r/exHareKrishna

So, I’ll tell you a story.

There was this private teacher of mine who was a big Krishna bhakt and a very kattar Hindu. He used to visit ISKCON very frequently. Whenever he came to my house to teach me, he would always talk about Krishna ji, his lilas, and Vishnu ji’s avatars. I really liked listening to him because I was a kid and found all of it very interesting.

One day, he told me the story of Hiranyakashipu, which I found really interesting. But at the end of the story, he said, “Krishna ji always takes an avatar to save dharma in every yug. In this yug, we have BJP, which is like God, and Congress, which is like the asuras. And as asuras never win congress should also never win”

At that age, I really didn’t think much about it because I didn’t have any political opinions of my own.

Then, about a year later, my classroom teacher, who was also an ISKCON devotee, said almost the exact same thing in almost the exact same way. She told us the same story of hiranyakashapyu and then said almost the exact same lines.

And their political opinions were not just similar—their WORDING WAS almost EXACTLY the same. They used the same words and explained it in almost the same manner.

Also, whenever my father used to pass by while that teacher was talking about these things, he would suddenly stop talking immediately and start teaching normally and in that 1hr of tuition he used to waste like 30mins on politics alone.

As a result i was brainwashed into thinking that "hindu khatre mei hai because of congress and we need to vote for bjp"

It feels like ki ye bjp ka kuch it cell something hai idk why

I’m a very logical and rational type of person.

So, I met two of my friends yesterday — well, not exactly friends, they’re more like brothers. They were talking to each other about how many times they had been chanting God’s name that day and all that. Of course, I wasn’t saying anything.

Then one of them said, “He doesn’t know about any of this, right?” And the other one said, “Yeah, he’s different. He probably won’t understand these things.”

Basically, they were making it sound like I’m missing something because I don’t believe in all this. They were telling me, “You don’t know how much power meditation has,” and all that.

And honestly, I know that meditation can help calm your mind and stuff, but when they start talking about “power” and all that, I just don’t really believe it.

So I asked them, “Okay, then tell me, what are the benefits of chanting God’s name?”

One of them said, “What a stupid question. The question itself is wrong. Do you do everything just for the benefits?”

And of course 😭 I was like, bro, yes? I literally do things because there’s some benefit to them.

Then the other guy said, “Look, if you start doing this, initially it’ll be very difficult. You’ll feel like some negative force is stopping you from doing it, and you’ll feel like quitting. But slowly, you’ll start enjoying it and your mind will get used to it.”

That part honestly sounded really weird to me.

Then he said, “As for the benefits, eventually you’ll forget words like ‘benefit’ and ‘loss.’” 🥀😭

And I was like, “Bro, I don’t want to forget the difference between benefit and loss. What am I supposed to do after forgetting that?” 😭

And then they started comparing me to some uneducated guy and saying, “You talk just like him.”

At that point, I was honestly getting really irritated. 🥲

Greetings. In this post I wish to open the conversation to those familiar with yogic texts, philosophy and practice.

If you are familiar with Yogic traditions and the scriptures of many like Hatha Yoga Pradipika or the Shiva Samhita you will find that there is emphasis on having a guru and that this aspect can not be overlooked in Yogic initiation. It is an absolute necessity within many Indian Traditional Yoga systems.

If you are in the west, you will not find a guru. Simple as that. Although it would be nice and amazing to have a guru to help and oversee the process of pranic and kundalini awakening, such a person with dedicated Yogic wisdom is highly unlikely to be bred here in America.

The reason I am typing this however is that this view of “Needing a Guru” is useless to those practicing in the west yet much Yoga material available to read is geared towards the Westerner to understand. Which makes me believe that many swamis who write these books perhaps desire the Westerner to fly to India to receive the diksha from a Guru to embark on their Yogic journey.

I understand the reasoning behind a guru, however in this day and age if one is on the path of Spiritual Liberation, it is futile and inane to wait for or to seek a guru, when the theory and practice is described within the material. However I’m also aware that the typical westerner looks at Yoga in only 1/8th of its capacity(Asanas).

With that said, reading some of this literature has made me ask myself some interesting questions. What are your thoughts surrounding the idea of a Guru being necessary in the practice of Yoga?