SB.11.3.21. Guru-tattva
Bhakti Vijnana Goswami · London · 2023
Chapters
Amamo Bhagavatam, Jan Madhya Sayaton Vayatatarataschar Teshva Bigya Swarateni, Brahmahridayadikavay, Muhyantiat Suraya, The Jovarimridam Yat Havini Mayow Yatrisarga Rish Damasvinasadani Rastakuhakam Satyam paramdi mahi, satyam paramdimahi, satyam
paramdimahi, Yamprajanopetamapetakrityam,
Introduction to guru-tattva
Dwaipayanovi Rhakatara Juhava, Utretitan Mayatayotarabinedus, Dam Sarbu Narayan namaskritya naraam shi vanarotam devim, sarasvatiam da tauja yamu dirayat, nashta prayeshvaab Brishun nittyam Bhagavata Sevaya, Bhagavat Yu Tamashlok Bhakti, Bhavati Nastiki.
So I was asked today to speak on this very important and very much misunderstood topic of guru tattva.
It's perhaps the most common sense topic because obviously we need some guide in our life and in any sphere of our life there are some guides, and whatever we know is because of their guidance.
Of course, nowadays the main guru is Google Guru, so that's definitely the most prominent guru in our life. And we get most information from Google.
But as far as the practical skills are concerned, even now in the age of Google, we still require some guidance from somebody who's experienced in the field.
You will never be able to do surgical information as surgical operations if you only learn from Google. Neither would be you allowed to do this. So you know, in one sense it's a common sense. It's a very simple thing.
You need a guide, you need somebody who knows more than you and who can do more than you and who can teach you. And from the other hand, it's the most difficult subject matter.
Because if we take the Gaudi Vaishnava conception, it's a very difficult subject matter because the commitment which you take in front of your guru is not simple one. In other sampradaes, you need a guru.
In any Indian tradition, Indian school of thought, the requirement of guru is there.
But in majority of the schools guru just is a temporary means to help you to come to a certain level after which you can discard your guru. You can dispose him because he has already done what he is supposed to do for you.
But in Gaudi Vaishnava school, we say that Guru is our eternal guide and master, and he will be so for the rest of eternity.
So it's a very difficult commitment to take when we accept the guru and we we say, yeah, you will be my guru for the rest of eternity. It's not such a simple thing.
And the level of surrender, which is required in proper vaiṣṇava culture and proper vaiṣṇava sampradāya, is also inordinate. It's not a simple thing to accept a guru.
Bhagavad-gita perspective on guru
So, therefore, this topic is simple and difficult at the same time and I will try to explain the common sense of the issue why it is so necessary and I will try to explain some complexities involved, or some more subtle things which are required when we enter into this relationship, what we are supposed to get in this relationship, and what is the main reward in entering this relationship?
So the main pramāṇa for, of course there is Bhagavad-gītā, very famous Bhagavad-gītā verse, Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnewNode sevayā, upadeksyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninas-tattva-darśinaḥ. But Krishna emphatically says that Guru is required.
He says it in the fourth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā, which is called Divine Knowledge. And basically, he says, you need Tad viddhi, you need Guru to understand how to perform sacrifices.
Because the previous section of this fourth chapter of Bhagavad-gītā is all about different sacrifices. The activities which actually purify your heart, purify your consciousness.
So, and to do this properly, tad vidhi, to do it according to the rules and regulations, to do it properly, or to make your sacrifice, your yagya successful, you need a guide. It's a practical skill, first of all.
But besides that, what is more required when you do yagya, you need to have a proper frame of mind.
You can only be successful in this enterprise of performing yajña and sacrifices if your consciousness is proper. And for that you need Guru. And, uh, Krishna says that, uh, Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā.
For that you have to have three instruments in your hands. You achieve this proper frame of mind, proper consciousness, proper mood, proper proper Proper state of consciousness which will bring you to success in your enterprise.
You will achieve it by displaying humility on three levels. On the level of your body, on the level of your speech, and on the level of your mind.
The humility should be the all-pervading quality uh which is there in the body uh and uh we express our humility by bowing down pranipat. We bow down uh in front of uh superior and that purifies the body.
It actually purifies the mind too, but it's the humility on the level of the body. But it's not enough because externally you may do it. Anyone can do it.
It's a little difficult in the beginning because the neck is very stiff. But you know, somehow or other you can do it if it's a common practice in certain societies.
But then it has to be expressed on the level of the speech, Pari Prasnana. You have to be humble enough to ask questions.
Because in our you know usual proud condition of consciousness we uh think that we already know everything and if we ask
question it means that we don't know something and you know, how you can do it in front of so many people, it's a disgrace. But it is specifically said: Pariprachnana.
Pariprasnana means not just prašna, not just the question. Pariprachnana means that you have to ask questions till you're completely satisfied, till all your doubts are clear. Pariprasnana means all-round question.
The prefix pari means all around that you have to really ask questions exhaustively so that even some doubts would not remain.
Because sometimes we know this that we practice something, but at the same time there are some hidden doubts which are uh erode, which erode our faith, it erode our practice, it's our determination.
So therefore it is said Pari Prasnana.
You have to ask him whatever doubts you have. Even if you have doubts about his behavior, even if you have doubts about something, you know, if it's delicate, you should ask in a very humble mood, but still doubts should be clear.
So that's the humility on the level of speech. Because again, on the level of speech, we tend to express our pride by boasting and by saying how great we are.
Usually, you know, there are only two topics of discussion. About our own glory and about the faults of others. That's the common topics for any conversation. The most interesting ones.
There are some political things, but in reality we're talking about this.
But Krishna says that if you want to really achieve success in your endeavors, spiritual endeavors, because spiritual endeavors means sacrifice. Sacrifice is a synonym of spiritual endeavor. Because in spirituality you have to, you know, surrender yourself.
And then the third and the most difficult element of this relationship indisposable element is sevaya by the means of sevā by the means of surrender. And that's the most difficult because it's on the level of mind.
Seva doesn't mean does not necessarily mean some physical sevā means that you remain in a lower position as a servant in your mind. And then it naturally expresses or manifests externally in your desire to serve.
And that's actually again I mean it's it's common sense. You know we in proper cultures we learn how to serve others. We learn how to open a door in front of somebody who is superior.
We learn how to sit him in a front place and sit and so on so forth, and how to give garlands, you know.
Meaning of the word tattva
So Krishna says this: tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā, those who see the truth, the seers of the truth, tattva-darśinaḥ, they can teach you, they can give you this understanding of what to do.
