Spiritual Succession     

All Glories to HDG Srila Bhakti Promode Puri Goswami Maharaj    

All Glories to  HDG Srila Bhakti Siddhanta  Saraswati Prabhupada

Actually,   there are many successions that teach religion   in the world today. This is not limited to the land of Bharatha Varsha but also in the western countries,, there is no lack of such religions. Naturally just as the inclinations of people in general differ ,similarly there is diversity in such groups teaching religion according to their various frames of mind. The mind by nature is prone to be fickle and changing. For one instance ,it may deem the milk as sweet at another that the same milk is not fit to be drunk. Hence it may  flicker to from good to that  it is bad. This is the  actual nature of the mind. Hence the  coined saying  as many beliefs so are there that many paths. But real religion is based on the singular Absolute truth which is never changing which is as before and after in eternal time and indestructible and common for all beings. The living entity is a minute divine part and parcel of the singular divine whole. It is not that only all in Bharatha Varsha are there  such fragments .Whichever caste or country all are the fragments of the Divine whole. including the birds ,bees ,insects ,worms, creepers  and mountains. However, here the difference is in the level of consciousness ,some are completely in the sleeping state and unaware ,others existing in different levels of awakened consciousness while the rest are completely situated in the divine platform of consciousness. As the Chaitanya Charitamrta states, whether one has spiritual belief or not, all are by right the servants of the Supreme Lord. Though the Supersoul is present in everyone, only one who has awakened from the material dream will understand that he is the servant of God while one those covered by their gross material body will never accept that fact .As the Supreme Lord is equal to all beings, similarly the function of the soul in relation  to the Lord is same for all. This is the one original eternal religion or universal religion also termed as the Vaishnava religion. vyapnoti visvam ya sa esah Vishnum.

He who has expanded Himself throughout this universe is Lord Vishnu. The Vedic mantra states om tad vishnum param padam sada pasyanti surayof diviva caksur atatam .

Those adepts who are advanced in knowledge are compared to the sun which is naturally effulgent because these adepts are able to to always view the highest destination of the Supreme Lord  Vishnu. On the contrary those who mistake the eternal function of the soul to be connected with the changing nature of the body and mind are influenced by the different narrow   disciple successions or groups that have failed to understand the pure Vaishnava religion properly. This is is one's actual relation with the  divine soul and not with the gross body and mind which is applicable to all the moving and non moving things in this world .So in this respect ,there is no question of narrowness in the Vaishnava thinking. There is only one actual succession to teach the world and that is this succession in the mode of  pure goodness. Firstly,  the  aim of this bona fide succession is to  properly teach the aspirants  on the actual  spiritual  path with how to protect them from the tempestuous nature  of their mind. Secondly, to enhance their faith in the universal religion and thirdly by the association of the great souls and in following the part chalked out  by them  termed as devotional service whereby they can increase their faith to  the level of self realization. Sometimes there are people  pursuing the path who noticing the weakness of the succession from  time to time  deem themselves capable of breaking that link. They forget that the establishing of the succession was by the Supreme Lord Himself. Many great souls , being far sighted in the future ,and beloved by all have striven to maintain this disciplic succession. If  perchance some individual along the line may perform some action to downgrade, the onus is on the person ,the  disciplic succession does not have any fault. Just as one does not stop going to the market even if it is known that with genuine articles imitation ones are also being sold. The goal of the proper succession is to spread love of God with self  realization and has nothing to do with political and society matters.