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EDITORIAL  About the AuthorOther Stories by this Author The Heritage Of The Smarta Vaisnavism BY SWAMI B.A. PARAMADVAITI  EDITORIAL, Sep 17 (VNN) — Dear Vaisnavas, Today we were meditating on the generosity of Srila Bhaktivinod Thakur and his appreciation of other devotees, including those who search for the truth in other traditions. This sentiment of his is so outstanding and enchanting. Yet, it is surprising that even among those who claim to follow in his disciplic succession, an incredible amount of sectarianism and narrow mindedness still prevails. Some people teach their disciples that they are the only way to the highest truth. They utilize the high esoteric teachings of our acharyas in this connection. In other words they differentiate the surrender to one's spiritual master with the process of achieving highest bhakti. They go so far as to say that even initiated Gaudiya Vaisnavas Acharyas in our line are only vartmana-pradarsaka- gurus, and that neither they nor their disciples will be benefited with the highest truth save and except if they come to this particular person or his mission. That means that whoever preaches in this sectarian way denies the power of the maha-mantra, the mercy of the caitya-guru and the validity of our living tradition. In contrast to that, hear what Bhaktivinode said: Those who are anxious for the blessings of God are our brothers in faith, whatever error there may be in their ideas and form of worship. Or what about his other quote: "Sectarianism is the worse enemy of truth." But it is not surprising that such distorted claims of uniqueness are coming even from people born in India, last not least India is the land where smart-Brahminism was born. To clarify, smart-brahmanism is the sense that people claim superiority over others on the basis of their birth or their knowledge disregarding the qualities or devotion which may be in others. Nobody denies the validity of association with a real loving saint, but loving saints do not destroy the Guru-disciple relationships or disregard the efforts others make to find the truth and to please Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. We are happy to say in contrast that there were others Vaisnavas Acaryas who thought and acted perfectly. The most outstanding example here is my own spiritual master Srila Prabhupad who even risked to give sannyas to his western born disciples, and who requested all of his disciples to become genuine spiritual masters in the Gaudy Vaisnava tradition. He never said that you should not start preaching until you have realized your spiritual form in the spiritual world. As a matter of fact he never told anybody of his own spiritual body in the spiritual world. But he realized the great need of real local Vaisnava saints if the movement of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu was going to be successful all over the world because personal trust and personal relationship is a fundamental principal of surrender. A number of saints have carried this message forward. Srila Bhaktiraksak Sridhar Maharaj accepted and expanded on the work of Srila Prabhupad. He told us: "Everybody must be happily accommodated in the family of Krsna consciousness." He encouraged the disciples of Srila Prabhupad to initiate others in the spiritual life and he embraced all spiritual masters and his disciples in his loving mood. Srila Bhaktipramode Puri Maharaj agreed that western and Eastern followers of Lord Caitanya should work together as equals to defend the dignity of Lord Caitanya in the world. As president of the World V.A. he realized that to accommodate the feelings of other Acharyas, their disciples and their feelings for their gurus is not an easy thing. It is not synonymous with memorizing many slokas from rasik literature. It is not synonymous with personal name, fame and influence in the Vaisnava world. Neither is it synonymous with having a big mission or having the most exalted Guru himself; such mature realization which qualifies a person to become even the Guru of other Gurus, depends on the love and generous mercy which emanates from such a person, which attracts other Vaisnavas to them and which enables them to harmonize all the feelings in one great love and ecstasy. Such a soul is rarely found. I pray that these few lines may clarify some of the doubts which have arisen in the mind of many of my god brothers and other Vaisnavas as well in recent years. I offer my obeisances to all those readers of this article, and especially pray for the mercy of all those who sincerely try to please their spiritual masters, so one day I may become a sincere servant of my spiritual masters. Your aspiring servant, Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti About the Author Other Stories by this AuthorComment on this storyContact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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