And also, the word tattva is very interesting in this regard. The word tattva means basically means that-ness. Tat means that. Or something which is beyond the scope of our senses.
That means something which is far away from us. And and tattva, the abstract suffix tva basically translated in English like nes. So that-ness. Those who know the nature of reality which is beyond our
senses, they can impart this knowledge to you. And you have to know we have to ultimately obtain this knowledge which is not obvious, which is not easily available by our normal day-to-day interaction with the matter.
So that's the Bhagavad-gītā pramāṇa. But besides that, actually, I wanted to read the verse of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but I was diverted by by explaining Bhagavad-gītā verse. Anyway, so the main pramāṇa from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
there are many. Śuśrūṣoḥ śraddadhānasya vāsudeva-kathā-ruciḥ. This is the first one actually.
But in the beginning of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but in the 11th canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, there is a very important verse which I will speak a little bit about. And please tell me when you're tired, don't hesitate.
It's the humility on the level of speech. So please tell me shut up. And we had enough. But in any case, so let's chant this verse, let's study this verse, and let's try to understand the logic behind this verse.
It's the verse from the third chapter of the 11th canto of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam, which is the teachings of nine Yogīndras to Vāsudeva Mahārāja. And in the verse twenty-one reads:
tasmād gurum prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam śābde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ brahmaṇy upaśamāśrayam
Tasmat Guru Prabadita. Tasma Guru Padeta, Guru Padela, Diggya su Shri Tamamam, Diggya su Shriam. Diggya su sreyutamam, sabdeparechan, sabdeparechan, Brahman Yupa Samashrayamanipa Samashrayam Brahman Yupa Samashrayam Namanipa Samasrayam So
So let's read the translation. It's expanded translation, which is usually based on the commentary of Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī.
Therefore, any person who seriously desires real happiness must seek a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation.
The qualification of the bona fide Guru is that he has realized the conclusions of the scriptures by deliberation and is able to convince others of these conclusions.
Such great personalities who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, should be understood to be bona fide spiritual masters.
Qualifications of a spiritual master
There are some essential elements of this verse which I will explain, but let's read a little bit of the commentary. It's long so I will probably not read the whole thing, but I'll read a part of it.
According to Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī, the word śābde refers to the Vedic literature, and pare refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
The bona fide spiritual master must be niṣṇātaṁ, deeply experienced in authorized Vedic literature and in practical understanding of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
Without scriptural knowledge and practical realization of the personality of Godhead, a so-called Guru will be unable to dissipate the doubts of his disciples and therefore unable to execute the function of bringing the sincere student back home back to Godhead.
The symptom of realized understanding of the Vedas concerning Kṛṣṇa is upaśamāśrayam.
In other words, the bona fide spiritual master is one who has retired from the glittering illusions of the materialistic society, friendship, and love.
And then there is a very interesting part of the commentary which explains the understandings of Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, the spiritual master of Śrīla Prabhupāda. Okay, I'll read this. Yeah, okay.
Okay, I'll read Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's paraphrase of Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura and uh Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī.
According to Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, if a—if a spiritual master cannot destroy his disciples' doubts, by superior knowledge, the disciple will gradually become despondent in spiritual life.
Because a bogus guru cannot actually give Kṛṣṇa to the disciple according to the principle of Rasavarjam Rasopyasya, the disciple will again become attracted to material happiness, not having achieved the bliss of Krishna's association.
Such a weak disciple of a weak spiritual master will gradually become hopeless and discouraged in his attempt at self realization and will again become fascinated by temptations of illusion such as women, money and so called intellectuality based on speculation and imagination.
And then the last paragraph is long, but still I'll read the part of it.
According to Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura, one who has understood the futility of material existence can approach a bona fide spiritual master. In the two previous verses, the futility of earthly and heavenly sense gratification has been described.
Now, the natural conclusion is that one who has understood this should approach a bona fide spiritual master. The bona fide spiritual master broadcast the sound vibration from the spiritual
planets called Vaikuṇṭha. The inhabitants of the spiritual planets, headed by the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, are certainly not deaf and dumb.
They are in constant communication through unlimited transcendental bliss and knowledge. And the bona fide spiritual master can transmit the sound vibration of bliss and knowledge to his disciple.
That's a very essential phrase. The bona fide spiritual master can transmit the sound vibration of bliss and knowledge to his disciple.
Just as radio broadcasts mundane news, the bona fide guru broadcasts the news from Vaikuṇṭha. This is confirmed by Narottama Dāsa Ṭhākura: gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ, harir nāma saṅkīrtana.
The spiritual master also transmits to the disciple the holy name of Krishna, which is non-different from Krishna himself.
The bona fide guru informs his disciple that every living entity is qualitatively one with the Supreme Lord, but quantitatively different and thus engages the disciples in the loving service of the Lord.
So let's stop here.
Futility of material and heavenly happiness
Nama o viṣṇu-pādāya kṛṣṇa-preṣṭhāya bhū-tale śrīmate bhaktivedānta-svāmin iti nāmine Namaste Sarasvati Devi Gurawani pracharini, nirvisha sunya vadi, pachatyades are ne Sri Krishna Chaitanya Prabunitananda Sjadvaita Godhara Srivastadi Gaura Bhakta Vrinda Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Ramahari Rama Rama Ramahare Mamava Mampra sandiva takila shakti darah swadamna, anjam.
So as it is clear from this verse, this verse is a continuation of certain of certain trend of thought in the description of Śrīmad- Bhāgavatam. And as it is said in the last part of the commentary, two previous verses
explained the hopelessness of trying to become completely totally happy in this material world.
Unless you are disillusioned or disappointed with the attempts to become totally completely happy in this material world, you don't need guru. You only need guru if you understood the futility of these attempts.
If you didn't understand this, then try more. There is a big world. There is so many opportunities.
But in the previous verses, in two previous verses, it is said that as far as the material happiness of this plane of existence is concerned, it's totally futile because you work hard for some time, you pay all your taxes, you pay your mortgage and uh everything else. And uh what you are left with at the end? Nothing.
I mean with the receipts of paid bills is your asset which will not be very valuable in another plane of existence.
So it is explained in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam that this attempts of becoming happy here in this very flickering world where everything is so temporary, even if you are successful for a certain amount of time, still your happiness will be poisoned by the understanding that it will end at one point sooner or later.
You understand very clearly that, you know, let's say it's even more tragic if you achieved success. You achieved success, but then you know that everything will be finished very soon, within just a few years.
So we have to be very clear and very sober about this because uh oftentimes people being uh sentimentally disposed uh being little sentimental, they just don't like to hear the things.
