Re: Six Questions about Rasa

Respected Swamiji and Vaisnavas,

   Nityananda Gauranga Hare Krishna! Sorry about the bug that happened at the last paragraph in my last reply. I had forgotten to finish it. What I meant was that for the conditioned soul at my level it is enough to concentrate on chanting for the time being. There really is nothing taboo or wrong about the reading and discussing topics on rasas provided one is sufficiently advanced enough and if one can stop making too many speculations from what one hears or reads.

  We really deal with two problems. On one hand are those who indulge in unwanton and indiscriminate reading and end up like the sahajiyas. In the other case it is the other extreme. A neophyte in devotion has this bad tendency to judge everybody on the basis of one's own experience. At this stage one expects everyone to go the way one goes. If something is forbidden for oneself at one stage, then the neophyte goes so far to consider that this is the highest rule of siddhanta for everyone and for all time. I have seen this crop up quite often in the mantraraja chanting issues. The neophyte has no power to distinguish between what is naimittika (occasional) and what is nitya (eternal) dharmas (see Jaiva Dharmas).

For eg. Some newly manufactured modern day apasampradayis claim that there is no need to go to other acaryas for siksha (which comes from institutionalism)  or diksha (spoken by the Kartabhajas and ritviks --  see the book on apasampradayis in Nitaai Veda). Without being adequately disciplined by a spiritual master, the neophyte has a danger to go on his own track and do anything to support his own views -- indeed all the apasampradayas can be said to fall in these two categories.

  This second tendency is based on the fact that a neophyte thinks all others are neophytes or lower (Mr. Frog in the well philosophy). Morever the person may not have any proper knowledge of the sastras to make things worse and it is unfortunate as now a situation is coming about where if one says even a little information about Radha Krishna lila, etc. immediately that person is branded 'sahajiya' -- even if he is a pure devotee. Gour Govinda Swami says that we have no power to identify a sadhu ourselves

Devotee: How does one recognize a sadhu?

Gour Govinda Swami: Cry before Krishna. Only He can help you to find a sadhu. You can’t recognize a sadhu. You have no vision to see the sadhu. If you try by yourself to recognize sadhu, then you will be cheated. If you are serious, then cry before Him. “O Krishna! I am your servant!” This is not an external cry. It is internal. Then Krishna, who is in your heart, will see that you are crying and he will help you. He will make arrangement for you to meet such a sadhu. That is the arrangement of Krishna. When you meet such a person you will feel some spontaneous attraction from the core of your heart. That attraction is the proof. If you are really crying for it then Krishna can make an arrangement. It is impossible for you, but nothing is impossible for Krishna.

 

Certainly we can see that this is badly needed. It has become like a meaningless taboo or superstition not to talk about these topics, like various social misconceptions. People may end up committing offences to great devotees by this and ruin their future. This will ultimately lead to rejecting the devotional movement as science rejected religion.

   In other words, one should be properly educated on all these matters. It is not a taboo or a sin to discuss the rasa shastras, but also there is a limit to how much one should know based on one's development. Only the pure devotee is entitled to enter this ocean without restriction. But we should have some knowledge of these matters and also how NOT to misuse it. Ultimately this is the job of the bonafide spiritual master. So let us all surrender to the lotus feet of the guru and have faith in his words! Haribol Gaura Premanande!

   This is what I wanted to mention in the last reply, but I accidentally sent it off without writing and I felt it gives an impression like I'm saying, "Don't read or talk about rasas. Only chant" Please forgive me for that mistake. Some things are for conditioned souls and some things are at a higher level. In my case, I have had some bad misunderstandings myself as far as these topics are concerned and so I am very wary of reading them. This has further been influenced by the environment around me. So I felt that I should stick to chanting. However if you say that I can hear, than I have no objection. But only that I should hear from the right source, right?

Aspiring to be your servant,

Srinath

 

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