The Root Cause of Any and All Miserable Abuse
BY: MARGARET CONNORS
Jan 21, USA (SUN) —
"He who fails to speak is specifically at fault for this rotten influence on Srila Prabhupada's movement" - Ravanari das
HDG Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada has provided us all with an unambiguous explanation for why anyone - man, woman, child, beast or bug - is obliged to suffer seeming "abuse" of any kind in this world. Or as some might inquire, "What do bad or unwanted things happen to seemingly innocent or undeserving people?"
"The sufferings of humanity are caused by the misuse of the discriminative power or the little independence which is given to individual souls. The fraudulent swamis or mental speculators, in order to remain consistent with the theory of monism, must pass off the miseries of mankind as the pastimes of God, but actually these miseries are only the enforced punishments of Maya devi inflicted upon the misguided conditioned souls."
(Elevation To Krsna Consciousness Chapter 2)
According to HDG Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, the "efficient" or external role played by anyone as "perpetrator" of abuse towards us, is their own suffering condition - linked with the suffering due us, on account of the above mentioned prior "misuse of our discriminative power" This provides no excuse to such perpetrators - BUT does perfectly explain why we are ultimately forced to suffer these reactions to our prior apathy and/or offense to the Lord or our fellow living entities.
Motherhood is only sacred when it is exercised in strict conformity with its only perfectly valuable purpose. Lord Krsna explains in the Bhagavad-gita Chapter 7, verse 19:
"After many many births and deaths - he who is in knowledge surrenders unto Me, knowing Me to be the cause of all causes and all that is. Such a great soul is very rare".
HDG Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada states in his wonderful book, Perfection of Yoga:
"It is a fact therefore, that in the progress of the living entity toward perfection of yoga, birth in a family of yogis or devotees is a great boon, for such a birth gives one special impetus."
Thus he affirms that it is not merely a woman's capacity to give birth that endows motherhood with its purported "sacredness". It is the purpose of her endeavor and its being conducted under the direction of Lord Krsna and His devotees - that renders it so. Such a birth is rare, and rarer still are women who in fact and in practical action, embrace this wonderful service to deserving yogis and devotees whose sojourns in this world need only that final and perfect "special impetus" to finally, fully and perfectly put an end to their misuse of the discriminative powers granted by the Lord to each of His tiny parts and parcels.
All souls were, are or will be in the future - obliged to endure reversal and suffering of many kinds - in this world - despite their having taken birth in the womb of such mothers. No one of us is exempt from the above explanation for exactly WHY we are obliged to endure what are described clearly as caused - at the root of the root - by our own prior misuse of the power of discrimination that is concomitant to our very existence as individual souls possessed of free will.
In short - we suffer - always - because of something we did - in our past - to ultimately yield the exact suffering we endure - be it the past in this life or in our previous lives.
Mothers and fathers, who are forced to endure the suffering that comes with knowing their child was harmed or injured - in any way - be it by accident, or at the hands of any rascal - must endure the knowledge that they either did all they could to prevent that and still that effort was insufficient OR the necessary and responsible vigilance on their part - vital to the protection of all children - was conspicuous by its absence in some way and they share some degree of responsibility in the entire sordid deliverance of this suffering to their own child and the perpetuation of this cycle of misery.
It makes no sense to single out any one facet of this whole show. All the responsible parties to this unfortunate chain of actions and reactions must be considered carefully when analysing it or attempting to prevent it from reccuring. We must all take full responsibility for the role we play - perpetrator and victims alike - and in so doing, we need to take the only remedy offered us all to the whole sorry business: greater commitment to the process of devotional service, which begins and ends with our submission to the chanting of the Holy Names of Lord Krsna.
Kali Yuga is an ocean of faults but its one excellent quality is that, according to Srila Prabhupada, merely by chanting the Holy Names of the Lord, we can enjoy all the benefits of the personal association of Lord Krsna and ultimately be lifted out of this miserable place of endless suffering due to misuse of our individual powers of discrimination, and regain our original condition of pure Krsna Consciousness.
Mothers who understand their "sacred" responsibility will do their utmost to protect their child and his or her "special impetus" from the predations of abusers of all stripes. This begins with their selecting the most qualified man to join with them in this endeavor as father. This is vital and oft times women ignore this facet of the project. Then later - if or when they either fail, or their best efforts are not sufficient to offset the "just desserts" that are unfortunately due their child, they will have to endure the pain that they are bound to share - yet guide their dependents to deal with that - in accord with the guidance of Lord Krsna.
For devotees, Srila Prabhupada said our suffering what was or is our "due" is reduced to a fraction. So whatever we are forced to endure can in fact be a source of encouragement; 'the more we suffer now' can be correctly understood as a mere fraction of what we would have endured, were it not for the kindness of the Lord.
Surely, care and attention must always be given to the protection of our children. However, this is the responsibility of us as mothers and fathers; first and foremost. If we place our children in the hands of any other adult or teen, it is our responsibility to know with as much certainty as is humanly possible, that such caregivers share in the value we give to this "special impetus" and opportunity that has come with birth in our family.
I offer this only for everyone's careful consideration upon reading Ravanari das's comments.
Margaret Connors
