Re-initiation

Giriraj Swami: . . . what appears to be sinful reactions, but the suffering of the devotee is under the control of the Lord. It is not the same as ordinary suffering of people under the laws of karma or material nature. The sufferings sometimes come in the form of physical calamities. Sometimes the suffering comes in the form of mental disturbance also. But a pure devotee will not be deterred in his progress of Krishna consciousness by any disturbance, either physical or mental, internal or external. That is the qualification of the pure devotee in the sense that we are using the term. In that sense, we can act as gurus, relatives, fathers, mothers, husbands, and so on.

Is that clear? If others have thoughts or questions, they can also speak.

A question—jumping over in the cases of fallen spiritual masters: direct approach to param guru. No specific question has been asked, but the general instructions regarding the disciple of the fallen guru are found in Srila Prabhupada’s books. To the effect that one should reject a non-bona fide spiritual master and accept a bona fide Krishna conscious spiritual master.

Now, the application of accepting a bona fide Krishna conscious spiritual master could take one of three alternative courses. One is to accept another guru as dīkṣā-guru. Two is to accept another guru as śikṣā-guru. Three is to take direct shelter of Srila Prabhupada. Taking direct shelter of Srila Prabhupada means to follow Srila Prabhupada’s instructions. Srila Prabhupada is the śikṣā-guru of all of us anyway. If someone who lost his spiritual master can surrender fully to Srila Prabhupada’s instructions and feel completely sheltered and protected by Srila Prabhupada and his instructions and his mission, then in theory, there would be no need to accept any other individual as śikṣā or dīkṣā-guru. Of course, the point is subject to different opinions by different persons. Although eighteen months ago, when the reconstituted GBC presented the three alternatives, various devotees in the meantime have requested more guidance or clarification. Last year, the GBC decided to form a committee to do further research into the subject to determine whether one of the three alternatives was considered better than the others. Or if one or even two of the alternatives was considered not bona fide at all. Because there was so little detailed information about the subject in Srila Prabhupada’s books, it was discussed that we could refer to other authorities in the sampradāya. Some evidence was put forward that Srila Prabhupada had instructed one disciple to translate all of Bhaktivinoda Thakura’s works into English. Other devotees cited the fact that Srila Prabhupada referred us to various scriptures in his purports as evidence to the effect that we could consult other authorities in the sampradāya.

The two books which have the most detailed information about the fall down of the guru are Sri Krishna-Bhajanamrita of Narahari Sarkar Thakura, who was a contemporary of Lord Chaitanya, one of the branches of the Lord Chaitanya tree. In his book, he discusses the guru in many aspects, including the fall down of the guru. He says that if the guru falls down by certain criteria which he gives, then the guru should be rejected and another bona fide Krishna conscious spiritual master should be accepted. He concludes by saying that there are many instances of this in the pastimes, or associates, or in the time of Lord Chaitanya. But again, what is the meaning of accepting the Krishna conscious bona fide spiritual master? Does it have to be dīkṣā-guru, or can it be śikṣā-guru? Could it be a Srila Prabhupada himself? Then in Harināma-cintāmaṇi, Bhaktivinoda Thakura discusses the holy name and the ten offenses. Under the offense of guror avajñā, disrespecting the spiritual master and disobeying the orders of the spiritual master, Bhaktivinoda Thakura discusses about guru. First, one must identify guru, and then one must follow his instructions. Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that if the guru becomes fallen, then the disciple is not bound to follow his instructions.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura says that sometimes one may start as an exalted, famous spiritual master and then due to bad association, one may fall down. Then he says such a guru should be rejected. He says that by the grace of Krishna, the disciples of the fallen guru will get a new bona fide spiritual master. But the same question persists: what is the meaning of a new bona fide spiritual master? Does it mean a dīkṣā-guru, or could it be a śikṣā-guru who is living or could it even be a śikṣā-guru who is living not by physical presence but by transcendental teaching? Over the course of the year when the committee was supposed to be doing more research, I at least have not heard of any new evidence to support one of the three alternatives over the others or to reject any of the three alternatives. It seems to me at least now that the three alternatives will exist, and it will be up to the individual and maybe the arrangement of the Lord to determine which of the three alternatives is most appropriate for the individual. Since the GBC body has presented one of the alternatives as taking direct shelter of Srila Prabhupada, we couldn’t really say that taking direct shelter of him was jumping over. But in fact, it could be jumping over if the Lord had another plan for the devotee. What is the Lord’s plan for the particular devotee again depends very much on the various methods by which we understand what the Lord wants us to do. So it can’t be considered standard for everyone; it is individual.

