Stages and Crises on the Path of Bhakti. Lecture 2
Bhakti Vijnana Goswami · London · 2017
Chapters
O Magyanati Mirandam Dyanam Jana Savakaya, Shaksurumitami, Tasmai Srigura Venama, Movišta, butle, Swahada, Nadiswapad Antikam Vandiham Sri Guru Sri Yutapadamalam Sri Guru Vaishnavam Shri Rup Sagrachata Sahanaragunadamitam Sadibam Sadhvaitamadam, paridana Sahitam Krishna Caitania Deam Sri Radha Krishna Padaam, Sahaganalita, Srivishakavidamsam Krishna Karna Sindhot, Vinabandh Jagat Pate, Gopisha Gopikanta, Radakantana Vost. Tapta canchinagurangi, Rade Vrindavaneshware, Vishapanu Sudadevi Pranamani Haripre, Ancha Kaupatarubescha, Kripasindubi Vachapaditanyu. Vaisnavebyona, Sri Krishna Chaitana, Bavonitan, Shriadvaitagadhara, Sri Sadhi Gura Bhakta Brinda Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.
Ajanulam litbujok na kavadatu sankirtanaya kipita rokamala taksa, Vishwambaro dviavaru Yugadharma palu, bandi ja karu karunavataru, So
Progression of spiritual development
yesterday we started the topic of uh the progression of spiritual development, what are the processes which are taking place in the course of our sadhana, in the course of our association with devotees.
And the better we know these processes, the better we are equipped to To overcome certain problems which will be there. Prabhupada, on a number of occasions, he said that difficulties will be there. They will be there.
There's no doubt about it. They may come in different uh shapes and forms, but ultimately we will have to meet with some uh difficulties or problems on the way of our spiritual journey.
And yesterday we were speaking about the two types of śraddhā or faith. One is perfectly formed Shastriesradha.
And basically it means, according to Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī in Bhakti-rasāmṛta- Sindhu, is that one understands very clearly śāstra-yukti or logic of śāstra? One very clearly understands the coherence of Shastra.
He knows the samanva, he knows how how Shastra is actually explaining the truth and he has no doubt about it.
And he understands that there is a complete vision which is given by Shastra, and this vision corresponds to the truths which we intuitively feel within ourselves.
And basically, such person who has this strong uh Shastriashradha, he may dispel his own doubts which will appear in the course of our social interaction. The doubts will be there.
Actually, Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says that you clarify all the doubts only when you see Krishna face to face. Before that, there will be some doubts, some misgivings, some problems will be there.
But when you see Krishna face to face, yeah, that's it. But it will take some time.
So this perfectly formed uh uh Shastriya Shraddha uh which uh uh you know has a very strong bone of logic. Coherent and very complete so to speak. It's rare. Usually vi have some sort of a mixture.
Of course, from any description means little generalization. So when we say śāstrīya-śraddhā, Very rarely we see a complete thing.
Characteristics of conventional faith
And when we say laukika-śraddhā, it's usually in reality it's some sort of a mixture. So laukika-śraddhā is a starting point. Usually in the beginning the faith has a very strong uh conventional element in it.
Uh having something to do with the society of the devotees, with the social pressure which we experience dealing with the devotees, and so on and so forth. So one misunderstanding could be is that laukika-śraddhā is bad.
It's necessarily, it's evil. No, that was not the point. Laukika-śraddhā is a good starting point. And moreover, we have to understand that we have this element of laukika-śraddhā, every one of us has.
The problem with laukika-śraddhā is that once somebody gets this śraddhā, especially if it's strong śraddhā, strong conventional faith without deep understanding why we're doing, for what we're doing, what is the goal.
Sometimes people, you know, feel very comfortable in this sort of situation and they don't move from this platform of śraddhā, of faith, which is which is good a starting point, but they don't move further. The starting point becomes ending point.
And in this way, we get so many religious fanatics, so many people who are causing problems for themselves and for everyone else. It's interesting. Bhakti Nottakur is very clear about it.
He says that for the neophyte, the bhāva is not really bhāva, it's śraddhābhāsa. It's a shadow of a face. He says in Jaiva Dharma, the word śraddhā is used here, here
means in the famous verse from 11th Kanto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, where there is a description of kaniṣṭha-adhikārī. The word śraddhā is used here actually means śraddhābhāsa.
In other words, in the beginning stages we have not śraddhā, śraddhābhāsa.
Because śraddhā in worshipping the deity of Krishna without simultaneous worship of Krishna bhaktas is but an ābhāsa of real śraddhā, certainly not śraddhā proper.
Therefore, this śraddhābhāsa is either chāyā or pratibimba of real śraddhā, either the shadow or reflection of real śraddhā. Being cultivated merely as a part of a custom or tradition.
As usually we know this conventional śraddhā, it's it's just traditional śraddhā.
We're born in this society, we're fine with this society, we like this particular sort of society, and we're here and not necessarily understand why we're
sort of society, and we're here and not necessarily understand why we're here, what is the highest goal of this? This level of śraddhā is not a prākṛta śraddhā.
It's not spiritual śraddhā, it's material. And therefore, the beginning stage of devotional service is called prākṛta bhakta. Our understanding is material.
So Bhaktivinoda Thakura says this level of śraddhā is not a prākṛta śraddhā transcendental phase, forming a part of ananya-bhakti, forming a part of pure devotional service.
So I uh you know coming back to what I said yesterday I wanted also again to list two three more very important lakṣaṇas, or signs by which we can distinguish what kind of śraddhā we are running on.
