By Pusta Krishna das
I am presenting this to the readers of Dandavats.com in order to illustrate how misdirected and speculative the attempts of searching for the truth can be when not guided by the genuine spiritual teacher or Acharya. We must be mindful how fortunate we are to have the guidance of Srila Prabhupada in our day to day and even moment to moment spiritual practices. My comments are in relation to the cover article for the April 28, 2014 Time Magazine entitled “Let There Be Dark.”
Pusta Krishna das
Dear Editors,
In “Let There Be Dark”, the author appears to be suggesting that sensory deprivation may provide the setting for a mystical spiritual experience, that one may unlock the mysteries of spirit by eliminating the distractions of light (form), sound, touch, smell, taste. A more direct approach to spirituality and devotion can be achieved through the cultivation of transcendental knowledge and dedication to pleasing God through the use of the senses. The wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita As It Is readily instructs that the individual is the conscious soul within the body. The soul, or jivatma, is part of God, an infinitesimal serving unit, whose essence is originally imbued with loving service and exchange with God, Who as the scriptures suggest, is a spiritual Person, unique in His capacity to create and mystically expand Himself. As such, we therefore do not live outside of God but are forgetful of Him.
There are many varieties of spiritual seekers, and all are looking for the source. With genuine spiritual knowledge, one can take a more direct route, rather than a jagged course, toward reviving our loving relationship with God. It does not require sensory deprivation if one is knowledgeable. For example, the Bible might suggest that if the eye offends thee, then cut it out. If the hand offends thee, then cut it off. Sensory deprivation is not necessary to become God conscious. Rather, an awareness that God is the Creator of everything and therefore the owner of everything. All of His creation is intended for service to Him, to the Center…watering the root of the infinite Origin of everything, Who is a Person of unique and unlimited capacity. Such service in the Eastern tradition of devotional yoga is called Bhakti-yoga. It is a moment to moment practice of the discrimination between dedication to the Truth (God) versus illusion (self-serving material tendency to exploit. That can be practiced and experienced in any condition of life. It does not require sensory deprivation to uncover layers of illusion in order to arrive at a deeper sense of self. That self is who you are, always, at every moment. Proper training in the art of living a God-centered life is necessary, rather than darkness or light. Ultimately, we need to be able to dedicate the senses to the service of the Lord in order to receive His ecstatic loving reciprocation.
Paul H. Dossick, M.D.
author of “God Is Not Dead, The Testimony of a Fortunate Seeker”, 2014
I’ve not read the article to which this letter is a response, but it is clear that “sensory deprivation, or “practicing austerities”, is very much part of all traditions of seekers, and very much so in the orient.
Jesus spent 40 days on a mountaintop communing with the Lord, native Americans all practiced vision quests, and so forth. I have personally experienced the heightened awareness that comes from an altered mental state resulting from long period of not eating caused by illness. It was a pleasant dream-like state where I saw images of Krishna on the battlefield.
Srila Prabhupad has tried to guide us on the path of bhakti-yoga, which can help to bring us Home. The goal of activity and the senses on the path of bhakti is to endavour to please Krishna. There are obstacles to this. Bhukti, Mukti, Siddhi kami. When we are anxious to get material sense gratification, when we are desirous of liberation especially that of merging into the brahmajyoti, and desires for mystical perfections or experience (yes, even this) are like “witches” which haunt and can disrupt the flow of bhakti. In the spiritual world, self-realization means “Krishna consciousness”. In that loving state (rasa) the loving exchanges between Krishna and His jiva servitors is ecstatic love. Lord Chaitanya has described it as “anandam budhi vardanam”, an ever increasing ocean of bliss. However, there is no tinge of self-interest. Only Krishna’s interest, as His all-attractive form, name, qualities, and lila are charming the souls from all directions like a great magnet attracts iron filings (SB 7th Canto). So, going to sit in a dark closet, or taking a walk in the dark, etc as the article recommends is external and not bhakti.
What Jesus did was to defeat any attraction for interests of this world, whether pratishtha (standing), or material enjoyment (self-centric illusory pleasure), and anything material or disconnected from God consciousness. This needs to be done in all circumstances. The practice of astanga yoga as described in the 6th. chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is for the purpose of meditating upon the Lord within the heart (yoginam api sarvesam…).
In other words, KRISHNA is the purifying principle. Our efforts to take the “jagged path” of unguided seekers is that…for unguided seekers. Krishna ultimately tells His follower:
tad viddhi pranipatena…(BG), learn from My devotee, render service and make submissive inquiries. That is the recommended process. I welcome your reply. Pusta Krishna das
While driving this evening from Baltimore to College Park, Maryland, I tuned into a very good Christian preacher on the radio. He was speaking about how James described that the “tongue” can ignite a fire like that of hell. It was a superbly vaishnava like description of how important it is for God conscious persons to control the tongue. He used a very wonderful description that I shall share with you. He first defined gossip is very much useless and detrimental to a person who has dedicated that bodies and “tongues” to the service of God. Not only is the person speaking the gossip condemnable, but also the person with two ears who is giving attention to the gossip.
Then he used a wonderful example. He defined the difference between flattery and gossip. He said that “gossip is speaking something behind one’s back that you would never say to their face” and “flattery is speaking something in front of some one that you would never consider saying behind their back”. Very interesting food for thought about such matters.
Yes, we know that Lord Chaitanya said “amanina manadena”, to give honor to others without expecting honor for one’s self. It is vital that such honor not take the form of vain and manipulative flattery.
A fine tightrope we walk on the path of Krishna consciousness, and we can recognize good advice from every quarter as appropriate. Always seek Krishna, and He will appear to you with His good counsel from unexpected places sometimes.
All Glories to Srila Prabhupad. Pusta Krishna das