You Are Surrounding Yourself With Too Many Opinions (07/23/04)
Dear K_____,
Hare Kṛṣṇa.
I read your email below.
Yes, your śikṣa-gurus encouraged you to hear from me with faith. But now you have added another element to the equation and one that I am personally not I harmony with.
There are many things regarding Kṛṣṇa consciousness philosophy and moods of devotional service that I instruct that are extremely different from those of H.H. R______ Swami. He is for one thing a humble conformist and I, on the other hand, am an extreme revolutionist.
If you take further personal interest in hearing from me you will, in the end, imbibe some of my conceptions and moods (as does any disciple) and that will in the end give you trouble with your dīkṣā-guru. Even hearing from me in a general way is to some extent dangerous, because you are going to hear different opinions on many issues and sometimes hidden histories and truths. If you want a sample of what I am speaking about then please read our latest book “Prākṛta-Rasa-Āraṇya-Chedinī”.
It is a fact that one who has too many gurus or seeks too many opinions will ultimately be lost. Śikṣā is higher that dīkṣā, but one should seek dīkṣā from where he/she has received the most important śikṣā – that is only natural. In your situation I would have been more happy to hear that you were taking dīkṣā from either Y____ or D_____. Actually one should take dīkṣā from a person who gives us the most important śikṣā. You say that your śikṣā-gurus accept me in their heart and that you will accept what I say, but I say that your choice of accepting R_______ Swami is not in harmony with the proper concept of Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavism as preached by our Guardians. One day, if Y____ and D_____ (whom I know favor R_______ Swami) ask me why I am not happy with your decision to accept R_____ Swami, I will be at liberty to tell them. But to an aspiring disciple of R______ Swami, I cannot say more (and it is not possible to properly represent all these things fully in emails anyway).
You are a gentle-hearted person and we certainly mean you no harm or grief, but you are at present surrounding yourself with too many opinions and that is potentially damaging to your faith in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Had you not chosen to take dīkṣā from R______ Swami, it would have been easy form me to give you whatever direction in Kṛṣṇa consciousness was necessary, but under the circumstances I now see it as necessary (for your sake) to withdraw my instructions.
Unfortunately, at present the Vaiṣṇava world is not in perfect harmony with its various parts. There are many substantial reasons for this. Some of those reasons were forged in steel more than 28 years ago when great deviations and offences were made to senior Vaiṣṇavas. Overall, iskcon and its leaders have not actually recovered from those deviations or offences. Some of us remain on the outside of iskcon trying to preach the proper conception but we are seen as renegades.
You can approach R______ Swami and directly ask his permission to hear from me on Kṛṣṇa conscious topics and if he gives his permission I will reconsider. But do not fail to mention that I have already mentioned to you that I am not a preacher of the ‘party line’ or of any conception outside that which is clearly represented by Śrīla Prabhupāda, Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja or Śrīla Purī Mahārāja. This means topics on the origin of the jīva, society consciousness verses God consciousness, relative and absolute considerations, bhajana real and apparent, dīkṣā and śikṣā-gurus, rāgānuga/rūpānuga bhajana, paramparā, and the great advantage of hearing from our śāstra-gurus like Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja etc.
Actually, simple-hearted persons should not get involved in these matters. You are on the verge of getting into a realm that may be too much for you. A simpler course may be for you to simply ask your śikṣā-gurus to withdraw their suggestion that you hear from me and then just forget the whole thing.
I hope this meets you well.
Śrī Hari-jana-kiṅkara –
Swami B.G. Narasiṅgha
