Hridayananda Goswami - Contrarian Extraordinaire
BY: VASTAVIKA DAS
Just after HH Hridayananda Goswami announced his formalization of Krishna West, he was given the "heads-up" that he was inviting a sledgehammer response from the GBC. He disagreed and didn't think it was either radical or controversial. Actually, there are those who admire his courage in flaunting the status quo with such a radical proposition. He didn't expect any or much push-back.
[PADA: Hrdayananda has already gone "Krishna West" decades ago -- because: he wears Western clothes; lives in a Western townhouse; rides around in a Western town car; has female "assistants" (like a Western businessman); supports Western "gay marriage"; does not go out and do harinama and preaching programs the way sannyasas did in the 1970s, he says Western scholars have defeated Srila Prabhupada, in other words he accepts Western academia's authority over that of Srila Prabhupada, ad infinitum. All of this has been going on for decades right under the GBC's noses. This has always been a radical anti-ISKCON agenda, and the GBC leaders chose to allow it to flourish in the name of Krishna and ISKCON.]
*** Months passed without any official response. The appearance was that the Swami was in safe harbor (so perhaps the bravado is overstated). Wiser persons knew better. Practically, Krishna West goes on East and West amongst initiated and non-initiated devotees. The practice is not new or revolutionary, but codifying it was a lethal step. The GBC is composed of both liberal and conservative viewpoints; there was never a chance of unanimity for this idea. There was no way the GBC in its present composition was going to accept this new "kinder and gentler" ISKCON - not officially.
[PADA: Yes, Hrdayananda has supported the worship of all sorts of deviants as acharyas, and he even supported reinstating a known homosexual as an acharya, all in the name of "being liberal minded." And the problem now is, the entire GBC has supported him in doing that for years. Now the GBC wants to "distance themselves" from Hrdayananda's "Krishna West" program and its liberal agenda, but its hard to claim that the entire GBC are not part of this process -- since they have vehemently supported Hrdayananda as their acharya for decades. They still have not yet made an official declaration that Hrdayananda is not their acharya?
Its a wonder the GBC only now started to figure out HDG's behavior and ideas were too far off the mark. The problem is that the entire GBC has supported HDG's agendas and programs all along AS THE PROCESS OF THE ACHARYA, and its "a day late and a dollar short" to try to claim they are now suddenly "holier than Hrdayananda" -- when the GBC body are the ones who have supported HDG being their acharya all along. This is also what happened with Jayatirtha, Harikesh, Bhagavan, Kirtanananda et al., the GBC waited until these people were WAY OUT THERE in deviations, and then they suddenly decided -- these people "do not represent ISKCON." OK, except they waited until these sinking ships were 99 percent under water before they decided to declare these ships were sinking?]
*** Instead of letting the practitioners seek their own level of participation through realization, HH Hridayananda pushed the envelope, surfaced an organic process into a philosophical brouhaha, and thus spoiled the party for everyone. The result is divisiveness where there had been none.
[PADA: There has always been huge divisions among these alleged acharyas. Jayatirtha's sex and drugs program was not accepted by all the others; Hansadutta's "machine gun swami" program was not accepted by all the others, and so on and so forth. There are big divisions in the ranks of these alleged acharyas all along.]
*** What else is new when it comes to how His Holiness has operated from his guru-sannyasi and managerial positions? Controversy is synonymous with his reign as the philosophical contrarian that he has been since 1977.
[PADA: Correct, Hrdayananda has been connected to making controversial statements ever since 1977. He was telling people in 1978 that he and Srila Prabhupada have to be viewed the same way, for example. And the rest of the GBC knew he was saying these things -- and yet never did anything to reign that in.]
*** He is definitely a survivor. Neither a luxurious lifestyle, support of gay marriages, taking undeserved sole credit for the Bhagavatam 10th, 11th and 12th cantos, chanting japa without beads, living alone in an expensive beach 2-bedroom apartment, spending hours learning the piano, never being able to finish his books or remain in one place long enough to develop the preaching to a mature, sustainable level, and...let us count the ways.
[PADA: Yep, his lavish lifestyle and radical bogus siddhanta program have been known for years together. And PADA has been pointing these things out in our newsletters all along, thus these problems were well known to all the upper crust managers of ISKCON, and they allowed it to continue.]
*** Giving the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he is just ahead of his time. Even if that were true (only time will tell), he still has caused yet another schism - as if there aren't enough already. He has his disciples and followers who hang on his every word (like many of the ISKCON gurus; seems like it's part of the guru-disciple fabric). Now they can live in a right and wrong paradigm as far as the GBC is concerned.
