faultfinding vs. self-analysis and self-correction *****

[Guest guest]

faultfinding vs. self-analysis and self-correction

 

Srila Sridhar Maharaja

 

Jnana-sunya-bhakti. “If You come to judge, I have got no hope. Please grant grace, then I can hope to approach You, to offer myself to make progress towards You; if You become very lenient, not to find fault with me”; but if at the same time, in the same breath, we say, “Why should this disqualified man get any grace? Why should he get some mercy and affection?” That is hypocrisy in us, and that causes a great deal of difficulty within us. It is suicidal.

 

This is Vaishnava-ninda, Vaishnava-aparadha—offence to the devotee. A devotee may be accepted by Him, and gradually he will be purified; but we are very eager to find fault in him. That is most dangerous for our own progress; it is suicidal. If in my case I want something higher, but in the case of others I can't tolerate the same behavior of the Lord, that is a most difficult position.

 

Generally that is the basis of Vaishnava-aparadha. When someone has been accepted by the Lord, and He is gradually purifying him, and we give particular attention to the remnants of impurities and difficulties in him, the result is that all those difficulties will be transferred to us. This is the actual experience. If I especially mark the fault of another devotee, that will be transferred to me. It happens. In our experience and also in the shastra we have seen this.

 

Either from the position of Siksha-Guru or Diksha-Guru one may detect the faults of the students of this line, and help them sincerely to get free from them. Otherwise, if we are attracted by those faults, they will come to us and we shall have to pay for it.

 

It is also warned in the Vaishnava literature that we must be careful about vaishnava-aparadha that comes from the jealous spirit of competition. That jealousy is very detrimental to our spiritual life.

 

So we all must be very careful not to be especially attracted by any defect. If some doubt about anyone comes to our attention we may refer it to the higher authority. But if we make too much of it, either in opposition or in any other way, that will be transferred back. We must know, “My mind is coming in touch with that fault and I am devouring it.” That is being devoured as food, and the contamination is transferred to the critic; somehow it is entering into the mental system of the critic, and it must get its satisfaction there as a reaction.

 

This is like a trade secret of our devotional line. You must be aware and very careful about these practical difficulties in the path of your life.

 

In one word, when we say that we have some devotion, we are not in devotion.

 

Rather, when we can feel that we have nothing, although we have no aspiration for any other thing, at that point we may be making some progress. We do genuinely want something, although we can't clearly understand what; but we appreciate the devotees and the divine scriptures of devotion. When our appreciation is on that side, yet we feel we are bereft, that is a sober and healthy position—so vacant.

 

We ought to remember that although we are negative, infinitesimal parts, we have come forward for a relationship with the Infinite, the Absolute. What price should we be prepared to pay for that? What form does that price take? We ought not to purchase such a thing very cheaply.

 

To serve the devotees will be tangible, and to continue with the devotional practices and program that has been recommended by the scriptures and saints is most important. To go on—that in itself should be our reward. We are reading about Him, we are serving the saints and hearing their words. This is an engagement in itself. If we are thus satisfied, then we have something substantial and that must not be underestimated.

 

Promotion is inevitable if we always try to adhere to the lower duty. Eagerness for promotion is the enemy. That is for pratistha (renown), and that will undermine everything. Prabhupad, Saraswati Thakur, said that imitation arises from the attraction for pratistha or desire to hold the superior position and acquire a name for oneself. That is the great enemy. Don't fall prey to that pratistha, eagerness to hold the higher position. Rather, dainyam—humility, is the healthy sign of a devotee.

 

The mind is concerned with misconception. It is an element of the aparasakti, the inferior potency. That potency is both subtle and gross. Earth, water, fire, air and ether are gross; mind, intelligence and ego are subtle; but they’re all material. Soul is transcendental. And Svarupa-sakti or the Lord’s Personal Potency, bhajana or Divine Service, and Goloka-Vaikuntha are all Supra-mundane and Transcendental—on the other side of the soul, not on the lower side where the mind is located.

