The proper mood of a spiritual teacher
One point that is emphasized by Lord Ṛṣabhadeva in his teachings is the mood of a teacher of the spiritual science. This general instruction applies to any kind of spiritual guide.
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One point that is emphasized by Lord Ṛṣabhadeva in his teachings in the Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is the mood of a teacher of the spiritual science. This general instruction applies to any kind of spiritual guides, from an ordinary teacher or mentor, all the way to a spiritual master.
“If one is serious about going back home, back to Godhead, he must consider the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead the summum bonum and chief aim of life. If he is a father instructing his sons, a spiritual master instructing his disciples, or a king instructing his citizens, he must instruct them as I have advised. Without being angry, he should continue giving instructions, even if his disciple, son or citizen is sometimes unable to follow his order. Ignorant people who engage in pious and impious activities should be engaged in devotional service by all means. They should always avoid fruitive activity. If one puts into the bondage of karmic activity his disciple, son or citizen who is bereft of transcendental vision, how will one profit? It is like leading a blind man to a dark well and causing him to fall in.” (SB 5.5.15)
The basic principle of spiritual life is to learn the spiritual science from the spiritual master. Kṛṣṇa consciousness is not something we invent; it is something we receive through disciplic succession. Real knowledge can only be received from superior sources going all the way to Kṛṣṇa, not manufactured.
The debt to the spiritual master is impossible to be repaid. Still, the way of showing some appreciation is to try to assist him in his mission of transmitting Krsna Consciousness to others. We can do this in different ways, but the essence is to pass on what we learned. If one becomes a father or mother, one should teach his children; if one becomes a king, or any kind of authority or role model, one should teach his followers, and if one later becomes a spiritual master, one should instruct his disciples.
The most important qualification of any kind of spiritual teacher is to teach the spiritual science as it is. Just as we learned from the spiritual master, so we should teach, without change in the essence. This does not mean we cannot adjust language, examples, or presentation to suit the audience, but the essence and conclusions of the text must be preserved.
Śrīla Prabhupāda explains this delicate formula in his purport to SB 1.4.1:
“Personal realization does not mean that one should, out of vanity, attempt to show one’s own learning by trying to surpass the previous ācārya. He must have full confidence in the previous ācārya, and at the same time he must realize the subject matter so nicely that he can present the matter for the particular circumstances in a suitable manner. The original purpose of the text must be maintained. No obscure meaning should be screwed out of it, yet it should be presented in an interesting manner for the understanding of the audience. This is called realization.”
This first two points are not exactly new to us. We hear about them in a number of passages. What is unique in Ṛṣabhadeva’s explanation is a description of the mood of the teacher:
“Without being angry, he should continue giving instructions, even if his disciple, son or citizen is sometimes unable to follow his order.”
This is a crucial point. It is very easy for us to become frustrated when students, children, or followers fail to live up to the ideals that we present. Sometimes we may be tempted to give up on them, or become angry and frustrated when they fall short of the standards we are trying to uphold.
Ṛṣabhadeva, however, gives a different standard. A spiritual teacher should:
a) Continue to instruct, never giving up on the student.
b) Avoid anger and harshness, being able to control his or her own emotions.
c) Keep in mind that it is normal for a student to struggle in following the spiritual process, just as we ourselves struggled.
d) Maintain the mood of compassion that is the essential characteristic of a teacher.
Just as we ourselves were not able to immediately follow everything at first when we were being taught, others will also have difficulties. Most of us can look back and see how much patience our own spiritual masters, senior devotees, or parents had with us. They tolerated our immaturity, our repeated mistakes, and our lack of seriousness at times, and yet they kept giving us opportunities to hear, to serve, and to try again. That’s the reason we are still here.
Often, we may forget our struggles and create a false mental image of having progressed fast in spiritual life, but if we honestly look back and spend some time remembering our struggles, we can see that we took more work and patience from others than we would like to admit. Therefore, when it becomes our turn to guide someone, we should try to extend the same patience that we received and, if possible, amplify it.
Our movement is still a work in progress. We are still trying to understand and apply the knowledge left to us by Śrīla Prabhupāda and our past ācāryas. There is a lot of space to work and improve. Even if we didn’t receive a perfect example from our own teachers, we can try to offer something good to our dependents.
Spiritual teaching is not just about delivering correct information; it is about walking with people through their struggles, helping them to gradually come to the standard.
The next point emphasized by Ṛṣabhadeva is that we should engage people in devotional service by all means. People are already engaged in material activities, and that’s precisely the source of their problems. If we instruct them to be engaged in more material activities, even if pious activities, what will be the gain? This will surely not make them free from material contamination. As Ṛṣabhadeva puts it, “If one puts into the bondage of karmic activity his disciple, son or citizen who is bereft of transcendental vision, how will one profit? It is like leading a blind man to a dark well and causing him to fall in.”
We should always understand that devotional service is the goal of life and learn the art of connecting all activities with our service to the Lord. As we master it, we can also teach others to do the same.
This point about not further entangling others in material existence under the excuse of teaching spiritual knowledge is further emphasized in the next two verses:
“Due to ignorance, the materialistic person does not know anything about his real self-interest, the auspicious path in life. He is simply bound to material enjoyment by lusty desires, and all his plans are made for this purpose. For temporary sense gratification, such a person creates a society of envy, and due to this mentality, he plunges into the ocean of suffering. Such a foolish person does not even know about this.
If someone is ignorant and addicted to the path of saṁsāra, how can one who is actually learned, merciful and advanced in spiritual knowledge engage him in fruitive activity and thus further entangle him in material existence? If a blind man is walking down the wrong path, how can a gentleman allow him to continue on his way to danger? How can he approve this method? No wise or kind man can allow this.” (SB 5.5.16-17)
Krsna creates the material world as a place with sufficient resources, where everyone can live peacefully and cultivate self-realization. Under the influence of the mode of passion, however, people envy and compete with each other, and act in ways that create the conditions for future suffering. Because they can’t understand this process, Ṛṣabhadeva describes materialists as naṣṭa-dṛṣṭiḥ, people who can’t see beyond the present.
Materialists are often compared to animals, because animals have no intelligence or even desire to understand and escape their misery. The only escape is to be helped by someone who has a higher vision, and thus, everyone who understands the goal of life has this responsibility. As Ṛṣabhadeva puts it, “If a blind man is walking down the wrong path, how can a gentleman allow him to continue on his way to danger? How can he approve this method? No wise or kind man can allow this.”
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