Next question: We have read that one who chants the holy name of Krishna should be given all respects. We are also told that listening to a non-devotee chanting the holy name is like drinking that which has been touched by the lips of the serpent. How are we to reconcile this?

What we have read is that different types of devotees who chant the holy name should be given different types of respect. One who chants the holy name even once can be respected within the mind as being a devotee. Respecting someone within the mind does not mean that one has to associate with him. We have read that if one has taken initiation from the spiritual master and is fully engaged in serving the spiritual master and chants the holy name, he should be offered respectful obeisances. We should faithfully serve and associate with that devotee whose heart is completely free from the propensity to criticize others. We are advised to deal in different ways with different types of devotees. But there are persons who are not devotees who chant the name, like the Mayavadis. Many Mayavadis speak about Bhagavad-gītā, they may even speak about Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and they chant the name of Krishna. But because they are Mayavadis, they are not devotees or they are pretenders, we don’t really benefit by hearing them chant, and in fact, we should avoid them for the same reason that milk touched by the lips of the serpent causes poisonous effects.

Although our chanting may not be pure, our chanting is considered pure in the sense that we are not consciously committing offenses. We are trying to become free from offenses, whereas the Mayavadis and the pretenders who chant are making no effort to become free from offenses. In fact, māyāvādī haya kṛṣṇe aparādhī. Lord Chaitanya says that Mayavadis are the greatest offenders at the feet of Lord Krishna. So we should avoid the chanting of Mayavadis and non-devotees, but a beginning devotee who chants the holy name and is trying to become purified of the various offenses, his chanting can be heard. Again, we are back to the point of a pure devotee and the point that Srila Prabhupada said that the chanting should be heard from the lips of the pure devotee. So when one disciple wrote Srila Prabhupada and asked him what about people who don’t hear the chanting from him, Srila Prabhupada replied to the effect that you heard the chanting from me or from someone who heard the chanting from me, and because you are sincere devotees or trying to be sincere devotees, receiving the chanting from you is the same as having received the chanting from me.

We can see practically the effects. Although Srila Prabhupada is not personally present, people are hearing the transcendental vibration of the holy name from his followers, they are changes, they are dancing in ecstasy, they are chanting return, and there are many references to support the same principle. Just like when the hunter was converted by the influence of Narada Muni, the hunter changed very dramatically due to the association of Narada Muni. In the purport, Srila Prabhupada said this is the effect of associating with devotees. He basically says that people who associate with ISKCON devotees who are chanting Hare Krishna and following regulative principles can also be changed just like Mrugari, the hunter. Srila Prabhupada gave the example of a mango. Sometimes people would ask Srila Prabhupada, “Are you the only pure devotee in the world? Are there any other pure devotees?” Sometimes Srila Prabhupada would say that all of his sincere disciples are pure devotees. He gave the example of the mango: a green mango is also a mango just like a ripe mango, but the ripe mango is more sweet. So, in one sense, any sincere follower of Srila Prabhupada can be considered a pure devotee, but he might be like an unripen mango that may take time to mature. As long as the mango remains attached to the tree, it is expected that the mango will gradually ripen and become sweet and juicy.

