asa[e] - dvad [sannyasa [260804]]
All Glories To Srila Prabhupada!
Esteemed Bhakti Raghava and Bhakti Vikasa Swamis et al, please accept our humble obeisances.
We are writing an article for our Anjana Suta Academy (asa) Encyclopedia on Sannyasa Dharma. The principal contributor and editor is Professor Guy, "Uncle", Gismo PhD. We would gratefully accept any contribution and suggestions that you can make along the way of its development:
Dvad [Sannyasa [260804]]
To achieve the highest success in life by becoming a gosvāmī and then a pure devotee of the Lord, one must follow the instructions known as Upadeśāmṛta, which have been given by Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī.
Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī has given many other books, such as Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, Vidagdha-mādhava and Lalita-mādhava, but Upadeśāmṛta constitutes the first instructions for neophyte devotees.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/noi/preface/#bb5772
The execution of devotional service is not a matter of idle meditation but practical action in the foreground of spiritual life.
https://vedabase.io/en/library/noi/3/#bb5879
Hanumatpresaka Swami and many other Sannyasis in ISKCON confront different practical social/psychological situations in traveling and preaching.
In this practical perspective, what strikes him first, is the instruction on Sannyasa that Srila Prabhupada gives in his purport to Bhagavad-gita As It Is, The Divine and Demoniac Natures (16.1-3):
Then he has to purify his existence. There are so many rules and regulations to be followed in the renounced order of life. Most important of all, a sannyāsī is strictly forbidden to have any intimate relationship with a woman.
He is even forbidden to talk with a woman in a secluded place.
Lord Caitanya was an ideal sannyāsī, and when He was at Purī His feminine devotees could not even come near to offer their respects. They were advised to bow down from a distant place. This is not a sign of hatred for women as a class, but it is a stricture imposed on the sannyāsī not to have close connections with women.
One has to follow the rules and regulations of a particular status of life in order to purify his existence. For a sannyāsī, intimate relations with women and possession of wealth for sense gratification are strictly forbidden.
The ideal sannyāsī was Lord Caitanya Himself, and we can learn from His life that He was very strict in regards to women. Although He is considered to be the most liberal incarnation of Godhead, accepting the most fallen conditioned souls, He strictly followed the rules and regulations of the sannyāsa order of life in connection with association with women. ... Choṭa Haridāsa ... Lord Caitanya said, “For a sannyāsī or anyone who is aspiring to get out of the clutches of material nature and trying to elevate himself to the spiritual nature and go back home, back to Godhead, for him, looking toward material possessions and women for sense gratification – not even enjoying them, but just looking toward them with such a propensity – is so condemned that he had better commit suicide before experiencing such illicit desires.” ..."
https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/16/1-3/#bb3636
In Iskcon we see that different Sannyasis take this in different ways. Some may be in Kuticaka, some in Bahudak, Parivrajak.
Some ascribe to the "open door" policy, that a Sannyasi can talk alone in a room with a woman if the door is open, even if the room is in a remote part of the Temple.
Discussing it with H. H. Prahlada-ananda Swami, then Director of the ISKCON Ministry of Sannyasa Services, we remember that his comment was that if there were two or three ladies present in a discussion then he felt it proper to discuss important topics with them for some time.
We have heard first hand accounts of Srila Prabhupada's dealings with the situation from close friends who were there with His Divine Grace.
We think there is a lot of individual variety that is expected in dealing with the standard.
Personally, we, Hanumatpresaka Swami and Anjana Suta Academy, feel comfortable with a very iconoclast definition.
We remember that once we traveled and preached in India in the 1980s for at least once month. At the end we realized that we had not talked alone with a woman one time.
The only time ladies would even approach us would be, for example, after a class with some relevant questions. Iwould be with their husband or grown up son introducing them and their questions. Then we could talk with the lady in the presence of and participation of, their guardian, protector or through him in their presence.
We realized this at the end of the tour and realized that it had been a very peaceful experience. A relief from the the agitation that contact with the opposite sex brings.
We do not think this is necessary for all ISKCON Sannyasis, but for some it may feel like the most natural relationship.
It may also feel like the most natural relation for many ladies in ISKCON also.
We feel comfortable with the Thai Buddhist social spacing between monks and ladies. If they both raise their arms at the same time, they should not touch.
Ahhhh! Happy life!
Again, we feel that many ladies will also feel that these regulations are a great relief for them also.
A Sannyasi should not converse in a secluded place with women or those involved in political affairs involving men, money and women:
As we understand Srila Prabhupada defines, "secluded place", as anyplace where they may discuss illicit sex and no one will hear.
Of course, this would even include talking on the phone with a woman even if the room is filled with GBC Secretaries and Sannyasis, where both sides of the conversation could not be heard.
A Brahmacari or Sannyasi should have short term contact with women for preaching purposes only:
This citation we remember from the purports to Haridasa Thakura being tempted by Maya personally.
We can write a lot on these topics as it is practical for helping Lord Caitanya in His mission of giving the science of Krsna to the conditioned souls.
Should we proceed? How?
- Sannyasa and eating.
- More about relations with opposite sex.
- Sannyasa in tradition and modernity - A dialog between ISKCON and Jesuit monks.
- Experiencing and practicing Sannyasa in the modern moment.
Thank you.
Hope to hear from everyone.
We like, hope for, talking with our Vaisnava Mothers with a little etiquette. Sannyasi more than anyone should be the person that a lady feels sees her as a person, not as a body.
'There is no difference between the Grhastha fully engaged in spiritual life, and the man in the renounced order of life, but the because of more formal austerities, the man in the renounced order of life is given more formal respect', Remembered from SP.