qualifications
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"Any person who seriously desires to achieve real happiness must seek out a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of his spiritual master is that he must have realized the conclusion of the scriptures by deliberation and be able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, are to be understood as bona fide spiritual masters." Similarly, Visvanatha Cakravarti, a great Vaisnava, also advises, yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasadah: "By the mercy of the spiritual master one receives the mercy of Krsna." This is the same advice given by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu (guru-krsna-prasade paya bhakti-lata-bija). This is essential. One must come to Krsna consciousness, and therefore one must take shelter of a pure devotee. Thus one can become free from the clutches of matter.
(More...) It is stated in the Hari-bhakti-vilasa that one should not accept initiation from a person who is not in the brahminical order if there is a fit person in the brahminical order present. This instruction is meant for those who are overly dependent on the mundane social order and is suitable for those who want to remain in mundane life. If one understands the truth of Krsna consciousness and seriously desires to attain transcendental knowledge for the perfection of life, he can accept a spiritual master from any social status, provided the spiritual master is fully conversant with the science of Krsna. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura also states that although one is situated as a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya, sudra, brahmacari, vanaprastha, grhastha or sannyasi, if he is conversant in the science of Krsna he can become a spiritual master as vartma-pradarsaka-guru, diksa-guru or siksa-guru. One who first gives information about spiritual life is called the vartma-pradarsaka-guru or spiritual master. The spiritual master who initiates according to the regulations of the sastras is called diksa-guru, and the spiritual master who gives instructions for elevation is called siksa-guru. Factually the qualifications of a spiritual master depend on his knowledge of the science of Krsna. It does not matter whether he is a brahmana, ksatriya, sannyasi or sudra. This injunction given by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is not at all against the injunctions of the sastras. In the Padma Purana it is said:
(More...) The Lord then blessed him, saying, "Whatever you write, by the grace of Krishna, everything will come out of your heart to be accepted as you have asked. I'll give you some notes that you can take down: The first and foremost thing is that one should accept a bona fide Spiritual Master. That is the beginning of spiritual life."
(More...) The teacher must be a representative of Krsna, a devotee, and the student must be like Arjuna. Then this Krsna consciousness study is perfect. Otherwise it is a waste of time. In the Srimad-Bhagavatam [3.25.25] it is stated: "If anyone wants to understand the science of Krsna, he should associate with pure devotees. When discussions take place among pure devotees, the potency of spiritual language is revealed." Scholarly discussion of the Gita is futile. In the Upanisads it is stated: "To one who has firm faith in God, and similar faith in God's representative, all the import of Vedic language will be revealed." We must have the qualification of being a devotee. Become dear to God. My spiritual master used to say, "Don't try to see God. Act in such a way that God will see you." We have to qualify ourselves. By your qualification God Himself will come and see you.
(More...) The spiritual master is the representative of the Supreme Lord. How does he become the representative? If one says that such and such an object is a pair of spectacles, and if he teaches his disciple in that way, there is no mistake as to the identity of the object. The spiritual master is he who has captured the words of a particular disciplic succession. In the case given, the key word is "spectacles"-that's all. The spiritual master does not have to say anything beyond that. This is the qualification. Krsna says, "I am the Supreme," and the spiritual master says, "Krsna is the Supreme." It is not that to be a representative of Krsna or to be a spiritual master one has to have any extraordinary qualification. He simply has to carry the message from the authority as it is without any personal interpretation. As soon as there is some personal interpretation, the message is lost and the instructions become offensive. A person who interprets the scriptures according to his own whims should be immediately rejected.
