Bhagavat Mahatmya. In this book, Narada, the great sage, has a conversation with bhakti personified. In the course of this conversation, bhakti says, idam sthanam parityajya videsham gamyate maya. Literally, this means: "I will leave this country, India, and go abroad!" The same text informs us that this personified bhakti will go to South India and then leave to go abroad after staying in Vrindavan. This is exactly what Prabhupada did. >>> Ref. VedaBase => OS 6: Chapter Six

Here we have sastra authority that Srila Prabhupada was directly sent to this world by Lord Caitanya, and Srila Prabhupada was Lord Caitanya’s sena-pati great general. Also, in the Brahma-vivarta Purana, Lord Vishnu told Mother Ganges to not worry about the many sins of Kali-Yuga, because He will send His devotee to spread the sankritan movement all over the world. Srila Prabhupada told his disciples, “never was there a time when I did not know Krishna.”

A disciple writes-

You yourself once declared to some disciples, "never was there a time when I did not know Krsna." Who can estimate your glories, and what fool would dare to compare himself to you? You have descended to fulfill the prophecy of Lord Caitanya that this chanting of Hare Krsna would resound in every town and village in the world. You have delivered to this world in its darkest hour over fifty large books on the science of God, which are the framework for ISKCON and the law books for mankind for the next ten thousand years.>>> Ref. VedaBase => Vyasa puja 1984, Vancouver

We should press upon all new devotees the extreme importance of never entertaining the thought that the great acharyas in our parampara are like ordinary human beings. Such an offensive mentality is described as naraka, or hellish. And we should never even slightly think that Srila Prabhupada was just another guru, but we should be firm in conviction, from sastra, that he is the sena-pati great general of Lord Caitanya’s sankirtan movement, sent by Lord Caitanya Himself, that he is jagat guru of the world, and he was sent to the western world by bhakti personified, as said in the Bhagavat Mahatmya. It is the duty of all devotees who follow in Srila Prabhupada’s legacy to inform everyone of Srila Prabhupada’s exalted status of founder-acharya and Lord Caitanya’s sena-pati great general guru for everyone in his movement.

Without spiritual master you cannot be

Madhudvisa: I was referring to a living spiritual master.

Prabhupada: Spiritual master is not the question of... Spiritual master is eternal. Spiritual master is eternal. So your question is without spiritual master. Without spiritual master you cannot be, at any stage of your life. You may accept this spiritual master or that spiritual master. That is a different thing. But you have to accept. … So any case, you have to follow a spiritual master. There cannot be the question without spiritual master. Is that clear? >>> Ref. VedaBase => Lecture -- Seattle, October 2, 1968

Vaikunthanatha dasa was once in anxiety about the fate of jiva souls who happened to get a book, but lived too far from the temples and devotees, and he asked Srila Prabhupada what was the fate of such people. Srila Prabhupada answered, “when they read the book, and accept it, then they are already initiated.” This shows how any sincere soul, in any remote corner of the world, can never be without a spiritual master, no matter what the situation is. Their sincerity will get them a book, and Srila Prabhupada’s book will initiate them into spiritual life, providing they are sincere. The definitive meaning of the word ‘initiate’ is to start something [spiritual life] into motion. We tend to think it means only the process of a fire yagna, but it is actually the initiation of divya-jnana, or transcendental spiritual knowledge injected into the heart by the pure devotee representative of Lord Krishna, and the fire yagna is an official and usually necessary procedure. In the above cases though, it is said by Srila Prabhupada that initiation is already there for sincere people who cannot come to the temple.

Srila Prabhupada and the great acharyas can bless unlimited souls in countless ways-

Mahanidhi Swami writes his book, “Gaudiya Vaisnava Samadhis in Vrndavana” –

“The author believes that at any time, at any place, and in unlimited ways a nitya-siddha mahabhagavata Vaisnava, who has entered Radha-Krishna's nitya-Vraja-lila, can bless, inspire, and instruct a sincere and faithful spiritual aspirant. The Supreme Lord Krishna invests His krpa-sakti (mercy potency) within His devotee. Without the devotee no one can receive the mercy of God. As rays of light expand from the radiant sun, the Lord's mercy expands as a living vibration from the heart of pure devotee who is saturated with love of God. The mercy vibrates in their hearts, in their thoughts, words, actions, in their bodies and in their bones. Therefore, one's consciousness becomes purified by any contact with a pure Vaisnava.” - GVSV: Differences in Potency

This eloquent passage impresses upon us the fact that Srila Prabhupada is blessing countless jiva souls every day by his words and books and his pictures and murtis. We see this often in our temple in New Vrindavan, where so many people come and see the murti form of Srila Prabhupada sitting on his Vyasana. They are blessed by his murti, his books, and devotees telling them the pastimes of Srila Prabhupada. The continual blessing to countless souls by Srila Prabhupada is going on all over the world, every minute of the day.

