Question : How can I guard against being too sentimental when it comes to the guru/disciple relationship?
I tend to romanticize about how nice it would have been to know, say, Jesus, but would I recognize Him if He were here today? The same can be applied to Prabhupada. I romanticize and become quite sentimental about how nice it would have been to have seen Him face to face, but would I have been surrendered any more if I had? This all leads to (the way I am) seeing Prabhupada’s disciples today. Just as I would like to have seen Prabhupada “in the flesh”, I’m now seeing His disciples “in the flesh”, but I’m not any more surrendered.
My thinking is, “Well, yes… Prabhupada was Prabhupada… he was real, and I could have surrendered to Him… but I’m not so sure His disciple is as real”. I tend to be sentimental about what I’ve missed, but not realistic about what I could have now. My thinking is that Prabhupada was more bona fide because He came from a culture that stressed such teachings as the guru/disciple relationship, but a person from the West acting as guru can’t possibly ever hope to be as advanced and bona fide. What am I suppose to do with thoughts like these?
Answer by Romapada Swami:
When we become situated in knowledge, then we will not be swayed by mere sentimentalism on one extreme or by false arguments on the other.
Emotional content is, of course, a very important ingredient in Personalism; but it has to be founded on sound spiritual knowledge. As Srila Prabhupada often remarked, “Religion without philosophy is sentimental or fanatic, and philosophy without religion is dry mental speculation.” If you try to strengthen a clear philosophical understanding of what the guru-disciple relationship is all about, then the mind will not be carried away by unfounded misgivings or ‘romantic’ ideas.
It is quite proper and also essential for all devotees in the Krishna consciousness process to have deep feelings of attachment for Srila Prabhupada – we owe our spiritual life to his endless loving sacrifices for us, his crystal-clear teachings and his brilliant personal qualities and example.
That attachment can be best expressed, even in his physical absence, by faithfully and gratefully grasping and following his instructions – this is the essence of the loving reciprocation between the disciple and the spiritual master. As you have rightly surmised, the important point is to surrender, and you can surrender to Srila Prabhupada’s vani or instructions.
The medium through which we can actually access, reciprocate with and surrender to Srila Prabhupada is through his instructions. His sincere living representatives who are faithfully and sincerely living their lives according to his instructions help us to access His Divine Grace. Without their transparently and purely presenting Prabhupada to us, we would know much less about him than we have available through these wonderful conduits of his mercy.
By minimizing the sincere followers, one indirectly minimizes Srila Prabhupada as well as the system of disciplic succession and the efficacy of the process of Krishna consciousness that Prabhupada taught. One of the core messages Srila Prabhupada often reiterated was that even those born in the most sinful races and addicted to the most sinful acts can at once be purified by taking shelter of a pure devotee. Was Srila Prabhupada’s mercy lacking in potency to transform and transmit pure devotion even to a few sincere followers? This cannot be true.
Besides, the principle of approaching a spiritual master in person to receive transcendental knowledge is a universal principle – for all time and ages. Krishna unequivocally recommends it (BG 4.34); furthermore, Srila Prabhupada himself repeatedly instructs in all of his writings and teachings the need to surrender to a personal spiritual master, submissively inquire and render personal service. Surely Srila Prabhupada would not leave us with an instruction that is impossible to fulfill. (See digest 178)
The very purpose of this material creation is to give a chance for conditioned souls to revive their lost relationship with Krishna. From time to time, there may appear highly empowered, self-effulgent acharyas who can pave the path for many generations to come. But at every point in time, there will always be bona fide representatives of the parampara who can guide and purely connect sincere souls to Krishna through the disciplic succession – it is the duty of a sincere spiritual aspirant to seek and accept such shelter. And the disciple should indeed carefully ascertain — not by external, superficial considerations but based on spiritual/scriptural considerations — a pure representative who can transparently connect them to Prabhupada and follow them.
In short, if we are situated in knowledge and if we are sincere, we can guard from being sentimental or misled.