Because śraddhā is actually bhāva, is actually the petrol for our spiritual journey. And if we exhaust it, we will stop somewhere on the way.
So that is very important. And the better it is, the higher it is, the the smoother if instead of good petrol we we get some diesel or whatever.
So there will be a lot of smoke and unpleasant kind of stuff in our journeys.
Fault finding as improper faith
So that's what we are talking about, about the quality of the fuel for our spiritual life, for our spiritual practices.
And therefore, coming from this statement of Bhaktivinoda, there is a next very important sign of proper Shradha and again Srila Jiva Goswami mentions it in Bhakti Sandarbha.
He says that if you have proper Shradha, you don't feel the need to offend other devotees.
Whereas if your Shraddha is Lokika, for sure you will, you know, in your madness of pride, try to put down, drag down some other devotees by finding faults in them.
Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī specifically says: in that state, while constantly engaged in the means to bring about one's goal.
In other words, if this is a characteristic of real Shraddha which I spoke yesterday, it's very conscious and one always remembers about the higher goal, not becomes mechanical, forgetting the goal.
So Śrīla Jīva Gosvāmī says: in this state, while constantly engaged in the means to bring about one's goal, there is absolutely no trace of conduct that is plagued with defects like duplicity or desire of honor. Consequently, one does not consciously commit offenses such as disrespecting great devotees because such offenses are diametrically opposed to the revelation of the Lord in the heart.
So this offensive sort of mentality or desire to drag everyone down it's also a very important sign of improper uh faith.
Whereas and and we know uh if somebody has this uh conventional faith or you know faith which is not coming from my internal conviction, I always look at others. He's doing wrong and he's doing wrong and she's doing wrong. I'm not looking at myself.
I'm not interested in achieving goals. I'm I'm interested in that others would achieve goal. I will point that their faults. You know there was a nice story.
And in Prabhupada's life once Acyutānanda came into his room in a very militant sort of a spirit and Acyutānanda started saying What's happening in our movement?
In the Second World War, the Germans and Japanese were defeated. But now they're taking over our movement.
And he meant Hans Saduta, who was German, and this Saci-mata, who was Japanese. They were sort of a key persons at that time of this code. And Prabhupāda, he became very sober seeing this attitude.
And then he said very significant thing. He said, why you always looking at others? Why you're not looking in your own heart? What is going there?
You know, they because he started saying, you know, they're doing this wrong and that wrong and this wrong, as as we know. You know, Prabhupāda said, why? Why?
And the reason, the answer to this very important question is simple, you know, because I'm forgetting the real goal.
And therefore, I feel psychologically the need to drag everyone down and to find faults and to offend others. And I'm more interested in their advancement than in my own advancement, so to speak. I'm okay.
That's an attitude of uh lokika-śraddhā. I'm okay, I'm fine. Everyone else is not fine, but as far as I'm concerned, everything is fine.
Superiority complex in conventional belief
So uh and uh again uh very close to this is another sign or very close, uh almost identical but still a little different uh description is the uh uh this superiority complex is a very important and
very prominent characteristic of this lokika-śraddhā. People, why do people uh uh have such a strong tendency to uh follow some some authority blindly or to join some religious group or whatever group is there.
It's a very strong tendency in human society because it gives them a lot of advantages, so to speak, psycho-psychological advantages. The feeling that I'm right. It's a great advantage, you know.
The feeling that, you know, uh I will uh my future is bright. Uh if you believe in some dogma, it gives you a lot of advantages. It makes your life easier. Really? So uh and uh moreover, you feel yourself superior.
I know the truth. I am the chosen one. I am a very special one. Isn't it? It feels good, isn't it? You know, I'm very, yeah, we're all very special ones. You know.
And Krishna even says this, you know, out of many, many thousands of people hardly one. Wow, that's me. Isn't it cool? It's fine, it's nice, it feels good. So it gives you really self-confidence in a sense.
And it gives you a very false sort of feeling that I know the answers to all the questions. I know, I know. Now, from now on, I know.
So, and this sort of superiority is also a sign of something of not very properly formed faith. Because the real face makes one humble. It doesn't make you, doesn't bring you inferiority complex.
We're not talking about this, but it definitely doesn't give you this sort of uh feeling that I'm better than everyone else.
And uh yeah and uh few more things I will say about this to come to the next part of my presentation.
Importance of personal spiritual experience
I I already said this uh yesterday, and that this feeling that I'm forced to do something which I don't want to do, if we have this subjectively, and we have to be very clear and honest with us, that I'm doing something unwillingly, it's a sign of this social pressure and not really understood my purpose of why I'm doing this, what I'm doing.
So a very important aspect of this and this connection is the definition which Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu gives to faith. Mahaprabhu gives to faith. We know this definition: Shraddhashabde Vishvasa. Kahis Sudridha Nishai.
So he says, what is śraddhā? Shraddha means Vishvas. And Vishvas, uh, it's an interesting Sanskrit word. Uh it's coming from the root shva, which means to breathe.
And Vishvas, Vishesh Shwas means that you are breathing in a certain special way. Like a child. When a child is sitting on the on the lap of a mother, he has a very calm and deep sort of breathing.
So Vishwas means a certain state of mind. We know that mind and breathing is very intimately connected with each other. And if the mind is very calm and peaceful and happy, then you have very deep and very calm breathing.
So Vishwas is this state of mind when you are sure, when you are convinced, when you are when you feel protected, basically,
because that's what happened what is happening with the child on the lap of a mother, he feels completely surely protected by the mother. So this sort of this sort of experience is the sign of proper Shraddha.