[PADA: Right, every time one of these gurus leaves, or is chastised by the GBC, ISKCON loses their followers. That is why their temples are empty. They are not training people to worship Srila Prabhupada, they are making mini-personality cults that disintegrate over time, to the peril of ISKCON. This is simply another example of this process, now ISKCON will lose hundreds of more people, at a time when there is not enough people to manage the facilities already. And now they have spawned another competitor to ISKCON.]
*** Actually, the GBC itself walked right into the trap of precipitating another fracture. HH Hridayananda makes a reasonable argument about the GBC not engaging him in the discussion; there could have easily been a Skype session. The Internet works just fine in the GBC conference room. Acchhhh! Maya is working her magic as She burns the candle on both ends.
[PADA: There is really nothing to discuss, the Hrdayananda's of the world have never listened to reasonable arguments, they are cult leaders. Yes, its good that they are going to get rid of him, and that ALSO means the GBC are burning both ends of their candle -- at a time when they need all the allies they can muster. Instead, they are starting a war with: Arizona temple's folks, Ravindra Swarupa's folks, Mahanidhi's folks, Hrdayananda's folks, Narayana Maharaja's folks, Aindra's folks, PADA's folks, IRM's folks, Rocana's folks, meanwhile suing Bangalore folks at great expense, so they are fighting on too many fronts at once. They cannot sustain that for long. That's good news for us.]
On a personal note... Srila Prabhupada brought the East to the West; I don't think he had any intention of bringing the West to the East, nor or leaving the West to make up their own rules. That's my two cents, but it doesn't matter. The die was cast when the idea of Krishna West was hatched. His Holiness couldn't just "let it be." Sometimes that is the better part of valor and the bravest thing to do.
BY: VASTAVIKA DAS
Just after HH Hridayananda Goswami announced his formalization of Krishna West, he was given the "heads-up" that he was inviting a sledgehammer response from the GBC. He disagreed and didn't think it was either radical or controversial. Actually, there are those who admire his courage in flaunting the status quo with such a radical proposition. He didn't expect any or much push-back.
[PADA: Hrdayananda has already gone "Krishna West" decades ago -- because: he wears Western clothes; lives in a Western townhouse; rides around in a Western town car; has female "assistants" (like a Western businessman); supports Western "gay marriage"; does not go out and do harinama and preaching programs the way sannyasas did in the 1970s, he says Western scholars have defeated Srila Prabhupada, in other words he accepts Western academia's authority over that of Srila Prabhupada, ad infinitum. All of this has been going on for decades right under the GBC's noses. This has always been a radical anti-ISKCON agenda, and the GBC leaders chose to allow it to flourish in the name of Krishna and ISKCON.]
*** Months passed without any official response. The appearance was that the Swami was in safe harbor (so perhaps the bravado is overstated). Wiser persons knew better. Practically, Krishna West goes on East and West amongst initiated and non-initiated devotees. The practice is not new or revolutionary, but codifying it was a lethal step. The GBC is composed of both liberal and conservative viewpoints; there was never a chance of unanimity for this idea. There was no way the GBC in its present composition was going to accept this new "kinder and gentler" ISKCON - not officially.
[PADA: Yes, Hrdayananda has supported the worship of all sorts of deviants as acharyas, and he even supported reinstating a known homosexual as an acharya, all in the name of "being liberal minded." And the problem now is, the entire GBC has supported him in doing that for years. Now the GBC wants to "distance themselves" from Hrdayananda's "Krishna West" program and its liberal agenda, but its hard to claim that the entire GBC are not part of this process -- since they have vehemently supported Hrdayananda as their acharya for decades. They still have not yet made an official declaration that Hrdayananda is not their acharya?
Its a wonder the GBC only now started to figure out HDG's behavior and ideas were too far off the mark. The problem is that the entire GBC has supported HDG's agendas and programs all along AS THE PROCESS OF THE ACHARYA, and its "a day late and a dollar short" to try to claim they are now suddenly "holier than Hrdayananda" -- when the GBC body are the ones who have supported HDG being their acharya all along. This is also what happened with Jayatirtha, Harikesh, Bhagavan, Kirtanananda et al., the GBC waited until these people were WAY OUT THERE in deviations, and then they suddenly decided -- these people "do not represent ISKCON." OK, except they waited until these sinking ships were 99 percent under water before they decided to declare these ships were sinking?]
*** Instead of letting the practitioners seek their own level of participation through realization, HH Hridayananda pushed the envelope, surfaced an organic process into a philosophical brouhaha, and thus spoiled the party for everyone. The result is divisiveness where there had been none.
[PADA: There has always been huge divisions among these alleged acharyas. Jayatirtha's sex and drugs program was not accepted by all the others; Hansadutta's "machine gun swami" program was not accepted by all the others, and so on and so forth. There are big divisions in the ranks of these alleged acharyas all along.]
