What is the duty of a spiritual master? Is it to sort out our material problems or improve our financial situation? Of course not! A spiritual master is meant to remind us of Krishna and inspire us to engage in devotional service.
What happens if we don’t have much association with the spiritual master? In many cases, the only time devotees speak to their spiritual master is during the initiation. How can such a person be guided and inspired by a guru?
Let’s look at the purport from the 11th canto of Srimad Bhagavatam.
Srimad Bhagavatam 11.9.31: The disciple should be thoughtful and with his own intelligence realise in practice what he has heard from his spiritual master by observing the world around him.
From the purport above, we learn that the association of the spiritual master has two aspects; vapuḥ-physical association, and vāṇī– words from a guru. Of the two, the words of the spiritual master are more important.
Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Appearance Day Lecture March 2, 1975, Atlanta: Vānī means words, and vapuḥ means this physical body. So vāṇī is more important than the vapuḥ. Vapuḥ will be finished. This is a material body. It will be finished. That is the nature. But if we keep to the vāṇī, to the words of the spiritual master, then we remain very fixed up. It doesn’t matter.
I, like many devotees in our society, don’t have a physical association with my spiritual master, but that doesn’t stop me from having his association! By listening to his audio classes, remembering his qualities and activities, and applying the instructions I heard, I feel the presence of my spiritual master. Sometimes he speaks to me through other devotees or, sometimes, he appears in my dreams to guide me.
One of my great spiritual heroes, H.H. Bhakti Tirtha swami writes about this in his famous Spiritual Warrior book.
Spiritual Warrior book 1: As your consciousness becomes more developed, you must become sensitively attuned to your inner and outer environment so you can receive higher knowledge and guidance. Some of you will be given spiritual guidance through the medium of dreams. A very significant dream of this calibre occurs between the disciple or student and the mentor or spiritual master. Often, there is a need for the spiritual master to warn the disciple or to give certain types of lessons that may not be easy to receive under normal circumstances. In such a situation, the communication will occur through the medium of the dream.
As I continue to grow in my spiritual life, my relationship with my spiritual master is also developing. As a result of that, I’m not limiting my association with my spiritual master to physical presence only.
Ananta Gopal Das
20.09.2024
Bhakti Wisdom 