You should know that the backbone of kṛṣṇa-bhakti is guru-niṣṭhā — unalloyed faith in Śrī Guru. If one has no guru-niṣṭhā, he has no bhakti at all. In the Indian tradition, in Vedic culture, from ancient times up to now, it was essential to accept a bona fide guru. Nowadays, however, the Western breeze is also coming towards India, and thus India is rejecting all these principles. We are especially rejecting guru. Instead we think, “What is Gurudeva? Gurudeva is nothing. There is no need of Gurudeva.”
If you want to be happy you should accept a highly qualified guru and Guru-paramparā. If you do not do so, you will have to experience the miseries of old age and death. When you die, whatever you have collected in your life cannot be taken with you. Always remember that death is sure. No one can save you from death. What, then, will become of these palatial buildings and the many other things you have collected? Try to understand this. By guru-bhakti our lives will be changed and we will be happy forever.
February 11, 2001 Singapore