(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 1 August 2020, Radhadesh, Belgium, Initiation Ceremony Lecture)
By taking initiation, there are such powerful blessings which are passed, that practically our journey back to the spiritual world is guaranteed. We just simply do our level best, whatever that is, as good as we can. To follow this for our lives and surely, then success will be there. So it is a very joyous occasion. It is a serious matter also. One question we can raise is that how can one take a vow for one’s whole life? How do we know what it would be like in ten years’ time? It maybe be very different. How can we really promise for our whole life? We are promising for our whole life praying to Krsna to somehow or other help us to make it possible to develop love for Him. We are praying to all the vaisnavas to make it possible. Only then, it can be done. Although we promise for our whole life, it is just like climbing a mountain and we are going to the top. We have an idea of the path that we are going to go but while we are climbing, we are paying attention to what is in front of us. So in this way, we are focusing on the present, although we are trying to last for a lifetime. We do it by making our spiritual life a success today. We are investing in our spiritual life today and to make the best possible offering to Krsna. And in this way, we make a plan to chant our 16 rounds and we go forward.
The initiation is the beginning of a long journey on the way to the spiritual world. But it is possible to make it successful in this lifetime. That is our desire. Our desire is to somehow or other make that desire complete in this lifetime, not by our perfect sadhana, not that we are going to be the best devotees, probably not. As time goes on, we realise that maybe we are just average at best. But with time, we realise that the mercy of the vaisnavas is very powerful, so we hang onto that mercy. Somehow or other, that mercy will bring us home.