The Slippery Slope of Religiosity - The Trend Continues
BY: URVASHI PATEL
This article is in response to Jaya Madhava Prabhu's article, "Bhaktivedanta Manor Wedding Services". The question can be asked, "What will replace this cash stream" from the Hindu weddings?
The answer is so simple and obvious that we can hardly see it: book distribution, of course, as Srila Prabhupada introduced and desired it and as it has been practiced during Srila Prabhupada's manifest presence. And if that doesn't bring the same level of income as the Hindu cash cow, then we might do well to have a look at the expense side, particularly as we live at a period of austerity measures.
Do the handful of managers really need to pay themselves huge salaries of the like of corporate executives and bankers, not to speak of the millions of Pound property portfolio? What has happened to voluntary devotional service? Srila Prabhupada gave clear instructions that devotees are not being paid for their 'devotional' service. In fact, it turns voluntary devotional service into a mundane job for a salary.
But the justification goes as follows. We need to at least reimburse expenses. After the reimbursement came small salaries as we would have to employ 'karmis' to do the job for much more. So why not support our householders?
[PADA: Right, after kicking out almost all of the Srila Prabhupada disciples, the GBC was forced to "hire" a salaried staff to manage ISKCON. Meanwhile, the money to actually "manage" some temples dwindled and then things deteriorated in a state of bad repair (also happened in the Gaudiya Matha).]
UP: Next came the "medium salaries" rewarded by the managers to themselves and their clique, relatives and exclusive social circle. This phenomenon can also be observed all over India. Some call it nepotism and corruption and the GBC is right into it and part of it.
Then there was criticism when devotees looked at the annual accounts and questioned the statement that none of the managers was paid more than 60,000 (Pounds Sterling) annually. And this was their medium salary. Next, there were only 'undisclosed' salaries and the figures were buried in the accounts. This is the practice to the very day. Transparency, what is this? And the GBC is part of it.
[PADA: Meanwhile many sick and dying devotees are having a hard time raising money to pay for their medical bills, housing etc.]
UP: Even the pujaris have to be imported from India and paid a salary.
[PADA: A devotee reported seeing some "hired Indian poojaris" going to a doughnut shop after the morning arotike to buy doughnuts and coffee. Ooops, and the attractive young women waitresses who worked at the shop were being "chatted up." And these people are making offerings to Krishna?]
UP: There is no real Bhakta Program or book distribution, and the brahmacari or brahmacarini ashramas can hardly be called so. It is only a token.
[PADA: Correct, there can not be a book distribution program if the GBC kicks out most of the book distributors.]
UP: Moreover, the multi-million goshalla, which is sold as 'Cow Protection' and which markets its milk as 'ahimsa' milk, is actually nothing more than a zoo and a showpiece for the Hindu diaspora who flock into the Manor by the thousands to have their sentiments for mother cow exploited.
In fact, the so-called 'Cow Protection' has nothing to do with real 'Cow Protection'given to us by Srila Prabhupada, nor is there such a thing as 'ahimsa' milk. See Dusyanta Prabhu's article, "Hard Hitting Capitalism" for more details in this regard. In another article, Dusyanta writes:
"The whole idea of Cow Protection and land is to solve the economic problems of life in the "simple living-high thinking" principle. Cows are the secret clue that ISKCON "farms" have not been able to access, because the Cows offer the association of the mode of goodness exclusively. And when we understand the mode of goodness economic problem, then we humans can solve it easily with Cow Protection and land."
Furthermore he writes: "The ISKCON way of solving the economic problem is through the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance, through their corporate management system that is taught and ingested by ISKCON devotees. But this is not found in Srila Prabhupada's teachings. ("European Farming Meeting - It's Got to be a Joke!")
Real Cow Protection means community and solving the economic problem of a community by simple living and high thinking, i.e. a self-sufficient life style in Krishna consciousness, depending on the land and the cow, and not solving the economic problem of a handful of managers with the help of the 'Hindu' money and the rest of the devotee community works a 'karmi' job.
On top of it, the Manor's business model has successfully been exported to temples all over the UK and beyond. In the UK all temples and Centres follow the example and mood of Bhaktivedanta Manor, with the exception of just three or four. The temples are filled up exclusively with Hindus and the preaching to Westerners has almost completely come to a standstill, with the exception of the laudable endeavors of Parasurama das in London and a few others.
