Choosing a Spiritual Master
73
edge is permanently sealed to the cognitive approach of the empiricists. As it is said in the  Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad  [6.23]:
yasya deve parā bhaktir 
    yathā deve tathā gurau 
    tasyaite kathitā hy arthāḥ 
    prakāśante mahātmanaḥ
“Only unto those great souls who simultaneously have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed.”
Gentlemen, our knowledge is so poor, our senses are so imperfect, and our sources are so limited that it is not possible for us to have even the slightest knowledge of the absolute region without surrendering ourselves at the lotus feet of Śrī Vyāsadeva or his bona fide representative. Every moment we are being deceived by the knowledge of our direct perception. It is all the creation or concoction of the mind, which is always deceiving, changing, and flickering. We cannot know anything of the transcendental region by our limited, perverted method of observation and experiment. But all of us can lend our eager ears for the aural reception of the transcendental sound transmitted from that region to this through the unadulterated medium of Śrī Gurudeva or Śrī Vyāsadeva. Therefore, gentlemen, we should surrender ourselves today at the feet of the representative of Śrī Vyāsadeva for the elimination of all our differences bred by our unsubmissive attitude. It is accordingly said in  Śrī Gītā  [4.34]:
tad viddhi praṇipātena 
    paripraśnena sevayā 
    upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ 
    jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ
“Just approach the wise and bona fide spiritual master. Surrender unto him first and try to understand him by inquiries and service. Such a wise spiritual master will enlighten you with transcendental knowledge, for he has already known the Absolute Truth.”
To receive the transcendental knowledge we must completely surrender ourselves to the real  ācārya  in a spirit of ardent inquiry and service. Actual performance of service to the Absolute under the guidance of the  ācārya  is the only vehicle by which we can assimilate the transcendental knowledge. Today’s meeting for offering our humble services and