Basically, if someone has the qualification of being a sincere servant of the spiritual master, his chanting will be effective, and we can offer that devotee respect. It is interesting that Rupa Gosvami mentions offering obeisances to one who has been initiated. As we read in Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the chanting of the holy name is not dependent on initiation or on the processes that are preliminary to initiation. The purport is that the offenseless chanting of the holy name does not depend on any other process. If one is not able to chant purely, he requires some process of purification. The process of purification is called bhajana-kriyā; ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgaḥ bhajana-kriyā. First, one has some preliminary faith and one associates with devotees. Then one surrenders to the spiritual master, takes initiation, and begins devotional service under the guidance of the spiritual master, that is bhajana-kriyā. Then come is anartha-nivṛtti, which means vanquishing anarthas. Offenses are caused by anarthas. Even though we don’t want to commit offenses, because of the presence of anarthas within the heart, we commit offenses anyway. We have to get rid of the anarthas. By the process of bhajana-kriyā, or serving under the guidance of the spiritual master and preaching and worshiping the deity and so on, one becomes freed from anarthas. Then one really becomes fixed in Krishna consciousness and develops taste for chanting and hearing.

Without following the process for getting relief from ignorance and getting relieved of offenses, how will we come to the stage of chanting offenselessly? Of course, Krishna consciousness may continue over many lifetimes. The Bhāgavatam says that one who is chanting the holy name of the Lord is understood to have taken bath in all the sacred rivers, undergone all the purificatory ceremonies, chanted all the sacred mantras, and so on, just because he is chanting the holy name of the Lord. It is possible that someone chanting the holy name of the Lord has already gone beyond anartha-nivṛtti and everything. He may even be on the highest platform of devotional service. For that person, who chants the holy name of the Lord, he does not require initiation or any other process. Just like the wives of the brahmans in Vrindavan. It is described by the brahmans themselves that brahmans were condemning themselves when the cowherd boys came to beg some food for Krishna and Balarama, they refused to give them anything. But when the cowherd boys asked the wives of the brahmans for food, the wives came immediately to see Krishna and Balarama, surrendered themselves, and gave them some food. The brahmans condemned themselves, saying that despite their yajña, mantras, and everything else, they could not develop unalloyed love for Krishna like their wives. Although the wives didn’t undergo initiation or the various formalities for making advancement. But such persons were either very advanced from their past life or were possibly even eternal associates of the Lord who descended to participate in the Lord’s pastimes.

If we are not on the platform of offenseless chanting spontaneously, the general procedure is to follow the instructions of the spiritual master to become free from offenses and ignorance and gradually come to the stage of pure chanting. In the case of someone whose initiating guru has fallen, especially if the guru was chanting sixteen rounds and following the four principles at the time of the initiation, the initiation can be accepted as valid, and there is no rule that one should be initiated again. One can be considered initiated and can follow the instructions of Srila Prabhupada to make further advancement or the instructions of other Vaishnavas.

Any more questions or comments?

Through Srila Prabhupada’s books and instructions, of course, we accept sadhu, shastra, and guru. I wouldn’t put myself forward as a sadhu, but I can think of one or two sadhu that I could quote. In England, devotees are taking initiation again, some of them. And Krishnadasa Swami spoke to me, saying that he thinks it has been very good for the devotees. He said that there were so many devotees who were depressed, despondent, sometimes in one temple, sometimes in another temple, sometimes doing one service, sometimes doing another service, sometimes going to India, sometimes coming back. He said that they had found in England that when the devotees took initiation again, it was like they got new life. They became completely changed, blissful, enthusiastic, fixed in their service, and cooperative with the other devotees and the authorities. He thought it was very good.

There was one discussion about the spiritual master when I was there. Sivarama Swami mentioned the three alternatives and then gave his view that there seemed to be a hierarchy within the stream that with taking initiation again being the easiest way of becoming strongly connected. Accepting someone as śikṣā-guru was next, and taking direct shelter of Srila Prabhupada was the most difficult. One devotee in the audience asked Sivarama Swami, why he said that taking direct shelter of Srila Prabhupada was the most difficult? So Sivarama Swami replied that if we look at Srila Prabhupada’s disciples, although some disciples left while Srila Prabhupada was personally present, many more left after Srila Prabhupada disappeared. He concluded from this phenomenon that even disciples who were directly initiated by Srila Prabhupada had difficulty maintaining their Krishna consciousness without further help. So he was saying, what to speak of people who are not actually initiated by Srila Prabhupada.