You know, nobody likes to hear the things. But we should hear them every now and then. It will help us to become disillusioned and disappointed sooner.
But then there is another prospect, another possibility, you know okay let's say we cannot be happy here but we can be happy in the in the heavenly sphere of existence.
Every religion speaks about heaven and there is heavenly planets.
You know, of course, for most of the people, especially from the eastern bloc or India, the heaven't uh moved down to America and they want to reside somewhere there so they dream that by some accumulating a lot of pious activities they will be born in America next lifetime.
But in a traditional spiritual background, in a traditional religious understanding, you know you have to you know they they all say forget about happiness in this life, just work hard, and then you will be promoted to heaven.
And in the heaven, the weather is very good, it's not like this in London, you know. When Śrīla Prabhupāda was once asked, what is the concept of life of hell in your religion?
Śrīla Prabhupāda says London is hell. This is the... Because there's no sun here. So that's the concept of hell.
But in uh in in this religions in different religions, whether we take Christianity or Muslim religion or Judaism or any other religion, they have some sort of concept of heaven.
And in the heaven, usually you just enjoy and you enjoy and enjoy and enjoy and there is no end to it. And you enjoy to the fullest extent, and your body is most suitable for these enjoyments.
But Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says very interesting thing in the previous verse. And even if you achieve heaven, still there will be rivalry there. Still there will be competition there.
And uh because uh you know, we know how it is if we are in the society of many people who want to enjoy. You know, if all the people who are together want to enjoy, they will compete, who will have maximum enjoyment.
So there will be rivalry, there will be competition, there will be jealousy, and that's what we know from Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In the heavenly planets, despite nice weather, there are still some problems.
Still, there is some fear, some rivalry, some envy and ultimately, it is actually Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam compares the situation in the heaven with the situation of the king. And the king, he may be very happy.
He has all facilities to enjoy and to lead life which is very nice. But still, those who are under him, they are enviously surrendered to him. They have an envy because they want to take the same position.
They're envious. So from those who are inferior to you, you will encounter this envy and from those who are equal to you there will be some rivalry.
So this is how Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is trying to prove to us the futility of the attempts to achieve happiness either in this planet or in the heavenly planets. And the beauty of this is that sometimes people think that
To be disappointed with material life, to be disillusioned with material life, you have to experience it first.
Actually, you know, the good news is that you don't have to experience it first, you can just imagine that you've achieved this and understand that this is not going to give you any happiness.
You know, we are given imagination, which is a very powerful tool. We can in our imagination, in our mind, you know, create this ideal situation. Let's say the situation is ideal.
So what will you do in this ideal situation?
The necessity of seeking surrender
Either you will be completely bored, bored to the max, and you will just, you know, you will think, you know, what the hell is going on? And you will want some obstacles to overcome, or you will become, you know, you will encounter some envy or whatever.
So you don't need—our intelligence, the imagination is the part of intelligence. If we have developed intelligence, it means that we can reproduce or reconstruct certain situations just within our mind.
And understand that this is uh something which is worthless, something which we should not really strive for, something which we should not really, uh, spend our time and energy.
You know, and because people, they are, they are completely, you know, enamored by their dreams.
You know, they're dreaming something. Sometimes they dream at night, sometimes they dream during the day, you know, the daydream. You know, like there is American dream, uh, there is
British dream, I don't know, the two-room apartment in the centre of London, you know, with a tiny water closet which you can hardly fit in. Or whatever, I don't know what is British dream.
I have my Russian dreams, which is probably not very relevant to you. But people they have this different dreams. But anyway, this is dreams. Dreams are dreams. Dreams are not real, you know.
Even if the dreams will be real, it will be just very flickering and it will not give you the real uh satisfaction within. And therefore, this verse starts with the word tasmat.
Tasmat means, therefore, the smart means the conclusion. The conclusion which we have to arrive by using, by properly using our intelligence. The intelligence is given to us to arrive to proper conclusions.
And the proper conclusion which we should arrive is that, you know, I really tried. And not only I tried, not only I was trying, but so many people around me was trying. They were all trying.
You know, my parents were trying hard, my grandparents were trying hard. They didn't achieve anything. Did they? Not really. You know, I tried, so many people around me still trying, you know.
Therefore, tasmād guru-prapadyeta. It's a very heavy statement. There's many heavy statements in Vedic literature because Vedic literature is called Shastra, and Shastra means something which has to discipline you.
Shastra is the means to discipline you. The root, verbal root, shas means to discipline, to regulate. And prapadhyata is in order. You have to do it. Tasmād guru-prapadyeta. Therefore, you have to surrender to Guru.
Tasmād guruṁ prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam. If you want śreya uttamam, if your intelligence is enough not to desire temporary happiness which is preyas. Not to desire something which is immediately pleasing.
Usually we are we are very short-sighted. You know, I know it because I have glasses, it's short-sighted. Well, usually short-sighted, we don't see too far. And therefore, we want something which is immediately pleasing.
But if you have intelligence, it means that you can in uh in the field of psychology it is called delayed enjoyment. And the professional psychologists they come to this conclusion much after Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, but basically the conclusion is the same.
Those who are more intelligent, they want delayed enjoyment. Not immediate enjoyment.
There is this famous marshmallow experiment, you know, about the little children who were given one marshmallow and said, you know, if you wait for 20 minutes you will be given two.
And those who managed to wait by immense willpower, you know, they were singing songs and turning around and trying to distract themselves from the very nice marshmallow in front of them.
But those who were delaying this gratification, delayed gratification. They were much more successful in their life. And therefore, it is said here: Tasmat Guruum Prapady Ta Djasuam Srey Utama.
If you want Sreya, which means the lasting happiness, not the immediate happiness, which is by definition very flickering.
If you want the highest uttamam, the best happiness, the happiness beyond Tama, beyond the darkness of this world, not the dark happiness which we have. And you know, we all know what dark happiness is.
You know, we all had our share of not very bright happiness. Happiness which actually makes you miserable.
But if you want Uttama Shreya, The benefit for yourself, eternal benefit for yourself, eternal good for yourself, not immediate good for yourself.
Scriptural expertise required of guru
Then you have to surrender to the bona fide spiritual master as explained in the purport. And the most important part of this is that this statement is definitely a subject of a lot of misuse.
There is a lot of problems connected with Guru. I was told I don't know, you know, I I know little Hindi, you know, they they said that I know I know little Hindi.
But they say that in modern Hindi the word guru means chitr. It may be because this concept or this idea is very much misused in the uh in common life in the life.
