© 1999 VNN
|
EDITORIAL December 15, 1999 VNN5083 Comment on this story Choosing To Hear Or Not To Hear The Sadhus BY MADAN MOHAN DASA EDITORIAL, Dec 15 (VNN) — Dear VNN readers, please accept my dandavat pranams. All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga! Having just read something very astonishing by Om Visnupada Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura I felt moved to share some thoughts with my fellow aspiring Vaishnavas on the eve of my annual pilgrimage to India for the Vraja-mandala parikrama in Karttika. These are the words that struck my heart: "The spiritual world is realizable in and through the words of the sadhu. The spiritual realm cannot be seen by the mortal eye, nor touched by the hand of flesh. Neither is it the closed ear that can hear the true voice of the sadhu. The ear of the soul is to be opened to the spiritual sound. In other words one is to listen to the words of the sadhu with the conviction that the words themselves are identical with the object they signify, that if the words are only received by the fully receptive rational impulse the whole indivisible substantive reality will stand self-revealed. If the result is otherwise it can only be due to the deliberate withholding of one's full attention..." (Excerpted from an article entitled "Circumambulation of Navadvipa Dhama" by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Prabhupada, first published February 1932 in The Harmonist, reproduced in Rays of the Harmonist, Gaura Purnima 1999) So many times I have had the experience of being in the holy dhama, situated at the lotus feet of one or more pure Vaishnava sadhus while they bestow their full mercy in the form of sweet Hari-katha, while finding my mind wandering anywhere but towards the subject matter being presented. I always presumed I was the unfortunate victim of insufficient adhikara, some other grievous mundane affliction or external circumstance that prevented me from hearing properly. Never had it occured to me, until I read the above-excerpted lecture, that my lack of proper attention was due to my own wilful choice simply not to hear. Staggering! Then so much else suddenly "clicked". I have taken a well-established stance of writing articles on VNN in direct opposition to all bogus interpretations of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, especially against the very most prominent "alternatives" of "GBC Iskconism" and the now fashionable "ritvikism". Some success has come in terms of helping to strengthen faith in the process of associating directly with pure Vaishnavas, which I understand to be the single and only means by which Krishna-prema can be attained. Several totally misdirected and abused aspirants have written to express renewed determination to follow Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada's "prime directive" to always seek out the sanga of pure Vaishnavas in order to make some actual progress on the path of Krishna consciousness. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura's lecture continued: "...It is in one's power to correct this error of method when it is pointed out by the sadhu. In proportion as the receptive attentive hearing is perfected, the true import of the words of the sadhu manifests itself to the soul of the hearer. It is necessary to offer this form of service by the way of the preliminary on the threshold of the realm of divinity by all those who really want to enter there..." So here I stand exposed for my hypocrisy, but nonetheless mercifully corrected in my false self-estimation and pretense as "preacher", when clearly I remain outside the divine threshold, for the time being at least. This is the primary objection to the activities of false gurus. They claim to be able to lead others into the spiritual world, when they themselves have neither entered that domain, nor have even grasped the rudimentary facts of how such entry is attained. If we were trained as priests in an orthodox Christian tradition, most likely those of us who have 10, 20 or even 30 years of experience in the preaching field would now be well established with a regular salary, a secure church-funded house and our own "flock" of congregational members to lead into the promised land. Not so on the path of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Hence many a frustrated "wannabe guru" looking for status through institutional ladder-climbing or sad attempts at glory through reformation of the unreformable. Genuine intermediary priests and gurus can hold but one honest position, which is to convey to juniors and newcomers something like: "I am not a qualified person. I am a mere student serving under pure Vaishnavas who alone can engage you properly under their merciful guidance to lead you to Sri Krishna's sacred abode of pure love. If you are to make any progress at all on the path of Krishna consciousness, you must go and take shelter directly at the lotus feet of such rare and exalted sadhus. Approach respectfully, make relevant enquiries, hear them with full attention and serve them with your whole life energy. Only then will you achieve success." Unfortunately such honest intermediaries seem almost as rare as pure Vaishnavas themselves, but nonetheless are likewise always present to help sincere apirants and seekers on their journey towards divine loving bliss. The temptation to be guru rather than serve guru is the greatest stumbling block of all for neophytes on this path. Cutting straight to the heart of today's situation, the worldwide Krishna consciousness movement is currently polarised into two camps. The first group promotes the value of direct sanga with pure Vaishnavas over and above all other aspects of the bhakti-sadhana process. The second group is wholeheartedly dedicated to preventing as many aspiring Vaishnavas as possible from entering into the direct association of pure Vaishnavas. The "pro sadhu-sanga" group empowers sadhakas through the inevitable purification of such direct sanga and the concomitant gradual awakening of divine love within the heart of the individual aspirant. The "anti sadhu-sanga" group