Great acharyas continue to be saviors in the movement of which they are the founder-acharya.

There are many gurus, guru is one, yet the great acharya, such as Srila Prabhupada, continue to give more spiritual enlightenment than other gurus, because Srila Prabhupada left so many books and recorded conversations. And he left us so many stories of his life, which unlimited souls will read about, or hear from the continuing disciples of his movement. This is the same with other great acharyas, like the six Gosvamis, and Sri Ramanuja and Sri Madhva, and so on.

Lokanatha Swami has explained that “some or maybe all of the problems that arose in our movement after Srila Prabhupada left have their origin in our not properly understanding this position of founder-acharya.” There is a scripture from the Sri-sampradaya called Prappanamrta Tapana explains that a founder-acarya is know by five symptoms: first, he is udharika, which means that he is the savior of everyone. The Prappanamrta Tapana goes on to explain that those who come after the founder-acarya in the disciplic succession, who act as spiritual masters, are upakarika, his helpers. They are never to be equated, even after hundreds of generations, with the founder-acarya. Establishing a relationship with a spiritual master in the line of Srila Prabhupada first of all means establishing a relationship with him as founder-acarya. Ramanuja and Madhva continue to be udharika acharya for their movements, and so it is proper for Srila Prabhupada to be udharika, or continuing savior for his movement. Several gurus of our society agree with this, and they feel themselves to be upakarikas, or helper gurus for Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada also reinforces this concept with the terminology he used for different kinds of guru, such as monitor gurus, officiating acharyas, and ritvik-acharyas and deputy gurus.

Great acharyas are just as powerful after disappearance-

It is common in our world to think that the material body and senses are superior to the senses one gets after death. We tend to think, those who at least believe that the soul survives death, that people die and then enter into inertness and a state of incommunicado with humanity.

Sadaputa in his “MAYA: The World As Virtual Reality” gives research evidence from Ring and Cooper, of how people blind from birth, had NDE, or near death experiences, and had strong visual experiences, though they never had the experience of sight their whole life, and therefore had no reference to what it was like. In the book, the report of Ring and Cooper argues, “that ‘seeing’ by the blind in NDEs is really something even more remarkable, a kind of direct perception that may involve a combination of sensory modes (e.g. visual and tactile) while transcending the limitations of any of them.” Sadaputa comments that “a careful study of NDE testimony indicates that subjects were seeing in an omni-directional fashion, not limited either by location or by the limited visual field of physical eye balls.” The following quote illustrates this-

“I was hovering over a stretcher in one of the emergency rooms at the hospital. I glanced down at the stretcher, knew the body wrapped in blankets was mine, and really didn’t care. The room was much more interesting than my body. And what a neat perspective. I could see everything. And I do mean everything! I could see the top of the light on the ceiling, and the underside of the stretcher. I could see the tiles on the ceiling and the tiles on the floor, simultaneously. Three hundred sixty degree spherical vision. And not just spherical. Detailed! I could see every single hair and the follicle out of which it grew on the nurse standing beside the stretcher. At the time I knew exactly how many hairs there were to look at.” (Ring and Cooper report)

It is here seen that even ordinary people have superior perception after leaving their earthly body. It stands to reason that the acharyas have the same Krishna Consciousness before and during and after their earthly bodies. They are not limited by a material body and it’s brain. They are fully cognizant of our situation, they are receptive to our petitions of prayer. They may interact with us through giving of blessings, by appearing in our dreams, and in extremely fortunate cases, they may appear in a visible form. There are reports of visions of Srila Prabhupada to some devotees. For the great acharya, even the material brain does not limit his perception, because he was always above the modes and the material machine of the body, before, during and after his earthly body incarnation. But for the devotee still advancing on the path of bhakti, the material brain does limit his superior consciousness, because he is still a servant of material patterns of his brain, and is not yet fully liberated from the 3 modes of nature, even while trying to transcend these things.