 

Mind emerges from the ego, that is, the false ego, and it is made of the exploiting tendency. But Mahaprabhu says, mora mana—vrndavana: “My speculation is on the other side—Vrindavan.” That is not an element of this mundane plane.

 

So there is a pure mind?

 

Properly speaking, the word ‘mind’ does not deserve to be used in this context at all, otherwise everything will be wrongly equated. The residents of Goloka also possess senses, etc., but the affairs of the mundane world are never one with that. The mundane mentality is a product of exploitation, sense-exploitation.

 

We need relief from this mind. We are surrounded by poisonous thought. In the narration of the Tridandi-sannyasin in Srimad-Bhagavatam 11.23.45, all the disciplines are common in that the mind should be checked.

 

Only after passing through the proper stages—sravana-dasa, varana-dasa, sadhana-dasa and prapana-dasa (the phases of hearing, acceptance, practice, and attainment)—then you can preach independently (apana-dasa). Otherwise, only with the help of someone in prapana-dasa can you go to preach.

 

We should have an immovable connection with reality, an absolute conception of reality. Such a stable position is necessary. Invulnerable. A sure position, what is what—sambandha jnaña. Then we shall be able to understand and harmonize the differences that we find in the writings of the Acharyas; what applies where—under what circumstances a particular line has been advised to be taken up, and under what circumstances another has been advised. Practical knowledge.

 

Srila Raghunath Das Goswami, the greatest exponent of the faith of servitude to Srimati Radharani, Radha-dasyam, says, “I wont allow myself to become fascinated by the proposal of the higher level service as a friend, sakhya. Rather, I shall tend always to do the lower service, dasya, the service of the servant. I shall not consider myself to be a high-class servitor and I shall always tend to go towards the lower class of service. But He may forcibly take me to a higher service—“No, you are no longer to serve there; now you must serve in this higher category.”

 

Anartha means "separate interest." Krishna consciousness is causeless, nirguna, it has no end. Nirguna means that the central flow and vibration of Krishna consciousness is eternal. That wave has no end. Any interest which is separate from Krishna consciousness is anartha. 'Artha' means 'necessity' and 'anartha' is that which is not my necessity—that which is opposed to my necessity, being based on separate consciousness and interest.

[Guest guest]

I never personally meet Gour Govinda Maharaja, but after reading just two of his books, I realized that this person was "the self-effulgent acharya" that Srila Prabhupada foretold would eventually emerge from his disciples. But again, instead of appreciating the high spiritual status of their godbrother (by the way, this sadhu belonged to ISKCON), the majority of gurus and GBC´s felt threatened by him.

Because Gour Govinda Swami had a far greater level of spiritual realization than his fellow guru-godbrothers, they never got a chance of understanding his position, and consequently either envied him or opposed him.

Even when he gloriously but prematurely left his body on Bhaktisiddhantas's Appearance Day in Sri Mayapur, one of his godbrothers openly tried to ridicule him in the Iskcon World Review, now Hare Krishna World. Post-mortem envy.

 

Out of fear and greed, these lower class of devotees pretend they can check the movements of an empowered Vaisnava. And doing so, they commit a horrible aparadha.

[theist]

 

Generally that is the basis of Vaishnava-aparadha. When someone has been accepted by the Lord, and He is gradually purifying him, and we give particular attention to the remnants of impurities and difficulties in him, the result is that all those difficulties will be transferred to us. This is the actual experience. If I especially mark the fault of another devotee, that will be transferred to me. It happens. In our experience and also in the shastra we have seen this.

 

 

This is an interest tight rope that we must walk. On one hand we must be aware of the nature of those we associate with. In that sense we must be vigilant. But the mind has this tendancy to dwell and even try to enjoy with relish the difficulties that others face once seen. I have noticed how my mind will even take some fault in someone and concentrate on it so much that I actual come to identify that fault as the person themselves.

