If circumstantially we can’t get initiation does that mean Krishna thinks we aren’t yet qualified?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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Now, if somehow, circumstantially, we are not able to get initiation, although we are ready and we are committed enough for that, then how do we say, does it mean that Krishna feels that we are not yet ready for initiation? In general, as I said, it’s very difficult to put a finger on why exactly something is happening. So, it’s best to interpret the situation in a way that is favorable for our bhakti. So, if, thinking that, oh, you know, maybe Krishna feels I am not so qualified, so I have to become more serious about my bhakti.
That inspires me to become more serious. Then that is favorable. But the same thought makes me think that, oh, you know, when will Krishna think I will become qualified? Maybe Krishna will never think I am going to be qualified.
So, better let me stop trying only. Let me stop trying and I become disheartened in my bhakti. That is not favorable.
At that time, what I can think is, actually, initiation is important, but ultimately, initiation is a matter of the heart. There are both ways pastimes are there, that, there was a devotee who was doing, in the early days of our movement, not a devotee, there was a young person who came to the San Francisco temple and very eagerly asking questions. But, he did not tell, he was actually writing, he was a student of religious studies, and he was simply writing an essay about Hare Krishna, that was his assignment.
And that’s why he was asking questions. And he seemed very sincere, asking all kinds of questions, sitting and hearing talks. And then, then he decided, the devotees are going to get initiated.
He came to the devotees, they are going to get initiated. He asked, can I become initiated also? At that time, rules were not that strict. He comes for the programs, he hears, asks questions, and from his perspective, he was thinking, that he just wants to get the Hare Krishna experience.
And he saw initiation also as one part of the Hare Krishna experience. So, then, he just came for the initiation, sat for the fire sacrifice, got a name, and then he just left. And then, he never came back after that.
So, then they later came to know that he was coming because of this religious studies motive. Then, they told Prabhupada, he did initiation, but then he did like this. And Prabhupada said, I never initiated him.
What do you mean, I never initiated him? Prabhupada actually gave him the name. He sat in the fire sacrifice. Prabhupada was stressing the point that initiation is not just the attendance at a particular ritual.
It’s not that at the time of death, Krishna is going to check whether we have attended a particular fireside ceremony or not. Krishna is going to check the state of our heart. So, if we are committed to Krishna, then that commitment itself is as good as initiation.
And we could say, it’s not the initiation that takes us to Krishna. It’s the process of bhakti that takes us towards Krishna. And initiation makes us more committed to the process of bhakti.
The more we become committed to the process of bhakti, the more we move towards Krishna. So, if we are feeling, oh, I’ve been practicing bhakti for so long and still I’m not getting initiation, what can I do now? Then we should think that actually real initiation is in the heart. Not that we minimize the ceremony of initiation.
Whenever we get it, we will be eager for it. But just because I’m not getting it, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to make spiritual advancement. I can make spiritual advancement even now.
So, it’s every single mantra that we chant, every single bhakti activity that we do, we are growing spiritually by it. It is not just the mantra that, it is not just the attendance of initiation that transforms. It is actually every single activity that we are doing in bhakti that helps us to grow spiritually.
Okay? Thank you.