This is from a Q & A regarding BTS passing. I thought it might make for an interesting discussion about how great souls like our guru or even or own selves should prepare for death if we have notice. Some day we too may have to assist our Guru leave his body. Certainly we may die any moment and are encouraged to be in that mood, yet sometimes, like BTS, we have a degenerative disease which we can use to our advantage.
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 18 Jun 2005 12:24:07 EDT
From: psukta@aol.com
Subject: Dialog with Radhanatha Swami - the suffering
and death of great souls
Dear Prabhus, PAMHO AGTGD AGTSP
What follows is a piece of writing that represents a dialog recently had with
HH Radhanatha Swami here in Gita Nagari. This dialog was based on a couple
questions, listed below, that some of us may be considering or encountering, as
Srila Bhakti-tirtha Swami is in nirjan bhajan and the process of physically
departing from the world. These questions were also, to a good extent, the
basis of the Sunday class Maharaj gave here last Sunday. This transcription
will soon be posted.
This writing is based strictly on the notes taken during the dialog (which happened while maharaj and I were walking). Latter I showed maharaj the writing, and he edited it. What follows is that final edit.
Question 1)
We hear that sometimes an exalted vaisnava may speak with sincere feeling of
a need to purify themselves of attachment. At the same time we see such a
vaisnava exhibit the qualities of a liberated soul. How are we to reconcile this
? We feel that this is relevant, for our Spiritual master, His Holiness Bhakti-thritha Swami, though exhibiting the qualities of a liberated soul is now undergoing Nirjan bhajan to, according to his own words, free himself from his identity in this world.
Answer)
Maharaj began by saying that in our Vaisnava history many great souls have
performed nirjan bhajan at the end of life, wherein they were isolated from
their practical and preaching duties and absorb themselves on the names and
pastimes of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He said that it is certainly
appropriate for a devotee at the end of his or her life to follow in the footsteps
of such great souls.
Bhakti-tirtha Swami was selflessly immersed in preaching the glories of the
Lord, even in the state of severely deteriorated health. At a certain state,
when he felt that Srila Prabhupada and Krsna were calling him home he made this
decision to follow in the footsteps of many great souls
After this maharaj emphasized that great souls categorically do not think
themselves as great souls, rather they feel a genuine need to purify themselves.
Real humility is the mark of a great soul. Maharaj quoted a verse, in this
connection, from the Caitanya Caritamrta:
premera svabhäva--yähäì premera sambandha
sei mäne,--`kåñëe mora nähi prema-gandha´
Wherever there is a relationship of love of Godhead, its natural symptom is that the devotee does not think himself a devotee. Instead, he always thinks that he has not even a drop of love for Krsna. (Cc Antya 20.28)
From there Maharaj came to discuss the example of Srila Madhavendra Puri.
Maharaj pointed out how exalted Madhavendra Puri was; only Srimati Radharani and Lord Caitanya could fully empathize with his mood of devotion. Nevertheless,
as the most exalted of all devotees, on the verge of his disappearance he asked his disciples to help him remember Krsna. Maharaj went further to show how
significant it is to understand this properly.
There are two disciples recorded in Caitanya Caritamrta as having tried to assist Srila Madhevndra Puri at this time; Ramacandra Puri and Isvara Puri. As
we may know they attained two vastly different results; the former fell down
and the latter attained perfection. In the case of Ramacandra Puri, Maharaj
described that his effort to serve his Guru was apparently sincere, but was
based the misconception that his Guru´s anxiety was of a material nature. With
this improper mindset Ramacandra Puri felt that he should advise his spiritual
master to help him. So latter he expressed to Srila Madhevendra Puri that his
problem with material anxiety would best be addressed by meditating on the
impersonal Brahman, for Brahman realization is described in sastra as freeing one
from hankering and lamenting (BG 18.65). In one sense Ramacandra Puri was
really trying to help his spiritual master. However, Srila Prabhupada explains
that because he felt that he was an advisor to his spiritual master, thinking
his anxiety to be material, he committed an offence, resulting material
consciousness immediately becoming manifest in him. He fell down.
On the contrary the other disciple of Madhavendra Puri, Srila Isvara Puri,
took his Guru´s instructions very humbly, with a transcendental view of his Guru´
s "anxiety". In this connection Srila Radhanatha Swami explained that the "
anxiety" or "need" of Madhavendra Puri to remember Krsna, his feeling of not
fully connecting with Krsna, was the state of Vipralambha bhava; the most
exalted state of God realization where a pure devotee feels himself separated from his beloved Lord. Maharaj remarked that this was the mood of the Six
Goswamis; always looking for Krsna, eager to find Krsna and to remember Him. So Isvara Puri understood the exalted nature of his Guru´s request and assisted him in pure faith. He took great care to tend to his Guru´s physical needs, all
the while speaking of and chanting Krsna´s holy names for his pleasure.
Carrying himself with a right mentality and pure motive, Isvara Puri received the
greatest blessings from his spiritual master.
Maharaj finally commented that he sees that Srila Prabhupada is calling Bhakti-tritha Swami, a devotee who had always given his everything in Srila Prabhupada´s service, back home: "you have done your mission, now assemble with a few associates and cherish the greatest gift of exclusive absorbtion on Krsna."
He spoke of this as a special act of affection expressed to Bhakti-tirtha Swami by Srila Prabhupada. A special gift to his beloved disciple.
Question 2)
Another question was also posed asking how we are to properly view the
spiritual master apparently being affected by his diseased body, or physical
affliction of any kind. Srila Radhanatha Swami addressed this issue at length in his talk last Sunday. In our dialog he reiterated a few points.
Answer)
Maharaj first pointed out three reasons that a pure devotee experiences pain
1) Due to their accepting some degree, small or great, of world-karma
and or the karma of disciples.
2) To facilitate the disciples in rendering intimate service to the Spiritual master
3) It is symptomatic of their ecstatic absorption
Maharaj then defined what being transcendental to the body and mind really is
for a pure devotee. He said that for a devotee transcendence is to never be
detoured from their motivation to serve the Lord - their willingness to serve
persists in any and all circumstances, even great pain and difficulty is willfully accepted and endured if it results in pleasing the Lord. This, Maharaj said, is a testament to their love. Maharaj emphasized that the unconditional love of a devotee is far beyond the stoic tolerance of mystic yogis and tapasvis; it is not limited to only occur in the absence of or indifference to pain.
Their love is truly unconditional. If they encounter the pains of the body and mind their response is only increased love for the Lord. Maharaj cited Jesus Christ, Haridas Thakur and Srila Prabhupada as
examples of this.
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