Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Montreal Prabhupadanugas report (ISKCON) ys pd
Interview for the Concordias university newspaper with Sundar Ram
by Purujit Das on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 3:17pm
we see you on the street doing books, playing hare krsna in subway. you're like everywhere(laughter) what's your story, purujit?
i was born in slovakia, turned on acid, realized that the school, job, family, die program totally sucks, read the bhagavad-gita as it is, moved to canada, started a film animation program here at concordia, dropped it and became a full time monk. since that time i've been working on what is called self-realization, which is in my humble opinion a way more exciting, blissful and free way how to spend your time in a human form.
really? so you studied here? at the mel hopenheim school of...
how does it matter? these things are just keeping us apart. i'm in this program, you are in that program. i have this class, you have that class. now there's gonna be this exam or that exam. everyone is very nicely fragmented and thus controlled. ultimately it's all bunch of nonsense, because after you come out of school, you realize that you don't know who you are, nor what is the complete whole. you see? they are not going to tell you about the whole context of things in which you're working, cuz then you can like(laughter) rebel. how many departments this university has?
i don't know, quite a few actually
yes, you have chemistry, film, music, art, computer so many, but in none of this you actually get to know about the whole. so people are trained to be servants. a servant does not need to know about how the whole factory works. he is needed only for his limited little department and as long as he does his job, he's fine. as soon as he starts to inquire about the whole thing, like wait what do the others do and what is the purpose of the factory? then he's dangerous. anyone interested in the complete whole is dangerous. so the great authorities of the original civilization of mankind like narada, devala, asita, vyasa have accepted that the complete whole is Krsna. so what i'm doing actually is that i'm trying to educate the students here outside of the voluntary slavery program about the complete whole krsna so they can wake up and free themselves from the brainwash. (laughter) just kidding.
is hare krsna a religion?
your body changes from a small boy, teenager, grown up man, old man. is this a belief or a fact?
a fact.
right. so although your body changes you remain the observer. you are watching this whole movie called "life" in front of you.
so is it religion or not?
wait..(laughter) let me finish. you're watching the bodily changes that means there's something constant. so that constant thing is actually pure you or consciousness and when that pure you or soul leaves the body. the body is useless right?
right.
so it is the consciousness which makes the body beautiful. it is the consciousness which is full of individuality, freedom, desires, opinions and so on. but in this materialstic society this most important subject matter of education is completely neglected. quite the opposite, we are constantly being brainwashed to identify with temporary bodily designations: i'm a man, i'm a woman, i'm black, i'm jew, christian, you name it. all these meaningless boxes and the whole society is based on this illusion. so this most essential hare krsna movement is an educational movement based on the authoritiy of the most ancient scriptures known to man, the vedas to educate people about the culture of consciousness. everyone is hooked up on some materialistic pleasure, you know, things which we don't really need, but still do them because they give us the false sense of being happy and the manufacturers of these things prosper, the economy is based on this: buy stuff you don't need. consciousness or soul is however full of unlimited pleasure, in other words it's all there inside, you don't have to go anywhere, buy anything if you simply connect yourself to your true self, which is eternal part and parcel of the reservoir of all pleasure.Krsna. one can have immediate experience of this if he simply chants the maha-mantra, which is an authorized sound vibration to realize the complete whole for this particular age: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare.just do it. so naturally we are one of the greatest threats for the materialstic society. that's why you hear of us as a cult, or weird people or so many other rubbish. the so-called leaders of this circus know very well that if people start practising this krsna consciousness, they won't be able to enslave them anymore becuz everyone is going to be deriving unlimited pleasure from within. just imagine a society of self-realized yogis! actually, i'm quite surprised you were able to smuggle this into the school newspaper(laughter), but you see that's krsna. krsna a.k.a God controls the whole thing and even if you try you cannot trick the greatest trickster. this is krsna consciousness.
i know you have a center here in montreal? maybe you could talk about that a little bit?