I don't feel psychological need to drag anyone down. I'm I'm happy and I'm I'm peaceful. I'm basically very peaceful. Peaceful in the good sense of the word, not just in my comfort zone.
So this very word vishwas has two very significant uh consequences, so to speak.
The first one is that Vishwas means that your face is based on your own experience. You have this state of mind, being protected or whatever. It means basically you experience it.
Whereas Loki Kasrada is usually based on somebody else's experience. You know, you try the it's it's a usual understanding unfortunately of the people that usual understanding of what face means.
Face means that I believe that somebody has the experience. That's the usual understanding. You know, yeah, I believe this. But the word vishvas means that I have the understanding.
I'm not satisfied to believe that somebody is some great saint, you know. And if like yesterday I showed this four great saints, you know. We believe they had experience.
And if I'm satisfied that they had experience, and that's enough uh uh argument for me to follow this path, it's not really good. Viśvāsa really. The proper Shraddha. You know it's I want to.
I don't doubt that they have experience, but I'm not satisfied with this. Because very often people say, yeah, yeah, yeah. They had. What about you? I should have.
Very often devotees they run on this sort of understanding that, you know, somehow or other, you know, I'm doing it. I'm doing it. But it's not enough. I must have my own experience.
Otherwise, my whole spiritual life is based on somebody else's experience. I just, you know, some authority knows this and I just am a follower.
But follower, if you don't want to be blind follower, you need to have something more substantial than just by closing your eyes pretend that you believe in it. It's false.
So some sort of internal experience which is giving me conviction is necessary. There is a nice statement of Śrīla Prabhupāda from perfect questions, perfect answers. Listen what he says in this regard.
Yes, having some faith in me and in this Krishna consciousness process is the first and only requirement for getting actual wisdom. So superficially it may look completely contrary to what I said.
Prabhupāda said, just believe in me and in the process of Krishna consciousness. But Prabhupada continues this. If there is faith, the understanding will follow.
And as your understanding increases and deepens, so will your disgust with the spell of illusory energy. In other words, there is a different emphasis.
In the societies where this laukika-śrāddha is emphasized, they will emphasize just faith and authority, just believe. In the real society of spiritual seekers, there will be emphasis on your own experience.
Don't delay it till you die. You will die, there's no doubt about it. Don't put too much faith in in this process. Try to get your own experience now, spiritual experience. Not just, you know, sometime later.
So uh that's that's an important uh uh quite subtle difference between uh between the two. And uh the second one one second I I just have to look what is the Um don't remember what was the second one.
It was a good one, but I don't remember. Anyway, you got the point. I will figure it out. It's not very organized. I I mm wrote many things. So yeah. Basically I'm talking about Vishwas.
Vishwas means you're you have certain uh condition of your mind uh when you feel protected and the second one is that uh it's it's also probably this too actually. Actually this two. Yeah, that's what I mean.
That you have a uh that it's uh that's condition, the trustful condition which is there.
Overcoming obstacles in spiritual practice
Anyway, let's go further to our topic, main topic at hands. I will uh read one nice quote from Śrīla Prabhupāda, where he says about the difficulties. Prabhupāda, yes, difficulties is there always.
Even you go to school, there are so many difficulties. Oh I remember this. But if you practice with vow and rigid, you become successful. Difficulties may be there.
In every field of our activities there are some difficulties. You cannot say. This world is full of difficulties.
So difficulties may be there, but you have to struggle against the difficulties and you will have to adopt the process. Then your difficulties will be over.
It is not that because there is a difficulty I shall refrain from it. No. Ado-śraddhā, there is a process. And listen how Śrīla Prabhupāda explains these stages because now we will go stage by stage.
And it's sort of introduction to this difficulties which we experience on each stage of spiritual development.
So Śrīla Prabhupāda says: just like you have come here with some śraddhās, with some faith, or here is Krishna consciousness. Let me sit down. Let me hear.
So this is the description of śraddhā. Let me sit down and let me hear. This is the preliminary stage. If you become a little serious, then you come daily and try to understand what is this. This is called sādhu-saṅga.
Then gradually, as these boys they offered themselves,
Swamiji, I want to be your regular student, initiate. And then he follows the rules and regulations, gradually the difficulties are over. And then when the difficulties are over, then he gets face, Tato Nishta.
And Śrīla Prabhupāda says that actually you you get the real face only when you reach the level of Nishta. So he gave a very nice summary of this beginning stages of the devotional service or spiritual development.
And as I said yesterday, I tried to analyze the processes which are taking place in each stage of spiritual development, comparing it with the growth of a child.
And there are quite uh uh solid uh foundation for this uh metaphor.
I I uh I I actually did it and literally tried to see what are the similarities between the growth of a child, uh, the subsequent growth of his ego, of his self-understanding with the spiritual growth which is there.
And the inspirational quote which kind of gave me this lead is the quote from Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura in Bhakti-tattva-viveka, where Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says that śraddhā is like a little baby girl.
He specifically compares this stage: Shraddha, Bhakti at the stage of Shraddha, is very delicate, like a newborn baby girl.
From the very time of her appearance in a devotee's heart, she has to be very carefully kept in a healthy condition, just as a householder protects his very tender baby daughter from sun, cold, harmful creatures, hunger, and thirst.
Similarly, the infant-like Shradha Devi must be protected from all varieties of inauspiciousness.
Otherwise, the undesirable association of impersonal knowledge, fruit of activity, mystic yoga, attachment to material objects, dry renunciation, and so forth will not allow her to gradually blossom into Uttama Bhakti and will instead make her grow into a different form.
