from lower to higher forms

The spiritual master is eternally perfect, and his self is Lord Sri Krsna's very self in the sense that the self of the spiritual master is in perfect harmony with the Supreme Self. It may here be recalled that Krsna is the Self in the hearts of all: "I am the Self, O conqueror of sleep, seated in the hearts of all creatures. I am the beginning, the middle and the end of all beings." (Bg. 10.20) Although Sri Krsna is the Self seated in the hearts of all living entities throughout the entire creation, He exists independent of them. "In My transcendental form I pervade all this creation. All things are resting in Me, but I am not in them. Again, everything that is created does not rest on Me. Behold My mystic opulence: Although I am the maintainer of all living entities, and although I am everywhere, still My Self is the very source of creation." (Bg. 9.4-5) This is the sublime philosophy of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva: the Lord is simultaneously, inconceivably one with all living entities and yet different from them. Srila Prabhupada, in a letter to a disciple, explained this philosophy very clearly: "Just as fire and heat cannot be separate and in one sense both can be called fire, still heat is not fire. Another example, electricity and the powerhouse; although practically one and the same, still the powerhouse is not electricity. On the whole, the power and the powerful, although sometimes indistinguishable, still are different. That is the philosophy of acintya-bhedabheda-tattva propounded by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. As such, the spiritual master is the Mercy Representative of Krsna. As Mercy Representative, he is worshiped by the disciples as Krsna, but at the same time he is not identical with Krsna. Sometimes it is said that the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krsna is the Master Krsna, whereas the spiritual master is the Servant Krsna. As it is said by Svarūpa Damodara Gosvami, Radha and Krsna are one, still, in order to serve, Krsna's pleasure potency, Radharani, appears separately. Therefore the conclusion is that the spiritual master as Servant Krsna is always respected as good as Krsna, but he is never identified with Krsna, which is Mayavadi philosophy." (Srila Prabhupada, letter, 8/29/70) Although Lord Sri Krsna is the Self seated in the hearts of all, all creatures are not accepted as spiritual masters because they are not always in harmony with the Supreme Self. There are degrees of perfection involved. The bona fide spiritual master is known as nitya-siddha, and the conditioned living entities are known as nitya-baddha. "Persons who have achieved eternal, blissful life exactly on the level of Sri Krsna, and who are able to attract Lord Krsna by their transcendental loving service, are called eternally perfect. The technical name is nitya-siddha. There are two classes of living entities-namely, nitya-siddha and nitya-baddha. The distinction is that the nitya-siddhas are eternally Krsna conscious without any forgetfulness, whereas the nitya-baddhas, or eternally conditioned souls, are forgetful of their relationship with Krsna. The position of the nitya-siddhas is explained in the Padma Purana in connection with the narration of the Supreme Personality of Godhead and Satyabhama Devi. The Lord tells Satyabhama: 'My dear Satyabhama Devi, I have descended to this earthly planet by the request of Lord Brahma and other demigods. Those who are born into this family of Yadu are all My eternal associates. My dear wife, you should not consider that My associates are ever separated from Me; they are My personal expansions, and almost as powerful as I am. Because of their transcendental qualities, they are very, very dear to Me, as I am very, very dear to them.' " (NOD 211-212) The spiritual master is certainly a nitya-siddha, but one who claims the spiritual master to be Lord Krsna Himself is committing a great offense. "As is stated in the Bhagavad-gita by the Lord Himself, His birth, deeds and activities are all transcendental. Similarly, the birth, deeds and activities of the associates of the Lord are also transcendental. And, as it is an offense to consider oneself to be Krsna, so it is offensive to consider oneself to be Yasoda, Nanda, or any other associate of the Lord. We should always remember that they are transcendental; they are never conditioned souls. It is described that Krsna, the enemy of Kamsa, has sixty-four transcendental qualities, and all of the ever-liberated souls who accompany the Lord have the first fifty-five of the qualities, without any doubt. Such devotees are related to the Supreme Personality in any of five transcendental mellows-namely, neutrality, servitorship, friendship, parenthood and conjugal love. These relationships with the Lord are eternal, and therefore nitya-siddha devotees do not have to strive to attain the perfectional stage by executing regulative devotional principles. They are eternally qualified to serve Krsna." (NOD, 213)    (More...)

