Real Process is Hearing

by Bhagavat das (ACBSP)

My Dear Bala Dasa, I personally feel no pain from your statements. However, I feel sorry that you are unable to understand the direct and unambiguous statements of the Acharyas. Please understand that the service of the manifest Acharya does not necessarily have to do with giving massage and doing laundry for him. Although Narottama Das Thakura obtained the mercy of Lokanatha Goswami by cleaning the place where he passed stool everyday. However, if you read my article carefully you would have seen that this type of service is not the focus of what I wrote about. The service that I repeatedly mentioned which is absolutely and ultimately required to achieve Prema is to hear the transcendental sound vibration from the lotus lips of the pure devotee who is manifest in the present in front of you so you can hear with your ears.

You accuse me of putting words in Srila Prabhupadas mouth as follows:

Bala Dasa Says: Now take into consideration all of the other false arguments he made, and how if you read his article carefully, he constantly puts words into my Srila Prabhupadas mouth that were not his, like manifest and hearing with your ears etc.

Did you not read the quote that Srila Saraswati Thakura made which I put in the article? Let me refresh your memory: KRSNA'S DARSAN CAN ONLY BE ATTAINED THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF THE EAR AS ONE HEARS HARI-KATHA FROM PURE VAISNAVAS; THERE IS NO OTHER WAY.

If Krsnas Darshan (seeing Krishna) is the goal and Srila Saraswati Thakur states that this vision of Krishna is only attained through the medium of the ears as one hears Hari Katha from a pure Vaishnava then how do you interpret this to mean reading a book with your eyes when the pure Vaishnava is not standing there in front of you speaking. Do you think Srila Prabhupada is teaching something different than Srila Saraswati Thakura let me show you some quotes of Srila Prabhupadas that again mirrors this statement of his guru maharaja:

... Here is another important point. We have to learn by listening from somebody. We approach guru for hearing from him the truth. Just like child listens from the parents and he learns to speak, he learns to know what is what.. So hearing is very important. Therefore our bhakti process, bhakti-yoga process is hearing. The more you give aural reception to the transcendental message, more you become expert. Everyone has got God-gifted instrument, this ear. And if we give aural reception, we'll learn

Srila Prabhupada is giving the example here that the child hears with his ears from the mouth of his parents who are in front of him not from a book. Srila Prabhupada says we have a God-gifted instrument the ear and we learn by listening from somebody who is manifest before you. Srila Prabhupada says by giving aural reception with your ear to the transcendental message from the mouth of the guru before you then you will learn. Srila Prabhupada says this, these are not my words they are his words read what the quote says. Srila Prabhupada says bhakti-yoga process is hearing welcome to the real process of bhakti yoga Bala dasa. These are Srila Prabhupadas words please take note of them.

Simply you lend your ear to the discourses given by realized souls. This is recommended. And when you hear, then you contemplate also. Just like you are hearing me. Sruti means just receiving through the ear.

Here again Srila Prabhupada says by giving aural reception with your ear to the transcendental message from his mouth. Just like you are hearing me. Sruti means just receiving through the ear. Srila Prabhupada is present before his disciples speaking with his mouth and he tells his disciples who are listening to the words from his mouth with their ears: Just like you are hearing me. Sruti means just receiving through the ear. These are Srila Prabhupadas words not mine. He is saying that it is recommended that you lend your ear to the discourses given by realized souls. These are Srila Prabhupadas words not mine.

One must hear from those who are in the line of preceptorial succession, or disciplic succession.

Another meaning of the word srotriyam mentioned above is one who has heard from a guru in the disciplic succession. And the result of this hearing will be brahma-nishtham,

The Upaninads inform us that the guru is one who has received knowledge by hearing the Vedas. Srotriyam brahma-nistham [MU 1.2.12]. The Vedas are called sruti, and the bona fide guru is in the line of hearing from the disciplic succession. As stated in Bhagavad-gita (4.2), evam parampara-praptam. A bona fide guru does not impart some self-styled, concocted knowledge; his knowledge is standard and received from the parampara system. He is also firmly fixed in the service of the Supreme Personality of Godhead (brahma-nistham). These are his two qualifications: he must have heard the Vedic knowledge through the disciplic succession, and he must be established in service to the Supreme Lord. He does not have to be a very learned scholar, but he must have heard from the proper authority. God gives us the ears to hear, and simply by hearing we may become great preachers. TLK-VS. 4

Over and over Srila Prabhupada emphasizes hearing: The guru receives knowledge by hearing. The bona fide guru is in the line of hearing. He must have heard through the disciplic succession. God gives us ears to hear. Simply by hearing we may become great preachers. These are all Srila Prabhupadas words not mine!