Just imagine you got a nice cute baby girl, and after some time she becomes an ugly just just very quickly she becomes an ugly monster with some claws.
So that's what may happen with your nice delicate baby girl like Shradavas in the heart.
So Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura he gave this sort of comparison, and we know that Shastra they divide the childhood development into some certain stages. The first stage is shishu twa.
And means basically the stage when you only suck mother's milk. When the first teeth will appear. It's approximately one year of human development. So I try to literally compare the stages of development with the stages, stages of spiritual development with the stages of development of a child.
So first is babyhood, so to speak. Then the next stage is called how? How it's called? Komara, right? Kumara. The early childhood. And then yauvana. No, not yauvana, the kaumāra. It's a sahaja tendency.
You can bec— you can become a youth after being a little baby. So the next one is paugaṇḍa. And the next after paugaṇḍa is kaiśora. And then yauvana.
Emotional maturity at steady devotion
So these are the stages, and basically they fit very nicely together into the stages of spiritual development. In this case, śraddhā will be like babyhood, śiśu, when you are little śiśu.
And then kaumāra will be sādhu-saṅga. And then in this metaphor so to speak, then paugaṇḍa will be like bhajana-kriyā and anartha-nivṛtti will be like kaiśora and niṣṭhā will be the youth, spiritual youth.
It's interesting because if we very carefully read the descriptions of niṣṭhā we will see that Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura explains this in Jaiva Dharma.
He says that on the stage of niṣṭhā for the first time the devotee really experiences spiritual emotions.
In the previous earlier stages, there are some shadow of emotions, but they're mixed with impure sort of emotions, material emotions.
And sometimes people mix or sometimes people don't understand, don't distinguish between the two.
But uh and we can see that if uh somebody grows from the childhood to his youth and uh if the growth is uh unimpeded, unimpeded and uh he reaches the stage, then it's the youth where one experiences real emotions.
Not just selfish emotions.
Child also experiences emotions, he's sometimes angry, you know. Or he's lusty all the time. I just want this, you know, this chocolate or whatever. Give me this. So if you don't give, he becomes angry. So this is primitive emotions, as I spoke yesterday a little bit.
But the real emotions, more subtle emotions, where one is you know serving others. It's coming on the stage of youth when one enters into much more mature and productive relationship with others based on the service.
So this, and therefore Bhaktivinoda also says that on the stage of niṣṭhā one starts experiencing real spiritual emotions. And these spiritual emotions, he says there are five spiritual emotions which are available to us.
On the stage of niṣṭhā, this is the emotions of śaraṇāgati, of surrender.
I don't think we will reach the stage of Nishta today, so I'm kind of coming a little ahead in the descriptions for us to understand how important it is as much as the first stages of development is the foundational for any healthy human being.
To become healthy. In the same way, the first stages of spiritual development are extremely important for a devotee.
And if they are not properly gone through, if there are some deficiencies or something wrong, then you may you may become a grown-up child with some psychological problems.
We have Gauri Prabhu with us and he can testify this because he's as a professional psychologist or whatever coming to this.
So, uh, and if you have in childhood some trauma in your early childhood, you will carry this trauma uh throughout your whole life.
And uh if you have some spiritual trauma in your spiritual childhood you will also be traumatized. You know, and unfortunately we have seen this.
Somebody is externally he's a senior devotee with all the signs of seniority, you know, sometimes daṇḍī in the hand and so many other external signs are there, but that the childhood trauma is also there. And he cannot function properly.
Because of this improper sort of deficient sort of processes which were there in his early formative spiritual years.
So what I want to say is that early stages and very often we know this psychological specialty in children. Children sometimes they they really want to become grown up very quickly, right?
This just there's this little guy, you know, and she just wants she just dreams about this. And the same thing happens with devotees, you know, because we want to experience gopi bhāva, right? Yeah. Of course, gopi bhāva.
So this is uh exactly the same as a little child wants to experience to become the—it's called sahajiyā, you know. You pretend. What you do to experience gopi bhāva, you pretend you're already there, right? Simple. Yeah, God.
So uh that n what I want to say here is that this early stages are unimpressive as they are. Not very, you know, there's nothing bombastic there in these early stages.
You are not meditating on your ekādaśī-bhāva and you don't know what kind of sari is there you will wear in the spiritual world. There's nothing really impressive in it.
Just you know, and sometimes it's so boring, you know, it's oh my goodness, this anartha-nivṛtti, oh my goodness. Oh, why give me siddha-praṇālī? The sooner the better.
And therefore, Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, his favorite saying was, and he was always saying it—only in English. He would speak in Bengali, but he would say very clearly in English, first deserve, then desire.
Because all these people who have these tendencies, they say, but you know, this, it's just on based on desire, I desire, I desire. He would say sternly. First deserve, then desire.
So first you should grow. It's a gradual process.
Transitioning through stages of practice
It's a very natural and beautiful process, and we have to understand how it goes and to give everything which is necessary for the proper growth. And I will try to give a few things which may be important in the beginning.
from his Bhakti-loka where he says: according to the degree of from his Bhakti Loka where he says: according to the degree of faith, each level has different rules.
As one leaves behind one level and progresses to the next, he should honor the rules of the latter and leave aside those of the former.
Those who do not give up the rules of previous level are bound by those rules like chains and that do not allow him to proceed to the next level.
So, what I want to say by quoting Bhaktivinoda Thakur is that it's very important to understand this dynamic. What is necessary in the beginning, what is necessary in the next stage, what is necessary on the next stage.
