"The aṣṭa-kālīya-līlā and related topics that you have heard about from Vaiṣṇavas in Vṛndāvana is undoubtedly worshipable. Yet how these pastimes are conceived in the state of infestation by anarthas is not at all worshipable. By repeated chanting, a special individual is capable of knowing these matters, which is the identity of the svarūpa. By attainment of anartha-nivṛtti, one’s svarūpa is automatically awakened and the eternal mode of thinking that is innate to it manifests. Those who profess to teach or reveal this identity are deceitful, for it cannot be done.
"On the other hand, if a devotee receives some inspiration after sincerely chanting for a long time, he should go to the sad-guru or an advanced devotee and ask that it be confirmed and purified by him. The svarūpa has eleven (ekādaśa) aspects. There are many cases of unscrupulous gurus who artificially force-feed these topics to unqualified practitioners, yet that cannot be called a symptom of spiritual perfection. Those who have achieved svarūpa-siddhi gain such realization through internal revelation; the guru’s only involvement is to assist his disciples’ ongoing advancement. As a sādhaka progresses toward siddhi, all these things are naturally revealed within the sevonmukha heart."
--Bhaktisiddanta’s Letter, (17 November 1930) Patravali 2.89-90