*** What else is new when it comes to how His Holiness has operated from his guru-sannyasi and managerial positions? Controversy is synonymous with his reign as the philosophical contrarian that he has been since 1977.
[PADA: Correct, Hrdayananda has been connected to making controversial statements ever since 1977. He was telling people in 1978 that he and Srila Prabhupada have to be viewed the same way, for example. And the rest of the GBC knew he was saying these things -- and yet never did anything to reign that in.]
*** He is definitely a survivor. Neither a luxurious lifestyle, support of gay marriages, taking undeserved sole credit for the Bhagavatam 10th, 11th and 12th cantos, chanting japa without beads, living alone in an expensive beach 2-bedroom apartment, spending hours learning the piano, never being able to finish his books or remain in one place long enough to develop the preaching to a mature, sustainable level, and...let us count the ways.
[PADA: Yep, his lavish lifestyle and radical bogus siddhanta program have been known for years together. And PADA has been pointing these things out in our newsletters all along, thus these problems were well known to all the upper crust managers of ISKCON, and they allowed it to continue.]
*** Giving the benefit of the doubt, perhaps he is just ahead of his time. Even if that were true (only time will tell), he still has caused yet another schism - as if there aren't enough already. He has his disciples and followers who hang on his every word (like many of the ISKCON gurus; seems like it's part of the guru-disciple fabric). Now they can live in a right and wrong paradigm as far as the GBC is concerned.
[PADA: Right, every time one of these gurus leaves, or is chastised by the GBC, ISKCON loses their followers. That is why their temples are empty. They are not training people to worship Srila Prabhupada, they are making mini-personality cults that disintegrate over time, to the peril of ISKCON. This is simply another example of this process, now ISKCON will lose hundreds of more people, at a time when there is not enough people to manage the facilities already. And now they have spawned another competitor to ISKCON.]
*** Actually, the GBC itself walked right into the trap of precipitating another fracture. HH Hridayananda makes a reasonable argument about the GBC not engaging him in the discussion; there could have easily been a Skype session. The Internet works just fine in the GBC conference room. Acchhhh! Maya is working her magic as She burns the candle on both ends.
[PADA: There is really nothing to discuss, the Hrdayananda's of the world have never listened to reasonable arguments, they are cult leaders. Yes, its good that they are going to get rid of him, and that ALSO means the GBC are burning both ends of their candle -- at a time when they need all the allies they can muster. Instead, they are starting a war with: Arizona temple's folks, Ravindra Swarupa's folks, Mahanidhi's folks, Hrdayananda's folks, Narayana Maharaja's folks, Aindra's folks, PADA's folks, IRM's folks, Rocana's folks, meanwhile suing Bangalore folks at great expense, so they are fighting on too many fronts at once. They cannot sustain that for long. That's good news for us.]
On a personal note... Srila Prabhupada brought the East to the West; I don't think he had any intention of bringing the West to the East, nor or leaving the West to make up their own rules. That's my two cents, but it doesn't matter. The die was cast when the idea of Krishna West was hatched. His Holiness couldn't just "let it be." Sometimes that is the better part of valor and the bravest thing to do.
[PADA: Hrdayananda was already "Westernized" a log time ago, but yes his making it an official position was a mistake, but that is what is happening, the GBC is making one big mistake after another, and its all catching up to them now. Its snow-balling down hill faster and faster. Its a wonder its taken this long. ys pd]
All over the world bad leaders are being exposed for the terrible things they say and do. Technology has created such a situation where it is nearly impossible to hide anything. It is in the news everyday, so many cheating leaders are being taken down all over the world by an ever watchful public. Everyone is being recorded, filmed and monitored at an ever increasing rate and it is creating a situation where we are all being forced to become more accountable for our actions. I really believe that this is part of Krishnas plan to save the world
ReplyDeleteThis is exactly what is happening to the bad leaders within ISKCON leadership. Their nefarious actions are being exposed more and more, everyday, and its become impossible for them to hide their transgressions. This why it is the perfect time to OCCUPY ISKCON! It is high time that this deviant elitist 1% ISKCON leadership subculture is brought down by the real 99% of devotees who have been exploited, abused and generally offended and isolated. How can there even be a privileged 1% class in a society where we are all supposed to be servants serving Krishna together? The very existence of this materially bloated 1% ISKCON subculture proves that ISKCON leadership has created a dominant culture that is completely opposite of what a humble and transcendental Vaishnava culture should be. We have all waited a long time for this day when the charlatans and exploiters of ISKCON leadership would be exposed and de-throned from their illegitimate positions. I believe that day has finally come and we should all pray to Lord Nrsingadeva to deliver us from these false pseudo acharyas.
