What are the real qualifications of a spiritual master? It’s not what many think
In his historical address to the citizens, he tell us a great deal about the qualifications of a great leader.
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In Prabhupada’s books, we find many passages about the need to accept a bona fide spiritual master. The reason is simple: Although Krsna is present inside our hearts as Paramātmā, most of the time we can’t hear him, because we are too distracted by the noise of our minds. Therefore, Krsna appears to us in the form of the spiritual master, who we can easily see and hear.
Although the spiritual master is not God, he is the representative of God, and therefore, he helps us to understand Krsna’s instructions. He has the mission of correcting us when we get off the path. The scriptures emphasize the necessity of serving the spiritual master, and by serving whe put ourselves in the right state of mind to hear and understand his instructions.
Often, we think that only a completely perfect soul can be a spiritual master. It makes sense: if the guru is not completely pure, in the level of prema, how can he help the disciple to ascend to this level?
However, there are many passages in the books of Srila Prabhupada that appear to challenge this conception. See, for example, this passage from the purport of the 5th verse of the Nectar of Instruction:
“In this verse Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī advises the devotee to be intelligent enough to distinguish between the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, madhyama-adhikārī and uttama-adhikārī. The devotee should also know his own position and should not try to imitate a devotee situated on a higher platform. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has given some practical hints to the effect that an uttama-adhikārī Vaiṣṇava can be recognized by his ability to convert many fallen souls to Vaiṣṇavism. One should not become a spiritual master unless he has attained the platform of uttama-adhikārī. A neophyte Vaiṣṇava or a Vaiṣṇava situated on the intermediate platform can also accept disciples, but such disciples must be on the same platform, and it should be understood that they cannot advance very well toward the ultimate goal of life under his insufficient guidance. Therefore a disciple should be careful to accept an uttama-adhikārī as a spiritual master.”
Let’s break down the different ideas Srila Prabhupada expresses here:
1- We should be intelligent enough to distinguish between devotees in the three levels: kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, madhyama-adhikārī, and uttama-adhikārī.
2- We should also understand our own position and not try to imitate a devotee situated on a higher platform.
3- A uttama-adhikārī can be recognized by his ability to convert many fallen souls to Vaiṣṇavism.
4- One should not become a spiritual master unless one has attained the platform of uttama-adhikārī.
5- A neophyte Vaiṣṇava or a Vaiṣṇava situated on the intermediate platform can also accept disciples. However, such disciples must be on the same platform, and it should be understood that they cannot advance very well toward the ultimate goal of life under his insufficient guidance.
6- A disciple should be careful to accept a uttama-adhikārī as a spiritual master.
At first, it seems that there is a contradiction here. First, Srila Prabhupada says that no one should become a spiritual master if he is not on the uttama-adhikari platform, and immediately afterward, he says that devotees in the neophyte or intermediate platforms can also accept disciples. How can we understand that?
The first point we need to pay attention to is the definition of uttama-adhikari that Srila Prabhupada uses here. There are many different definitions of what a uttama-adhikari is. However, here Prabhupada keeps it simple and focuses on the main qualification: “an uttama-adhikārī Vaiṣṇava can be recognized by his ability to convert many fallen souls to Vaiṣṇavism”. This should not be understood superficially, however. To “convert many fallen souls to Vaiṣṇavism” doesn’t simply mean to make them use kunti-malas and consider themselves Hare Kṛṣṇas, but to make them change their habits and advance in their devotion. In other words, the definition is that a uttama-adikari is someone who is effective in making people Krsna-conscious. It is not about how many disciples he makes, but how much these disciples can change due to his guidance.
The qualification for being a spiritual master is therefore that one should be able to help disciples progress toward the ultimate goal. For this, the spiritual master should act as a transparent medium for the teachings of Krsna that he himself received through the Parampara. Srila Prabhupada used to say that being a spiritual master is very easy because one doesn’t need to invent anything new. He just needs to act as a postman.
When we take into account that the main qualification is that one should be able to help his disciples and act as a transparent medium, transmitting Krsna’s instructions from the Bhagavad-Gita and other scriptures without changing them, it becomes easy to understand Prabhupada’s point about a neophyte or intermediate Vaiṣnava also accepting disciples. As long as the devotee is acting as a transparent medium and can help his disciples, and as long as the disciples are not in illusion about the qualifications of the guru, there is no problem with that.
