Week 2 - The Means to Attain a Genuine Guru -

Thread for the entire week 2 reading.

I apologize for butting in with my unqualified opinions, but I really want that handsome certificate, suitable for framing, and didn't have time enough last week to participate.

Besides that, and more to the point, I apologize in advance for bringing in certain "historical" issues that the board doesn't enjoy as much as hari-kathA, but this is my own context, and I hope I am contributing something positive.

With that preamble, here is the statement from this week's reading that jumped off the page and hit me in the heart:

QUOTE

Some people think that a genuine guru is very rare in this world and it is not easy to recognise and attain a genuine guru. Thinking like this, they do not endeavour to take dIkSA-mantra and thus waste the precious moments of their rare human lives.(pp. 11-12)

Before encountering Babaji, I was one of those people! Like so many others on this board, my first contact with the theology and praxis of GV was through a preacher who founded an institution that taught it represented the only true paramparA and taught the only true siddhAnta. I was too young to ever take initiation from the founder of this institution, and those who took up his mantle never lived up to what I expected from GV gurus. (Yes, I was naive, but not that naive.)

Over the years, so many schisms and offshoots from this group have emerged, each claiming the charisma (in the theological sense) that should have attracted my heart, but none did so. I lost close personal friends because I wasn't as quick to adopt their new guru as they were, but I just couldn't. Theologically (but only on a theoretical level, I'm afraid) I knew that I "needed" a guru, but there was none I was attracted to.

I finally got to the point that I quit reading internet GV groups because it was so depressing -- I felt like I was in some nightmarish children's song: "Here a guru, there a guru, everywhere a guru guru, Old MacDonald had a maTh, E-I-E-I-Om."

Anyway, all levity aside, I don't remember now what link or Google search led me to this board, and I wish I did, because I really feel in their debt. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but if you have stumbled across these words by accident and have never read any of Ananta Dasa Babaji's books, all I can do is point to my own experience and tell you that here I have found a true AcArya, someone who is untouched by scandal or controversy, with a traditional and true lineage, and able to teach siddhAnta in such a way that it touches my own soul. He himself is the proof of his statement that "when the Lord descends as the genuine guru for the benefit of the world, He is never hard to attain", as I read in other threads that Babaji has over 4,000 disciples. I ask for the group's blessings that this unqualified seeker might become one of them.

I apologize for sharing perhaps too much.

Dandavats,
Lancer

Lancer,

Thank you very much for the heartfelt opening post in our studies.

QUOTE(Baba)

In this connection it must be said that when the Lord descends as the genuine guru for the benefit of the world, He is never hard to attain or unattainable for the genuine seekers of bhajana and those who are eager to take shelter of the genuine guru.

Baba qualifies the statement above as being applicable for those, who "...give up crookedness and associate with saints with a simple and innocent mind."

I would like to bring the two qualifiers above to a more practical level.

1. Crookedness (kuTilatA) is commonly manifest in endeavors to take shelter of a guru for a purpose other than the attainment of prema-bhakti. People commonly come to a prestigeous guru for the sake of increasing their own prestige, to take their slice of the organizational pie, and so forth. This effectively blocks them from receiving the gift of Sri Guru.

2. Having a simple heart (sarala-prANa) is of paramount importance. The one whose mind whirls around to and fro, who inquires on all but essential topics, and who wrangles until no end, will not come to realize the grace and the potency of the guru's instructions, leaving them in the whirlpool of their own endless mental turmoil and their infinite concerns that need to be addressed "before having a simple heart is realistic".

That's something in this particular section that caught my attention.

Does anyone have any thoughts on what it means to be sarala-prANa, or to have a simple heart, or on how crookedness manifests in the aspiring disciple? Evidently these two should be paid attention to in order to bring about the fruits of diksha.

* * *

Baba writes:

QUOTE

Merciful Sri Hari will certainly provide good fortune and opportunities to such persons, who are so eager to do bhajana.

