Internet Poison for Sanyasis?

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Sannyasa And The Internet

 

BY BHAKTIRATNA SADHU SWAMI

"I would go to the extent of saying that access to the internet is

like having an obscene magazine on my bookshelf."

EDITORIAL, Nov 24 (VNN) — Permanent Departure from the access to

email and internet

 

Dear Vaisnavas, Please accept my dandavat pranams. All Glories to

Shrila Prabhupada, Sarasvati Thakura & Thakura Bhaktivinoda! All

Glories to Sri Nitai-Gauranga,Their Eternal Associates& Navadvipa-

dhama! All Glories to the Hare Krishna maha-mantra & Shri Radha-

Madana-mohana! All glories to all the bhakti-smrti-sastras and the

brhat-mrdanga!

 

After accepting the sannyasa order of life on 18 Sept 2001 at 30

years of age, I was very eager to very strictly follow the

instructions of the Srila Prabhupada, the acaryas and Lord Caitanya

for the dealings of a sannyasi.

 

I accepted sannyasa for three purposes: chanting, writing and

preaching.

 

Chanting is the principle activity for a renunciant. vairagira krtya

sada nama-sankirtana. The only duty of a person in the renounced

order of life is to chant constantly. The other foremost duty is to

write books according to Srila Prabhupada. And to travel and give

discourses. For the first few years as a sannyasi I want to engage in

intense chanting and writing (translation the books on the pastimes

of Lord Caitanya and the holy name into Indian languages).

 

I have preaching through email for the past few years now by

regularly sending Krsna-katha messages and answering the

philosophical questions of the devotees. But I have been finding that

email preaching is kind of impersonal and like an intoxication. You

gradually develop a desire to check your email inbox every few hours

etc. Sometimes hours and hours go by in a day without notice while

answering emails and my main activities of chanting and writing are

effected. And nothing much comes out of it, in the sense that the

reciprocation from the Vaisnavas remains quite impersonal. Over all

these years I am not quite satisfied in the core of my heart after

spending so many hours for email.

 

Also as we know that the internet is greatly hazardous to spiritual

life if misused. I have always been thinking about this point. There

is an injunction not to sit with your daughter, mother or sister in a

solitary place. But when we sit to connect ourselves to the internet

we are most of time alone. Sometimes without any invitation we are

presented with some lust-inciting picture or text ad over the

internet even while trying to check the eamil. For a sannyasi to see

such things is worse than drinking poison. If the mind slips even a

little bit at such times (or at weak times) then one can ruin his

years of spiritual advancement in one second.

 

I would go to the extent of saying that access to internet is like

having an obscene magazine on my bookshelf. Even though I may not

want to see it because it is there someday or at some point when the

mind is weak, it may induce one to pick it up and then one is

spiritually finished.

 

After serving in Krishna consciousness for the past many years and

building up my spiritual life by gradually increasing my chanting, I

don't want to risk it even a little bit with this potential danger,

especially since I have accepted the sannyasa order. sannyasira alpa

chidra sarva loka gaya.

 

When a sannyasi has a private access to the internet, I think

(personal opinion) it is a valid reason on the part of the people to

criticize him on that point or become suspicious because internet is

potential sense-gratification at it's best. Prabhupada said that a

sannyasi should be very very careful because he has great

responsibility.

 

Someone may say that even going out on the street is danger because

we see so much lusty propoganda. But I would say that at that time we

are not alone and there are people all around us so the mind cannot

trick you so easily at that time. If a brahmacari & sannyasi has to

go out and do a gross sinful act he has to plan a lot and with a lot

of effort hide himself and do it.

 

Ofcourse if someone is duplicitous, then he will use the computer

itself for sense-gratification like secretly seeing films movies or

playing video games etc etc. I am not talking about those who are

determined to sin secretly in some way or other. There are those who

are sincere but may get carried away sometimes due to the weakness of

their mind suddenly and accidentally due to this access with the

internet. This is because they kept a loop-hole somewhere and did not

completely give up the contact with the sense-objects.

 

I feel that this is always a potential danger for such sincere

spiritual aspirants.

 

In such a case I feel that internet is a great trap masterminded by

Maya especially for a aspiring spiritualist. First Maya makes

internet and email indispensible for day to day work and then She

uses the same to attract our minds and make us falldown. She presents

to us so many strong arguements why giving up internet and email is

absolutely impratical etc. etc. Also there is no limit to the

nonsense material available on the internet and thus Maya fulfills

all the desires for sense-gratification through this medium. What

Maya does is that She may capture us (make us falldown) repeatedly &

secretly through this internet and gradually as sins are never kept

hidden it manifests in an external gross falldown. This is how Maya

intelligently gets Her stronghold even on a devotee who does not want

to fall prey to Her.

 

I have personally seen many devotees having big problems with the

internet and loosing their taste. Srila Sarasvati Thakura said that

brahmacaries and sannyasis in the Math are not advancing because they

may be secretly engaged in sinful activities. I have thus concluded

for my own benefit that this personal access to the internet

especially for a renunciant as a very great potential danger for his

falldown.

 

Also at present I am trying to start some preaching center alone. So

I have to be even more careful to remain very strict and preach by

maintaining a high level of purity. Otherwise no one will listen to

me. Also atpresent I don't have any one to do the emailing on my

behalf or act as my secretary.

 

Like HH Jayadvaita Maharaj has pointed out some time ago, email can

surely and gradually become a big disturbance to spiritual life if

one is not very careful. Again I am not willing to risk my

consciousness by playing with fire (emaila nd internet). Because even

if one is very careful there are always the weak times because of our

anarthas. And that is when Maya does the most damage.

 

All the above points are my personal thoughts and I don't want to

impose them on others. I put them in writing so that some sara-grahi

Vaisnava may learn something from these points.

 

Thus I have decided to permanently (till the end of my life) withdraw

from personal contact with email and internet. In the future if I get

someone to help me then I reply or send some important email messages

but even this I am not so keen about.

 

I thank all the devotees who have tolerated me for all this time and

engaged me in their service by accepting the emails I have been

sending about Krsna consciousness. I beg you all to keep on praying

for me so that I can do something useful in this life to glorify Sri

Nitai-Gauranga and Srila Prabhupada.

 

Daso'smi, Tridandi Bhikshu Bhatiratna Sadhu.

 

brsadhu

 

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