Bangladesh Update / A Few Quotes / 12 02 24

BANGLADESH DETERIORATING

PADA: More Hindu temples and homes being burned, people being beaten, Hindus houses being ransacked and burned etc. Don't worry, the India government is taking it up at the U.N. Really? Yep, unfortunately this has been going on for decades and there is no concrete plan from India. 

Also, some of the Journalists who were reporting these attacks on Hindus were detained, evidently because the government doesn't want this news to come out. ISKCON is in the middle of all this, and it looks like they also don't have much of a plan to address any of this either. 

If ISKCON said this Chinmoy guy is not a member, he is a child molester, then why were 4 brahmacaris bringing him food and medicine? This does not look right either? OK they don't have any organizational skills at work here. 

Who is in charge of this mess? And evidently, 30 ISKCON workers from India (West Bengal?) were caught with false documents in Bangladesh. Also not a good sign. Anyway, we predicted a long time ago that chasing out all the senior management of ISKCON would lead to trouble down the road, and -- it has. 

My friend in South America said it is the same thing there, the temple he had been going to used to have 50-60 people, now it has 3. Very devastating consequences of making conditioned souls into acharyas. Anyway, it is what it is. And we have to figure out how to try to stay at least moderately sane in a world that seems to be coming unglued, from ISKCON -- to all the rest of it, with all the serious conflicts going on everywhere. 

Well at least we have some clue Who is ultimately the ruler of all this. And while it looks like a giant mess to us, if we zoom out to looking at earth from -- lets say Neptune -- then we would realize how insignificant this whole planet is. But at the same time, I have to say it is sad that Lord Chaitanya's glorious movement was hijacked and contaminated. And I believe the people responsible will be held accountable eventually. 

And one of the big mistakes of ISKCON has been -- claiming it is part of the Hindu religion. That is why it is in so much trouble in Bangladesh, and other places, now.

ys pd 

angel108b@yahoo.com  

ISKCON monks targeted

A total of 4 Brahmacharis are in jail; 2 of them were arrested when they went to deliver medicine and prasad to Chinmoy Krishna Das. Chinmoy Krishna Das's secretary has also been arrested, says @RadharamnDas in conversation with @RittickMondal.… pic.twitter.com/1DqhTGEYDz

— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) December 1, 2024

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Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura Mahasaya from "Bhakti Tattva Viveka".
In the depths of jnana, vairagya and so on, and behind all religion, lies… the desire for honor, name, fame, distinction and adoration.

To the degree that we endeavor to develop ourselves spiritually, to become religious, to maintain a renounced life, and to deliberate on and discuss jnana, we desire our own pratishtha (honor and distinction). This desire contaminates our hearts and pollutes our characters.

Although we make a great effort to control lust, anger, greed, illusion and envy, and although we perform severe austerities to control the senses, concealed within our hearts the desire for pratishtha, in the form of a wild infant animal, continues to grow.

I learn ashtanga-yoga with a desire to become a famous yogi. But if anyone one tells me that my yoga lessons are merely… a show, I burn in anger.
I discuss and deliberate upon many sastras in my endeavor to merge into brahman. But if I hear someone say that this process is… fruitless, my mind becomes disturbed, and I condemn the accuser.

We learn ten kinds of dharma, such as control of the mind and the external senses, austerity and truthfulness, and in carrying out our worldly activities we perform daily obligatory religious duties (nitya-karma) and occasional religious duties (naimittika-karma). But if someone says that karma-kanda is simply… useless labor, my mind suffers; I become unhappy because my pratishtha is being made to appear insignificant.

Those who desire bhukti and mukti are restless and slaves of the desire for pratishtha

When the karmi, jnani, yogi and so on search in hope of attaining the fruit of enjoyment and liberation, how can they have any peace? They cannot relinquish the desire for pratishtha. This desire is very insignificant, however, in those Vaishnavas who have no thirst at all for bhukti and mukti.

Present-day Vaishnava acaryas desire pratishtha and are intolerant. Nowadays, the acaryas of vaishnava-dharma cannot tolerate the slightest disrespect. From the outset, they endeavor to enhance their dignity by placing their feet on the heads of all. It is not unreasonable for an acarya to receive respect from others. But if he courts that respect for himself, where is his real value? Furthermore, he becomes angry with someone who does not offer him sashtanga-dandavat pranamas, full prostrated obeisances. Such anger is abominable.

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Srila Prabupada...."Unless the dirt within the core of one’s heart is cleansed away, one cannot become a pure devotee. Therefore the word sudurlabhaḥ (“very rarely found”) is used in this verse. Not only among hundreds and thousands, but among millions of perfectly liberated souls, a pure devotee is hardly ever found. Therefore the words koṭiṣv api are used herein. Śrīla Madhvācārya gives the following quotations from the Tantra Bhāgavata:

nava-koṭyas tu devānām
ṛṣayaḥ sapta-koṭayaḥ
nārāyaṇāyanāḥ sarve
ye kecit tat-parāyaṇāḥ

“There are ninety million demigods and seventy million sages, who are all called nārāyaṇāyana, devotees of Lord Nārāyaṇa. Among them, only a few are called nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇa.” {Pure Devotee} King Citraketu's Lamentation :
SB 6.14.5 : PURPORT : by Srila Prabhupada

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Srila Prabhupada...“One must accept the words of an ācārya, a bona fide spiritual master, to clear the path for spiritual advancement. This is the secret of success. However, one’s guide must be a spiritual master who is actually an unalloyed devotee strictly following the instructions of the previous ācārya without deviation. Whatever the spiritual master says must be accepted by the disciple. Only then is success certain. This is the Vedic system.” (Cc Madhya-lila 10.17 Purport)