By Kesava Krsna Dasa
How many of us wonder, “If I ever attain the level of raga-bhakti, who in Iskcon will be able to guide me? We are emphasising sadhana bhakti too much. Maybe I’ll have to seek someone elsewhere who can do so…” Will such doubt and uncertainty help us find someone capable, or does the answer lie somewhere much closer to home?
If these sorts of improbabilities arise after taking initiation, it is a dangerous position to be. We have to ask, “Where is that faith in the instructions of the spiritual master to lead us to spiritual success? Why weren’t these misgivings allayed, before taking initiation?
Would Srila Prabhupada be content to set up Iskcon for us, only to keep us wondering where something higher might be? Do we take initiation into the parampara to expect mediocre or less results? “Perhaps a rasika guru will help me reach the highest goal…” one may surmise.
If anyone has doubt and uncertainty then it is not a symptom of an assured devotional mentality. While going through the motions of anartha-nivritti (unwanted desires) and experiencing fluctuating ups and downs, and being frustrated at one’s lack of progress, one may think ahead with unclear vision. That murky vision can cause any number of mixed desires to sprout.
These desires will be forged with extra cloudiness caused by lack of faith in the spiritual master and his teachings. It is easy to ease our estimation, then try to rationalise our position – remaining unhappy and uninspired. Naturally, one will seek some form of relief while keeping one’s reputation intact. To act independently or whimsically is the usual result.
“A person who cannot keep his faith in the words of his spiritual master but acts independently never receives the authority to chant the holy name of the Lord.” (CC Adi 7. 95-96 purport)
Any number of situations can arise from losing faith in one’s spiritual master, or Srila Prabhupada. Dredging through the murky uncertainties, we feel as if the orders of the spiritual master are a unglamorous, monotonous drag. “Do I have to stay within Iskcon…?” While feeling like this, we minimise the importance of faith that our spiritual master can deliver everything. Then we wonder if we can be helped in more progressive stages of Bhakti.
All this speculation can at once be corrected by rediscovering precious sraddha. We can ask of ourselves, “Is there any record of Srila Prabhupada having taken guidance from a ‘rasika’ guru?” How many times did Srila Prabhupada personally meet his spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta?
Aside from being connected to his spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada had implicit faith in his orders, and in the power of chanting Hare Krishna. By reading Srila Prabhupada’s renditions of the “ yasya deve para bhaktir…” verse along with his explanations, we can understand how he attained perfection.
Why would Srila Prabhupada set up the same success formula that worked for him – by creating Iskcon for us – only to make us think, “There must be something more…?” If we can re-examine our stagnancy and restore it to pristine simplicity, by associating with faithful vaisnavas, there is no limit to our rejuvenation. Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu when speaking to Prakasananda Sarasvati has shown such simple faith:
“I firmly believe in these words of My spiritual master, and therefore I always chant the holy name of the Lord, alone and in the association of devotees. That holy name of Lord Krishna sometimes causes Me to chant and dance, and therefore I chant and dance. Please do not think that I intentionally do it. I do it automatically.”
Will the sceptic conclude that, “Srila Prabhupada is a liberated soul… Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the Supreme Lord. Who are we in comparison…?”
In answer to this, we can also ask, “Would Srila Prabhupada or Lord Chaitanya set something impossible for us?” Srila Prabhupada writes:
“It appears from the talks of Lord Chaitanya that a person who cannot keep his faith in the words of the spiritual master and who acts independently cannot attain the desired success in chanting Hare Krishna. In the Vedic literatures it is stated that the import of all transcendental literature is revealed to one who has unflinching faith in the Supreme Lord and his spiritual master. Lord Chaitanya firmly believed in the statements of His spiritual master, and He never neglected the instruction of His spiritual master by stopping His sankirtana movement. Thus the transcendental potency of the holy name encouraged Him more and more in chanting Hare Krishna, the maha-mantra.”
While reading this, one may still reason, “But we still need the guidance of rasika vaisnavas when we get to a certain stage of advancement. Nectar of Devotion says we must follow in the footsteps of Ragatmikas…”
Then our response must be, “Isn’t Srila Prabhupada a ragatmika, though we may not know his eternal identity yet?”
