Being Chaste to Srila Prabhupada

vijay · January 14, 2006

Its nice to talk about it doesnt matter what organisation you are from, but organisation means a group of devotees with a certain mood and emphasis.

I remember being on a train journey to jaganatha puri and his holiness puri maharaj was in the same carriage with us, i spoke to his secrtary for a while and his whole perspective was on how iskcon doesnt conform to standards set out by bhaktisidhanta maharaj, giving examples of how prabhupada didnt give the full teachings etc. I can imagine the mood of the rest of the followers, ive seen examples of this quite alot although there are exceptions.

I can understand this as many of prabhupads godbrothers do not take srila prabhupada as his diciples take him which is natural.

Prabhupada is the founder acarya of iskcon, he created the gbc and emphasised his books to be read. Now going to another matha the guru will naturally have no obligation to follow the gbc that prabhupada desired nor emphasis on his books, and obviously this was srila prabhupadas desire even though there are instances where prabhupada was okay for a few diciples to go to other godbrothers or work outside of iskcon(mostly due to the situation as quotes need a context which is conviently missed out in most cases), the general mood of prabhupada is clearly to follow him as instructed many times, with many more quotes than the exceptions.

Naturally if the case is krishna prem or iskcon and if they are mutally exclusive for the individual then obviously better to go for krishna prem, however if one wants to satisfy the many desires prabhupada had about the mission and organisation which is the mood of mahaprabhu and wants to do it from within and think this will lead to krishna prem then this is the better choice as both the prime instruction of krishna prem and the sub instructions can be followed again depending on the desires and capability of the indviduals.

January 14, 2006

guest: "Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja suggests that it is not we who find the sadhu, but rather it will be Sri Krsna who arranges our meeting with a sadhu".

mahaksadasa: Srila Prabhupada also affirms this descending path. The way He has stated this (paraphrased) is that the spiritual master is "inspired" to present Himself to the aspiring candidate for devotionsl service. This inspiration is the empowerment by the Lord in the Heart to present himself externally in the form of His representative to further the quest of His devotee.

hare krsna, ys, mahaksadasa.

January 14, 2006

Concerning above post, see:

Srimad Bhagavatam 1.19.36

TRANSLATION

Otherwise [without being inspired by Lord Krishna] how is it that you have voluntarily appeared here, though you are moving incognito to the common man and are not visible to us who are on the verge of death?

PURPORT

The great sage Sukadeva Gosvami was certainly inspired by Lord Krishna to appear voluntarily before Maharaja Parikshit, the great devotee of the Lord, just to give him the teachings of Srimad-Bhagavatam. One can achieve the nucleus of the devotional service of the Lord by the mercy of the spiritual master and the Personality of Godhead. The spiritual master is the manifested representative of the Lord to help one achieve ultimate success. One who is not authorized by the Lord cannot become a spiritual master. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami is an authorized spiritual master, and thus he was inspired by the Lord to appear before Maharaja Parikshit and instruct him in the teachings of Srimad-Bhagavatam. One can achieve the ultimate success of going back to Godhead if he is favored by the Lord's sending His true representative. As soon as a true representative of the Lord is met by a devotee of the Lord, the devotee is assured a guarantee for going back to Godhead just after leaving the present body. This, however, depends on the sincerity of the devotee himself. The Lord is seated in the heart of all living beings, and thus he knows very well the movements of all individual persons. As soon as the Lord finds that a particular soul is very eager to go back to Godhead, the Lord at once sends His bona fide representative. The sincere devotee is thus assured by the Lord of going back to Godhead. The conclusion is that to get the assistance and help of a bona fide spiritual master means to receive the direct help of the Lord Himself.

Hare Krsna, ys, mahaksadasa

January 15, 2006

Namaste, Vijay!

"I can understand this as many of prabhupads godbrothers do not take srila prabhupada as his diciples take him which is natural."

Yes, this is natural. BUT I have learnt from godbrothers of Srila Prahbupada like Srila B. R. Sridhara Maharaja, that one should always encourage a disciple in his appreciation of his respective guru.

Maybe the godbrothers spoke about the differences of doing this or that in another way, as Srila Prabhupada has done it. Why? Because they were asked: "Why don't you have the same standard, as in ISKCON?" Then maybe they explained, that they heard it in another way of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura. But for sure they don't say, that because of these differences, Srila Prabhupada was not able to give krishna-prema. Yes, maybe some followers speak like this - but that has nothing to do with that, what for example Srila B. R. Sridhara Maharaja learnt to his followers!

And that says also Swami B. V. Tripurari very clear in his explanation:

"Ideally it is not lack of faith in one's diksa guru that leads one to one's siksa guru. Identifying one's siksa guru is an exercise of faith by which divine faith is nourished, fostering its growth. In contrast to strong faith, weak faith requires an enemy. As I have said earlier, there is a place for that--but not a place in eternity.

Divine faith is independent and may appear wherever she likes. We offend her by any attempt to rule over her and legislate where and in whom she can appear. We are her servants, not her master. Divine faith is our Deity, not our doormat ... "

Sri Sri Guru and Gouranga ki jay!