Like for example, when we see the child uh gradually grows, when he is a little child, what kind of association he needs the most? Association with mother, with superiors, right?
When he grows a little bit like five years old, when he becomes Pauganda, what is the most prominent association which he has at this point? For his spiritual, for for his growth, growth of his ego.
With equals, with peers, right? If he remains only with the mother, will he grow properly? No, he will not. He needs this sort of association.
And then when he grows a little bit more, when he reaches his kai shora age after In Komara stage he needs association with seniors, in uh Poganda stage he needs association with equals, and in his Kaishora stage he needs association with whom To grow this is the world of wisdom from the mouths of professional psychologists.
Girls yes. But also uh y you know it it's very important at this Kaisora age to take responsibility for our juniors.
Role of varied spiritual relationships
In the big families, in healthy big families where the ego is properly formed, it's very necessary that at certain stage you take responsibility to help those who are genuine to you.
So we all know that this three kinds of association is necessary for our spiritual growth several times, many times actually.
I think at least five or six times in Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam there is this statement that you need three kinds of association. But according to the to the stage of your spiritual development, the need may differ, so to speak.
In the beginning, the most emphasis is on what? In in the association with Yeah. With those who are superior, those who are have more experience in bhakti. It's very important.
And you know, sometimes in certain sections of our society there is such a vehement emphasis on,
you know, you have to preach, you can preach, you can preach from the day one and you you preach and you preach and you preach and basically d the implication is that you don't need superior association. You can do it yourself.
Just, you know, can you imagine what will happen with a small child which you know will be left on his own and he will start preaching or whatever? So it's not so healthy. In the beginning you have to be properly taken care of by superiors. But then at one point this peer association is very important when you do it.
On a stage of, on the stage of, uh, sādhu-saṅga, this uh uh association with those who are senior is very important on the stage
of uh bhajanakriya, the association with the equals, with the peers becomes very important for our spiritual growth.
And if you don't do this, if you don't develop this proper association, you will be stunted in your progress. And then when you reach Anarthanivriti, it's
crucially important to take care of those who are how you say it, junior to you, to help them, to become the counselor.
It's very important for your own spiritual development at one point of your spiritual growth to start taking care and helping others. If you don't do this again, you will stuck on a certain level.
That's exactly what Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura says: that you know, you have to know the rules of each stage.
And if you know it properly, then you follow from one stage to another stage to another stage, and your progress will be smooth.
If you don't do this and if you stick to some other lower the rules of a lower stage, then you will not progress.
It's just to give a little you know example, what could be derived from this sort of understanding or this sort of metaphor so Yeah, I I may say a little more when I come to a particular stage about this.
Development of surrender through sadhana
But again, uh regarding this regarding this progression it's interesting. As I said, and uh this is actually the statement of Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura, you can uh fully experience Thakur, you can uh fully experience
the emotions of śaraṇāgati, of surrender, on the stage of niṣṭhā. And he specifically treats śaraṇāgati in these terms. He says it's an emotional state.
You surrender, you have complete trust, Krishna will protect me, Krishna will maintain me, Krishna, you know, I will follow whatever he says. I have this pratigya and this solemn determination to follow what he wants.
And then you feel very humble and you feel giving yourself completely to the Lord. So, this is the emotions of śaraṇāgati. But we can see that the śaraṇāgati is gradually being developed over the previous stages.
Like in the beginning, when you are in the very beginning of your and we have it's I think it's interesting. We have the three pairs of Saranagati. Somebody remembers how it's Sharanagati verse goes?
Anukulyasya Sankalpa, Pratikulyasya Varjanam, Rakshishya Titi Vishvaso, Goptritve varanam tatha atmanikshepa karpanyh sadvitha saranagati.
So it's interesting if we again uh very uh carefully analyze this particular, you know, that Sradha is a very preliminary stage, but you know, this very clearly three pairs of Saranagati are being described are according to the stages of spiritual development.
Like in the beginning, we try to follow what is favorable and try to avoid what is unfavorable, and that's what is available to us. And in this way, we uh we sanctify or purify our mind.
Because what are the two functions of the mind? Manas. Sankalpa and Vikalpa. I accept and reject. And in the beginning, you have to really understand what you should accept and what you should reject.
Not according to your whims, not according to your karma, but according to the desire and will of Krishna. So in this way you sanctify or purify your mind.
Then comes Rakshishya Titi Vishva Sogop Tritve Varanam Tatha this feeling of protection and maintenance by the Lord. And in this way you purify your Buddhi. And then the last stage Atmanik Shepa Karpany you purify what?
You're Ahankar. Atmaniksepa you you're an uh Karpany, you're very humble. There is no Hankar. I belong to God.
So again, this is if we analyze this clearly, we can see what should be the emphasis on each stage of spiritual development.
In the beginning, if you start saying you know become humble, humble, humble, uh it's good to say, but I don't think you will be able to become humble, really.
Navigating identity crises in devotion
I mean uh so anyways so there are certain things which uh which is good to uh think and uh what the most important thing which I want to present to your attention is this crisis.
And as I said, the very word crisis is coming from Greek word, which means turning point. It literally means the response.
What it means in the course of my development I will have to respond to a certain challenge which is there. I have to change something in my behavior. Something will have to appear in myself. So this turning point is important and you know if if we can if we see the growth of spiritual growth of a person we can see the same sort of dynamic which is there in the growth of little child into grown-up men, there are the crises of identity, identity crises.
This I mentioned yesterday this psychology which is there, but there are very similar crises are there. And of course the very vivid description of this identity crisis is where in our scriptures.
