Do we need a personal culture with many devotee teachers? Does it mean that one guru is not enough?
In the long run Hare Krishna Question from Akshay Prabhu Does the idea that we need a personal culture of many seers and seekers not imply that one guru is not enough for a disciple this question is based on a Gita daily article entitled devotion blossoms in a personal culture not a personality cult and there was a statement that doesn't the finiteness one person who the person who is defied no matter how great is still a finite human being so doesn't this minimize the greatness of the spiritual master so does one need more than one guru to make spiritual advancement what are the actual implications answer first and foremost we have to understand greatness of anyone is always in connection with Krishna so there the word I have used is defied when a guru is defied when a person is defied defied is related to the deity to make God so I am primarily referring to groups where the spiritual master is made into God itself now in the process of bhakti yoga the guru is treated as a representative of God and therefore respected like God but the guru is not made into God so now that specific statement in that article refers to personality cult where the guru is made into God applying it to the devotional context now the will of Krishna manifests to us in three ways guru, sadhu and shastra so these are the three ways in which we are meant to receive spiritual knowledge and this is the Vedic way and saying that we need the others is not minimization of guru so when we say we need a spiritual culture that simply means that there is sadhus required there are sadhus required and that is a part of the Vedic process if we just say that I need only guru and there is no need for sadhus and there is no need for shastra then we may end up with some deviation which are essentially personality cults so is it a minimization of the guru? No the minimization is when we say that the guru does not have any potency, not like that the guru has great potency and that potency is because the guru is connected with Krishna so when the disciple sees that it is Krishna's potency who is manifesting to the guru and elevating me then there is no disconnection that happens and if a disciple feels that I just want to hear from my spiritual master and that is enough for me I don't need to hear from anyone else just by hearing from my spiritual master I get inspiration from my spiritual master and I will go back to Krishna by that that's wonderful there is nothing wrong in that but at the same time that does not mean that one has a competitive mentality in order to have security about one's faith in my spiritual master I don't have to cast aspersions about other spiritual teachers and I don't have to minimize them so on the other hand it may also happen that some people may get inspiration from the spiritual master at the same time they may also get inspiration from different people and that's how normally it works.
Even in the Vedic culture we see that the Pandavas got initiated by Dhaumya he was like their priest but he was not only priest he also did some other functions also he was almost like their spiritual teacher and for specific things the Pandavas would for example when Yudhishthir wanted to ask how I can maintain the Brahmins then he asked Dhaumya and then Dhaumya suggested that he worship Surya and then he got the Akshaya Patra but just because Dhaumya was their priest and Dhaumya went with them to the forest but still that did not stop Yudhishthir from inquiring from other sages. In the forest Markandeya Rishi, Narada Muni Vyasadeva so like that Maitreya Rishi so many great rishis came and met with the Pandavas and Yudhishthir Maharaj asked questions and they gave answers so that did not in any way minimize Dhaumya Rishi so we can get inspiration from multiple sources and that is how Ishwara Prabhupada also wanted in this corner Ishwara Prabhupada gave one spiritual master but then he gave also a movement complete movement with many devotees in it so what was in the Vedic culture is continuing now in the Krishna Consciousness movement also so it's not minimization of the spiritual master's glory it is understanding that Krishna has given a process and in which there are these three ways and every part of it is important and we don't have to minimize one to give the due respect to the other we can respect Guru and also respect Sadhus and we can respect Sadhus and still respect Guru and that balance is an art which we learn by our intelligence and by observing other senior devotees how they deal with how they live Bhakti and then we can learn and move forward thank you, Hare Krishna.