sure. i'm glad that you asked about this. it's not that we're just bunch of cultists locked up somewhere on an island, but we offer the montreal community an opportunity to taste this hare krsna culture first hand by visiting our programs. when you show up, it's basically chanting and dancing like a madman and going into a nice trance, then we teach the bhagavadgita and ask people to raise whatever doubts they have and finally we distribute an awesome vegetarian feast. it's all free and we want to expand this program. what is nice is that although krsna is the best thing in the world, no one is harrassing you and putting pressure on you to join the movement while you're there. our purpose is not to convert many people. we just want to put the information out there and those who have some brains will join us automatically. actually you're not joining anything. we are all parts and parcels of the complete whole eternally, so it's just a question of realizing it. it doesn't matter where you are. you can realizae it even now while reading this article.
hare krsna center: 8045 Boulvard de l'Acadie
programs : Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7pm
Monday, August 29, 2011
Festival invitation for Long Island
.ISKCON New York at Long Island Temple
We will be celebrating the appearance day of Shrimati Radharani at the temple this Sunday, September 4th, starting at 5 pm. Please join us. Hare Krishna.
We will be celebrating the appearance day of Shrimati Radharani at the temple this Sunday, September 4th, starting at 5 pm. Please join us. Hare Krishna.
197 S Ocean Ave.
Freeport, NY 11520
Freeport, NY 11520
Phone 516-223-4909
BBT editing "filters" Srila Prabhupada's books
The Weightiest Argument
by Dhira Govinda dasa
by Dhira Govinda dasa
"Leaving one or both 'initiated's will strongly imply that the use of the phrases 'direct disciple' and even 'accepted [as his disciple]' indicate formal initiation as we know it in ISKCON, which is far from the truth...This last was the weightiest argument, in my view, for changing the passage" [Letter excerpt from BBT representative regarding the change on Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta page 1].
"The revision is small and in itself, we believe, of no great consequence" [Jayadvaita Swami, regarding the revision on Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, page 1].
In May, 2005 I fortuitously encountered Jayadvaita Maharaja at a Sunday feast program in Alachua, and he shared with me about recent, somewhat extended deliberations, and conclusions, of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) directors concerning the revision on the first page of Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta. In July, 2005 I received the article that he wrote, on behalf of the BBT, about this matter. This article is now apparently receiving increased attention. Jayadvaita Maharaja wrote "In particular, Dhira Govinda Prabhu questioned it and asked us to reconsider it. We took his request seriously." The BBT directors did devote extended hours to this topic, and I sincerely appreciate their earnest attention to the matter.
My perspective is that the revision is of profound consequence. Perhaps of even greater moment is the fact that the BBT directors believe that the revision is "in itself,... of no great consequence.”
On June 16, 2000, about half a year after he wrote the letter from which the excerpt at the start of this posting is taken, the BBT representative who had written "This last was the weightiest argument...", wrote to me as follows:
"Aside from the passage itself, I can easily see the following syllogism flowing from your notes on diksa: Diksa is really the imparting of transcendental knowledge. Srila Prabhupada is the pre-eminent imparter of transcendental knowledge for all generations of ISKCON devotees, now and in the future. So Srila Prabhupada is giving diksa to all who take knowledge from his books, tapes and other media. He who gives diksa is the diksa-guru. One is enjoined to have only one diksa-guru because the acceptance of more than one is strictly forbidden in the sastra. Therefore Srila Prabhupada is the only diksa-guru for all ISKCON devotees for the next ten thousand years.
"I don't think I want to go down that road."
[end of letter excerpt from BBT representative]
I feel compelled to state that this article is not about whether "Srila Prabhupada is the only diksa-guru for all ISKCON devotees for the next ten thousand years." My views about Srila Prabhupada's relationship with the members of his movement are expressed in Srila Prabhupada: The Prominent Link (available at http://geocities.com/pointofsurrender/index.htm) and other essays. My original correspondence with BBT representatives concerning the book change on the first page of Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta is available in Appendix C of the second printing of Srila Prabhupada: The Prominent Link, and a short chapter discussing ramifications of this change is included as Chapter Three in Srila Prabhupada: The Prominent Link.
This article is about an apparent knowledge filter that is active in decisions regarding revisions to Srila Prabhupada's books. From what I am able to discern, the psychology underlying the emendation under discussion embraces a priori assumptions regarding which roads may be traversed. Rather than impartially presenting Srila Prabhupada's words with an eagerness to discover which roads open, there seems to be an attitude, albeit subconscious, of pre-determining which paths are permissible for visitation, and accordingly adjusting Srila Prabhupada’s writings.