Therefore, Shastra not only orders you, commands you to accept guru, but also very carefully describes who is Guru.
There is no statement in the Shastra which tells you to surrender to Guru without the additional explanation of who Guru is.
Like in the verse of Bhagavad Gita which we read, it is said that Tadvidi Pranipati Napariprasnana Sevayopadeksyanti Tekyanam Gyanina Statva Darsana It is said basically the same thing, a little less elaborate than in this verse.
It is said that the guru should be jnani. It means that he has to have scriptural knowledge. And scriptural knowledge means that he has to understand very clearly the logic of the scriptures.
Scriptures have unique presentation of the truths.
Scriptures present the truth which is not obvious, which is not really easily available, which you cannot really understand by your intelligence. But at the same time, they describe this truth in a very rational way.
This was actually my surprise when I first read Bhagavad-gītā. I was a complete atheist, I was a scientist, and I was dreaming.
My dream was... I will not tell you what my dream was, but it was, it was foolish. That much I can tell.
But uh, but uh, what I was surprised I always thought that religion means something irrational. You have to believe in something irrational. And here I am reading Bhagavad-gītā, and it's completely rational.
Also, the rationality is completely different from the rationality which I used to use. You know, it's a rationality, it's a rational logic, it's a logical presentation of the truth which is not easily available to us.
Therefore, guru has to be jñānī. As it is said here, he has to be, uh, śabda- brahma-niṣṇātaḥ. Niṣṇāta means expert. Niṣṇāta means he really—Niṣṇāta means he really has to excel in scriptural knowledge.
You know some spiritual people, saintly people, may not be so expert in scriptural knowledge.
It's actually not the prerequisite to be perfect in your aspirations in your attempts to become a spiritual person, you may not know all the details of scriptures and still be very saintly and very elevated and advanced.
There are so many saints in India who were illiterate. But they cannot be gurus. They're saintly persons. They are, you know, they could be admired, their association is very much desirable.
But to be a guru, the first and foremost qualification, the first important one, you have to know the scripture. You have to speak from the scripture, not from your head.
You know speaking from the head is nice, but it's not going to help other people.
So uh and speaking from the scriptures means speaking with the logic of the scriptures. Trying to explain how scriptures are completely rational, how they're logical, how they're how they have forceful arguments about the subject matters which are completely beyond the scope of our perception or even understanding.
How you can explain this mysterious and esoteric subject matters with such a clarity and such logical thing it's really amazing, you know. And the more you read Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam or other Vedic literature, the more amazed you will become.
But of course, you know you have to accept that the logic of the scriptures is not mundane logic. It's a different logic, it's a different kind of logic. It's transrational logic. It's rational, but it's transrational.
It's beyond simple logic of day-to-day interactions. Because when we speak about the absolute reality, when we speak about something which is unlimited, you cannot employ normal logic.
Because normal logic only works within the limited sphere of creation. If you are in this limited world, yes, you have to use limited logic. Limited logic means one plus one means two and one minus one means zero.
But according to transcendental logic, one plus one means one, and one minus one also means one. So uh and that's logic, that's logical, but it's different logic.
And Guru has to know this logic and has to train you in this logic. Has to really explain to you that this logic makes sense and uh has to train you how to apply this logic in your life.
So that's jnani or sabda brahmani nishnatha.
Direct experience of absolute truth
Brahmani means the absolute truth. Brahmani means the unlimited spiritual source of this limited existence, of this material sphere of creation.
And then, but it is said most importantly, even more importantly, this is one very important consideration, but even more important consideration is that He should be para-brahman-niṣṇāta.
He should be expert in para-brahman. Sabda Brahman, he should be expert, it means that he should know the logic of scriptures.
But parabrahman, and as it is said in Bhagavad-gītā, there is an exact parallel in Bhagavad-gītā, a parallel in Bhagavad-gītā it is said, jñānis, they are jñānis, they have the knowledge.
And they are tattva-darśinaḥ. They also see the truth. Really, they're seers of the truth. They have the direct experience of the truth.
And then here we have Yogendras speaking and they say that tasmād gurum prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam śabde pare ca niṣṇātaṁ Par Brahman Nishnat, Brahman Yu Papsha Masreha. Par Brahman Nishnatha means that he has to see par Brahman. He has to know Krishna. He has to see Krishna somehow or other. He has to have experience.
And the explanation why it is necessary, why this both qualities are necessary? If you don't have the expertise in scriptural knowledge, you are not really capable of dissipating the doubts of your disciples.
That's one very important thing because the doubts of uh within us they erode our faith and our determination, as I said. Uh but then another thing which is uh also problematic,
the disciples may be convinced, but still they may not have emotional condition which is conducive or suitable to perform spiritual practice. Because they may have theoretical knowledge.
Sometimes people you know when they're depressed, when they in this depression in this condition, you know they're down. And you come to them and you say, Prabhu, surrender, you know, soul is eternal.
And you know you will hear what they will say to you in reply, you know, get out of here. I know it better than you. It doesn't help.
You know, when you have this emotionally difficult condition, and we all have, sooner or later, due to mistakes which we do or whatever, we will get into these emotionally difficult conditions where we don't have enthusiasm to perform spiritual practice despite the fact that we know that we should do it.
You know, does it relate to you? Does it make sense to you? Sometimes you know everything, but you know you are too depressed to do anything in practice. You're just. or you're too too afraid.
Because again, theoretical knowledge is not really everything. Therefore, it is stressed here, which is not so much expressed in the translation of this verse, but nevertheless, the stress is here.
Has to have a direct experience of the absolute truth to be able to uplift the person from his emotional his disciple from his emotional, you know, how you call this some emotional conditions, depressed emotional conditions, to the elevated status and give him real boost in his spiritual life.
You know, and it's not enough for this,
it's not enough just to speak Shastra. You have to speak from your heart. You have to speak, you have to take your emotions and uh basically drag the person out of the hole where he is in.
You know, and for that you need to have a lot of conviction and understanding and realization. For that you have to be emotionally elevated yourself to be able to do this, because it's not easy.
You know, the crisis is there and uh you you really have to deal with the crisis. I mean I I know it in my own experience. You know, sometimes people come to me and they explain
their situation and you know I I try to encourage them but internally I think, you know, how they cope with this, it's not possible. It's very difficult. The life is so difficult. Life is very difficult.
Therefore, this parabrahmanishnatum means the direct experience or Tattva Darśinaḥ, as Kṛṣṇa says in Bhagavad-gītā.
The direct experience which will give you, which will be transmitted not necessarily by verbal means, which is transmitted from heart to heart.
