Srila Prabhupada Vyas Puja Part II Who Needs a Guru? Part Three

By:Mahanidhi Swami

The Vedas contain all the knowledge and mantras oneneeds to achieve both material happiness and spiritualperfection. So why can’t one just study the Vedas by himself,without a spiritual master, and attain all material and spiritualperfection? Besides, it is said that the Supreme Lord is withineveryone, so why does one need an external spiritual guide to realize God?

The sacred books alone are not the revelation. The acaryas,spiritual teachers, are a necessary part of revelation. The Vedictexts preserve the spoken words of the Supreme Lord andvarious liberated saints known as rishis. But alone, the bookscannot speak personally to us. God is sound and He must beheard. Therefore, the Vedic literature is called Shruti, whichmeans that which is heard or communicated orally from thebeginning; sacred knowledge orally transmitted by the spiritualteachers from generation to generation. The word shruti alsomeans the ear organ or the power of hearing.

The transcendental sound spoken by a God realized soul, thespiritual master, to the surrendered disciple disposed torendering unconditional service to Sri Guru, is not the same asthe transcendental sound written in or read in the sacredscriptures, the Vedas. The personal factor, Sri Guru, providesthe essential link connecting the covered consciousness of thedisciple and the Absolute Truth.

The Supreme Lord engages select persons to act as His delegated, empowered representatives, the spiritual masters, who act in this world to dispel the ignorance eclipsing the original, pure and brilliant consciousness of the conditioned souls.

By His own will the Absolute Truth appears on the lips of asurrendered devotee. But the Absolute Truth, which is fullyexperienced as Sri Krishna the transcendental autocrat, foreverreserves the right of not revealing Himself to the mundanesenses of the conditioned soul attached to material senseenjoyment. Personal submission to the living pure devotee isthe key to spiritual perfection. The spiritual preceptor is theempowered representative of Srila Vyasa-deva, who is noneother than Lord Narayana Himself.

Mundane scientists research the phenomenal world to makediscoveries to improve the quality of human life. Similarly, onemay argue that, “Since God is within everyone, why can’t aspiritual seeker independently research within himself, andthereby gain transcendental knowledge and realization of God?

Such statements as why does one need a guru simply reveal one’s ignorance about the essential nature of the Absolute Truth and transcendental knowledge of Him. In summary, the Absolute Truth is the fully conscious, supreme Absolute Person. In other words, God is the supremely conscious individual. Connection with the Absolute Truth depends solely on His sweet will, which God expresses by sending his agent, the spiritual master, when I am qualified with transcendental faith and surrender.

Sri Gurudeva ki jai!

Jai Jai Sri Radhe!