Authority of Acharyas

Many Srivaishnavas invoke the “opinions” and “rulings” of a nebulous group “acharyas” as if they were, a united, congruous, and harmonious band of divine beings and like the Catholic Pope “infallible”. Yet we know that the “acharyas” were many – Ramanuja appointed 700 simhasanadhipatis. (We hear nothing about the 300 women teachers that he also appointed!). All these men (and women) were very much human beings with the disposition  (svabhava) that is natural to the species. They often disagreed in their views and many learned acharyas wrote complex polemic works refuting each others arguments. Hence we have the classical Vadagalai/Tengalai divide and the 18 points of doctrinal dispute – which are still not resolved till this day!  There is no Srivaishnava “pope” and no unitary body issuing “fatwas” – each and every acharya and matham is independent and can make up their own minds on doctrinal points and matters of interpretation. If you approach  three acharyas today on any major issue you will probably have at least two opinions. (Please note that there is often also bitter rivalry between acharyas of the same faction!).

When such be the case, it is important to understand that the acharya is a guide and counselor on the spiritual path and the one that formally establishes our connection with Sriman Narayana (a connection which was never lost and is irrevocable, perpetual and natural – one is advised to choose a personal acharya and after testing him (or her) to ensure that what is taught is (a) in the spirit of Ramanuja’s teachings,  (b) is reasonable and practicable and (c) benefits all beings – one should then surrender to the guidance and teachings of such a person.

To invoke the tired phrase “our acharyas have said …….. ” — is vague, general and unhelpful and ultimately a cop-out from actually using our intelligence.

Krishna said to Arjuna in the 18th chapter – “reflect well over all that I have taught you and then follow the teachings as you will” – there was no “command” to “do as I say because I am God”  – but use your intelligence and reason and make up your own mind. 

Vedanta in general is a methodology of
(1) sravana – listen to the teachings
(2) manana – reason, apply logic and reflect upon the teachings and
(3) nididhyasana – meditate upon and REALISE those teachings in your own life — the ultimate goal of Vedanta is to bring about personal transformation in the here and NOW. To manifest all the atma-gunas of loving kindness, compassion, generosity etc.

Antaryamin

According to Vaishnava theology the Supreme Being exists in 5 forms – varying in degrees of comprehension, conception and transcendence.

1.     Paravasudeva — transcendent and incomprehensible by humans or gods.
2.     Vyuhas — functional forces of projection, maintenance and transformation.
3.     Avataras — divine incarnations — remote and unaccessible.
4.     archa — directly perceptible in the icons established in the temple – easy of access and adoration.
5.     antaryamin — dwelling within the heart of every living being.

Paravasudeva is the most distant and transcendent aspect — comprising the totality of Being; having the entire universe as His body — incomprehensible and inexpressible.

The polar opposite is the antaryamin — the indweller — within each and every one of us.

The only 2 aspects of the Divine that are really available to us to interact with, are the Archa and the Antaryamin. How is it that we have completely neglected the antaryamin and focussed our attention and devotion totally on the archas?

We spend huge amounts of time, money, effort, resources into the worship of the Archa but treat the Antaryamin with neglect and even contempt! How can a person who claims to be a Vaishnava discriminate against others?

Is not any form of discrimination based on caste, social status, gender, sexual orientation, colour, profession or physical appearance a contravention of this teaching?

Is it not a great sin to treat the antaryamin embodied in mind/body with contempt while adoring the archa embodied in stone/metal?

One of the greatest farces and hypocrisies is the perversion of  “tadiya-aradhanam” — which literally means “worshipping what is the Lord’s”  — which in the common practice of this travesty is the feeding of  Srivaishnava Brahmins!  

If we really believe our philosophy then the entire universe both sentient and insentient is His and His alone!!  Should we be discriminating between what belongs to him? Should we not also be worshipping the Lord through caring for the environment which is His body and serving the needs of all other sentient beings as well? 

Let the Brahmins  who can,  feed themselves, and let us care for all the poor and the marginalised who cannot! There is greater merit in that.  How is it that Advaitis can generally realize and put into practice the concept of sama-darshana as instructed  by Krishna so much easier than Vaishnavas?

 Gita 6:29.  With the mind harmonised by Yoga one sees equality everywhere; one sees one’s Self as abiding in all beings and all beings in one’s own Self. 30. He who sees Me everywhere and everything  in Me;  I am not separated from him and he is never separated from Me.

                                                            Loka-sangraha  Gita 3:20,25

                                            loka saṅgraham-evāpi saṁpaśyan kartum arhasi || 20 ||
                        “One should engage in work  with a view to benefit the world. (loka-saṅgraha)”

In the dictionary among the various meanings we find for the term sangraha are:--
elevation, kind-treatment, entertainment, protection, holding together, benefitting, favouring.
And the word loka refers to the whole world and  the human race.

What Krishna is enjoining us to do is to work for the benefit and upliftment of the whole world and the whole human race.