What does this have to do with the eyes and reading books? Still not convinced here is some more:

So hearing is so important. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's preaching work... Caitanya Mahaprabhu's, this propaganda of sankirtana movement, He has given stress on this hearing process.

Regardless of ones condition of life, if he practices bhakti-yoga, which begins with hearing (sruti-gatam) the transcendental messages of the Lord through the mouths of devotees, he gradually conquers the unconquerable God.

VERSE

My dear Lord, You are glorified by the selected verses uttered by great personalities. Such glorification of Your lotus feet is just like saffron particles. When the transcendental vibration from the mouths of great devotees carries the aroma of the saffron dust of Your lotus feet, the forgetful living entity gradually remembers his eternal relationship with You. Devotees thus gradually come to the right conclusion about the value of life. My dear Lord, I therefore do not need any other benediction but the opportunity to hear from the mouth of Your pure devotee.

PURPORT

It is explained in the previous verse that one has to hear glorification of the Lord from the mouth of a pure devotee. This is further explained here. The transcendental vibration from the mouth of a pure devotee is so powerful that it can revive the living entitys memory of his eternal relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In our material existence, under the influence of illusory mäyä, we have almost forgotten our eternal relationship with the Lord, exactly like a man sleeping very deeply who forgets his duties. In the Vedas it is said that every one of us is sleeping under the influence of maya. We must get up from this slumber and engage in the right service, for thus we can properly utilize the facility of this human form of life. As expressed in a song by Öhäkura Bhaktivinoda, Lord Caitanya says, jiva jaga, jiva jaga. The Lord asks every sleeping living entity to get up and engage in devotional service so that his mission in this human form of life may be fulfilled. This awakening voice comes through the mouth of a pure devotee.

A pure devotee always engages in the service of the Lord, taking shelter of His lotus feet, and therefore he has a direct connection with the saffron mercy-particles that are strewn over the lotus feet of the Lord. Although when a pure devotee speaks the articulation of his voice may resemble the sound of this material sky, the voice is spiritually very powerful because it touches the particles of saffron dust on the lotus feet of the Lord. As soon as a sleeping living entity hears the powerful voice emanating from the mouth of a pure devotee, he immediately remembers his eternal relationship with the Lord, although up until that moment he had forgotten everything.

For a conditioned soul, therefore, it is very important to hear from the mouth of a pure devotee, who is fully surrendered to the lotus feet of the Lord without any material desire, speculative knowledge or contamination of the modes of material nature. Every one of us is kuyogi because we have engaged in the service of this material world, forgetting our eternal relationship with the Lord as His eternal loving servants. It is our duty to rise from the kuyoga platform to become suyogis, perfect mystics. The process of hearing from a pure devotee is recommended in all Vedic scriptures, especially by Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu. One may stay in his position of life-it does not matter what it is-but if one hears from the mouth of a pure devotee, he gradually comes to the understanding of his relationship with the Lord and thus engages in His loving service, and his life becomes completely perfect. Therefore, this process of hearing from the mouth of a pure devotee is very important for making progress in the line of spiritual understanding. SB 4-20-25

In order to emphasize the point given in this verse and purport we are going to list and number the phrases that state the importance of hearing from the Lotus Mouth of a Pure Devotee.

1) When the transcendental vibration from the mouths of great devotees
2) I therefore do not need any other benediction but the opportunity to hear from the mouth of Your pure devotee.
3) one has to hear glorification of the Lord from the mouth of a pure devotee.
4) The transcendental vibration from the mouth of a pure devotee.
5) This awakening voice comes through the mouth of a pure devotee.
6) As soon as a sleeping living entity hears the powerful voice emanating from the mouth of a pure devotee.
7) it is very important to hear from the mouth of a pure devotee,
8) The process of hearing from a pure devotee is recommended in all Vedic scriptures,
9) if one hears from the mouth of a pure devotee,
10) This process of hearing from the mouth of a pure devotee is very important

Ten times this same point is being made, to hear from the mouth of the pure devotee. Srila Prabhupada repeats this over and over again for a reason. It is to make it absolutely clear that you must hear from the mouth of a pure devotee who is manifest before you with your ear as mentioned in five previous quotes. Reading alone will not do. The real mercy comes from hearing from the Lotus Mouth of the Pure Devotee with your ears. This is explained in the verse and elaborated on in the purport by Srila Prabhupada.

