“When I was a teenager I used to believe in the Advaita or Māyāvāda philosophy. But I could not explain why, if I was everybody, if I became enlightened in another body, why I was suffering in the present body. Why was I only conscious of my own body and not others?
The Māyāvādīs think the Vaiṣṇavas are contentious fanatics, niggling over insignificant points. They advise their followers not to talk to us. That doesn’t stop the Vaiṣṇava acaryas from speaking on behalf of the Supreme Lord to whomever will listen. Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura used to say, “To transform the adverse desires of the jivas is the supreme duty of the most merciful. To rescue one person from the stronghold of Mahā-māyā is an act of superb benevolence.” He is also quoted as saying “Let me not desire anything but the highest good for my worst enemies.”
And Oscar Wilde would agree. “Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”
—Sravaniya DiPecoraro, excerpt from the upcoming Basic Yoga Sūtras
