The 10 Principles
Principle Two
Principle Three
Principle Four
Principle Five
Principle Six
Principle Seven
Principle Eight
Principle Nine
Principle Ten
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10. Practice Then Preach
“Practically you have to behave; then you can preach.” (Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 16.7 — Hyderabad, December 15, 1976)
“So that is part of our business to preach, but to practice personally, that is our main business. To practice personally, that is our main business. Not that everyone will be preacher, but at least his own life be perfect.” (Room Conversation — June 24, 1976, New Vrindaban)
“Try to understand its philosophy, apply in life, and try to distribute this knowledge.” (Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 2.17 — Hyderabad, November 22, 1972)
“Unless one practices devotional service himself, he cannot teach it to others. This conclusion is indeed confirmed throughout the Gita and Bhagavatam.” CC Adi 3.21
In Bhagavad-Gita 18.68, Krishna promises:
“For one who explains this supreme secret to the devotees, pure devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me.”
Please read our article: ‘Two Life-changing Secrets of the Bhagavad-Gita’, wherein we illustrate the following:
- Regular discussion of Bhagavad-Gita equates to surrendering to Krishna. By surrendering to Krishna we are protected from our karmic suffering.
- By then teaching others to do likewise, we can go back home to Godhead.
The idea behind this tenth principle is that we must first attain Krishna’s shelter before we can help others to do likewise.
“So Caitanya Mahāprabhu said that ‘Before becoming preacher, before endeavoring yourself to do good to others, you just perfect yourself.’ ‘Physician, heal thyself.’” (Caitanya-caritamrta, February 10th 1967 - San Francisco)
However, please remember that even while helping others, never give up the discussion sessions you do for your own purification.
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