Substantive Reality
-Josh Hawley 5-5-2010-
evaḿ paramparā-prāptam
imaḿ rājarṣayo viduḥ
sa kāleneha mahatā
yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa
SYNONYMS
evam — thus; paramparā — by disciplic succession; prāptam — received; imam — this science; rāja-ṛṣayaḥ — the saintly kings; viduḥ — understood; saḥ — that knowledge; kālena — in the course of time; iha — in this world; mahatā — great; yogaḥ — the science of one's relationship with the Supreme; naṣṭaḥ — scattered; parantapa — O Arjuna, subduer of the enemies.
TRANSLATION
This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost".-Bhagavad-gītā As It Is 4.2
There is simply no Vedic scientific evidence to support such misguided claims of supposed posthumous proxy initiation,or preceptor (guru) by vote. Neither is there any precedent within the authorized lineage to support such claims. Such a claim and precedent would inherently have to include an interpretation of the Brahma Sutras in Sanskrit as the philosophical basis, and thus a new sampradaya. The Sanskrit term 'rtvik', or officiating priest has no precedent of being applied in the posthumous sense of proxy initiation in the Gaudiya Sampradaya. Those who claim to be followers of Srila Prabhupada, and thus followers of the BrahmaMadhvaGaudiya Sampradaya would do well to research this fact.
Those who advocate posthumous initiation by rtvik, or proxy are also misguided in their interpretation of the term sampradaya acharya. They do not understand the nature of Guru Tattva(science of guru). Those who quote the Ramanuja sampradaya, as being applicable to the Gaudiya Sampradaya are simply misguided. The conclusions of the Gaudiya Sampradaya vary extensively from that of the Ramanuja sampradaya. The strict ontological definition of the title of sampradaya acharya within the Gaudiya sampradaya is reserved for Sri Rupa Goswami Prabhupada. Many followers of Srila Prabhupada wish to be known as prabhupadanugas, however such prabhupadanugas, (followers of Prabhupada) cannot be so, without first being rupanugas(followers of Rupa Goswami).
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founded his ISKCON mission for preaching within the existing Gaudiya Sampradaya. He did not establish a new sampradaya, which by definition would require an interpretation of the Brahma Sutras. From a strict Gaudiya siddhanta ontological standpoint, Sri Rupa Goswami is the uddharaka-guru (deliverer guru) to whom, Srila Prabhupada, as the upakaraka-guru (instrumental guru) is directing. Thus Sri Rupa Goswami Prabhupada is the authentic, sampradaya acharya, empowered and authorized by the Supreme Truth Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
There are a good many devotees who throw around the above terms without having any understanding of the actual meanings. Such neophyte devotees also do not understand the relationship of guru as a manifestation of Krishna. They do not understand the difference between diksha-guru and siksha-guru. The siksha-guru is in a higher position, being a manifestation of Sri Govinda Deva, the Lord of abhidheya-tattva (the science of relationships to the Supreme Absolute Personality Of Godhead). Verily the diksha-guru is a manifestation of Sri Madan-Mohan the Lord of sambhandha-tattva (or the Lord of introduction into the spiritual science). This science of guru-tattva, from the ontological standpoint of our gaudiya-siddhanta is detailed in Srila Prabhupada's translation of Sri Chaitanya Caritamrta by Krishnadas Kaviraja Goswami.
Srila Prabhupada is unique as both diksha and siksha guru. He is diksha-guru to those who took initiation from him directly or by authorized proxy while he was on the planet. And he is siksha-guru to the millions of people around the world who come in contact with his purports, audio lectures, videos, room conversations, morning walks etc. It is a misnomer to call His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, sampradaya-acharya. Conversely the titles of Jagad Guru (world teacher ) and saktyavesa(empowered), are appropriate and authorized titles of recognition for His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. One should be clear however, the title sampradaya acharya is not appropriate. He is ISKCON founder acharya, but not Gaudiya Sampradaya Acharya.
Furthermore, it is a disservice to him, the Gaudiya mission of Lord Chaitanya, and the simple followers of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to advocate the errant philosophy of posthumous proxy initiation, for which there is simply no evidence. Neither in precedent or sastric reference. There is nothing anywhere in the translations of Bhagavad Gita As It Is, Srimad Bhagavatam, Chaitanya Caritamrta, Nectar Of Devotion, Nectar Of Instruction, Sri Isopanishad, or Teachings Of Lord Chaitanya by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on which to base this errant claim. Those who do so are comparable to Sankaracharya and his followers of the philosophy of illusion. Moreover such an errant conclusion runs counter to the overall teachings, and conclusions, of all of the above mentioned authorized sastras. Those who would advocate themselves as followers of Srila Prabhupada, Bhaktivedanta Swami,(prabhupadanugas) would do a great service to the world, to first study the literature given by him, before speculating their way to hell. Likewise those who advocate guru by popular vote, or election committee.
There is an art of interpreting information, so that one takes the substantive essence, regardless of the source, and its apparent disqualifications.
One who is perfected in this art is known as a paramahamsa. Or a swan like person, who can separate reality from illusion. Such personalities are certainly rare in this world. And practically unheard of in this age. This art is dependent on the respective candidates surrender to the Absolute Truth, Personality of Godhead.
