god helps those that help themselves something from your side indicating your sincerity your desire for a connection with divinity your desire for some help some shelter all of these things the transfer of autonomy a sincere person a spiritually progressive person they need spiritual gps which comes in the form what we call sadhu sastra guru vaisnava means spiritual teachers the spiritual books spiritual practitioners you come in connection with them put yourself on under their guidance and then that revealed truth expressed by them becomeslike a uh you know a magnetic north by which you can navigate the world in existence the disciple needs to be in connection with guru to properly navigate so i knew some devotees they thought you know you'll put on headphones and like say listen to krishna nam or the bhagavatam or and then you know wake up and enlightened it's not a question of like having music right we have krishna conscious music and then wallpaper and just surrounding yourself with external paraphernalia that that will induce some sort of spiritual awakeningonly devotion can ignite devotion in another there's no formula no method no step and repeat procedure that will generate spiritual substance the word beads is there meaning seed bhakti-la the seed of the bhakti-latta seed and then we'll see even in the dictionary if we look on deeper levels of what the word seed is it will say things like the cause or latent beginning of a feeling process or condition so shall we take it as a literal con a literal seedor conceptual seed what do we get when we come in connection with krishna's agent brahmanda brahmite says we're wandering the universe we can say the length and breath of the universe 14 planetary systems but uh so we think oh you mean those stars that we see in the sky that's an objective aspect of the universe but what really is the universe it is a world of misconception right so having gone through all different uh levels of misconception of wandering the misconceived world right and bhagavad-gita krsna's saying what isthis tree it's upside down where's the upside down tree and reflection on the river if you look at the reflection here's the tree and the reflection is the tree upside down you sing this world it has its roots upwards it branches downward so the misconceived world wandering the length and breath of the misconceived world brahmanda brahmite kona bhagiwanjiv fortunate souls bhagyavan jiv jivas what are they guru krishna prasaday pai bhakti latabij by the mentioned mercy of krishna you come in connection withhis agent and by the mercy of his agent you come in deeper connection with krishna guru maharaj he doesn't buy into the notion that krishna consciousness is refurbished mind he says boom arapana manu buddhir mundane elements it's mundane the mind is mundane it's not like well but if you think about crit that's not what he's saying he's saying it needs to be dissolved and then the spiritual mind can manifest but this acquired mind acquired intelligence mind etc they're the acquired prejudices acquiredtendencies the false ego that gurudev in his famous talk called what was that demolishing the pillars of false ego has to be demolished not reconfigured or reworked in a new way demolished to allow for genuine spiritual expression got to grow something new not reconfigure the old therefore the hegelian principle die to live it doesn't say no just the way you are living just you know modify that a little bit you'll be okay that's not die to live the idea in yagya we you throw offers something in the sacrificial fire and it achieves ahigher position what does guru maharaj say what are you really supposed to offer into the sacrificial fire yourself so the new self will come out that's died to live said as opposed to the world that's ruled by kill to live survival of the fittest jivo jiva jivanam one living entity lives by killing another one that's this world spiritual world you live through service through dedication by offering oneself in the fire of self-sacrifice then a new self comes out offer that one in this way go up highernearer closer to reality the reality of the beautiful self that you possess that's also there being a part of reality the beautiful you possess a beautiful self is expressed through love devotion dedication dikshikali bhaktikori atma samarpan we're told diksha proper is that time when one offers oneself to guru so we can understand that's kind of a lifelong pursuit we don't say oh yes i did that so many years ago we wish we did that so many years ago we hope we did that we're trying to do thatsometimes people say like tell us the story of how you came to krishna consciousness i said it didn't happen yet it's like in process so i'm trying to come to krishna consciousness trying to move toward that plane guru maharaj will say you know like a child sometimes we get overly concerned with our flaws and mistakes and missteps you want to say and we're focused on that and thinking how shall i ever make progress but guru maharaj mentioned when a child is learning to walk the beginning is almostincessant fall down just like you know and then it's astonishing one day when they take a few steps and don't fall down right so there's that side too where i've seen sometimes the higher vaisnavas they're sometimes astonished to see any semblance of krishna consciousness within us you know so um oh so guru maharaj saying so just as that child through a series of missteps learns to walk so sometimes we could say a neophyte devotee through a series of missteps they learn to walk but why always because you have theaffectionate the guidance of the affectionate guardian just like the parents saying come walk to me come come try try you try and come to me and they're reaching out for them and inevitably they start walking and running and gurudev liked to quote that sloka like to what how far can this concept go to the point of where you're running with your eyes shut without fear of falling he liked that sloka very much like that type of faith runny you know the leap of faith the infamous or the famous leap of faithinto the infinite faith and faithfulness and being in the faithful plane that's acquiring the proper angle of vision and a new way of seeing things and it's seeing beyond objective reality if we analyze things objectively in many or most instances will be able to detect something that is undesirable or harmful or threatening or whatever it might be but guru maharaj is always telling us but if you look with greater scrutiny on a deeper level beyond the superficial aspects of the objective criteria you'll see in the background thefriendly hand of krishna the murshid shayshayna yates jasi this is very beautiful krishna who could compel everyone to follow doesn't have to ask permission that krishna the supreme absolute true the ultimate reality says think about what i've said consider it carefully and then decide to do what you wish to do does not interfere with the minute independence of a human being saying here's my case that i make to you consider it carefully deliberate on it fully and then do what you wish to do and arjun said karishay what's in um i'mnow prepared to follow your divine instructions directly or indirectly everybody's searching for krishna dealing with krishna there is only krsna there's nothing other than krishna advayagan there's only one thing to be known and that is krishna either directly or indirectly so inevitably everyone will come around but when you're in the jurisdiction of time space measurement a nadi bahir mooc it's like forever so it only starts to