The roots of Rtvikism

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>From NOI:

 

Indeed, the advanced uttama-adhikari Vaisnava devotee should be accepted

as a spiritual master.

 

One should not become a spiritual master unless he has attained the

platform of uttama-adhikari. A neophyte Vaisnava or a Vaisnava situated on

the intermediate platform can also accept disciples, but such disciples

must be on the same platform, and it should be understood that they cannot

advance very well toward the ultimate goal of life under his insufficient

guidance.

THEREFORE A DISCIPLE SHOULD BE CAREFUL TO ACCEPT AN

UTTAMA-ADHIKARI AS A SPIRITUAL MASTER.

 

This is a very important statement by Srila Prabhupada.

 

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura confirms this in Hari-nama-cintamani:

 

suddha-bhakta vyatita anyera guru karibe na

 

guru varanera purvai guru o'sisyera pariksha sastra nirdesa kariyachena

 

suddha-guru PARIKSHA kariya varana karibe...

 

Don't accept anyone except a pure devotee as your guru.

Accept a pure devotee as guru after testing him. This is the instruction of

the sastra.

 

Why?

 

Because

 

bhajiya ayogya guru sisya haya panda

 

Worshipping an unqualified guru the disciple becomes cannot progress.

 

and because

 

sadguru prati yei avagya acare

se papistha aparadhi sarvatra samsare

ATAEVA PRATHAME VISESA YATNA KARI

SUDDHA BHAKTA LAIBENA GURURUPE VARI

 

One who disobeys the order of the sadguru, he is the most sinful offender in

the whole world.

 

AND THAT IS WHY WITH GREAT ENDEAVOUR IN THE VERY BEGINNING TRY TO SEEK OUT

THE SUDDHA BHAKTA AND THEN ACCEPT HIM AS YOUR GURU.

 

-----

 

So we can see that Bhaktivinoda Thakura also forsees a problem. That is why

he uses the word 'ataeva'. Means that one should with great endeavour in the

beginning (prathame) find out the uttama-adhikari as his guru. Otherwise

after initiation if he finds out faults or ignores the instructions of his

guru or rejects the guru on the pretext that he is not an uttama-adhikari he

becomes the most sinful person. If a disciple does not make the endeavour

before initiation and is not careful (as Prabhupada says) enough to accept

an uttama-adhikari as his spiritual master and if he accepts a madhyama /

kanishtha guru then he should worship his guru as per his position but never

reject him (as per Narahari Thakura).

 

Srila Sanatana Goswami in the Hari-bhakti-vilasa says that the guru and

disciple should stay with each other for at least an year and observe each

other very carefully.

 

What ISKCON requires most is training to the non-initiated devotees aspiring

for initiation about the need to accept an uttama-adhikari as their

spiritual master for their 100 % spiritual advancement. They should be told

about the different levels of the gurus like the madhyama & kanistha gurus

and how after accepting them the guidance may be insufficient. It is not

very difficult to figure out who is madhyama, who is kanishtha and who is

uttama. Rupa Goswami advises us to do so. It requires some knowledge of our

scriptures. If they cannot find an uttama guru immediately they should not

be forced into initiation but encouraged to be patient and look out for one

even if the process takes many years. And if they think they have found one

they should be encouraged to spend time with him, hear from him, ask him

questions and thoroughly study his character before going for initiation.

One year seems very less time for this because the gurus are always

travelling and disciple gets only a few days with them. The disciple should

take atleast two to three to decide in these present circumstances. He can

even get feedback from the other senior devotees (whom he trusts) about what

they feel about the guru whom he is aspiring for and he can go and clarify

the points raised with the guru in question. If he is not satisfied he

should simply be patient. The basic point is that the disciple should be

perfectly satisfied that his guru is an uttama before he takes initiation.

Or if he can't find an uttama and decides to accept a madhyama guru who is

readily available he should do this in full knowledge of the step he is

taking.

 

One may say that all this was not introduced at the time Prabhupada. But we

should remember that there were no madhyama & kanistha gurus in ISKCON when

Prabhupada was present on the planet. He was the only guru and he was an

uttama. But now we have this situation. We have different levels of gurus

otherwise the GBC would never have to think about Guru Reform. So the

training imparted to the aspiring disciples should also be very very

thorough about the guru-tattva. I think the Guru Reform Commitee should have

this thing on the agenda as a priority.

 

When there are many different kinds of gold in the market, the buyer has to

do lot of homework to end up buying the 24 carat gold. If there is only 24

carat gold available in the market then it does not require much training to

get hold of the 24 carat gold. Even a fool will end up with pure gold.

That was the advantage when Prabhupada was around in his physical form.

Now the devotees needs training on the subtle aspects of guru-tattva before

jumping into initiation. And mind you IT SHOULD BE BEFORE & NOT AFTER!

 

Rtvikism is a kind of revolt when one finds out sometime after initiation

that one's guru was a madhyama all the time and he had accepted him as an

uttama all the time. The revolt gets the severity from the fact that the

madhyama guru had tried to pose himself as an uttama all the time.

 

So this training which should be imparted to the aspiring disciples is very

very important.

 

Your servant,

Nayana-ranjana das