Srila Bhaktisiddhanta's book: comments by Dhamaghosa dasa

Hare Krsna to all
Pranams
Glories to Prabhupada

We continue to read at breakfast time the book entitled "Brahmana and Vaisnava" by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaj. It is a most excellent treatise on the finer distinctions of bhakti and helps us understand more clearly, what went wrong with the Hare Krsna Movement.
Let me relay a few of his words below.....

"Those who traverse the descending process are qualified to reach the Absolute Truth. But since those who traverse the ascending process have accepted the external ascending path to reach the undisputed destination, they have become eager to minimize the glories of the Absolute Truth. As a result, even though they proudly advertise their faith in the Vedas, their actual intention is to disregard the Vedas. This is clearly understood...."

How many times have we seen clear distortions to the words and instructions over the past 35 years of Srila Prabhupada? Something as simple as offering bhoga is now totally the opposite to what he taught to us, in practically ALL of his temples! And this has all come about because certain leading devotees accept the ascending process of mental speculation instead of total acceptance of the descending process of words coming straight from Prabhupada himself. Srila Prabhupada once said the difference between the so called scientists and us is that we use the descending process and they use the ascending process. So these so called devotees have come under the spell of Maya and are now using her methods instead of her masters.

"Whenever the sages gave explanations on the Vedas that were contrary to the actual purport of the Vedas, differences in their respective realizations arose. On the ascending path, one sage attacks another sage and tries to establish his own opinion. In the descending path, however, there is no such outrage or drawback. The varieties that are perceived are all used in the service of the nondual Personality of Godhead; one does not become puffed up or averse to Hari...."

When one loses perception and rememberance of his eternal position, namely being a humble servant of his spiritual master, he can no longer speak rightly because his speech is now dictated by Maya, not God or Guru. When this illusion takes over, one cant even perceive his present position since his original position has already been lost. Due to enviousness and an intense hankering for sense gratification these people are impelled by sinful desires to remove their own spiritual guide from his rightful position as sole Acarya of his own temples and they then concoct opinions which differ from their own spiritual masters. All this is due to offenses committed against him by refusing to obey his commands to us all. They have no respect, basically, due to excessive pride and envy of the exhalted position of a Paramahamsa pure devotee of the Lord.

And the proof they are wrong is that they continually contradict themselves and one another and have continued to do so-- for 34 years now.!!!

On the other hand the Prabhupadanugas have held fast to one conclusion since Prabhupada departed. That conclusion is this --He, Srila Prabhupada is the current, and living Acarya who is fully competent to deliver the entire world back to home back to Godhead thru his voluminous instructions, conversations, books, lectures and murti form. One definition of a bona fide guru (and devotee) is that he is brahma nistham--FIXED, he doesn't change his opinion year to year !!

"...Wherever respect for the spiritual master has been diminished, the ascending process , in the form of disobeying the spiritual master, has simply created a perverted mentality of vivarta vada, or the Mayavada theory of illusion, filled with pride and nourished by the four defects like committing mistakes and being illusioned. This diseased mentality eventually turns into a mine of licentiousness...."

Does this licentiousness need be explained here?? The massive falldowns, the crushing of thousands of devotees material and spiritual lives, the murder of devotees, the bad publicity, the breaking of even civil laws, what to speak of the overall degradation in the publics eyes of the once pure and powerful Hare Krsna Movement .This is all the result of disrespect for the pure Vaisnava Spiritual Master Srila Prabhupada.

"When persons who disregard the spiritual master try to understand the Vedic literatures through their evil attempts, differences of opinion automatically arise in their understanding. But if the sages give up their pride of seminal birth and become fixed in real knowledge by following the descending path, then their recitation of songs from the Sama veda will be non different from that of the Rg Veda. Those who are proud of seminal birth and whose bodily conception of life is very prominent are not qualified to hear the instructions of the spiritual master. When the sages subdue their material pride and live in a gurukula to study the Vedas they are able to comprehend the hearing and studying of the Vedas...."

Again here Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaj slams the inordinate pride of the smarta class of so called spiritualists. How many times have iskcon leaders been humbly approached by Prabhupadanugas for discussion of the ills of our movement, and then been spat upon, thrown out on the street, ridiculed and even tortured?? Is this the mentality of a sadhu, what to speak of a Vaisnava? Is this how Srila Prabhupada taught us to deal with each other?

"...The wordly or social, smrtis may please and bring auspiciousness to people, but they misguide those who traverse the descending path from their goal and cause their downfall....Those who have been permanently qualified in the kingdom of aversion to the Lord are alone incapable of attaching importance to the service of the Lord Hari, through wordly or Vedic performances..."

Car puja anyone?? How about some demi god worship along with Radha Krsna seva? Or how about having someone sing opera instead of Krsna kirtan in front of Radha Krsna? Some temples are operating bingo games for profit to the temple. Some "swamis" lend money, that was supposed to have been collected for the Deities, lend this same money to the temples Deities-- with interest !! God now needs to take out a loan !!

All this madness comes about when persons disregard the words and instructions of their own spiritual master. So these misleaders have destroyed the pure path of bhakti set out by Srila Prabhupada. These misleaders preach that car pujas will help you-- if your car has been blessed by some "priest". Yet in India, the land of puja, where has it ever become SAFE to drive along side of the millions of maniacs that have had their cars/ tongas/ rickshaws so "blessed"?

What to speak: this thing has never been even mentioned by Srila Prabhupada as a "service" to the Deities. This so called service is to the congregation only, thinking of yet another way to fill the temple coffers with ill gotten money.

The result of all this deception and illusion is that the actual path of bhakti has been obscured by madness and greed. Because these people put more importance upon things of this world, and not correct importance on the things of the spiritual world, Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaj states - "they misguide those who traverse the descending path from their goal and cause their downfall" .

Let us not be so fooled by this charlatans of Kali yuga by praying to Srila Prabhupada to keep us purely engaged at his holy lotus feet.

Hare Krsna
Damaghosa das