Waves of Devotion

Movement or Mission?[1]

In a discussion with a friend, he distinguished between the Hare Krishna Movement (its structure and organization) and its mission (its goals or objectives), stressing the importance of the mission: awakening our eternal relationship with Krishna. It was a passing remark in a brief discussion, but as I reflected on his statement, I was inspired to give it some more thought. It seems important to make a careful distinction between the concepts of “movement” and “mission” in order to balance their relative value. I would like to deepen my understanding of that relationship by first discussing the views of two scholars on the subject, beginning with the thoughts of the late Joseph T. O’Connell, one of the most prominent scholars of South Asian religion in the modern era.

Professor O’Connell defined the purpose of an institution as carrying its culture – what is right, real, and of value – into the future.[2] He further divided institutions into two divisions: hard institutions, where the values are preserved by a hierarchical management structure, and soft institutions, where the values are preserved more spontaneously through its teachers, devotional practices, and, most importantly, its sacred literatures. In the history of Caitanya Vaishnavism, both have had a role in preserving its culture, but the latter has proven to be more important, because it deals more exclusively with Sri Caitanya’s mission. An example of such prioritization is demonstrated in a fairly well-known exchange between Srila Prabhupada[3] and his guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati. His guru shared with him his concern about the terrible infighting that was occurring amongst his disciples over control of their lavish, newly built temple in Calcutta, and expressed his regret: “If I could sell this marble of this temple, and secure some money, and if I could print some books, that would have been better. That would have been better.” He then instructed Srila Prabhupada that, “if you ever get money, print books,” ensuring that his mission would be carried into the future. In other words, he prioritized the soft institution, where the mission is inherently embedded.

Richard Rohr is a Franciscan friar and a prominent spiritual teacher and author. In his book Falling Upward, he also makes a distinction between the external structures of an institution meant to support spiritual life and an institution’s core mission. However, he focuses on such distinctions not in terms of formal organizations, but in terms of how they are relevant in an individual’s personal life. To highlight that distinction, he outlines the journey of the hero as expressed in classical literature, which is inevitably divided into two parts of life. The first part, the external function of religion, is developing the structures of life to hold our internal development. We have all done that in our quest for stable family, suitable occupation, reasonable self-esteem, and supportive spiritual community. In the second part of the hero’s life, by destiny, these same structures that were necessary become an impediment and collapse. The hero is then forced to take full shelter of their spiritual essence, which becomes the second part of the hero or spiritual aspirant’s life. As one’s material protective agents break down, one is impelled forward in spiritual life, which is a phenomenon Rohr called “falling upwards.” I assume most reading this who are on a spiritual path have experienced how the unintended failure of aspects of our external support systems have impelled us to take shelter of the real purpose of those systems – our spiritual life – which perhaps we had neglected or not fully utilized.

I think I now understand more fully my friend’s concern. Hard Institutions are very important in preserving culture and facilitating spiritual life. Therefore, much energy must certainly be put into maintaining and promoting them. The objective of those institutions—and I think he was obviously referring to ISKCON, where he is a loyal and respected member—is the careful development of our spontaneous relationship with Krishna as outlined in the tradition’s sacred texts. That focus becomes more and more a necessity as the institution grows older and more stable, and its membership matures and ages. The tendency of spiritual institutions, however, is to make the maintenance and expansion of the hierarchical institution its main focus, and, in the process, lose sight of its purpose or mission, which is to bring its individual members back to Godhead. In the case of the Hare Krishna Movement, that means an increased focus on the devotional practices the tradition outlines to achieve that goal.

I appreciate my friend’s concern. I hope I added something to our discussion, because there is nothing more important to a spiritual movement than clarity about its mission.

[1] Originally published on February 8th, 2021.

[2] Joseph T O’Connell’s article on the subject:  https://gaudiyadiscussions.gaudiya.com/topic_1446.html

[3] Srila Bhaktisiddhanta is also known among his followers as Srila Prabhupada. In this article I refer to him as Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati and Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, his disciple, as Srila Prabhupada, the honorific title that he is also known as.