When a lusty bramacari wants to be in maya what is one thing he can do? He can volunteer to go for a japa walk to the store and get a gallon of milk for the Deities. Then he can dress in karmi clothes and go there. Before he enters the store he can fold up his bead bag and put it in his pocket and place his beads around his neck. Now he is in disguise and can enjoy the store to his full satisfaction, looking at the women in the store, browsing through the magazines, maybe even purchasing something he shouldn't along with the milk if he really is determined.
ReplyDeleteWhen a sannyasi is in maya they can do the same thing. Dress in karmi clothing, dally with women, take pictures with them while touching them, joking with them, enjoying the young girls who are "their" own disciples, asking male disciples to contribute to "their" apartments so they can write "their" books, etc.
Do gay devotees support Hrdayananda because he supports gay unions more than the rest of the elitist GBC and Gurus in general? Or do his disciples like to dress down into karmi clothes and go to the temple now to show their support for his non-vedic ideas? From my limited experience with the situation it seems perhaps both of these things are going on.
There was a song back in the 80's called Hot for Teacher. The ISKCON version might have a different title if they made one for the women and gay men, Hot for Guru!
Ravindra Swarupa is attempting to start a simular type of westernized offshoot program called "ISKCON Cure of Souls" after getting booted from the Temple. His " preaching program" is based on the teachings of the western Christian scholar Anton Boison (who actually is quite interesting) . Point is, Ravindra is not qualified to start anything, either is Hrdyananda. And how is the gbc endorsing Ravindras pathetic program which uses "Iskcon" in its title but sueing Prabhupadanugas who want to use the Iskcon name? Luckily, no one would EVER be attracted to either Ravindras or Hrdyanandas garbage programs. Who would think some mental speculating plump beyond middle aged guy in khakis, polo shirt and crock sandals is the next Messiah? The answer is: ABSOLUTELY NO ONE!
ReplyDeleteLuckily, Ravindra Swarupas " ISKCON Cure of Souls" and Hridayanandas "Krishna West" bogus ISKCON offshoot programs have ZERO chance of attracting anyone. Ravindra is an unrepentant abuser and liar and Hrdayananda is a just spoiled rich mental speculator. In regard to "Krishna West" and Hrdayananda: who would believe some portly balding over middle-aged guy in khaki pants, a polo shirt and crock sandals is the new Messiah? Answer is: ABSOLUTELY NO ONE!
ReplyDeleteThis is a good comment to an article by Hrdayananda posted on iskcon.us criticizing his Krishna West program-
ReplyDeleteI really don’t believe that the general public is somehow turned off by Vaishnava clothing, symbols or culture. On the contrary, generally I have seen people become very attracted. I think a lot of devotees don’t realize that most people on earth associate an orange robed monk with the Hare Krishna mantra. I think this very powerful and is extremely effective preaching. It is my humble opinion, in my limited experience, that it is usually devotees themselves who are embarrassed or uncomfortable to represent themselves overtly as members of the Hare Krishna Movement. This may be a legitimate claim in the sense that there are some bad public perceptions of Hare Krishna devotees. Nonetheless, I think it is important for those involved in such a controversial undertaking, especially Hrdyananda Gosvami ,to carefully examine their own personal individual motivations. I would argue that most devotees I know believe that the majority of the problems in the Hare Krishna Movement have been created by different people who thought they could improve on Srila Prabhupada’s approach and technique in spreading Krishna Consciousness. But honestly, we all have to ask ourselves sincerely if we even believe Hrdyananda Gosvami is the person we would trust to do such a task even if it was necessary? Srila Prabhupada always taught us to use our intelligence and never surrender it
I think its time for Hrdayananda to pack it up and move to Maryland with Ravindra and his pal Sraddhadevi. All of us in Philadelphia know that Ravindra moved to Maryland to take shelter of his buddies, ISKCON crime and deviation cover-upers Braja Bihari (of ISKCONDissolve)and Annuttama (ISKCON Mis-communications Minister). I think they might be able to help "mediate" Hrdayananda's present crisis. But I think it is all nicely arranged by the Laws of Nature that Ravindra, Braja Bihari and Annuttama are all huddled together down there in Maryland in crisis mood. This is because it makes it a lot easier for the Feds to round them up all at once on charges of Witness Intimidation and Manipulation when the time comes. Its amazing how some ISKCON leaders are the only ones in the world anymore who don't believe in the laws of karma. Or they are so offensive and ignorant as to think that they are above the laws of karma all together. If this is the case, this is sinning on the strength of chanting the holy name, and it is literally the WORST offense to commit. So good luck and good riddens to them, their fate is beyond imagination.
ReplyDelete