Hare Krsna
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Below is my submission into the annual vyasa puja book called Srila Prabhupada Tributes which is only written by what the editors consider “direct disciples” of Srila Prabhupada.
Ironically Jaya advaita swami is the editor of this book, but I don’t think he saw or even read my entry because as one can see below, the entire article is quotes from Srila Prabhupada where he explains who is a genuine guru and who is not a genuine guru. The quotes are very heavy and anybody with half a brain can understand the people in Iskcon pompously parading around like “Acaryas” do not in any way fit the description given by Srila Prabhupada as to who is a Guru !
Hare Krsna
Damaghosa das
Conversations –reporter (2): What will happen to the movement in the United States when you die?
Prabhupada:I will never die
devotees: Jaya! Hari bol! (laughter)
Prabhupada:I shall live for my books, and you will utilize.
(Some people think Srila Prabhupada is dead and gone, but this is not what he is saying above. He is just as available and viable as a spiritual authority now as he was 38 years ago.)
700704AR.SF Lectures
Pressman:Do you know how many followers there are in the United States now?
Prabhupada: Unlimited. (devotees roar) Some of them admit and some of them do not admit. That’s all. (laughter ) Everyone is eternally servant of God, but some of them admit and some of them do not admit… We are just eradicating this ignorance , that “You are servant, but you admit that you are servant of God. That wil make your life successful.” That’s all. Therefore I say that there are unlimited followers . Some of them admit and some of them do not admit. That is the difficulty But if anyone comes to me, I shall make him to admit.
(The quote above means there are thousands or millions who will accept Srila Prabhupada. Some will
admit, some will not or never admit. But if one is submissive, then Krsna from within the heart will
help one understand.)
It is illegal to become a spiritual master if one is unable to deliver the disciple”. [S.B. 28.7]
(I have heard various spiritual masters say it is not themselves who is delivering their disciples, but it is Srila Prabhupada, himself.)
“Unless one takes shelter of a bona fide, fully Krsna conscious spiritual master, there is no chance of understanding Krsna…. Only one who has surrendered to a pure devotee of Krsna , and has taken the dust of his lotus feet can understand Krsna….. One must take shelter of a self-realized spiritual master, that is the way to return home, back to Godhead.” [SB 7.5.32 purport]
Madhya 15.108
The Hari-bhakti-vilasa (2.6) quotes the
following injunction from the Visnu-yamala:
The Hari-bhakti-vilasa (2.6) quotes the
following injunction from the Visnu-yamala:
adiksitasya vamoru
krtam sarvam nirarthakam
pasu-yonim avapnoti
diksa-virahito janah
krtam sarvam nirarthakam
pasu-yonim avapnoti
diksa-virahito janah
“Unless one is initiated by a bona fide spiritual master, all his
devotional activities are useless. A person who is not properly
initiated can descend again into the animal species.”
devotional activities are useless. A person who is not properly
initiated can descend again into the animal species.”
“Unless one is a resident of Krishna Loka, one cannot be a Spiritual Master. That is the first proposition. A layman cannot be a Spiritual Master, and if he becomes so then he will simply create disturbance […] So to summarize the whole thing, it is to be understood that a bona fide Spiritual Master is a resident of Krishna Loka.” (Srila Prabhupada Letter, June 10th, 1969)
“A siksa guru [instructing guru or priest] who instructs against the instructions of the spiritual master he is not a siksa guru. He is a demon! Sometimes the diksa guru [initiating guru] is not present always. Therefor one can take learning, instructions from an advanced devotee. That is called siksa-guru. But siksa-guru does not mean he is speaking something against the teachings of the diksa-guru. He is not a siksa-guru. He is a rascal. Because that is offense. Guru avajna, defying the authority of guru. This is the first offense. So, one who is offensive, how can he make advance in chanting? He cannot make. Then everything is finished, in the beginning!” [Bg. 17:1-3, 07-4-74, Hawaii]“Guru cannot be self-made. No. There is no such single instance throughout the whole vedic literature. And nowadays, so many rascals they are becoming guru without any authority. That is not guru. You must be authorized!” [Bg. 4.2]
Below are 5 very important quotes on guru tattva:
1.accept a guru who is infallible
2.if you dont get a qualified guru, then everything is bogus.
3.if you dont find such a guru, that means Krsna is not pleased with you
or you are not serious enough.