I have seen in other places also that. . .it has to be awaken within the heart of the devotee, it can’t be imposed artificially, but it happens to awake in the heart of the devotee to surrender and be initiated again. And then the devotees who are initiated again, it is really like they get new life. They come to life again, they become completely different, and it becomes very noticeable to the other devotees. So then the other devotee said maybe they should also be initiated, at least in some cases. But it really is an individual matter, and it is not that the best alternative for one will be the most appropriate for another. The type of desperation that some of the disciples, people who have lost their spiritual masters, is fairly common everywhere. It is not even a matter of being aware that one’s spiritual master has fallen. But if one’s spiritual master has actually fallen, then one’s connection is either very weak or almost broken.

I saw in Pakistan, although Kirtanananda Swami’s disciples don’t think he is fallen—they used to think he was acharya—but because actually he had deviated from Srila Prabhupada, their link with the paramparā and Srila Prabhupada and Krishna was very weak. The result was that the things that they could do easily before, they couldn’t do. Every year they used to put on a small Ratha-yatra, and it was nice in its own way, very nice. But after Kirtanananda Swami deviated, they couldn’t do it. They just didn’t have the strength or the enthusiasm to do it, although within their minds they were thinking, “He is my guru, he is the best of all.” One devotee who was not initiated by Kirtanananda Swami, in the end organized the whole Ratha-yatra. They managed to come to the parade and tried to take the credit. Now, in a year or so since then, when I visited, I saw that many of them were not even able to maintain the four principles which they were easily maintaining before. They were smoking cigarettes, eating onions, and they just didn’t have the strength, even though within their minds they still thought they were connected. So I mentioned this to one devotee in Johannesburg, and that devotee mentioned one letter from Los Angeles that had come from one disciple of Rameshwar Swami, who was saying something like, “Before, when I used to chant my rounds, I used to think of pleasing him, and now I have no enthusiasm even to chant my rounds.” When you actually start speaking to devotees, some feelings like this actually come out: “I don’t even feel like doing my Gayatri, I don’t even feel like chanting my rounds.” We have to be connected. But again, different devotees in principle could be connected in different ways. Without the connection, some devotees have said they feel like giving up. Although they won’t do it, they just feel like maybe they should just go home and try some other professions.

Offenseless chanting means practically that you are realizing Krishna because Krishna is absolute. So His name, His form, His qualities, His pastimes are all the same. If you have actual realization of the name, then you have realization of the form, realization of the pastime, realization of everything. We are not on the platform of pure chanting like that. There may be another level of true chanting also, but if we are not on the level of really appreciating the holy name and experiencing Krishna quite intimately through the chanting, we need the connection of paramparā. That is the method that has been given by Vedic authority. We are seeing practices that are without the connection, it is hard to maintain chanting. In one letter, one devotee asked Srila Prabhupada about persons who are not initiated chanting, or if there is a difference if someone is initiated or not initiated. Srila Prabhupada wrote back that there is a gulf of difference between initiated and not initiated. He said that it is beneficial for one to chant even if one is not initiated, but when one is initiated, he becomes fixed. If one is not initiated, even though he is chanting, he may easily fall away.

The pain of losing the spiritual master was so great, the reaction was never to put oneself in that position again. I have had devotees write to me and openly say that after Bhagavān Maharaja left, they vowed they would never put their faith in anyone else again. Then they say that by chanting and hearing and discussing with devotees, with passage of time, things are becoming more clear, and they feel they can again place their faith in someone. On the other side, as painful as losing the spiritual master was, at least in the case of some devotees, it is becoming more painful to not be connected. The pain and the desperation of not being connected becomes worse than the fear of having the same thing happen again. Then they start moving forward towards establishing a relationship again.

Any other questions or comments?

All glories to Srila Prabhupada.