Disciple of HDG A. C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada
Founder-Acarya of the International Society
for Krishna Consciousness
?The habit of criticizing devotees is like cancer. One may think that I'm doing it for many years but nothing has happened. Cancer can stay in the body for many years undetected before it finally strikes. This habit of fault-finding and duplicitous behavior keeps increasing with time. Under the influence of maya we think everything is alright but actually the disease is spreading before it finally strikes.
The spiritual master is like a spiritual postman. He delivers the message of Godhead, which is coming through the disciplic succession, intact without any distortion. It is the desire of the spiritual master to see the disciple make spiritual advancement; get more attached to K?rsna and less attached to ??m?aya. Therefore, one should with faith, accept the instructions of the Spiritual master recognizing that they are for one’s benefit.
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has given us the philosophy of trnadapi sunicena which means to become tolerant. If someone has offended you, insulted you or blasphemed you, the Lord has witnessed everything. What is the point of you focusing on someone's offense and how you can take revenge. ?Focus on seeing good in all the devotees instead of their faults. ?
The best thing is to just concentrate on the sound vibration of Hare Krsna. Just try to hear attentively. The Holy name is non-different from the Lord. When we try to hear the Holy name, the Lord slowly manifests Himself in our mind. So just chant and hear. That's all.
In the material world, we all have to suffer from seven kinds of miseries whether one is a Spiritual Master or not. The difference is that a Spiritual Master uses his body to serve the Lord. A Spiritual Master's body is spiritual in the sense that he uses his life to follow the instructions of the Lord and by his own example, he gives the same instructions. We should not think that if a Spiritual Master is sick, his body is not spiritual. This body becomes spiritual when it is used in the service of the Lord. You can also make your body spiritual if you use all your body parts and senses in serving the Lord.
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?We can develop the mood of serving for the pleasure of Guru and Gauranga by serving. Sometimes devotees ask, ""How can we increase our taste in Harinama?"" This happens when we chant. How to increase our taste for sastras? By reading sastras. Practice makes a man perfect. Similarly, when we serve, our desire to serve increases and we become humble.
?We can develop the mood of serving for the pleasure of Guru and Gauranga by serving. Sometimes devotees ask, ""How can we increase our taste in Harinama?"" This happens when we chant. How to increase our taste for sastras? By reading sastras. ""Practice makes a man perfect"". Similarly, when we serve, our desire to serve increases and we become humble."
For one who is on the spiritual path, the regulation is non-violence. One should not inconvenience even an ant. It is an austerity for the body to not cause anxiety to any other living entity and we should all practice this austerity.
Devotees who are expert in book distribution should train those who are new or weak. This is how the teachings of parampara are passed on.
A devotee should always be humble. Sometimes devotees feel that if they are humble, people will exploit them. Therefore, they have to be arrogant. Even if you are exploited in devotional service and are asked to serve more, you are ultimately going to benefit from the service rendered.
Sravanam and kirtanam form the basis of our spiritual life. If our sravanam and kirtanam is lacking or is weak then it doesn’t matter how much ability we have — we wouldn’t be able to go too deep on the spiritual path.
© 2015 Swami GK Goswami, All rights reserved.
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