 

He speaks of transferance. I can see how that would work. The mind is molded and formed by the objects it contemplates and the impressions that dominate its experience. We are in a very dangerous position.

 

I picked up an interesting Japanese saying from an old novel I read, Shogun. The Japanese due to their being forced to live so close together would naturally become aware of the various *private* practices and habits of their neighbors.

 

To deal with this and to protect theirs as well as others privacy they developed the interesting perceptual art they call "seeing without seeing."

 

I know it may sound like a Zen koan or something, but it is actually a refined way of keeping your life separate and individual amidst difficult crowded circumstances and also respecting your neighbors need for the same.

 

It is a way of just keeping your awareness of something to a minimum without giving it undo space and power in your consciousness.

 

I think it would be worth our time to cultivate something like this in our own mental gardens.

 

[Guest guest]

very sad

[Guruvani]

This thread started out nicely with a quote from Srila Sridhar Maharaja and then some unregistered guest jumps in and starts talking about Gaura Govinda Maharaja.

 

Is this some confusion on the part of the guest? Gaura Govinda Maharaja had no connection to Sridhar Maharaja that I know of, but I would like to know something about how he felt towards Sridhar Maharaja if anybody in here has any insight into that.

 

Bhakti Sundar Govinda Maharaja is the disciple of Sridhar Maharaja and is not to be confused with Gaura Govinda Maharaja.

 

I don't know much about Gaura Govinda Maharaja, as I am personally attracted to Sridhar Maharaja and his followers like Govinda Maharaja.

 

Maybe the guest is just confused? I don't see the relevance to Gaura Govinda Maharaja in a thread that is discussing some quotes from Sridhar Maharaja.

 

[gHari]

Ksamabuddhi das, I thought you implied that Srila Govinda Maharaja has rejected Sridhara Maharaja by not following his ritvik plan?

[Guruvani]

I don't feel that way, nor did I imply that. When Sridhar Maharaja passed away, all the devotees of his camp considered Govinda Maharaja as a guru and not a rtivk. Govinda Maharaja responsed to the sentiments of all the devotees and accepted disciples who felt that they were not willing to overstep his seniority to become rtvik disciples of Sridhar Maharaja. I accept his guruship unquestionably.

 

Sridhar Maharaja appointed Govinda Maharaja as rtvik and made no pronouncement that the rtvik status would terminate after his demise. However, the love and respect for Govinda Maharaja in that camp would not accept a post-samadhi rtvik system and it was the devotees around Govinda Maharaja who demanded that Govinda Maharaja accept them as disciples and not as a ritvik of Sridhar Maharaja.

Rtvik doctrine was naturally terminated in that camp, not artificially as in ISKCON by ambitious leaders who wanted to consolidate power to the highest degree.

[Guest guest]

 

 

Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami was born as Braja Bandhu Manik on the second of September 1929 in Jagannathpur, a small village near to Jagannath Puri, Orissa. In his youth he mostly lived with his maternal family the Giris in the village of Gadeigiri. The Giris were Gaudiya Vaishnavas and well known for their expertise in kirtana. Braja Bandhu’s maternal grandfather, Bauri Giri, was famous in the local area as a paramahamsa vaisnava. He was constantly chanting the hare krsna maha-mantra and worshiping the family deity of Gopal Jiu.

 

As a boy Braja Bandhu was very quiet and serious. Whatever free time he had from his studies he spent rendering services to Gopal and accompanying his grandfather and uncles in going from village to village, chanting hari-nama and singing songs of the vaisnava acaryas. He was very attached to Srimad Bhagavatam. As a young boy his mother found that whenever he would cry she need only place the Bhagavatam in his hands and he would stop. At night Braja Bandhu would go to sleep with the book clutched to his chest.

