What is causeless mercy – how can we qualify for it – can it come without initiation?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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So what is causeless mercy and does the causeless mercy through Guru work or can it come without initiation also? Prabhupada gave the example of once there was a morning walk and there were some ducks in a lake and there was a man who was feeding those ducks and there was one particular duck which was quacking very loudly and it was quacking loudly, quacking loudly and this man was feeding that duck more. So Prabhupada said this is causeless mercy. The man is completely free to give the crumbs of bread or the eatables, food to whichever duck he wants.
But because this duck is begging so much man is giving. So in a sense if we see the activity of mercy as it’s causeless in the sense that it is nothing within us that makes us qualified for it. When we say qualified, by qualified we mean we can demand it.
I’m qualified you have to give it to me. But in that sense we are never qualified because we always follow. The person is not obliged to give the ducks any bread.
At all. So like that Krishna is not obliged. But when we endeavour, by our endeavour we show Krishna our desire.
It is not our endeavour which forces Krishna to give mercy. It is not our endeavour that makes us qualified to get mercy. Endeavour simply attracts Krishna’s attention and Krishna is inspired to give mercy.
So in that sense we don’t qualify but we do show Krishna our desire through our actions. So Prabhupada was asked that do you love all your disciples equally? He said yes. And he said but if someone comes forward to take responsibility, I reciprocate.
Like parents, they love all their children equally. But then if in their home, all the home responsibilities, in their work at home, if there is a child who is helpful, who takes, naturally the parents feel more connected with that child. So there is a reciprocation over there.
So Krishna, the mercy is causeless. But by our endeavour we can attract Krishna’s mercy. We don’t qualify for it, we can’t demand it but we can attract it.
And as far as does mercy come only through a spiritual master, we should see or not come without initiation, Krishna’s mercy is not limited. It can come through anyone, anytime. And Krishna does not see, Krishna does not have an attendance sheet to see whether you attended the initiation ceremony or not.
Then I’ll give you mercy, otherwise I’ll not give you mercy. It’s not like that. Krishna is not a legalistic God.
But the point is, initiation is the way we show our commitment to Krishna. It’s a part of our endeavour. So it’s not that if I’m not initiated, I get no mercy.
And now I’ve initiated, now I’ve got my passport to Vaikuntha. It’s not like that. It’s not like that.
It is, initiation is a external, is a practice, it’s a ceremony which signifies a commitment to serious endeavour. So it’s a part of the process and it’s a commitment to serious endeavour. That’s what we do at the time of initiation.
So it’s the endeavour which attracts Krishna’s mercy. And Krishna’s mercy comes through the Guru, but you have to understand Guru is not one. There are Diksha Gurus, there are Shiksha Gurus.
So in the community of devotees, we can get Krishna’s mercy from various sources. And we just try to serve Krishna, we try to serve devotees according to our capacity and the mercy will come. So as devotees, we focus not so much on, you know, it’s not that I serve my spiritual master and I neglect everyone else.
My spiritual master calls me, so when my spiritual master calls me, I just push everyone aside, get out of the way, my spiritual master is calling. It’s not like that. We have to see that Krishna manifests in various ways.
Yes, prominently the manifestation is through our spiritual master, but we can serve Krishna in various ways and we can get Krishna’s mercy from various sources. So when we basically have an attitude of service, then technicalities don’t matter so much. The spiritual master also is meant to inspire us, infuse us with the attitude of service.
If we have the desire to serve, sometimes we may get to serve the spiritual master directly, sometimes we may get to serve the spiritual master indirectly, to serving other devotees who are associated with the spiritual master. Sometimes we may serve the spiritual master a little more indirectly by serving the community of which we are a part, the organization of which we are a part. It doesn’t matter so much.
Ultimately, the spiritual master represents Krishna and Krishna can receive our service from any source. But we get special guidance, special connection that happens to the spiritual master. Do you answer your question?