There is an age old saying: "When you are ready the teacher will appear.” What is that "readiness" required for the Guru to appear?

The Vedic scriptures have repeatedly instructed the need to surrender to a Guru, for attaining God.  However, the question that stumps a seeker is how to find a true Guru. 

   Fortunately, God helps the sincere seeker in this task.  He is seated in everyone’s heart, and so when He sees that we are ready, He not only brings us in contact with a genuine Guru, but also creates our faith towards the Guru by inspiring us with the feeling, “Yes!  This is the personality whom I was searching for.”  Without this inspiration that comes so strongly from within, we may stand before the Guru, and yet not recognize him as a true Saint.  Or we may recognize his Divinity, but feel no motivation to surrender to him.  But when God bestows His Grace, He inspires us and creates strong faith in the Guru.  Hence, it is said that when God sees we are ready, we find our Spiritual Master.

   Here, readiness means a sincere aspiration to attain God.  We must firmly decide that our goal is God-realization, and we must desire it intensely.  When God sees this readiness in any soul, He creates our connection with the Guru. 

   Often people search for spiritual teachers, but their desire for God is mixed with material aspirations.  In accordance with their motive, their faith is created in unauthentic spiritual teachers who pander to their material desires.  After many years, such seekers realize that their guru was not perfect, and they feel they have been cheated.  But it was their own insincere aspiration that was to blame for their developing faith in a wrong personality.

   Hence, the best way to find a genuine Spiritual Master is to develop and intense yearning for God.  When He sees this “readiness” in our heart, He will arrange for us to meet our teacher.

What is the special power in the Guru mantra that is given in the ear of the disciple at the time of deeksha (initiation)? Is it compulsory to receive a mantra for our devotion? Why are we told to keep it a secret and what will happen if we tell our Guru mantra to friends?

True deeksha is not merely the giving of a mantra in the ear of the disciple.  True deeksha means to give the Divine power of God to the disciple.  It should result in liberation from Maya, attainment of Divine Knowledge, Love and Bliss, and initiation into the eternal pastimes of God.  Such deeksha is given by the Guru only when the disciple has totally cleansed his or her mind through the practice of Sadhan Bhakti, or preparatory devotion. 

  The problem arises when people do not want to purify their hearts.  They look for shortcuts whereby they can retain all their worldly desires, and yet attain God.  Therefore, claims of magic mantras, tantras and yantras are very appealing to them.  And Gurus who offer such allurements become very popular.  But we must remember that until the heart is totally cleansed, we will not receive the divine grace which is necessary for God-realization.  And to cleanse the heart, we can chant any name of God; there is no need of a special mantra.

   Guru mantras are Sanskrit words that usually mean things like: “O Shree Krishna, I surrender to you,”  “O Shree Ram, I offer my obeisance to you,” However, if we were to say the same thing in another language, would God not listen? God is the knower of the hearts.  If we do not utter even a single word, but simply think of Him, God will understand and reciprocate our sentiments.

   So there is no need of receiving a mantra in the ear.  God has unlimited Divine Names, and the He is seated in all of them.  So we can chant any of His Names, such as:  Krishna, Govind, Damodar, Gopal, Ram, Shiv, Narayan, etc.

   Even if the Guru gives the disciple a mantra in the ear, keeping it secret serves no purpose.  Jagadguru Ramanujacharya’s guru, gave him a guru mantra, and asked him not to reveal it to anyone. But Ramanujacharya went to the crossroads, and shouted out the mantra before the crowd.    He said, “If it is beneficial, then why keep it secret.  Let others also know it and benefit from it.” 

What should we do to get a human birth again in our next life?

There are 8.4 million species of life in existence. In the species below human beings-animals, birds, fishes, insects, birds, etc-there is no free will. Hence, upon death the soul is naturally and sequentially promoted to the next species. But human beings possess the free will to act according to their volition, and hence, they are responsible for their actions. Their next birth is decided by their karmas in the present life.

The facility to do karmas is given to the human species, not for animal-like activities, but for God-realization.

The scriptures state:

                           आहार निद्रा भय मैथुनंम च सामान्यमेतत् पशुभिर्नराणाम . 