The point is that if a guru is not on the ultimate platform, he should not cheat his disciples by advertising himself as a maha-bhagavata. In other words, an intermediate or even neophyte devotee may act as a spirtual master if people are willing to follow his guidance and he is willing to help them to the best of his capacity, but such a spiritual master should act on a humble platform, and not cheat his disciples by advertising himself as a maha-bhagavata. As Srila Prabhupada explains: “The devotee should also know his own position and should not try to imitate a devotee situated on a higher platform.”
When Srila Prabhupada left the planet, some of his disciples became spiritual masters and started to initiate disciples. Later, however, many of them faced serious problems. Some argue that this is because no one should become a spiritual master unless he is able to directly see Krsna’s pastimes, but according to this purport, the reason is more connected with the way these gurus advertised themselves, trying to imitate Srila Prabhupada in his role as the acarya. We can see that after this problem was corrected and gurus started to act in a more humble platform, the number of fall downs was greatly reduced.
Another point we should keep in mind is that there are three different types of spiritual masters: the vartma-pradarsaka-guru, the diksa guru, and the siksa guru. The role of the vartma-pradarsaka-guru is generally well understood: his function is to point one on the right path. We all understand that any devotee can take this role. However, there is some confusion about the role of the diksa and siksa gurus. We tend to think that anyone can act as a siksa-guru, but only maha-bhagavatas can give diksa; however, the role of the siksa-guru is actually more important. Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura took diksa from Bipin Bihari Goswami and siksa from Srila Jagannatha Dasa Bababji. However, he appears in the parampara as the disciple of Srila Jagannatha Dasa Babaji. It is just that, as Srila Prabhupada mentions, the most prominent siksa-guru tends to also become the diksa-guru later on. However, this is not necessarily a rule.
We can also understand that there are different levels of siksa-gurus, which go from a senior devotee giving general instructions all the way to the guru who gives prema.
One may argue that the point about an intermediate Vaishnava is clear since a madhyama-adhikari can obviously also help his disciples to progress, but what about a neophyte accepting disciples? How is it supposed to help? Actually, this is something that is extremely common. Most devotees start to preach when they are still on quite an immature platform, where they don’t have much realization or even great knowledge, but they still have some faith, and they can inspire faith in others. One on this platform may gather a small following and help them to the extent he can, and there is no harm in that. It would not be a stretch of the imagination that one in such a situation could even initiate some followers who have faith in him (presuming that his guru is not present anymore or gave him permission to do so) and later send them to more advanced Vaiṣnavas who could give them siksa and help them to progress further. The main point here would be for one to keep a humble mentality, seeing himself as a representative of his own guru, and not start to speculate and advertise himself as some kind of maha-bhagavata.
When we take all of this into consideration, it becomes easy to understand this purport:
1- The disciple should accept as a guru someone whom he has faith in. He should not have doubts about the qualification of his spiritual master.
2- The main qualification of an aspiring spiritual master is that he should be able to help his disciples to change their lives and come close to Krsna. This practical factor is more important than other esoteric factors that are hard to quantify.
3- An intermediate devotee or even a neophyte may also accept disciples as long as he can help these disciples to progress (therefore, the disciples should be on the same or lower platform).
4- An intermediate or neophyte Vaiṣnava who becomes a teacher should be humble and see himself as a representative of his own spiritual master. He should not try to cheat his disciples and present himself as a maha-bhagavata. He should send his disciples to get siksa from Vaiṣnavas on a more advanced platform.
5- The disciples of a uttama-adikari guru have the possibility of progressing faster than the disciples under the insufficient guidance of an intermediate or neophyte Vaiṣnava; therefore, a sincere disciple will strive to find a uttama-adikari and faithfully follow his instructions. Ultimately, however, each disciple will end up following the spiritual master he has faith in; one can’t force anyone to accept this or that spiritual master.
6- Being initiated by a certain spiritual master doesn’t prevent one from later, under his guidance, taking siksa from other Vaiṣnavas who can guide him further. A bona fide spiritual master will guide the disciple in this direction if necessary, when the time comes. Different bona fide spiritual masters are all playing on the same team and can cooperate to help a disciple going back to Godhead.
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