4. guru must be accepted from highest order-paramahamsa order
5. who has been cheated by bogus gurus? He says “practically everyone”
The next section deals with these points:
1. if one receives a mantra from a bogus guru-it has no effect
2.not only is this mantra useless, but your deity worship is the same
3.series of quotes which explain how the illegal guru and his disciples go to hell
■761003SB.VRN Lectures 214022/530501 guru… Sisyas te ‘ham sadhi mam prapannam: “Now, Krsna, I accept You as my guru. Not as friend.” Because friendly talking is useless waste of time. He accepted Him as guru. When guru speaks, you cannot argue. That is not the process. You should accept a guru who is infallible. Otherwise it is useless . He accepted guru Krsna because Krsna is infallible. If we accept guru, a bogus guru, then it is no benefit . Guru means Krsna’s representative. Not that everyone can be guru .
720911rc.arl Conversations 332063/530501
Prabhupada:Just like Dhruva Maharaja.He was advised by his mother that “If you go to the forest you can see God.” So he went there. But when he was very serious, then Krsna sent him Narada Muni. So if you are actually serious about Krsna, then Krsna will send you some of His representative and he will take charge of you. That is the process. If you do not find a guru, that means Krsna is not yet pleased, either you are not serious.
761101SB.VRNLectures 225162/530501
This is religion. Adau gurvasrayam. If you do not get a qualified guru, then everything is bogus. If you, by good fortune, if you get the association of a guru, qualified hamsa, paramahamsa… Paramahamsa guru means sannyasi’s last stage is paramahamsa. Kuticaka, bahudaka, parivrajakacarya, and paramahamsa, these are the different stages. When one takes sannyasa, he lives outside the village in a kuti, in a cottage, and the family members goes and delivers him the food, because he is not practiced. So in the beginning, he keeps up this association of neighborhood or family, but he is not practiced. He therefore lives outside the village, and if somebody gives some food, he eats. Then when he becomes experienced, then he does not accept food from one, either his own home or one home. He takes foodstuff from many homes: “Give me a little piece of capati.” So somebody gives half, because they are also not overburdened. If they have to deliver, so many sannyasis come, and sumptuous food, then how the grhastha will provide? Therefore though… They do not overburden. There may be other sannyasis, therefore little only. Madhupuri. The Gosvamis practiced this madhupuri in Vrndavana. They lived, but they would take little only from the house. This is called bahudaka. Then when he has practiced more, he travels all over the world, parivrajakacarya. And
when he is fully experienced, then, in spiritual life and everything, then he is paramahamsa. So one must find out a guru who is paramahamsa. Neither kuticaka, nor bahudaka, nor parivrajakacarya. Paramahamsa. …. Then our strong desire to enjoy this material world in different way, that will be slackened. That is wanted. Thank you very much.
SSR 2 Choosing a Spiritual Master
Reporter: Have the real gurus like yourself ever tried to put a stop to the false gurus–that is, put pressure on them to put them out of business, so to speak? Srila Prabhupada: No, that is not my purpose. I started my movement simply by chanting Hare Krsna. I chanted in New York in a place called Tompkins Square Park, and soon people began to come to me. In this way, the Krsna consciousness movement gradually developed. Many accepted, and many did not accept. Those who are fortunate have accepted. Reporter: Don’t you feel that people are suspicious because of their experience with fake gurus? If you went to a quack dentist and he broke your tooth, you might be suspicious about going to another dentist. Srila Prabhupada: Yes. Naturally, if you are cheated, you become suspicious. But this does not mean that if you are cheated once, you will always be cheated. You should find someone genuine. But to come to Krsna consciousness, you must be either very fortunate or well aware of this science . From the Bhagavad-gita we understand that the genuine seekers are very few: manusyanam sahasresu kascid yatati siddhaye. Out of many millions of people, there may be only one who is
interested in spiritual life. Generally, people are interested in eating, sleeping, mating, and defending. So how can we expect to find many followers? It is not difficult to notice that people have lost their spiritual interest. And almost all those who are actually interested are being cheated by so-called spiritualists.
Reporter: I wondered how many people you think might have been taken in by fake gurus. Srila Prabhupada:Practically everyone. [Laughter.] There is no question of counting. Everyone. Reporter: This would mean thousands of people, wouldn’t it? Srila Prabhupada: Millions. Millions have been cheated, because they want to be cheated . God is omniscient. He can understand your desires. He is within your heart, and if you want to be cheated, God sends you a cheater.
The next section deals with these points:
1. if one receives a mantra from a bogus guru-it has no effect
2.not only is this mantra useless, but your deity worship is the same
3.series of quotes which explain how the illegal guru and his disciples go to hell
701223SB.SUR Lectures
Devotee (3): In regard to worshiping arca-vigraha form, you have explained that if one receives a mantra from a spiritual master who is not bona fide, that mantra has no effect . So I would like to ask if one is worshiping a Deity and his spiritual master is not bona fide, so that Deity cannot be considered the Supreme Lord?