"Eating, sleeping, defending and mating are activities that animals can do as well as humans." The human form is special because in it we can attain God. If however, some human being focuses his or her consciousness merely on eating, then the body of a pig becomes more suitable for such a person, and the soul is allotted that body in its next life. If someone makes sleeping the goal of life, God says that the body of a polar bear is more suitable for such a consciousness and allots it in the next life. In this manner, one of the factors determining our next birth is our consciousness at the time of death. It is said in Bhagvat Gita that "Whatever one remembers at the time of leaving the body, one attains the same in the next life". Death is such a painful experience that it is difficult to focus one's thoughts at that time, and the mind naturally gravitates to whatever one has practiced thinking of throughout one's life. Hence, what we think of at death, reflects the consciousness we cultivate during life. This verse of bhagvat gita implies that it is the cultivation of our consciousness during our life, which determines the next birth. But we don't know that at which moment we are going to leave this world. So Jagadguru Shri Kripaluji Maharaj advices that always keep diverting your mind in God throughout whole life. So whenever your time will come to go from this world and if your mind will be in god at that time then god will give one another chance of giving us Human Birth again to complete the remaining part of bhakti(Devotion) which have remained unfulfilled in this birth.

There are so many Gurus from different religious sects that it becomes confusing to choose one Guru. What is the process of finding a Guru?

 There is a saying in Hindi:

                      "Pani piyo chhanake, guru banao janake"

“Drink water only after filtering it; make a Guru only after carefully knowing him.”  We must not accept anyone as our Guru, merely because of a friend’s suggestion; we must ourselves recognize someone as a true Guru, and only then should we surrender to him. 

However, just as it is not possible for a Grade One student to evaluate the capability of a college teacher, similarly, it is not easy to recognize a Guru, who is a Divine personality, while we are only beginning the path of spirituality.  Yet, there are certain characteristics that provide helpful indications:  

1. The true Guru’s words are very impacting.  Although we may have heard and read the same knowledge many times without being moved, when we hear it from the mouth of a God-realized Saint, the words change us from within.  The reason for this is that the Sadguru does not merely elucidate what he has read in books; he explains from the depths of personal realization.  

2. Whatever doubts we have on the spiritual path, if we place them before the Guru, he or she can easily dispel our confusions.  A mere theoretical scholar of the scriptures cannot do this.  However, the Sadguru possesses realized knowledge, for he or she has seen the Truth, and is able to reveal it with the benefit of experience to sincere seekers. 

3. A true Guru does not give his or her disciple material allurements.  Rather, he teaches his followers that the world is not the goal. Nowadays, many so-called saints claim to have a magic formula for removing all the material miseries and bestowing money, wealth, prestige, etc.  Allured by such false statements, people flock to them in thousands.  We must beware of such imposters who have not yet even understood that detachment from the world, and not material attainments, is the goal of spiritual life. 

 4. If we associate with a true Guru, we will naturally find ourselves getting attached to God and detached from the world. 

5. The above points are all helpful in recognizing a Saint, but the strongest indication will come from God Himself.  The Lord is seated in our hearts, and when He sees that we have a sincere desire to meet Him, He will guide us to a true Guru and create faith in Him.  And when the inspiration comes from God, we will know it by its intensity; our heart will urge us that we have found the Guru we were looking for.   

In the Indian culture, we all have heard hundreds of times since childhood that we need a Guru. But is there any definition of who a true Guru is?

The word “Guru” has now been adopted by the English language as well, and so we hear terms such as Marketing guru, Economics guru, Finance guru, etc.  However, when you refer to the true Guru, you are enquiring about the spiritual connotation of the word as described in the scriptures.  The meaning of the word “Guru” is:

Gu shabdastvandhakarasyat ru… ( Advaya Tarakopanishad 16)

   “The syllable “gu” means “darkness,” and “ru” means “to destroy.”  Hence, one who dispels the darkness of our nescience, and brings us to the light of true wisdom, is the Guru.

   The true Guru must have two qualifications.  Firstly, he or she should possess theoretical knowledge of the scriptures – this is called shrotriya.  Secondly, he or she should have realized that knowledge and be seated in the Truth – this is called brahm nishth.  Hence, a true Guru is one who is both Shrotriya and Brahm Nishth. 

   In these, the second criterion is most important, i.e. the Guru must be God-realized.  Only one who has attained God can help others attain Him.  If one is a beggar himself, how can he give money to others; if one has no knowledge himself, how can he teach others.  If one has not attained the Bliss of Divine love, he cannot give it to others.  

What is The Right 'age' to start your devotional practice?

"Having attained the human form, we do not realize how precious it is. We indulge ourselves in material pleasures for sensual gratification. We devote our full attention to our family and their needs. When somebody asks a little boy/girl to do devotion, he/she replies – this is not the age to start devotion. There is still time and we can do that when we are old. When you ask a young person to do devotion, he/she flatly refuses and says that it is for old people and life is for enjoying.

When you ask a middle age person to do devotion, he/she replies that there is still time for it after retirement. Now is the time to earn money, enjoy life and look after the welfare of the family. By the time retirement comes, many ailments plague the body and there is very little strength left in the body, thereby making it difficult to perform devotion.

