Question: Is Bhakti Useless Without Initiation?
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I would like kindly to ask you to clarify Srila Prabhupada's statements, which you have quoted below:
"Unless one is initiated by a bona fide spiritual master, all his devotional activities are useless. A person who is not properly initiated can descend again into the animal species."
and
"Always thinking of Krishna means chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, but unless one is an initiated devotee he cannot do this."
And then you say: "If even for an ordinary college degree one has to enroll in a university, we can understand how much even more essential it be must be for one to enroll as a disciple if he wants to attain the supreme destination."
I understand and accept that to be able to enter into Krishna's adobe, the spiritual world, we should take shelter of the lotus feet of the bona fide spiritual master, be initiated by him, and serve him with love and devotion. But I do not understand how it is that unless we are initiated all of our devotional activities are useless? What exactly does Prabhupada mean by this?
With my best wishes,
Answers by Citing the Vedic Version:
One Cannot Be Krishna Conscious Independently
If one understands the necessity of being initiated by a bona fide spiritual master and is sincerely working towards that goal, his devotional activities are certainly useful, even before his initiation, because they are taking him to initiation, an essential step on the pathway of spiritual awakening. But if he proudly thinks that he does not need a guru and that he can perfect himself in Krishna consciousness without the help of a guru, the benefit he will receive from his devotional activities is so minuscule that it will be practically useless.
Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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Chant....
HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE
HARE RAM HARE RAM RAM RAM HARE HARE
....and be happy.
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