View source for The greatest offense is to defy the spiritual master and to act sinfully, thinking in the strength of chanting

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{{terms|"The greatest offense is to defy the spiritual master and to act sinfully, thinking in the strength of chanting"}}
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{{compiler|Alakananda}}
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[[Category:Greatest]]
[[Category:Offense]]
[[Category:Defy]]
[[Category:Spiritual Master]]
[[Category:Act]]
[[Category:Sinful]]
[[Category:Thinking]]
[[Category:Strength]]
[[Category:Chanting]]
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<div id="Correspondence" class="section" sec_index="6" parent="compilation" text="Correspondence"><h2>Correspondence</h2>
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<div id="1967_Correspondence" class="sub_section" sec_index="2" parent="Correspondence" text="1967 Correspondence"><h3>1967 Correspondence</h3>
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<div id="LettertoUmapatiCalcutta23November1967_0" class="quote" parent="1967_Correspondence" book="Let" index="224" link="Letter to Umapati -- Calcutta 23 November, 1967" link_text="Letter to Umapati -- Calcutta 23 November, 1967">
<div class="heading">We should always be careful in the matter of being attacked by Maya's influence and the only means of guarantee is to chant Hare Krishna offenselessly. The greatest offense is to defy the spiritual master and to act sinfully, thinking in the strength of chanting.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Letter to Umapati -- Calcutta 23 November, 1967|Letter to Umapati -- Calcutta 23 November, 1967]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">My Dear Umapati,</p>
<p>Please accept my blessings. I am so glad to receive your letter dated 15th Nov. 1967. You're very anxious to see me back in New York and I may inform you that I had settled to be in San Francisco on the 24 of Nov. but due to a petty revolution in Calcutta I am not able to leave. Future arrangements are pending. I wish to go from San Francisco to the other two new branches and then return to New York. I am so glad to learn that you are now getting the fruit of chanting Hare Krishna. Hare Krishna is so nice that it clears the dirty things from the mind of the devotee and the more one is used to chant the Holy Name offenselessly, the more one develops love of God, forgetting the whole material nonsense. (It is my duty to deliver you the right thing in right earnestness and it is the duty of the receiver to act in the standard spiritual regulation. When you left us I simply prayed to Krishna for your return to Krishna Consciousness because that was my duty. Any good soul who approaches me once for spiritual enlightenment is supposed to be depending on my responsibility to get him back to Krishna, back to home. The disciple may misunderstand a bona fide spiritual master being obliged to do so under pressure of Maya's influence. But a bona fide spiritual master never lets go a devotee once accepted. When a disciple misunderstands a bona fide spiritual master, the master regrets for his inability to protect the disciple and sometimes he cries with tears in the eyes. We had an experience while my Guru Maharaja was alive. One of His disciples who accepted sannyasa was one day forcibly dragged by his wife. My Guru Maharaja lamented with tears in His eyes saying that He could not save the soul.) We should always, therefore, be careful in the matter of being attacked by Maya's influence and the only means of guarantee is to chant Hare Krishna offenselessly. The greatest offense is to defy the spiritual master and to act sinfully, thinking in the strength of chanting. If a man thinks that chanting will save him from all kinds of sinful reaction deliberately committee. by him, then he becomes the greatest offender. By chanting Hare Krishna certainly we become free from all sinful reactions, but that does not mean that we shall deliberately commit sins and counteract it by chanting. Your reference to Kirtanananda and Hayagriva is very nicely appreciated. We shall silently pray for them to Krishna and shed tears for them for our inability to save them. Let us honestly pray and go ahead with Krishna Consciousness. More when we meet. Hope you are well</p>
<p>Your ever well-wisher</p>
<p>A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami</p>
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