bother somebody when they're materially exhausted and through divine agencysome some awakening of their innate potential and then they feel start feeling some separation from krishna but we'll think by the grace of krishna he sent his devotee to me like in a manna durmati sangsarabitori he's sent his devotee to save me and then what does the devotee tell you oh mahaprabhu and nityananda descended in this world to save fallen souls like you and take us back to home back to godhead otherwise if you're saying you're going to use your your mind your intelligence you're in to try and understand thingsyou'll be deceived so son mukarita hear from the maha bhagavata that's the beginning of a connection with reality because we should say that says a footnote sidebar the mahabhagavata the highest level devotee they see everything perfectly adjusted nothing needs to be adjusted they don't see any misconception oh it's very high yes it's the highest thing actually krishna consciousness is the highest thing there are very intimate aspects of the highest thing that we uh do not go into detail about but we want to understandwhat is the highest what is the most comprehensive conception of divinity then that will help us understand parts partial understanding all of these things are connected thematically we shouldn't think oh the upanishads they say one thing and then there's quran as they say another and then there's another one that says this and there's another book that says that if you think like that it means you don't understand the unified field theory of krishna conception and godia darshan and mahaprabhu andguru maharaj it's all connected we should always be interested in and knowing the ideal because the ideal is synonymous with krishna in one place guru maharaj says krishna is siddhanta it is not that there is siddhanta about krishna yes there is but in other place he's saying he is sadanta he's none different than that then let us hear from the paramahamsas let us hear from the maha bhagavatas let us hear from the mahajanas and move under the influence of their way of seeing we need to uh get guidance from the superior vaisnavaguru achi notim who can extract the inner meaning of the scripture so that we'll understand the same thing that is unfavorable in one circumstance is favorable in another so a soldier he sees things from a particular angle of vision and the general he sees things from another angle of vision so this it's in the interest of the soldier to work under the direction of the general he doesn't have the same way of seeing that a general does like one general comes to mind i think where he was telling his soldiers he saidpeople think soldiers think that you're supposed to give your life for your country he said but actually our goal is to make the other side give their lives for their country you understand that was the general's point of view the soldier i should give my life for my country saying no no no make them give their life for their country that's what you should be thinking so the soldier will work under the guidance of the general that's that's the way he has his own things he's seeing and that's helpful up to a point but heshould proceed under higher guidance he shouldn't dismiss the angle of vision the the canister bhagwat or mother should not dismiss the angle of vision of the uh maha bhagwat as being not practical or pragmatic or appropriate to his circumstance rather we're told mahajan o yanagata sapanta become acquainted with the statements of the mahajanas then as saraswati tagore says religion means proper adjustment under the influence of their way of seeing make an adjustment in your situation and circumstance jivas are atomic chitso inherently they have everything that shakti proper has not any shakti but that's atomic so on account of their atomic magnitude it can be overwhelmed by maya but in australia big shelter and association a proper agent jiva zenai potential to love krishna is awakened fully developed and manifested jive swarupai we're eternal servants of krishna that's our actual eternal position it's only in what ashrae forgetfulness of that that we've misdirected that potential it's deferredly manifested as a lust for matterand the perverted reflection of the spiritual world the good news is we are eternal servitures of krishna not you become one that is the eternal position of jiva as described by mahaprabhu only we are forgetful of our actual position so we should be hopeful that by the grace of guru and vaisnava bhaktya sanjaya that this can be awakened nourished development developed sado-sanga-satovare by superior by associating and serving the superior vaishnavas guru maharaja again gives himself as an example he said i thought in thebeginning they were being told surrender the vaishnava guru he said but someday my heart center hankering for a direct connect connection with krishna will be satisfied he said no but i came to realize in time the vaisnava is everything so you only get a meaningful connection with krishna through the vaisnava who is by extension either representative of nitin under peru or radharani's delegation all right swift r says bhagavata parody of bhagavatastane if you want to understand bhagwat bhagavad philosophy you have tothe book by the way you have to learn from the person bhagawat and in fact if they are a maha bhagavata you're supposed to offer yourself to them in service that's the response to identifying uh a maha-bhagavata as you feel compelled to offer yourself to them in service that's the only natural response it's just like coming and substantial connection with krishna you're irresistibly drawn to offer yourself not to try and consume or use some superficial aspect of krishna or krishna consciousnessfor your amusement or to your advantage to surround yourself with krishna conscious music krishna conscious wallpaper i'm burning the good stuff i got from premg and i got this you know lloyd bazar some primo stick that's what it's like that's why i mock it it's like that it's the same thing there's nothing there it's on like the people play air guitar they're not real guitar players hello it's error guitar so this is on there's nothing there right they're dancing in the darkthe darkness of the ignorance of some band again so what does mahabharata say they swarupai krishna the eternal swoop of the jiva is krsnadas means a loving servitor so as prabhupada if you read the last page of his bhagavad-gita as it is purport the last sloka the last purport the last sentence he says and i'm paraphrasing but he said thus saying now that you've achieved krishna consciousness the jiva achieves her position in the pleasure giving potency which means overhaul uh uh overview shakti etc so jeevas are atomic particles ofchit-shakti and they're forever under the shelter of full-fledged chit-shakti group asraya vigrahas like nanda jasoda others no less than krsna he is saying my real devotees are those who are devotees of my devotees but again devotees here is a general word we could say that if we specify we can say the krsna's saying my real devotees those who are devoted to the holy lotus feet of srimati radharani they are my real devotees we could say we could make the case that by our surrender to krishna and krishna consciousness grassley in time by thegrace of the guru varga we came to understand the greatness of radharani and the devotees that position then by surrender to them we can understand more substantially krsna-tatwa they work hand in hand and the spiritual circles it's not what you know it's who you know and who you serve thank the lord