The latest example of the very same carbon copy of this Hindu business model is Leicester, with its huge new premises and its newly established Hindu school. Sure enough, the Hindu wedding business will flourish there soon too, hopefully this time at least not in front of the Deities. What does all this mean? Why have things degenerated like this and been allowed to deviate so much from Srila Prabhupada's instructions?
The answer is again very simple and obvious. After Srila Prabhupada's physical departure his disciples and sincere devotees have been systematically randomized and kicked out, and Hindu managers have replaced them. What seemed originally a reasonable argument to take the 'Hindu' money but not to compromise has turned into just the opposite. Devotees became obliged to the Hindu diaspora because they took money primarily from that source, and little by little ISKCON UK went off course, almost imperceptibly.
Worse than that, the 'Western' managers were also replaced with 'Indian' devotees (of course a devotee is not Indian or otherwise) and along came some Indian conditioning, even if it was originally just the sense of making money, which has obviously influenced the development towards religiosity. Almost all temple managers are 'Indian' devotees in all temples throughout the UK, with the exception of just a very few.
It has been active GBC policy in the UK to empty the temples of residential devotees and establish 'Hindu' temples, with the exception of the above mentioned few. The result is an almost total decline in book distribution, harinam etc.
The entire post-samadhi situation of ISKCON UK and otherwise can be summed up as a decline of a pure and potent spiritual movement into religiosity. This has been explained by Rocana Prabhu as follows:
"Due to the very strong tendencies produced by our conditioning, there is a phenomenon that takes place after the departure of great Acaryas - the pure devotees in our disciplic succession. After they depart, the inevitable evolution towards religiosity takes place."
("Prabhavisnu: the Latest Victim of Religiosity")
And the trend is continuing, whereas religiosity is defined as an introduction of material motives into pure devotional service. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta has given us ample warning in his Putana article as follows, even though some think this cannot apply to ISKCON. Judge for yourself if it does apply or not.
Already in 1930, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati had written in his famous "Putana" article: "The churches have always proven to be representatives of the most gross forms of worldliness. The former intention of these established churches (religious institutions) may not have been always doubtful, but we see that no religious institution was successful in spiritually uplifting the masses. Indeed, the idea of an organised church marks the end of a living spiritual movement."
[PADA: The good news here is that the GBC's "guru monopoly program" is deteriorating. Thus they are gradually losing control of the ISKCON society more and more every day. Meanwhile, our Prabhupadanuga alliance grows more each day, because people will worship Krishna and Srila Prabhupada -- with or without -- the official ISKCON institution, in much the same way that people will worship Jesus in an underground process in countries where Christianity is oppressed.
There are at least several hundred people here in the Bay Area who worship Srila Prabhupada as their current acharya, and they will never change that program because for starters, no one else has shown us a better program. There is none. The GBC guru program has been rejected for the most part here, and it will never be revived here. The only program making real strides of progress here is our Prabhupadanuga idea.
Meanwhile, all over the world, the GBC's guru program is less and less in control of their own program. As a GBC guru essentially told one of our associates recently, "We first of all became almost completely dependent on donations from the Hindus. Then we became gradually more obliged to compromise with these Hindus ideas on management (and reduce Srila Prabhupada's process). Then, as the Hindus became the main people funding ISKCON's operations, the Hindus wanted more and more of a voice in the upper management.
"So we had to oblige them, and give them more and more voice in the way ISKCON's temples are operated, and even give them posts within the management. Then, after placing Hindus in more and more posts of management, they began to introduce more and more Hindu-ized India ideas. And now, we cannot even barely advise them how to manage, they are almost completely independent of the GBC's rule of authority. We have essentially handed off the authority to manage ISKCON to these Hindus."
In sum, the Hindus have taken over large sectors of ISKCON. Its also easy to see that most of the disciples of the current GBC gurus, like Jayapataka swami, Bhakti Vikas swami, Radhanath swami etc. are mostly from the Hindu sector. Very few Westerners are joining. Of course, all of this was never authorized by Srila Prabhupada, he did not want his ISKCON to become a mainly Hindu "weddings and car poojas" organization, he wanted Westerners to be the main element, especially in the West. Srila Prabhupada told Gurukripa and Yasodananda: "Do not make my mission into another Gaudiya Matha (showing the deity business) or Catholic Church (voted in gurus).
