Category:A Spiritual Master Is
Theme Analysis
The compilation of quotes regarding the profound identity of the spiritual master reveals him to be the most vital link between the conditioned soul and the Supreme Lord. He is not a mundane teacher but the transparent via medium and the direct mercy representative of Kṛṣṇa. His sole business is to broadcast the Lord's message exactly as it is, without adulteration or speculation. Śrīla Prabhupāda establishes that because the guru is the most confidential servitor of the Lord, he must be honored equally to the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
- The Mercy Representative: The spiritual master is the external manifestation of the Lord's mercy, sent to deliver souls suffering in material existence.
- The Transparent Medium: He acts as a flawless lens through which the disciple can visualize and understand the Absolute Truth.
- Non-Different from God: While maintaining his identity as a servant, the guru is treated as good as God because he is the Lord's direct representative.
- The Perfect Messenger: A bona fide guru speaks exactly what is spoken by Kṛṣṇa, never inventing or manufacturing new philosophies.
- The Confidential Servant: The spiritual master is intimately connected to the Lord, often considered a representative of Śrīmatī Rādhārāṇī or Lord Nityānanda.
- The Deliverer from Nescience: It is the primary duty of the guru to open the eyes of the disciple, saving them from the darkness of ignorance.
- Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: A Spiritual Master is the Mercy Representative of Kṛṣṇa.
Subcategories
This category has the following 2 subcategories, out of 2 total.
Pages in category "A Spiritual Master Is"
The following 50 pages are in this category, out of 50 total.
2
A
- A bona fide spiritual master is by nature very kind toward the disciple. Therefore when the student is submissive and is always ready to render service, the reciprocation of knowledge and inquiries becomes perfect. BG 1972 purports
- A spiritual master is recognized as an actual guru when it is seen that he has changed the character of his disciples
- A spiritual master is the transparent medium by which to visualize the Lord, who is beyond the conception of the material senses
I
- I am very poor and therefore I can pray only to Krishna for your guidance. Krishna is Absolute and we are all under His guidance but the bona fide Spiritual Master is accepted as guidance because he is transparent via media between Krishna and the devotee
- If the spiritual master is attacked by some disease, it is due to the sinful activities of others. "Don't make many disciples." But we do it because we are preaching. Never mind - let us suffer - still we shall accept them
- If you are inquisitive to understand transcendental truth, the Absolute Truth, the guru is... To have a guru is not a fashion. Now it has become a fashion. If somebody shows some jugglery, people become very much anxious to accept such guru. No
- In all the ancient literatures of devotional service the spiritual master is always considered either one of the confidential associates of Srimati Radharani or a manifested representation of Srila Nityananda Prabhu
- In the more recent songs of Srila Narottama dasa Thakura the spiritual master is always considered either one of the confidential associates of Srimati Radharani or a manifested representation of Srila Nityananda Prabhu
- In the more recent songs Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura and other unalloyed Vaisnavas, the spiritual master is always considered either one of the confidential associates of Srimati Radharani or a manifested representation of Srila Nityananda Prabhu
- In this case, the spiritual master, Sukadeva Gosvami, is ready to recite exactly what he has learned from his great father Srila Vyasadeva, and the disciple, Maharaja Pariksit, is a great devotee of Lord Krsna
- It is my duty to open your eyes, because a Spiritual Master is he who can save his disciples from the darkness of nescience, illusion
S
- Since the spiritual master is the most confidential servant of the Lord, he should be treated exactly like the Supreme Personality of Godhead
- Sometimes doubts arise in the minds of neophytes about whether or not the spiritual master is liberated, and sometimes neophytes are doubtful about the bodily affairs of the spiritual master
- Spiritual master is a revelation of Krsna
- Spiritual master is eternal
- Spiritual master is he who has to instruct the disciple in such a way that he may not be misled, and that is not possible because he will simply speak from authoritative sources
- Spiritual master is he who speaks exactly the words which is spoken by Krsna
- Spiritual master is servant authority, and God is the master authority. Therefore sevya bhagavan, seva bhagavan
- Spiritual master is the negotiator. He is the broker. Of course, without any brokerage, but he is supposed to be the broker or the transparent medium. My Guru Maharaja used to say, "the transparent media, via media"
- Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu indicated that it does not matter whether the spiritual master is a grhastha (householder), a sannyasi or even a sudra
T
- The bona fide guru is he who advises his disciples exactly in accordance with the principles spoken by Krsna. The bona fide guru is he who has accepted Krsna as guru. This is the guru-parampara system
- The conclusion is that the Lord, being all-powerful, can, under any and every circumstance, accept anyone from any part of the world, either personally or through His bona fide manifestation as the spiritual master
- The proof that the spiritual master is bona fide is his invincible faith in God, which protects him from the calamity of impersonalism
- The revealed scriptures prohibit one's pretending to be God, but a bona fide spiritual master is a most faithful and confidential servant of the Lord and therefore deserves as much respect as Krsna
- The role of the bona fide Spiritual Master is to lead the conditioned souls out of forgetfulness and back into pure consciousness of serving the Lord in transcendental loving service
- The Spiritual Master also can be present wherever the disciple wants. A Spiritual Master is the principle, not the body. Just like a television can be seen in thousands of places by the principle of relay monitoring
- The spiritual master is a direct manifestation of the Lord. With this conviction, a disciple can advance in Krsna consciousness. The spiritual master is nondifferent from Krsna because he is a manifestation of Krsna
- The spiritual master is also called acarya, or a transcendental professor of spiritual science
- The spiritual master is always offering Krsna four kinds of delicious food - analyzed as that which is licked, chewed, drunk and sucked
- The spiritual master is God, and Krsna is God, but Krsna is the worshipable God whereas the spiritual master is the worshiper God
- The spiritual master is one who follows the instructions of his predecessors, namely the sadhus, or saintly persons. A bona fide spiritual master does not mention anything not mentioned in the authorized scriptures
- The spiritual master is sometimes glorified as sarva-devamayo guruh (SB 11.17.27). By the grace of the guru, the spiritual master, one can understand the different kinds of devas
- The spiritual master is the best brahmana
- The spiritual master is the mercy representative of the Lord. Therefore, a person burning in the flames of material existence may receive the rains of mercy of the Lord through the transparent medium of the self-realized spiritual master
- The spiritual master is the mercy representative of the Supreme Lord, and as such he is given honor as good as Krishna, but he is never identical with Krishna
- The spiritual master is the representative of God
- The spiritual master is worshiped as one who delivers the disciple from the mire of ignorance with the light of the torch of knowledge