It is, therefore, of great importance that people acquaint themselves with a basic idea of what our bhajan is all about and cultivate eagerness for the same. Many people seek out a guru without understanding what it is that they are out to receive from the guru, thus making themselves prone to being misled to gurus who cannot bless one with the treasure of bhajana. Therefore, one should understand the concept of bhajana in our tradition, and propelled by a need to go deeper into it, begin the quest for a guru.

Without such impetus, there will be myriads of odd conceptions and expectations of what the guru should be, how he should act like, and so forth, that all miss the point. "He should smile like this", "he should talk to me like this", "he should make all kinds of mysterious transcendental gestures (oh he's so transcendental)", "he should encourage me (praise me and make me feel good)", "he should know the answers to all the tricky questions I am speculating on", and so forth. All of these miss the point. Sometimes one may also be attracted to a real guru on account of such trivial things; that is certainly fortunate, but the real fruit of the relationship will not come about until eagerness for bhajana is realized and until the position of guru as the fulfiller of bhajana is realized. It therefore behooves us to cultivate interest for bhajana and an understanding of the guru as a teacher of bhajana from the very beginning.

QUOTE(Madhava @ Apr 29 2005, 04:10 AM)

Does anyone have any thoughts on what it means to be sarala-prANa, or to have a simple heart, or on how crookedness manifests in the aspiring disciple? Evidently these two should be paid attention to in order to bring about the fruits of diksha.

* * *

Baba writes:

QUOTE

Merciful Sri Hari will certainly provide good fortune and opportunities to such persons, who are so eager to do bhajana.

It is, therefore, of great importance that people acquaint themselves with a basic idea of what our bhajan is all about and cultivate eagerness for the same. Many people seek out a guru without understanding what it is that they are out to receive from the guru, thus making themselves prone to being misled to gurus who cannot bless one with the treasure of bhajana. Therefore, one should understand the concept of bhajana in our tradition, and propelled by a need to go deeper into it, begin the quest for a guru.

Without such impetus, there will be myriads of odd conceptions and expectations of what the guru should be, how he should act like, and so forth, that all miss the point. "He should smile like this", "he should talk to me like this", "he should make all kinds of mysterious transcendental gestures (oh he's so transcendental)", "he should encourage me (praise me and make me feel good)", "he should know the answers to all the tricky questions I am speculating on", and so forth. All of these miss the point. Sometimes one may also be attracted to a real guru on account of such trivial things; that is certainly fortunate, but the real fruit of the relationship will not come about until eagerness for bhajana is realized and until the position of guru as the fulfiller of bhajana is realized. It therefore behooves us to cultivate interest for bhajana and an understanding of the guru as a teacher of bhajana from the very beginning.

Radhe Radhe!

Excellent points. We were discussing these same points last evening with Maharaja. The disciple needs to be a receptacle of the Guru's mercy. How can one become such a receptacle without proper understanding of what makes a disciple and what is the duty of Guru? The instructions on bhajana given by ones Guru should be the focus of ones devotional activities; it is what makes one a disciple. By Guru’s mercy one can transcend their conditioning and become a servant of Sri Radhika but it requires the disciple to be an eager receiver of such mercy.

Furthermore Guruseva can be understood as cooking, cleaning or completing other tasks for the Guru but Guruseva is facilitated by following the instructions of ones Guru. Without this aspect the service is incomplete. When we think of rasabhasa (sp?) we often think of conflicting moods but rasabhasa is also anything which interferes or stands in the way of reaching/realizing the pinnacle of devotion.

Just some thoughts…

On a sort of sad/funny note when talking with maharaja he was saying that he has one devotee who always attends his classes in NJ and when the class is over she asks the most difficult/subtle questions. Maharaja was saying that after exerting oneself in a lecture it can sometimes be hard to switch gears and talk of such subtle points so he has arranged for the devotee to call him weekly where he gives a short class, over the phone, and to ask any questions. He said, with a big smile, that the devotee must have asked at least 2,000 questions and the desired result of so many questions leads to Vraja bhakti. I told him that I also get 2,000 questions from work but, unfortunately for all of us, it doesn’t lead toVraja bhakti!

