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If a disciple presents himself anything other than a fool before his spiritual master, then he goes to hell.

Ajamila das : On Gaura Purnima day at about 11:30 in Srila Prabhupada's room in the Lotus Building, there were about five other devotees got brahmana initiation as well. Padmalocana was one of them. Before going in to see Srila Prabhupada, I was thinking that this is my chance to ask Srila Prabhupada some questions. And underneath it I was thinking that perhaps I can also show him that I've got some intelligent questions, that I'm a thoughtful devotee. I wanted to show him that I had some intelligence basically. That's why I thought, "I must bring up this question, that question," and so on and so forth. 
 
But I really wanted to know the answers to the questions as well. So that was how I was thinking. When I walked through that door and I saw Srila Prabhupada, my mind went completely blank, completely. I thought, "Krishna, what's happening to my brain?" I had forgotten everything. Because normally I'm quite talkative, I can talk, but Krishna completely took away all my talking ability, completely. Srila Prabhupada motioned me to come over and he says, "Recite this mantra after me." So I recited, went through all the Gayatri mantras with him. Then I thought, "Now is my time to ask the questions," and still I couldn't think of anything, not anything. I thought, "If I do try to think of something, I'm going to look really stupid.
 
So I just said, "Thank you very much, Srila Prabhupada," and I walked out. Then the next devotee walked in. Then I went straight down to the Ganges and I chanted my first Gayatri mantra, and it was such an experience that first Gayatri mantra that I chanted at the edge of the Ganges. As I was studying Prabhupada's books later, I came across one statement by Srila Prabhupada where he says that "If a disciple presents himself anything other than a fool before his spiritual master, then he goes to hell." Because here I was, I was actually trying to present myself as not being a fool, foolishly. But Krishna saved me because Krishna completely blanked me.


Reference: Following Srila Prabhupada-A Chronological Series by Ajamila Dasa