(More...) There is a statement in Brahma-samhita: Just ride on the airplane which runs at the speed of mind. Our material airplanes can run 2,000 miles per hour, but what is the speed of mind? You are sitting at home, you immediately think of India, say 10,000 miles away, and at once it is in your home. Your mind has gone there. The mind-speed is so swift. Therefore it is stated, "If you travel at this speed for millions of years, you'll find that the Spiritual Sky is unlimited." It is not possible even to approach it. Therefore, the Vedic injunction is that one must approach-the word "compulsory" is used-a bona fide spiritual master, a guru. And what is the qualification of a spiritual master? He has rightly heard the Vedic message from the right source. Otherwise he is not bona fide. He must practically be firmly established in Brahman. These are the two qualities. This Krsna Consciousness movement is completely authorized from Vedic principles. In the Bhagavad-gita Krsna says, "The actual aim of Vedic research is to find out Krsna." In the Brahma-samhita it is also stated, "Krsna, Govinda, has innumerable Forms, but they are all one." They are not like our forms, which are fallible. His Form is infallible. My form has a beginning, but His Form has no beginning. It is ananta. And His Form-so many multiforms-has no end. My form is sitting here and not in my apartment. You are sitting there and not in your apartment. But Krsna can be anywhere at one time. He can sit down in Goloka Vrndavana and at the same time He is everywhere, all-pervading. He is Original, the Oldest, but whenever you look at a picture of Krsna you'll find a young Boy of 15-20 years old. You will never find an old man. You have seen pictures of Krsna as a charioteer from the Bhagavad-gita. At that time He was not less than 100 years old. He had great-grandchildren, but He looked just like a boy. Krsna, God, never becomes old. That is His Supreme power. And if you want to search out Krsna by studying the Vedic literature, then you will be baffled. It may be possible, but it is very difficult. But you can very easily learn about Him from His devotee. His devotee can deliver Him to you: "Here He is, take Him." That is the potency of Krsna's devotees.
(More...) How does he deliver you? What is his means? Consider the same example. When there is a fire in the forest, you cannot send a fire brigade or go there yourself with bucketfuls of water to extinguish it. That is not possible. Then how will it be extinguished? You need water to extinguish fire, but where will the water come from-from your bucket or your fire brigade? No, it must come from the sky. Only when there are torrents of rain from the sky will the blazing forest fire be extinguished. These rains from the sky do not depend on your scientific propaganda or manipulation. They depend on the mercy of the Supreme Lord. So the spiritual master is compared to a cloud. Just as there are torrents of rain from a cloud, so the spiritual master brings mercy from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. A cloud takes water from the sea. It doesn't have its own water, but takes water from the sea. Similarly, the spiritual master brings mercy from the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Just see the comparison. He has no mercy of his own, but he carries the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. That is the qualification of the spiritual master.
(More...) Thus the spiritual master is offered obeisances: "Sir, you have brought mercy from the Supreme Lord; therefore, we are much obliged to you. You have come to deliver us, so we offer our respectful obeisances." That is the meaning of this verse: the first qualification of the spiritual master, or guru, is that he brings you the message to stop the blazing fire in your heart. This is the test.
(More...) This is describing the quality. Otherwise, everyone will become spiritual master. That quality, the activity, will support the bona fide spiritual master. Guna-karma-vibhagasah [Bg 4.13]. There must be quality and action. So the spiritual master's action is that he is to deliver his disciple from the blazing fire of this material existence. Samsara-davanala.
(More...) These are the qualifications, symptoms of guru. Sabde pare ca nisnatam. He has got full knowledge in the transcendental science. And without book, how he has got knowledge? Or without hearing from another authority?
(More...) So the qualification of guru is, he should be mahatma and muni. Muni means philosopher, and mahatma means God-realized. Really mahatma means God-realized. He knows. That is stated in the Bhagavad-gita:
(More...) So one must approach a proper guru. The guru's qualification is, in every sastra, that... Just like in the Srimad-Bhagavatam it is said, tad viddhi..., er, tasmad gurum prapadyeta jijnasuh sreya uttamam [SB 11.3.21]. One does not require to accept a guru unless he is inquisitive to understand the ultimate goal or benefit of life. Ordinary man who is interested with the bodily comforts of life, he doesn't require a guru. But generally, the, at the present moment, guru means who can give you some bodily medicine. Approaches some saintly person, "Mahatmaji, I am suffering from this disease." "Yes, I have mantra. Take this..." That sort of guru is accepted. So same bodily. Or some bodily wealth, bodily... No.
(More...) So to become a bona fide spiritual master there is no difficulty, simply if we carry the message of Krsna as it is, without any adulteration. So we must find out a person who is actually bona fide spiritual master by this test, that he's not, I mean to say, adulterating Krsna's message. He's not playing havoc with the message of Krsna in order to introduce himself, his person. He's simply presenting the message of Krsna as it is. Then he's spiritual master. Nobody else.