We forget the fact that death can come to anybody at any age at any time.

It is ironical that a father, who is taking son's body for burial, does not think about his own death, though the reality may be that he dies of a heart attack on his way to the cremation ground.

Life is very uncertain. Do not think that you will live in this human form forever.

Whatever your age is, start doing devotion!!!"

Importance of Human Life!

This human form is like a full moon night which will soon be over, and again the dark night will come. You are sleeping in ignorance, unaware of the fact that the passage of time is continuously shortening your life…You are not willing to leave your sleep, even though you are perpetually being beaten by the objects of your desires.
  
Once the opportunity to redeem yourself in this human form is missed, you will have to rotate in the cycle of life and death in 8.4 million forms of life. Then you will rub your hands helplessly and regret…..Kripaluji Maharaj says, ”Listen to the words of rasik saints and surrender to the lotus feet of the merciful divine couple, ’Radha Krishna’.”

The way to peace of Mind!!

In today’s world with our fast paced lives amidst stress and anxiety, if there is one thing we all long for, it is peace of mind. For most of us peace of mind has become a cherished ideal that seems far-fetched. We dissipate a large part of our time and energy in seeking favorable circumstances that will lead to peace and tranquility of the mind. But our own experience tells us that circumstances conducive to our mental peace rarely become a reality. So what is the way to peace?

 Firstly understand that internal peace is never a product of external circumstances. It is a product of purified senses, mind and intellect. For most of us, our mind is afflicted by mental diseases of desires, greed, lust, envy and ego. As long as the mind is tormented by these diseases, we can hardly hope to achieve peace even in the best of situations. Therefore we can begin our journey towards perfect peace by giving up 3 things:

 1. Give up endless desires: Remember, peace of mind comes not by enhancing our material possessions but by eliminating our desires

 2. Give up sense of proprietorship: Remember everything in the world belongs to God. We came empty handed and will go away empty handed.

3. Give up ego: The biggest reason for strife between people is their egos. The way to peace is not to nurture it but to get rid of it. Self-realized Saints experience everlasting peace and bliss because they have given up all these mental defects by purifying their minds through bhakti. In fact for anyone, everlasting peace can become a practical reality when he or she engages in devotion to God. By attaching the mind to all –pure God, the mind gradually becomes purified and experiences its much cherished ideal of peace and bliss.

IS WORLDLY PROSPERITY A SIGN OF GOD'S GRACE ????

If you believe this, then when you experience a material loss, you may also feel you have lost God's grace and He has become unfavorable towards you. This inconsistent attitude causes you to fluctuate between being faithful and faithless.Every soul is bound by his karmic destiny or prarabdh, which is the outcome of his past lives' good and bad actions. Whatever material prosperity we are destined to receive is pre-determined by the immutable law of karma.A lack of worldly possessions is truly a sign of God's grace. When someone has less, he has less pride, and it is easier for him to turn towards God.

What stops one from complete surrender? Do one’s past negative sanskars and vasanas play a part in determining the level and speed of surrender? How can one overcome one’s inherent negativities and make progress towards self-surrender faster?

Surrender is not a one-time procedure. It is not that we surrender once, and we are done with it forever. We have to keep surrendering at every moment. In this process, there are innumerable obstacles. Our mind is made of Maya and it naturally runs towards the world. We need to beat this mind with the intellect. We also have saṁskārs of past lifetimes that must be countered. And then, we have the ignorance or agyān within us, which is the source of all the problems.

However, we must not feel disillusioned. Innumerable souls in the past have overcome these obstacles to perfect their surrender to God, and have attained Him; if we endeavor sincerely, we too will be successful.

First, we must illumine our intellect with the spiritual knowledge given to us by our Guru. Then, with this purified intellect we must work on the mind, to detach it from the world and attach it to Names, Forms, Pastimes, Virtues, Abodes and Saints of God. Along with our sincere efforts, we must pray to God and Guru for help, firmly believing that Their Grace can make us perfect our surrender.

To speed up the process of surrender, we should strengthen the sentiment, “God and Guru alone are mine.” When we develop love for God and Guru, surrender becomes natural and automatic. When we reach the state of complete surrender, the feeling “He alone is mine” will always remain in our mind, and all our thoughts and actions will be in consonance with it.

If we can keep increasing our desire to serve, that is also a very potent tool for progress.

Right and Wrong Knowledge!!

-The knowledge which inspires you toward Divine realization is the right knowledge; it can be obtained by the association of a Divine personality. The knowledge that makes you materialistic is wrong knowledge; you receive such knowledge from your association with the worldly people and their texts.

