Category:The Nectar of Instruction - Text 05
Pages in category "The Nectar of Instruction - Text 05"
The following 74 pages are in this category, out of 74 total.
A
- A disciple should be careful to accept an uttama-adhikari as a spiritual master
- A madhyama-adhikari has received spiritual initiation from the spiritual master and has been fully engaged by him in the transcendental loving service of the Lord
- A madhyama-adhikari is a sraddhavan, a staunchly faithful person, and he is actually a candidate for further advancement in devotional service
- A neophyte Vaisnava or a Vaisnava situated on the intermediate platform can also accept disciples, but such disciples must be on the same platform, and it should be understood that they cannot advance very well toward the ultimate goal
- A person who is very faithfully engaged in the worship of the Deity in the temple, but who does not know how to behave toward devotees or people in general is called a prakrta-bhakta, or kanistha-adhikari
- A person whose conclusive knowledge of the sastras is not very strong but who has developed firm faith in chanting the maha-mantra and who is also undeterred in the execution of his prescribed devotional service should be considered a madhyama-adhikari
- According to his (Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's) calculation, practically every one of us is fallen, but because we are trying to serve the Supreme Lord with all seriousness and without duplicity, we can expect the mercy of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
- According to Srila Rupa Gosvami, the association and service of such a maha-bhagavata, or perfect Vaisnava, are most desirable
- Although such persons may chant the holy name of the Lord, they are not yet properly purified. Such people should be respected within one's mind, but their association should be avoided
- Although they (many students) come from very wealthy families, many of them accept living conditions that are not very comfortable
- Always thinking of Krsna, devising means by which to spread the holy name of Krsna, he understands that his only business is in spreading the Krsna consciousness movement all over the world
- An uttama-adhikari is not interested in blaspheming others, his heart is completely clean, and he has attained the realized state of unalloyed Krsna consciousness
- At his home he offers respect to pictures of Krsna and also to the preachers of Krsna consciousness. In all regards, he has a very high estimation for Krsna's name and Krsna's activities
- At the time of initiation, when a devotee fully surrenders to the service of the Lord, Krsna accepts him to be as good as He Himself
B
- By diksa one gradually becomes disinterested in material enjoyment and gradually becomes interested in spiritual life
- By rendering transcendental loving service to Krsna, one automatically performs all subsidiary activities. This confident, firm faith, favorable to the discharge of devotional service, is called sraddha
E
- Everyone begins his devotional life from the neophyte stage, but if one properly finishes chanting the prescribed number of rounds of hari-nama, he is elevated step by step to the highest platform, uttama-adhikari
- Everyone is invited to join this movement, sit with us, take prasada and hear about Krsna
I
- If one hears a person say even once the word 'Krsna,' that person should be accepted as the best man out of the common group
- In order to intelligently apply the sixfold loving reciprocations mentioned in the previous verse, one must select proper persons with careful discrimination
- In this Krsna consciousness movement a chance is given to everyone without discrimination of caste, creed or color
- In this verse he (Rupa Gosvami) tells us how to deal with three types of devotees - the kanistha-adhikari, madhyama-adhikari and uttama-adhikari
- In this verse Srila Rupa Gosvami advises the devotee to be intelligent enough to distinguish between the kanistha-adhikari, madhyama-adhikari and uttama-adhikari
- Indeed, for Krsna's sake they are prepared to accept any living condition as long as they can live in the temple and associate with the Vaisnavas
- Indeed, the advanced uttama-adhikari Vaisnava devotee should be accepted as a spiritual master. Everything one possesses should be offered to him, for it is enjoined that one should deliver whatever he has to the spiritual master
- It is not that one accepts a portion of Bhagavad-gita according to his own whimsical interpretations and then rejects another portion. This is not sraddha. Sraddha means accepting the instructions of Bhagavad-gita in their totality
O
- One becomes qualified as a devotee on the elementary platform, the intermediate platform and the highest platform of devotional service according to the development of his sraddha (faith)
- One must be jijnasu, very much inquisitive to learn from the bona fide spiritual master. The inquiries one makes should strictly pertain to transcendental science
- One of our friends, a famous English musician, has become attracted to chanting the holy names of Krsna, and even in his records he has several times mentioned the holy name of Krsna
- One should associate with and faithfully serve that pure devotee who is advanced in undeviated devotional service and whose heart is completely devoid of the propensity to criticize others
- One should know for certain that without chanting the holy name of the Lord offenselessly, one cannot be a proper candidate for advancement in Krsna consciousness
- One should mentally honor the devotee who chants the holy name of Lord Krsna
- One should not accept a spiritual master without following his instructions. Nor should one accept a spiritual master just to make a fashionable show of spiritual life
- One should not become a spiritual master unless he has attained the platform of uttama-adhikari
- One should not imitate the behavior of an advanced devotee or maha-bhagavata without being self-realized, for by such imitation one will eventually become degraded
