Acharya Agyaatdarshan, I have had boundless love and devotion towards the Shakti and used to chant Lalita Sahasranma with unflinching and selfless devotion years ago and have experienced some wonderful things, and had the intense desire to understand Sri Vidya, my question is with respect to your above clarification, and I have a question to you in reference to this statement from your response,
“Normal condition of a Sadhaka is in the first three categories only. In fact In these many years of teaching we have come across only one sadhaka who we can put in the Ekagrata mind category. If that person would have asked for it we would have initiated him in SriVidya directly. He was ready. He was not only ready but occasionally experiencing Turya-Sushupti and Turya-Swapna as well. Alas! He came, he listened and enjoyed our talks, kept coming for few months and drifted away. He was trying something else and he didn’t seem to have any inclination towards Sri Vidya Sadhana! Honestly speaking as teachers we did feel how mutual much loss it was but we principally we can NOT ask someone to take Sri Vidya deeksha even if that person is ready. He/She HAS TO request for it and as Teachers we have to take permission from MahaShakti!”
What is the reason for not asking when someone is ready, but they might not know to ask, is it ok to have that person drift and feeling the loss, isn’t it the duty of the Guru to guide when someone comes and is ready, and I am intrigued by this “Permission from MahaShakti”, does it mean that you see the MahaShakti blessing the acceptance , I mean in a concrete manner, what does that acceptance constitue and how is it validated.
I have to come to a stage after years of spiritual Saadhana, to be settled in absolute stillness, sometimes my own chanting of the Vedas seems noise like to me, so I don’t chant that often loudly, being in that absolute stillness not conditioned by any external or internal influence has seemed to have become my goal over the years of saadhana without my knowledge, God and Satan , I have not seen nor have I seen or met anyone who can with absolute conviction say has seen God, being rebelliously rational, everything has to be explained with logic and reason, and there has to be a basis for everything.
But for whatever reason, I had this tremendous devotion and my intense emotions with the devotion is expressed in my meditations, and chanting, I am not even sure if that is the coditioning of growing up in Hindu culture and subject to that conditioning, so different scientific opinions have been expressed on the devotional state, but coming back to my main question, please elaborate on why the Guru can’t order and say you have to be inititated, and what is the permission of the MahaShakti ?
I also I am a little bit troubled and intrigued by this concept of Moksha and last birth, how does one even know what is all that , as far as know Moha kshaya is moksha, cutting down the desires of all kind is liberation and not being attached to desires but yet work for the sake of working selflessly is the true liberation for me, I can’t see my liberation after my death of the last birth.
Any way I will appreciate if you can take a few moments to clarify the two questions that I have asked,
with prayerful regards
Madhukar
Beloved Madhukar,
Having gone through the brief account of your journey, the milestones and moments of truths that changed the course of your approach towards ‘sadhana’ helping you arrive at an understanding about Moksha, the concepts of God, Satan etc. is a matter of great joy. My wishes and prayers are for you.
You ask “Isn’t it the duty of a Guru to ask for/offer initiation when someone comes and is seen ready for the sadhana or path he (the person whom you are referring as Guru) is teaching/guiding?” Well, a little correction in your understanding about the term Guru will help you appreciate the whole reason for not asking. Guru and disciples are not persons but a relationship. Hope you would agree that a person can be Guru to someone and at the same time for others he/she is not. So, I was not his Guru in the first place and therefore enjoyed no authority to give commands. I wasn’t asked for any advice and therefore giving unsolicited advice is against the rules we observe.
To elaborate the point further, I shall take you to the Mundakopanishad where in Chapter 2, verse 12 the process of getting initiation is clearly described. It is said there..
परीक्ष्य लोकान् कर्मचितान् ब्राह्मणो
निर्वेदमायान्नास्त्यकृतः कृतेन ।
तद्विज्ञानार्थं स गुरुमेवाभिगच्छेत्
समित्पाणिः श्रोत्रियं ब्रह्मनिष्ठम् ॥
May be you understand Sanskrit and can make out what it means but still, for others who will read this reply and don’t know Sanskrit, I explain. It is said in this shloka that a person who seeks Brahm-Vidya (by the way Shri Vidya is Brahm Vidya) need to approach the teacher with all reverence and complete dispassion (an outcome of analyzing one’s own experiences of the world) towards the world and its usual ways of seeking finite pleasures and sufferings inflicted thereby even after attainment of the desired. People many times have this wrong notion that “A Guru appears when the disciple is ready” thereby completely delegating the responsibility on the teacher as if their liberation is teachers’ responsibility.
The real meaning of this phrase ‘Guru appears when disciple is ready’ simply means that a ‘teacher’ immediately gets elevated to the position of a ‘Guru’ the moment ‘student’ assumes the ‘discipleship’. Here again the student is responsible for inculcating those qualities of ‘disciple’ in him/her. Hope it helps calm down your intrigued mind.
Your second question about approval from ‘MahaShakti’ where you ask “I am intrigued by this “Permission from MahaShakti”, does it mean that you see the MahaShakti blessing the acceptance , I mean in a concrete manner, what does that acceptance constitue and how is it validated.” In simple words, the way it has been asked it can not be answered.
नापृष्टः कस्यचिद् ब्रू यान्न चान्यायेन पृच्छतः ।
जानन्नपि हि मेधावी जडवल्लोक आचरेत्।।
With due respect to your curiosity nothing can be spoken about it to you. I hope you shall grant us this freedom of choice.
Shivoham!
– Agyaatadarshan Anand Nath
Its all about you! 