 

In 1952 his mother arranged for him to marry, and in 1955, when his father passed away, the financial responsibility to maintain the family fell on his shoulders. After obtaining B.A. and B.Ed. degrees from Utkal University, he took up government service as a school teacher.

 

Although busy with his family and teaching responsibilities, he maintained a strict daily sadhana of rising before 4:00 AM, chanting hare krsna, worshipping tulasi and speaking on Bhagavad-gita. Throughout his life Braja Bandhu made entries in his diary in the form of prayers to Gopal. His 1973 entries frequently mention his desire to renounce family life. From 10 October:

 

O Prabhu Gopal, please make me a yogi sannyasi! I don’t need anything, Prabhu. I’m not asking You for material opulence, respect, glory or anything else. You may give those things to my younger brother Kripa-sindhu. Let him maintain Your [my] family. Make me a samsara-vairagi-yogi, a renunciate of family life. Let me beg that prema-dhana, that wealth of love of Godhead! Let me distribute prema and ananda! Let me serve You! Please shower this mercy on me, Prabhu! Please bless me with prema-bhakti, ecstatic love for You!

 

In April of 1974, he left his family life, taking only a Bhagavad-gita, two gamuchas, and a notebook with him. At that time he adopted the name “Gour Gopal” — Gour for Gauranga Mahaprabhu and Gopal after his beloved childhood deity. Taking up the lifestyle of a mendicant sadhu, Gour Gopal set out to find a spiritual master who could teach him about the hare krsna maha-mantra, Srimad Bhagavatam and Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. His search took him all over India, from Kanya Kumari in the South to the Himalayas in the North. Finally in September of the same year, he resolved to go to Vrindavan the land of Krishna, thinking that surely his desire would be fulfilled there. Obtaining free passage from a train conductor, he arrived in Mathura. He stayed in a few different temples, and finally he made his way to Vrindavan where he saw a sign, “International Society for Krishna Consciousness.” Arriving there, a devotee gave him a copy of the society’s magazine, Back To Godhead. Seeing the articles in the magazine on Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Srimad Bhagavatam and the maha-mantra, Gour Gopal knew he had found what he was looking for. He requested to meet the founder of the society, and at midday was brought to the quarters of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. After speaking with him for a little while, Srila Prabhupada asked, “Have you taken sannyasa?”

 

Gour Gopal replied, “No.”

 

Srila Prabhupada said, “Then I will give you sannyasa.”

 

Gour Govinda Swami later commented:

 

I could then understand, ‘He is a genuine guru because he knows my heart. He is caitya-guru.’ I was in search of such a person under whom I could take shelter. I took shelter of him. My heart was naturally attracted towards him. I had full faith in Krishna and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and They helped me.

 

Hearing of his scholastic abilities, Srila Prabhupada immediately engaged Gour Gopal in translating his small book Perfection of Yoga into Hindi. A few weeks later Srila Prabhupada gave him initiation and the name Gour Govinda Das. Then, on 20 April 1975, Gour Govinda Das received sannyasa from Srila Prabhupada at the opening ceremony of the ISKCON Sri Sri Krishna Balaram temple in Vrindavan.

 

On Srila Prabhupada’s order, Gour Govinda Swami went to open a center in Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Orissa. Arriving there with no money and no resources, he stayed alone on the newly donated property, which at that time was nothing more than a jungle full of snakes, scorpions and ant hills.

 

In late January 1977 Srila Prabhupada arrived in Bhubaneswar and stayed for seventeen days on the property in a small hut that Gour Govinda Swami had arranged for him. On Lord Nityananda’s appearance day Srila Prabhupada laid the foundation stone for the upcoming temple. This was his last founded project. Prabhupada predicted that one day the temple on the isolated property would be one of the best ISKCON centers in the world and would be situated in the heart of the city. Prabhupada also instructed Gour Govinda Maharaja to translate his books into the Orissan language and to travel and preach to devotees around the world.

