Need of a Guru

All the visiting devotees from New Zealand attended the morning walk. One of the questions posed by a devotee highlighted the confusion that still remained about the need to take to the formalities of spiritual life. Srila Prabhupada had already confronted this apparent hesitancy the previous night when the boy had suggested that one could just accept one's guru in his heart, without going through the actual physical motions of initiation. And now -- more confusion. A devotee asked: "Is initiation necessary? Can one return to the spiritual world without it?"

Prabhupada was grave and emphatic. "No, that is not possible. Therefore Rupa Goswami said 'adau gurvasrayam', the first business is to accept a spiritual master. Who will train him? He's already a fool and a rascal. So he must be trained by the representative of Krsna." Later, as the car returned to the temple, Prabhupada commented dryly: "They think that Krsna is in the heart and you can take initiation that way -- but they do not know where to find out Krsna in the heart."

- From "The Great Transcendental Adventure" by HG Kurma Prabhu