One great problem we have in our movement is that many don’t go very deep into the philosophy, and prefer to just base their understanding on isolated quotes from Prabhupada’s books or other scriptures. We can see these battles of quotes everywhere. This is one point made by Srila Jiva Goswami in his Sat Sandarbhas: isolated quotes from the scriptures are of very little value since verses must be understood inside a context. When verses are taken out of context, they can be misused to support all kinds of conclusions.

Although we use quotes all the time to sustain different philosophical conclusions, as a general rule, no isolated passage can be accepted as proof of anything. We need to examine the context of the passage inside the book, studying the verses that precede and follow it, as well as understand what are the general conclusions of the book and the Vedas as a whole. In the case of a passage from Srila Prabhupada, for example, one needs to examine the context of the quote, and the general conclusions of the book and take into consideration the general conclusions Prabhupada gives on his teachings. If a passage appears to suggest that Prabhupada is authorizing divorce, for example, it must be taken inside the general context that Prabhupada was condemning divorce, and thus accepted as an exception, and not the rule. By then examining the context, we can then understand what exactly it means.

One good book to study in order to develop the critical sense necessary to deconstruct mistaken ideas sustained by isolated quotes is the Govinda Bhasya of Srila Baladeva Vidyabhusana. The whole book is based on examining mistaken philosophical propositions and finding the real meaning of passages used to sustain them.

At the time of Bhaktivinoda Thakura, there were three great Vaishnavas who lived as humble babajis: Srila Jagannatha Dasa Babaji (the siksa guru of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura), Srila Gaurakishora Dasa Babaji (who later became the diksa and siksa guru of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura) and Srila Vansi Dasa Babaji.

Amongst the three, Vansi Dasa Babaji is the most difficult to understand in terms of behavior. He was absorbed in a paternal rasa with his deities and would often chastise them, just like one may chastise his own children when they misbehave. He was also completely averse to ordinary social interactions, avoiding attention as much as possible and behaving in ways ordinary people could not understand or appreciate. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura was advising his disciples to not come close to him, in order to avoid committing offenses to such an exalted soul. Instead, he was instructing them to offer obeisances at a distance and leave offerings close to his door, so he could use them when appropriate without getting disturbed by the presence of uninvited guests.

He lived as a total recluse in a solitary place close to Ganga in the region of Navadvipa, behaving like a crazy person. He lived in his world, centered around his deities. As possessions, he had just a pair of kaupinas (loincloth) and a kantha (the patchwork blanket used by renouncers) for himself, and a pair of brass pots and a few other items for serving his deities.

Much of the behavior of Vansi Dasa Babaji is just incomprehensible to us. It’s just the behavior of someone maddened by the nectar of love for Krsna. However, there is an aspect I feel can be useful for deepening our understanding of the world and finding our way out of it, which is the way he referred to himself.

All of us face difficulties in life. Some of them are just ordinary difficulties, such as living on a budget, but others can be more serious.

Many have the belief that God never gives us more than what we can handle. This comes from a passage from the Bible (Corinthians‬ ‭10:13‬), where it’s said: “No temptation has overtaken you, except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

However, this doesn’t apply to everyone. Materialistic people live under the law of Karma, therefore often they get difficulties that are indeed more than they can handle. The law of Karma acts mechanically, giving one the results of his past sinful activities, without consideration for what he or she can handle or not. Since a materialist is not interested in God, He doesn’t participate in his life, it is just him and the clockwork of material nature.

For a devotee, however, things are different. A devotee is constantly praying to Krsna and chanting His names, and thus Krsna becomes present in his life. By chanting the holy names, all the stored Karma is very quickly destroyed, leaving just the Karma that is already manifest (what we are supposed to go through during his life). This Prārabdha Karma is responsible for maintaining the body, and therefore it remains active until the end of our lives, giving us an opportunity to continue living in this body and using it to advance in spiritual life.

According to many accounts, when Srila Prabhupada was living in Vrindavana, before coming to the West, he was living in very simple conditions in the Radha Damodara temple, chanting 64 rounds, sleeping little, eating just one time per day and writing extensively, as well as doing parikramas around the holy places of Vrindavana, organizing the printing of the first volumes of His Srimad Bhagavatam and giving association devotees that would come in contact with Him. Fortunately, his rooms in the temple were preserved, so anyone who goes to Vrindavana can visit.

There are two small rooms one in front of the other. On one Srila Prabhupada was working and sleeping and on the other one he was cooking and honoring Prasadam. When Srila Prabhupada went to live in Vrindavana, the managers of the temple offered these two rooms for him to live in exchange for him doing reformations in the rooms as he could. Srila Prabhupada describes that when he went to live there, the rooms were practically crumbling, but over time he improved the situation.

After Srila Prabhupada came to the West, he suffered several heart attacks and a stroke. According to a few accounts, another challenge he suffered was difficulty maintaining his sleep for more than a few hours per night.

When we chant the Gayatri mantra we meditate on the sun. The light of the sun permeates the three planetary systems, bhuh, bhuvah, and svah, and fills them with life. This meditation on the divine light of the sun fills us with enthusiasm. However, who is the sun? Would the sun be just the planet, composed of material elements? Would the sun we meditate upon be the demigod who presides over the cosmic body of the Sun? Would the object of meditation be actually something else?

In his Sat Sandarbhas, Srila Jiva Goswami explains that one’s understanding of the sun as he meditates on it will vary according to his level of understanding. Materialists can’t see anything spiritual, and thus they meditate on the sun as the celestial body, or as a manifestation of the material energy. The ones who are a little advanced meditate on Vivasvan, the demigod who presides over the sun, while the ones who are more advanced understand that the light of the sun is a reflection of the spiritual light of the Supreme Brahman. However, the ones who are still more advanced go beyond this impersonal conception and understand that the light of the sun is a reflection of the effulgence of the Supreme Person, and thus they meditate on that Supreme Person who is the origin of the sun.

