Monk Apprentices in the Wild West? Part 3

Posted by Devamrita Swami on 8 April 2010

Reading the preceding blogs in this series, a young monk apprentice emailed me:

"I am writing to you seeking guidance. I just read your latest article on your website, and devotees are also discussing it on Facebook. It really made me think deeply. Honestly I feel discouraged, and my mind is afflicted by doubts. Especially for a person in my situation, staying in place where there is a lack of serious, purpose built and purpose driven men's ashrams'.

"So my question is, is it necessary for me being in saffron? Knowing well that there's no support and constant motivation for us brahmacharis in [country withheld]. Your article made me realise that I would actually do good as an upstanding bachelor or grihasta than always being frustrated by the lack of critical elements of 'leadership, camaraderie, facility, and training'. Oh Gurudev, I am in total darkness, falling at your lotus feet and praying to you for guidance."

What can I say. Experience has firmly convinced me that men in the brahmachari ashram should undergo only one category of pressure, with two subdivisions. Totally nothing from the outside. All the urging should emanate from within the candidate--first, to get in and, second, to stay in. This policy, followed by progressive ashrams in the world, reverses the social practices in earlier, beta versions of ISKCON.

An updated ISKCON, version 2.0, would approach ashram choice this way: a man contemplating entering monastic training has to solidly convince the saffron leaders that he is making a decision founded upon complete awareness of both what brahmachari life entails and what it will do for his future. Where I am involved, I generally give a prospective candidate a long look, intoning slowly, "Are you sure you know what you are getting into? Are you prepared for at least a few years' lifestyle of just humble, selfless bhakti--serving, chanting, reading, and kirtan, in a communal setting of simple living? Is this (the sweet nectar) your strong desire?" Of course, a genuine brahmachari ashram radiates attractiveness--its pristine atmosphere sells itself, to those inclined.

Once a man joins the saffron set, then no automatic, revolving enrollments. The ashram leaders and mentors should conduct annual or bi-annual reviews, in which everyone's file is lovingly up for reflection and review. The ashram staff is duty- and love-bound to ensure that no one over-estimates his capacity, straining to be someone he is not, in a placement that no longer works for his balanced development in bhakti.

Needless to say, a monk apprenticeship is not every man's cup of herb tea. Though sincerely considering it, individuals in some circumstances would best choose another bhakti lifestyle. No bar to becoming Krishna conscious, some of these situations entail:

1. those with unresolvable health or mental issues.
2. those extremely introverted or lacking basic social skills for living communally.
3. those with gender orientations that would lead to incongruity in a close-knit all-male environ.
4. those whose primary motivation is "give me anything other than the working world--even the ashram is better than getting a job."

Recently, somewhere in the ISKCON world, in the southern hemisphere, a monk apprentice suddenly, without a word, departed the ashram for full material life, and then astonished his comrades by launching an Internet campaign of, shall we say, creative writing, depicting his brahmachari years as emotionally coerced suffering. Later he revealed to a lady devotee that prior to his devotee years, his gender inclinations had been elastic. Commonplace today, gender variables are no barrier to a bhakti practice, at home. An ashram, however, is a special niche. The brahmachari comrades of this former monk apprentice, still deeply valuing this person, were saddened more by the unnecessary stress and pain their friend had inflicted upon himself, than by the glaring lack of disclosure and interpersonal honesty. Hiding and bottling up such significant psycho-physical tendencies for some years popped the cork in such a regrettable and immature manner.

Social statistics reveal the social realities in the West: ferocious, delirious, frantic, and deranged. Now India wants in, on a fast track to human disaster. Srila Prabhupada appropriately sums up the status quo (Bhag 1.1.10):

". . . so many sinful acts are being carried on that the people in general have neither peace of mind nor health of body. The student (brahmachari) communities are no longer being maintained, and householders do not observe the rules and regulations of the grihastha-ashram. In the Kali-yuga the whole atmosphere is surcharged with faithlessness. Men are no longer interested in spiritual values. Material sense gratification is now the standard of civilization. For the maintenance of such material civilizations, man has formed complex nations and communities, and there is a constant strain of hot and cold wars between these different groups. It has become very difficult, therefore, to raise the spiritual standard due to the present distorted values of human society. The sages of Naimisaranya are anxious to disentangle all fallen souls, and here they are seeking the remedy from Srila Suta Goswami."