- One should not remain a kanistha-adhikari, one who is situated on the lowest platform of devotional service and is interested only in worshiping the Deity in the temple
- One should offer humble obeisances to the devotee who has undergone spiritual initiation (diksa) and is engaged in worshiping the Deity
- One therefore has to raise himself from the position of kanistha-adhikari to the platform of madhyama-adhikari
- One who has reached such an understanding (that there is no difference between the holy name of the Lord and the Lord Himself) should be very much respected by neophyte devotees
- One who is interested in chanting the holy name of Krsna or who by practice likes to chant Krsna's names should be accepted as a Vaisnava and offered respects as such, at least within one's mind
- Out of many such Vaisnavas, one may be found to be very seriously engaged in the service of the Lord and strictly following all the regulative principles, chanting the prescribed number of rounds on japa beads
S
- Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has given some practical hints to the effect that an uttama-adhikari Vaisnava can be recognized by his ability to convert many fallen souls to Vaisnavism
- Srila Rupa Gosvami advises that we should meet with the Vaisnavas in an appropriate way, according to their particular status
- Such a person is to be recognized as an uttama-adhikari, and his association should be immediately accepted according to the six processes
- Such a Vaisnava should be accepted as an uttama-adhikari, a highly advanced devotee, and his association should always be sought
- Such service begins with the tongue (sevonmukhe hi jihvadau), which means that we should always chant the holy names of the Lord and accept krsna-prasada. We should not chant or accept anything else
T
- The brahmacari in particular is supposed to beg alms from others and offer them to the spiritual master
- The chanting of the holy names of Krsna is so sublime that if one chants the Hare Krsna maha-mantra offenselessly, carefully avoiding the ten offenses, he can certainly be gradually elevated
- The conclusion is that anyone who is trying to advance in Krsna consciousness by regularly chanting the holy name should always be respected by Vaisnavas
- The devotee should also know his own position and should not try to imitate a devotee situated on a higher platform
- The kanistha-adhikari is a neophyte who has received the hari-nama initiation from the spiritual master and is trying to chant the holy name of Krsna
- The Krsna consciousness movement prescribes sixteen rounds daily because people in the Western countries cannot concentrate for long periods while chanting on beads
- The madhyama-adhikari is a devotee who worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the highest object of love, makes friends with the Lord's devotees, is merciful to the ignorant and avoids those who are envious by nature
- The madhyama-adhikari should be considered to be situated midway in devotional service. The uttama-adhikari, or highest devotee, is one who is very advanced in devotional service
- The prakrta-sahajiyas generally chant the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, yet they are attached to women, money and intoxication
- This (SB 11.2.46) is the way to cultivate devotional service properly; therefore in this verse Srila Rupa Gosvami has advised us how to treat various devotees. We can see from practical experience that there are different types of Vaisnavas
- Those neophyte devotees who are actually initiated by the bona fide spiritual master and are seriously engaged in carrying out the orders of the spiritual master should be offered respectful obeisances
- Those who are innocent but simply carried away by bad association should be shown favor if they are eager to receive proper instructions from pure devotees
W
- We cannot realize the Supreme Personality of Godhead by any artificial means. We must engage faithfully in the service of the Lord
- We have seen many practical examples of this, especially in Europe and America. Many students who come to us from rich and respectable families quickly lose all interest in material enjoyment and become very eager to enter into spiritual life
- We have witnessed that some of our contemporaries who are supposed to be great preachers have gradually fallen into the material conception of life because they have failed to chant the holy name of the Lord
- We offer respects to him without reservation, for we are actually seeing that this gentleman is advancing gradually in Krsna consciousness. Such a person should always be shown respect
- When a neophyte devotee is actually initiated and engaged in devotional service by the orders of the spiritual master, he should be accepted immediately as a bona fide Vaisnava, and obeisances should be offered unto him
- When a person is serious about accepting diksa, he must be prepared to practice austerity, celibacy & control of the mind and body. If one is so prepared & is desirous of receiving spiritual enlightenment (divyam jnanam), he is fit for being initiated
- When a person realizes himself to be an eternal servitor of Krsna, he loses interest in everything but Krsna's service
- When one becomes completely faithful in regard to this instruction, one's strong faith becomes the basis for advancing in spiritual life
- When one becomes so disinterested in material enjoyment, he becomes fit for initiation by the spiritual master
- When one fully engages in chanting the Hare Krsna maha-mantra, he gradually realizes his own spiritual identity
- When one is actually interested in the transcendental science of the Absolute Truth, he should approach a spiritual master
- When this process is faithfully followed, the Supreme Lord reveals Himself to the devotee
- When we see that someone is actually interested in Krsna consciousness and wants to be initiated, we accept him as a disciple for the chanting of the holy name of the Lord
- While giving instructions to Sanatana Gosvami, Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu divided devotional service into three categories