Great acharyas always give siksa to countless jivas-

The great acharya perpetually gives the essential spiritual inspiration to the new spiritual aspirants, and becomes their ultimate spiritual shelter, and this is the case in the Madhva and Ramanua lines, and in Srila Prabhupada’s movement as well. Some devotees say that the great acharya cannot be the perpetual savior of his institution for generations to come, but the act of saving souls is the function of the guru who injects divya-jnana, or transcendental knowledge into the heart of the disciple. This is how some people are initiated and saved, as Srila Prabhupada explained above, even though they cannot come to the temple. There is the prerogative of the great acharya of his time, that he adjusts to time and circumstance. Just like we don’t know what happened in the previous Kali-yugas. We don’t know how the situation was adjusted in the previous Kali-yuga by that prominent acharya at that time. We do know the symptoms of Kali through Srila Prabhupada’s books, that there will be many pretender gurus and swamis and bogus incarnations of god appearing in Kali to take advantage of the weak conditioned souls. So we don’t know the necessity of adjustment to the times that a great acharya will make. If a great acharya in the dark age of Kali wants to continue a line of representatives, helper gurus to represent himself as the main guru who gives transcendental knowledge to all disciples, this is his power of attorney from Krishna to make such adjustments.

Devotees sometimes speak of the “living guru” and what they mean by that phrase is the guru who is presently incarnate in an earthly body. Yes, this is traditional, that we approach the guru who is presently incarnate. There are distinct advantages to that, which is the communication of mouth to ear. Yet we see that in this age of Kali, most living gurus are simply communicating the message of their founder acharya, which categorizes them as upakarika gurus, or helping gurus. It is their task to repeat the message of the founder acharya without adding or subtracting. They can certainly add personal insights and wit to the teachings, and Srila Prabhupada encourages us to do this, but they are basically saying the same thing as their founder acharya. This is seen in the Ramanuja and Madhva lines, as well as in our Iskcon.

Since the material world is constantly changing, Krishna often sends His representative to make adjustments according to time and circumstance. This is seen with all the great acharyas, even with Jesus Christ, they all did some amazing adjustment to the climate of the times they were in. And since such great acharyas are always naturally humble, they never declare themselves to be founder acharya, but people can easily see their position through their extraordinary activities. Srila Prabhupada says in this account, “It is a fact that no one can preach Caitanya Mahaprabhu's message without receiving the special mercy of the Lord. This is known to every Vaisnava.” [Madhya 14.21] And often the contemporaries of the great acharya will deny his true status, just like in the Gaudiya Matha, Srila Prabhupada was not accepted as the next acharya by most of his godbrothers. But his success and activities prove, without at doubt, his true self-effulgence, and the confirms the fact that Lord Caitanya Himself sent His great devotee Srila Prabhupada to push on this sankirtan movement.

When a reporter once queried Prabhupada about his successor, Srila Prabhupada, sounding like the personification of the voice of eternity, boomed forth , "I shall never die. I will live forever in my books." >

Ref. VedaBase -Years at Radha-Damodara.

So, the conclusion is that Srila Prabhupada is perpetually available to all the conditioned souls in this movement, in the form of his murti and his books and audio CD’s and tapes, and he is still the living guru, present in his personal sadhaka form in Vrndavan, and he is the prominent acharya of his movement being the perpetual savior for all devotees in his movement, being the prime giver of spiritual knowledge into the hearts of all devotees who join his movement, just as Ramanuja and Madhva are still the savior gurus of their perspective movements. Many of our gurus here in Iskcon agree with this concept, and they feel themselves to be upakarika or helper gurus of Srila Prabhupada, and that he is taking all of us back to godhead.

Hare Krishna,

your servant,

Vishoka dasa

theist · March 21, 2005

What a read!

March 21, 2005

A Sadhu is Always Present

by Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja

Devotee: Srila Prabhupada always emphasized that he was eternally present in his books, instructions, tapes and letters. So when you say we should take association of a sadhu, can we do that through Srila Prabhupada’s books?

Gour Govinda Swami: If Prabhupada says he is there, then you try to see him, to associate with him and listen from him. Do you see Prabhupada? Do you hear from Prabhupada? Is he speaking to you?

Devotee: Through his books.

