Introduction 31

Lord. Perfection of life is attained simply by glorifying the Lord in
association with a self-realized devotee of the Lord.* The self-realized
devotee is he who surrenders unto the Lord fully and who does not have
attachment for material prosperity. Material prosperity and sense enjoy-
ment and their advancement are all activities of ignorance in human
society. Peace and friendship are impossible for a society detached from
the association of God and His devotees. It is imperative, therefore, that
one should sincerely seek the association of pure devotees and hear them
patiently and submissively from any position of life. The position of a
person in the higher or lower status of life does not hamper one in the
path of self-realization. The only thing one has to do is to hear from a self-
realized soul with a routine program. The teacher may also deliver lectures
from the Vedic literatures, following in the footsteps of the bygone
dcaryas who realized the Absolute Truth. Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
recommended this simple method of self-realization generally known as
Bhdgavata-dharma. Srimad-Bhagavatam is the perfect guide for this purpose.

Above these topics discussed by the Lord and Sri Ramananda Raya,
there were still more elevated spiritual talks between the two great
personalities, and we purposely withhold those topics for the present
because one has to come to the spiritual plane before further talks with
Ramananda Raya can be heard. We have presented further talks of Srila
Ramananda Raya with the Lord in another book (Teachings of Lord
Caitanya).

At the conclusion of this meeting, Sri Ramananda Raya was advised by
the Lord to retire from service and come to Puri so that they could live
together and relish a transcendental relationship. Some time later, Sri
Ramananda Raya retired from the Government service and took a pension
from the King. He returned to his residence in Puri, where he was one of
the most confidential devotees of the Lord. There was another gentleman
at Puri of the name Sikha Maiti, who was also a confidante like Ramananda
Raya. The Lord used to hold confidential talks on spiritual values with
three or four companions at Puri, and He passed eighteen years in that way
in spiritual trance. His talks were recorded by His private secretary Sri
Damodara Gosvami, one of the four most intimate devotees.

The Lord extensively travelled all over the southern part of India. The
great saint of Maharastra, known as saint Tukaram, was also initiated by
the Lord. Saint Tukaram, after initiation by the Lord, overflooded the
whole of the Maharastra Province with the sankirtana movement, and the

*The International Society for Krishna Consciousness is formed for this purpose.