Life in the material world is not easy. Souls live in peace in the spiritual world because there they are free from the false ego, connected with an eternal spirit of selfless service to Krsna. In the material world, our situation is the opposite: we act under the false ego and the three modes of material nature. These layers make us act in egoistic and destructive ways that create harm to others and ourselves. Acting in ways that harm others means to also harm ourselves because the suffering we cause to others will return to us in future lives. In this way, we become entrapped in a life of permanent struggle, life after life, causing suffering to each other.

Even when an empowered acarya tries to create a spiritual society, his effort is also not free from problems, because although a pure devotee may be personally perfect in his actions, other members of his society are still imperfect souls, who are still under the false ego and the material modes and are still propense to commit mistakes, quarrel and cause harm to others. Therefore, even spiritual societies will be plagued by problems, although possibly less.

Apart from problems caused by quarrels between the members, spiritual societies are also affected by problems caused by external sources, such as natural disasters, wars, and so on. Sometimes people who lack a high level of spiritual of spiritual realization are put into positions of leadership, creating havoc.

As minute souls, entrapped by the material energy, it’s hard for us to find the way out by ourselves. We need guidance from advanced devotees, as well as the friendship of peers. As we learn, we can also offer some service and guidance to junior devotees, and thus, as a group, we can progress in spiritual life. We can see that although plagued by problems, spiritual societies are essential for our spiritual development, and this is the reason pure souls work hard to create such societies in the first place.

As followers of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, we are part of the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya. This means that our line started with Lord Brahma, who received the Vedic knowledge directly from Krsna and passes through Srila Madhvacarya, who personally received the knowledge from Srila Vyasadeva and through Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and his followers, culminating with Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura and Srila Prabhupada.

We all understand that the teachings given by Srila Prabhupada emphasize the acceptance of a spiritual master, who creates the link between the aspiring disciple and the previous acaryas, going all the way to Krsna. Although the spiritual master accepts the responsibility of delivering the disciple out of the material world, he doesn’t do that by his own strength. What the guru does is to connect the disciple with his own spiritual master, who in turn connects him with his own spiritual master, all the way to Krsna. Just like when we hold to a chain to be pulled out of the ocean, our deliverance from the material world is done by the whole Parampara. Although we hold to the last link of the chain (the spirtual master), the lifting is done by the combined work of all links, all the way to Krsna. For this system to work, it’s essential that not only the disciple remain connected to the spiritual master, but that the spiritual master himself remains connected to his own spiritual master, since a link disconnected from the chain has no value.

However, when we talk to talk to representatives of the traditional Madhva Sampradaya we are challenged by their understanding that the deliverance is not done by the spiritual master, but by Madvacarya alone. According to them, one may receive initiation from a Sannyasi, or from any genuine follower of Madvacarya, including even a family member, like the father or uncle, but in any case, the deliverer is Srila Madvacarya. Representatives of the Madhva Sampradaya have a great appreciation for Srila Prabhupada, and according to them, Srila Prabhupada plays, for Iskcon devotees, a similar role to the one played by Srila Madvacarya in the Madhva Sampradaya. In other words, in their understanding, Srila Prabhupada alone is the deliverer of all his followers.

In the story of Vamanadeva, we find an interesting passage where Lord Vamanadeva begs Bali Maharaja for three steps of land in the measure of His steps.

Bali Maharaja had invaded the celestial planets and taken them from the demigods. However, although siding with the demons, Bali Maharaja was a pure devotee, who appeared in the lineage of Prahalada Maharaja. The Lord thus decided to act in a way that allowed Him to return the celestial planets to the demigods, restoring the universal order, but at the same time bless Bali Maharaja.

Appearing as a dwarf, the Lord obtained an audience of Bali Maharaja, who was happy to give him some boom. When the Lord asked for just three steps of land, Bali Maharaja was amused and encouraged Him to ask for more. The Lord was however adamant, arguing that as a brahmacary he didn’t need more than that. Of course, being all-powerful the Lord was able to expand His form and thus cover the three planetary systems with just two steps, but there is a hidden meaning in the Lord asking for just three steps of land, which can teach us an important point.

One question I sometimes receive is about initiations on Gaudiya Maths. Why on Iskcon one has to wait for years, chant 16 rounds, and develop a relationship with the guru while on some of the Gaudiya Maths, one can get a name very easily after promising to just chant four rounds, or sometimes by just attending a program and meeting a sadhu, without promising anything at all?

In the first canto of Srimad Bhagavatam, we have the description of the previous life of Narada Muni. Improbable as it may seem, the great Narada Muni was a normal human child in his previous birth, born from a poor maidservant. He didn’t have the opportunity to study and was just serving in an ashrama alongside his mother. However, in just a few months he was able to get the personal darshan of Lord Vishnu. How did this happen?

As one can imagine, this miracle happened due to association with pure devotees. A group of traveling Bhaktivedantas happened to take shelter in the asrama where Narada was living with his mother during the four months of chaturmasya, and he had the opportunity of serving them, taking the remnants of their food, and hearing them speak about Krsna. Although just a small child, this had a very profound impact on Narada’s consciousness. A few months later, when his mother passed away after being bitten by a snake, Narada decided to leave home and also travel in search of further enlightenment.

After traveling for a number of days, Narada decided to meditate under the shadow of a banyan tree in an uninhabited forest, following the process of meditation on the Supersoul he had heard from the Bhaktivedantas. Surprisingly, as soon as he started meditating he was able to obtain the personal darshan of the Lord, Who revealed His personal form. As Narada himself describes: