Unlimited peace, love, and happiness is there within you at every moment. You simply have to learn how to connect with it from a person who is already connected with it. That person is the bona fide spiritual master. The reawakening of that connection is the most unimaginably joyful experience that one can taste in millions and billions of eons. One simply has to master the art of purely loving Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the source of all existence by rendering uninterrupted, unmotivated service unto Him.


Sankarshan Das Adhikari
 

Reconnecting with Krishna
Riga, Latvia--14 April 2011
 
http://www.backtohome.com/images/2011-Spring/Riga_Home_Program.jpg
 

Question: Are ISKCON Gurus Not Nitya-Siddhas?

My dear Srila Gurudeva,

Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada! All glories to You!

I beg you to please clarify these points below whenever you get time.

The spiritual master (an acarya) should be a nitya-siddha, an eternal associate of Lord Nityananda (stated clearly by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur in an article from the Harmonist). This is also supported by the writings of the Goswamis. The writings of Goswamis clearly clarify the nitya-siddha/nitya-baddha debate. Such a nitya-siddha descends to reclaim the souls (nitya-baddha jivas) on behalf of Lord Nityananda.

On the contrary, why do we have diksa gurus in our society who are not nitya-siddhas?

Your servant,
B.D.
 

Answer: Why Assume They Are Not Nitya-Siddhas?

You are wondering why we have gurus in ISKCON who are not nitya-siddhas (liberated souls). But why should it be assumed that they are not nitya-siddhas? So-called gurus who fall down are obviously not in this category, but any guru who never fells down must be accepted as being a nitya-siddha. A guru can enter into this world as a nitya-siddha or he can be a conditioned soul who becomes a nitya-siddha by the association of a nitya-siddha. In either case he is fully qualified to be a spiritual master and deliver the fallen, conditioned souls back to home, back to Godhead.

According to Srila Prabhupada, anyone who is preaching the sankirtana movement is a nitya-siddha. Srila Prabhupada stated this in a Sunday Feast Lecture delivered on 15 June 1975 in Honolulu as quoted here:

"Anyone who is preaching the sankirtana movement is associate of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Sangopangastra... Just like Advaita Prabhu, Nityananda Prabhu helped, similarly, anyone, even up to date, who is trying to help the propagation of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission, preach this sankirtana movement all over the world, he is also associate of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Gaurangera sangi-gane nitya-siddha boli mane. They are not ordinary human being. Nitya-siddha, ever liberated."

Srila Prabhupada explains how the conditioned soul can become nitya-siddha in a Srimad Bhagavatam lecture (7.9.4.) delivered in Mayapur, India on 11 February 1976 as follows:

"So the nitya-siddha maha-bhagavata, they come from the spiritual world on the order of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and they, by example, preach Krishna Consciousness. This is maha-bhagavata. By suffering, by example, everything, they look like ordinary men, but maha-bhagavata. How it is tested? They never forget Krishna. This is maha-bhagavata nitya-siddha. And sadhana-siddha means those who are put into this material world, by the association of maha-bhagavata, if he tries, follows, then he can also become maha-bhagavata or nitya-siddha, because originally everyone is nitya-siddha."

If we ask the spiritual master if he is in the position of nitya-siddha, will not tell us, "Yes, I am liberated soul, a nitya-siddha." In a room conversation on 16 August 1976 in Mumbai, India Srila Prabhupada clearly states makes this point:

"Liberated soul never says, 'I am liberated.' As soon as he says, 'liberated,' he's a rascal. A liberated soul will never say that 'I am liberated.' That is liberated."

The above points are further confirmed in letter written by Srila Prabhupada to Mukunda das on 10 June 1969 from New Vrindavan:

"You are correct when you say that when the spiritual master speaks it should be taken that Krishna is speaking. That is a fact. A spiritual master must be liberated. It does not matter if he has come from Krishnaloka or he is liberated from here. But he must be liberated. The science of how one is liberated is explained above, but when one is liberated, there is no need of distinction whether he has come directly from Krishnaloka or from the material world. But in the broader sense everyone comes from Krishnaloka."

And also in a letter from Srila Prabhupada to Tamal Krishna Das written on 21 June 1970 in Los Angeles:

"A spiritual master is always liberated. In any condition of His life He should not be mistaken as ordinary human being. This position of a spiritual master is achieved by three processes. One is called sadhana-siddha. That means one who is liberated by executing the regulative principle of devotional service. Another is krpa-siddha, one who is liberated by the mercy of Krishna or His devotee. And another is nitya-siddha who is never forgetful of Krishna throughout his whole life. These are the three features of the perfection of life. So far Narada Muni is concerned, in his previous life he was a maidservant's son, but by the mercy of the devotees he later on became siddha and next life he appeared as Narada with complete freedom to move anywhere by the grace of the Lord. So even though he was in his previous life a maidservant's son, there was no impediment in the achievement of His perfect spiritual life. Similarly any living entity who is conditioned can achieve the perfectional stage of life by the above mentioned processes and the vivid example is Narada Muni. So I do not know why you have asked about my previous life. Whether I was subjected to the laws of material nature? So, even though accepting that I was subjected to the laws of material nature, does it hamper in my becoming spiritual master? What is your opinion? From the life of Narada Muni it is distinct that although he was a conditioned soul in his previous life, there was no impediment of his becoming the spiritual master."

Our first duty as followers of Srila Prabhupada is to carefully and thoroughly study his writings until we develop a solid mastery of them. Sometimes we see that neophyte devotees will jump to reading Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and the Six Goswamis before mastering their understanding of Srila Prabhupada's teachings. This can cause them to become confused. This is why I instruct my disciples to first carefully study all of Srila Prabhupada's teachings before venturing out to the writings of the previous acharyas. If a first grade arithmetic student sits in on an advanced calculus class, he will become confused. But if he progresses gradually and naturally through all the stages of mathematics, he will become a master of all the higher level understandings of mathematics in due course of time.

In conclusion, we must always remember that if we want to properly understand the Vedic wisdom we must have unflinching faith in the spiritual master.  This is confirmed as follows in the Vedic wisdom:

yasya deve parā bhaktir
yathā deve tathā gurau
tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ
prakāśante mahātmanaḥ

"Only unto those great souls who have unflinching faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed."--Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad 6.23

If we doubt the spiritual master thinking him to be an ordinary, conditioned soul like us, we will never be able to properly understand the Vedic wisdom.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari
 

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