There is a problem with thinking ahead the incorrect way, based on uncertainty. If any devotee has that implicit faith, he or she would never think like this. A faithful follower will be assured and endeavour with confidence. With this certainty, one’s faith alone ensures sure guidance. This faith has such power to do so. Srila Prabhupada is evidence of this. “Therefore faith in the words of the spiritual master and in the Supreme Personality of Godhead is the secret of success.” (CC Adi 7.95-96)
Srila Prabhupada set up our success formula in the shape of Iskcon. With the difficulties facing us within, it may be hard to see where any success can triumph. But spiritual success is often earned through the most demanding and materially impossible situations. Do we have the faith to endure?
“Not true…” one may protest. “You must have either blind faith or be a fanatic to endure all this.”
This may be true if we endure just for the sake of it, or for some type of social security. But faith can appear to be an extreme commodity. Unflinching faith in the guru is extreme by any standard. But it is the same inner and outer assurance that guides us. If we lose track of this, we end up in limbo. How deep must this faith be? Srila Prabhupada explains:
“Even if there appears to be some discrepancy according to an imperfect devotee’s estimation, the devotee should be fixed in the conviction that even if his spiritual master goes to a liquor shop, he is not a drunkard; rather, he must have some purpose in going there. It is said in a Bengali poem: “Even if I see that Lord Nityananda has entered a liquor shop, I shall not be diverted from my conclusion that Nityananda Raya is the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” (CC Antya 3.11)
We can apply the same reasoning to the fact that there might be problems within Iskcon, there might appear to be a dearth of ‘rasika’ devotees within, there might be emphasis on sadhana-bhakti and so on, but still – the success formula is here. Can our faith handle this truth?
We can apply the necessity of faith in the spiritual master as an extra dimension to the, “vyavasayatmika buddhir…” verse. (BG 2.41) The “ekena” or oneness of focus allowed Srila Prabhupada to always feel the immediate presence of his spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta.
The same Srila Bhaktisiddhanta defined our guru parampara – “Krishna hoite catur mukhe…” Out of thousands of vaisnavas in history, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, through his own “ekena” loyalty, picked out the worthy vaisnavas who stood out as acaryas, in spite of time lapses and other apparent inconsistencies. So keen was his selection that he wanted to ensure “ekena” fidelity. Not everyone could recognise his intentions or agree with him.
That same loyalty is presented to us, and still, how many of us are ungrateful? How many of us think we deserve something special out of this, even though we are simple beggars of mercy?
“I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him.”
“This gives the definition of the guru. Everyone is in the darkness of ignorance. Therefore everyone needs to be enlightened with transcendental knowledge. One who enlightens his disciple and saves him from rotting in the darkness of ignorance in this material world is a true guru.” (SB 6.15.16)
If our faith is not strong, our spiritual results will not manifest. A deep transcendental bond is created by sincere, simple faith. This bond bridges any material or spiritual distance – it is always immediate, guiding and assuring. This is rasika guidance in action. Can not the holy names award all success and also guide us as well? Who gave us the holy names? With this guidance, the teachings of the spiritual master will reveal themselves.
“Unless one is blessed by the spiritual master, or the acarya, such teachings cannot become fully manifest.” (TLC)
While some of us wonder about the ‘limitations’ of sadhana-bhakti, and of our fellow devotees to help guide us, and of the ability of the spiritual master, or Srila Prabhupada to deliver us – with unhappy half faith – there is the mood of deserving something we are not yet qualified to receive. When we are truly ready for higher raga bhakti, we’ll know about it, just as we can know if our chanting of Hare Krishna is proper or not.
This sense of knowing – coming from the guru situated in our hearts, and from without through many enlightened fellow vaisnavas, and from Sri Nama Prabhu – is different from the fickleness, uncertainty, doubt and ungratefulness besieging an undeserving attitude.
“This is called guru-krpa. It is Krishna-prasada, Krishna’s mercy, that He sends a bona fide spiritual master to the deserving disciple. By the mercy of Krishna, one meets the bona fide spiritual master, and by the mercy of the spiritual master, the disciple is fully trained in the devotional service of the Lord.” (CC Madhya 19.152)
It is undoubtedly the Lord’s mercy that we hear and associate with sincere vaisnavas, but not all will share or appreciate the same “ekena” fidelity to the success formula given by Srila Prabhupada, and our Sri Guru Parampara. Why is this important? Is it being narrow-minded to think like this?
Why in the past would Srila Prabhupada variously say, “Just one word different…then the whole thing is spoiled…?” We may hear from other vaisnavas speaking the same siddhanta, but still not realise that their words or appreciation might contain subtle criticisms, or be off tangent as to the “ekena” focus. Yet we may be willing to accept ‘raga’ guidance while having our faith in our spiritual master minimised. We’ll never achieve success this way.
