• No results found

The spiritual master as preacher

In document The Spiritual Master (Page 88-92)

(General instructions.)

Authorized spiritual masters are compassionate Vaiñëavas who try to enlighten conditioned souls:

Vaiñëavas, or devotees, are usually very compassionate upon conditioned souls. Without even being invited, a devotee will go from door to door to enlighten people and to bring them out of the darkness of nescience by injecting knowledge of the living entity’s constitutional position as a servant of Lord Kåñëa. Such devotees are empowered by the Lord to distribute devotional consciousness, or Kåñëa con-sciousness, to the people in general. They are known as authorized spiritual masters, and it is by their mercy that a conditioned soul gets the seed of devotional service.

Teachings of Lord Caitanya The bona fide saintly spiritual master always desires to elevate every common man to Kåñëa consciousness:

A bona fide spiritual master or saintly person always desires to elevate a common man who comes to him. Because everyone is under the delusion of mäyä and is forgetful of his prime duty, Kåñëa con-sciousness, a saintly person always desires that everyone become a saintly person. It is the function of a saintly person to invoke Kåñëa consciousness in every forgetful common man.

Çrémad-Bhägavatam 3.22.7

The äcärya is always absorbed in thought of the spiritual well-being of the general public:

Please, therefore, being blessed with many years, explain to us, in an easily understandable way, what you have ascertained to be the absolute and ultimate good for the people in general.

PURPORT: In Bhagavad-gétä, worship of the äcärya is recommended. The äcäryas and gosvämés are always absorbed in thought of the wellbeing of the general public, especially their spiritual well-being.

Spiritual well-being is automatically followed by material well-being. The äcäryas therefore give direc-tions in spiritual well-being for people in general.

Çrémad-Bhägavatam 1.1.9 The qualification of an äcärya-compassion for suffering humanity:

Seeing the activities of the world, the Äcärya felt compassion and began to ponder how He could act for the people’s benefit.

PURPORT: This sort of serious interest in the welfare of the public makes one a bona fide äcärya. An äcärya does not exploit his followers. Since the äcärya is a confidential servitor of the Lord, his heart is always full of compassion for humanity in its suffering. He knows that all suffering is due to the absence of devotional service to the Lord, and therefore he always tries to find ways to change people’s activi-ties, making them favorable for the attainment of devotion. That is the qualification of an äcärya....

This endeavor makes him a very dear devotee of the Lord, who says clearly in Bhagavad-gétä that no one in human society is dearer to Him than a devotee who constantly engages in His service by finding ways to preach the message of Godhead for the real benefit of the world. The so-called äcäryas of the age of Kali are more concerned with exploiting the resources of their followers than mitigating their miseries, but Çré Advaita Prabhu, as an ideal äcärya, was concerned with improving the condition of the world situation.

Çré Caitanya-caritämåta Ädi-lélä 3.98 The mission of the guru is to spread Kåñëa consciousness all over the world:

One cannot become a guru if he does not know what the Personality of Godhead Kåñëa or His incarna-tion wants. The mission of the guru is the mission of the Supreme Personality of Godhead: to spread Kåñëa consciousness all over the world.

Çrémad-Bhägavatam 8.24.48 The function of an äcärya-to spread Kåñëa consciousness all over the world:

The word äcärya means “teacher.” The special function of such a teacher is to make people Kåñëa con-scious. A bona fide teacher following in the footsteps of Advaita Äcärya has no other business than to spread the principles of Kåñëa consciousness all over the world.

Çré Caitanya-caritämåta Ädi-lélä 6.28 One who acts according to scripture and at the same time preaches is a bona fide spiritual master:

“Some behave very well but do not preach the cult of Kåñëa consciousness, whereas others preach but do not behave properly. You simultaneously perform both duties in relation to the holy name by your personal behavior and by your preaching. Therefore you are the spiritual master of the entire world, for you are the most advanced devotee in the world.”