Yeah, in the first chapter of Bhagavad-gītā. It's it's a typical and a very detailed description of identity crisis of Arjuna.
Because he doesn't know who he is, and he, you know, Krishna is saying about some spiritual identity, the spiritual identity is not there, and he's he's trying to hold on his material identity and it's basically being demolished right there, and he feels it.
So this identity crisis is there on every stage. And I'll try to say a few words about this. And well I will not I will not give a re well maybe I should give a review in the beginning.
Basically the no, I will I will go into Shrad and I will go into Shrad and uh the rest. Uh I will have to go very quickly because we don't have so much time. Uh and uh uh I will not uh go into details.
But uh as I said yesterday, and I want to repeat it again today,
if you overcome the crisis, uh Then some new ability will appear within yourself as much as when the little child, when he grows, if he overcomes the crisis, he becomes more capable.
And most important, he becomes more integrated in the society of devotees.
Whereas if you fail to overcome this critical point properly, you become alienated, you become estranged from the society of devotees, or you become sometimes you still go on the next stage of your development.
But the problem is still there. And you carry on this problem in your spiritual life, and it will sooner or later it will create some severe consequences in your spiritual life.
So, therefore, we have to know what's going on in each stage of our spiritual development. So, we start with śraddhā, with faith, and it's simple, it's uh it's kind of innocent in the beginning.
Uh and uh first uh what is interesting, what is what is the word śraddhā mean, means from Sanskrit. It's coming from krad or krid dha. Literally, it means krit means like krit or heart, you put your heart into something.
Śraddhā means this process when you put your heart into something, your invest your heart, so to speak. That's what faith is. You're investing your heart into something.
And it has this word śraddhā has a very strong connotation in Sanskrit, in Sanskrit usage of respect and yeah basically, respect, worship, and it also means very strong desire, śraddhā. So basically, what is śraddhā?
Śraddhā is understanding you meet with the devotees and you have some bhakti, sukṛti, you have some sukṛti, or maybe you don't have some sukṛti, as Prabhupāda said, I made all your sukṛti. Don't think that you had some sukṛti. You meet with a devotee and you kind of develop some respect.
Śraddhā doesn't mean much. It only means, and Prabhupāda he explains this. This appreciation is called śraddhā, śraddhā-dānasya. Even he does not join.
If one says, oh, it is very nice, it is very, these people are good. Sometimes they in papers they say these Hare Krishna people are nice. We want more of them. That's what they say. That's called śraddhā.
Basically, if you have little appreciation, this little appreciation towards devotees, you meet with the devotee, you don't have much uh you know uh of understanding who he is and you don't know why he has some strange mark on the forehead and you know but he kind of nice fellow uh and you know, jumping high, you know.
And what Prabhupada says, very important. If one feels this within the heart, Prabhupada says, so this appreciation is also an is also a lift for such a person.
If somebody develops nice feelings, sympathy, it's a lift for him. It's he went to a very significant stage of his spiritual development, first stage. He entered śraddhā, it's a lift for him.
And Prabhupada specifically says, just like small children, a baby, he's also appreciating, trying to stand up with his symbol, appreciating.
So what the small child can do? Can he do something substantial? No, but what he can do? He can appreciate. This appreciation is the most important thing.
And basically, what is important: this appreciation is always personal. It's always directed towards a particular person, so much so that there is a dialogue or conversation of Prabhupāda.
Guru Das is asking, what is that śraddhā? And Prabhupāda says, śraddhā means the faith in spiritual master. So you meet somebody, you don't accept him as a spiritual master, but you kind of feel he's a nice guy. Yeah.
I have one devotee friend, uh acquainted. He just he developed his śraddhā because he saw Prabhupāda's picture.
You know, he didn't read anything, but he saw a picture, he said, such a person lives somewhere far out. That was the birth of his faith, of his śraddhā. Some sort of appreciation, something strikes you in the beginning.
You don't know anything about śāstra, you don't know much about this thing. But if you somehow or other, by some good luck, yadṛcchā developed appreciation for a right person, then you're very lucky.
Your appreciation is the first stage of your development. It's simple, the first stage of your development. And what is most important in the relationship between the baby and the mother or father, what is most important?
The baby can't do much, he can only appreciate, he can sometimes smile. He smiles. And the mother when she sees the smile of a baby, she's completely transported into the spiritual realm. So, what is the most important?
The most important is this mood or this bhāva of acceptance from the mother. Complete total unquestioning acceptance. If the child feels that he's accepted, that's all, all he needs.
If the mother starts a little baby, he doesn't understand anything. Only thing which he can do is just to give some bubbles and sometimes smile, you know, and make a mess, you know, and pass, you know, that's the level of expertise which he has in this age.
But if the mother starts chastising him in this age, what will happen? He will be traumatized. He will develop a very negative attitude towards mother.
And this stage, what is the most important is that one has to feel that I'm accepted. This bhāva, this feeling which should come from a devotee is extremely important.
Prabhupada beautifully describes this in his relationship with his spiritual master. He explains how he met with Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī. And he says, "So I shall make him my disciple."
He quotes Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī, these very words, he says, "Actually, I did not follow uh him in the beginning, follow him in the beginning" — Prabhupāda means "I didn't understand what he says.
I couldn't understand anything. High philosophical speaking. And I was a very new boy. I could not follow him. But actually, I was so much glad to hear him.
So Prabhupada was sitting and smiling. He couldn't understand much what's going on. That's at least what he says. That's all. So that was my qualification. Whatever you may say.