Radhe Radhe!

Rasaraja dasa

QUOTE(Madhava @ Apr 29 2005, 08:10 AM)

Does anyone have any thoughts on what it means to be sarala-prANa, or to have a simple heart, or on how crookedness manifests in the disciple?

The last few mornings I've been singing (if you can call it that) Sri Rupa Manjari Pada, from Prarthana, and I was struck by Sri Thakura Mahasaya's description of Vedic dharma, vrata, tapa, dharma-karma and how Sri Rupa is all those things to him. Coming from the background I do, I can only conceive how such things are the lifeblood of a religious person. I know so little about what it means to be religious, austere, faithful, etc., and when I think of that in light of being simple hearted, I have to conclude that they are of the same nature.

I take simplicity and an absence of crookedness to mean a willingness to submit oneself openly, honestly, perpetually--even if you lack the religious nature to do so. I don't know what the highest concepts are in our lives--perhaps the responsibility one takes on by being a parent or by getting married--but if we take those and magnify them, we're probably getting something like the concept of dharma, a duty to God, humanity and your self. So I'd take simplicity to mean entering a relationship with guru based on an understanding of and determination toward transcendence. It's not an affair of this world, rather it is you meeting the manifest form of Krsna from within your heart. It's the ultimate in open heart surgery.

Hmmm. I don't seem to have given a very simple response to the idea of simplicity, have I?

Take the illiterate brahman whom Mahaprabhu encountered--his pronunciation was wrong but he fulfilled his duty to read every day and by so doing he understood the message.

I don't know if I mentioned this before somewhere but when I first met Babaji Maharaja it was Purusottama Masa and he asked if I had done Govardhana parikrama. I said, "Yes, before" but he wanted to know if I had done it now, during this special month. He told me that I should do it and, with folded hands, I agreed...and soon began thinking that maybe I could just go to Radha-Damodara and circumambulate the Shila there as it was meant to give the same benefit!

I did do the full parikrama, but simplicity, yeah...

QUOTE(Rasaraja dasa @ Apr 29 2005, 03:03 PM)

When we think of rasabhasa (sp?) we often think of conflicting moods but rasabhasa is also anything which interferes or stands in the way of reaching/realizing the pinnacle of devotion.

This certainly sounds novel enough, would you like to explain why the term rasAbhasa is applicable there?

In my view, simplicity consists of the dual qualities of innocence and faith. Innocence in the sense of pure love as faith (you love Him no matter what), and faith itself to follow the words of Sri Guru without question or even thinking of answering back.

Regarding the latter point I am referring to good instructions from Guru of course, not vaiSNava-vidveza, etc.

QUOTE(Madhava @ Apr 29 2005, 06:10 AM)

QUOTE(Rasaraja dasa @ Apr 29 2005, 03:03 PM)

When we think of rasabhasa (sp?) we often think of conflicting moods but rasabhasa is also anything which interferes or stands in the way of reaching/realizing the pinnacle of devotion.

This certainly sounds novel enough, would you like to explain why the term rasAbhasa is applicable there?

Radhe Radhe!

What I was referring to by talking of rasabhasa is that we often think of conflicting moods but rasabhasa is also anything which interferes or stands in the way of reaching/realizing the pinnacle of ones devotion and bhajan. If the instructions on bhajana given by ones Guru are not the focus of ones devotional activities then it is a sort of rasabhasa in that seva isn't just confined to tasks but attitude and observing/practicing the methods of bhajan and disciplines given by ones Guru. It is such a focus that makes one a disciple. By Guru’s mercy one can transcend their conditioning and become a servant of Sri Radhika but it requires the disciple to be an eager receiver of such mercy. To not be focused on such then we are in essence blocking our own ability to reach the pinnacle of our bhajan and what comes with it.

