guru and correction

[Guest guest]

Thankyou! Could anyone supply the exact refs so I could look them up?

 

 

 

 

> On 26 Nov 1999, Bhakti Vikasa Swami wrote:

> > Is there any sastric or "Prabhupada Said" evidence to support the

> > following

> statement?

> >

> > "If an initiated devotee develops an offensive attitude towards the

> > Supreme

> Lord or His devotees, it is the duty of his guru to correct him. If the

> disciple does not accept the correction, the guru must reject him,

> otherwise he will also share in the offenses made."

>

> In the Caitanya Bhagavata, Vrndavan dasa Thakura explains something to

> this effect. If a disciple commits serious offenses to Vaisnavas, not

> only does the disciple fall down from devotional service for his offenses,

> but so does his guru as well (unless that guru is a mahabhagavata).

> Therefore, it stands to reason that the guru should take the initiative

> and reject such a bogus disciple before the guru himself must suffer some

> reaction.

>

> Along these same lines, Prabhupada explains in a purport in CC that if a

> guru does not teach his disciples how to properly respect other Vaisnavas,

> he is not a bona fide guru. We can note here that "Vaisnavas" especially

> means "senior and highly advanced devotees."

>

> Falling in the dust of such advanced devotees' feet and aspiring to serve

> them,

>

> Dasanudasa,

>

> Srila dasa

[Guest guest]

> There is a pastime where Devananda comes

> to visit Srila Prabhupada.

 

Thankyou very much, mataji. Here it is, as told by your pati-guru,

Srutakirti Prabhu.

 

Today Devananda Maharaja came to visit Srila Prabhupada. He was given

initiation by Srila Prabhupada and he was also a sannyasi. He had been his

personal servant for a period of time around 1970. He was not presently a

member of ISKCON. He asked to see Srila Prabhupada and was allowed darshana.

When he arrived Srila Prabhupada was sitting behind his desk. Brahmananda

Maharaja and I were also in the room. Devananda entered the room wearing a

bright orange satin robes. When he entered he did not offer obeisances. His

long hair and beard was matted. He had a very strange smile on his face. He

began to speak to Srila Prabhupada in such a peculiar way that I couldn't

understand anything he was saying. While speaking he was moving his hands

about as if he were doing some type of mudra. It was too bizarre to watch.

It seemed that he may have had too much intoxication.

Srila Prabhupada tolerated his nonsense for a few minutes. There was no

conversational exchange as Devananda was incoherent. Finally, his all

merciful spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, said, "If you want to come

back, you do like him." He pointed to Brahmananda Maharaja and continued,

You shave your head and face, put on a dhoti and then it's all right. You

may come back."

Devananda started flailing his arms about, again and said, "No. This is not

why I am here." He continued to move his body about while speaking nonsense.

Srila Prabhupada had had enough. He shouted, "Get out." At the same time he

started to shake with anger. Brahmananda Maharaja grabbed him and forcefully

escorted him out of the room. Srila Prabhupada was furious. I felt like I

was just struck by lightning even though Srila Prabhupada's anger was not

being directed at me. Just being in the vicinity was frightening. If I could

have disappeared now was the time to do it. It is difficult to describe the

spiritual potency generated by Srila Prabhupada's rage. His total commitment

to his disciples was obvious by this encounter.

It was one of the most difficult experiences I faced while with Srila

Prabhupada. It was amazing how Srila Prabhupada tolerated his bizarre

behavior and offered to accept him back as his disciple even though it was

apparent that Devananda had strayed far from the Krishna Conscious path and

had crossed the threshold of sanity and tettered on the brink of madness.

When His Divine Grace saw that he had no interest in accepting instruction,

he mercifully sent him away before he could commit any more offenses.

Srila Prabhupada, I beg you to protect me from myself. I don't want to ever

do anything that would cause you to become so angry. The greatest danger is

to lose the shelter of your lotus feet. Here was my senior godbrother

steeped in illusion, wallowing in the mode of ignorance, drowning in the

quagmire of false ego . By your potency you had elevated him to a high post,

by your grace he had achieved a grand standard of service being a sannyasi.

Even while you were with us some of your disciples became illlusioned,

thinking they needed to go elsewhere to find perfection. The result of his

deviation was apparently disasterous.

Perfection for me is to sit in my servant quarters and wait for you to ring

the bell. I pray to answer your call by running to your room, offering

obeisances and seeing your lotus feet as they peek out from under your desk.

PS. We recently heard that Devananda died of self induced starvation while

living in a cave in South India.