But like a little child, he feels this mood of acceptance. I'm accepted, I'm nice. And he says, "Then my spiritual master said, 'I will make him my disciple. So he's he's good. He's good. So that's what it is.
And basically what, should form in this stage of spiritual development is little trust to vaiṣṇavas.
Addressing realistic expectations of gurus
But very important thing is the crisis on this stage. What is the crisis of this stage. It's actually the crisis. I'll read a very beautiful description of this stage by Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. Beautiful description.
After becoming entangled in the ocean of material existence, the living entity becomes absorbed in various types of external activities and therefore attacked by a disease called forgetfulness of Krishna.
Within the jīva, suffering from the severe miseries caused by this disease arises a desire to be delivered from the ocean of material existence." At that time, within his mind, he condemns himself, thinking,
alas, how fortune — how unfortunate I am, having fallen into this unsurmountable ocean of material existence, I am being thrown here and there by the violent waves of my wicked desires.
At different times I am being attacked by the crocodiles of lust, anger, and so forth. I cry helplessly at my miserable condition, but I don't see any hope for my survival. What shall I do? Do I not have any well wisher?
Is there any possible way I can be rescued? Alas, what to do? How I will be delivered? I don't see any solution.
Seeing the jīva in this condition, the most compassionate Sri Krishna, then mercifully implants the seed of a creeper of devotion, bhakti-latā-bīja, within his heart.
This seed is known as śraddhā, and it contains within the undeveloped manifestation of bhāva, the sprout of divine love of Bhagavān.
In other words, you know initially this kind of frustration in material life should be there. And as a response to this frustration, Krishna gives this śraddhā, this face.
And as I said, there is a certain crisis on this stage.
And the crisis, the reason for this crisis is that how it's developed, you know, you develop some initial attraction to a certain person. And you develop some initial trust in him.
But your trust may not be completely fructified, uh, completely properly formed so to speak.
And then you try to idealize this person or you try to ascribe to this person some certain qualities which he doesn't have in reality. This is actually the crisis of trust. The crisis of
trust is that usually when we meet with our spiritual master, we have completely unrealistic understanding of who he is.
It's a characteristic of śraddhā, of initial phase, because we don't have, you know, and we we get some little spark of trust within our heart.
But then to increase this spark of trust, we have to ascribe to him some, you know, he's so miraculous and he's so amazing and he's this and that.
And if you remain in this like a little child, the little child thinks that his mother is all powerful. Right? She is all powerful. And father is definitely all-powerful.
So the little spiritual baby, he looks in a spiritual master and he says, Oh yeah, he's the most advanced mystic I have ever seen.
Have you met such devotees who kind of looking for this mystical opulence in their spiritual guides. There are very interesting things which illustrate this.
There is a story from Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura's life. Impressed with Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī's personality and presentation of siddhānta, in 1916, an educated and renounced young man came to join him at the yoga-pīṭha and started performing intense bhajana.
But upon noting that Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī spent considerable time in keeping careful records of the accounts that young men harshly criticized him and left to seek another sādhu.
You know, there was this story as Prabhupāda was sitting with Gargamuni and one hippie girl came to see him, and Prabhupāda was going through the records. You know, you spent you know half a nickel here and you know one dollar here and this and that, and this girl, she was looking for a spiritual master.
And she was sitting and sitting and sitting and sitting, and Prabhupāda was going this penny, penny after penny, you know, asking.
And ultimately she became so agitated, she got up and she raised her hands and she started yelling. I came here to find the truth. I came here to find God. She started yelling.
Prabhupāda calmly looked at her and said, "Sit down, you came to the right place." Just sit down.
So, this sort of understanding is the crisis because sometimes people they have to psychologically have to ascribe to their spiritual master something which is not there.
And they're trying to look to find some confirmation in their spiritual master. And there is another interesting episode in this regard.
And the spiritual master, actually, the job of a spiritual master is not to try—the mistake which can be there is kind of hint: not to try, the mistake which can be there, is kind of hint: yes, you are right, I'm like this.
And I've seen it, many times I've seen it in my career, that instead of trying to help the devotee to make his face real into the real thing, you kind of you know uh approve this sort of attitude.
Yes, yes, I am the greatest mystic. Of course. So, there is a very interesting episode from Prabhupāda's life: how he dealt with this. Pushtakrishna describes this.
During that meeting with Śrīla Prabhupāda, I spoke with him alone and revealed some things that were in my mind and in my heart. I said to Śrīla Prabhupāda, "Krishna revealed Himself to me, and that's why I come to you."
He said, now you must tell—Prabhupāda said, now you must tell them that God is not dead. I said, "Śrīla Prabhupāda, you are the only person I trust in this world.
Śrīla Prabhupāda looked at me very kindly and said, Don't trust me. I will let you down. Trust Krishna. He will never let you down.
So immediately Prabhupāda said, he noticed this unrealistic sort of thing which is there in our attitude towards spiritual master. He is almighty.
He will always be there, you know, and He will save me from all conditions. No, you know, this sort of unrealistic thing. If we carry it on in the further stages of spiritual development, it's a time bomb.
At one point we will see that he is dealing with the records and you know, with the bookkeeping. And we will say what kind of sādhu he is, and start criticizing him or whatever. Why? Not because he is wrong.
Because our standing is not really correct or properly format so to speak. And anyway, I have some other episodes here, but it's uh it's interesting how Prabhupāda expertly dealt with this.
The point is that if you want to go to this next stage of spiritual development, you have to develop more realistic attitude towards the spiritual master.
