Fotos de Jagadananda Das - Keshi Ghat
Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaj
In this article, we pose certain commonly asked questions about institutions and spiritual life, with answers from the teachings of Sri Srimad Gour Govinda Swami Maharaja.
Should we accept someone as an authority if they have material attachments and are not situated on the spiritual platform?
We accept because we are in a society. Someone may be GBC of some region of the world, so according to the management system he is authority. But by the spiritual system, unless I am convinced, I cannot accept him as authority. That is up to me. I have independence. It is my choice. As far as the management system goes, I accept him because he is GBC. But as far as spiritual things go, unless I am convinced I cannot accept. “Please excuse me.” Acceptance of someone as a spiritual authority should not be forced or compulsory. That is a principle. For me to accept someone as a spiritual authority my heart must be convinced, because it is based on the desire of the heart. It is not an external thing. It is internal. Acting in that way is not offensive. I am not disregarding him. He is a vaisnava, so I offer him obeisances. We pay obeisances to all vaisnavas, regardless if they are kanistha, madhyama, or whatever. That is etiquette. But accepting someone as spiritual master, that is something else. (Evening darsana, Bhubaneswar, 1990)
Is there any harm in going and hearing from a saintly person outside of the guru’s mission?
My opinion is that Srila Prabhupada will not be happy with these senior devotees going outside of ISKCON. Srila Prabhupada has said that everything is in his books. If you try to understand this, then by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada it will all be made clear to you. It is a fact that if an elevated vaisnava is there, then one should go and take his association. There is no harm in that. But in this case, there is a danger that the discipline in our organization will be adversely affected. If the leaders are going outside of ISKCON, how will we be able to maintain discipline? Srila Prabhupada has formed this society, and this threat to his society will only cause him pain. With this consideration, they should not go. That will only lead to indiscipline in our society.
Two sides are there — philosophical and organizational. On the organizational side, this practice is not good. Therefore, we have this GBC body, which makes so many rules to maintain the discipline of the members of our society. But how will we be able to keep discipline now? No one will listen. “If the leaders are going, why should we listen. We will also go”. This will create only trouble. (Letter dated 3 November 1994)
It is often said that a genuine guru must be a pure devotee. Understanding that, how do we see that today so many persons are accepting the position of guru?
Two sides are there: the spiritual side and the organizational side. This is an organizational matter. Unless they are allowed to accept disciples, the organization will collapse. There will be no cooperation. Only quarrelling and dissension. “Oh, he wants to be guru. All right, you do this thing.” Anyhow, maintain the society. This is an organizational matter. They want to be gurus. They want some position. This is all material and nothing else. They are doing some work for the society. They are general heads, managing the zone. So how else can a worldwide organization be managed? (Evening darsana in Bhubaneswar, 4 July 1992)
Excerpted from Sri Krishna Kathamrita magazine issue10. For more excerpts see also the following links:
http://www.gopaljiu.org/ex
http://www.gopaljiu.org/ex
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Besides, except ... Ver másfor false pride, nothing would prevent a kanishta or madhyama adhikari guru to accept such an uttama-adhikari pure devotee Guru as his siksa Guru. In that way, he along with all his disciples would be ensured to be liberated some day by following the sat Guru Parampara, the one composed of pure devotees only...
This question will arise gradually more and more, especially when the generation of Srila Prabhupada's disciples passes away, as one will still need to connect with a contemporary pure devotee, a sat Guru, in order to receive personal siksha from him, so as to practice tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya... and become eligible, under his merciful guidance, to go back to Godhead...