An extract from an interview with Jagat Guru Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa where he discusses the causes and results of fanaticism.

 

INTERVIEWER: One concern I think a lot of people have is the method by which some so-called religious groups collect funds or donations. How do you feel about the tactics sometimes used?

 

JAGAT GURU: Any religious or nonprofit organization has the right to solicit, and all charity organizations do so, practically speaking. But the question is whether or not the donations are being obtained voluntarily or by force. I don’t want to comment specifically on any particular organizations, but all I know is that within the depth of myself, I am against pushing people or trying to coerce people in any way to give any amount of money. 

 

In the Vedic or yoga system, the idea of encouraging someone to give something is that if they give from their heart, voluntarily. It is not only helping you do your work, but it is directly helping the individual who is giving. He is feeling, “This is going to God. This is going to be used in God’s service.” So, he is sacrificing something which he could use for his own material enjoyment in the service of God and others. This is known as devotional service, or loving service to God.

 

A person who accepts money or gifts on behalf of God is not allowed to use a penny of that for his own enjoyment. His position is simply as a medium. Whatever others give him, his business is to offer that to God or use it directly in God’s service.

 

The most important thing is that the offering is given out of the person’s own volition. In the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna says, “If someone offers Me a fruit, flower, a little water or a leaf with love and devotion, then I will accept that gift.” So even a simple thing like fruit, a little water, or a flower can be actually offered to God in a spirit of love, and God accepts the gift in His own transcendental way. It’s not that God wants something temporary and material. What He’s really enjoying is my giving, the feeling or the love with which the object has been given.

 

Just like if I give you a lei, really what I’m giving you is the feeling or expression of love. At Honolulu Airport in Hawaii, they employ professional lei-givers. The lei-giver calls out, “Mr. Jones? Mr. Jones?” and comes up to you and throws the lei around you—it can be the most beautiful, opulent lei in existence, but because it’s a professional thing, because there is no love behind it, there’s nothing really for you to appreciate.

 

INTERVIEWER: Does that mean that God only accepts things which are given freely?

 

JAGAT GURU: Yes. Accepting something for God in charity, as an individual or an organization, means accepting what people are giving from their heart, voluntarily. It means love. Love is based on freedom, the freedom to give or not to give, the freedom to give how much you want to give. It’s the sincerity of the gift; the sincerity of the offering that God actually appreciates.

 

When we speak about the kingdom of God, we’re saying that God is the enjoyer, that God is enjoying in His kingdom. What does He enjoy? He enjoys the reciprocation of loving exchanges between Himself and His children, the souls. Obviously, He doesn’t enjoy anything material. Just as a mother appreciates the love with which her child has made her a mud pie, similarly God appreciates our desire to offer something to Him rather than the thing itself.

 

If somebody is actually representing God, then gathering funds for their work is only going to be a part of their actual desire. Their primary desire will be engaging people in God’s service, helping people to remember God, making it possible for them to offer something from their hearts in the service of God.

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Now unfortunately, some fanatics think that you can put a gun at someone’s back and say, “Okay, give me your money.” They even think they are doing it in God’s service. If a person is coercing you and forcing you to “serve God,” it’s kind of like saying, “Well, this is all God’s, you know, so I’m going to force you to use it in His service.” But he is not helping me because I’m not giving voluntarily.

​The fact is that ultimately, God’s going to get everything back at death. Death is the Supreme Robber who comes like a thief in the night and takes the whole bundle. So, there are two kinds of surrender to God. One is the kind of surrender like surrendering out of fear to a robber with a gun—you hold up your hands and say, “I surrender.” The second kind of surrender is the surrender of the heart, which is known as love. The first kind is based on coercion or force, and the second is voluntary.

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If a person thinks that he can force someone to offer everything back to God, then actually that person is not an agent of God; he is the agent of maya, the illusory energy. What is that? Death, material nature. Material nature is that aspect of God which takes by force. The actual representative of God is that aspect which enables people to have a change of heart. He helps them so that they undergo an actual change of attitude, whereby they offer God’s energy back to God voluntarily and enjoy doing so. This is the difference between a real servant of God and a fanatic.

