CAITYA-GURU
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Read Bhagavad-gita As It Is Online His Divine Grace |
Compiled by Bhakta Roy Srila
Prabhupada explains that the spiritual master is both within and without. He
says the spiritual master within is Caitya Guru and
we must also understand Him. Here are some verses to help us understand Caitya Guru.
CAITYA-GURU
For
a perfect yogi, there are eight kinds of superachievements:
one can become lighter than air, one can become smaller than the atom, one can
become bigger than a mountain, one can achieve whatever he desires, one can
control like the Lord, and so on. But when one rises to the perfectional
stage of receiving dictation from the Lord, that is
greater than any stage of material achievements above mentioned. The breathing
exercise of the yoga system which is generally practiced is just the beginning.
Meditation on the Supersoul is just another step
forward. But to obtain direct contact with the Supersoul
and take dictation from Him is the highest perfectional
stage. It
is here recommended to Dhruva Mahäräja
that he meditate on the supreme guru, or supreme spiritual master. The supreme
spiritual master is Krsna, who is therefore known as caitya-guru. This refers to the Supersoul,
who is sitting in everyone’s heart. He helps from within as stated in Bhagavad-gitä, and He sends the spiritual master, who helps
from without. The spiritual master is the external manifestation of the caitya-guru, or the spiritual master sitting in everyone’s
heart. The
process by which we give up our thoughts of material things is called pratyähära, which entails being freed from all material
thoughts and engagements. The word abhidhyäyet, which
is used in this verse, indicates that unless one’s mind is fixed, one cannot
meditate. The conclusion, therefore, is that meditation means thinking of the
Lord within. Whether one comes to that stage by the astanga-yoga
system or by the method recommended in the sästras
especially for this present age—to constantly chant the holy name of the
Lord—the goal is to meditate on the Supreme Personality of
Godhead. 4-8-44 Mahäräja Prthu’s advice to his
citizens to take to devotional service is now concluded in two ways. He has
repeatedly advised persons who are neophytes to engage themselves in devotional
service according to the capacities of the different orders of social and
spiritual life, but here he specifically thanks those already engaged in such
devotional service to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is actually the
enjoyer of all sacrificial ceremonies and who is also the supreme teacher as antaryämi, or Paramätmä. There is
specific mention of the word gurum, which indicates
the Supreme Personality as caitya-guru. The Supreme
Godhead in His Paramätmä feature is present in
everyone’s heart, and He is always trying to induce the individual soul to
surrender unto Him and to engage in devotional service; therefore He is the
original spiritual master. He manifests Himself as spiritual master both
internally and externally to help the conditioned soul both ways. Therefore He
has been mentioned herein as gurum. 4-21-36 One
ksetra-vit, or knower of the body, namely the Paramätmä, or the Supersoul, is
directing the individual soul. When we rightly take the direction of the Supersoul, our life becomes successful. He is directing
from within and from without. From within He is directing as caitya-guru, or the spiritual master sitting within the
heart. Indirectly He is also helping the living entity by manifesting Himself
as the spiritual master outside. In both ways the Lord is giving directions
to the living entity so that he may finish up his material activities and come
back home, back to Godhead. In
conclusion, one should not waste his time by so-called economic development and
sense gratification, but should cultivate spiritual knowledge to understand the
Supersoul and the individual soul and their
relationship. In this way, by advancement of knowledge, one can achieve
liberation and the ultimate goal of life. 4-22-37 “To
those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with
love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” The
Lord is the Supersoul seated in everyone’s heart, and
He acts as the caitya-guru, the spiritual master
within. However, He gives direct instructions only to the advanced,
pure devotees. In
the beginning, when a devotee is serious and sincere, the Lord gives him
directions from within to approach a bona fide spiritual master. When one is
trained by the spiritual master according to the regulative principles of
devotional service and is situated on the platform of spontaneous attachment
for the Lord (räga-bhakti), the Lord also gives
instructions from within. Teñsam satata-yuktänäm bhajatäm
priti-pürvakam [Bg. 10.10].
This distinct advantage is obtained by a liberated soul. Having attained this
stage, King Malayadhvaja was directly in touch with
the Supreme Lord and was receiving instructions from Him directly. 4-8-41 When
a person’s relative dies, renunciation is automatically visible. Consultation
with the Supersoul seated within everyone’s heart is
possible only when one is completely free from the contamination of material
attachment. One who is sincere and pure gets an opportunity to consult with the
Supreme Personality of Godhead in His Paramätmä
feature sitting within everyone’s heart. The Paramätmä
is always the caitya-guru, the spiritual master
within, and He comes before one externally as the instructor and initiator
spiritual master. The Lord can reside within the heart, and He can also come
out before a person and give him instructions. Thus the spiritual master is not
different from the Super soul sitting within the heart. An uncontaminated soul
or living entity can get a chance to meet the Paramätmä
face to face. Just as one gets a chance to consult with the Paramätmä
within his heart, one also gets a chance to see Him actually situated before
him. Then one can take instructions from the Supersoul
directly. This is the duty of the pure devotee: to see the bona fide spiritual
master and consult with the Supersoul within the
heart. When
the brähmana asked the woman who the man lying on the
floor was, she answered that he was her spiritual master and that she was
perplexed about what to do in his absence. At such a time the Supersoul immediately appears, provided the devotee is
purified in heart by following the directions of the spiritual master. A
sincere devotee who follows the instructions of the spiritual master certainly
gets direct instructions from his heart from the Supersoul.