And actually, this junction between śraddhā and sādhu Sangha is that when you really become a little more committed, Śraddhā means just nice guy. But if you really feel that when you feel that
this particular person is the spiritual master whom you can trust and if this trust is properly formed then you go to the next stage of Sadhu Sangha. Yeah, I'll tell little episodes. Śyāmasundara Prabhu says that.
You know, Prabhupāda, he came to the place they were living with Malati. And they had a dog. And they were very attached to the dog. And he also was smoking cigarettes. And that time. Prabhupada came to his place.
And Prabhupāda first he petted the dog. He said, nice dog, very nice dog. He doesn't say these dogs are, you know, dirty. He kind of came down to the level of attachment of Śyāmasundara.
But then he came to the pack of cigarettes and he with his cane he threw it down and said, don't smoke cigarettes. And because and Śyāmasundara says himself that because he liked my dog, I was ready to give up cigarettes.
And then he specifically says he laughs and he says, uh anyway, whatever it is.
Overcoming the autonomy crisis in association
It's a different story, but yeah, he specifically says that Prabhupāda was very expert in in dragging us into this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. So he developed some trust in him through this relationship.
Anyway, so, uh, sādhu-saṅga, it's simple. I will say just a few words. I I don't think uh oh I have to actually finish now. But i is it okay if I say a few more words?
Śivarādhana Mahārāja would ask at this point, would you like to hear more? Anyway, so the sādhu-saṅga is uh uh is actually when you kind of decide it within yourself.
On on a level of śraddhā, you're not decided you just have some appreciation.
But on the level of sādhu-saṅga, you decide that this particular person will become my spiritual master. And you more consistently start hearing from him.
As Prabhupāda said in the quote which we read, you know, in the beginning you have just appreciation, and the next stage, sādhu-saṅga, you start coming regularly. And you start listening, the same person, you particularly develop little interest, more more precise and more concrete interest towards a spiritual discipline.
But and the crisis on this stage is a very important crisis.
That at one point you already mentally sort of accepted the spiritual this particular person as your spiritual master, but at the same time you don't do not want to give up your independence.
And this internal conflict between the desire to surrender to a particular person or to accept a particular person as a spiritual master and unwillingness to really surrender, to really follow his order, is the next conf the next crisis which is there.
I recently had a very interesting uh story. Uh it's not a story, it's uh it's a uh letter which I received. And the girl is writing in this letter that I had a relationship with one boy and he became a devotee.
And because I valued relationship with him so much, I also became a devotee. It's not that she had some inner inclination to become a devotee, but because of him, and she started following this.
is like a prison house. When I think that I have to follow Kṛṣṇa, is the sometimes I like Kṛṣṇa, but most of
When I think that I have to follow on Krishna, is the sometimes I like Krishna, but most of the time I hate him because he is the he is the supervisor of this prison. He forces me to follow all these rules, you know.
See, you know, and there is this internal conflict. She doesn't want to relinquish her own independence, independent will. And she understands that if she wants to go further, she has to do it.
And there is this, you know, turmoil uh within uh within herself uh on this stage. Uh and um Basically,
this is the stage of uh in in the childhood development, in the development of a child, it's called the autonomy crisis. Crisis of your autonomy.
In a spiritual development, it has different shades and it's slightly differently done. But basically you have to really uh sincerely within the heart accept uh the authority of spiritual master.
Then only you go to this next stage which is bhajana-kriya where you commit yourself. This is again this junction point between the sādhu-saṅga and bhajana-kriya. Sangha and Bhajanakriya.
And there are beautiful stories about this from Prabhupada's life. Again, I will tell this last story and then I will finish my class.
This last story is there was one, another devotee of Śrīla Prabhupāda, another disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda, Rabindra Svarūp, not the Rabindra Svaroop, which we know, but another boy.
And somebody describes the episode from Prabhupada's life. There was a kīrtana in the temple room in the early days. And all of a sudden, this boy started crying. And this boy, he started.
No, it was not kīrtana, it was just uh I think it was lecture or something like this. The boy started crying and he started sobbing. And uh uh he started saying uh uh very loudly.
I want to find God, I want to find God, but I have to do it myself. I have to do it myself. I cannot go through somebody else.
And Prabhupada, he kind of waved his hand and he put, he liked this boy, he was an intelligent boy, he put his head uh at his lap and
he started patting him and saying, and the boy was sobbing and crying, and he said, I have to do it myself, I have to do it myself, I have to do it myself.
And then after a few minutes, he just stood up and left, never to be seen. And everyone was kind of shocked, you know, what happened. That's exactly what happened. You know, this is the crisis. You are in this junction.
Do you really want to trust somebody to such an extent that you surrender a significant part of your independence to this person, or you don't want to do it?
And again, if you overcome this crisis in a proper way, then you are on the next stage of development.
If you don't, if you kind of pretend, uh sometimes people, you know, like uh taking initiation basically means I will follow you, but many times people take initiation and then they say, Yeah, yeah, right. Yeah, let's see how it goes.
So I'm telling for those two gentlemen who are taking initiations right now. So they don't really want to follow and this desire, independent desire is still there and still very valuable, then the crisis is not overcome.
And uh externally they are on this next stage of development, but in action, but the problems are there, and sooner or later or later they will surface. So therefore, uh therefore uh it's uh it's an important point.
I will stop here, I will not go any further. Uh uh I need to keep some intrigue for the next stages. But you know I'm very grateful to all of you for listening to this.
I I wanted to share something which I discovered myself by uh studying this sort of topic. Thank you very much.