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| They Are Much Closer Than You Think |
|
evam parampara-praptam . “This supreme science was
thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings
understood it in that way. But, in course of time, the succession was broken,
and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.” Bhagavad-gita,
4.2 Some of the remaining (but
dwindling) body of Srila Prabhupada’s followers can still be found in the so-called
“GBC/ISKCON”, in the various hard and soft versions of rittvik, and in the
Prominent Link faction. These three factions all contend that “initiations must
go on.” Therefore, they offer a process--however questionable--to supposedly
accomplish that. As could only be expected, they all claim to have the correct system.
Each group contends that it is propounding the real desire and/or siddhanta of His Divine Grace. They have competitive and
irreconcilable differences amongst and between them, however. Since What is actually missing in
all of this controversy and competition is the spiritual principle in
the form of the manifest person who can arbitrate the disputes and
establish the real siddhanta. That person is, of course, the genuine spiritual
master coming in the disciplic succession.
He is empowered by the Lord to dispel all inferior conceptions,
especially those passed off as representing the disciplic succession or chain
of exalted gurus. There is also another group, which
can be called the Neo-Gaudiya Matha, that claims to be successors to Srila Prabhupada’s legacy.
It should be noted, however, that the charismatic individuals in this group either
directly or indirectly minimize the position of Srila Prabhupada. Their followers
may not do this, but all of their followers associate with those who do. Srila
Prabhupada is very often referred to by these people as “Swami Maharaja,” and
this is a subtle indication of the abovementioned offensive mentality. That title
itself is a nod to predecessors who never abandoned their envy of the worldwide
preaching success of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada and who believed that
the only Srila Prabhupada was Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada. All
of these envious people should be completely neglected. When formally referred
to by any devotee, Srila Prabhupada should be accorded nothing less than Srila
Prabhupada or the title of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Amongst all of these groups,
there are members and devotees who are not outwardly offensive to Srila
Prabhupada. Still, the principle of guru
has been, for all practical purposes, lost by them. Not surprisingly, their
current active understandings are pretty much like the post-modern view of
Jesus held by “Christianity.” In all such quasi Vaishnava “Christian” cults,
the alleged founder is relegated to a figurehead position. Then, the most
powerful ladder-climbers in these institutional religions establish little
fiefdoms; this is accomplished in both a subtle and gross way. The top turtle
with the most followers, temples (churches), and money gets to dominate the
others in his particular managing authority. Various scriptural emphases, dispensations,
condemnations, scape-goating, and “reforms” are all
molded around the personal interest of whoever is at the top at any given time.
Although the will of the founder is invariably cited as the reason for whatever
is said and done, that alleged connection is only in name. The real will and control
is with the people at the top of the management, and the desire for control is what
brought them to that position in the first place. The real guru, the liberated
soul, is capable of dismantling and shattering all of these material
arrangements, especially when such manipulations have been made by his supposed
followers and representatives: “And I am surprised that none of the GBC
members detected the defects in the procedure. It was detected only when it
came to me. What will happen when I am not here, SHALL EVERYTHING BE SPOILED BY GBC." Letter to Hansadutta, “I made the GBC to give me relief. But if you
do like this, then where is the relief? It is anxiety for me. This is the
difficulty, that, as soon as one gets power, he becomes whimsical and spoils
everything. What can I do?” Letter to Hansadutta,
Because the bona fide
spiritual master, as he is described in the shastra,
is externally manifest, he is always giving timely directions, recommendations,
warnings, corrections, and chastisements. He is always directly intervening. This
is especially true regarding whom he chooses to initiate and how he chooses to conduct
his process of bona fide initiation. Both the rittviks and the
advocates of Prominent Link--and they are obviously affiliated in this way and
many other ways--like to surgically separate quotes by Srila Prabhupada about
guru. They especially do this whenever the word “physical” is mentioned (as if
there is something to differentiate when that word is applied). In contrast, the
“vibrational aspect” of the spiritual master is emphasized
by these groups. However, the vani is described by Srila Prabhupada only in relation to his
disciples, especially those who had already accepted formal diksa
initiation from him. In other words, it was more important for initiated disciples,
while he was externally manifest, to follow his instructions rather than just
hang around his physical form. It is not, as the rittviks
and Prominent Link devotees would have us believe, that there are two unrelated,
different, and separate conceptions of guru put forward by Srila Prabhupada
when he speaks about vani and vapu.
The bona fide spiritual
master is repeatedly described in the shastra. In
that context, he is described as externally manifest in the overwhelming
majority of texts. There was no previous acharya in the
disciplic succession who established a different arrangement, one where he institutionally
accepted many disciples after his disappearance. In our
Gaudiya Vaishnava parampara, there have been many
Sampradaya Acharyas who were on the same level of
purity and realization as Srila Prabhupada. If anyone of those great devotees in the past had
concocted an institutional arrangement such as rittvik or Prominent Link—something
like saying one of them accepted all kinds of initiated disciples after his
departure—he would have been thoroughly discredited. His movement would have been lost in the
oblivion of time. That will also be the fate of all the current misconceptions. It will, as well, also be the fate of all
those who are now foolishly pushing such misconceptions. All such concoctions will
be dismantled and swept aside when Lord Krishna establishes the next real acharya in our line. So-called “GBC/ISKCON” has
another misconception; it is only different from the rittviks
superficially. It is a kind of Photoshop idea of guru. In this
concoction, there is a faceless, personality-less template in the minds of the
followers--someone generally with a danda and nice
devotional apparel. This allows the face and personality to be pasted in later.
