Most people, including the religionists in this world, are blind formulaic followers. They want to join and identify with a group by adopting a particular style of dress, language, and social and religious rituals. Blind followers are not much interested in understanding the principles behind the rules – that’s too much work for them. They prefer to just do what they are told and not have to think about it.
Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the supreme controller and object of worship for everyone, yet when he concludes speaking the Bhagavad-gita to his disciple Arjuna, he tells him, yathecchasi tatha kuru – “Deliberate on this fully, and then do what you wish to do” (Bg. 18.63). Krishna doesn’t insist that Arjuna must follow his instructions. Similarly, in his commentaries on the twelfth chapter of Bhagavad-gita, Srila Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakur explains three stages of bhakti which he calls, abhyasa, manana, and smarana. Abhyasa means practice. A new devotee performs services in a mechanical way as practice, while his or her mind is often still contemplating past attachments to sense gratification. After some time of practice, gradually the heart becomes more pure and the mind more peaceful. At that time the devotee can begin to contemplate why they are doing services, “It is pleasing to guru and Krishna.” That is the stage of manana, or contemplation. That contemplative platform brings one more quickly to the stage of smarana or natural remembrance. At that point guru and Krishna naturally come to the mind.
In practice, blind following appears to have some utility when dealing with small children and new persons aspiring to learn about bhakti. If a two-year old child asks if he can drink a bottle of bleach the parent says, “No! Put it down!” If the child asks, “Why not?” The parent doesn’t reply with an elaborate chemical and biological discussion on the effects of bleach on the human body. Good parents want their child to grow up, be mature and able to make their own decisions, however they don’t tell the child, “Anyway, different people have different thoughts about drinking bleach. You should be thoughtful and decide for yourself.” Some parents reply to such a question with curt comments like, “Because I said so! That’s why not.” Far better however, is if they can give even a simple answer that satisfies the child’s question, “Because it’s bad for you. You might die.” We would wince to hear about a thirty-year-old man who forbids his wife to purchase bleach because, “When I was two years old, Mommy told me not to touch it.”
As Sri Krishna teaches in Bhagavad-gita; pariprasna, respectful inquiry, is essential for removing doubts so one can make spiritual advancement. For a good parent who wants the child to become mature, no respectfully submitted question is illegal or off limits. Even if the questions make them uncomfortable, a good parent understands that it is vitally important that the child be encouraged to think and question. Better to have questions that are awkward than to have answers that can’t be questioned.
When introducing new people to the concepts and tradition of bhakti, including ritual ceremonies, dress, language, and culture, it is easy to simply tell them, “Just do this or that, because gurudeva said so,”, without getting bogged down with lengthy, and perhaps – at least initially – unnecessary explanations. However, just as good parenting means creating an environment wherein honest respectful questions are encouraged, in the same way, appropriate sharing of bhakti means to allow and encourage appropriate inquiry and thought. We don’t want to see persons who have practiced bhakti for thirty years, when questioned why they perform this or that aspect of Krishna consciousness, reply with, “I don’t know why I do it. It’s what they told me to do.”
These are the vlosing thoughts to Sri Krishna Kathamrita Bindu issue 582
This issue of Bindu can be downloaded here:
https://archive.org/details/bindu-582-bhakti-and-independent-thinking
Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=112833
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