In sum, our idea is moving ahead in so many locations around the world and we keep hearing nice reports of more people adopting our Prabhupadanuga idea. Most of the Western devotees feel alienated from the GBC's guru program and they are simply not going to participate. They already "voted with their feet" to abandon that program. In the meantime we keep picking up sympathizers.
There are also a number of people inside ISKCON temples who communicate with us and they agree with our idea fully. They are just waiting for Kamsa to die. Anyway this is all very good for us. As the power and control center of ISKCON shifts off more and more OFF the shoulders of these bogus gurus and ON TO the Hindus, they are not going to pose much of a threat to us, rather they are neutral or even friendly toward us. For example, we never get threats of violence from any of these Hindu sympathizer people, its just the GBC goorus program's dedicated gestapo forces that want to eliminate us.
So their power structure is diminishing, and thus their techniques of gangster tactics is dwindling along with them. That process will free up more of our Prabhupadanugas -- for more preaching without intimidation -- that itself is a great development. Of course the same fools who wanted to intimidate us with violence get upset when we get help from the police etc, hee hee. Anyway, the GBC's goonda patrols are more or less like snakes without teeth these days, their power structure is collapsing. Hindu-izing ISKCON is way better than the jack booters. Gradually, we might be able to actually infiltrate back into ISKCON and start to convince these Hindus to become more aligned with Srila Prabhupada. In any case, all this is marking the end of the Gestapo jack boots era, and for that, we are glad.
As for religiosity, normal mundane religion does not worship illicit sex with men, women and children as their messiahs, as the bogus GBC gurus have been doing. Heck, even cannibals do not worship illicit sex with men, women and children as their messiahs. It looks like they are being forced to advance now out of the forces of economics. They will not be able to preach the glories of their worship of illicit sex among the Hindus, they will have to suppress that. All this is good for us. ys pd]
BY: URVASHI PATEL
This article is in response to Jaya Madhava Prabhu's article, "Bhaktivedanta Manor Wedding Services". The question can be asked, "What will replace this cash stream" from the Hindu weddings?
The answer is so simple and obvious that we can hardly see it: book distribution, of course, as Srila Prabhupada introduced and desired it and as it has been practiced during Srila Prabhupada's manifest presence. And if that doesn't bring the same level of income as the Hindu cash cow, then we might do well to have a look at the expense side, particularly as we live at a period of austerity measures.
Do the handful of managers really need to pay themselves huge salaries of the like of corporate executives and bankers, not to speak of the millions of Pound property portfolio? What has happened to voluntary devotional service? Srila Prabhupada gave clear instructions that devotees are not being paid for their 'devotional' service. In fact, it turns voluntary devotional service into a mundane job for a salary.
But the justification goes as follows. We need to at least reimburse expenses. After the reimbursement came small salaries as we would have to employ 'karmis' to do the job for much more. So why not support our householders?
[PADA: Right, after kicking out almost all of the Srila Prabhupada disciples, the GBC was forced to "hire" a salaried staff to manage ISKCON. Meanwhile, the money to actually "manage" some temples dwindled and then things deteriorated in a state of bad repair (also happened in the Gaudiya Matha).]
UP: Next came the "medium salaries" rewarded by the managers to themselves and their clique, relatives and exclusive social circle. This phenomenon can also be observed all over India. Some call it nepotism and corruption and the GBC is right into it and part of it.
Then there was criticism when devotees looked at the annual accounts and questioned the statement that none of the managers was paid more than 60,000 (Pounds Sterling) annually. And this was their medium salary. Next, there were only 'undisclosed' salaries and the figures were buried in the accounts. This is the practice to the very day. Transparency, what is this? And the GBC is part of it.
[PADA: Meanwhile many sick and dying devotees are having a hard time raising money to pay for their medical bills, housing etc.]
UP: Even the pujaris have to be imported from India and paid a salary.
