yardstick for spiritual advancement

The following is a transcription of end of a lecture(Q & A)

given in 1994 by HH Radhanath Swami in Pune yatra

He answers

what is the yardstick for spiritual advancement ?

how to understand the difference between imitation & following in the footsteps of previous acarayas ?

what is EGO & how to destroy it ?

---- entusiasm & patience is sign of surrender

enthusiasm --

Krishna i am going to fulfill you desire

i am going to do according to your desire

i am going to fulfill you desire

i am going to chant

i am going to serve devotees & gurudev according to ur desire

i am going to live a pure life according to ur desire

i am going to associate with devotees acc to ur desire

patience -- if it takes one millions birth or one day i am going to continue ON

you see ur problem is ur devo service is conditional & fruitive

you want something for ur self too much

bcos u want that

Krishna is putting you in poisiton of suffering & doubt to purge that from you

just try to make devotees happy

just try to make others happy

just try to please Krishna & chant the holy name putting aside ur own

conception of spiritual advancement

your spiritual advancement is determined by the yardstick is

how selfless you become & how detached from ur own EGO

that is the yardstick of ur advancement

not how many names of god u r chanting everyday ?

not what position u have as far as been a sanyasi or president or senior person

that is nothing to do with spiritual advancement

ur dedication ur willing to put urself as servant

ur willingness to be patient & continue on & endeavour under all circumstances

Krishna wants u to come to that stage

& therefore he will not give u real happiness unless u understand that thats what i need !

to please krsna

i am doing this to please Krishna

please Krishna u get his mercy

& generally what happens is a devotee at certain level of KCON

is not ready to make that choice then that devotee has to fall down for sometime

in complete bewilderment untill he learns that i have to give up this EGO

i have to just be the servant of the servant & try to please krishna with FAITH

at every level of KCON there will be test & impediments meant to improve our quality

of conciousness

& u have reached to certain stage of KCON development thaht Krishna wants u to let go ur ego

& certain material expectation in the name of spiritual life

he wants u let go

& what does it mean to let go

Krishna i am not doing this for my enjoyment

i have faith in previousacaryas & sastras

that if i just continue on in ur living service u r going to give me

whatever i need so i am going to continue

i am not going to complain

if ur given the right instruction coming fomr sadhu sastra

u have nothing to worry abt

all u have to do is follow with humility

how to protect from imitating ?

difference between imitating & following in the footsteps of previous acaryas

in other words we should behave according to the instruction of guru & krishna

we are doing this for purification

we r not doing this for prestige or adoration or fame

imitator wants adoration as a fruit for devo service

a sincere devotee wants service to please the lord please the vaishnavas & he wants

purification

& that means even if u get no adoration even if u r condemned or blasphemed for what u do u accept that as all part of the purification

for imitator cannot withstand

u have to examine what r ur motives in KCON

do u want to serve , please , purify

or want material benefits

u have constantly examine these motives & check this ego when it appears in our heart

& just be SIMPLE

KCon is simple for simple & complicated for the complicated

they are so many devotees who are blissfully serving while others are in doubts & suffering

& they are doing exactly the same thing

one has a simple approach

other has complicated

how to have a simple approach

-- just hear submissively

& follow with faith

u cannot figure out ur own spiritual advancement

all u can do is serve Krishna

Ego create doubt??

-- ego has ulterior motives

& it wants to justify it ulterior motives

& faith comes from submissively hearing

they is no other way to gain true faith just as sun dispels darkness

if we are hearing submissively

then we r allowing the light if krishnas mercy to illuminate our heart to dispel our doubts

but we have EGO then we are not allowing to dispel our doubts

we have our own conceptions we have our own ideas opinions

we have our own ways

& what guru & krishna says & that matches with mine then i accept it

& if it doesnot then i have to question it whats in it for me

that ego is breeding ground for doubt

whay bcos u r preventing the light of faith entering into ur heart

ego blocks KRISHNAS mercy

ego kicks krishna out

where there is no KRISHNA there is DARKness

darkness means doubt

humility allows krishna IN

ego closes the door & keep everything in darkness

it breeds DOUBT bcos it prevents KRISHNAS mercy to come in

trnad api sunicena ....

in that humility if one chants the holy name our heart are ready to recieve the blessings

of the holy name

to the degree we have that humility our heart is open for the message of bhagavatam to dispel our doubts

Spiritual master is one who with great humility is serving the lord & previous acaryas like a delivery man giving message without adulteration thru life & teachings

Srila Prabhupad said read his books

all ur doubts will be displed u will have clear vision

you will understand what is what !!!