-For this reason, you should know that the right understanding inclines you to do right actions and the wrong understanding leads you into wrong actions.Hence, your every action depends on the  knowledge which we acquire from various sources(that we come across in our day to day life).

What is The Right 'age' to start your devotional practice?

"Having attained the human form, we do not realize how precious it is. We indulge ourselves in material pleasures for sensual gratification. We devote our full attention to our family and their needs. When somebody asks a little boy/girl to do devotion, he/she replies – this is not the age to start devotion. There is still time and we can do that when we are old. When you ask a young person to do devotion, he/she flatly refuses and says that it is for old people and life is for enjoying.

When you ask a middle age person to do devotion, he/she replies that there is still time for it after retirement. Now is the time to earn money, enjoy life and look after the welfare of the family. By the time retirement comes, many ailments plague the body and there is very little strength left in the body, thereby making it difficult to perform devotion.

We forget the fact that death can come to anybody at any age at any time.

It is ironical that a father, who is taking son's body for burial, does not think about his own death, though the reality may be that he dies of a heart attack on his way to the cremation ground.

Life is very uncertain. Do not think that you will live in this human form forever.

Whatever your age is, start doing devotion!!!"

Let us remember what our Guru has taught us?

He himself had taught us to practice the presence of God and Guru with us at all times. In concurrence with his teachings, let us remain steadfast in the conviction that, although we cannot see him with our material eyes, he continues to stay in our midst, noting our every thought and action, and showering his grace as we strive to walk the path he revealed to us. We should strongly reaffirm our resolve to implement his every Instruction for purifying our hearts and for pushing forward his mission. This is the most befitting way of showing our respect to him

What they have given to humankind during their stay in our world can never be sufficiently eulogize in words; the whole planet shall remain indebted to them for their gift of Love. We offer our respectful obeisance’s unto our Spiritual Master, who has opened our eyes, which were blinded by the darkness of ignorance, with the torchlight of knowledge…....   

Tips to encourage Devotion in Kids!!!!

1) Think Krishna to be your best friend and imagine that you are playing, walking with Him. Do all actions keeping Him with you. When you are alone, just think of Krishna and do not feel lonely. Keep in mind that He is always there with you, helps and protects you every moment.

2) When you are doing your homework, imagine He is sitting next to you and helping you.

3) You must believe in Him and believe that He will surely help you. He is always yours. He talks to you in your mind. Krishna never forgets you even for a single moment. The coolest thing is that nobody will know you are talking!

4) Don't think, "When I grow up, I will start remembering God." Start now.

5) Chant the Name of "Radhey Shyam" constantly and silently. Say "Radhey" within your mind when you breathe in, and say "Shyam" within your mind when you breathe out.

6) Avoid bad company.

7) Every night before retiring to bed, recall and count the number of wrong deeds you committed for the day and pray for forgiveness, whether it was done knowingly or unknowingly. Resolve to correct yourself and not to commit the same mistake again.

8) Give respect to everyone. Never fight with others and hurt anyone by your bad behavior. Realize that God resides in everyone's heart.

9) Never feel lonely or alone. Don't get angry. Try to be nice to everyone.

10 Simple Tips to live an Inspired Spiritual Life!

Inspiration has such amazing power. Inspiration boosts our enthusiasm to exert our physical,mental and intellectual faculties to the utmost. Inspiration gives us the optimism to joyfully pursue in our endeavors till we reach the goal. It makes even the biggest hurdles appear puny.

Let ponder over the many ways of building our level of inspiration, to lead an inspired life, filled with devotion to God and Guru.

1. Everyday revise and contemplate upon the Divine knowledge you have received from the Guru and the Vedic Scriptures.

2. Look on the human form as a rare opportunity granted to the soul, and consider its every moment as very precious for reaching the goal.

3. Realize how rare it is to find a true Guru and the proper path. Firmly decide to utilize this golden chance to the maximum.

4. Intensify your detachment by deciding that the world is not yours, nor is there any happiness in it.

5. Stir up your hunger for God by thinking that you are a tiny part of him, and to love and serve him is the highest goal of your life.

6. Deeply yearn to possess the wonderful Divine virtues such as humility and giving, which will naturally develop with selfless Divine love.

7. Read about the great Saints, and derive inspiration from their complete absorption in God  and faith in Him.

8. Keep a spiritual dairy; note in it the inspirational thoughts you come across; and then revise them daily whenever you get the time.

9. Choose to be inspired by exercising your free will and forcing the intellect and mind in that direction, giving up laziness and laxity.

10. See other sadhaks and goad yourself, "We both joined the satsang at the same time. If he has so progressed rapidly, I must do the same "Material jealousy pulls down our consciousness. But if jealousy is spiritualized, it becomes constructive

and inspires us to move ahead.