Sharanagati

We have one beautiful prayer, coming from Vaishnava scriptures, and it says: “Om ajnana-timirandhasya jnananjana-shalakaya chakshur unmilitam yena tasmai shri-gurave namah.” Om means “yes”. This is a positive affirmation that the goal we are searching for exists. And this is a prayer to the spiritual master, like an expression, because with the torchlight of knowledge he has come and opened up my eyes. Ignorance is due to material life – result of illusion. Illusion means you think something to be different and you do not recognize something’s real nature. So illusion has these two functions: we mix, we change things; and we do not understand things. The spiritual master helps us to recognize things in their proper meaning, in their proper value. It is said that it is very fortunate to have a protector, to have a master, because he will help us to understand more and more about ourselves, about divinity and about the world.

To be a devotee is a very unique chance in life; because otherwise you would live a very normal and very simple life. But in this way you will have a very exciting life, full of unexpected things, full of divine experience. And it only depends on us how we should fulfill this chance. So we should always take the best opportunity to achieve what is given to us. AsKrishnacomes to protect those, who have surrendered to Him, this is a chance that we can always be with Him. Therefore the change in the life of a devotee means that he has lost himself for himself or herself. He is not living anymore for himself or herself, but he is living for God. In that way you become representatives, you start to represent the line of your masters and God Himself. This is responsibility and glory at the same time. Because if people will meet you, they will understand and they will seeKrishnaand guru according to you. Therefore we all should be nice representatives of our masters.

A real master should belong to a lineage. And you all belong to some lineage, for example like a family lineage, like a national lineage, like a scientific lineage from your teachers. But what is our spiritual lineage? Shrila Prabhupada mentions that the message ofKrishnacan be transmitted by such a lineage that is originating from Krishna Himself. It is very logical: if the lineage comes from God, then most probably the message was transmitted about God. And if we are connected to such a lineage, we can have a connection to the God Supreme.

It is said that the path, that you cover until you meet Shri Guru is much longer then what you have to go from Guru to Krishna. Why? Because they are together! One part of the entourage of Krishnais the cows. But there is another entourage – this is the vaishnava. And the vaishnava principle proper – this is the pure devotee. Or other times devotees are ready to quote the spiritual master. So, if first you get the dust of Krishna, next you get the cows, then you get His darshan, and who comes after Krishna? Just like the sequence of the days that we are celebrating: first Krishna, then the pure devotee; first the source of energy, then the energy itself; first God and then His servant. This is very instructive – how these days are arranged.[1] We should also be like this, always running: “ami to kangala krishna krishna boli…[2]” – to run after the Lord.