Recently I started getting worried about my line’s possible extinction (since I myself don’t qualify to be the next link in representing my parivāra, at least not yet). I discussed this with a devotee today and the following interesting exchange ensued –
Bhakta: “Somehow, the disciple will find his Guru, nothing can prevent this. By providence, the disciple and his Guru are brought together. No power in the universe has the strength to destroy this spiritual relationship... "
Advaitadas: “Yes you are right and I have already experienced this often myself. I wasn't worrying about myself but about possible extinction of my lineage, that is, after me. The thread is getting terribly thin over in India as well.....
Bhakta: “Also don't worry about that. Guru is travelling all over the universe, and wherever he sees, that there is a disciple of him, he will make arrangements, that they will get in connection. If the lineage stops now, that means, he collected all his disciples who were here on this planet.”
If nothing else, then perhaps that explains the complete lack of response to my preaching, despite my high personal popularity…..
edited 27.1.07 and 22.12.12
Bhakta: “Somehow, the disciple will find his Guru, nothing can prevent this. By providence, the disciple and his Guru are brought together. No power in the universe has the strength to destroy this spiritual relationship... "
Advaitadas: “Yes you are right and I have already experienced this often myself. I wasn't worrying about myself but about possible extinction of my lineage, that is, after me. The thread is getting terribly thin over in India as well.....
Bhakta: “Also don't worry about that. Guru is travelling all over the universe, and wherever he sees, that there is a disciple of him, he will make arrangements, that they will get in connection. If the lineage stops now, that means, he collected all his disciples who were here on this planet.”
If nothing else, then perhaps that explains the complete lack of response to my preaching, despite my high personal popularity…..
edited 27.1.07 and 22.12.12
While I found this post sad overall, I highly enjoyed the irony of the last line!
ReplyDeleteI am starting to wonder if the post is really so sad - 'he has collected all his disciples in the universe and moved on'. Isnt that great? While I am not saying this is a universal absolute fact, it's just a suggestion that struck me as yet another explanation, it does explain the immovable situation and relieves my concern too.
ReplyDeleteI cant understand what's so ironic about the last line...
And eh... 80 hits to madangopal.com on Sitanath's birthday and a total of 162 hits in the last 4 days isnt bad news either!
'he has collected all his disciples in the universe and moved on'. - It sounds very sweet to me. Do we know if it has any basis in shastra at all?
ReplyDeleteNo I havent seen it in shastra, but that is why I commented earlier: "While I am not saying this is a universal absolute fact, it's just a suggestion that struck me as yet another explanation".
ReplyDeleteYes it is fascinating, huh?
I just phoned my Gurubhai Subhash and he says that Golok has built a kutir just next to the ashram, and a Gurubhai named Tapan is now giving diksa. So no extinction, but the problem is that Tapan Da is living in Bihar, and that is far and hard to locate.
ReplyDeleteI phoned Tapan Da and he agrees to give diksa to western candidates. He lives in Bihar, so he can only be met during the festivals in the ashram in Navadwip. He seems learned too, and is a brahmin. He will, but only to mature devotees, also give siddha pranali. He says that those who take initiation from him will become Baba's sisya, not his. So extinction seems averted.
ReplyDeleteI finally had Tapan Da on the phone again, on the day of my departure. His full name is Tapan Kumar Adhikari and he lives in Jharkhand. He confirms that Baba said that the only mantras in Haribhakti Vilasa are Kama Gayatri and Gopal Mantra and that is what he will give. The phone call was chaotic due to the usual cultural differences, but he asked me to send my address to the ashram, where he will pick it up and write me back to give me clearly his address, which I couldnt figure out on the phone. He asked me for Ananda Gopal Gosvami's Vilap Kusumanjali, which I will send him as soon as I have his address clear. Tapan Da says he speaks English, but probably very little, so he may need an interpretor after all. Hard to say if it is possible to send candidates to him without me having to accompany them.
ReplyDelete