Dedicated to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Here is a talk presented on Srila Prabhupada’s Disappearance Day November 14, 2018 by Sravaniya Devi Dasi, ACBSP to an audience in Hong Kong (in English with Cantonese translation). She describes the importance of approaching a spiritual master; of her personal experiences on the path of bhakti yoga and what it is like to be a disciple. 

She begins: 

“I was born and raised in the Midwest USA in St. Louis, Missouri. In the late 60s, for seemingly no apparent reason, I became interested in yoga philosophy. I wanted to understand consciousness and reality.” She became a vegetarian at the age of seventeen and began studying eastern classics. But it was Srila Prabhupada’s translation of Bhagavad-gita As It Is that changed her life. 

Sravaniya makes the point that the perfect guru gives proper instruction and hands one the key to understanding. It is then up to the disciple to put the teachings into regular practice. “The guru hands me the key — but if I don’t put it in the lock and turn it, if I don’t chant my sixteen rounds, having the key is not enough. It’s not enough to join the Bhakti club, or get on the Bhakti bus. Yoga means religion for one person. You have to do it yourself.”

Informative and transformative.

Run time: 27m 43s