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Often we say that devotional service is eternal, and even if someone does just a little in this life, he or she can be saved. Śrila Prabhupada went as far as saying that if someone reads just one line of his books, his life can change. Krsna Himself says in the Bhagavad-Gita that “In this endeavor, there is no loss or diminution, and a little advancement on this path can protect one from the most dangerous type of fear.”
Seeing from this perspective, everything is very simple and easy. We just need to practice Kṛṣṇa consciousness and broadcast the mercy by chanting in public, distributing books, and reaching people in other ways. If the idea is to make people Kṛṣṇa conscious, why do we need to bring all the institutional talk about accepting a guru? Why can’t people just practice on their own?
On the one hand, the scriptures advertise the potency of the holy names, giving examples like the history of Ajamila, who was saved by just chanting the name of Narayana once when calling his son. On this line, there are statements like “there are no hard and fast rules,” spoken by Mahaprabhu Himself. On the other hand, the same scriptures mention that one can’t go back to Godhead without accepting a spiritual master and being trained under him. How can we reconcile the two sides?
The point is that these two categories of statements refer to people in different stages of spiritual development. Anyone can start and go to a certain point by just reading books and chanting; that’s why Śrila Prabhupada asked us to distribute his books. There is no prerequisite for taking a book or for chanting when one sees devotees on the streets. Everyone is welcome to join, regardless of having a pious or sinful life, being clean or not, being educated or not, etc.
At a certain point, however, one should accept a spiritual master to move further. When one comes to this stage, different layers of discipline become necessary. One has to abandon previous sinful habits and lead a clean life. He needs to be submissive to the spiritual master (a student who is not submissive can’t properly learn) and so on.
There are therefore two priorities: to convince people to start and to convince devotees who have already come to a certain level to go further. When we talk to new people, we emphasize the flexibility of the process, the absence of hard and fast rules, and so on. These are the aspects most essential in the beginning, and the flexibility encourages them to start practicing and thus benefit from the chanting and association with devotees. This is not a “preaching strategy”; it is the proper instruction at the moment. In the beginning, the priority is to hear, chant, and associate with spiritually advanced people, not to follow each and every detail.
As we advance, however, regulated practice becomes more important. Now, the priority is not just to chant a few times, but to chant every day. Not just to hear once from a sadhu, but to regularly study the philosophy and so on. Simultaneously, we also have to follow the spiritual principles, staying away from bad habits and activities that may jeopardize our practice.
One may prefer not to assume any vows and simply practice spontaneously, chanting whenever he feels like, and maybe following a principle or two. In Kṛṣṇa consciousness, there is no loss or diminution; therefore, even one who is reluctant to become serious in spiritual life will have other chances in the future. This is the power of the devotional process: as we start practicing devotional service, we receive progressively more opportunities to continue and advance further. Even someone who just starts in this life will have an opportunity to continue in the next life.
However, for the ones who are serious, who don’t want to play with the future, there is a certain process to be followed.
This is described in the Caitanya-caritāmrta (Madhya 23.14-15) by Mahāprabhu Himself:
“ ‘In the beginning there must be faith. Then one becomes interested in associating with pure devotees. Thereafter one is initiated by the spiritual master and executes the regulative principles under his orders. Thus one is freed from all unwanted habits and becomes firmly fixed in devotional service. Thereafter, one develops taste and attachment. This is the way of sādhana-bhakti, the execution of devotional service according to the regulative principles. Gradually emotions intensify, and finally there is an awakening of love. This is the gradual development of love of Godhead for the devotee interested in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.’
We can see that accepting a spiritual master comes close to the start of the process, followed by the regulated practice of devotional service that leads to the advanced stages. Kṛṣṇa explains this need in the Gītā, when He mentions:
“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized souls can impart knowledge unto you because they have seen the truth. Having obtained real knowledge from a self-realized soul, you will never fall again into such illusion, for by this knowledge you will see that all living beings are but part of the Supreme, or, in other words, that they are Mine.
Even if you are considered to be the most sinful of all sinners, when you are situated in the boat of transcendental knowledge you will be able to cross over the ocean of miseries. As a blazing fire turns firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge burn to ashes all reactions to material activities.”
It is difficult to agree to follow the process seriously without having a guide that corrects us and inspires our faith. Without such guidance, we tend to create our own process, accepting a few things and rejecting others, doing only what is comfortable for us. Another danger is that we can very easily create a new philosophy, interpreting what we hear according to our own convictions, instead of the opposite. When we take all of this together, we can easily see that without the help of someone who knows the path, it is very easy to get lost. One can learn a lot by watching videos on YouTube, but to advance past a certain point, one must go to a university or find a private teacher.