You know, the beauty of the surrender is that when you surrender in the real sense of the word, not externally, not formally, but when you have this surrender within your heart, then the flow of experience is coming from the heart of, uh, guru to your own heart.
You open your heart, and this flow of mercy, or flow of experience, or flow of flow of spiritual experience or the flood of spiritual experience will come from the heart of the guru to the heart of disciple.
But that needs to be understood properly because the dis- the guru should be qualified and the disciple should also be qualified in the sense that he should allow this glow of spiritual experience to be transmitted within his heart.
Which is not so easy. You really have to be sincerely surrendered and you have to, as they say, that your ears, the main interaction between guru and the disciple is through the ears and the ears of the disciple should
be like we say Anjali, we say that we this there's a special mudra, a special posture for begging. You know when we want to beg something, then we you know we hand over or we give extend our hands towards the person.
So in the same way our ears should accept this shape, you know, it has to be, you know, really of this shape, to beg the mercy of the Guru in a form of spiritual vibrations. This is what explained by Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī in his report. It's a very beautiful explanation, which I will try to dwell,
Guru as a spiritual transmitter
but for how long I should go on I don't think that everyone is so enthusiastic Anyway, let me let me speak a little bit more. So uh Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī gives a very interesting explanation.
Which actually explains the necessity of a spiritual guru, and not just a guru who gives some sort of mundane knowledge.
The guru, according to Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, please listen very carefully. It's a very difficult concept to grasp. According to Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, guru is a transmitter.
He has to be tuned up to the vibrations of knowledge and bliss, as Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī says, which are there in the spiritual world.
Spiritual reality is full of knowledge and bliss and knowledge and bliss uh has the uh the nature of waves, it's vibrations. As much as this plane of existence is very gross, it's the plane of matter.
Everything is very gross and everything is very, you know, cloggy and uh how you say, very, you know, it's very difficult to deal with this stubborn and uh gross material energy.
But uh the spiritual plane of existence is much more subtle. Everything there has the vibrational nature. It's the nature of waves.
Therefore, it is said that there the vibration of the word Kṛṣṇa and Kṛṣṇa Himself are non-different. Here the sound and the subject which is denoted by this sound are completely different.
But in the spiritual world where there is a completely different thing, you know, there is no difference between the sound and the thing.
So, you know, there is this uh huge source of which transmits the waves of bliss and knowledge.
And Guru is a special person who through his surrender, his austerities, his study of scriptures, has to tune up his heart to be able to receive these vibrations. And when he receives these vibrations, he is ready to share these vibrations with everyone.
Material versus spiritual knowledge
Provided they are capable of receiving these vibrations from Him.
So uh this is very important understanding because uh the understanding of spiritual matters are completely different from the way we usually understand material things.
It is explained by Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati in different places that material knowledge you can receive bit by bit. And that's actually what we do.
You know, we download material knowledge, you know, that much megabyte or terabyte or whatever material knowledge you download it and of course it's usually remains there on your hard disk.
But material knowledge bit by bit you can plant from outside source to your hard drive. Because this is the knowledge of the world which is dividable. We can divide this world. And that's actually what scientists are doing.
What they do, they just, you know, they slash or they smash this world on pieces and they study little pieces.
And by studying little pieces of reality they obtain tiny little knowledges about this little pieces, and then somehow or other they try to get the complete picture, but it never complete.
So material knowledge of the dividable world is dividable.
You can get, you know, in the first level, you know, you study some mathematics in the second, in the third, in the fourth, you gradually, gradually, piece by piece, you're getting some knowledge and your knowledge becomes more and more complete. More and more you can explain or you can understand more and more with this knowledge.
But spiritual knowledge is not like this. And therefore, Google Guru doesn't work. Google Guru is not really, you know, first of all, Google doesn't have any spiritual experience.
Google Guru cannot give you the knowledge about the spiritual world which is undividable. Which is undivisible, which is a complete whole. It's akanda dvayajana. The spiritual knowledge is called Akanda Advayagyan.
It's the knowledge about non-dual reality, which is akanda, which is indivisible. You cannot really divide it into bits and pieces. And therefore you, cannot study the spiritual reality by bits and pieces.
You have to receive or revelation of the spiritual reality within yourself, and when you receive it, you receive the complete knowledge and complete understanding.
When we are trying to understand spiritual knowledge logically, you know, we get this degree or that degree, you know, this you know, Bhakti Sastri degree and then first Bhakti program and then Bhakti Sastri degree then Bhakti Vedanta degree.
But usually you know usually we get pieces which we uh tend to forget, you know. And we all know that material knowledge is only uh good uh till you pass the exam. After that you don't need it.
You learn so many things, and then you know you downloaded it during exam and that's it. You are you're again free. But that's not the knowledge we are talking about.
The knowledge about spiritual reality, spiritual reality is akanda. It's akanda advaya tattva. And the knowledge of akanda advaya tattva is akanda advaya Gyan.
It's the non-dual knowledge about the spiritual reality which has to come to you uh in a completely different form as a revelation. The revelation may not be complete. There are different levels of revelations.
You know, somebody to somebody a part of the reality may be revealed. But still, it's a complete knowledge. It's a different approach, completely different approach.
And therefore Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda said by the material means you can only achieve either Avinagyan little bits and pieces of Sankirnagyan very limited knowledge or Vivartagrastagyan completely illusory knowledge.
You know, you material knowledge is always a mockery of the spiritual knowledge. It's a completely two different, categorically different things.
And therefore, you know, to understand to be expert in some field of material science, you need guru, no doubt about it. But the level of surrender to this guru is nothing
in comparison with the spiritual requirements, because spiritual requirements, spiritual, the condition to receive spiritual knowledge means complete surrender, which is the prerequisite of receiving the spiritual knowledge.
Which can only come from up down. Which can only come if there is the genuine surrender, as this genuine surrender opens you up to this knowledge and makes you eligible for revelation. It's not a cheap thing.
It's something which has to be revealed to you through your genuine endeavors of surrender. And this cannot be achieved by the material means.
You know, even in the material sciences, as I said, you cannot really be you cannot really achieve any success in any field if you don't have some good teacher.
You know, I was for some time I was interested in chess playing. And of course I was never good.
But what was what was struck me that all these champions, this grosmeisters or whatever, the best, they all have their trainers, they all have their teachers.
They maybe, you know, they they know so much knowledge about this. Still, they need somebody who is next to them and who is sitting and who is telling you're making this mistake or that mistake.
So in the material field, you need a guru. But uh you know, in a spiritual reality, the need for guru is much more. If you really want to understand. If you don't, no problem. You know, there is a big world.
