Yoga Guru Speaking about Srila Prabhupada
Bhakti Tirtha Swami : I had been involved with many different gurus and yogis. I had met a spiritual master who taught me for almost three-and-a-half years but who always told me that he was not my guru. After I took initiation from Sri Chinmoy, I saw this previous teacher. I mentioned "how I'd found my guru, how he'd given me initiation and how this guru said that he is a jagat guru, a highly evolved spiritual teacher, a teacher of teachers." My first teacher laughed. He said, "He's a mayavadi," and he explained Mayavad and impersonalism. He said, "Do you want to know the real jagat guru?" He paused, and then he asked me again, "Do you really want to know?" I was a little nervous, but I was also curious. He asked a third time, "Do you really want to know?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Srila Prabhupada, the spiritual master of the Hare Krishna movement." This spiritual master had taught me hatha yoga, astanga yoga, and other metaphysical things, but every now and then he would say, "Prabhupada says like this" or "Prabhupada has done it like this." I thought Prabhupada was his uncle or friend. So when he mentioned that name again, it rang a bell, but I was devastated because I had seen the devotees twice, and I thought that they were weird. I thought, "Do you mean those people who wear bed sheets and who put war paint on their face? And who jump in the streets wearing tennis shoes and socks that don't match? You mean they are connected with something that's advanced?" He said, "Their spiritual master is a spiritual master of spiritual masters, and they have higher knowledge." I was ready to be a devotee, because this person was a tremendous mystic. He read minds and had all kind of powers. He had never cheated or disappointed me and had always told me that he wasn't my guru. But this time I decided to prove that he was lying. Just to find fault, I went to visit the Hare Krishna temple in New York, and I got as many books as I could. I heard Bhagavad-gita classes, and I heard the devotees talk. But the more I heard and studied the books, the more I became convinced. I met all different types of devotees, some serious, some less serious. I saw that there were some problems, but I realized that those who were following were special and that the philosophy was special. After studying for six months, I decided to join, and I went to Dallas to help Satsvarupa Maharaj in the gurukula. Once, a couple years later, I saw that same teacher. I wanted to ask him some questions, but he became furious. He said, "You have met the spiritual master of the universe and now you're asking me questions? You're not going to make me offend such a great soul." He said, "When Srila Prabhupada came to America, there were many spiritual teachers who knew his calling and who should have assisted him. I taught you because I saw that you were so interested in such things, and I realized that in the future this would help you in your service to Prabhupada." He said, "Now, you leave here and don't ever come back again."
Reference: Memories Anecdotes of a Modern Day Saint - Volume 2 by Siddhanta Dasa
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