Further Intimate Understanding of Srila Prabhupada (con’d)

Lord Caitanya also followed this principle of not revealing everything on His mind.  Although He was deeply immersed in the conjugal океан, He spoke about Radha and Krishna’s pastimes to only a very intimate few. 

We can be certain that Prabhupada did not reveal everything on his mind to us.  Even if we were to ask him, “What do you think of when you chant, Prabhupada?”, it is unlikely he would reveal his innermost state.  There is a sastric statement that when a pure devotee appears in the world, he is not really seen by the people.  His appearance is compared to a cloud in relation to the moon.  The moon is actually stationary in the sky, but it appears to be blowing across the sky with the clouds.  It is an optical illusion.  Similarly, a pure devotee often appears to be an ordinary person moving through the world, but actually his mind is fixed only on Krishna.  “One should not try to understand the mind of the ачарьи.”  This should be a stabilizing reminder to us.  Although we want to know our spiritual master as deeply as possible – we will listen to him and pray to him and study his books to find out exactly what he wants from us – we should be careful not to look for so many hidden meanings, or to speculate on esoteric principles.  Prabhupada will give us what we need to know.

We have to trust him to reveal himself to us as we qualify ourselves and know that he understands each of our hearts in this regard.  Let us first digest what he has given us, and then increase our remembrance and love for him by studying his writings and activities as told in his biographies and memoirs. 

Let us first understand him as he has revealed himself to us, and then by service and inquiry, trust him to give us more. 

What does a pure devotee experience when he chants Hare Krishna?  When does Prabhupada talk with Krishna?  Where is Prabhupada now?  When I go to the spiritual world, how will I recognize Prabhupada?  Prabhupada often replied to such questions:  “When you go there, then you will understand.”