PURPORT: Sanätana Gosvämé clearly defines herein the bona fide spiritual master of the world. The qualifications expressed in this connection are that one must act according to the scriptural injunc-tions and at the same time preach. One who does so is a bona fide spiritual master. Haridäsa Öhäkura was the ideal spiritual master because he regularly chanted on his beads a prescribed number of times.

Indeed, he was chanting the holy name of the Lord three hundred thousand times a day. Similarly, the members of the Kåñëa consciousness movement chant a minimum of sixteen rounds a day, which can

be done without difficulty, and at the same time they must preach the cult of Caitanya Mahäprabhu ac-cording to the gospel of Bhagavad-gétä As It Is. One who does so is quite fit to become a spiritual master for the entire world.

Çré Caitanya-caritämåta Antya-lélä 4.102-3 The äcärya should be eager to preach, not to earn his livelihood through temple income:

Advaita Äcärya was always absorbed in thoughts of how to deliver the fallen souls of the entire world.

“The entire world is full of nondevotees,” He thought. “How will they be delivered?”

PURPORT: Çréla Advaita Äcärya sets the standard for äcäryas in the Vaiñëava sampradäya. An äcärya must always be eager to deliver the fallen souls. A person who establishes a temple or maöha to take ad-vantage of people’s sentiments by using for his livelihood what people contribute for the worship of the Deity cannot be called a gosvämé or äcärya. One who knows the conclusions of the çästras, follows in the footsteps of his predecessors and endeavors to preach the bhakti cult all over the world is to be con-sidered an äcärya. The role of an äcärya is not to earn his livelihood through the income of the temple.

Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Öhäkura used to say that if one earns his livelihood by displaying the Deity in the temple, he is not an äcärya or gosvämé. It would be better for him to accept service even as a sweeper in the street, for that is a more honorable means of earning one’s living.

Çré Caitanya-caritämåta Antya-lélä 3.223 A spiritual master’s prime duty is to preach, not to construct temples:

We can see in the life of various äcäryas in the line of Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu that they are not very enthusiastic about constructing temples. However, if somebody comes forward to offer some service, the same reluctant äcäryas will encourage the building of costly temples by such servitors. For exam-ple, Rüpa Gosvämé was offered a favor by Mahäräja Mänsiìgh, the commander-in-chief of Emperor Akhbar, and Rüpa Gosvämé instructed him to construct a large temple of Govindajé, which cost vast amounts of money.

So a bona fide spiritual master should not personally take any responsibility for constructing temples, but if someone has money and wants to spend it in the service of Kåñëa, an äcärya like Rüpa Gosvämé may utilize the devotee’s money to construct a nice costly temple for the service of the Lord. Unfor-tunately, it happens that someone who is not fit to become a spiritual master may approach wealthy persons to contribute for temple constructions. If such money is utilized by unqualified spiritual masters to live comfortably in costly temples without actually doing any preaching work, this is not acceptable.

In other words, a spiritual master needn’t be very enthusiastic for constructing temple buildings sim-ply in the name of so-called spiritual advancement. Rather, his first and foremost activity should be to preach. In this connection, Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta Sarasvaté Gosvämé Mahäräja recommended that a spiritual master print books. If one has money, instead of constructing costly temples, one should spend his money for the publication of authorized books in different languages for propagating the Kåñëa consciousness movement.

The Nectar of Devotion For preaching purposes, the spiritual master descends from the uttama-adhikäré platform to the madhyama-adhikäré platform:

The spiritual master is supposed to be in the most advanced stage, but for preaching purposes he de-scends to the intermediate stage [Cc. Madhyama-adhikäré]. The uttama-adhikäré, the most advanced devotee, does not discriminate between devotees and nondevotees. He sees everyone but himself as a devotee. The truly advanced devotee sees that he is not a devotee but that everyone else is a devotee....

