Yet the Guru’s position representing God, is not the highest idea. Higher then God is God’s devotee, who is dear to Krishna. Even Chaitanya Mahaprabhu whom we accept as God, plays the part of a devotee. In fact so does Balarama (Krishna’s eternal brother) and in his form as Nityananda. Adwaita-acharya who is considered either Maha Vishnu or Sada-Siva also is relishing the position of a devotee as well. So the guru’s being dear to Krishna, imbued with a particular type of devotion is considered a developed understanding then “only” (not a small thing) seeing the guru as one with God—as his representative. Both conceptions remain, yet one or the other may be stressed at different times.
Yet the Guru’s position representing God, is not the highest idea. Higher then God is God’s devotee, who is dear to Krishna. Even Chaitanya Mahaprabhu whom we accept as God, plays the part of a devotee. In fact so does Balarama (Krishna’s eternal brother) and in his form as Nityananda. Adwaita-acharya who is considered either Maha Vishnu or Sada-Siva also is relishing the position of a devotee as well. So the guru’s being dear to Krishna, imbued with a particular type of devotion is considered a developed understanding then “only” (not a small thing) seeing the guru as one with God—as his representative. Both conceptions remain, yet one or the other may be stressed at different times.
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I haven’t as yet written the traditional “Offering” for my Guru, Shrila Prabhupada, and as there is only a few hours remaining till I go into the Temple kitchen it seems unlikely that I will other than this short introduction. I couldn’t find another old offerings to put here other than the one I posted last year. Rereading it I thought I would put it up since not everyone has ventured to the beginning of my blogs to read it. I hope this is ok.
The Guru was called by Prabhupada, the “mercy incarnation” of Krishna, so meeting one’s guru is meeting a tailor made aspect of Krishna for us. The impersonalists consider that the guru is God, and we can also become God. I am not saying that here, yet we have to really think carefully how his mercy manifests to us. I call your attention to the 7th prayer of the Sri Sri Gurv-astaka, or the “Eight Prayers to the Guru”
by Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura:
Text Seven
saksad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair
uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih
kintu prabhor yah priya eva tasya
vande guroh sri-caranaravindam
SYNONYMS
saksat — directly; hari-tvena — with the quality of Hari; samasta- all; sastraih — by scriptures; uktah — acknowledged; tatha — thus bhavyate — is considered; eva — also; sadbhih — by great saintly persons; kintu — however; prabhoh — to the Lord; yah — who; priyah — dear; eva — certainly; tasya — of him (the guru); vande — I offer obeisances; guroh — of my spiritual master; sri — auspicious; carana-aravindam — unto the lotus feet.
TRANSLATION
The spiritual master is to be honored as much as the Supreme Lord, because he is the most confidential servitor of the Lord. This is acknowledged in all revealed scriptures and followed by all authorities. Therefore I offer my respectful obeisances unto the lotus feet of such a spiritual master, who is a bona fide representative of Sri Hari [Krishna].
According to Visvanatha’s own explanation of this verse, there are two aspects to the guru (which I have spoken of before in a slightly different way as the absolute and relative position of the Guru). I will repeat that the Guru is considered Krishna coming to us (saksad-dharitvena) in a way we can relate to. That is the first way we relate to the guru and sometimes we only emphasize that aspect which can lead to fanaticism, as in the idea, that my guru is the only way, the best for everyone.
Yet the Guru’s position representing God, is not the highest idea. Higher then God is God’s devotee, who is dear to Krishna. Even Chaitanya Mahaprabhu whom we accept as God, plays the part of a devotee. In fact so does Balarama (Krishna’s eternal brother) and in his form as Nityananda. Adwaita-acharya who is considered either Maha Vishnu or Sada-Siva also is relishing the position of a devotee as well. So the guru’s being dear to Krishna, imbued with a particular type of devotion is considered a developed understanding then “only” (not a small thing) seeing the guru as one with God—as his representative. Both conceptions remain, yet one or the other may be stressed at different times.
At a certain stage of our advancement we will have an inner experience of our gurus sentiment toward Krishna. By saying this I am not saying I have such an exalted position, but that I have come to appreciate these points, seeing their practical value. One side of understanding that our guru, is a devotee who is dear to Krishna, is to acknowledge his human side. He is still guru, but is acting in the world to teach us.
For some devotees who have spent their whole devotional life only thinking of the Guru as “good as God”, can be a bit unnerved seeing the relative side–that he has human characteristics, even thinking this perspective “offensive”. For quite a number of years that was my understanding—I was very one dimensional in my thinking, though my thinking has broadened over the years. As a result, I understand some of the things Prabhupada did and said which had confused me before.
