View source for To act under the direction of spiritual master... Spiritual master directs means he knows sastra. According to the direction of sastra or acaryas, he gives direction. And if we follow, that is called sadhana-bhakti

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{{terms|"To act under the direction of spiritual master... Spiritual master directs means he knows sastra. According to the direction of sastra or acaryas, he gives direction. And if we follow, that is called sadhana-bhakti"}}
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[[Category:Acting for a Spiritual Master]]
[[Category:Under The Direction]]
[[Category:Direction of a Spiritual Master]]
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[[Category:A Spiritual Master Knows Sastra]]
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[[Category:sastra]]
[[Category:Acarya - Devotees of God]]
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[[Category:direction]]
[[Category:If We (Disciples of SP)]]
[[Category:Following a Spiritual Master]]
[[Category:Following Devotional Service to God]]
[[Category:Called Devotional Service to God]]
[[Category:Sadhana-bhakti - Devotional Service to God]]
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<div id="Lectures" class="section" sec_index="4" parent="compilation" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2>
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<div id="Nectar_of_Devotion_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Lectures" text="Nectar of Devotion Lectures"><h3>Nectar of Devotion Lectures</h3>
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<div id="TheNectarofDevotionCalcuttaJanuary251973_0" class="quote" parent="Nectar_of_Devotion_Lectures" book="Lec" index="41" link="The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 25, 1973" link_text="The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 25, 1973">
<div class="heading">To act under the direction of spiritual master... Spiritual master directs means he knows śāstra. According to the direction of śāstra or ācāryas, he gives direction. And if we follow, that is called sādhana-bhakti. That is called practice. In the beginning, sādhana-bhakti must be there.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 25, 1973|The Nectar of Devotion -- Calcutta, January 25, 1973]]: </span><div class="text" style="display: inline; "><p style="display: inline; ">Anyone who is not in Kṛṣṇa consciousness is to be taken as crazy, or mad.</p>
:piśācī pāile yena mati-cchanna haya
:māyā-grasta jīvera se dāsa upajaya
<p>Just like when a man becomes ghostly haunted, he does something abnormal. He cannot recognize his own men. He calls his father by ill names. So many disturbances. So nūnaṁ pramattaḥ kurute vikarma ([[Vanisource:SB 5.5.4|SB 5.5.4]]). They are so mad that they are engaged only in sinful activities. There are three karmas: karma, akarma, vikarma. Karma does not mean whatever you like you can do. No. Karma means prescribed duties. Janma karma, uh, guṇa karma. As you are under the spell of certain material modes of nature... Someone is under the modes of goodness, his karma will be different from the person who is under the spell of the modes of ignorance. That will be decided by the teacher, or by the ācāryas. They are described in the Bhagavad-gītā that one who is under the spell of goodness, his qualities, his symptoms are like this: satya śama dama titikṣa ([[Vanisource:BG 18.42 (1972)|BG 18.42]]). Similarly, one who is under the spell of passion, his symptoms are like this. Just like a diseased man... If you go to a physician, by your symptoms he can understand that you have got a certain type of disease and he gives you the right medicine. Similarly Bhagavad-gītā you'll find who is under the spell of the modes of ma..., uh, yes, goodness. If he's very sober, intelligent, can understand things as they are, they are to be understood in the modes of goodness. Those who are very much passionate, simply wants to enjoy sense enjoyment, they are in the modes of passion. And those who are lazy, very fond of sleeping, nidrālasya, he's to be understood in the modes of ignorance. These are the symptoms. And according to the modes, they act. Therefore bhakti is not prohibited to either of them. Either in goodness or passion or ignorance—it doesn't matter. Anyone can take to devotional service, sādhana-bhakti, provided he agrees to be guided by the direction of the spiritual master. Bhakti is transcendental. It doesn't matter whether one is in goodness, passion or ignorance. Anyone can take.</p>
<p>That is confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā: māṁ hi pārtha vyapāśritya ye 'pi syuḥ pāpa-yonayaḥ ([[Vanisource:BG 9.32 (1972)|BG 9.32]]). Pāpa-yonayaḥ means the lowest part of ignorance. So Kṛṣṇa recommends that anyone, even in pāpa-yoni striya, vaiśyās tathā śūdrās... Stri, women, and vaiśya and śūdra, they're also considered not very in higher position. But Kṛṣṇa says all of them, if they take to real path of devotional service under the direction of spiritual master, then that is sādhana-bhakti. To act under the direction of spiritual master... Spiritual master directs means he knows śāstra. According to the direction of śāstra or ācāryas, he gives direction. And if we follow, that is called sādhana-bhakti. That is called practice. In the beginning, sādhana-bhakti must be there. Then when you get attachment for Kṛṣṇa, that is called rāga-bhakti. And the more you increase your attachment for Kṛṣṇa, then it will come to the stage of prema-bhakti. You don't become kṛṣṇa-premī all of a sudden. "Now I have become kṛṣṇa-premī. Let me cry." And then, after crying, "Oh, my throat is now dried up. Give me cigarette." This kind of bhakti has no value. You'll see so many sahajiyās, professionals: they can cry, but they have no love for Kṛṣṇa. I have seen one professional reciter. He can cry, and he gathers many people around him. But by his writing, by his speech, we can understand that he has no faith in Kṛṣṇa. In Bombay I have seen. When he writes... Tāvac śobhate mūrkha yāvān kiñcin na bhāṣate (?). A mūrkha, a rascal, can be beautiful as long as he does not speak or write. But as soon as one speaks and writes, we can understand what is the locus standus of that person. Simply crying will not help. One who will cry for Kṛṣṇa, he will never come down to the material platform. That crying is not so easy. As Caitanya Mahāprabhu used to cry, He also said, "I am crying for make-show." So crying automatically comes when actually if we are in prema-bhakti. But we have to go that stage gradually, not by imitating. Sādhana-bhakti, rāga-bhakti. Then prema-bhakti.</p>
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