Yukta Viragya in the Golden Age
BY: YUGA AVATAR DAS
Nov 03, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND (SUN) — Please accept my kind regards, David Gould, all glories to the servants of his Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada. Having read your letter I felt a kinship, because I was one of several devotees sent to Sandy Bay, Hobart, Tasmania back in the early nineties. I stayed serving for approximately 18 months, travelling extensively through all sorts of places like Smith town, Launceston, etc., doing some books and paraphernalia sales. We set-up a humble temple and did a Sunday Feast. Two brahamacaris, Bryhaspati and Venadhara devi dasi and their daughter.
You are fortunate enough to be in a zone which is served by Ramai Swami, a very compassionate, knowledgeable, and generous minded sannyasis who just happens to be the present Chairman of the GBC.
As a new man, obviously not initiated, you are possibly not conversant with the teachings of Rupa Goswami, who taught anasak tasya visayan, yathaham upayunjatah, nirbandah krishna sanbandhe, yukta vairagya ucate, which means that everything belongs to Krishna. A devotee who uses everything in Krishna's service is more perfect in his renunciation than one who artificially gives everything up.
The devotees in our Sampradaya are interested in pleasing the senses of guru and Krishna, hence Srila Bhaktisiddhanta rode in motor cars for preaching in Vrindavana, which at the time was very revolutionary and unprecedented in the history of Vaisnavism.
Practically, this means that sannyasis, householders and brahamacaris should use everything -- the material energy, maya, laxmi wealth, beautiful women -- in its rightful position to please the transcendental senses of Krishna. Because guru is happily burdened with trying to please his Spiritual Master actually his usage of computers, cell phones, electricity, planes and all forms of wealth is the perfection of renunciation and religion. In our line we are called Rupanuga's because this was taught by Rupa and Sanatana Goswami and distilled further by the following Acaryas until the perfect guru, Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada fully amplified its practical usage. According to time place and circumstance, once again to try to fulfill the desires and purposes of guru, sadhu and sastra, The Spiritual Master, saintly persons and revealed scripture.
Your comments about setting up brahminical councils, as you put it, to make sense of ISKCON's corruption, sannyasis' use of all sorts of gadgets, the new professional managers and other points, though possibly sometimes valid, in my humble opinion shows an unrealistic young devotee's understanding of such problems.
The preaching environment in Australia is very complex and aggressively demoniac, kill it if it moves, meat head culture. I personally preached in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, and along the eastern coast up to Cairns for approximately 13 years, so I am reasonably conversant with our Aussie mates. Being a frontline solider gives a pertinent and different appreciation of our preaching mission, more informed and realistically aware of the unique problems.
Your points about preaching to western people rather than imported Indian devotees or workers is valid to a degree. The problem is really that the present mood amongst most western people is that they want to get paid. They need financial maintenance to support themselves outside the temple. Selfless, humble, hardworking devotees, generous of heart, willing to put aside one's own interests, giving everything to guru and Krishna, single, detached from material enjoyment and willing to follow four regulative principles - such devotees are extremely rare.
Unfortunately outside of ISKCON there is realistically very little offered amongst the Vaisnava community, because they do not understand yukta vairagya philosophy. Srila Narayana Maharaja is unfortunately a blasphemer of Srila Prabhupada, his devotees. Many, my old friends, are generally misguided and have been unable to achieve anything substantial, accept to try and steal more ISKCON devotees. Srila Govinda Maharaja is a very sincere Vaisnava but faces huge, daunting obstacles financially to establish a bridgehead in the western preaching. The millions of dollars, the twenty to thirty years of huge austerity performed by thousands of sincere devotees is not available now. There is no Srila Tamala Krishna Goswami philosophical genius at work, no Hari-Sauri das, no brilliance of style of Bhavananda prabhu, no large cohesive family attitude, little ability to have siksa and diksa guru work together harmoniously. The problems you perceive in my humble opinion are insignificant to the truly immense obstacles these other groups have yet to face. Yet these problems are insignificant for the devotee seriously engaged in trying to please his gurus, both siksa and diksa. The daily challenge only a connected disciple feels ecstatically.
Hope this is of some benefit David. By the way, many devotees have come from the Tasmanian yatra.
Yours sincerely,
Yuga Avatar das
OM TAT SAT
