Hansadutta at Santa Rosa Junior College (Part 7/10)
Guest speaker to Professor Carla Grady’s Asian Philosophy Class
September 27, 2010
Knowlege begins when a person admits his shortcoming, and he goes to an authority. Just like when we have a legal problem, we go to a lawyer. … In Bhagavad-gita there’s a verse, tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya: Krishna says, “Just try to approach a spiritual master, a guru, inquire from him submissively, render him all kinds of service, [and] the self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you, because he has seen the truth.” So three things are required for spiritual progress: (1) inquisitive, inquiry, (2) submission – you must be submissive; you can’t come and say, “No, no, I don’t believe that”, challenging, and (3) ultimately service. This is everywhere. Not simply for spiritual matters. Any matter. You want to be a computer technician, you have to submit. You want to be a baker, you have to submit to someone. You go to the military, you have to submit to someone. In fact that’s the first thing they do, they make you understand that “Now we have you in our grip, and you do what we say, otherwise….”