Last week I wrote about the special features of Brahmā-vimohana-līlā. It was the last commentary Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote and the last pastime in the kaumāra-līlā phase of Krsna’s life. It emphasizes an essential siddhānta (philosophical conclusion) that readers need to understand before proceeding in their study of the Tenth Canto of the Bhāgavatam. Most importantly it shows Śrīla Prabhupāda’s almost superhuman and determined effort to complete it. While studying that līlā, I noticed something else—Śrīla Prabhupāda in his last days not only reveals the deep philosophical conclusions found there, but also provides a unique view of the world through his own eyes inspired by the story he was commenting on. Some examples:

The Beauty of Vrindavan

“Vṛndāvana forest is always filled with the chirping and cooing of birds like cuckoos (kokila), ducks (haṁsa) and cranes (sārasa), and it is also full of peacocks (mayūrākule). The same sounds and atmosphere still prevail in the area where our Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma temple is situated. Everyone who visits this temple is pleased to hear the chirping of the birds as described here (kūjat-kokila-haṁsa-sārasa).” (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.13.5, purport)

His Appreciation and Concern for the Society He Created

“Like the whorl of a lotus flower surrounded by its petals and leaves, Kṛṣṇa sat in the center, encircled by lines of His friends, who all looked very beautiful.” (Bhāgavatam 10.13.8)

Śrīla Prabhupāda comments:

“The present Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is an attempt to keep Kṛṣṇa in the center, for if this is done all activities will automatically become beautiful and blissful.” (Bhāgavatam 10.13.8, purport)

His Strong Desire to Establish the Scientific Basis of Krsna Consciousness

I was in Vrindavan during Śrīla Prabhupāda’s last days with us, when the Bhaktivedanta Institute held its first “Life Comes from Life” conference there. I was also there when his scientist disciples, who hosted and made presentations in the conference, came into his room directly from the conference’s closing ceremony to give Śrīla Prabhupāda a report. Obviously, they were still wearing their suits and ties, the attire they wore to the conference, instead of the robes that they would normally wear especially when seeing Śrīla Prabhupāda. When Śrīla Prabhupāda saw them in their suits, he immediately ordered Tamal Krishna Mahārāja, his secretary, to bring them chairs. His disciples, however, hesitated and responded that they were his students and happy to just sit at his feet. Śrīla Prabhupāda, however, insisted, “No, you are respected scientists!” indirectly expressing his appreciation for their service. Evidently, by his response the importance of this type of preaching was very much on his mind and that comes through in his purports to this chapter, specifically in the ones describing the moment Lord Brahmā became bewildered by Śrī Krishna’s mystic power. Śrīla Prabhupāda saw Brahmā’s pride and consequent bewilderment as analogous to the position of the modern-day atheistic scientists, who like Brahmā feel they can control or play God by their superior intelligence, but who are ultimately defeated.

“In a similar position are the scientists and philosophers who want to overcome the mystic power of Kṛṣṇa. They challenge Kṛṣṇa, saying, ‘What is God? We can do this, and we can do that.’ But the more they challenge Kṛṣṇa in this way, the more they are implicated in suffering. The lesson here is that we should not try to overcome Kṛṣṇa…instead of defeating Kṛṣṇa, Brahmā himself was defeated, for he could not understand what Kṛṣṇa was doing. Since Brahmā, the chief person within this universe, was so bewildered, what is to be said of so-called scientists and philosophers?” (Bhāgavatam 10.13.44, purport)

His Appreciation of His Empowerment by Krishna and the Consequent Success of his Movement

Verse 49 describes the Viṣṇu forms Krishna manifested when He duplicated all the cowherd boys and calves. There it is described that He was surrounded by devotees worshipping Him by bhūri-puṇya (the greatest pious activity) which Śrīla Prabhupāda translates as chanting and hearing. Śrīla Prabhupāda comments on the power of his saṅkīrtana movement:

“In our Kṛṣṇa-Balarāma Temple in Vṛndāvana, there is a tamāla tree that covers an entire corner of the courtyard. Before there was a temple the tree was lying neglected, but now it has developed very luxuriantly, covering the whole corner of the courtyard. This is a sign of bhūri-puṇya.” (Bhāgavatam 10.13.49, purport)

In the next verse the description continues:

“Those Viṣṇu forms, by Their pure smiling, which resembled the increasing light of the moon, and by the sidelong glances of Their reddish eyes, created and protected the desires of Their own devotees, as if by the modes of passion and goodness.” (Bhāgavatam 10.13.50)

In his purport Śrīla Prabhupāda references the commentary of Sanātana Gosvāmī to explain that although a pure devotee has no personal desires, the Lord’s glance enthuses such a devotee with a desire to perform devotional service which the Lord also maintains. This commentary apparently very much inspires Śrīla Prabhupāda and again he reflects on the wonderful temple he built in Vrindavan where he is residing:

“In Vṛndāvana there is a place where there was no temple, but a devotee desired, ‘Let there be a temple and sevā, devotional service.’ Therefore, what was once an empty corner has now become a place of pilgrimage. Such are the desires of a devotee.” (Bhāgavatam 10.13.50, purport)

His Desire for His devotees to Go Deeper in Krishna Consciousness

“Such purification can be achieved very easily by rādhā-kṛṣṇa-bhajana…”

(Bhāgavatam 10.13.53, purport)

This post is already too long for a Monday Morning Greeting. I could have given even more examples. In a previous post, I even argued that the very last sentence that Śrīla Prabhupāda wrote in the last commentary of the Brahmā-vimohana-līlā perfectly outlines his legacy—“The Significance of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Last Written Words”.

