How do I choose my spiritual master?
Answer Podcast
Transcript
Disclaimer: This transcript was generated using AI and may contain occasional errors or inaccuracies.
So how do I choose a spiritual master? Some spiritual masters we are inspired by but they are not easily available for us. Others are locally accessible but we don't feel inspired, so many are inspired by them. There is the circumstantial and there is the transcendental.
So bhakti is ultimately transcendental. It is the relationship of the soul with Krishna. And the soul is non-material, it is transcendental to material circumstances.
Therefore, if we are inspired by some spiritual master, then that inspiration is primarily what is going to help us grow. Circumstantial, we may be in one circumstance now, and tomorrow we might be in a different circumstance. We are in this place where a particular spiritual master is accessible, tomorrow that spiritual master may not be accessible, we may be in a different circumstance.
So see, the primary thing that we get from the spiritual master is the inspiration to practice bhakti. And even the personal association, the personal accessibility of the spiritual master is also meant to help us, to inspire us in the practice of bhakti. So if the personal association is there, but if the inspiration is not coming from that personal association, then that personal association alone may not sustain us for long.
It's always good to have personal association, but Prabhupada would also say that the fly sits on the body of the spiritual master. So it's not of much use. We won't do that.
But the point is that we shouldn't be too much, we should know the role of the spiritual master. See the essential elevation is going to happen even if a person has the greatest spiritual master. Who could have been the greatest spiritual master? Prabhupada.
But then many of Prabhupada's disciples also couldn't continue. So why is that? Ultimately the individual has to be inspired, the individual has to persevere in the practice of bhakti. And for that, we need inspiration.
So wherever we get inspiration from, we can take inspiration from that. And we can move on. And the spiritual master is the person who inspires in the practice of bhakti and who facilitates us in the practice of bhakti.
That facilitation can be through direct association, that facilitation can be through the association of the community of devotees that he has created, that facilitation can be simply through the example that he sets, facilitation can be through the books he has written, facilitation can also be through the systems for helping devotees that he has created. It's a whole big world. So I would say the most important factor is that who inspires me the most to practice bhakti.
So it's personal association, the God family, the books written, the community created. All these are assistance. The essential thing is who inspires me to serve Krishna.
All these can be important because through them the inspiration to serve Krishna may be sustained. So you have to see that sometimes we need more personal association. But then we are not going to have the spiritual master all the time with us.
So you have to see is the God family also inspiring? God family means other disciples of the spiritual master. Are they also inspiring? And then what are the systems for devotee care and devotee growth that are there? So rather than deciding just based on one factor, you can take a step back and think of not just whether the person inspires or not. You can think of in general what is it that inspires you in bhakti.
And through connection with which spiritual master will these inspiring sources be most facilitated for you, be most accessible for you. So for some devotees it may be personal association is what they feel I need. And if I am getting that, that is going to be the decisive factor for me in deciding who should be my spiritual master.
For some others it may be that it's more of the community that I get to be a part of by the kind of God family or other people that I get to associate with. That is important. So you look at what all inspires you in bhakti and then see the connection with which spiritual master will give you maximum access to those inspiring things in your bhakti.
And based on that you can decide. Hare Krishna.