CONTENTS:
- HOW TO SEE GURU AFTER HIS DISAPPEARANCE?
- SRILA PRABHUPADA'S APPRECIATION
- GURU MAHARAJA’S INSTRUCTIONS
1. HOW TO SEE GURU AFTER HIS DISAPPEARANCE?
Hare Krishna. How are you all today? I am very happy that you all came. When I came here, I made it a point to meet you all. The main purpose of this meeting is to first of all find out how you’ll are doing? If there is anything I can do for you, sure I can do something for you but you have to remind me what I can do for you. One thing I can assure you that I will be very happy to do something whatever I can. The second thing I wanted to remind you is you have a glorious spiritual master he is a pure devotee of the Lord and a pure devotee is always there with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. An ordinary living entity dies but a pure devotee never dies, a pure devotee goes back to the spiritual sky. A pure devotee can communicate with those who are loyal to him and those who are sincerely connected to him or those who want to sincerely maintain his connection. As you all know a pure devotee, a Vaishnava has 2 aspects of his presence here on the planet manifested pastimes and unmanifested pastimes. He manifests in front of us so that we can relate to him, we can see him, we can speak to him and serve him that is the manifested aspect of a pure devotee’s presence.
VANI AND VAPU
That is called the vapu aspect of the spiritual master the physical aspect of the spiritual master The other aspect is the vani the instruction of the spiritual master. The vapu aspect is temporary but the vani aspect is eternal, the spiritual master is always present through his instructions, very mercifully he becomes manifested and we can relate to him by seeing, speaking and serving him and can get chastised by him, we can get praised by him. The unmanifest aspect which is vani instruction that is the real relationship that one develops with the spiritual master. The spiritual master is eternally present through his instructions and how do we associate with the spiritual master when he disappears from our vision, we relate to the spiritual master by following his instruction.
FOLLOWING HIS INSTRUCTIONS MEANS…
Following his instruction means accepting the spiritual master or seeing the spiritual master in the heart. Every time we want to do something we question the spiritual master in the heart, he is there, he is eternally present there in the heart and we can ask him is this what you want me to do and you will see that he will respond, he may approve or may not approve and in this way we have to see the spiritual master eternally present with us in our heart which means with us spiritually. Spirit soul is in the heart and the spiritual master is in the heart along with the spiritual soul. By appearing in front of us with his physical form the spiritual master allows us to see him from our mundane perspective. Had he not come in his physical form we could have not developed our relationship with him, that was necessary and that is why Krishna allows his pure devotee to come so that the conditioned souls can relate to him, get inspired by him, get instructed by him and in this way understand about his spiritual identity and then become inspired to become situated to become situated on the spiritual identity and that is why the physical appearance and presence of the spiritual master is necessary.
As Srila Bhakti Tirta Maharaja had not come we would not have been able to relate to him. Krishna allowed him very mercifully to come so that we can get to know him, we can hear him, we can receive instructions from him and now by Krishna’s divine arrangement he has left this planet. Now we cannot see him but he is present through his instructions. The actual identity of the spiritual master is his instructions. If someone is attracted to the personality and will not accept his instructions, will he derive any benefit from that? No. Therefore the most important consideration is his instructions and it through his instructions we get to know the real personality. The real spiritual personality is the spiritual aspect of you not the physical form. Sometimes we see that the physical form does not matter, physically how one’s look is not important, materially its important. Materialistic people are attracted to the physical form just like people are attracted to movie stars because they look good, they are attracted to them.
Through that attraction do they derive any real benefit? No. Real spiritual identity is in his instructions and your spiritual master has established a wonderful example for all of us to follow by being an ideal spiritual leader. He had been exemplary in all respects and those who are not envious will always appreciate him for what he is. Envy is something that prevents us from recognising the greatness and glory of a person. Its only when we become non envious and our hearts become pure then only can we appreciate the greatness, the true great spiritual personality. You can see why often in this world great spiritual personalities are mistreated even to the point of being crucified. Jesus Christ, he came to benefit everybody but a personality like him had to go through so much suffering and finally he was crucified. Why? Because of his greatness and other were envious.
IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE BECOME FREE FROM ENVY
A group of people were envious and as a result of that they crucified him. It happens that the more envious the people are the more offensive they become towards a great spiritual personality therefore it is important that we become free from envy and we should be aware that this envy can come in various ways. Prabhupada said that ultimately, we become envious of Krishna, can you imagine? But we all became envious of Krishna, we became envious of Krishna’s devotees, we have become envious to those who are our greatest benefactors. It is very important that we purify our hearts from all impurities and all impurities are in fact material contamination in the form of lust, greed, anger, etc. It is important that we get rid of that and then only will we be able to appreciate the spiritual personalities, the pure devotees of the Lord. Our appreciation for the pure devotees of the Lord will give us appreciation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it will take place just like that and that is why Krishna send His agents and through these agents we have to establish appreciation.
If we can’t have appreciation for Krishna’s agents we can’t appreciate Krishna. So, you’ll are very fortunate that you have a glorious spiritual master. We cannot understand Krishna’s plans, we cannot understand why Krishna does certain things but ultimately Krishna has a perfect plan. Why Krishna took him away who knows but at least we have to have the confidence that whatever Krishna did is for the benefit of us although it is painful. Such a wonderful leader had to leave which means it’s a great loss for us, it’s a great loss for our society and the entire world. He done so much, he already done so much and could have done so much more but Krishna took him away. We have to understand that Krishna has done that which may not be conceivable for us but our business is to adhere to Krishna’s plan. Now why does the spiritual master disappear? Why does he appear, become manifest and why does he become unmanifest? Because by appearing in front of us he instructs us about Krishna, he inspires us to become inclined to a spiritual life and then by disappearing he puts us in a test. Like ok, you have become attracted to me and have accepted me, my instructions and teaching, now that I am gone are you just going to forget and get involved in your useless mundane activities or are you going to take to spiritual life and remember he is watching.
THE TEACHER AND THE EXAM
Just like a teacher, a teacher teaches throughout the year and at the time of exams what happens? The same teacher who had been helping you all along he will be the invigilator and see how you are answering the questions, how you writing the paper. You must remember your Guru Maharaja is always with you and now let’s see how will you pass your test and we have to help each other pass this test. We have to remind each other that we are put into a big test. Our spiritual master’s instructions put us in this test and if we pass the test then what will happen? If we pass the test then we will get promoted to the spiritual world. So, this is how the spiritual master appears, manifests himself and then unmanifest his appearance and disappearance. A pure devotee like Krishna is never born nor does He ever die, he appears and disappears because He is a pure spirit soul, and he is not subject to this material body.
A VERY DEAR FRIEND AND GOD BROTHER OF MINE
During our last meeting your Guru Maharaja requested me to take care of you all and I told him to please bless me that I can take care of you properly and that I don’t fail them. So, I have his very wonderful obligation to assist a very dear friend of mine who is a very wonderful God brother of mine and who is a wonderful leader of the entire ISKCON and who is a very glorious disciple of Srila Prabhupada. I have not seen Prabhupada embracing anybody not even his God brothers but Srila Prabhupada embraced your Guru Maharaja and told him that he is successful. Thank you very much. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
2. SRILA PRABHUPADA'S APPRECIATION
I have not seen Prabhupada embracing anybody not even his God brothers but Srila Prabhupada embraced your Guru Maharaja and told him that he is successful.
3. GURU MAHARAJA’S INSTRUCTIONS
- The spiritual master is eternally present through his instructions and how do we associate with the spiritual master when he disappears from our vision, we relate to the spiritual master by following his instruction;
- Every time we want to do something we question the spiritual master in the heart, he is there, he is eternally present there in the heart and we can ask him is this what you want me to do and you will see that he will respond, he may approve or may not approve and in this way we have to see the spiritual master eternally present with us in our heart which means with us spiritually;
- It is very important that we purify our hearts from all impurities and all impurities are in fact material contamination in the form of lust, greed, anger, etc. It is important that we get rid of that and then only will we be able to appreciate the spiritual personalities, the pure devotees of the Lord. Our appreciation for the pure devotees of the Lord will give us appreciation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, it will take place just like that; and
- We cannot understand Krishna’s plans, we cannot understand why Krishna does certain things but ultimately Krishna has a perfect plan.
(The content of this E-magazine is based on a lecture given by HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaja to the disciples of HH Bhakti Tirta Swami (BTS) after Maharaja’s disappearance (BTS).)
(Compiled and Edited by Hemavati Radhika Devi Dasi)