While Krishna teaches this and we talk about it,  the Catholics  actually DO IT! All over the world we find nuns and priests who have dedicated their lives to the service of the masses.

I began my spiritual journey with the Divine Life Society of Paramahamsa Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh. He and his disciples all embodied this ideal and one of the major focuses of the Ashram is running schools and the serving of the poor and the sick. There are free clinics and meals are distributed everyday to everyone who turns up. The Ashram also runs a leper colony and the monks themselves serve the lepers, changing their dressings and feeding them.

In South Africa the Divine Life Ashram runs free clinics and food and clothing distribution centres as well as schools for the poor Africans.

The Ramakrishna centre is also at the forefront of charitable work as are numerous other Advaiti organizations.

But what of the Vaishnavas? The Hare Krishnas were the first to really begin this sort of outreach program but they concentrated mainly of “food for life” and the distribution of Prabhupada’s books in order to gain converts.

Chinna Jeeyar Swami is today the only Srivaishnava monk of note who actively  pursues charity work and he is to be highly commended for it.

The rest of the Srivaishnavas are primarily concerned with attending festivals and enjoying the alankaram of the deities. They then fight and argue about who stands where in the temple queue and who gets the “prathama tirtha” first dispensing of holy water! God help you if you stand on the wrong side!  Most of the time they spend congratulating themselves on the good fortune of being Srivaishnavas and arrogantly disparaging others (especially the other “kalai”!)

We are told that the essence of being a Srivaishnava is to empathize with the suffering of others and to work to alleviate their suffering (Nanjiyar)! How many of us actually do this?  How many of us perform act of charity, help the poor and work for the benefit of others? Of the major schools of Vedanta the Srivaishnavas are the most status-conscious and bigoted!  More concerned with window-dressing than actually delivering the product.  The tilak that we wear, the size of our topknots, the orthodox practices of ’purity’ (madi-acaram)  are all frivolous, tinsel and trash! What really matters is the degree to which we have attained self-mastery and developed the qualities of compassion and kindness and the amount of service we do for others.

It seems that most Srivaishnava sites one visits are principally concerned with alankaram (decoration) of the deities and utsavas (festivals). While beautiful, elevating and enjoyable it distracts from another activity — alankaram of the atma or self.

Vedanta proposes 3 tools for self-development

1. sravana (listening to the teachings),

manana — (reflecting upon the teachings) and

nididhyasana (application of the teachings through contemplation and assimilation).

The deity enshrined in the temple is called a bimba — ’reflection’ of the antaryamin — the indweller in one’s own heart. The decoration of the icon in the temple should coincide with self-development — atma-alankaram.

Bathing and decorating the icon is a futile exercise in self-delusion if it is not concurrently accompanied by the bathing and decorating of the jivatman!

In the 12th Chapter of the Gita Krishna delivers the teaching on Amrita-dharma (The Dharma of immortality) and declares the 32 qualities of the "beloved devotee".  Let us just review the first of these qualities 12:13--

                                adveṣṭā sarva bhūtānāṃ maitraḥ karuṇa eva ca |
                                nir-mamo nir-ahaṅkāraḥ sama duḥkha sukha kṣamī ||

Not prejudiced towards any living being,  friendly and compassionate to all,   free from the notions of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, and regarding all pain and pleasure with equanimity, and forbearing;

• The first preparatory practice is to divest oneself of  all feelings of antipathy and prejudice towards all living beings. Please notice that He says "all beings" both sentient and insentient. All hatred, animosity and negativity must be rejected. One has to dispense with all prejudices based on class, caste, creed, gender, sexual orientation, qualification etc.

• The second step is to open up a space for everyone to enter — friendliness — not rejecting anyone, open and inviting to all, treating all alike — as sparks of the divine. This is a passive state of simple allowing others into one’s own space and abandoning feelings of separation and difference. Sama-drsthi — seeing all alike.
• The 3rd stage is more difficult — it requires us to develop active compassion. There are 2 types of compassion — sympathy, which is feeling sorry for the suffering of others and empathy, which is feeling the pain of others and then begetting a sincere desire to alleviate the pain and suffering of other sentient beings. Every moment of our lives we should be looking for opportunities to decrease the suffering that is characteristic of samsara.
• The 4th stage of our practice requires an even greater effort — to rid ourselves of all feelings of possessiveness and delusive ideas of who we are! These two go together — we assume identities and then accumulate status symbols to support those delusive ideas, all of which are associated with and pertain to the conditioned physical body.
• The next stage consists of 3 qualities — remaining balanced in pleasure and pain — being unpeturbed  by either of these two experiences — recognizing all pain and joy to be the result of previous karma. Not due to either the pleasure or the wrath of any deity but resulting from our own actions. And integral to this balancing act is the quality of "forbearance" or forgiveness, not bearing a grudge against those who cause us pain but recognizing them as merely agents of our own karma.