Prabhupada: Well, first of all, thing is if the spiritual master is not bona fide, how his mantra can be bona fide ? Your statement is contradictory. If you say the spiritual master is not bona fide, then how his mantra becomes bona fide ? If he is bona fide, then his mantra is bona fide.
Devotee (3): Then why is he giving instruction to worship the Deity? If the spiritual master is not bona fide, then is the Deity also not bona fide?
Prabhupada: I do not follow. What does he say?
Tamala Krsna: His idea is that if one receives a mantra from a spiritual master, if the spiritual master is not bona fide…
Prabhupada: Then there is no question of mantra. There is no question of worshiping Deity. These are all bogus things . If you are not… Just like here is a young medical man. If he has not received instruction from a bona fide medical college, so what is the value of
his medical, being… That is… What is called? What is the technical name? Devotee (4): Quack. Prabhupada: Quack! (laughter).. If you are trained under a bona fide doctor, then also you can get the quality of a doctor.Similarly, the whole thing is tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet. One should go to the bona fide spiritual master to learn this transcendental science .
————————————
Now below Srila Prabhupada explains how one who takes on the role of spiritual master but is not authorized, or a pure devotee, both he and his disciples to to hell.
SB 1.19.37 P Unless one is perfectly anxious to inquire about the way of perfection, there is no necessity of approaching a spiritual master. A spiritual master is not a kind of decoration for a householder. Generally a fashionable materialist engages a so-called spiritual master without any profit. The pseudo spiritual master flatters the so-called disciple, and thereby both the master and his ward go to hell without a doubt .
72-12-14.Letter: Tusta Krsna As for your next question, can only a few pure devotees deliver others, anyone, if he is a pure devotee he can deliver others, he can become spiritual master. But unless he on that platformhe should not attempt it. Then both of them will to go to hell, like blind men leading the blind.
SB 6.7.14 Indra Offends His Spiritual Master, Brhaspati. Leaders who have fallen into ignorance and who mislead people by directing them to the path of destruction [as described in the previous verse] are, in effect, boarding a stone boat, and so too are those who blindly follow them. A stone boat would be unable to float and would sink in the water with its passengers. Similarly, those who mislead people go to hell, and their followers go with them.
Isopanisad Mantra 12: The Lord states that as soon as one reaches Him by devotional service-which is the one and only way to approach the Personality of Godhead-one attains complete freedom from the bondage of birth and death. In other words, the path of salvation from the material clutches fully depends on the principles of knowledge and detachment gained from serving the Lord. The pseudo religionists have neither knowledge nor detachment from material affairs, for most of them want to live in the golden shackles of material bondage under the shadow of philanthropic activities disguised as religious principles. By a false display of religious sentiments, they present a show of devotional service while indulging in all sorts of immoral activities. In this way they pass as spiritual masters and devotees of God. Such violators of religious principles have no respect for the authoritative ācāryas, the holy teachers in the strict disciplic succession. They ignore the Vedic injunction ācāryopāsana-”One must worship the ācārya“-and Kṛṣṇa’s statement in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.2) evaṁ paramparā-prāptam, “This supreme science of God is received through the disciplic succession.” Instead, to mislead the people in general they themselves become so-called ācāryas, but they do not even follow the principles of the ācāryas.These rogues are the most dangerous elements in human society. Because there is no religious government, they escape punishment by the law of the state. They cannot, however, escape the law of the Supreme, who has clearly declared in the Bhagavad-gītā that envious demons in the garb of religious propagandists shall be thrown into the darkest regions of hell (Bg. 16.19-20). Śrī Īśopaniṣad confirms that these pseudo religionists are heading toward the most obnoxious place in the universe after the completion of their spiritual master business, which they conduct simply for sense gratification.
Similarly any transcendental message, any Vedic literature, unless it is presented by a self realised devotee, it is poison.You simply misunderstand the whole thing, and you do not get the benefit. Rather, you become a victim of misunderstanding.
Lecture, LA, Jan 3, 1969
Now, to take such guidance means the spiritual master should also be a very perfect man. Otherwise, how can he guide? … One cannot deny the order of a spiritual master. Therefore one has to select a spiritual master whose order, carrying, you’ll not commit a mistake. You see? Now, suppose if you accept a wrong person as spiritual master, and if you, if he guides you wrongly, then your whole life is spoiled. So one has to accept a spiritual master whose guidance will make his life perfect. That is the relation between spiritual master and disciple. It is not a formality. It is a great responsibility both for the disciple and for the spiritual master. Bg Lecture NY March 2 1966
Hare Krsna-All glories to Srila Prabhupada!!!