(More...) You may hold a fire yajna and at that time the names of the initiates as well as their beads chanted on by Gurukrpa Maharaja may be given. Make sure that they are well aware of the four rules and regulations and that they are fixed in chanting the prescribed number of 16 rounds daily on the beads. Without these two principles no one can make advancement on the path of regulated bhakti. Teach them the science of the Bhagavad gita and train them to be first class representatives of Krsna. It is not very difficult, simply one has to hear from the perfect authority who is in disciplic succession from Krsna Himself, and then repeat the same message without any change. If one does this then he is qualified to become guru. I hope this meets you in good health. That is not our life, to become an impostor. It must be real person. By training, yah sastra-vidhim siddhih, by training under the teaching of a bona fide spiritual master, the sastra, and then you'll automatically, the more you become a sincere, I mean to say, servitor of the spiritual master, the more you become qualified to become a teacher in the future. Otherwise where is your qualification? You may cheat others that you are teacher, but you are not actually teacher. You have no lesson, no education. A cheating is another thing. But practically to become a teacher... Just like in a school, teacher, a teacher is appointed. When the certificate is there that he has passed M.A. examination, and he has undergone the training, B.T., Bachelor training, then he's appointed: "Yes, you can be a teacher." And any bogus man, he can be... He cannot be accepted as teacher. So that is going on. All bogus man, they're becoming teachers. Therefore the world condition is so degraded. A cheater is taking the place of teacher. Therefore the whole world is degraded.
(More...) Prabhupada: No, that you can think-your spiritual master is nice, others bogus-but they do not think like that. [laughter] They will think their spiritual master is good, your spiritual master is bogus. But... there is standard who is spiritual master. Spiritual master means who is the best servant of God. One who does not agree the existence of spiritual ma..., ah God, he is bogus because he's not bona fide. Mudha. One who does not accept the existence of God, he is mudha. He's a rascal. He cannot... A rascal cannot become spiritual master.
(More...) "Any person who is seriously desirous of achieving real happiness must seek out a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation. The qualification of a spiritual master is that he must have realized the conclusion of the scriptures by deliberation and arguments and thus be able to convince others of these conclusions. Such great personalities, who have taken complete shelter of the Supreme Godhead, leaving aside all material considerations, are to be understood as bona fide spiritual masters." (Bhag. 11.3.21)
(More...) One who knows what is Paramatma, what is Brahman, what is Bhagavan, he is tattva-darsi. Vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam advayam . So these are the qualification of guru. Why one should go to a guru to see some magic? One who can make some gold, one who can make some... So many magicians who are becoming guru. This is going on. The public, they do not know what is the meaning of guru, and the cheaters, they get the opportunity of becoming false gurus. In the Western countries we are seeing so many so-called rascal gurus go there and cheat the public, because the Europeans, Americans, they have got some conviction that India has got some spiritual knowledge, so anyone goes as a sannyasi, as a svami, they expect to get something from them. So they gather round them. But these rascals cheat them. Somebody says, "I am incarnation of God, and I can make my secretary, woman, pregnant, and marry and get some money." This is going on. And somebody is Transcendental Meditation. What is the result of prana...? He'll will get strong. He will get money. Your health will be right. These things are going on.
(More...) "One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother or a worshipable demigod.
(More...) A person may be a brahmana or a sudra or a sannyasi, but if he happens to be well versed in the science of Krsna, then he is fit to become a spiritual master. A real brahmana is the natural teacher or spiritual master. Unless one has Vedic knowledge, one cannot become a spiritual master. The perfect knowledge of the Vedas is to know the Lord, the Personality of Godhead, and that is the end of Vedic knowledge, or Vedanta. One who is situated in the impersonal Brahman and has no information of the Supreme Personality of Godhead may become a brahmana, but he cannot become a spiritual master. It is said: sat-karma-nipuno vipro mantra-tantra-visaradah, avaisnava guru asat sat sva-paco vaisnava guruh. An impersonalist can become a qualified brahmana, but he cannot become a spiritual master unless and until he is promoted to the stage of a Vaisnava, or a devotee of the Personality of Godhead. Lord Caitanya, the great authority of Vedic wisdom in the modern age, stated:
(More...) A person may be a brahmana or a sudra or a sannyasi, but if he happens to be well versed in the science of Krsna, then he is fit to become a spiritual master. [Madhya 8.128] The qualification, then, of a spiritual master is not to be a qualified brahmana, but to be well versed in the science of Krsna.
