Who is the spiritual master?

No one can have greater knowledge than God in any subject matter-spiritual or mundane-because He knows everything. Therefore, the original spiritual master is Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But if we are seeking to revive our spiritual consciousness, or God consciousness, we must now be out of touch with God. So how can we take direction from God? The great spiritual master Krsnadasa Kaviraja Gosvami answers this question:

"The conditioned soul [a person who is not self-realized] cannot revive his Krsna consciousness by his own effort. But out of his causeless mercy, Lord Krsna compiled the Vedic literature and its supplements, the Puranas" (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya 20.122).** Thus, by hearing the Vedic literature with great faith and attention, we can actually take spiritual direction from God.

When we talk about the Vedic literature, we're talking about the oldest, most comprehensive, most scientific spiritual literature in the world. The Vedic literature includes the Upanisads, the Vedanta-sūtra, the Mahabharata, the Puranas, and (most importantly) the Srimad-Bhagavatam and the Bhagavad-gita. Where do these great books of wisdom come from? Not from imperfect thinkers of this world. They come from the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna; He spoke the Vedic knowledge to the first created being, Lord Brahma. Lord Brahma then passed down this same knowledge to his sons and disciples, who did the same for their own followers. Then, five thousand years ago, Lord Krsna Himself again appeared in this disciplic succession as His literary incarnation, Vyasadeva, and wrote down that same Vedic knowledge.

Now, the main idea is this: to know whether someone is a bona fide spiritual master, we have to check the Vedic literature, because the characteristics of the bona fide spiritual master are specifically described there. For thousands upon thousands of years, seekers have reached perfection by following the Vedic directions on the path of perfection.

Question: "But what if I want to follow the Bible instead of the Vedic literature?" There's no use arguing the merits of the Bible over the Vedic literature. Both the Bible and the Vedic literature are scripture, and therefore they are in agreement, not opposition. The only difference is that the Vedic literature contains much more specific information about God than you'll find in the Bible. They're like dictionaries. The small desk dictionary and Webster's Third International are both valid authorities, and they are in agreement. Yet the big dictionary has more information. The Vedic literature is like the big dictionary.

Question: "What if I don't accept the Vedic literature?" Then you're unfortunate, because you won't be able to take advantage of the knowledge it contains. For example, if you want to know who your father is, you have to find out from your mother. She's the authority. If you don't want to take her word for it, that's your privilege. But then you'll never know for sure. In the same way, if you don't accept the Vedic literature, you'll never grasp the time-tested spiritual wisdom it contains.

Question: "But can't someone meet a genuine spiritual master without having studied anything?" Certainly. A fortunate person might meet a perfectly bona fide spiritual master just by the will of providence. But then again, that fortunate person might not be you. You might meet a cheater instead. How will you know? Suppose you're looking for a good mechanic. Even if you don't know anything about cars or mechanics, you still might be lucky enough to find a mechanic who's expert and honest. But if you know the qualifications of the man you're looking for, your chances are much better. The same goes for finding a spiritual master. Knowledge is reliable; luck isn't. And surrendering to a spiritual master is too important a decision to leave to luck. You have to surrender to the spiritual master, but not blindly or sentimentally. First you should study him carefully to find out whether he has the qualifications spelled out in the Vedic literature.