Śrīdhara Mahārāja continues:
"The Lord Himself says [that the small controls the great through surrender]. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, he
explains devotion to a big yogi, Durvasa: “I am already surrendered and committed to My devotee. I have no
independence of My own. I am already committed to My devotees and I can't back
out from that claim. So you'll have to go to that Ambarisa, as your appeal to
Me is futile, useless, won't work anything, won't fetch anything for you. I am
already committed there to My devotee, you will have to go back to My devotee
and beg forgiveness there."
God says this,
Narayana says this. And this is not hyperbole.
It is wholesale truth, not merely a show or poetry, it is truth cent per cent. aham bhakta-parardhino, hy asvatantra iva
dvija sadhubhir grasta-hrdayo, bhaktair bhakta-jana-priyah: "This is
My nature, Durvasa: I am committed to My devotees. I have no independence from
my devotees, and this is My voluntary contribution, or acceptance, or
commitment. This commitment to my
devotees is voluntary. So though I am the
Absolute still ,My voluntary commitment is such by nature. What to do?"
“That is bhakti.
So we are out to find out the most secret wealth the world has ever conceived,
secret power, or whatever you see which can control: the smallest can control
the highest, greatest.
That sort of learning, or tact, or whatever you may say, it is
possible. Mahaprabhu came with that most valuable thing. He says, "What do you do? You make yourself busy
for nothing, or busy for rubbish's? Try to acquire this most valuable, this
magical wand. Nothing so valuable was ever discovered in the world. Take to
this subtlemost power by which the smallest can control the highest, the
greatest. This is love, this is love, this is faith, this is affection. So cultivate faith and devotion, give up
everything and cultivate about this, search for this, search for Krsna, search
for love, search for devotion.
Surrender and faith mean “Die to live.” This idea of faith
in bhakti this idea of surrender is
self determination to the highest degree, self determination. Self-realisation to the highest degree is to
acquire such a position in faith and surrender that by humility we may be
master.[i]
And we'll be able to conquer the whole by that sort of qualification, and not
by jumping and capturing and carrying and looting and fighting, not that.”
How do we come by faith?
If faith is such an important aspect of self-realization,
the question becomes, “how do we come by faith?” Faith is not the accumulation
of conviction through reasonable argument and logic. It comes to us when we
have some living touch with saints. Faith, like love like laughter and
language, is contagious. Faith comes by being in the proximity of the faithful.
The power of association, of social pressure, of learning with peers has been closely
studied in pedagogy. Teachers have long understood the importance of
association in learning. There is a
technical name for this kind of influence in education. It is called the ZPD or
“Zone of Proximal Development.
The idea of a “Zone of Proximal Development” originated with
an important name in pedagogical theory, the Russian theorist Lev Vygotsky.
According to Vygotsky’s theories of child development and education, the
teacher’s function is not merely that of transmitting information. There is an
intangible effect of associating with a master that puts us in what Vygotsky
calls the “Zone of Proximal Development.”
Proximity in Learning: Vygotsky’s Zone
 |
| Lev Vygotsky: Zone of Proximal Development |
Vygotsky felt that cognitive development in children,
especially in the case of language, has much to do with environmental factors
such as socialization; in other words, language is not so much taught as acquired.
In Stephen Krashen’s theory of language acquisition, language comes to us by
our association with others and our innate tendency to communication much more
so than by being taught. Language acquisition is not so much a question of
imitation and rote learning but association with others who communicate in the
language.
Vygostksy’s ideas have a wide application in learning. In
India, for example, a music teacher will not begin music exercises with his
student on the first day of class. The student will learn to clean the studio,
to sit with the master, to prepare his tea, and finally to hold the instrument.
Proximity with the master is felt to be an important stage in the learning
process.
The teacher’s ability, his confidence in his own mastery creates
within us a sense of possibility. We see how it is done, but we also get the
sense that what he is doing is possible. We instinctively understand, “If he
can do it, I can do it.” Of course, the master makes what is difficult seem
easy. We imitate the master and fail. His hand guides us and we make progress.
Soon we find that we achieve a certain competence in the material and feel that
we can do what the master does. We are in the master’s “Zone” and by becoming
close to him, we feel confidence and possibility.
Think of a 3 year old boy on his father’s lap as his father
drives an 18 wheel 80 ton truck at 60 miles an hour on the freeway. The
experienced driver may let the boy hold the wheel as his powerful hands
maintain their grip. While daddy drives, the boy feels that he is really
driving the truck, although his tiny fingers barely touch the wheel. The
experience serves the child later when he needs the confidence to drive a
car. Mere association with his father
has given him certain tools that come handy later.
 |
| Scientific Explanation of Association and Learning: ZPD |
The zone of proximal development (ZPD) has
been defined as: "the distance between the actual developmental level as
determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential
development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance, or in
collaboration with more capable peers" (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 86). Vygotsky
believed that when a student is in the Zone for a particular task,
providing the appropriate assistance will give the student enough of a
"boost" to achieve the task. This doesn’t mean that the teacher
explains the problem and gives the solution; the master’s presence is sometimes
enough to motivate the students to solve the problem. They can see that the
solution is possible, even while the problem appears difficult. They know that
the master can do it. His confidence is reflected in the student’s conviction.