Gour Govind Swami: Through his books, yes. All sadhus speak through their books. Jiva Goswami, Rupa Goswami, Sanatana Goswami, Bhaktivinode Thakura, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarswati and Srila Prabhupada all say that they speak through their books. This is not a new thing. This is our vaisnava procedure. But you should see him. Can you see Bhaktivinoda Thakura? Can you see Jiva Goswami? You may say, “Oh I have read their books; I have their asociation.” That won’t help you. You cannot understand what they have said merely by reading their books. Your consciousness is very low, so you cannot understand their words. They are very, very merciful, but you should follow the proper path. If you are intelligent you will understand how they are still here, not only in the form of their books but also they are here. You should see them. Why are you thinking so foolishly? So many books were already there, so why has Srila Prabhupada said this? You are thinking, “We need only to read books. There is no need of associating with a sadhu who is physically present. Is there any sadhu? No, there is no sadhu at all.” Your motto is, “Seeing is believing.” You cannot see, so you cannot believe. Because you are a conditioned soul, your vision is defective. You cannot see a sadhu. Krishna is there, can you see Him? No, you cannot, because you are not endowed with proper vision. First develop the proper vision, and then you can see Krishna. Then you can see how a sadhu is there. It is not a fact that sadhus are not present. How is everything going on? How does the sun rise, the wind blow, and Indra give rain? All these things are going on. No sadhu? No Krishna? It’s nonsense, foolishness. We are so proud and puffed up. We are identifying ourself as the body, mind and false ego. We think we are very great. So we say, “Oh, there is no sadhu.” We are in the category of identification with the body and mind.We have not come to the beginning of the stage of purity. No!

Devotee: So we have to associate with a living sadhu?

Gour Govinda Swami: Definately. There is always one there. But he is not a cheap person. Such a person is very rare. If you can get his mercy then you can see him. Otherwise, by your own effort and perception, you cannot see him. No, no, no.

You always think that you are drasta, the seer, and that the sadhu is drsta, the one to be seen. Everyone is like this. They think they are the seers. But it is just the reverse. You are to be seen and they are the seer! Think this over very deeply. I think you cannot completely understand what I say. We always think that we are the seer and that they are to be seen, but this is not a fact. It is just the reverse. They are the seers and we are to be seen.

Devotee: How are we seen by sadhu? By our service?

Gour Govinda Swami: Yes, the sadhu is the seer. If he showers his mercy upon you, he sees you. If you receive that merciful glance then you are very fortuntae. However, you are in the category of bodily consciousness. How can you have it? Guru is the manifestation of the Supersoul, caitya-guru in the heart. He manifests a body and appears. He knows your heart.

Devotee: I don’t quite understand.

Gour Govinda Swami: Yes, try to understand. As I told you, just hear patiently. A new bhakta cannot understand it because it is a topic of the highest class. You are in pre-primary class, how can you understand? You are not even in the primary class. How can you understand this topic of the highest class? Just accept the bona fide authorities. That will help you. The teacher says, “Two plus two is four.” The primary student accepts it. If the teacher asks the child, “What is two plus two?” The child will reply, “Two plus two is four.” “ Why is two plus two four?” “My teacher says.” He will answer like this. That means he has accepted authority. This is the only principle in the beginning. How is two plus two four? Why not three or five? That will be explained in a higher mathematics class, not in the beginning. You have to have patience and get a promotion. My guru maharaja says in his purport that the beginning is purity of consciousness. First come to this beginning stage, then gradually other things will come up. You are not in the beginning stage, so how will the higher topics come up? This is a very, very subtle and very deep philosophy.

Putting full faith in the sadhu, you need only submissively hear --- sravanam, sravanam, sravanam. In that way you can get the mercy of that sadhu. That will help you. Only one thing is required, nothing else --- sravanam, sravana, sravanam. Just hear. Serve that sadhu, please him, hear submissively, surrender yourself at his lotus feet and submissively ask questions. Out of mercy the sadhu will impart this tattva jnana to you. This is the only process.

Unless you get association with a living sadhu, what can you do? Will you put some question to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada will answer you? This process is a living thing. It is always there, and it is always current. It is not that inquiry was done a certain way in the past and now things are done differently. No! It is an eternal process, pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya.

---The Process of Inquiry, Chapter Six. Gopal Jiu Publications.

March 24, 2005

Of course. Gurudeva said that everyone should have someone to take shelter

of. The problem is that I have with this group is their system of obtaining that association.

Everyone agrees that we want a Rolls Royce car, but some

people advocate stealing it. Others say you should just go to the shop and

smile and perhaps they will like you and give it to you free. I have doubts

about those two methods. I think that well, ... you should get a job, work

and when you have money you can get your car.

We should depend on Gurudeva. Everyone says that Gurudeva is so great and

that we have so much appreciation for him.

But how deep does that apprecation go?

Do we really have faith that he can solve our problems?

Do we really have faith that he is a transcendental personality who is thus always present, available and fully capable of solving our problems?