Radhe Radhe!
Rasaraja dasa

While the sentiment in what you present is excellent, I still object to the use of the term rasAbhAsa in this context. It is used in a very specific manner in Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu.

If we do intend to use this term, there are two questions we have to face:

Is the term rasa applicable as a definition for sAdhana, devotional endeavors in the stage of practice?
(If so, rasa is said to consist of five main ingredients; how are they understood in this context?)
How are we to interpret an obstacle to sAdhana as an AbhAsa, or a reflection, of sAdhana? Wouldn't another term be more befitting?

Such terms shouldn't be employed in a wishy-washy manner.

QUOTE(Gaurasundara @ Apr 29 2005, 03:20 PM)

In my view, simplicity consists of the dual qualities of innocence and faith. Innocence in the sense of pure love as faith (you love Him no matter what), and faith itself to follow the words of Sri Guru without question or even thinking of answering back.

I've been thinking of a perfect example of this type of simple person, and the only one I could think of was Satyakama Jabala. Not only did he fully exemplify the qualities of innocence and unquestioning faith, but there was a certain elemt of naivété as well. Who else could relate such personal details of one's background and not feel embarrassed? Due to his simple-heartedness and telling the unadulterated truth, he was accepted as a brahmin by his impressed guru and was instructed in spiritual knowledge.

Please see this Satyakama topic for further information.

QUOTE(Madhava @ Apr 25 2005, 12:53 PM)

Lancer,

Thank you very much for the heartfelt opening post in our studies.

QUOTE(Baba)

In this connection it must be said that when the Lord descends as the genuine guru for the benefit of the world, He is never hard to attain or unattainable for the genuine seekers of bhajana and those who are eager to take shelter of the genuine guru.

Baba qualifies the statement above as being applicable for those, who "...give up crookedness and associate with saints with a simple and innocent mind."

Yes, I'm all too aware that Baba's statement was qualified, but I didn't know whether I myself would still qualify with his qualifications, and so as not to get discouraged, I just pretended that somehow I could still receive initiation without qualification.

Actually, and without facetiousness, the grace of the guru is my life, and my hope lies in Baba's other statement:

QUOTE(SGTV @ p. 13)

Here it is noteworthy that a mahapurusa, who is endowed with extraordinary powers, ... can make an unqualified candidate at once qualified and can thus give initiation to a candidate at once.

QUOTE(Madhava @ Apr 29 2005, 05:10 AM)

Does anyone have any thoughts on what it means to be sarala-prANa, or to have a simple heart, or on how crookedness manifests in the aspiring disciple? Evidently these two should be paid attention to in order to bring about the fruits of diksha.

* * *

I myself don't have any thoughts on this, but Baba and Srila Narottama Dasa Thakura do! Here from the Prema-Bhakti Candrika is the following:

QUOTE(Baba @ pp. 103-104)