I pray this post helps to give one just a glimpse of what Śrīla Prabhupāda was thinking and seeing in his last days with us.

I hope the title doesn’t seem too presumptuous, but it was the best I could come up with in terms of this week’s topic. Let me explain. First, some background.

A few years ago, I began to lecture on Brahmā-vimohana-līlā from the thirteenth chapter of the Tenth Canto of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. As I was finishing the chapter and marveling at the depth of some of its long purports, a question arose in my mind. Was there anything special about this chapter that impelled Śrīla Prabhupāda to dictate such a comprehensive commentary on it? It seemed an almost impossible task for one bed-ridden, at the very end of life and in significant pain.

As I considered whether there is some special significance to the story that may have inspired Śrīla Prabhupāda to make an almost superhuman effort to complete it, the first thing that caught my eye was the special position of the Brahmā-vimohana-līlā. It is the last pastime in Krishna’s kaumāra-līlā (age 1-5), the first of Krishna’s three age divisions, preceding paugaṇḍa (age 6-10), and kaiśora (age 11-15). Did Śrīla Prabhupāda push himself so that at least one age division was nearly complete before he left? I think there was something even more urgent on his mind that inspired him.

The Brahmā-vimohana-līlā, perhaps more than any other story in the Bhāgavatam, vividly establishes an extremely essential siddhānta (philosophical conclusion)—the topmost position of the divinity of God as a simple cowherd boy, Śrī Krishna.

Lord Brahmā had witnessed the power of Krishna in killing the Aghāsura demon. Shortly after, in contrast, he witnessed Krishna having a picnic with His friends. A doubt then arose in his mind about the position of Krishna, and that doubt is expressed in the simple phrase yajña-bhug bāla–keliḥ—is the young cowherd boy Krishna yajña-bhuk, the omnipotent lord who accepts all the innumerable offerings of sacrifice, or is he just bāla-keli, a simple boy playing with friends? To find out he decides to test Krishna by stealing all the cowherd boys and calves and hiding them in his lair. When he quickly returns to Vrindavan, however, he is shocked. Not only are all the cowherd boys and calves somehow exactly in the place where he had just stolen them, but each of them demonstrates that they are expansions of Krishna by manifesting an overwhelming display of aiśvarya (opulence or power). Temporarily blinded by the effulgence of those Viṣṇu forms he becomes stunned. When he finally regains his consciousness and with great difficulty opens his eyes, he again sees sweet Krishna standing alone in Vrindavan just as before, as a simple village cowherd boy with a morsel of food in his hand searching everywhere for the calves and his cowherd friends. Now fully realizing that the yajña-bhuk (the omnipotent Lord) is bāla-keli, this simple cowherd boy, he becomes overwhelmed with ecstasy, bathes Krishna’s lotus feet with his tears of joy, and offers prayers.

So that is the background information for our conjecture about what was in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s mind that led him to use the last drop of his strength and acumen to complete his commentary on this pastime. I will offer what I think Śrīla Prabhupāda was thinking:

“Historically, and even today, Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism has been plagued by sahajiyism where devotees impose their material conceptions on the pastimes of Radha-Krishna līlā. In the very next pastime after Brahmā-vimohana-līlā in Chapter Fifteen, Krishna enters the age of paugaṇḍa and his relationship with the gopīs is first introduced. I am concerned that my young disciples may misunderstand those pastimes. Let me therefore at least finish this important pastime that so forcefully demonstrates that the yajña-bhuk is the bāla-keli. So with all my strength let me push on to complete the kaumāra-līlā to give my disciples just one more important tool to help inoculate them from common misunderstanding of thinking of Krishna as mundane when His love of the gopīs is introduced in the next pastime.”

And that’s what I think was in the mind of Śrīla Prabhupāda when he pushed himself to complete against all odds the Brahmā-vimohana-līlā.

I assume that all of you, even though many of you live outside the United States of America, know that tomorrow is the election to select their next president. The country is split in half, extremely polarized, over this issue. When the results are in, it seems that half the country, the group whose candidate lost, will be highly distraught, with many predicting a disaster approaching Armageddon. A week ago, a Vaiṣṇava who supports Harris wrote me:

This political contest for POTUS, IMO, is really about enlightenment values vs oligarchy. Its outcome will have profound repercussions, internationally as well as nationally.

Recently a Trump-supporting Vaiṣṇava sent me a slew of quotes from Śrīla Prabhupāda which he interprets to say the opposite, that the election is really about Marxism vs God consciousness with profound repercussions if the left-leaning democratic party prevails:

Now, if they are serious to check this communistic movement, save the American country, as well as the whole world, then they must be very serious to understand what is God and what is trust in God. Otherwise this communistic movement will finish the civilized human society. (Morning walk, Los Angeles, December 12, 1973)

I am not questioning that these gentlemen may have sincere legitimate concerns. There very well may be catastrophic consequences caused by this election. What I am concerned with here, however, is the effect of obsession about this election on one’s consciousness. I think that would be Śrīla Prabhupāda’s main concern. This post will offer three considerations on this issue to help us to protect our bhakti, whichever way one leans and regardless of the results tomorrow. I was reading something today that I found relevant in regard to today’s discussion. It’s from a bhakti sādhaka’s realizations about the obstacles to devotion and is in the form of a story about a disciple’s openhearted discussion with his Guru about his lack of taste for chanting.

Want to protest against the injustice in this world? When we ourselves are ridden with so many follies, how can we rid the world of its evil? When our own hearts are black, how can we purify others? We ourselves are in darkness, how can we hold the torch for others? We are in material bondage, how can we liberate others?

Of course, as followers of Śrīla Prabhupāda we are concerned about the world, and distributing spiritual knowledge is part of our process of purification, but I think we all get his point.

During this time when even devotees are calling on people to be politically involved according to their own passionate convictions, here are the guardrails I am putting around myself to protect my nāma-bhajana during Kartik: Avoiding criticism, avoiding idle talk, and seeing the world with a more cosmic viewpoint.

Avoiding Criticism

Criticism is worse than envy, because envy is within the heart and criticism is when that envy comes out and is expressed to others. What about constructive criticism? That’s a long discussion, but mostly our criticism is born of the false ego. If you want a taste of the holy name, best to avoid criticism. I therefore found this simple recommendation from Caitanya-bhāgavata both inspiring and a warning to those choosing to enter the political sphere:

“Krishna will easily deliver the one who chants His name constantly without committing nindā.” (Caitanya-bhāgavata Madhya-khanda 9.246)

The Bengal word in verse is aninduka, literally one who doesn’t criticize. In other words, Krishna gives special mercy to such a person.

Avoiding prajalpa (idle talk)

We may have righteous aims, but if we get sucked into the internet, we risk our spiritual life. Upadeśāmṛta lists prajalpa as one the six main obstacles on the path of devotion. Śrīla Prabhupāda is very strong about this:

“Therefore we always advise, ‘Don’t read newspaper. Don’t read any other book,’ because it is full of grāmya-kathā, grāmyaiḥ [village or loose talk]…The same thing repeated. ‘Here there is flood, where there is train disaster, where there is accident, and political, and one politician is giving speech, another politician is giving speech…’ These externally very attractive news, we should avoid it completely. We shall simply talk of Kṛṣṇa. That is the safest method.”

Developing a cosmic perspective

Śrīla Prabhupāda says it all:

“The buildings, furniture, cars, bungalows, mills, factories, industries, peace, war or even the highest perfection of material science, namely atomic energy and electronics, are all simply bewildering names of material elements with their concomitant reactions of the three modes. Since the devotee of the Lord knows them perfectly well, he is not interested in creating unwanted things for a situation which is not at all reality, but simply names of no more significance than the babble of sea waves. The great kings, leaders and soldiers fight with one another in order to perpetuate their names in history. They are forgotten in due course of time, and they make a place for another era in history. But the devotee realizes how much history and historical persons are useless products of flickering time.” [emphasis mine] (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.2.3, purport)

Just a few more thoughts. When Svarūpa Dāmodara and Rāmānanda Rāya asked Śrī Caitanya how to get prema, he gave a four-fold process: Humility, tolerance, respect, and chanting always. The word for respect is māna-dena, offering respect to one and all.

Conclusion: Sādhu Beware!

So that’s the Monday Morning Greetings Election Special from Vraja, the land of Krishna and thus the bluest state in the whole world.