He may provide a hint or reveal a trick, or even go so far as to offer a
guiding hand; the students find that they are capable in the presence of their
master of solving the problem. When the master withdraws, the students find
that they are not so capable anymore. They have advanced a bit, but they aren’t
as expert as when they were in the master’s presence. When they seek him out
again, they find that now they can solve the former puzzle without difficulty.
The master presents them with a slightly more difficult problem. This is the
basic give and take of the educational process and the relationship between
student and teacher.
Sometimes the teacher doesn’t need to be present personally.
He may confide in some of the more advanced students to direct the process.
Peers are often better teachers than the master himself. Our peers understand
our weaknesses even better than we do. They also appreciate the difficulties
involved in learning, having recently mastered the same problem, where the
teacher’s memory of the difficulties involved may have approached the
theoretical. In this sense, our peers may offer even better help than our
master.
Vygotsky views interaction with peers as an effective way of
developing skills and strategies. He suggests that teachers use cooperative
learning exercises where less competent children develop with help from more
skillful peers - within the zone of proximal development. Vygotsy’s idea of the
“Zone” is an attempt to explain scientifically, with psychological jargon, what
we already know to be true. Association is an important and often intangible
determinant in development, not only in cognitive skills, but in many practical
areas.
As we become expert in a task, we rely less on the master
and more on our peers to the point where we become independent adults, capable
of self-reliance. This is true not only for language-learning, where Vygotsky’s
ideas have been developed as valuable pedagogical techniques, for example in in
communicative approach, but in many other areas of education, including
mathematics, sciences, sports, and music.
Proximity in Faith: Sādhu Sanga
The successful application of Vygotskian techniques in
pedagogy demonstrates the power of association.
Language, according to Vygotsky, is acquired through proximity with language-speakers.
The same is true for the language of consciousness. Faith is the language of consciousness, and faith,
like laughter and love, is contagious. Many of us struggle with our conscience
and find so little faith there that we don’t understand where faith comes
from. So where does faith come from? How
does it awaken? If we apply the idea of the Zone of Proximal Development to
transcendental knowing, it’s easy to see how the same principle can be
transferred to the idea of faith. By proximity with saints, our faith
increases.
As Vygotsky pointed out in his pedagogical theory, humans
are social beings—we learn from our peers even more than from our parents. This
is a scientific principle. Our association determines our learning. And just as
we can learn to solve ordinary problems with the help of the company we keep,
we may also learn to solve the ultimate problems of consciousness with the help
of higher association. The Upanishads tell us to seek out this higher
association in the form of a master, a saint who has seen the truth[ii]:
Faith invades our being when we find ourselves in the
company of a divine master or in other saintly persons. When we are in the
company of such dedicated souls we find that what seemed impossible is not so.
Just as the boy who sat on the lap of his father while he drove a truck we find
ourselves competent to do impossible things very easily. The master has seen
the light, and with his help our eyes are opened: “I was born in the darkest
ignorance, and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge.
I offer my respectful obeisances unto him.”[iii]
By proximity with the master what was difficult becomes easy: “By the grace of
my divine master a lame man can walk over the mountains, a blind man can
see, and one who was formerly deaf and
dumb can speak eloquent words of poetry.”[iv]
This is not a sectarian message, for true believers only. It is nonsectarian.
When we arrive at the limits of our own capacity we need help. God is infinite
and beyond our comprehension, but he can reveal Himself. To proceed we need the
help of one who has experienced this revelation, who has dedicated their life
to God.
When I was recently in Moscow, I was asked by a Russian
Orthodox Priest who attended my lecture, “How can we love God?” I told him,
“I’m not sure. I don’t know God, myself. But I have been in contact with those
who were God-loving souls. My advice is seek out someone who loves God and
follow his path.”
We are asked to seek out God-loving souls wherever they
are. The company of such saintly persons
is desirable. This is not a sectarian message. Such souls may be found in any
walk of life, within or without a temple, mosque or church. This is a joyous
idea. If faith functions as the eyes of the soul, where can I get faith? Find a
faithful soul and try to get some light from him or her. They will lead you to
a higher light, to their source. Keep going until you get to the source. This
is possible through association with saints or sadhu-sanga.
[i] trinad api
sunicena, taror api sahisnuna
amanina manadena, kirtaniyah sada harih
"One who is humbler than
a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree, who gives due honour to others
without desiring it for himself is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of
Krsna."]
Siksastakam, 3
[ii] त्रिनद्
अपि सुनिचेन, तरोर् अपि सहिस्नुन
अमनिन मनदेन, किर्तनियह् सद हरिह्
tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ
"Just try to learn the
truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and
render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you
because he has seen the truth."
ॐ अज्ञान-तिमिरान्धस्य
ज्ञानाञ्जन-शलाकया
चक्षुर् उन्मीलितं येन
तस्मै श्री-गुरवे नमः
oṁ ajñāna-timirāndhasya
jñānāñjana-śalākayā
cakṣur unmīlitaṁ yena
tasmai śrī-gurave namaḥ
I was born in the darkest ignorance,
and my spiritual master opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my
respectful obeisances unto him.
मूकं करोति वाचालं
पङ्गुं लङ्घयते गिरिम्
यत् कृपा तम् अहं वन्दे
श्री गुरुं दीन-तारणम्
mūkaṁ karoti vācālaṁ
paṅguṁ laṅghayate girim
yat kṛpā tam ahaṁ vande
śrī guruṁ dīna-tāraṇam
By
the mercy of the guru, even a dumb man can become the greatest orator, and even
a lame man can cross mountains.