 

In early 1985 Gour Govinda Maharaja began accepting disciples. Two years later, on the request of senior devotees, he agreed to become a member of the ISKCON Governing Body Commission, and was given joint charge of the society’s projects in Orissa.

 

In the summer of 1985, pursuing Srila Prabhupada’s order, Gour Govinda Maharaja went overseas to preach. For the next eleven years he traveled all over the world speaking krsna-katha to interested devotees. His lectures inspired thousands of devotees and these lectures are now being compiled into books by his followers. During this time, despite his busy schedule, he strictly maintained a daily quota of translating Srila Prabhupada’s books into Oriya.

 

In 1991, after sixteen years of endeavor, Gour Govinda Swami opened the magnificent Sri Sri Krishna-Balaram temple in Bhubaneswar on the auspicious occasion of Lord Ramachandra’s appearance day. Today, the Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Mandir is the second most popular temple in Orissa, after the Jagannath Mandir in Puri, and the area around the temple is the fastest growing section of Bhubaneswar.

 

In July 1994, in New York City, Gour Govinda Maharaja spoke to the devotees about his mission:

 

There are three things that are very important to me. One is that I want to preach to the preachers. It causes me so much pain to see the devotees falling down and going away. The second thing is that I want to show how everything is in Prabhupada’s books. Those persons who are saying that Srila Prabhupada only gave ABC, it causes me so much pain in my heart. I want to make them silent. And the third thing is that I want to show how everything is in ISKCON and that devotees do not have to go elsewhere for higher teachings.

 

In late January of 1996, Gour Govinda Swami mentioned, “Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati said that this material world is not a fit place for any gentleman. Therefore, because he was disgusted, he left this world prematurely. I may also leave. I don’t know. I will ask Gopal. I will do whatever He wants.” The next day he went to Gadeigiri to see Gopal. While there he spoke to his cousin Ghanashyam Giri, who recalls:

 

We were discussing Gopal’s new temple and the planned installation of large deities of Radha Gopal to go with the existing small ones. Suddenly, Maharaja told me, “I won’t see this deity installation. You will see it but I won’t.”

 

I said, “How is that? You are ten years younger than I am. If you won’t see it how will I?”

 

Maharaja said, “No, no. You will see the inauguration of the temple and the deity because you have served Gopal so nicely.” That was the last discussion I had with Maharaja. After that he went to Bhubaneswar for a few days and then to Mayapur where he stayed forever.”

 

In Mayapur, on 9 February 1996, the appearance day of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, two senior devotees requested an appointment to meet with Gour Govinda Swami to ask some questions. They inquired, “Why did Chaitanya Mahaprabhu stay in Jagannath Puri?” Gour Govinda Swami began to enthusiastically explain the confidential significance of Mahaprabhu’s pastimes in Puri. He described the pain of separation felt by Srimati Radharani when Krishna was away from Vrindavan. He gradually unfolded the pastime to the point where Radha and Krishna were finally united after Their long separation. He described how Krishna became so ecstatic upon seeing Radharani that He manifested a form with big round eyes and shrunken limbs, Lord Jagannath. At that time the devotees noticed that tears had come to his eyes and his voice had become choked up. In a whisper he said, “Then the eyes of Krishna fell upon the eyes of Radharani. Eye to eye union.” Unable to continue, he folded his hands and in a barely audible voice, apologized, saying, “Please forgive me, I cannot speak more.” The devotees present began to chant as he calmly lay back on his bed, breathing slowly and deeply. Upon his request, a servant placed a picture of Gopal Jiu in his hand. Then, gazing lovingly at the picture of his worshipable Deity, Gour Govinda Swami said, “Gopal!” Then his eyes closed, he lost external consciousness and left this world.

 

His body was brought to the Sri Sri Krishna Balaram Mandir in Bhubaneswar where he was placed in samadhi in the small mud hut that had served as his bhajana-kutira for many years.