CHAPTER 13, TEXT 26: Again there are those who, although not conversant in spiritual knowledge, begin to worship the Supreme Person upon hearing about Him from others. Because of their tendency to hear from authorities, they also transcend the path of birth and death.
When I was teaching in New York City, the fourth grade teacher at my school told me a story:
"I told Kaya (pseudonym) to quiet down and stay in her chair.
She then fired back, 'This is a free country,'"
You may commend this girl for using her intelligence - that comeback is snappy. At the same time, if you look just a little deeper at her words, you can see a kind of deep unwillingness to accept authority. No one is "above" her or has the right to give her directions - her reasoning is that we are all free and thus we are all equal.
The word "educate" derives its meaning from the Latin "educare" which means "to lead out." This implies that someone is in a kind of darkness of ignorance (the student) and someone is leading that person out into the light (the teacher) (much like Plato's Allegory of the Cave).
In this sense, student and teacher are not equal. One is more knowledgeable and is helping the other, so that person is the authority.
The hardest part about education is to surrender to authority, whether that is to superior knowledge, a teacher, a path, a lifestyle, and more. Surrender begins with the process of hearing, for words may enter the heart and brain and wake up deep inside a longing, a curiosity, an emptiness.
Words have a mystical power to touch the soul.
The ancient process for any kind of progress, but especially spiritual, is to hear from an authority with submissiveness. Prabhupad writes, "Lord Caitanya, who preached Kṛṣṇa consciousness in the modern world, gave great stress to hearing because if the common man simply hears from authoritative sources he can progress." Note that Prabhupad emphasizes that the "common man" can progress - not the scholar or the spiritualist but the common man.
That's you and me, buddy.
Krishna describes in this verse a person who has the "tendency to hear from authorities" - the key word here is "tendency." Even more important that downloading loads of knowledge is to cultivate that tendency to hear, an inclination and even hunger to hear.
Prabhupad writes that the common man must "simply hear" from an authoritative source.
That said,
there is "hearing"
and there is "listening."
Did Kaya hear her teacher's instructions? Yes.
Did Kaya listen to her teacher's instructions? No.
Listening implies submissiveness, a willingness to learn, a willingness to be lead out of the dark, aware that one is even in the dark.
Listening means that one wants the light, is open and ready to change and transform.
The Sanskrit word used in this verse is sruti, which is translated as "hearing." This word is also intimately used in connection to or alludes to the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of spiritual knowledge. This means that hearing doesn't just mean the physical experience of processing raw sound. Hearing means that one should hear spiritual knowledge of great weight and authority (such as the Vedas) in order to be transformed and lead out of the darkness.
Hearing, then, means accepting authority. Hearing from an authority who is knowledgeable and of impeccable character is a special, rare opportunity in this world. Prabhupad emphasizes that "One should learn to become the servant of those who are in knowledge of the Supreme Lord." This means that to truly prepare the heart to hear from an authority, to serve that person opens up one to the light.
This story of the girl Kaya - the girl who refused to follow the directions of her teacher with her claim that this is a free country - rankles me so much because, frankly, I have a bit of Kaya within my own heart. I don't want to surrender to someone who will tell me the Truth and show me the Way. I want to find my own truth, find my own way.
Yes, this is a free country, and I am free. No one should have the power to tell me what to do.
So.
I'll take baby steps.
There are a few people in this world whose authority I accept in deep, quiet way. One of those authorities is Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad, the man who writes purports to these verses of the Gita. Sure, maybe I'm still a bit like Kaya when I hear some of his directions, and at the same time I trust him.
I'd bet that Kaya did not trust her 4th-grade teacher. So why would she follow her directions?
I trust that Prabhupad is taking my hand in his strong, gentle hand. Although I may dig in my heels and turn away, still with gentility and firmness and kindness, he leads me towards the light.
Full purport here: https://vedabase.io/en/library/bg/13/26/
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