Contentious Sankirtana or Compassionate Patience? Part-1

An Editorial Study in Four Parts by HG Mayesvara Dasa(ACBSP)

1. Stepping Away from the Choir

What Attracted You?

Srila Prabhupada gave us a radically new way to live and I am attracted to all aspects of it. He gave us a practical way to help us give up bad habits, how to start our day, how to live a sattvic lifestyle, how to find our dharma, how to cook wonderful vegetarian prasadam, how to sing beautifully composed introspective songs and how to appreciate the glories of chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. But of all the things I found most captivating about the Krishna Consciousness movement is Lord Chaitanya’s’ comprehensive philosophy that teaches us how to think clearly. I am not much of a musician, and I am not the most effective book distributor. But I find great satisfaction in understanding the philosophical reasons that confirm how Bhakti Yoga surpasses all the other modalities presented in the marketplace of beliefs.
It has always been a curiosity for me to observe how once someone adopts a particular belief, theory, or secular way of thinking, they generally don’t venture too far away from their own clan. This is completely logical. Why should someone associate with Neo-Nazis if everything in their body is screaming run the other way? Yet if one observes how we learn, we find that deeper understanding comes when something drives us to make a more thorough investigation into what we believe, where that belief came from, and why we think it’s true.

Beyond the Temple Room

Every organization can get stuck in the trap of preaching to the choir because it makes us feel safe and accepted when we surround ourselves with those who share our worldview. Yet the truth is that works fine until something falls apart. When we discover that the minister left the church because he couldn’t explain why a LOVING God would ever send someone to hell forever, we rethink our own commitment to that concept. Srila Prabhupada was so dynamic he intentionally asked his disciples to invite leaders from all the other traditions to come discuss how their teachings compared to the path of bhakti. One by one other yogis, philosophers, scientists, sociologists, psychologists, theologists, and even Nobel prize winners came to present what they believed would be the best strategy for life. Srila Prabhupada was so vigilant about taking Krishna Consciousness out of the temple room he even requested his disciple Shyamsundar Prabhu to summarize the teaching from a whole spectrum of philosophers, both ancient and current, so he could identify where they got it right, and where their ideas failed to reflect reality.¹ With every encounter, we watched how Srila Prabhupada was able to philosophically identify where and how the alternative paths could not deliver the array of benefits that one automatically attains by practicing Bhakti Yoga.

“A person who accepts the path of devotional service is not bereft of the results derived from studying the Vedas, performing sacrifices, undergoing austerities, giving charity or pursuing philosophical and fruitive activities. Simply by performing devotional service, he attains all these, and at the end he reaches the supreme eternal abode.” -Bhagavad Gita Chapter2. “Contents of the Gita Summarized”, Text 28.

The brilliance in this was if anyone had a better model for how to live, it would be discovered right away. When it was demonstrated that there was no better proposal for how to live than the Krishna Conscious model, it would naturally make one’s commitment to Bhakti stronger.
Of course, Srila Prabhupada was a pure devotee and took on the role of challenging everyone expertly which is something a lot of devotees should not attempt to do. New devotees in particular are excused from doing this because they will become bewildered and get swept away! In every community, we need people at all stages so it would be wrong to just abandon the choir altogether! But being familiar with what is offered in the marketplace of competing beliefs can be very helpful when we meet people who follow those schools of thought. Srila Prabhupada used this advantage when someone claimed to follow the 10 commandments. The first thing he would then ask is if they were a vegetarian because he knew the 6th commandment was “Thou Shall Not Kill!”

Most people prefer to stay sequestered with those who share their worldview and if they are not strong in their faith, they should not wander into the Material World as the Great Forest of Enjoyment.² However, this does not invalidate the point that if one doesn’t test his beliefs against what others teach it will keep them safe and allow them to feel good as long as nothing breaks down. If that should happen, they could encounter what is often referred to as a “Crisis of Faith.”

Like Pulling Crocodile Teeth

18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. ” – Bible, Matthew 13:18-23

The small village in Ojai where I live is nested in a unique southern California mountain-valley and it appears very quaint, spiritual, and peaceful to the materialist. To a Vaishnava however, it is more like the wild west. There is a whirlpool of competing healers, channelers, churches, gurus, therapists, public figures, life coaches, philosophers, writers, yoga teaches shamans, aspiring bodhisattvas, charismatic orators and wanna-be prophets.

if we use the Biblical parable, sharing Krishna Consciousness in this environment is like throwing seed onto concrete. For myself, I think of it like trying to pull teeth out of the mouth of a live Crocodile. If you don’t understand how quick the crocodile can be and how sharp his teeth are you can find yourself in a whole lot of hurt very quickly. The renowned author of the art of war, Sun Tzu advises that it is wise to know both the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent. This is particularly true when swimming in the mote of New-Age sophistry which permeates the streets of Ojai.

Yet the fact remains that it’s more likely someone will be interested in communicating with you if you are familiar with the tradition they follow or the person they look up to. It’s understandable why a lot of devotees couldn’t be bothered to endure such an arduous effort, but this process has its rewards. I have experienced a humbling mood of ecstatic gratitude when I repeatedly discover “but for the grace of God, there go I” If I had not somehow had the good fortune to encounter the devotees I would have most certainly become an atheist because absolutely nothing else makes any sense at all. It’s overwhelming to see how cunning, bewildering, multifarious and effectively Maya sweeps away the intelligence of the conditioned souls. Somehow, we have been blessed with Lord Chaitanya’s causeless mercy while so many others can’t begin to understand it at all! (Bg. 2.29)

Just how fortunate are we to have the opportunity to practice bhakti yogi, the highest of all yoga practices? (Bg.6.47) The answer to that becomes more evident when we consider all the sophistry promoted here by the colorful array of pontificators represented in this little town. For example, there is one very nice descendant from the original residents of the Ojai Valley, the Chumash American Indians. She is loved and appreciated by nearly everyone for her steadfast commitment to preserve the history and the ways of the Chumas people. But only the devotees can understand that if she is so attached to her culture, she will be blessed to keep teaching it for unlimited births until she realizes that her attachment to the American Indian Culture must also be eventually transcended. (BG. 18.66)

There is so much pseudo-spiritualism here in Ojai that one can think of it as the Sedona³ of California. It is saturated with impersonalists, voidists, scientists, atheists, and new-agers who have the urge to merge, watch the dream, engage in endless experiments with consciousness, completely disappear, create their own reality or blissfully annihilate their illusionary self. (Spiritual Suicide) For this reason I sometimes humorously refer to Ojai as 1) New Varanasi 2) Nirvisesa Ghram Or:3) Sunyavadi Puri!

To get a sense of the type of diversity represented in this little town of Ojai I will list them with a short critique about each one in Part two of this four-part series.

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¹ Those conversations are recorded in a book called Dialectic Spiritualism http://dialecticspiritualism.com/
² This is a reference to the 14 chapter of the Fifth Canto of the Bhagavat Purana called: The Creative Impetus. https://vedabase.io/en/library/sb/5/14/

³ Sedona Arizona has a reputation for being the mecca for many aspects of the New Age. I has extraordinary red rock formations and hosts a whole array of “spiritual and wellness” services: https://visitsedona.com/spiritual-wellness/

By Mayesvara Dasa

Can be Contacted at mdjagdasa@gmail.com