Tricks, appearing in one way externally and in another way internally, pretexts, excuses, duplicity, cheating, deceitfulness -- there are some synonyms for the word kapata. Being free from all connections with maya, free from all ulterior motives and completely identifying oneself with one's constitutional position is called niskapata bhajana, worship free from duplicity. Due to bodily consciousness different desires for profit, adoration and distinction arise within the heart of the practitioner during his devotional practise. This is also a trick of maya, so that worship of the Lord can again not take place in a non-duplicitous or sincere way. When Sri Guru, the Vaisnavas and the Lord are externally worshipped but the inner faith and devotion for them is not there, then there is duplicity and devotion will not follow. In his Bhakti Sandarbha Srimat Jiva Gosvamipada has called such a deceitful attitude the result of offences committed against great souls in the past. If this duplicity does not go even after commencing bhajana, consisting of taking up residence in the holy dhama and associating with great saints, then this is a disease which becomes hard to cure. As a result of this Guru, Vaisnavas and the Lord Himself will be cheated in various ways. Such a devotee, whose haeart is polluted by duplicity, will externally perform items of worship, but until he gets powerful association and mercy of the saints this duplicity will not leave him and there is no hope for him attaining sincere devotional spirits. Those who do bhajana by surrendering to the lotusfeet of Sri Guru, Vaisnavas and the Lord with a simple and humble heart, will attain the good fortune of sincere devotion and will be blessed with their grace. Hence Srila Thakura Mahasaya has said: tathapi tumi se gati, na chariho pranapati, ama sama nahiko adhama "Still You are my destination, so please don't let me down, O Lord of my life! There is no one more fallen than me! Although I was not able to worship You in a simple and sincere manner, giving up everything and surrendering exclusively unto You, still You are my only goal. If I am really Your innate, natural servant and You are my eternal master, although Your powerful external energy maya has deluded me from a beginningless time, making me forget Your lotusfeet and keeping me attached to all kinds of bodily things, still my servant-master relationship was not lost. Actually You remain my only shelter and You will always remain so. Therefore, O Lord of my heart! Although I have been tricked by Your maya and have become attracted to ulterior objects, leaving Your lotusfeet, still You do not abandon Your eternal servant! There is no more fallen wretch, who is so wholly unqualified than me. If You are the saviour of the fallen and I am the most fallen soul, then please attract this fallen soul with Your own attributes and bless him by giving him a place at Your lotusfeet, that grant fearlessness!" If a sadhaka who is thus surrendered to the lotusfeet of the Lord offers such humble and eager prayers at the lotusfeet of the Lord, then by His grace he will be blessed with the good fortune of sincere devotion -- this is the contextual purport.

Dandavats,
Lancer

P.S. It appears from my preview (but maybe it will go away once I actually add this reply) that the quote tags are all messed up, and I can't figure out why. If some moderator with God-like powers feels inclined to fix whatever I broke, I promise not to complain.

Ah, Prema Bhakti Candrika! (Isn't that a book and a half!?) I'm going to need to get my typing fingers in gear for the section on diksa as Baba defines it in PBC in a manner that thrills the heart.

And as for our lack of qualification, knowing that lack is itself the chance to escape it. Not that we will shake off our shortcomings so easily but they will lose their power to hinder our progress if we come before Guru and Gauranga with our empty pockets and torn clothes. Who can turn away a sincere beggar?

Baba told Yugal Kishor an analogy regarding our hope for engaging in raganuga sadhana: a beggar knocks at the door of the castle and is met by the King. "Yes, what do you want?" he asks. "I want the castle," the beggar replies.

Our claim is preposterous, but where else can we go?

QUOTE(Baba @ PBC)

Srimat Jiva Gosvamipada has called such a deceitful attitude the result of offences committed against great souls in the past. If this duplicity does not go even after commencing bhajana,

Here Baba talks about the presence of crookedness and duplicity that exists even after the commencement of bhajana. While it is always possible that one has anarthas in the first place and that engagement in bhajana is the hope of eradicating anarthas, how is it that duplicity continues even when doing bhajana as Baba seems to be saying? Is it something to do with that fourth type of anarthas that arise from the improper execution of bhakti?

QUOTE

As a result of this Guru, Vaisnavas and the Lord Himself will be cheated in various ways.

In what way(s) would the Lord be cheated? This is a somewhat surprising observation.

Anarthas are there until prema arises within the heart. The process of eradication of anarthas is a gradual matter. They do not all vanish at once. It has to do with any and all kinds of anarthas, even the simplest of anarthas only vanish absolutely at Asakti, far beyond our initial endeavors in bhajana. (See this post for a table of reference for the varieties of anarthas and their stages of eradication.)

Of course the Lord is not literally cheated, being omniscient. This refers to the duplicious person's deceptive behavior, his attempts to cheat the Lord.