8. "I have to serve God in the straightforward way."


"As the saying goes, 'having started on the dance it is no use to draw close the veil.' I am doing the duty of the Guru, but if I preach that no one should shout 'Jai' to me, that is to say, if I say in a round about way, 'sing Jai to me,' it would be nothing short of duplicity. Our Gurudeva has not taught us such insincerity. Mahaprabhu has not taught such insincerity. I have to serve God in the straightforward way. The word of God has come down to the Gurudeva; I have to obey it in all sincerity. I will not disrespect the Guru at the instance of any foolish or malicious sectarians."

- by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda

Excerpt from "Assuming Responsibility Of Being Guru"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5. "We also can see Bhagavan in our hearts."

Image
Question:  What kind of perspective should we accept to assure our auspiciousness? Answer: If we can see the whole universe as engaged in the service of Sri Bhagavan, then we will never experience any distress. We must hear katha about how to serve Bhagavan from one who can show us Bhagavan and who is engaged in service to Him twenty-four hours a day. This is the only way to attain our eternal, spiritual well-being. With their eyes of devotion, the sadhus who are bhaktas, or devotees of Bhagavan, always see Syamasundara Krsna within their hearts. Through the association and mercy of such sadhus, we also can see Bhagavan in our hearts. We will constantly busy ourselves in service to Bhagavan without wasting even a single moment. We have to serve, remaining exclusively in the association of sadhus. By constantly remaining in such sadhu-sanga, our aptitude for service will continuously be enhanced. Bhagavan fulfils every desire of His surrendered bhaktas without fail, and He never rej...
Read more

10. "If we think we are the mind and the external body, the Transcendental Sound will have no effect on us, for that is the domain of mundane sound."

Image
...First of all, we should examine our self. If we think we are the mind and the external body, the Transcendental Sound will have no effect on us, for that is the domain of mundane sound. The Transcendental Sound Himself will tell us that the external body is but a garment of the inner, astral body, and those bodies are the two coverings of the soul who, in his dormant condition, incorporates them, despite their inability to unveil his own real nature. The external body is perishable; the internal body is transformable. Our mind in the morning is different from our mind at noon and so on. It is changed by the passing of time. We cannot rely upon the mind or our mental speculation. All of us are busy making our mind control everything related to us. But this behaviour does not acknowledge the conception of the Absolute. Mental conceptions are always mutable. The property must not be confounded with the proprietor, and our external body is but our property. It is perishable and there i...
Read more

13. "Kirtana is called saṅkīrtana when many people perform it together. But will it be worthy of the name saṅkīrtana if some worthless people, without any ardour for Śrī Bhagavān's service, come together to shout in unison?"

Image
Indeed, among all spiritual practices, saṅkīrtana is the best and foremost means of attaining the grace of the Supreme Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Other types of sādhana, or devotional practices, are only worthy of being called sādhana if they favourably assist the performance of saṅkīrtana; otherwise they should be known as obstructions to actual sādhana. Whether one is a child or an old or young man, male or female, learned or illiterate, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, pious or sinful – regardless of the condition of life someone may be in – there is no spiritual practice for him other than śrī kṛṣṇa-nāma-kīrtana. Kirtana is called saṅkīrtana when many people perform it together. But will it be worthy of the name saṅkīrtana if some worthless people, without any ardour for Śrī Bhagavān's service, come together to shout in unison? It will be true hari-saṅkīrtana when we join the saṅkīrtana of true devotees who are serving Śrī Bhagavān according to the principles established in the Vedas and ...
Read more