You know, once there was a story when Prabhupada was in his room in Mayapur, and there was some cockroach crawling on the floor, so Prabhupada picked up this cockroach, he came to the window, and he dropped the cockroach and said, here is the world, enjoy it.
The whole world is yours.
Experiencing bliss through spiritual connection
So, you know, no problem if you don't want to understand the higher reality, the choice is yours; but if we are to understand, if we're really intelligent enough or thoughtful enough to understand that it's not enough for me to have this meager knowledge about this material reality, then we have to be surrendered to the guru.
And therefore they said, tasmād gurum prapadyeta jijñāsuḥ śreya uttamam. And this guru again has to be able to transmit the vibrations of knowledge and bliss.
The experience which you must have after dealing with the guru is that you got in touch—if you really in a real sense was interacting with the guru in a real sense—and the guru of course was bona fide, the experience which you have, the aftertaste which you have, it's this taste. Yeah, I experienced something which is very blissful.
I didn't understand much what he was rambling about, you know.
But you know, as Mukunda Goswami describes very beautifully his one of the first interactions with Śrīla Prabhupāda, he said that, you know, he met with Swami and Swamiji was giving lectures. He was not, he was just a little bit interested.
He actually wanted to go to India to find somebody who is really bona fide.
And here is this local Swami in Lower East Side, Manhattan. So, you know, he comes here every now and then, and then Śrīla Prabhupāda says, I can teach you Sanskrit. He said, I want to teach, I want to study Sanskrit. So he comes to Śrīla Prabhupāda and he said, Please give me Sanskrit lessons.
He's the only disciple, you know. Not much success yet. So Srila Prabhupada is available.
So Śrīla Prabhupāda says, Yes, I will teach you Sanskrit. And Śrīla Prabhupāda chants the verse from Brahma-saṁhitā: īśvaraḥ paramaḥ kṛṣṇaḥ sac-cid-ānanda-vigrahaḥ / anādir ādir govindaḥ sarva-kāraṇa-kāraṇam, speaks a couple of words about this and then explains how Kṛṣṇa is sac-cid-ānanda, how He is vigraha, His personality, how Anadi, he has no beginning and how he is the beginning and the source of everything, Kanadir.
And you know, speaks about Krishna, Krishna, Krishna. And for one and a half hour he just speaks about Krishna and nothing about Sanskrit.
So, Mukundamaraj he comes out from this lesson and he thinks he describes this in his book.
He says, I didn't learn much about, you know, he uh I was coming out and thinking, you know, he didn't tell me much about Sanskrit, but he's so much into Krishna.
And the feeling, and the feeling which he had as a result of this encounter is a bliss. Because he got in touch with the bliss which is
inside of the heart of Śrīla Prabhupāda. He is in connection with this bliss personified who is Krishna, the all-attractive personality of Godhead, who is the Ananda personified, who, not Ananda, Sac-cid-ānanda.
He is a very concentrated Ananda. And he's transmitting these vibrations of knowledge and bliss. So we may not understand what he's talking about. We don't have to understand what he's talking about.
The main understanding which we should bring home
from this encounter is that I I don't know what he's talking about but it's something really far out something really nice something which is really touching because there is some bliss involved.
It's amazing that Krishna Katha has uh you know I've been talking on many subject matters. Uh you know I can talk about sometimes I must give some astrology lectures.
I have some friends who somehow rather ask me to give astrological class to their students. I I don't know much astrology, but anyway I go there.
And I I can talk about astrology, I can talk about Ayurveda, I can talk about many different subject matters. But when you talk about Krishna, it's the most blissful experience.
Nothing comes close to it because when you talk about Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, it's the bliss, because Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam is Krishna himself. He is there.
And if you are in touch with this, then this is the most important function of the Guru.
This is what Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī is explaining in his beautiful purport to this verse: that you have to be in contact with the spiritual reality and be able to somehow or other to impress upon others the uh the nature of this reality. That this reality is full of knowledge and bliss.
It's not just some you know some theoretical concept. It's not just something. It's something which is full of love ultimately. And to explain love, you know, what love means,
how to deal when you laugh, you have to have a very proper guide and proper guidance. It is actually explained.
Fearlessness as a key quality
I will explain very soon I will finish. So I will explain the third qualification of Guru which is expressed here. The third qualification of Guru: first is uh he is Shabda Brahman in Nishnatha.
Second one, he is Parabrahman in Nishnatha. He's expert in Para Brahman, in he has spiritual experience, and he's capable of transmitting this spiritual experience to others. And the third one is Upashama Ashreha.
Upashama means Ashreha, he took shelter. And Upashama means he took shelter in the uh in the peacefulness. In the peace. Upashama means the uh shama means the peace of mind, Shama means control of mind.
Upasha Mashraha means actually that he is dispassionate and he is capable of dealing with the tribulations of this world and problems of this world in a very dispassionate way.
Upasa Masraya also means that he is very gentle. It's not easy to disturb him, to agitate him. He is peaceful and he transmits peace. He is uh Upasha Mashreha means that uh he is not angry, you know.
Sometimes people are very angry, you know, and uh and dissatisfied. Upasha mashraha means he's satisfied with whatever situation he is.
You know, like Śrīla Prabhupāda, he was very satisfied when he came to Manhattan and we had nothing. He had nothing.
You know, he had to scratch some sense to get some you know the the most popular prasadam after uh his lecture would be one apple divided into thirty parts.
You know he would cut one apple into thirty pieces and give to his audience. But he was happy, he was satisfied. And then he had all these palaces and everything. And he was happy in the palaces as well.
He was Upasha Masreha. Upasha Masreha means he's not disturbed, he's not agitated, he's not angry, he's not disturbed by Kama, Krawda, Lob, Mada, Madsarya. He's completely sheltered.
And the most important part of this is that he is fearless. This, this uh, and um, uh, uh, sometimes this verse is explain that uh the first quality of a guru is easily understood because you know you
you immediately know if the person knows shastra or not. He quotes Shastra, he understands Shastra, he explains to you Shastra. That's quantifiable, that you can check whether he has it or not.
But the second quality is very difficult. You know, somebody may say, oh, I see Krishna all the time.
You know, you know, whenever, wherever I look, Krishna is there. That may be, I, you know, but how it manifests externally.
And sometimes it explains that the third quality, upaśama-āśraya, is listed here as an external manifestation of the second quality. If you have real experience of dealing with the Supreme Absolute Truth.
And if you know that the Supreme Absolute Truth is your friend, and he's always there, and He's always with you, and He's everywhere, then the first quality which you have to develop is that you become free from fear.
You become completely fearless. Because you know whatever happens with you is for your good. It's arranged by your friend. Not by your enemy. Your friend is there.
He gave the uh he gave the you know the permission uh to happens if something happens with you whatever. So basically Upashu Masraya means you're not disturbed, he's not disturbed because he's fearless.
He's not disturbed by the most basic and most common emotion of this material world, which is fear. Dvaitād bhayaṃ bhavati. is the common emotion and everyone has this emotion to different degrees.
Sometimes it's panic attacks, sometimes it's just disturbance in the mind, but still it's the manifestation of fear. When it is said that Guru has to be undisturbed, it means he is free from fear.
And if he is free from fear, it means he has the direct realization of the supreme absolute truth.
It means that he knows that the supreme absolute truth is there in my heart. He is in the heart of my enemies, he is in the heart of everyone, and everything is under his control, and I don't have to worry much. I just have to do my service to him.
So that's the third quality of a guru. And then only if he has these three qualities, he will be able to perform his function. He will be able to elevate and uplift the disciple from the problems of this material life.
Five levels of guru-tattva
And therefore, this is so important. And then, you know, because I'm already talking too long, I'll I just briefly speak. This is the highest understanding of Guru Tattva.
But uh according to our acharyas, Guru Tattva is a universal principle. Guru Tattva is God. Actually, when God wants us to learn something, He created this whole world as a learning experience.
This whole world is nothing but a big university. Unfortunately, so many of us prefer to remain in this university again and again and again and never graduate from the university. But it's a school.
So therefore the original capacity of being a guru is invested in God Himself. It's his primary function. He wants to teach. He's the teacher. And it's the most important function.
Therefore, like in the government, you have prime minister and you have so many other ministers of this department, of that department.
But sometimes like when Modi has become became the uh prime minister he was also dealing with the international affairs. He had this portfolio with him because it was very important and he wanted to improve the image of India all over the world.
So sometimes when the Prime Minister, uh, when something is very important, He keeps this portfolio for himself. He doesn't delegate it to somebody else.
So, in this similar way, Krishna, he is the Supreme Lord, He is the Supreme Prime Minister, He is Pratham Pratham Mantri. But under him, so many ministers are there who are in charge of different departments.
But the educational department he keeps for himself. He is the original Guru Tattva. He is the ākaṇḍa guru-tattva. He, uh, because this is the most important function. This is something which is the most important.
The spiritual education is with him.
And therefore we say that our, uh, samasti guru, that is samasti guru and vyaṣṭi guru. So we say that vyaṣṭi guru is element guru, is the manifestation of Samashti Guru, of the Akanda Guru Tattva, of the original Guru Tattva, which is there in God.
But this Guru Tattva, according to our Sampradaya, manifests on five levels. And that's the last thing which I will explain. To understand the need of Guru Tattva, the guidance is necessary on five levels.
The first level of guidance is our ordinary life. Because in our ordinary life, in our day-to-day dealings, we often encounter different difficult situations.
And we don't know what is the proper way, what is the solution to this problem? Which way we should take? We encounter that there are different possibilities. Whether we should take this possibility or that possibility.
So, for that, to give us the guidance on this level, God gave us intelligence. Intelligence is the first manifestation of Guru Tattva. And we should not neglect our intelligence.
You know, there was very funny story about Srila Prabhupada.
There was one disciple of his who was a saṅkīrtana leader in one uh city in America and he was very surrendered and uh whatever mistake he would do he said oh Krishna wanted me to do this. You know he if he would not put uh uh petrol uh into into the car and the car would stop all of a sudden, he would uh tell to his, uh, you know, members of the saṅkīrtana party, Krishna doesn't want us today to distribute books, let's sit in this car and read books. And you know, all the time he was misusing this transcendental philosophy for his advantages.
And ultimately they told him why don't you write to Śrīla Prabhupāda and ask him what does it mean to be surrendered? Hesitantly he wrote this letter because he was pushed by somebody under him, by the devotees under him.
Write the letter, write the letter for what does it mean? Does it really mean like this? And he wrote the letter, of course, hoping that Śrīla Prabhupāda will confirm his understanding.
And Śrīla Prabhupāda, the answer of Śrīla Prabhupāda, who could see through the whole thing, the answer of Śrīla Prabhupāda said: to be surrendered means to properly use your God-given intelligence.
So don't, don't, you don't misuse this philosophy, I'm so surrendered, therefore, I can do any stupid thing. And you know, Krishna is guiding me in this.
So, Guru Tattva, on the first elementary level, manifest in our intelligence. And we should use and we should purify our intelligence.
The first important function, if we want to be guided from above, if we really want to guidance, we have to purify our intelligence and not neglect our intelligence. Intelligence will give you the proper way, intelligence will tell you don't go easy way.
Don't be seduced by all these temptations. If you have proper intelligence, you understand you have to work hard to achieve success, you have to do certain things, you have to be moral.
So that's the first level of Guru Tattva, how Krishna manifests himself within us. He gave us this buddhi, which is capable of distinguishing between proper and improper, good and bad.
So, and we should use it and we should purify our intelligence by studying Shastra, because Shastra says this is this is good, bad. All the time, this is Shastra, Manasa Shastra says there's only, you know, the in
the Shastra, there are only two important things: Vidya and Yesheda. This you should do, this you shouldn't do, this is good, this is bad. You know, and this is the program to purify our intelligence.
We should have the complete faith in the scriptures and then an our intelligence is actually conforming with this.
When we read this and when we follow this, we understand yes, this is good we can experience that this is good, that this is not some blind faith.
On the second level, the manifestation of Guru is actually Guru as Paramātmā within the heart or as the conscience inside us. Sometimes we, you know, if we are sincere, we hear the voice within.
This is not good, don't go there. If you're a little more subtle, if you're a little more elevated, you will understand that there is another guidance which is going on right now.
We are already under Guru. This Guru is God. And he is talking with us as Paramatma and saying, Don't do this, this is not good. Or do this, this is good. And you say, No, no, I don't want to do this.
And he says, No, do this. And we say, no, no, it's so difficult. And he says, no, do this, it's difficult, but it's good for you.
So if we're sensitive enough and if we're pure enough, we will be able to hear this guidance from within, also.
But then there is this third level, still it's it's more or less on the level of uh common sense uh and uh and even to receive this guidance, we have to train ourselves. We really have to purify our heart and train ourselves.