“Spiritual inspiration comes from within the heart, wherein the Supreme Personality of Godhead, in His Paramätmä feature, is always sitting with all His devotees and associates.” (CC concluding words)
In truth, only a relatively few disciples will understand the inner imports of the spiritual master. Those fortunate disciples can attain the highest desired goals because of their “ekena” faith. Anxieties about raga-requirements will not affect them. In addition, those sort of vaisnavas are in the know – assured, confident and convinced. Such is the home comfort of faith in Sri Guru.
This is sambandha-jnana in practice. Being nestled within the home of certainty, a faithful disciple will not be bewildered about the application of abhidheya-jnana, in which bhava-bhakti develops naturally in a deserving soul. Here lies the answer to the question, “Where is my higher guru?”
Our solid sambandha makes our chanting of Hare Krishna authorised. This authority is further encouragement in our service to the vaisnavas and our mission. All is meant to successfully help us home in to the highest prayojana reality. We should count ourselves very lucky to be living in such a home.
Ys Kesava Krsna Dasa – GRS
Nice article, but too many words to explain relatively little. Everything is in the books, but ISKCON Gurus and devotees in general are too attached to remaining kaniṣṭhas.
The essence is simply that if only the so-called devotees in ISKCON endeavor to chant offenselessly by uprooting the minutest residual traces of hypocrisy within their minds, will Harināma automatically reveal everything to them without any extraneous endeavor.
The illiterate brhamana was simply told to read Bhagavada Gita every day. His rasa became manifested by crying when he saw the picture of Krishna driving Arjuna’s chariot. Then Lord Caitanya appeared to him directly. So rasika can become manifest by following whatever we are instructed by our Guru.
The foundation of rasa is a service attitude. I can’t imagine a service that will be more appreciated by Srila Prabhupada then cooperating to spread ISKCON. And those on the highest level of rasa are manifesting their love for Krishna by assisting in spreading the Lords Sankirtana Movement.
I tell people I am not sectarian but also explain why I am committed to serving ISKCON exclusively. If a person can’t come to the level of understand the difference between gratitude for Srila Prabhupada and sectarianism they will most likely leave ISKCON at some point and that is their prerogative. But the more we discuss these points, in a rational manner, the more likely it is that people will see our commitment to Srila Prabhupada as based on a universal virtue(gratitude) as opposed to thinking we are simply not open minded. So this discussion is extremely important.
First develop raga for chanting Hare Krsna without offences and chanting 64 rounds as Srila Prabhupada and all our acaryas also taught.Without the raga to Sri Nama Prabhu, how can there be development of ragamarg…and we should have raga for distributing Srila Prabhupadas books, doing Harinama, serving the Arca Vigraha, reading Srimad Bhagavatam ,sadhusanga and so on..then gradually raga will come
I like the example of the brahmana relishing devotional mellows by ‘reading’ Bhagavad-Gita, on the strength of the spiritual master’s allocation of service.
In regards to the 64 rounds original desire by Srila Prabhupada, isn’t there already a provision to chant as many rounds as one is qualified to chant, because the of the minimum 16 rounds order? There is no limit to how many rounds one can chant.
If the inference is that we all should be chanting 64 rounds a day, and that it is something that should be implemented, then we’ll have hardly any devotees around to maintain our temples and so on.
I have known of devotees who did chant 64 rounds a day, even in the holy dhama, but reported little or no real progress. Why…? There has to be a natural progression to be able to, not just chant 64 rounds a day, but to maintain it thereafter. Even so, there is no guarantee that one will succeed or attain bhava-bhakti.
On the other hand, a sincere devotee, who on the strength of following the orders of the spiritual master, chants 16 excellent rounds, can attain the same.
Of course, 64 rounds a day is better, but depending on faith and sincerity, and the quality of chanting, these should differentiate from numbers only. But there may be a time in the future of Iskcon where 64 rounds might be a minimum requirement, say for initiating gurus and sannyasis.
Ys Kesava Krsna Dasa.
As far as the minimum prescribed number of rounds is concerned, I personally think we should leave it up to sixteen, as Srila Prabhupada prescribed…
Why ?
For several reasons:
– first of all, we are not a Movement of bhajananandis but of goshtananandis…
We are preachers… We are not just concerned with our own liberation or our own spiritual elevation. We are concerned witth the welfare of others and we need time to be able to reach out to them…
– secondly, we need to work hard and engage in a variety of seva to run our temples, as well as maintain our families… If 8 or more hours a day are spent chanting japa, another 2 to 3 engaging into the rest of the spiritual program, 1 in eating and 1 in cleaning plus 6 to 7 in sleeping, what is the time left for any other activity, not counting transportation time, etc.