In the verse Maharaja Prthu explains the importance of hearing from the Lotus Mouth of a pure devotee as follows: When the transcendental vibration from the mouths of great devotees carries the aroma of the saffron dust of Your lotus feet, the forgetful living entity gradually remembers his eternal relationship with You. In the purport Srila Prabhupada gives us the actual process of how the transcendental vibration from the mouths of great devotees carries the aroma of the saffron particles as follows: Although when a pure devotee speaks the articulation of his voice may resemble the sound of this material sky, the voice is spiritually very powerful because it touches the particles of saffron dust on the lotus feet of the Lord. When the voice of the pure devotee emanates from his voice box it is infused with the aroma of saffron particles from the Lotus Feet of the Lord. That is because it has touched those saffron particles on the Lotus Feet of the Lord who resides in the spiritual heart of the spiritual body of the pure devotee within his external spiritualized body. It is the aroma of this saffron dust that acts like transcendental smelling salts to wake up the sleeping living entities from their deep slumber in Maya. This transcendental aroma is not revealed inside the words of the books or tapes when you read them or hear them unless you are reading and hearing them under the direct guidance of a realized soul. Please show me the mechanism on the printing press and the tape recorder that captures the aroma of the saffron particles from the lotus feet of the Lord. No such mechanism exists within an inanimate object. The transcendental aroma of the saffron particles comes from the lotus feet of the Lord within the living spiritual heart of the living spiritual body of the pure devotee who resides within his external spiritualized body while he is manifest on the planet. Life comes from life and spiritual life comes from spiritual life not from inanimate objects. Those objects only become completely animate when they are used directly under the guidance of the manifest pure devotee who speaks the transcendental sound vibration in a spiritualized body with his lotus mouth to our spiritually deaf ears!

HEARING, HEARING, AND MORE HEARING, this is the prescription Srila Prabhupada keeps emphasizing. The process of hearing the transcendental sound vibration from the mouth and the lips of the manifest pure devotee who is manifesting his pastimes on the planet in his human form and the use of the ear to hear that transcendental sound vibration is the method for obtaining Krsnas Darshan and according to Srila Saraswati Thakura and these above quotes of Srila Prabhupada THERE IS NO OTHER WAY!

Still not convinced? Than read the following quotes of Srila Prabhupada:

Reading or hearing from the realized person there is no difference, but hearing the sound vibration from the realized soul is still more effective, better.

Rather, hearing is better reception. If you hear... That Vedas are therefore known as sruti. Sruti means it is received through hearing. Real process is hearing.

Lets say that one more time REAL PROCESS IS HEARING! Srila Prabhupada has on occasion equated reading with hearing but he never once elevates the reading process above the hearing process in anything he has ever said or written. However Srila Prabhupada has many, many, times elevated the hearing process over the reading process as I have demonstrated in these quotes and now Srila Prabhupada boldly declares REAL PROCESS IS HEARING.

The purpose of reading the books is to understand this point only, that Sadhu Sangha (hearing the transcendental sound vibration from the lotus lips of the Sadhu) is the only way to attain the goal of receiving darshan of Krsna and Krsna Prema.

So Bala Das if you have a problem with all of these quotes of Srila Prabhupada and his guru maharaja then argue with them and stop falsely accusing me of putting words into Srila Prabhupadas mouth. Explain to Srila Prabhupada what the real process of hearing is by writing what you imagine it to be instead of accepting the direct unambiguous meaning of the above mentioned quotes by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada gave me both hari nam and diksha in person by directly speaking the mantras with his lotus mouth into my ear and personally accepted me as his disciple. At my Gayatri diksha initiation He told all the life members assembled there This is my disciple Bhagavat Das, he is very sincere. He is also my Srila Prabhupada.

Your Worthless Servant

Bhagavat Das

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