The third level of instructions which are more difficult and more complicated, as our ācāryas says, is represented by Madhvācārya or Mukhya-prāṇa or, uh, Hanuman or Bhīma. You know, they exemplify The guru
in our ordinary dealing, the Dharmic Guru. The next level of understanding, first level of understanding common sense. Seondc level of understanding, more subtle understanding between good and bad.
Even higher understanding is that this is dharma, this is a dharma. And the consequences of all the choices which we do on all these levels are different.
You know, if we make mistake uh on a lower level, the consequences are not so long-standing. But the higher we go, the higher our aspiration is, the more difficult is the guidance, and the more demanding is the guidance.
So if we see in Bhīma Sen or Hanumān it's the same personality or Madhvacharya, they they teach us how to fight for the truth and how to be dharmic and righteous in all situations of life.
And dharmic means in a higher sense. To be moral, you are taught by Paramatma. The moral truth is a little lower.
When we're talking about Bhīma Sen or Madhvacharya, they are talking about highest dharma, which is Bhagavad Dharma.
They're talking that you can neglect ordinary dharma for the sake of highest dharma of your surrender to God. So that's the teaching on that level which we should be trained of. And this is the function.
And our Guru has to actually function on all these levels if if we're not capable enough to receive guidance from within.
But you know this Bhagavad Dharma, which Madhvacharya is teaching in his Dvait teaching the surrender and service.
You know, your small tiny little living entity, your eternal function and position in relationship to the absolute is the service. So this absolute service and surrender is this teaching on the third level.
And then there are two higher levels which are much more elevated, which are represented by Balaram, who is the Akhanda Guru Tattva and who teaches us to serve in all circumstances,
to imbibe the spirit of service that I'm really functioning in the proper sense of the word when I serve the Supreme Lord, and that's the teachings of Balaram and Nityānanda.
And on this level we uh we're being taught the uh chanting of Hare Krishna mantra and more elevated subject matters. Like Caitanya Mahāprabhu, he sent Nityānanda Prabhu and Haridas to preach the holy name.
And how they will preach, they would go from door to door and they would say, Take Krishna, take Krishna. Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rāma Hare Rāma Rāma Ram Hare Hare.
Teaching on this level is to give you much more difficult understanding that the Holy Name is no different from Krishna. And that just by chanting holy name you can achieve everything.
So that's the level of Balaram as the representative of Guru Tattva. And of course, the highest manifestation of Guru Tattva is Srimati Radharani,
who is teaching us the most difficult signs of love, how to love the Supreme Lord completely without any reservations. She is also the representative of Guru Tattva.
So this is the five levels on which the teachings are manifested. And ultimately we have to, and they are imbibed and manifested by our Guru and we have to learn from him on all these levels.
We have to learn how to use our intelligence and employ common sense, we have to learn how to be moral, we have to learn how to be surrendered to God. We have to learn how to serve Him in different capacities.
And ultimately we have to learn from Him how to serve him with our heart, with our emotions, with our love. So that's Gurutattva.
That's and therefore I said that this is the most simple and common sense subject matter, but at the same time, this is the most difficult subject matter.
Because the training which we have to receive is is uh in all these five levels up to the most difficult one.
Questions on guru-disciple relationship
So anyway thank you very much Hare Krishna. Thank you so much, Maharaj. Do we have time for one or two questions? Yes? Hare Krishna Maharaj, thank you so much for the wonderful class.
Uh Maharaj, our relationship with our guru, how do we get deeper into that relationship and really allow him to transmit the the knowledge and bliss coming from the spiritual — Yeah, it's all, it's all about hearing.
The relationship with the spiritual master is based on hearing when we hear with utmost attention and reverence and surrender. So that's how it develops.
When we hear and when we try to apply what he teaches, he sometimes doesn't speak much or sometimes he speaks something which is seemingly unrelated. But if we hear we can understand his message.
I remember once I had a very difficult situation and I came to him without being totally hopeless and frustrated and I sat with him and he started all telling me some stories seemingly unrelated.
And when I walked out after one hour of this so-called preaching, he was just telling funny stories and this and that. I was completely transformed. The hope came back to my heart.
So it's just a question of hearing and trying to understand what he wants to say by heart, not necessarily by intelligence. By intelligence too, but even more so by heart.
So it's just śravaṇaṁ and then repeating what he is what he is trying to say by your own words. Thank you very much, Bhakti-caru. Beautiful class. You mentioned that guru must be expert in śrotriyaṁ and spiritual knowledge,
and you said that if uh gurus not uh uh there are many saintly people but if they're uh illiterate they cannot be gurus and we have in our line one who didn't know how to sign, so can you It's
a misconception because Gaurakisoraed us Babaji, he knew Caitanya-caritāmṛta by heart. And besides that, he was very hesitant to accept disciples. He had very few disciples, but he knew the whole Caitanya-caritāmṛta by
heart. And you know, so I often hear this argument that Gaurakisora Dasa Babaji was illiterate, you know, let all of you be as illiterate as him will have much less problem I don't mentioned in the beginning about realizing
the gloomy state of material world to come to a point of surrender and accepting guru. I think it's a great impetus to allow oneself to advance and say yes, go somewhere where it's not as many or better.
But some people or most people are very comfortable in this world. Yeah, they don't need guru, no problem. But still still should we not be
painting such a gloomy picture so that they can be incorporated and just you know accept transcendence because guru is the you know is a manifestation of mercy is much more merciful than transcendence can still
be there despite nothing the loading itself. Srila Prabhupada said that you can only wake up somebody who is sleeping, somebody who is pretending to sleep. You cannot wake him up.
You know if somebody is completely sleeping and oblivious to the temporary nature of this material reality, he may become angry. You know, if he's somewhat receptive or she, no problem, we can we can talk.
But the art of talking is that you really it's like He exemplified himself in Bhagavad-gītā. He told the whole Bhagavad-gītā to Arjuna. But then he said, Now think about it. And then you decide for yourself.
So if we talk like this and people don't feel threatened or intimidated, or you know, then they don't feel that we are intruding in their life, that we are, you know, somehow or other you know depriving them of their freedom of choice.
Then we can say, we can speak. We should speak to everyone, there's no harm.
But the most important thing is that people should internally we have to have this attitude, you know. I'm not imposing it on them. I am not intruding in their life. I am just picking something which they may find beneficial. And if this mood is there, then there is a chance that they will hear something from you.
But otherwise, the initial disillusionment is a good impetus.
Thank you so much, Mahārāja, for your time, for these transcendental wisdom, and, yeah, for giving all this knowledge to us, so can we please have three really loud Haribol to thank Mahārāja?