This topic comes up a lot for devotees who are not initiated.
We all know it's essential to find a spiritual master and take initiation as soon as possible.
So, anyone who is already initiated, would you please say what lead you to your guru, and how did you know he was "the one"?
For those who are not initiated yet, would you please say what thoughts you have, what efforts you are making in this direction, and if you have already decided on a certain guru, and are just wanting until you are ready to be accepted, could you please say what made you know that person was "the one"?
Since this is a question everyone who is not initiated needs to me thinking deeply about, I would really appreciate any discussion about it.
Srila Prabhupad accepted disciples after 6 months of chanting 16 rounds and following the regulative principles. Of course every case now is on an individual basis as far as I know, but I'm saying that to make the point that it is something that can happen very soon after starting the process. Generally there is no reason to wait years and years to take initiation.
If you are someone who is waiting, could you please say why?
Thank you,
Navasi
Thank you for your continued
Thank you for your continued help with my questions Navasi, it really helps clear some things up quite a bit for me.
To address a earlier reply made by sophia I should make clear that in no way can I even pretend to be in a position to judge a Spiritual Master. I was simply making a point that for me I am looking for someone I can serve and having a backround that allows me to communicate easier would be a plus. I do appreciate your input I hope I cleared this up a bit.
Steve
I have another question
I have another question about finding a Spiritual Master. What happens if you find an Initiating Spiritual Master and develop an attraction to his teaching and know without a doubt that he is the one that you need to serve but he is on the other side of the world. I know that with the internet and for us old timers writing letters, we can recieve instruction but how do we take shelter and recieve initiation if we can not travel.
Stupid question I know, but I have heard many great lectures by amazing souls and a large percentage of them are somewhere in the world I will never be able to be.
Steve
They Travel
Hare Krishna, Dear Steve,
A lot of the initiating guru's in Iskcon travel around the world and have disciples in various places.
They could initiate you during one of these visits and also give you instruction and you could have darshan with them during future visits.
I would encourage you to try to find out more about the particular ones you are drawn to and see where they travel to and what temples they visit.
You could inquire about some of them on your travels that you are making to the various temples in this country at the present time.
Navasi
(also there is nothing at all stupid about your question : )
I do not fully understand
I do not fully understand the process of learning about Krishna and being initiated. I hope to be initiated someday, but I am new to the faith and still looking for anyone at all who follows the same path, whether they be Gurus, devotees, or common worshippers. Living in a rural area has many drawbacks. :(
Until I can find some people, or relocate, I will continue reading and chanting every day, so my time is not being wasted, I have just have too much thirst to learn and not enough patience. :)
Background Experiences
Hare Krishna!
From what I have come to understand, a bona fide spiritual master should not be judged according to his background experience, which has nothing to do with understanding the science of Krishna. A self-realized soul has transcended the modes of nature and so any background life experience has nothing to do with his level of consciousness, which is transcendental in nature.
nānyaḿ guṇebhyaḥ kartāraḿ
yadā draṣṭānupaśyati
guṇebhyaś ca paraḿ vetti
mad-bhāvaḿ so 'dhigacchati
When one properly sees that in all activities no other performer is at work than these modes of nature and he knows the Supreme Lord, who is transcendental to all these modes, he attains My spiritual nature. - Bhagavad-Gita 14.19
To try to find a spiritual master who has the same background life experience is to equate the spritual master's consciousness with that of a conditioned soul. Past life experiences are insignificant to a bona fide spiritual master because he is self-realized, meaning that he knows who he is. His identity is not dependent upon any life experiences in this world, which are nothing but illusory in nature.
śarīraḿ yad avāpnoti
yac cāpy utkrāmatīśvaraḥ
gṛhītvaitāni saḿyāti
vāyur gandhān ivāśayāt
The living entity in the material world carries his different conceptions of life from one body to another as the air carries aromas. Thus he takes one kind of body and again quits it to take another. - Bhagavad-Gita 15.8
śrotraḿ cakṣuḥ sparśanaḿ ca
rasanaḿ ghrāṇam eva ca
adhiṣṭhāya manaś cāyaḿ
viṣayān upasevate
The living entity, thus taking another gross body, obtains a certain type of ear, eye, tongue, nose and sense of touch, which are grouped about the mind. He thus enjoys a particular set of sense objects. - Bhagavad-Gita 15.9
A bona fide spiritual master is he who is completely absorbed in his constitutional position as an eternal seritor of Krishna or he who is 100% in Krishna consciousness. And, as such, he is unaffected by the material modes.
yo mām evam asammūḍho
jānāti puruṣottamam
sa sarva-vid bhajati māḿ
sarva-bhāvena bhārata
Whoever knows Me as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, without doubting, is the knower of everything. He therefore engages himself in full devotional service to Me, O son of Bharata.
