Faith, Doubt and the Spiritual Master
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By Tri-yuga das in General Published: Sunday, 24 August 08 - 03:11 PM (GMT +11:00) Last Updated: Monday, 25 August 08 - 08:30 PM (GMT +11:00) |
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It is amazing the way Sastric readings often seem to hit on questions that are currently moving in the mind. Yesterday my reading brought me to a series of verses discussing a predicament of conditioned existence that I have been seriously contemplating of late.
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Below are excepts from the section of Srimad Bhagavatam that I read. The quoted verse begins "Therefore any person who seriously desires real happiness must..." The verses that lead into this verse discuss the futility of all kinds of pursuits aimed at achieving happiness within the material world (karma) and liberation by means of speculative intellectualism (jnana). Having established this, the present verse proceeds to offer the solution to the predicament:
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SB 11:3:21
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.
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Here are some excerpts from the purport that really struck me:
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"…Within the material world one is certainly attracted to becoming a great intellectual, a powerful politician, the loving father of many beautiful and affectionate little children, a most honoured welfare worker or a highly admired and successful businessman. But none of these material positions have a permanent basis, nor do they afford permanent happiness, because they are all based on the primary misunderstanding by which one identifies himself with the material body…"
"..."Those who are not faithful on the path of devotional service cannot attain Me, O conqueror of foes, but return to birth and death in this material world." Therefore the spiritual master must awaken the disciple to the eternal existence of devotional service..."
"...If the disciple has doubts about the value of Krishna consciousness, the bona fide spiritual master must dissipate those doubts by superior knowledge. One who himself doubts the authority of Krishna or Vedic knowledge cannot become a bona fide spiritual master..."
"..."One should know the Acarya to be My self and never disrespect him in any way. One should not envy him, thinking him an ordinary man, for he is the representative of all the demigods." (SB 11.17.27) According to Srila Vishvanatha Chakravati Thakura, if a spiritual master cannot destroy his disciple's doubts by superior knowledge, the disciple will gradually become despondent in spiritual life. Because a bogus guru cannot actually give Krishna to the disciple according to the principle of rasa-varja raso 'py asya, 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 the temptations of illusion, such as women, money and so-called intellectuality based on speculation and imagination..."
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