Misconception Of The Role Of Guru Posted in: The Spiritual Journey

I joined the Hare Krishna movement (ISKCON) in the early 1980s, shortly after the passing of founder A.C. Bhaktivedanta swami (aka Srila Prabhupada), and lived through the turmoil of several fallen ‘successor’ gurus. I therefore feel entitled to opinion on the subject matter of Guru misconception. At the same time, please note that all that follows is just my personal opinion, and as such I am not going to hide behind cherry-picked quotes from guru/sadhu/shastra, as if I am not expressing my personal subjective insights. I hope that some will find my observations useful.

I think a misconception about the role of Guru remains at the heart of ISKCON’s problems, past, present, and future. Perhaps, due to colonial rule etc., this misconception may date prior to Srila Prabhupada coming to the West in the 1960s, but to my mind certainly it was firmly cemented by ISKCON in the way disciples regarded Prabhupada. I believe it is rooted, at least in part, in an overlaying of the way Christians see Jesus as their saviour – the one who will take them back to the kingdom of God. Perhaps I am over-simplifying … no matter, I believe in the dharmic tradition the guru ‘saves’ in a very different way. The guru is more the bearer of the torch-light of knowledge that destroys the darkness of ignorance, the one who mentors and inspires the disciple to take up the path so that they become God realised in their own right. With Christianity it is all about believing. A declaration of belief … ‘believe and you will be saved’ … that’s the ticket home. Whereas the dharmic tradition is a living tradition where it is mainly the disciple that saves themself. For example, the Guru doesn’t become detached from worldly life on behalf of the disciple, nor love God in place of the disciple. Those choices always remain with the disciple.

During the lifetime of Prabhupada, ISKCON misconceptions about the role of guru remained almost undetected because he maintained a perfect track record. That doesn’t mean they did not exist – just the negative consequences at that time were comparatively subtle – manifest mainly in terms of personal disempowerment and co-dependency in the name of surrender and humility – a natural result of giving over responsibility for one’s spiritual success to another person – but not major show-stoppers for devotees new to the path. It is only where the Guru ceases to be a believable example of perfection that the more disastrous consequences of the guru-saviour misconception emerge. Sadly, with ISKCON, following major deviations of several gurus after Prabhupada’s passing, rather than identify and address role misconceptions, all manner of nonsense solutions emerged from the ISKCON Governing Body Commission (GBC). ‘Get re-initiated’ being a particularly memorable example … and thus the problem remains to this day, and the stage is set for further trauma.

For me it’s not a question of whether or not a guru happens to be an Uttama Adhikari devotee or not – in most cases something a disciple cannot actually know for sure (probably it takes one to recognise one) no matter how they project their wishful thinking/deny they are embracing something unsure. Nor is it a question of minimising the fundamental role a guru plays in the life of a disciple. Certainly it is not about disrespecting Prabhupada, nor making any judgement about how spiritually advanced a guru may or may not be. But I would say luck in finding an Uttama Guru is not really the sign of spiritual sincerity that God requires of us. In fact, willingness to believe something that one does not really know … some might argue that is more a sign of foolishness.

With ISKCON ‘the belief’ … if I follow the 4 regs, chant 16 rounds/day, try to serve the mission then, regardless of my advancement, Prabhupada will take me home is a very central thing. Not that if I become God conscious, or a lover of God, then that will determine my life after leaving this body. To me, this is a Christian mindset. One of many that I believe taint understandings of the dharmic traditions within ISKCON (no time to get into that here). Simply put, the guru doesn’t wave a magic wand and make you advanced. I think that because many of Prabhupada’s disciples thought something along these lines about Prabhupada, the crazy idea that the 11 had been empowered overnight by Prabhupda to be pure devotees gained traction. To doubt that the successors were now pure was framed by the GBC and others as synonymous with doubting Srila Prabhupada’s potency. Those who failed to protest became complicit in the lie and deception, and I am sure that many of them now feel bad about this. Some have apologised, and personally I forgive them all any way … after all, I may well have similarly caved into peer pressure had I been in their shoes.

For me the guru gives the means and the understanding for one to advance on the path. Mentoring may or may not come from a diksha guru. Indeed it is unlikely to come from a diksha guru who is on the kanistha platform … Srila Prabhupada explains in the ‘Nectar of Instruction’ it is difficult to make advancement under their insufficient guidance.

So if one’s diksha guru turns out to be a kanistha, or even a beginner madhyam, i.e. they leave the path … it is not that one starts again (re-initiates) or that some sort of mystical link with God is broken. One who is interested in spiritual progress will naturally seek the association of those who inspire one in their spiritual journey. If one is already doing this, then the fall of the diksha guru will likely be less traumatic. If you are not doing it already, i.e. all your eggs are in one basket, perhaps it is a good time to start, just in case that thing that you don’t really know turns out not to be what you pretended your knew it to be? Or at least if you rethink the role of Guru you will be better prepared, and perhaps even more importantly, immediately more empowered in your spiritual quest.

Diksha Guru Action Plan

• If your diksha guru is in good standing
  • don’t pretend you know how spiritually advanced your guru is
  • don’t project my-guru-is-uttama wishful thinking upon your guru
  • make sure you are not seeing your guru as a Jesus-like saviour
  • don’t think your diksha guru is the only person you can take siksha/association from … always gravitate to whoever inspires you in your spiritual life. Perhaps your diksha guru will have only a very secondary role in this regard. It is not offensive should this prove to be the case, and indeed has often been the case in the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya.
• If your diksha guru is no longer in good standing
  • gravitate to whoever inspires you in your spiritual life
• If your diksha guru was never in good standing
  • consider the possibility you are not initiated.

Like I said at the beginning … all just my personal opinion. Take what you will. Call me envious or proud if that helps you in your spiritual life at this time.

Divya, 17th August 2024