- Bhagavad-Gita 15.19
How do you know where to
How do you know where to find a guru? I know there is no temple where I live, or in the town I will be living in to attend college. Is there a list of gurus somewhere?
Prabhupada As One's Guru?
Hare Krishna to Navasi and others!
This isn't exactly a direct reply to the post, but since the subject is about finding a guru, this is probably the best place to ask the following question:
Is there any way a person can take Srila Prabhupada as his/her guru/spiritual master even though he has already left?
He still exist here on earth, just in a form different from a material body (purpots, letters, videos, songs, etc.). You wouldn't be able to talk to him directly, but one could still get instruction from him through his books, lectures, etc. And there would be no need for questioning his credentials, as he is certainly bona fide.
I ask this question because I don't know if I'd ever be comfortable with someone different. If the answer to my question is "No.", then if I was to take initiation, I suppose I could find another spiritual master, although I may feel a bit awkward at first.
Thank you,
Cody
Srila Prabhupada - the instructing guru
Hare Krishna. As Navasi correctly points out, one needs to take initiation from a living guru, who is a disciple of Prabhupada and be linked with him. Srila Prabhupada remains as the supreme instructing guru called siksha guru for one and all. As you say, we follow his instructions as recorded in his books, lectures, videos etc. But to be connected to the disciplic succession, we have to take a initiating guru (diksha guru), and serve him. Without being guided by a living guru and getting corrected of our mistakes, we cannot become humble enough to enter Krishna's association.
Radhikesh das
The Link
Hare Krishna Cody,
Yes, this is a very good place to ask your question, very relevant since the topic is about finding a guru.
The thing to understand is that the real way to "link" to Srila Prabhupad is by accepting initiation from one of his disciples.
It's all about the disciplic succession.
You need one of the disciples of Srila Prabhupad to initiate you, or else you are not connected to the Parampara.
That's the real way to "connect" with Srila Prabhupad, not by going outside of that chain.
Think of it like a train, it doesn't matter if you're the third car connected to the engine, or the caboose, as long as you are connected, the train is going in the right place.
So, you connect to Srila Prabhupad, and his mercy, and his instructions, and become his disciple (in that sense, though not directly) by becoming initiated by someone who is linked to Prabhupad directly, meaning one of his disciples.
Then you are connected to the entire Parmapara.
Just like me, I took initiation from Srila Prabhupad, that automatically connects me to his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisidanta Saraswati, and I get the mercy and instructions of him as well as Srila Prabhupad, and on back, through the whole disciplic succession.
I could not have said "well, I want to take initiation from Srila Bhaktisidanta Saraswati and not go through Srila Prabhupad" (for whatever reason).
It's not that there is any "separation" if you see my point, taking initiation from "someone else" is not "separating you" from Prabhupad, it's Linking You To Him.
That is the way to Be Linked To Prabhupad.
Navasi
Well I am in the process of
Well I am in the process of finding a spiritual master and have happened across a question. As with most of my posts the wording may get a bit confusing so please bear with me :)
Can someone who qualifies as a spiritual master choose to not be one or decide not to take initiates ?
Now let me justify this question as it applies to me. There is a great soul who took initiation from Srila Prabhupad and is ( I hope I use this term correctly ) Sannyasi and has lived this way for some time. I felt a draw to him as soon as I first heard him speak and continue to be amazed by his wisdom. He has an amazing way of making the complex become so simple and is the sort of educator you could lose days too while listining to him speak. I would assume though that through introductions he has never been presented as an initiating spiritual master thus he is not one.
Could it be that he is simply following instruction and just writing and lecturing and that is the role he was instructed to take ?
As far as the original question posed in this thread,
I realize that finding a guru is 100% what I need to do for so many reasons the top among them is to direct me on a course of service. As for what I am doing, I attend every local event I can and associate with as many devotees as possible and hear about their guru then jump online and listen, watch and read lectures from them pretty much info cram. I also try to if avaliable see a bit of their bios as for me I find having some items in our backrounds that are similar can make understanding easier.
Yes
Yes, someone who is qualified to be a spiritual master can choose not to be one, not to accept disciples.
That may change in the future, as everyone who is now a guru was not always one.
So, this Sanyassi you are speaking of may in the future become a guru and accept disciples. It's possible.
It's hard to know what his reasons are at the present time, but you could always ask him.
In the meantime, it's wonderful you're getting so much from listening to him, you can keep doing that even if he is not accepting disciples.
:)
That's very good what you're saying about how you associate with as many devotees as possible and listen to them talk about their spiritual master. Very good idea.
Navasi