May 13, 2017 — CANADA (SUN) —
Devotional service is enlivening, never exhausting:
"The sound of the spiritual world is nectarean and eternal, whereas the sound of the material world is hackneyed and subject to end. The sound of the holy name—Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna, Krsna, Hare, Hare—everlastingly increases the enthusiasm of the chanter. If one repeats monotonous material words, he will feel exhausted, but if he chants Hare Krsna, twenty-four hours a day, he will never feel exhausted; rather, he will feel encouraged to continue chanting more and more." (Srimad Bhagavatam 3.21.22, p.)
"A person in Krsna consciousness is always transcendental to the material modes of nature. He has no expectations for the result of the work entrusted to him, because he is above false ego and pride. Still, he is always enthusiastic till the completion of such work. He does not worry about the distress undertaken; he is
always enthusiastic. He does not care for success or failure; he is equal in both distress and happiness. Such a worker is situated in the mode of goodness." (Bhagavad-gita 18.26, p.)
As a well-wishing uncle to H.H. Bhakti Vijnana Gosvami, I would suggest the following:
"The GBC and my guru have cheated me into thinking myself and pretending to others that I am advanced and renounced in spiritual life. In fact, I am neither a sannyasi nor a guru. I shall renounce my so-called spiritual master for encouraging me down a path of falsehood and hypocrisy. I shall seek the spiritual shelter of an advanced devotee who can help raise me out of the material modes of nature where I lament like a confused materialist on a burnout. I shall renounce being a guru since I cannot pull even my own self out of the material modes of nature. I shall free my so-called disciples and encourage them to find spiritual shelter elsewhere. Only by being thoroughly honest will I ever be able to pull myself out of the quagmire of lamentation. At last, let me chant Hare Krsna constantly in Vrndavana-dhama free from the ten offenses that have dragged me down to this miserable condition."
His Divine Grace Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura concludes his masterful summation of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's instructions (Sri Caitanya-siksamrta) in this way:
"O brothers, keep this instruction upon your head and remember it carefully: 'One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother or a
worshipable demigod.'" (SB 5.5.18)