[PADA: A devotee reported seeing some "hired Indian poojaris" going to a doughnut shop after the morning arotike to buy doughnuts and coffee. Ooops, and the attractive young women waitresses who worked at the shop were being "chatted up." And these people are making offerings to Krishna?]
UP: There is no real Bhakta Program or book distribution, and the brahmacari or brahmacarini ashramas can hardly be called so. It is only a token.
[PADA: Correct, there can not be a book distribution program if the GBC kicks out most of the book distributors.]
UP: Moreover, the multi-million goshalla, which is sold as 'Cow Protection' and which markets its milk as 'ahimsa' milk, is actually nothing more than a zoo and a showpiece for the Hindu diaspora who flock into the Manor by the thousands to have their sentiments for mother cow exploited.
In fact, the so-called 'Cow Protection' has nothing to do with real 'Cow Protection'given to us by Srila Prabhupada, nor is there such a thing as 'ahimsa' milk. See Dusyanta Prabhu's article, "Hard Hitting Capitalism" for more details in this regard. In another article, Dusyanta writes:
"The whole idea of Cow Protection and land is to solve the economic problems of life in the "simple living-high thinking" principle. Cows are the secret clue that ISKCON "farms" have not been able to access, because the Cows offer the association of the mode of goodness exclusively. And when we understand the mode of goodness economic problem, then we humans can solve it easily with Cow Protection and land."
Furthermore he writes: "The ISKCON way of solving the economic problem is through the mode of passion and the mode of ignorance, through their corporate management system that is taught and ingested by ISKCON devotees. But this is not found in Srila Prabhupada's teachings. ("European Farming Meeting - It's Got to be a Joke!")
Real Cow Protection means community and solving the economic problem of a community by simple living and high thinking, i.e. a self-sufficient life style in Krishna consciousness, depending on the land and the cow, and not solving the economic problem of a handful of managers with the help of the 'Hindu' money and the rest of the devotee community works a 'karmi' job.
On top of it, the Manor's business model has successfully been exported to temples all over the UK and beyond. In the UK all temples and Centres follow the example and mood of Bhaktivedanta Manor, with the exception of just three or four. The temples are filled up exclusively with Hindus and the preaching to Westerners has almost completely come to a standstill, with the exception of the laudable endeavors of Parasurama das in London and a few others.
The latest example of the very same carbon copy of this Hindu business model is Leicester, with its huge new premises and its newly established Hindu school. Sure enough, the Hindu wedding business will flourish there soon too, hopefully this time at least not in front of the Deities. What does all this mean? Why have things degenerated like this and been allowed to deviate so much from Srila Prabhupada's instructions?
The answer is again very simple and obvious. After Srila Prabhupada's physical departure his disciples and sincere devotees have been systematically randomized and kicked out, and Hindu managers have replaced them. What seemed originally a reasonable argument to take the 'Hindu' money but not to compromise has turned into just the opposite. Devotees became obliged to the Hindu diaspora because they took money primarily from that source, and little by little ISKCON UK went off course, almost imperceptibly.
Worse than that, the 'Western' managers were also replaced with 'Indian' devotees (of course a devotee is not Indian or otherwise) and along came some Indian conditioning, even if it was originally just the sense of making money, which has obviously influenced the development towards religiosity. Almost all temple managers are 'Indian' devotees in all temples throughout the UK, with the exception of just a very few.
It has been active GBC policy in the UK to empty the temples of residential devotees and establish 'Hindu' temples, with the exception of the above mentioned few. The result is an almost total decline in book distribution, harinam etc.
The entire post-samadhi situation of ISKCON UK and otherwise can be summed up as a decline of a pure and potent spiritual movement into religiosity. This has been explained by Rocana Prabhu as follows:
"Due to the very strong tendencies produced by our conditioning, there is a phenomenon that takes place after the departure of great Acaryas - the pure devotees in our disciplic succession. After they depart, the inevitable evolution towards religiosity takes place."
("Prabhavisnu: the Latest Victim of Religiosity")
And the trend is continuing, whereas religiosity is defined as an introduction of material motives into pure devotional service. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta has given us ample warning in his Putana article as follows, even though some think this cannot apply to ISKCON. Judge for yourself if it does apply or not.