Sometimes one such illusioned living being foolishly approaches some so-called great personality, who has become expert in the fields of karma, jnana, or yoga, to get some kind of relief. However, because such men have no knowledge of the eternal spiritual identity beyond this temporary body, and are bereft of a relationship with God, their instructions do not give him ultimate satisfaction. We have practical experience of this in the modern world. At present, the major portion of the human energy has been expended on vicious works with the aim of achieving a higher grade of sense gratification. This we have done. We have also invented innumerable philosophies and so-called "paths" by which we are trying to enhance our human experience. Yet, people are wondering why there is so much unhappiness and disunity and they have created many different "isms" in an attempt to deal with the situation. Unfortunately all such "isms" have helped only to intensify and not to diminish the problems of life. The leaders of the world, being blind to the knowledge of the self, can only give symptomatic treatment and cannot understand the root cause of the dissatisfaction which plagues all of us. That was described by Ramananda Raya to Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Lord Caitanya asked Ramananda Raya: "Of all kinds of distress, what is the most painful?" Ramananda Raya replied, "Apart from separation from the devotees of Krsna I know of no other unbearable unhappiness." In the light of this statement, we can understand that the present dissatisfaction experienced on all levels of our present social structure is not due to the government, crime, politics, economics, men, women, etc. Neither will it be mitigated by artificial methods for the so-called improvement of our living conditions. The real fact is that as long as any civilization or society is bereft of the association of the most confidential servitor of the Supreme Lord, Sri Gurudeva, there can never be even a moment of true happiness for anyone. We therefore long for the day when the bona fide acarya, Srila Prabhupada, will be recognized and sought after by the present world leaders for the absolute guidance required in order to progress. According to science's law of thermodynamics, a complex system, if left to itself, tends towards chaos and disintegration. Similarly any world organization which neglects the absolute direction of Lord Sri Krsna, the Vedas and the bona fide spiritual master will ultimately destroy itself. Modern day philosophers, politicians, social workers and all other theoreticians must give up their limited empiric endeavors which will never turn back the rising tide of degradation, either individually or collectively, and surrender, at once, to the lotus feet of the Guru. The spiritual master brings with him the won ingredient which, when added, will make the human endeavor meaningful and ultimately successful. That ingredient is devotional service to the Supreme Lord Krsna. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam this is explained: "The supreme occupation (dharma) for all humanity is that by which men can attain to loving devotional service unto the transcendent Lord. Such devotional service must be unmotivated and uninterrupted in order to completely satisfy the self." In another place it is declared, "Anyone whose work is not meant to elevate him to religious life, anyone whose religious ritualistic performances do not raise him to renunciation and anyone situated in renunciation that does not lead him to devotional service to the Supreme Lord must be considered dead although he is breathing." We therefore offer millions of obeisances unto the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada, whose glorious appearance in this dead world is giving all living beings new hope for life. All glories, all glories to Srila Prabhupada, the Supreme Personality of servitor Godhead, who is as worshipable as Lord Krsna Himself! In the Caitanya-caritamrta (Adi 1.45) it is declared, "According to the deliberate opinion of all revealed scriptures, the spiritual master is nondifferent from Krsna. Lord Krsna in the form of the spiritual master delivers His devotees." Millions of obeisances again and again to Srila Prabhupada, who is an ocean of compassion upon the fallen souls of the Western world. He is always situated in spiritual happiness, yet he also experiences unhappiness. He is unhappy to see the sufferings of others. Therefore, he is benedicting the entire world with his causeless mercy and delivering all living beings.    (More...)