Should we be attached to or affectionate to our spiritual master?

Transcript

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Question? Should we be attached to our spiritual master or should we be affectionate to them? Answer? Words have different connotations at different contexts.
So, in one context we say that we should be attached. And if we are differentiating between attachment and affection then we could say that affection is what is best. But in a broad context we also talk about how bhakti involves spiritualizing our attachments.
So, prasangam jaram pashyam atmanah tvayo viduh sa eva sadhvishyam kuto moksha-dvaram bhavatam bhavatam says that the same attachment which we have towards others towards people in the world which causes us bondage if it is directed towards Krishna that same attachment can open the doors for liberation for us. So, the way the Bhagavatam puts it attachment is not to be given up. The direction of the attachment needs to be changed.
And for doing that we clearly don’t… So, in that sense attachment simply means how our emotions are being directed. So, certainly if we consider we cannot suppress our emotions then it should be directed somewhere. And then it should be directed in a healthy way.
So, every direction of emotions we need that recognize that there are certain things which can be done, certain things which cannot be done. we don’t want to… we don’t do it, we should be emotionally dependent on our spiritual master. We should be spiritually dependent.
Not emotionally dependent. And that means that we should focus more on developing a relationship primarily through service. Not so much through expecting our spiritual master to understand every one of our needs and address those needs and expecting that they reciprocate with us on a one to one level in all things.
Spiritual master is a person and in that sense they will want to have a personal relationship with us. It is wonderful if we have a personal relationship with them. At the same time it is also important that the personal relationship be properly contextualized in the light of philosophy so that if we become too emotionally dependent on our spiritual master then tomorrow if the spiritual master departs from the world whether we will be able to practice our bhakti or not that will become a serious question.
If we if we don’t even when the spiritual master is on the planet if we don’t get the personal association of the spiritual master then also we may feel so disappointed that we may become disheartened in our practice of bhakti. So we need to in that sense if we are differentiating between attachment and affection definitely with our spiritual master also we should be affectionate not attached. Attachment means emotional dependency and affection we mean a relationship based on service.
But in a generic sense when it is said that we should become attached to Krishna, become attached to the spiritual master that the same attachment in the material causes bondage that same attachment directed towards the spiritual brings liberation there it is used not so much in the sense of emotional dependence but more in terms of presence of emotions that we are not meant to suppress or reject our emotions we are meant to direct our emotions from the world towards Krishna and towards Krishna’s representatives. So when we say we should be attached to our spiritual master that is in the sense that we should whatever emotions we have we should be not suppressing them in the process of bhakti but redirecting them towards Krishna through his representatives and through his various manifestations.