Niscala's "Struggling Guru" Fallacy
Posted August 23, 2004
Niscala Mataji has made some statements on initiating gurus which are
nowhere supported in Srila Prabhupada's writings.
She states: "The guru is careful always to rid his heart of subtle
anarthas which cloud his vision. That is his constant battle. Until he
is situated thoroughly on the transcendental plane, there is always
chance of accidental falldown "due to past bad habits". Still,
as Krsna tells us, this is not to be taken seriously. To do so in regard
to a sincere and advanced devotee is extremely offensive."
Please note:
1) The bona fide diksa guru does not have any anarthas to
battle with since he is completely liberated from material
existence:
"A Spiritual Master is always liberated. In any condition of His
life He should not be mistaken as ordinary human being...a nitya
siddha is never forgetful of Krsna throughout his whole
life..." (Srila Prabhupada letter to Tamal Krsna, June 21,
1970)
"An advanced devotee, therefore, does not live within the material
body but within his spiritual body, just as a dry coconut lives
detached from the coconut husk, even though within the husk. The pure
devotee's body is therefore called cin-maya-sarira
("spiritualized body"). In other words, a devotee's body is
not connected with material activities, and as such, a devotee is
always liberated (brahma-bhuyaya kalpate), as confirmed in
Bhagavad-gita (14.26)." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.22.26,
purport)
2) The Bhagavad-gita verse and purport she alludes to
concerning "accidental falldown due to past bad habits" does NOT apply to
a bona fide spiritual master, but to a CONDITIONED soul who is NOT
liberated, as Srila Prabhupada clearly states:
"This verse ONLY refers to an accident due to the strong power of
material connections. Devotional service is more or less a declaration of
war against the illusory energy. As long as one is not strong enough to
fight the illusory energy, there may be accidental falldowns. But when
one is strong enough, he is no longer subjected to such falldowns, as
previously explained." (Bg 9:30, purport)
A bona fide guru has NO material connections:
"A pure devotee of the Lord does not live on any planet of the
material sky, nor does he feel any contact with the material elements.
His so-called material body does not exist, being surcharged with the
spiritual current of the Lord's identical interest, and thus he is
permanently freed from all contamination of the sum total of the
mahat-tattva." (SB, 1.13.55)
3) Niscala Mataji also states: "Worse still is when we scapegoat
or punish him for his falldown, labelling him as insincere, an imposter
guru, a pretender, or responsible for ISKCON'S decline."
Yet Srila Prabhupada very emphatically states that a BONA FIDE guru can
NEVER fall down. Therefore, if someone acting as a diksa
guru DOES fall down, then HOW is he bona fide? On the contrary, he
can only be a pretender:
"A bona fide spiritual master is
in the disciplic succession from time eternal and he does not deviate AT
ALL from the instructions of the Supreme Lord." (Bg 4:42,
purport)
"There is NO possibility that a
first class devotee will fall down." (Cc Madhya 22.71)
Ys
Mohinder