In Prabhupada’s company, we were so moved by his purity, knowledge, wisdom, and “other worldly” power (he was a sensation, and we were in awe of him), yet in only seeing this aspect, we didn’t–in my opinion–always bring to his attention things that needed to be said, or asked. He could know anything if Krishna wanted him to know it—though as he said to us, he was not omniscient—but we often didn’t understand that he was also dependent on us to assist him. He saw us as Krishna’s instruments, and if we study his life, we see how he acted on our suggestions.
I think it is good to hear this perspective even in the beginning so we can try to avoid fanaticism, the great enemy of progress. We have to have full faith in the guru, yet acknowledge his human side. This is a perspective that some senior disciples have a very hard time with, because of how the philosophy has been presented. The extreme is wanting to see everything the guru does as absolute (it IS absolute in the sense that he does everything for Krishna).
Yet we need to understand that seeing his human or relative side is not minimizing his position, but acknowledging his very real struggles as he walks with us and shows us the way forward. That is actually glorifying the Guru, instead of thinking that his “feet don’t touch the ground”—so to speak. Although he is fixed on serving Krishna and given honor as his representative, he works on the earth, and feels the pain of conditioned souls by his direct experience. He may get tired or hungry, but he lives and breathes for Krishna! He or she is “in the world”–for Krishna, but knows they are not “of the world.” They are not moved by false ego so they endeavor for Krishna’s purpose.
The humanness and suffering of a pure devotee guru, be he “nitya siddha” coming from the spiritual world, or “sadhana siddha” perfect through spiritual practice, can be thought of like a sort of lila or covering by Krishna’s yogamaya to facilitate his teaching by example. They are not forced by karma to suffer as we are, yet there is an appearance suffering, disease, old age etc, and they may struggle to teach us how to be Krishna conscious amongst that.
According to Rupa Gosvami the relationship with one’s guru is like an affectionate, though formal friend. We don’t want to become too familiar, yet not too full of awe and reverence. It is a balance no doubt, but we want to really feel love and affection for our guru, who is our dear friend and spiritual guide. The Guru is also compared to fire, which means we have to find the proper distance to avoid either being burnt or loosing the “heat” of his spiritual current.
In some ways our relationship with a guru is like a love affair. Please don’t misunderstand this—I am not saying it is mundane. Although in general we can give so many reasons for why we should accept a guru from scripture, our specific affection for our personal guru is beyond reason–a heart affair. That is my experience and thought after much consideration and discussion. We can only explain our feelings so far! We can describe our affection for Krishna and our guru, but we can’t give the experience to others. And unless they have that experience they won’t understand what we experience from hearing from our guru, or hearing about Krishna. According to the Gosvami’s, experience is the ultimate siddhanta or conclusion of the scriptures. (This means we have to experience the effects of Krishna conscious practices to really understand them.) Another way of saying this, is there is theory, and realization. Realization is naturally more powerful and is conclusive for us.
And too much awe and reverence for our guru prevents us from affectionate dealings, and from being able to be fully present on the human level to help him in his service, or have him help us. Again we have to be balanced.
I will give one personal anecdote. Prabhupada came to Hawaii in 1975 before we moved into the present Temple. He was giving a Bhagavad-gita class, and asked for a copy. For some reason they gave him mine which was in the book shelf. Turning to the verse he wanted to speak from he began the class. He noticed that I had underlined some parts of his purport. Not knowing that practice he thought I was crossing out the words. So he asked whose book it was. Since I had my name written in large letters on the side of the book, a devotee called out my name.
I had just come down from the kitchen and was sitting to the side. Prabhupada asked, “Where is he?” I froze and didn’t say anything, too afraid of him and his possible chastisement. Had I known him personally, and not only as “The Guru”, it would have been easier to speak up, knowing that his words were for my benefit. Having such awe for him, and feeling that distance, I missed out on an important learning experience, and a chance to personally speak with him. Not hearing where to find me, he commented, “O, he doesn’t want to follow the rules and regulations?” Although that is a truth, it wasn’t why I underlined certain passages.
Should we be surprised to hear the two sides of seeing our guru—with affection and respect, and how too much respect creates distance, making it difficult to feel affection?
Think of how in our path of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, or Krishna consciousness, the awe and reverence toward Krishna gets in the way our intimacy. That is an advanced stage with realization, yet we still require to think of both perspectives of our guru even in the beginning: as good as God (respect and reverence), and devotee of God acting in the world (affection and following his example with the thought that we to can obtain what he has).
