(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 12 July 2013, Fruska Gouranga, Serbia, Initiation lecture)
We have received the (holy) name a long time ago, right? The maha mantra has been with us for a long time. Still it is said that at the time of initiation, the spiritual master is giving us the harinama. And why is that?
You could sort of say it’s something like a birthday and you get the gift, open the box and then say that you already got that, “Gosh, I’m getting the harinama but I’ve got that years ago.”
But no, it is not like that. Actually, what is there now is that the spiritual master has rendered service to Krsna and with that service, he has purchased the mercy of Krsna. At the time of initiation, the spiritual master gives us the holy name along with his prayers to Krsna. He prays on our behalf to Krsna and says, “My dear Lord, please bestow your mercy upon this devotee.”
In this way, when we go before Krsna, we are not alone. We are not just judged on our own performance but we go with our spiritual master who has credit with Krsna so then, Krsna is inclined. Therefore, it is very important to have that prayer. The spiritual master’s prayer is not a one-time prayer, it is an ongoing prayer.
It stays with us throughout our spiritual life and at the end of our life, when we come before Krsna, are we going back or not? The big question, are we making it or not? The prayer of the spiritual master puts weight on the scale, more weight even than our own.
Therefore we say that more important in our spiritual life are the blessings from the spiritual master, the prayer from the spiritual master. That is the most powerful factor, therefore it is important to receive the harinama in this way!