Accepting a spiritual master is a simple and natural step. We often make it an institutional affair, but it is not supposed to be like that. As Prabhupāda mentions, “Generally a spiritual master who constantly instructs a disciple in spiritual science becomes his initiating spiritual master later on. (CC Ādi 1.35)
As one starts hearing about Kṛṣṇa consciousness, one will naturally find devotees who inspire faith and who help him or her to progress, and as time passes and the relationship is established and reinforced, initiation becomes a natural step. After that, we just continue to develop this relationship of guidance and trust, gradually coming in contact with more spiritual teachers who gradually also assume the position of instructing gurus for us.
Prabhupāda explains this process in more detail in the same purport:
“If one develops love for Kṛṣṇa by Kṛṣṇa conscious activities, one can know the Supreme Absolute Truth, but he who tries to understand God simply by logical arguments will not succeed, nor will he get a taste for unalloyed devotion. The secret is that one must submissively listen to those who know perfectly the science of God, and one must begin the mode of service regulated by the preceptor. A devotee already attracted by the name, form, qualities, etc., of the Supreme Lord may be directed to his specific manner of devotional service; he need not waste time in approaching the Lord through logic. The expert spiritual master knows well how to engage his disciple’s energy in the transcendental loving service of the Lord, and thus he engages a devotee in a specific devotional service according to his special tendency. A devotee must have only one initiating spiritual master because in the scriptures acceptance of more than one is always forbidden. There is no limit, however, to the number of instructing spiritual masters one may accept. Generally a spiritual master who constantly instructs a disciple in spiritual science becomes his initiating spiritual master later on.”
There is also another point emphasized by Prabhupāda later in the same purport. Often we don’t want to accept anyone because of pride, thinking that we are already perfect and need no help. This thinking is common in material life, sometimes even encouraged, but it doesn’t at all work in the spiritual process. No one goes to Kṛṣṇa by his own power. We always need His mercy to progress, and this mercy comes to us through His devotees. See this point, for example:
“One should always remember that a person who is reluctant to accept a spiritual master and be initiated is sure to be baffled in his endeavor to go back to Godhead. One who is not properly initiated may present himself as a great devotee, but in fact he is sure to encounter many stumbling blocks on his path of progress toward spiritual realization, with the result that he must continue his term of material existence without relief. Such a helpless person is compared to a ship without a rudder, for such a ship can never reach its destination. It is imperative, therefore, that one accept a spiritual master if he at all desires to gain the favor of the Lord.”
A problem we have nowadays in our spiritual institution is that there is a small number of authorized gurus, most of them already with thousands of disciples and not physically capable of directly caring for all of them. There are also problems, like obstacles to senior women being allowed to initiate and so on. This creates many situations where one may have a relationship with a senior devotee, with established trust and faith, and not be allowed to be initiated by him or her simply because the chosen teacher is not in the small list of accepted initiating gurus.
It is, however, important to keep in mind that these are temporary obstacles we have to learn to navigate. My personal advice is to focus first on the relationship, not on initiation. It works better if, in the beginning, we focus more on learning, asking questions, obtaining guidance, and establishing trust, leaving the question of initiation for later. The right question is not “Who can initiate me?” but “Who can guide me?” Once we find a spiritual teacher in whom we trust, who can guide us and help us find our way, initiation is just another detail that our instructing spiritual master can help us to navigate.
Prabhupāda explains this point in more detail in his purport to CC Ādi 1.47:
“Śrīla Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī states that the instructing spiritual master is a bona fide representative of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself teaches us as the instructing spiritual master from within and without. From within He teaches as Paramātmā, our constant companion, and from without He teaches from the Bhagavad-gītā as the instructing spiritual master. There are two kinds of instructing spiritual masters. One is the liberated person fully absorbed in meditation in devotional service, and the other is he who invokes the disciple’s spiritual consciousness by means of relevant instructions. Thus the instructions in the science of devotion are differentiated in terms of the objective and subjective ways of understanding. The ācārya in the true sense of the term, who is authorized to deliver Kṛṣṇa, enriches the disciple with full spiritual knowledge and thus awakens him to the activities of devotional service.”
The spiritual master is the representative of Kṛṣṇa; he is the person through which Kṛṣṇa can speak to us. The diksa guru is essential in the sense that he is supposed to also be the primary instructing guru. If the relationship with the diksa guru is merely ceremonial, then the benefit is very limited.
The purpose of accepting a guru is not to obtain a spiritual name or prestige inside the group. The purpose is to develop a genuine relationship of trust and service, where we can find proper spiritual guidance. Formal initiation should consolidate this relationship, not serve as a relationship for it.
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