For those of you who will observe this honoring of the person who brought Krishna consciousness to the West and reintroduced it to India—may you be benefited and blessed from your observance, and perhaps in some way from what I have written. I have spoken before of the high intentions I have for my writing, which some may consider proud or unrealistic. Perhaps as Prabhupada said, I may be trying to “shoot the white Rhino” here! (If one is successful in hunting the White Rhino everyone will appreciate it, since is was practically impossible, and if one is not successful, people will say, well it was impossible anyway.) Another way of saying this is, “No risk, no gain.” I do my best, imperfect as it is!….And if you have already observed this special day, I pray you had a meaningful, insightful, and inspiring one !
Although my writing is a satisfying creative outlet in it’s own right, my intention in coming to Krishna.com is to be of service and help to those who may read what I write. I try to share all aspects of my life, and to be as real with you as I dare! That is also my offering to Prabhupada and Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. They very much appreciate Vaishnava (Krishna devotee) Seva (service).
So I guess this has turned into a little bit more than an introduction for last years offer all! Hard for me to be brief when I feel inspired. Perhaps I will read this at the Temple……….Wow, I just realized I have been blogging here for a whole year. My—how time flies when we are having fun! We want to come to the point when our “fun” is Krishna consciousness. Ordinarily we need a vacation from our work, yet we want to eventually be engaged 24 hours a day in devotional service!
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Vyasa-puja offering for 2007 (already posted here)
We just observed the “birthday” celebration (or appearance day as we say, since there is no birth or death for the soul) of Shrila Prabhupada, the founder/acharya of ISKCON.
The appearance day of the Guru is called, Vyasa-puja, or the worship of the representative of Vyasadeva. Vyasa is considered an empowered incarnation of God, who compiled the Vedic literature for this current age of Kali.
Traditionally disciples write homages to their guru on the Vyasa-puja day to help them remember their debt of gratitude for their guru for giving them the gift of Krishna consciousness. I thought I would share my offering to Shrila Prabhupada, as I wrote it for another blog, with the idea of exploring some of the misconceptions about what having a guru means. In that sense it is not a traditional type offering.
I am just starting to practice writing in free verse, because it helps me to be briefer. The Chaitanya Charitamrita states:” Essential truth spoken concisely is true eloquence.” I am not claiming any eloquence here. It is an idea I am striving for.
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In a small rural area in North Carolina,
an American born Gaudiya Vaishnava
prepares to observe the “birthday” anniversary
or “appearance” day of his Guru.
The meaning of guru is difficult to understand
even for those who have one; what to speak of
in the West, the place of the rugged individualist,
where having a guru is foreign idea.
Though having a teacher or mentor is acceptable,
honoring or giving homage to a guru is suspect.
At the time of the American Revolution, the rebelling
colonists said that they would not bow down to any man.
Many people falsely think that having a religion is a crutch
for people who can’t face the naked truth of life,
or having a guru is for people who are weak
and can’t think for themselves.
Actually having a guru is for people
who want to think more deeply about
subjects which most ignore, like death,
disease, old age, suffering, evil, and God.
Outsiders conjecture, accepting a guru’s blind conformity,
yet actually it’s a challenge to the status quo
of being an exploiter of the world, by reviving a natural life
of giving, fostering peace, love, lasting happiness.
It is not an outdated tradition
but a system of apprenticeship where
one hears realizations beyond spiritual theory
and sees it practiced, inspiring one to follow.
In any arena we tend to become like
the people we are with; and when
we spend time with those who are more
spiritually advanced, our hearts are changed.
In history we see that even great gurus have
their guru, as do incarnations of God. They
teach by example the importance of having
good guidance, and the power of saintly association.
It takes real humility and honesty
to realize the insignificant
nature of our existence in
this vast universe and tiny planet.
Accepting a guru is meant to help one
develop real humility by assisting him
and accepting service to Krishna
according to his guidance.
Whereas the scripture is considered
the “passive” agent of Divinity,
the guru is the “active” agent because
he gives us feedback, while the scripture does not.
The ultimate evidence for the value of
anything is one’s direct experience, so
you will only appreciate the value of having
a guru if you have an urgency for guidance.
My life has been so blessed by
accepting my Guru, Shrila Prabhupada
giving me a spiritual foundation for living,
a way of deep, yet practical thinking.
So I have this great experience,
being satisfied in the world,
endeavoring to be a balanced person,
while dedicating my life for God.