(More...) Able guidance of a spiritual master who is a bona fide representative of Krsna, who knows the nature of the student and who can guide him to act in Krsna consciousness Service in Krsna consciousness is, however, best practiced under the able guidance of a spiritual master who is a bona fide representative of Krsna, who knows the nature of the student and who can guide him to act in Krsna consciousness. As such, to be well-versed in Krsna consciousness one has to act firmly and obey the representative of Krsna, and one should accept the instruction of the bona fide spiritual master as one's mission in life. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur instructs us, in his famous prayers for the spiritual master, as follows:
(More...) "By satisfaction of the spiritual master, the Supreme Personality of Godhead becomes satisfied. And by not satisfying the spiritual master, there is no chance of being promoted to the plane of Krsna consciousness. I should, therefore, meditate and pray for his mercy three times a day, and offer my respectful obeisances unto him, my spiritual master."
(More...) One should not become a pseudo spiritual master as a matter of business to meet one\'s family expenditures; one must be an expert spiritual master to deliver the disciple from the clutches of impending death. Especially for the householder-devotees, the path of Deity worship is strongly recommended. As far as possible, every householder, by the direction of the spiritual master, must install the Deity of Visnu, forms like Radha-Krsna, Laksmi-Narayana or Sita-Rama especially, or any other form of the Lord, like Nrsimha, Varaha, Gaura-Nitai, Matsya, Kurma, salagrama-sila and many other forms of Visnu, like Trivikrama, Kesava, Acyuta, Vasudeva, Narayana, Damodara, etc., as they are recommended in the Vaisnava Tantras or Puranas, and one's family should worship strictly following the directions and regulations of arcana-vidhi. Any member of the family who is above twelve years of age should be initiated by a bona fide spiritual master, and all the members of the household should be engaged in the daily service of the Lord, beginning from morning (4 a.m.) till night (10 p.m.) by performing maṅgala-aratrika, niranjana, arcana, puja, kirtana, srṅgara, bhoga-vaikali, sandhya-aratrika, patha, bhoga (at night), sayana-aratrika, etc. Engagement in such worship of the Deity, under the direction of a bona fide spiritual master, will greatly help the householders to purify their very existence and make rapid progress in spiritual knowledge. Simple theoretical book knowledge is not sufficient for a neophyte devotee. Book knowledge is theoretical, whereas the arcana process is practical. Spiritual knowledge must be developed by a combination of theoretical and practical knowledge, and that is the guaranteed way for attainment of spiritual perfection. The training of devotional service by a neophyte devotee completely depends on the expert spiritual master who knows how to lead his disciple to make gradual progress towards the path back home, back to Godhead. One should not become a pseudo-spiritual master as a matter of business to meet one's family expenditure, but one must be an expert spiritual master to deliver the disciple from the clutches of impending death. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakur has defined the bona fide qualities of a spiritual master, and one of the verses in that description reads:
(More...) "Sri-vigraha is the arca, or suitable worshipable form of the Lord, and the disciple should be engaged in worshiping the Deity regularly by srṅgara, by proper decoration and dressing, as also mandira-marjana, the matter of cleansing the temple. The spiritual master teaches the neophyte devotee all these kindly and personally to help him gradually in the realization of the transcendental name, quality, form, etc., of the Lord.
(More...) The spiritual master must never be carried away by an accumulation of wealth or a large number of followers. A bona fide spiritual master will never become like that. The spiritual master must never be carried away by an accumulation of wealth or a large number of followers. A bona fide spiritual master will never become like that. But sometimes, if a spiritual master is not properly authorized, and only on his own initiative becomes a spiritual master, he may be carried away by an accumulation of wealth and large numbers of disciples. His is not a very high grade of devotional service. If a person is carried away by such achievements, then his devotional service becomes slackened. One should, therefore, strictly adhere to the principles of disciplic succession.
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