Thus a sincere devotee is always helped directly or indirectly by the spiritual
master and the Supersoul. 4-28-52 TRANSLATION Sri
Hari, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the Supersoul and guide of all living entities who have
accepted material bodies within this world. He is the supreme controller of all
material activities in material nature. He is also our best friend, and
everyone should take shelter at His lotus feet. In doing so, one’s life will be
auspicious. PURPORT In
Bhagavad-Gita (18.61) it is said, isvarah sarva-bhütänäm hrd-dese ’rjuna tisthati: “The Supreme Lord
is situated in everyone’s heart, O Arjuna.” The
living entity is within the body, and the Supersoul,
the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is also there. He is called antaryämi and caitya-guru. As
Lord Krsna states in Bhagavad-gitä
(15.15), He is controlling everything. “I
am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come
remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.” Everything
is being directed by the Supersoul within the body;
therefore the better part of valor is to take His direction and be happy. To
take His directions, one needs to be a devotee, and this is also confirmed in Bhagavad-gitä (10.10):
“To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me
with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me.” Although
the Supersoul is in everyone’s heart (isvarah sarva-bhütänäm hrd-dese ’rjuna tisthati [Bg. 18.61]), He talks
only to the pure devotees who constantly engage in His service. 4-29-50 Antahpravistah sästä janänäm. The living
entity forgets as soon as he quits his present body, but he begins his work
again, initiated by the Supreme Lord. Although he forgets, the Lord gives him
the intelligence to renew his work where he ended his last life. So not only
does a living entity enjoy or suffer in this world according to the dictation
from the Supreme Lord situated locally in the heart, but he receives the
opportunity to understand Vedas from Him. If one is serious to understand the
Vedic knowledge, then Krsna gives the required
intelligence. 15-15 Arjuna was not the supreme knower, and his decision to
fight or not to fight was confined to his limited discretion. Lord Krsna instructed that the individual is not all in all. The
Supreme Personality of Godhead, or He Himself, Krsna,
the localized Supersoul, sits in the heart directing
the living being. After changing bodies, the living entity forgets his past
deeds, but the Supersoul, as the knower of the past,
present and future, remains the witness of all his activities. Therefore all
the activities of living entities are directed by this Supersoul.
18-61 TRANSLATION Therefore,
O great sage, please give me instruction on the transcendental devotional
service of the Lord, so that He who is situated in the heart of everyone can be
pleased to impart, from within, knowledge of the Absolute Truth in terms of the
ancient Vedic principles delivered only to those who are purified by the
process of devotional service. PURPORT As
already explained in the First Canto of Srimad-Bhägavatam,
the Absolute Truth is realized in three different phases—although they are one and
the same—in terms of the knower’s capacity to
understand. The most capable transcendentalist is the pure devotee of the Lord,
who is without any tinge of fruitive actions or
philosophical speculation. By devotional service only does one’s heart become completely
purified from all material coverings like karma, jnäna
and yoga. Only in such a purified stage does the Lord,
who is seated in everyone’s heart with the individual soul, give instruction so
that the devotee can reach the ultimate destination of going back home, back to
Godhead. This is confirmed in Bhagavad-Gita (10.10): tesam
satata-yuktänäm bhajatäm.
Only when the Lord is satisfied with the devotional service of the devotee does
He impart knowledge, as He did for Arjuna and Uddhava The
jnanis, yogis and karmis
cannot expect this direct cooperation of the Lord. They are not able to satisfy
the Lord by transcendental loving service, nor do they believe in such service
to the Lord. The bhakti process, as performed under
the regulative principles of vaidhi-bhakti, or
devotional service following the prescribed rules and regulations, is defined
by the revealed scriptures and confirmed by great äcäryas.
This practice can help the neophyte devotee to rise to the stage of räga-bhakti, in which the Lord responds from within as the caitya-guru, or the spiritual master as Superconsciousness.
All transcendentalists other than devotees make no distinction between the
individual soul and the Supersoul because they
miscalculate the Superconsciousness and the individual
consciousness to be one and the same. Such miscalculation by the nondevotees makes them unfit to
receive any direction from within, and therefore they are bereft of the direct
cooperation of the Lord. After many, many births, when such a nondualist comes to sense that the Lord is worshipable and that the devotee is simultaneously one with
and different from the Lord, then only can he surrender unto the Lord, Väsudeva. Pure devotional service begins from that point.
The process of understanding the Absolute Truth adopted by the misguided nondualist is very difficult, whereas the devotee’s way of
understanding the Absolute Truth comes directly from the Lord, who is pleased
by devotional service. On behalf of many neophyte devotees, Vidura,
at the very first instance, inquired from Maitreya
about the path of devotional service, by which the Lord, who is seated within
the heart, can be pleased. | |||