Have we really taken shelter of him or are we taking shelter of our mundane sense perceptions and personal motivations?

All of the sadhus that I have met since Guru Maharaja disappeared have told me that I should take full shelter

of my gurudeva and that he will take care of me.

Full shelter means following his instructions/seva and doing my bhajan/crying.

Is there any doubt that he will take care of me if I do so?

And if someone wants to tell me that he won't, sorry, but I don't want to see their face.

What is our motivation? Are we thinking about the pleasure of Gurudeva, or are we concerned about ourselves?

Are we thinking what Guru Maharaja would be happy with or are we absorbed in thinking about our self-percieved wants

and needs?

"*I* need sadhu-sanga.How will *I* advance?" Etc etc.

Taking siksa from a guru is a personal matter, and it will differ from person to person. Guru

is a manifestation of Krishna, and He will naturally appear differently to different persons according to the quality of their desires and sukriti.

Only the grossest neophyte will think that "My (siksa or diksa) guru is the best. He is the only one and everyone should do like me and take shelter of

him." This is the 'amar-guru jagat-guru' disease.

Guru Maharaja has kindly appeared in the form of several different sadhus for me at different times over the years.

No doubt, if we think about it,Guru Maharaja has appeared to both of us many times, in many forms over the

years. Even before we physically met him. Guru Maharaja is a manifestation of the Supersoul.

Let us meditate on the following words of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada :

"It is my Gurudeva who is graciously present in all different forms. If he

were not graciously present in all of these different forms then who would

preserve me? Those whom my Gurudeva made his own are my saviors. But may I

never have occasion to see the face of that wicked person, who is a source

of evil, who maligns the lotus feet of my Sri Gurudeva or who countenances

in any way such a slanderer.

The moment I fall away from the lotus feet of Sri Guru or forget them, I

certainly fall away from the truth. As soon as I fall away from the lotus

feet of Sri Guru I find myself encompassed by innumerable wants. I run in a

hurry for my bath. I become busy for preventing a cold. I run after other

occupations different from the service of Sri Gurudeva. It is the lotus feet

of Sri Gurudeva that alone protect me constantly from all this attachment

for objects other than the truth. If I do not remember the lotus feet of Sri

Guru at the beginning of every new year, every new month, every new day, and

every new moment, then I am sure to fall into far greater inconveniences. If

I do not remember his lotus feet then the desire will come to dress myself

in the garb of the guru. I will become liable to the bad desire of seeking

to be worshipped by other people as guru. It is this which constitutes

addiction to things other than the truth."

March 24, 2005

Helper gurus. siksa gurus. officiating guru. Rtvik gurus. What do the adjectives mean here?

Simple, the way these adjectives are used today is to limit the word GURU. By putting these words in front of "guru", what one is really saying is "unqualified guru" or "guru who should NOT be heard from and served with rapt attention".

I reject all these adjectives, as always. Guru is the link between the self and the Supreme Lord. Guru is the Lord in the heart, who may (or may not) send an empowered representative of himself to further guide the prospective bhakta. Of course, if one even understands the introduction to Bhagavad Gita As It Is, (s)he will go back home, as promised by Srila Prabhupada. But one is also instructed to surrender to authority, to take guidance from those more advanced.

This "living guru" controversy always misses a good point. A book will not say, "mahaksadasa, you pretend to be a king, but you are a fool." A pledge of allegiance to a society will not give me "mahaksadasa, you preach in my name, you heal the sick, even raise the dead. But get away from me, because you are puffed up by your accomplishments. You have failed to do the will of the Supreme Lord, therefore, He does not recognize you at all."

A guru has a job that books or societies or certificated priests cannot do. The duty of Guru is to chastize the disciple. The perfect story in this regard is that Srila Adwaita Acarya, Mahavisnu, was perfect, therefore, never corrected by Lord Chaitanya. This was unacceptable to Adwaita Acarya, so he began to preach smarta brahmanism and mayavadi philosophy. Only when Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu arrived to beat Him with a stick was Adwaitacarya satisfied.

This is our need, to be told how foul we are, not simply read books and attend the functions of the society. Without chastizement by Guru, one is not disciple, regardless of an adjective one may try to limit GURU with.

Hare Krsna, ys, mahaksadasa

ps just as Lord Chaintanya invests all transcendental energy in the holy names, the acarya makes similar investment in his disciple. A bonafide disciple, like Srila Prabhupada is to His Guru Maharaja, is a perfect choice of association, and one should approach such a person to receive the nectar of instruction and be initiated into this movement.