“The madhyama-adhikaré is a devotee who worships the Supreme Personality of Godhead as the highest object of love, makes friends with the Lord’s devotees, is merciful to the ignorant and avoids those who are envious by nature.”

Çrémad-Bhägavatam 11.2.46 [cited: Teachings of Lord Kapila, the Son of Devahuti ]

The spiritual master as preacher.

(The spiritual master must preach according to time and circumstances.)

The äcärya cannot be expected to conform to a stereotype, but must preach according to time and circum-stances:

Seeing that the Mäyävädés and others were fleeing, Lord Caitanya thought: I wanted everyone to be immersed in this inundation of love of Godhead, but some of them have escaped. Therefore I shall de-vise a trick to drown them also.

PURPORT: Here is an important point. Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu wanted to invent a way to capture the Mäyävädés and others who did not take interest in the Kåñëa consciousness movement. This is the symptom of an äcärya. An äcärya who comes for the service of the Lord cannot be expected to conform to a stereotype, for he must find the ways and means by which Kåñëa consciousness may be spread.

Çré Caitanya-caritämåta Ädi-lélä 7.31-32 The äcärya should devise means to attract people to Kåñëa consciousness:

As an ideal äcärya, Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu devised ways to capture all kinds of atheists and material-ists. Every äcärya has a specific means of propagating his spiritual movement with the aim of bringing men to Kåñëa consciousness. Therefore, the method of one äcärya may be different from that of anoth-er, but the ultimate goal is never neglected. Çréla Rüpa Gosvämé recommends:

tasmät kenäpy upäyena manaù kåñëe niveçayet sarve vidhi-niñedhäù syur etayor eva kiìkaräù

An äcärya should devise a means by which people may somehow or other come to Kåñëa consciousness.

First they should become Kåñëa conscious, and all the prescribed rules and regulations may later gradu-ally be introduced. In our Kåñëa consciousness movement we follow this policy of Lord Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu. For example, since boys and girls in the Western countries freely intermingle, special con-cessions regarding their customs and habits are necessary to bring them to Kåñëa consciousness. The äcärya must devise a means to bring them to devotional service. Therefore, although I am a sannyäsé I sometimes take part in getting boys and girls married, although in the history of sannyäsa no sannyäsé has personally taken part in marrying his disciples.

Çré Caitanya-caritämåta Ädi-lélä 7.37 The äcärya must strictly follow the rules and regulations in çästra, yet simultaneously adapt the rules ac-cording to place, time and object:

Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu appeared to deliver all the fallen souls. Therefore He devised many methods to liberate them from the clutches of mäyä.

PURPORT: It is the concern of the äcärya to show mercy to the fallen souls. In this connection, deça-käla-pätra (the place, the time and the object) should be taken into consideration. Since the European and American boys and girls in our Kåñëa consciousness movement preach together, less intelligent men criticize that they are mingling without restriction. In Europe and America boys and girls mingle unrestrictedly and have equal rights; therefore it is not possible to completely separate the men from the women. However, we are thoroughly instructing both men and women how to preach, and actually they are preaching wonderfully. Of course, we very strictly prohibit illicit sex. Boys and girls who are not married are not allowed to sleep together or live together, and there are separate arrangements for boys and girls in every temple. Gåhasthas live outside the temple, for in the temple we do not allow even husband and wife to live together. The results of this are wonderful. Both men and women are preach-ing the gospel of Lord Caitanya Mahäprabhu and Lord Kåñëa with redoubled strength. In this verse the words saba nistärite kare cäturé apära indicate that Çré Caitanya Mahäprabhu wanted to deliver one and all. Therefore it is a principle that a preacher must strictly follow the rules and regulations laid down in

the çästras yet at the same time devise a means by which the preaching work to reclaim the fallen may go on with full force.

Çré Caitanya-caritämåta Ädi-lélä 7.38

The spiritual master orders and empowers his disciples to preach

(and to write)

In document The Spiritual Master (Page 88-92)