Guru and Disciple:
Awakening Spiritual Vision
Kadamba Kanana Swami
Quotes from the books, lectures, letters and conversations by
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupda
2018 The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International
Used with permission.
2018 abda
All rights reserved
Table of Contents
Landmarks
Dedication
For the pleasure of rla Prabhupda to whom I am eternally grateful.
Introduction
We are always searching for the perfect relationship and have therefore created deep bonds with people and possessions in the material world, believing that these will bring us happiness. However, these bonds are temporary and will eventually result in suffering. Real relationships are eternal, and will bring eternal happiness. Those who truly care about us desire our ultimate fulfilment in genuine relationships and protect us from the superficial happiness that we may derive from temporary relationships.
The guru who connects us to the Supreme Absolute Truth is our greatest benefactor since his only desire is to see us properly situated in our true identity, as the servant of the Lord and His devotees. In this connection, our innumerable masks fall away, and our authentic joyful self emerges to the fore. So not only does the guru reveal to us who we truly are, but remains eternally with us throughout our journey in the material world and beyond.
This journey with the spiritual master is spiritually enlivening and transformational for the faithful disciple. By following his instructions, the disciples spiritual vision is awakened and a world of possibilities that he had never previously envisioned, opens up before him.
It is stated in stra:
om ajna-timirndhasya
jnjana-alkay
cakur unmlita yena
tasmai r-gurave nama
I offer my respectful obeisances unto my spiritual master, who, with the torchlight of knowledge has opened my eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance.
Gautamya-tantra
[Cited: rmad-Bhgavatam 8.1.11 Purport]
Prabhupda
Our saving grace
In our movement, rla Prabhupda is the founder crya and in that way, is always the guru of all the members of this movement. Some may have a relationship with rla Prabhupda by serving the servant of rla Prabhupda, not to the exclusion of rla Prabhupda but rather to enhance their relationship with rla Prabhupda.
Brahmananda was talking about Prabhupda and someone asked, The early days were the very intimate days with Prabhupda and later, there was a bigger movement. Do you feel that something changed in the relationship with Prabhupda?
Brahmananda said, Well, you know, when youre a child, your father is your father. And when youre a grown-up, your father is still your father. So nothing has changed. Still the same!
The interviewer then said, "I see that you accept rla Prabhupda as God!"
Brahmananda replied, Oh no, that was a mistake! In 1970, I made that mistake that I thought Prabhupda was God. Prabhupda is not God he is as good as God! But these days, I think Prabhupda is better than God because he came to the lower-east side to save me! And then, Brahmananda started to cry!
So that was something. That was definitely something that touched my heart! I thought, Thats right! That is the position for all of us.
The fact of the matter is that we are here because of rla Prabhupda's unlimited compassion. To all of us wondering in the darkness of Kali-yuga, slaves of the senses, Prabhupda came from a different world, pure and spiritual, where the Lord appears in a beautiful threefold-bending form, with head bedecked with peacock feathers, with lotus eyes, and with unlimited wonderful qualities. How could anyone truly understand him?
Prabhupda was real; Prabhupda was genuine; Prabhupda loved Ka; Prabhupda saw Ka, and because Prabhupda said, God is blue, He is blue! It is as simple as that! Prabhupda is the living proof of Ka consciousness, that it all works. Prabhupda is not only our inspiration, not only the source of our faith but Prabhupda is also our anchor. Whenever we have a doubt, Prabhupda is the anchor, our saving grace as we are riding on the waves of our individual nature. He is the safe ground to which we always return. We trust him for the person he was, for his teachings and we know that in his teachings we will find our answers; we find the basis of our Ka consciousness. This is where we return, to the safe connection with Ka. We meet him in everything he left we meet him in his devotees, we meet him in his books, we meet him in his instructions and so on.
Prabhupda gave us everything a way to live, a task to complete, a mission to fulfil. He gave us a vision of what the world should be and also what our business is in this current age of quarrel and hypocrisy.
So let us find out more and more about who rla Prabhupda is, what he desired, what he said, and what rla Prabhupda would really like. All of that will be our saving grace!
Love means to put our ideas aside for someone else. When we love someone, we will put our own agenda aside and simply try to please that person, doing only as he desires. So, our love for Prabhupda has to show in how much we are ready to put our own agenda aside and embrace his agenda.
Studying his books
We should read rla Prabhupda's books, and understanding that the essence is all there, we should study these thoroughly.
Prabhupda's books are the main substance in our lives. So many books are out there nowadays. Everyone has written books. Many of the books are very revealing and extend our understanding. Still, I have a comparison which is that the Bhagavad-gt, the Nectar of Devotion, the rmad-Bhgavatam and the Caitanya-caritmta are our four main books which are like rice, dhal, sabj and chapati, and these other books are like chutney.
So, you know, some chutney is nice. We want some chutney and we read something new, something with a different taste that is interesting. But basically, our staple diet is rice, dhal, sabj and chapati. If you eat only chutney, you are not going to be very healthy!
When we start reading rla Prabhupda's books and purports, we experience such a relief. Every word is a blessing, every word is sarva magalam, every word is auspicious! If theres something in Prabhupda's Bhgavatam that we dont like then we know that there is something inauspicious in us because the Bhgavatam has no faults. It is the amala pura the spotless pura. And rla Prabhupda's purports are even more important than the text because that gives us real entrance into the text. So these transcendental books are our shelter, giving us relief from material existence, and we should deeply absorb ourselves in them.
Prabhupda requested all his disciples to help him in the work of printing, publishing and distributing his books so that philosophers, scholars, religionists and people all over the world will benefit by reading transcendental literature. There are so many people out there hankering for something spiritual, looking for some deeper meaning to life. Just one devotee stepping into the middle of someones life with a book can change the destiny of that person completely. Just one book makes such a huge difference!
The essence of Prabhupdas teachings
We are being trained by the pure devotee, rla Prabhupda, to gradually come to the point of selfless worship, which can only be dedicated to the Supreme Lord. The only benediction to ask from the Lord is: Please may I never give up Your service. We dont serve to ask for something else; the service itself is the best, better than anything else. Devotional service is what we want. We dont worship because we want something else. No, the best thing in our life is this service to Ka. This is what rla Prabhupda is teaching us.