This arrangement lasts until there is a scandal, and then there has to be a
change. The actual power is with the ecclesiastical governing body that decides
which party loyalist gets the opportunity to have his face, etc., pasted onto
the template. Meanwhile, there is a constant swirl of self-interest,
exploitation, and all of the cover-ups required to “maintain the faith of the
devotees.” Many of them don’t take any of it all that seriously, because they have,
by this time, just seen too much. They could possibly change it by leaving
en-mass, but they are all more or less under the mystique of the institution and
the governing body. Therefore, all of the cutting and pasting is, somehow or
other, rationalized as being connected to the founder-acharya.
In this way, the rittvik
groups propose a direct or de-jure rittvik system and corporate “GBC/ISKCON”
has actuated a very subtle, but nevertheless de-facto rittvik conception. It is
no wonder that the Prominent Link advocates find so much common ground: The
confederation becomes the empty husk for their philosophical mill. “It is imperative that a serious person
accept a bona fide spiritual master in terms of the shastric
injunctions. Sri Jiva Goswami advises that
one not accept a spiritual master in terms of hereditary or customary social
and ECCLESIASTICAL CONVENTIONS. One should simply try to find a
genuinely qualified spiritual master for actual advancement in spiritual
understanding.” Chaitanya Charitamrita, Adi 1.35, purport,
emphasis added Just like national political
parties, these groups all like to emphasize the faults and deviations of the
other parties. Some of these attacks are justified, of course. The faith of the
followers must be solidified by any means possible, so each group has become
very effective at dismissing all such criticisms. These factions, however, are much
closer to each other than we are outwardly led to believe! Mystique is what they all
have in common. Outsiders, as well as newcomers, cannot possibly understand the
intricacies of esoteric Vaishnava philosophy. The factions take advantage of
this. Because of these intricacies, one of the most common defenses against
criticism (especially employed by the rittviks and
Prominent Link) is that the critic doesn’t understand what he is criticizing. This is the Straw-Man mystique. However, it
does not require formal membership in rittvik or Prominent Link to know that they
both advocate a type of so-called initiation wherein Srila Prabhupada
accepts disciples--sight unseen and unlimitedly--after his departure. The
Straw-Man mystique is used primarily as an effective means to keep the
followers of the concoction both loyal and bewildered. It makes them think that their leaders know
something that all of their “offensive” critics are unable to recognize. What is glaringly absent in
the current post-modern devotional vacuum is the self-effulgent presence of a
bona fide spiritual master. For all practical purposes, the science as it is appears
to be lost. This is very much on display
in relation to the big groups currently offering so-called initiation
throughout the world. It is especially true in relation to the proper
understanding of guru. Nevertheless, members within these
groups are not all blasphemous of Srila Prabhupada. There is chanting of the
Holy Name and engagement in many of the practices recommended by His Divine
Grace. There is still dim light, but that light is much like that offered by
professional Bhagavatam reciters: It is the light of the glowworm. In the worst
cases, however, it can also be like milk touched by the lips of a serpent. That
is because those who believe themselves initiated into these cults give up
looking for the real deliverer: The truly heavy, authorized, empowered,
liberated spiritual master. Such a guru is heavy with knowledge, and he has
absolutely no need for an ecclesiastical rubber stamp from a group such as
corporate “GBC/ISKCON.” The bona fide guru is like
the sun, and he dispels darkness by his words and example. The light of the
glowworm becomes insignificant in comparison. The bona fide spiritual master must
be heavy, because he is standing right in front of you and is not hesitant to
call you what you are: A nonsense. The presence of
such a devotee is what we all need now, both individually and collectively. We
absolutely require someone who is externally manifest, who is realized, who
speaks with authority, and who explains, with examples from the shastra, what is correct and what is not. It is not difficult to make
the argument that Srila Prabhupada left us because self-interested men came
between him and his devotees, along with the rest of humanity. In other words,
they made him a figurehead even before his departure, and then they went on to
exploit his assets. Most of us have been burnt, fried, and deep-fried by at
least one of these self-interested exploiters. We are therefore that much less inclined
to again surrender to someone, however qualified. If the realization of our fallen
condition does not change for the better, it is very unlikely that Lord Krishna
will send us His pure and perfect representative: om ajnana-timirandhasya “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.” Some of the disciples strictly accepted the orders of
the acarya and others deviated, independently concocting their own opinions
under the spell of daivi-maya. Quotes from the books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada are copyright by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust |