Initiation and the importance of glorifying our spiritual master
by Tulasi Priya devi das

Sri Guru is the representative of Lord Krishna. He has come down to this material world to reclaim us fallen souls and reestablish our lost relationship with the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna.
Through the 8,400,000 species of life that we are transmigrating, the human form of life is the only means by which we can cross over this material existence and attain our original Krishna Concious position, when one has a deep desire to serve the Lord. He reveals Himself from within as paramatma and guides us to the Guru .Anaspiring student searches fora bonafide spiritual master to guide him back to Godhead who formally accepts him by giving him initiation. Thus one becomes dvija bandhu or twice born. Through the process of initiation the Guru takes over the karma of his sisya and makes it his responsibility to take him back to Godhead.

Hence an eternal relationship is established between the two. Initiation links us to the parampara and unto Sri Krishna, as the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya comes from Sri Krishna, Brahma, Narada, Vyasadeva to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
Thus this leads us to the eternal service of Their Divine Lordships Sri Sri Radhaand Krishna and we just desire to be a dasanudasa of a dasa of Sri Sri Radha and Krishna and to eternally help engage Their Lordships in Their sweet loving relationships.
When one surrenders unto Sri Guru and renders service unto him one receives his mercy. Only by the mercy of Srila Gurudeva can one progress in Krishna Consciousness.
The secret of achieving the mercy of Sri Guru, is by rendering service and following his instructions. The instruction should be the life and soul of the disciple. During initiation one takes an oath that he will chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna Mahamantra and follow the four regulative principles. Gurus main aim is for us to follow this. One should be serious at every moment of every breath one takes. If one breaks any of the promises, then one is doomed to be attacked by maya, who works her way to bewilder us, and thus the mercy of Sri Guru is lost, and then to return to this path of progress becomes difficult. To test us she attacks us constantly, but a devotee emerges victorious! By being firm in our devotions to Sri Guru, and by his mercy we can achieve the grace of being at Lord Krishna's lotus feet.
One is eternally indebted to his spiritual master and the best way to repay him is to abide by his instructions.
Sri Vyasa puja is very special as it gives us an opportunity to express ourselves by glorifying our Gurudeva, Srila Bhagavatpada, and expressing our gratitude to him.
Just by a drop of Sri Guru's mercy one can become more humble than a blade of grass. One gets the strength to bear all trials and tribulations, and becomes free from all desires for personal honour, and obtain spiritual purification.
Sri Gurudeva has the potency to invest one with the power to sing the Holy Names offenselessly. By his blessings we get the strength and intelligence to render loving devotional service.
By his association we develop enthusiasm, patience, confidence and determination to perform activities favourable to devotional service and the resolution to abandon the association of non-devotees by following in the footsteps of the predecessor mahajans.
By His mercy ignorance is destroyed and the gift of transcendental vision, and divine knowledge is revealed within the heart, bestowing prema bhakti.
All glories unto Srila Bhagavatpada, the friend and benefactor of fallen souls. May we eternally remain in the cooling shade of his divine lotus feet.
Hare Krishna!