Question: Is Guru Guru and Nothing Else?Gurudeva,NamasteMy questions are:Have you seen real life after this unreal life?andWho is a better guru, the internal guru or external guru, who can safely perfect your life and lead you to Godhead in the present life?Yours in yogaJanardan V. MaliAnswer: No. Guru is a Manifestation of KrishnaBy the grace of my spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, I am constantly living in the real eternal life beyond this temporary material life.We cannot say that one manifestation of Krishna is better than another manifestation of Krishna. According to the Srimad Bhagavatam, 11th canto, chapter 29, text 6, Krishna Himself appears both as the Supersoul within the heart and externally as the acharya or spiritual master:naivopayanty apacitiṁ kavayas taveśabrahmāyuṣāpi kṛtam ṛddha-mudaḥ smarantaḥyo 'ntar bahis tanu-bhṛtām aśubhaṁ vidhunvannācārya-caittya-vapuṣā sva-gatiṁ vyanakti"O my Lord! Transcendental poets and experts in spiritual science could not fully express their indebtedness to You, even if they were endowed with the prolonged lifetime of Brahma, for You appear in two features—externally as the acharya and internally as the Supersoul—to deliver the embodied living being by directing him how to come to You."In this connection it is also important to understand the following point explained by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in his purport to Caitanya Caritamrita, Adi 1.44:"Every living entity is essentially a servant of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and the spiritual master is also His servant. Still, the spiritual master is a direct manifestation of the Lord. With this conviction, a disciple can advance in Krishna consciousness. The spiritual master is nondifferent from Krishna because he is a manifestation of Krishna."Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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