By Suvarna Radha Devi Dasi
Having a mentor is crucial for progress, whether the goal is professional success, personal development, or spiritual uplift. We can quickly advance to the next level of achievement with their help and advice. Employees who received mentoring were promoted five times more frequently than those who did not, according to data. And because mentoring programs have brought value, many businesses are increasingly investing in them.
In any subject, having a competent mentor aids us in many ways, including goal-setting, accelerating learning, receiving encouragement, maintaining focus, avoiding traps, and much more.
Just as we can benefit from a mentor in material pursuits, it becomes even more advantageous for spiritual progress. Such a mentor is known as the âspiritual masterâ or âguru.â
According to the Vedic texts, every soul residing in the material world is afflicted. That illness is spiritual rather than physical. We call it nescience. And despite our intellectual achievements, ignorance still exists within us and takes the form of rage, greed, pride, and other negative emotions. This knowledge cannot be gained through self-analysis; rather, it must be obtained from a guru who is aware of the Absolute Truth.
To receive a formal education, we must enroll in a school or university. Based on this, we must question ourselves: How important is the requirement and responsibility of the spiritual master who gives us the Absolute Truth and the path to immortality by returning us to our roles as Krsna’s eternal servants?
The process of receiving Absolute Truth is to receive knowledge from the disciplic succession. The disciplic succession is an unbroken chain of transcendentalists who receive the message of the Lord and teach it to their students who then continue to impart spiritual knowledge to their disciples. Lord Krsna is the supreme authority for the disciplic succession because He is the perfect knower of everything.
Lord Krsna states in Gita: 4.34 that one should approach a bonafide spiritual master without whom one cannot achieve perfection. He does not recommend that one approach Him directly. There is no difference between the Lord and His instructions. Similarly, there is no difference between the Lord and His pure devotees who can deliver the message of the Lord intact. Because one cannot understand spiritual nature, they mistakenly try to distinguish between a devotee and the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But Prabhupada states that the representative of the Lord and the Lord is the same providing that the representative is, in fact, bona fide.
According to Prabhupada âA person with a bona ï¬de spiritual master is supposed to know everything.” Knowing everything means is to the point where Krsna reveals to the spiritual master. The essence of knowing everything is â
who am I and what is my relationship with Krsna
what is the process of establishing that relationship
what is the result/purpose of that relationship?
When, through the guru, we know these three things in truth (through realization), then we will go back home back to Godhead in this life. This is the purpose of the Guru, to break the cycle of samsara (repeated birth and death) and enlighten us back to Goloka.
One should approach a spiritual master, humbly submit to him, and then inquire from him about how to progress in spiritual life. Just as a seed planted in fertile land can germinate, a bonafide guru can enlighten the heart of a receptive disciple with transcendental knowledge. After accepting a bonafide spiritual master and serving him (assisting him in his mission) without false prestige, the Lord dwelling in the discipleâs heart will destroy the material perplexities with the shining lamp of knowledge.
It is out of humility that a disciple always presents himself as a fool or completely unable to make any progress in life without the mercy of his spiritual master. Even Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu observed this etiquette even though He is the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the supreme authority of all spiritual knowledge.
Prabhupada has personally displayed this sentiment, he says (CC “Concluding Words” Antya: 5, pp. 319-20): It is to be admitted that whatever translation work I have done is through the inspiration of my spiritual master because personally, I am most insignificant and incompetent to do this materially-impossible work. I do not think myself a very learned scholar, but I have full faith in the service of my spiritual master, His Divine Grace Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura. If there is any credit to my activities or translating, it is all due to His Divine Grace.
It should be noted however that the bona fide disciple is never a fool although he may express himself as such. To submit oneself in all humility to the lotus feet of the spiritual master means that the student is obedient to the order of the Lord and therefore he has perfect intelligence. The real fool is he who does not take advantage of the order of the Supreme Lord by submission to the spiritual master.
It is stated in Shrila Vishvanatha Chakravarti Thakura’s Shri Shri Gurv-ashtaka (Verse 8): yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado. “By the mercy of the spiritual master one receives the benediction of Krishna. Without the grace of the spiritual master, one cannot make any advancement.â
One should take advantage of the bona fide spiritual master by serving him with all humility. By his satisfaction, one can awaken his own dormant love for Krsna which is the ultimate perfection of life.