Already in 1930, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati had written in his famous "Putana" article: "The churches have always proven to be representatives of the most gross forms of worldliness. The former intention of these established churches (religious institutions) may not have been always doubtful, but we see that no religious institution was successful in spiritually uplifting the masses. Indeed, the idea of an organised church marks the end of a living spiritual movement."
[PADA: The good news here is that the GBC's "guru monopoly program" is deteriorating. Thus they are gradually losing control of the ISKCON society more and more every day. Meanwhile, our Prabhupadanuga alliance grows more each day, because people will worship Krishna and Srila Prabhupada -- with or without -- the official ISKCON institution, in much the same way that people will worship Jesus in an underground process in countries where Christianity is oppressed.
There are at least several hundred people here in the Bay Area who worship Srila Prabhupada as their current acharya, and they will never change that program because for starters, no one else has shown us a better program. There is none. The GBC guru program has been rejected for the most part here, and it will never be revived here. The only program making real strides of progress here is our Prabhupadanuga idea.
Meanwhile, all over the world, the GBC's guru program is less and less in control of their own program. As a GBC guru essentially told one of our associates recently, "We first of all became almost completely dependent on donations from the Hindus. Then we became gradually more obliged to compromise with these Hindus ideas on management (and reduce Srila Prabhupada's process). Then, as the Hindus became the main people funding ISKCON's operations, the Hindus wanted more and more of a voice in the upper management.
"So we had to oblige them, and give them more and more voice in the way ISKCON's temples are operated, and even give them posts within the management. Then, after placing Hindus in more and more posts of management, they began to introduce more and more Hindu-ized India ideas. And now, we cannot even barely advise them how to manage, they are almost completely independent of the GBC's rule of authority. We have essentially handed off the authority to manage ISKCON to these Hindus."
In sum, the Hindus have taken over large sectors of ISKCON. Its also easy to see that most of the disciples of the current GBC gurus, like Jayapataka swami, Bhakti Vikas swami, Radhanath swami etc. are mostly from the Hindu sector. Very few Westerners are joining. Of course, all of this was never authorized by Srila Prabhupada, he did not want his ISKCON to become a mainly Hindu "weddings and car poojas" organization, he wanted Westerners to be the main element, especially in the West. Srila Prabhupada told Gurukripa and Yasodananda: "Do not make my mission into another Gaudiya Matha (showing the deity business) or Catholic Church (voted in gurus).
In sum, our idea is moving ahead in so many locations around the world and we keep hearing nice reports of more people adopting our Prabhupadanuga idea. Most of the Western devotees feel alienated from the GBC's guru program and they are simply not going to participate. They already "voted with their feet" to abandon that program. In the meantime we keep picking up sympathizers.
There are also a number of people inside ISKCON temples who communicate with us and they agree with our idea fully. They are just waiting for Kamsa to die. Anyway this is all very good for us. As the power and control center of ISKCON shifts off more and more OFF the shoulders of these bogus gurus and ON TO the Hindus, they are not going to pose much of a threat to us, rather they are neutral or even friendly toward us. For example, we never get threats of violence from any of these Hindu sympathizer people, its just the GBC goorus program's dedicated gestapo forces that want to eliminate us.
So their power structure is diminishing, and thus their techniques of gangster tactics is dwindling along with them. That process will free up more of our Prabhupadanugas -- for more preaching without intimidation -- that itself is a great development. Of course the same fools who wanted to intimidate us with violence get upset when we get help from the police etc, hee hee. Anyway, the GBC's goonda patrols are more or less like snakes without teeth these days, their power structure is collapsing. Hindu-izing ISKCON is way better than the jack booters. Gradually, we might be able to actually infiltrate back into ISKCON and start to convince these Hindus to become more aligned with Srila Prabhupada. In any case, all this is marking the end of the Gestapo jack boots era, and for that, we are glad.
As for religiosity, normal mundane religion does not worship illicit sex with men, women and children as their messiahs, as the bogus GBC gurus have been doing. Heck, even cannibals do not worship illicit sex with men, women and children as their messiahs. It looks like they are being forced to advance now out of the forces of economics. They will not be able to preach the glories of their worship of illicit sex among the Hindus, they will have to suppress that. All this is good for us. ys pd]
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