 

So, when we speak about the function of a religious organization, we are speaking about the attempt to convince people that they will be happy loving God or surrendering to God and using their possessions in God’s service. This will make them happier than they would be using everything for their own enjoyment. So, there are different degrees of surrender in God’s service. One person may be surrendering his whole life—body, mind and soul and all his possessions. Someone else may be offering only 1% of their body, mind, and soul. But in all cases, it must be voluntary; otherwise, it is not spiritual.

 

INTERVIEWER: So, you’re saying that the idea that you can benefit someone by taking something from them and using it in God’s service is at the root of fanaticism?

 

JAGAT GURU: Yes. The idea that I can benefit a person by taking $20 out of his wallet and somehow using it in the service of God is absurd. It’s crazy. That would mean you could benefit even more people by robbing money from a bank. If you robbed a bank and used the money, supposedly in God’s service, how would the people who had money in that bank be benefited? Would they feel any happiness or love? Would they feel any closer to God? No. When they find out that their money has been stolen, they feel angry. The same with someone who has been somehow coerced into making a “donation” on the streets. They’re not feeling love; they’re feeling anger. 

 

Now why would somebody be angry, if I was engaging in actually helping them get closer to God? You can’t engage me in God’s service. Only I can engage me in God’s service. It must be voluntary. If force is used, then there is no question of service, it’s slavery.

 

This is fanaticism. It is totally alien to the entire Haribol (Vaishnava) philosophy.

 

INTERVIEWER: So, it must be the individual’s personal decision as to what he is going to do with his life and his possessions, etc.?

 

JAGAT GURU: Yes. Exactly. When we speak of Bhakti, or love of God, we’re speaking about an individual’s freedom. The entire Haribol philosophy is based on the eternal individuality of the living being, or the soul. We are eternally individuals and God is the eternal Supreme Individual. So, if I am an individual, that means that I must make the decision myself to serve God or not to serve God, to offer something to God or not to offer it to Him. If you try to force someone else to serve God or take someone else’s money or whatever, what you’re really doing is denying them their individuality. You’re taking their free choice away from them. So, what you’re really denying them is the possibility of their ever having a relationship with God. You’re getting in the way of their loving relationship with God. You’re not helping them.

 

INTERVIEWER: What is the motivation behind people who act like this? 

 

JAGAT GURU: Because they’re faithless, they think that if people are left to choose between serving and not serving God, then they won’t serve God. And why do they think like that? They think like that because they are like that. They are projecting their own desire not to serve God on to others, that’s all. Does God force us to serve Him? No. God is all-powerful; He could have kept us by force in His kingdom. But He chooses not to do that. Why? Because He doesn’t want you to do something if you don’t want to do it. The entire kingdom of God is based on love, and love is based on freedom. 

 

The material world is that section of God’s kingdom where the individual souls have chosen not to serve God. But the point is that we still have our freedom, eternally, to serve or not to serve. So, if we’re going to try to get people to the kingdom of God—whether we are working calling ourselves Christians or Hindus or Muslims or whatever—we have to appreciate this point: God has not forced His children to remain in the kingdom of God as if it is some type of jail. He has not used force to make people come to Him or love Him. He has not used force to make people surrender to Him. So then why should His representatives try to force people to surrender to God?

Surrender really means love. So, can you force me to love someone else? No, of course not. Love means voluntary. The kingdom of God is based on love—it is founded on love. Love is the entire taste or flavor in the kingdom of God—and that is based on freedom. Anyone who’s working on behalf of God or trying to bring people to God must appreciate this point. And if they don’t, then they’re not actually representatives of God because they’re not actually tasting love of God. They themselves are not actually full of faith in God, that He is in control. They think, “God’s lost control; we’d better take over here.” They start thinking that they’re going to save people whether they like it or not. That is fanaticism.

 

INTERVIEWER: Thank you.

 

JAGAT GURU: Haribol.