Kadamba Kanana Swami gave a deep insightful lecture in Leipzig with His Holiness Kavicandra Swami. There was also a joyous initiation ceremony and super ecstatic Kirtans."Initiation is very important and of great help in our spiritual life. We can see that Srila Prabhupada within our movement very much formalised this process of initiation where formal vows are taken.
Previously it was not like that. Previously they weren’t these questions:
‘What are the four regulative principles and how many rounds do you promise to chant?”
But Prabhupada knew for the modern man, man of this age, unless he promises it out loud in front of the Deities and the vaishnavas and everyone- he thinks:
‘Well I didn’t promise this, I am not obliged’
And therefore the vows of initiation will also stand for our protection. We are making these vows in front of the Deities, front of the spiritual master, in front of Krishna, in front of the vaishnavas - we are bound, we are bound to them.
(Kadamba Kanana Swami, Leipzig August 2010)
