How important is initiation in the process of assimilating spiritual knowledge?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

This is an AI-generated transcript and may contain some errors.
so question normally when we are eager for initiation we are told that a real initiation is in the heart and even if we get initiation gradually that is ok till the spiritual master gives the initiation but then in the in Bhaktisnaad Swetak’s life it is said that in the Abhicharan that he approached Bhaktivinoda Thakur and said that although I have studied scripture the understanding has not dawned in my heart so then Bhaktivinoda Thakur says you have to take shelter of a spiritual master and then you take shelter of a guru so how how essential is initiation by a spiritual master see the essence of initiation is not the ritual of initiation initiation is the divyam jnanam yathodatyat kuryat papase samshayam Rupa Goswami the Goswami has defined this as when knowledge awakens in the heart divyam jnanam yathodatyat kuryat papase samshayam and the result of that is sins go away that is the essence of initiation the transfer of spiritual knowledge by which the sinful activities they all disappear so now how can this happen this can happen in multiple ways in the sense that the ritual of initiation essentially it happens when you commit ourselves to the practice of the process the process of bhakti and that process centers on committing ourselves to practice so to the extent we are practicing the process of bhakti diligently as per the instruction of the spiritual master to that extent we are connected through initiation now the formal ritual of the initiation is meant to formalize our commitment to the process so initiation it is not that the whole process of bhakti is just dependent on initiation it means if you are not initiated then whatever you are doing is all useless now what if somebody has practiced diligently for many many years and just before initiation they meet with an accident and they pass away is it that all their practices are useless no Krishna is not a god who makes himself unnecessarily unavailable to people Krishna is actually compassionate he wants to make himself accessible and the most effective way we can access him is by connecting with those who are accessing him already so that is why the process of initiation should be seen more as the process of connection through commitment so now the commitment if it is there the connection is already there but in the ritual of initiation at that time the formal sacrifice and the taking of the vows there is a serious formalization of the commitment and formalization is important just like sometimes some students can study a subject outside a university also but if they are serious students they want to study, they want to get a proper degree naturally they will go to the university and if they have not studied in the university if they are not registered in the university in one perspective we can say that they are not progressing towards the degree they have to register in the university then they will get the degree from another perspective, consider learning all the study that they have done before the register of the university all the study is going to help them eventually so we should always be eager for initiation there is no doubt about that at the same time when we are seeking initiation we should know that the essence of initiation is the commitment so if getting initiation is taking time and then we think that maybe I will go somewhere else where I can get initiation quickly well that’s fine if that’s where we are inspired but the important thing is that wherever we take initiation from or whoever whichever spiritual master we take initiation from it is not just the act of initiation that is going to lead to, that is not going to bring about transformation, it is the commitment to the practice of the process that is going to bring about a transformation and if we are inspired by a particular spiritual master then that inspiration is very important for increasing the commitment and if somebody just for the sake of getting initiation seeks initiation from someone who gives initiation quickly but, relatively quickly but then they they don’t feel very inspired by that by that spiritual master then they will not become committed so that’s why the focus should primarily be on looking at commitment and whatever we take initiation not just because a particular spiritual master has many disciples, not just because all the devotees whom I know they are initiated from that spiritual master not just because that spiritual master is the one who is most, who comes there most of the time all these can be contributing factors it is not just because that spiritual master sings very nicely or dances very nicely or it is not because that spiritual master has opened so many temples all these things can be contributors in our decision but the main thing is all these should inspire us to surrender more to Krishna and to practice bhakti with more commitment and whichever spiritual master inspires us to do that, that is the spiritual master we should take initiation from and when it is said that knowledge awakens at the time of initiation it is not that see in the case of bhakti siddhant something specific that was happening that was that it was not that he was not having knowledge before, he was already very knowledgeable he had learnt from his father, he had learnt by study of shastra at the same time he needed an example for internalizing the mood of bhakti, he needed an example other than that of his father because with his father he also had a bodily relationship, that’s why his father said I cannot initiate you but you have to take initiation and he was already at a very advanced level and he became even more advanced so when eventually he met Gaurav Kishore Das Babaji he said he felt that here he has seen a person who is an embodiment of renunciation and he felt immensely inspired by that and he devoted himself totally to the practice of bhakti under him so again in this case it was the especially he was already well learned but the simplicity, the humility the renunciation, all that characterized Gaurav Kishore Das Babaji, all that he learnt from him and thus the knowledge that he had intellectually assimilated that entered deeper into his heart it was there in his heart earlier also but it entered much deeper into his heart by his practice of bhakti under the as a disciple of his spiritual master Gaurav Kishore Das Babaji so initiation is important and its importance is not just in getting the ritual done its importance is more in the in the formalization of the commitment that we are making so we shouldn’t think that spiritual life is like a race where initiation is like a starting point or initiation is some landmark that I have to cross so yes it’s a landmark that we have to cross but ultimately to run the marathon we have to have we have to have momentum we have to have stamina, we have to have exercise and if we are doing that exercise, we are doing that, we are building the stamina if we have developed a momentum then initiation is just an important landmark it’s an important landmark but it’s still a landmark so just because somebody has crossed the initiation landmark before me that does not mean that they are more advanced than me I should not think that I am more advanced than anyone but we shouldn’t just simply think that initiation itself is the definer of one’s spiritual advancement or spiritual status it is the process it is the commitment to the process of bhakti that is the definer of our spiritual growth so we should focus on committing ourselves and we see initiation as a formalization of that commitment