Posted in Bhakti, General, Guru and Disciple, Krishna, Srila Prabhupada on Jul 10th, 2010 Comments Off
Q. How do you determine if Krishna is satisfied. The test is performed by way of your spiritual master: If your spiritual master is satisfied, then Krishna is. What if I am not initiated yet and don’t have a spiritual master? Who do I look to, to see if I’m satisfying Krishna? – Asita Albert,Fort [...]
Posted in General, Guru and Disciple on Jul 8th, 2010 Comments Off
Q. When one accepts a spiritual master, it is said that the relationship is eternal. However, if one is not able to go back to Godhead in one lifetime, then how can he accept another guru in the next life? Or does the same guru have to come back to fulfill his duty? A. The [...]
Posted in General, Guru and Disciple on Jul 8th, 2010 Comments Off
Q. I had taken shelter from a spiritual master and he from his pure lips mentioned, “I can initiate you anytime,” and later confirmed that he will be initiating me in the coming initiation function. However, later by Krishna’s mercy the spiritual master left his body. As I have already accepted him as my spiritual [...]
Posted in Bhakti, Devotee, General, Guru and Disciple on Jul 8th, 2010 Comments Off
Q. When one thinks he has found a bona fide spiritual master and later it proves to be wrong, would it be appropriate to say that initially, or in the first place, the judgment of the disciple was wrong and thus he never got a bonafide spiritual master? A. That may be a possibility. There [...]
Posted in General, Guru and Disciple on Aug 29th, 2009 Comments Off
Q.I want to know about inner voice. – Preeti A. Generally the temptations that are put forward by the mind are misunderstood as inner voice. However immoral or unethical they may be, people tend to justify their acts by saying they were guided by “the inner voice.” Inner voice is the voice of the Paramatma, [...]
Posted in Bhakti, Guru and Disciple on Jun 4th, 2009 Comments Off
Q. Why one is unable to approach a genuine Sadhu or a spiritual master even after he has spent time most of his life in false attempt of enjoying this material world? A. It is said that the living entities are wandering in the universe in different species of life, and out of those only [...]
Posted in Guru and Disciple on Jun 4th, 2009 Comments Off
Q. What sort of heart and qualification required to completely surrender to a Spiritual master? A. Krishna describes in Bhagavad Gita how one should approach a realized spiritual master (Bg 4.34). He indicates three components: submission, inquiry and service. We should approach the spiritual master with all humility, hear from him submissively and inquire from [...]
Posted in Guru and Disciple on Jun 4th, 2009 Comments Off
Q. When and how does a devotee feel the necessity of a spiritual master? A. In the purport to the verse where Arjuna accepts Krishna as His spiritual master (Bg. 2.7), Srila Prabhupada describes how in this material world, there is perplexity in every step and this behooves one to approach a spiritual master. Arjuna [...]
Posted in Guru and Disciple on Jun 4th, 2009 Comments Off
Q. Is submissive hearing not a blind following? A. Submissive hearing does not mean blind following. It simply means that we are hearing with a sincere attempt to try to understand what the Spiritual Master is trying to say. If his words don’t make sense to us, we can continue inquiring until we are satisfied. [...]
Posted in Guru and Disciple, Sampradaya, Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu on Jun 4th, 2009 Comments Off
Q. Where can I find a list of disciplic succession starting from Krishna moving down? A. The disciplic succession from the Brahma-Gaudiya sampradaya is listed in the beginning of Bhagavad-gita As It Is by Srila Prabhupada. There are four bona fide disciplic successions which all originate from the Supreme Lord Krishna, then coming respectively through [...]