Constructing a model for a genuine human society is a monumental task. Following the path of our spiritual predecessors, we seek their mercy and strength.

Monk Apprentices in the Wild West? Part 2

Posted by Devamrita Swami on 5 April 2010

In a spiritually progressive Vaishnava community, everyone profits from a genuine program of monk apprenticeship, the brahmachari ashram. The men participating receive a solid foundation in sense control and discipline, in pursuance of scriptural study and its application. Necessary social advantages in a spiritual society, such as cooperation and voluntary selfless service, predominate. And of course, wouldn't it be nice that men at least learn courtesy, sensitivity, and good manners?

Knowledge and the distribution of knowledge is the hallmark of a man properly situated in the ashram. Needless to say, in ISKCON version 2.0, appropriating the monk manpower for a fund-rasing concentration is taboo, . The brahmachari ashram gives the man a "once in a lifetime" opportunity for substantial immersion in the sacred texts, their assimilation, and their distribution. "Love to read Srila Prabhupada's books, and love to distribute them, one way or another" is the motto. Striving to communicate effectively the timeless message of bhakti-yoga, according to the current world context, taxes the brain of the savvy and compassionate brahmachari. Especially outreach work at universities, so demanding of patience and determination, expands both the material and spiritual skill-set of the monk apprentice.

Bhakti is "the kitchen religion." Moreover, often it is said: "Just as women like to talk, men like to eat." The ashram serves as probably the only place these days where a Western male practitioner of bhakti can acquire sensational cooking abilities that will, regardless of his future choices, aid him lifelong. The tongue is the most powerful sense, and certainly--both in the ashram and out--tasty prasad rocks and rules. Lovingly prepared "monk food," saturated with bhakti, captures the sensory world of the cultivated.

Why keep the brahmacharis locked up, cloistered? For cultivating everyone except single ladies, a genuine monk apprentice is a strikingly impressive person--a gallant yet humble hero, as he circulates among guests and contacts who appreciate spiritual culture and integrity. Although the Western world has long discarded it--and the new India, lamentably, is racing to catch up--fundamental integrity is a prerequisite for a good and just human society. Brahmacharis and their abode should radiate this spiritual jewel.

"Who me--marry a former brahmachari?" Whether in the material or the ISKCON society, ladies know it's so hard these days to find a good man. Pulverized and vulgarized by today's hedonistic overload, men have lost their backbone, their stamina, their reliability. Indeed, racking up the hits in the girl-getting game, stripped of sober intelligence and fortitude, men have lost their very self. Lady devotees, please meditate upon Prabhupada's statement that the brahmachari ashram is the best training for both those renunciant candidates who remain lifelong as well as for those who choose to graduate. "Especially meant for training both the attached and the detached," the genuine program of monk apprenticeship generates an important and socially attractive by-product. It benefits Vaishnavis as a lucrative wellspring of future marriage candidates--that is, for the discriminating lady who has on her mind steady progress back to Godhead.

Obviously, outside of India, statistics show that a significant number of brahmacharis will eventually choose to marry. Lucky is the lady who gets a man who has practiced sense control, even at least for some years. A solid assurance that a potential husband will be Krishna conscious in the future is the time he has spent as an authentic, progressive brahmachari in the past. Realistically speaking, even if after marriage such a man dips in his practice, generally after some time, he'll eventually re-stabilize himself, remembering the sweet taste for bhakti knowledge and its practice, so heartily experienced during his apprenticeship days. Difficult it is, no doubt, to revive something never acquired.

The entire ISKCON devotional community can feel pride in a real brahmachari ashram. Householders, the vast majority in ISKCON, want to see monk apprentices who are industrious, competent, hard-working, morally upright, and psychologically wholesome. No one benefits from the negative: lazy, goal-less, irresponsible men, who seem to loiter in the ashram just to escape getting on with their life. "I don't want to get married now, and I don't want to work, so I think I'll be a brahmachari . . . ." That rationale won't get a man far, in a genuine ashram. Actually, that mindset should never even enter the ashram, from the onset. More on this later, in Part 3.