Ping pong swami and the GBC's missing leadership

Ping Pong Swami Misses the Ball

BY: DRAVINAKSA DAS

The Ping Pong swami (Hrdayananda swami) has warned us of dire consequences if we don't follow his new preaching paradigm. He also distinguished himself above the GBC neophytes. We have heard these sales pitches in the past, from Mr. Bhaktipada during the monk's robes era, and even Bhagavan gave a similarly toned speech to all of ISKCON at the Mayapur Festival, and his followers cheered. Bhagavan vanished from ISKCON a few months later and Bhaktipada, the robes and English hymns are relegated to the history section titled "Preaching Strategies to Avoid". 

Krishna says everything is under the three modes of material nature. These things are under the mode of passion, therefore nectar in the beginning and poison in the end. And after all the dust settles, all there is left is dust to clean up.

Srila Prabhupada did warn us of a danger to ISKCON. It's the same danger to you, me and everyone else. It's the question of purity, both personal and functional. Even back in the day Srila Prabhupada detected the GBC (and others) were not chanting their rounds or following the 4 regs. If you want your teaching to have an effect you have to be pure. Then you can change peoples' hearts. It's not so much technique, it's the force of purity. You get mystic power from chanting and following the rules.

Functional purity is action in goodness: not misusing money, keeping the sanctity of your ashram, only eating Krishna Prasadam, sticking with the teachings of Srila Prabhupada, etc. These things sanctify our works in this world, and lead to liberation. It might not be easy, but what item of great value is easily obtained? This is where the real new change will manifest. As we rise higher and higher in purity our words and actions will affect the hearts of others to also take up Bhakti Yoga seriously and happily.

[PADA: The question always being raised here is, why is the remainder of the GBC apparently oblivious when all these deviations are taking place? They seem to wait until these various deviants go into "crisis mode" before they ever take any action whatever. And the action taken is usually at best a minor slap on the wrist, or some other ineffective "GBC resolution." 

And they have STILL not even taken actual firm steps of action on the Hrdayananda problem -- ever since the early 1980s when stories were reported by people like Dravida das about the swami's "hanging out with the ladies" problem. Its not just that these leaders are constantly going astray, its the fact that the rest of the leaders are often asleep at the switch, silently acquiescing, or even promoting these deviants as messiahs, never mind their not containing the deviations. 

In sum, the GBC as a whole are not taking firm enough action to remedy these problems, making the collective GBC's complicity in these deviations the main issue. Why is Hrdayananda swami still an issue in 2016 -- when his lack of sadhana, lack of visible chanting, associating with females, going to college to learn from speculators, and so many other deviations, was all being reported starting in the early 1980s? ys pd]