It seems that this type of program may be possible for sedentary monks or devotees who are living at home on a pension and have no other important spiritual engagement or preaching involvement…
– at last, it may not only be a matter of quantity of chanting, but of quality of chanting ! But this is for each devotee to see and go deeper in his/her chanting, with all the sincerity at his/her command.
In any case, if chanting more rounds is the cause for developping some pride and considering oneself superior to other devotees, then one will have defeated one’s own purpose !
Moreover, within such a proud frame of mind, one will fail to reach the goal, which is the constant chanting of the Holy Name, achievable only by wearing the trinad api sunicena verse like a garland around one’s neck.
This is a subtle point !
One doesn’t conquer Nama Prabhu like one may climb a mountain over and over again ! Neither should one consider one’s japa beads like a home trainer, measuring the distance or the number of rounds covered…
It is all about getting the mercy of Nama Prabhu…
It is all about worshiping Him, doing puja to Him, while chanting…
Then, Nama Prabhu, by His own grace and on His own accord – and by the mercy of Sri Guru generously bestowed to those who sincerely and whole-heartedly serve his mission while fulfilling their prescribed duties – will generously agree to flow down from the heart of the devotee into his mind and come and dance on his tongue…
It is not a mechanical process !
It is a devotional process…
Bhakti is the clue…
It seems a lot easier to speculate about the qualifications of various gurus than to work on developing the qualifications of a disciple.
It may be another trick of maya for us to believe that the problems that trouble, concern or frighten us are caused by anyone but ourselves. Being so deceived, we busy ourselves with looking for faults and disqualifications of others.
In Bhagavad-gita, Krishna promises that to those who are constantly devoted and worship Him with love, He gives the understanding by which they can come to Him. If we have faith in those words we can rest assured that we will get whatever guidance and association we need and deserve — or *more* than we deserve — if we just remain diligent in prosecuting devotional service.
It is by the grace of Krishna that we get a bona fide spiritual master, and by the grace of the spiritual master the bona fide disciple will get Krishna. It is simple and does not require a lot of debating or quarreling or joining various camps and cliques.
In ISKCON we have everything we need to become as advanced in Krishna consciousness as we want. We have many senior devotees who are steadily following Srila Prabhupada’s instructions, we have Srila Prabhupada’s books and lectures, we have a noble cause in our mission to spread the Sankirtan movement everywhere, there are unlimited service opportunities.
It is only our false egos that cause us to hold ourselves back, to blame others around us, our association, the “system”, the leadership, even our spiritual master (or somebody else’s spiritual master).
Not that we should turn a blind eye to discrepancies in leaders when they exist, or seek constructively to improve our systems of organization and cooperation. If we need to make some adjustment we should do so, prudently, with guidance from experienced well-wishers. However, we should always be introspective enough and realistic enough to be ready to appraise our own deficiencies.
I may have shared this history before on the pages of Dandavats. There was a young American bhakta at Mayapur one year that wanted to be a babaji, simply chanting all the time in solitude. He approached Srila Prabhupad about this, and Srila Prabhupad told him that he did not advise this. Nonetheless, the bhakta built a small canvas lean-to off in the field about 100-200 years off in the field, in sight of Srila Prabhupad’s veranda. The bhakta went off there to begin his own program, but within a day, he was gone. We never heard from him again. The issue of remembering the Holy Name is that it is advised both by Srila Prabhupad and by Lord Chaitanya, that it be remembered “constantly”…kirtaniyah sada hari. Sada means always.
Srila Prabhupad has given the potent examples of the village ladies carrying baskets or waterpots on their heads, balancing them while they may walk about, child in hand, through the marketplace. This balance is the art of remembering Krishna at all times regardless of the external situation. It is, of course, and ideal, but it is possible with love. When we shall be bless with love for Krishna, it shall become very pleasant to remember Krishna at all times. Pusta Krishna das
I think there should be balance. We should not discourage devotees to chant more. I had personal expirences in ISKCON that devotees discouraged devotees without proper reason particular devotees who chanted more. This devotees did even more service then those who were chanting “the standard 16 rounds” and even had time to read unlike those who chanted 16 rounds. But there is no need to take external position of babaji or whatever for the sake of name, fame, glory. One can live simple devotional life and chant all the time. To chant more doesnt depend on some material situation.