Men who are like dogs hogs camels and asses can never fully perceive that Absolute Reality no matter how long they go on with their mental wrangling, and material calculation.
The bias of the conditioned soul is due to his contact with a particular mode of nature, and its subsequent resultant material forms, permutations, and interactions. As a result of ones conditioning in contact with a particular material circumstance, the soul is unable to clearly grasp the Ultimate Reality, and remains as if viewing through various colored lenses. The particular nature of the bewildered living entity under the illusion of the material energy is to speak whimsically, concentrically in false egoistic concepts of 'I', 'me' and 'mine'.
Due to pride the egoistic living entity under the modes of material nature cannot rightly perceive the manifestation of the Absolute Reality Supreme Lord's energy pervading throughout all. Thus he consistently arrives at wrong conclusions.
Conditioned living entities who come into contact with the eternal personalities of Bhagavat, may initially take up the activities of spiritual emancipation. However if they fail to accept the critical instruction of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, mentioned in His Siksastakam, trinad api sunichena, there is every possibility that they will again become bewildered by the hyper inflated material ego. Such living entities (taking power from the reflective contact(namabhasa)of the Absolute Reality) prefer to remain in the material energy as empowered controllers of material elements. However, these souls not fully realizing the self, are still subject to the material energy, and are thus habituated to make offenses to that which is beyond their own perpetual inability to conceive. Thus they wrongly interpret scriptures, and attempt to lord over simple servants of the Absolute Truth, who are unaccustomed to the ego centric world view. These bewildered particles of consciousness think themselves gods, and are thus prone to fall into the most degraded material forms, ensuring their eternal sojourn in the cycle of repeated birth and death. They are thus known as nitya-badha or eternally materially bound souls.
Those who preemptively suppose their ability of reckoning to be independent of the material energy, and who thus advocate errant conclusions veritably delude themselves and others. This is sometimes due to overwhelming material sentiments that are mistaken for spiritual realities, or spiritual impetus, but in fact are nothing more than egoistic misdirection. Such deluded personalities advocate errant philosophies in the wake of the departure of the preceptor Bhagavat Personalities, and thus do great disservice to humanity. They often times (due to an overwhelmingly poor fund of knowledge) attempt to dissuade innocent inquirers from the actual scientific precepts of the eternal authentic spiritual lineage. Many times this is done in the name of being an exclusive follower of that great predecessor Bhagavat Personality. This is historically evidenced in recent history.
Examples of this, are, spiritual preceptor by election, or appointment by committee. Or the widely popularized counter theories such as posthumous initiation by proxy mentioned above, etc. None of these have scientific basis in sastra. The later theory of posthumous initiation by proxy has no mention in any of the Vedic evidences, and is more akin to the theory of Mayavada as put forth by Sripad Sankaracharya, due to its purely speculative nature. The apparent deviations of one party do not justify the apparent deviations of another.
It is the unfortunate tendency of the materially incumbent living entity to compare all others to his or herself. Such persons would have us conclude form over substance. This habit does not foster spiritual realization of authentic scientific conclusion.
Regardless of how many facts one might evidence, how many statistics one may provide, there are people who continue to maintain bias in the face of hard evidence. History tends to favor the perspectives of whomsoever holds power.
The Work Of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
The Vedic Authority
The translations of Vedic Literature by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder and Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, represent the most voluminous content attributed to the great Vedic Culture by any one person in the English Language. In twelve years His Divine Grace made translations and commentaries on over eighty volumes of Vedic Literature. In addition to the translation, and commentary he gave numerous (over 2000) recorded lectures, room conversations, morning walks, addresses, etc.
Prabhupada directly challenged the face of the modern materialistic society, and spoke directly to many of the social ills faced in modern society. He challenged science, society and social norms, political positions, religion, atheism, etc backed with the virtual encyclopedia of Vedic knowledge with which he was fully conversant. His uncompromising position has struck a cord in the face of populism and the status quo. And undoubtedly this has enraged those who profit from their individual or collective biases. Many of his opinions (the Vedic version) may appear to be thus controversial and politically incorrect. We will attempt here to show, and counter, the apparent and incredible bias and dis-information mis-information, historical inaccuracies, and vile propaganda against the actual Vedic truth. The vitriol and obvious propaganda directed against his Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Your Ever Well Wisher, has escalated into organized and systematic propaganda. It is our attempt to discredit this errant propaganda against His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and Vedic Conclusions he effectively represented.
Prabhupada directly challenged the face of the modern materialistic society, and spoke directly to many of the social ills faced in modern society. He challenged science, society and social norms, political positions, religion, atheism, etc backed with the virtual encyclopedia of Vedic knowledge with which he was fully conversant. His uncompromising position has struck a cord in the face of populism and the status quo. And undoubtedly this has enraged those who profit from their individual or collective biases. Many of his opinions (the Vedic version) may appear to be thus controversial and politically incorrect. We will attempt here to show, and counter, the apparent and incredible bias and dis-information mis-information, historical inaccuracies, and vile propaganda against the actual Vedic truth. The vitriol and obvious propaganda directed against his Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, Your Ever Well Wisher, has escalated into organized and systematic propaganda. It is our attempt to discredit this errant propaganda against His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and Vedic Conclusions he effectively represented.
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