disempowers sadhakas through exposure to incessant blasphemy of pure Vaishnavas, unauthorised interpretation of scripture and the concomitant inculcation of fear and sectarian hatred within the heart of the individual aspirant. There is only one Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy, one process of attaining Krishna-prema, as universally taught and recommended by all acaryas in the Gaudiya Vaishnava bhagavata-guru parampara of instructing spiritual masters. Accepting guidance within the direct sanga of pure Vaishnavas is the primary process for attaining Krishna-prema. Opposition to or avoidance of such pure sanga is not a viable alternative to the process of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, nor do any such alternatives to attaining pure Krishna-prema actually exist. Formal diksa initiation is no guarantee whatsoever of the transmission of divya-jnana from guru to disciple. Diksa is not a ceremonial event, but an ongoing process of hearing directly from the lotus mouths of pure Vaishnavas and serving their lotus feet with full faith, gradually imbibing their mood of loving service to Sri Gauranga/Sri Sri Radha Krishna. It is of the utmost importance for any newcomer to Krishna consciousness to be properly instructed so that an informed choice can be made as to how and where to proceed, with what specific goal in mind. In straightforward terms both "anti sadhu-sanga" manifestations of "GBC Iskconism" and "ritvikism" represent the attempts of unqualified men to engage bewildered souls in their own self-aggrandizing control dramas, to the ultimate detriment of all parties, both initiating and participating in such useless life-wasting activities. This tragic current scenario has no connection whatsover with the teachings of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, nor can the transparent mundane motivations of any such pseudo-gurus be hidden by the mere re-writing of institutional "lawbooks", the donning of Vaishnava apparel or the shouting down of all opponents by screaming "Jaya Prabhupada" with zero comprehension of the nature of Sri Guru. Such pretenders have simply chosen not to hear their claimed guru in favour of aspiring to hold his position. To serve God or to be God is our ultimate choice. Being at all times utterly impossible, the latter is not an intelligent pursuit. Time is passing very rapidly for all conditioned souls. The rare opportunity of human birth is a brief flash in time, a window of opportunity not meant to be frittered away in pursuit of worthless mundane ambitions. Every moment is precious. Every moment spent either not hearing or not serving pure Vaishnavas according to their actual essential instructions is time wasted. I like to clear my mind before visiting the holy dhama, not to be carrying any misunderstandings or bad feelings with me when I approach the most sacred places in the universe, where Sri Krishna and His nearest and dearest have danced and played for the benefit of all conditioned souls in this world. The arguments in favour of avoiding pure sadhu-sanga and following the guidance of ambitious mortal men have never been established with anything approaching even the merest hint of credibility according to the ultimate truth-test of guru, sadhu and sastra. Yet a vast number of aspiring Vaishnavas worlwide remain in a state of fear and confusion confounded by the mischievous rumour-mongering and emotional blackmail imposed on them by so many would-be "gurus" and "well-wishers". My Gurudeva, Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Gosvami Maharaja, has illuminated for me something of the glories of both Prabhupadas, Bhaktisiddhanta and Bhaktivedanta Swami, neither of whom I could possibly have even slightly understood merely by academic study or hearing the opinions of other conditioned souls. To even begin to understand a sadhu requires the guidance of another sadhu who fully knows his heart and innermost desires. For a baddha-jiva to claim understanding of any nitya-siddha associate of Sri Krishna - independent of any properly qualified guidance - is at best empty pretense, at worst spiritual suicide. I wrote this especially in homage to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada, who I know for certain in his own time would have ripped to shreds all such impertinent pretenders to the treasure-house of prema-bhakti, at whose doors he stands as the most authoritative and formidable guardian. Yet I feel certain that for all sincere and soft-hearted seekers he will very happily welcome them over the threshold into the topmost exalted realms of Vraja, arranging direct pure guidance at every step. So, with his words I would like to clarify both my mind and the minds of any readers with whom I just wanted to share a few thoughts: "...The pilgrim is required to give up his preference for pseudo-knowledge if he is to be benefited by his pilgrimage of the divine realm under the guidance of the sadhu who has a natural and exclusive attachment for the real truth. The guidance of the sadhu is necessary for enabling him to lend his full attention to his words by discarding all explicit or latent partiality for untruth. The function of the cognitive faculty is to be relieved from the consequences of its wilful and perpetual attraction towards untruth. Guidance for such an end is not any curtailment of one's freedom of rational choice. The rational faculty is only then true to itself when it submits to be guided by a competent person in the quest of the truth which is located beyond his reach. It is prepared to submit for its instinctive and causeless love for the truth." To hear or not to hear directly from the lotus mouths of pure Vaishnavas. There is only one intelligent choice, if Krishna-prema is truly the goal to which we aspire. Your servant aspiring for the service of Sri Guru & Gauranga, Madan Mohan dasa. Please send any comments or responses to Madan Mohan dasa at: 106650.1421@compuserve.com Gaura Premanande! About the Author  Other Stories by this AuthorComment on this story Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
NEWS DESK | EDITORIALS | TOP |
