If such a mistake occurs, must the seeker face the karmic consequences? Or can Divine Grace and the power of the ‘Hare Krishna Mahamantra’ grant forgiveness and dissolve those results?
I am particularly interested in the stage of ‘Anartha Nivritti’, where it is said that during the process of purification, the latent impurities within the seeker begin to surface.
โDuring this stage of Anartha Nivritti, is it possible for a seeker to succumb to the intense momentum of these surfacing impurities and commit a mistake or a ‘sin’?
Hare Krishna, Hare Rama refers to the power of the Lord that removes our tendency towards sin (Hare), attracts our soul (Krishna) and gives us immense delight (Rama). Thus, it helps us get absorbed in Him by the power of the Divine Name.
As to nivritti, it happens in every yoga due to the pressure of consciousness to go beyond the human frame. All yoga is some kind of an accelerated evolution and hence it does bring out certain tendencies that remain ordinarily hidden in normal life under the mask of social and moral norms. In Vaishnava yoga which is primarily based on the turning of emotions towards the Divine there is the additional risk of mishandling of the energy of love, which easily turns into lust in weak and susceptible natures.
In any case, sin and guilt have no place in spiritual life. It is an invention of ignorance and its usefulness ceases as we grow towards the light. It is somewhat like how parents sometimes instill some caution into the mind of children to avoid complications and dangers. But this caution often develops into paralyzing doubt and fear, which we extend illegitimately in other domains. The Divine parents are not like human parents. If they let us fall, it is only to lift us higher and teach us to walk better. Concepts of guilt, forgiveness from God, etc are mainly conceptions of ignorance. When wisdom comes, we see only God’s unconditional Love to which we should open unconditionally. That is what He truly cares for. All the rest of the methods and techniques are a method to tie the infinity of the Divine in a rope of narrow conceptions. What is needed is to learn, grow conscious, reject certain tendencies harmful for our overall progress and thereby keep moving forwards.
Affectionately,
Alok Da