While recognizing the attempts of the BBT representatives to transparently represent Srila Prabhupada, it seems that in this instance Srila Prabhupada’s clear intentions are obscured for the reader due to a filter composed of presuppositions. These assumptions perhaps have not been closely examined, or at least are not readily apparent to many current and future readers of Srila Prabhupada’s books.
In an article dated May 6, 2006, Bala dasa Prabhu similarly addresses the topic. “This is a very troubling development for yet another reason. For this justification is laying the ground for making ANY further change to Srila Prabhupada's teachings that the GBC deems fit." Notwithstanding the distinction between the GBC and BBT, Bala dasa’s essential point seems to be a caution regarding the peril implied by application over time of this “weightiest argument” to revising Srila Prabhupada’s books.
Apart from future considerations of damage caused by this gatekeeper mentality, I believe it relevant to contemplate present effects. The revision to the first page of Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta (CC) is one of thousands of changes to Srila Prabhupada’s books. Perhaps the knowledge filter has been productive in more than this one case. Maybe it has had its effect in two or three, or perhaps dozens, of the changes to Srila Prabhupada’s books. We might fruitfully deliberate on the influence this has had on the Vaisnava society.
I suggest that sober reflection on the substance of this one change, to CC page 1, and the paradigm of thought that engendered this change, would tremendously impact the philosophical, political, economic, social and spiritual culture of persons and groups that are influenced by the consciousness and determinations of the BBT and GBC. Acknowledgement of this “great consequence” by the BBT directors, or any one of them, would in itself provide momentum for this impact, and would launch torpedoes at embedded institutional structures.
In his Foreword to Srila Prabhupada: The Prominent Link Ambarisa dasa Prabhu quotes Herbert Spencer. “There is principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance. That is contempt prior to investigation.” Contemporary ISKCON policy and thought as a basis for changing Srila Prabhupada’s books carries serious risk of “contempt prior to investigation.” Such a strategy seems to be dedicated to institutional preservation more than to authentically representing Srila Prabhupada. I assert that we may trust that authentic representation of Srila Prabhupada is the strongest assurance of protection, integrity and healthy expansion that an organization may enjoy.
"The revision is small and in itself, we believe, of no great consequence" [Jayadvaita Swami, regarding the revision on Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta, page 1].
In May, 2005 I fortuitously encountered Jayadvaita Maharaja at a Sunday feast program in Alachua, and he shared with me about recent, somewhat extended deliberations, and conclusions, of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) directors concerning the revision on the first page of Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta. In July, 2005 I received the article that he wrote, on behalf of the BBT, about this matter. This article is now apparently receiving increased attention. Jayadvaita Maharaja wrote "In particular, Dhira Govinda Prabhu questioned it and asked us to reconsider it. We took his request seriously." The BBT directors did devote extended hours to this topic, and I sincerely appreciate their earnest attention to the matter.
My perspective is that the revision is of profound consequence. Perhaps of even greater moment is the fact that the BBT directors believe that the revision is "in itself,... of no great consequence.”
On June 16, 2000, about half a year after he wrote the letter from which the excerpt at the start of this posting is taken, the BBT representative who had written "This last was the weightiest argument...", wrote to me as follows:
"Aside from the passage itself, I can easily see the following syllogism flowing from your notes on diksa: Diksa is really the imparting of transcendental knowledge. Srila Prabhupada is the pre-eminent imparter of transcendental knowledge for all generations of ISKCON devotees, now and in the future. So Srila Prabhupada is giving diksa to all who take knowledge from his books, tapes and other media. He who gives diksa is the diksa-guru. One is enjoined to have only one diksa-guru because the acceptance of more than one is strictly forbidden in the sastra. Therefore Srila Prabhupada is the only diksa-guru for all ISKCON devotees for the next ten thousand years.
"I don't think I want to go down that road."
[end of letter excerpt from BBT representative]
I feel compelled to state that this article is not about whether "Srila Prabhupada is the only diksa-guru for all ISKCON devotees for the next ten thousand years." My views about Srila Prabhupada's relationship with the members of his movement are expressed in Srila Prabhupada: The Prominent Link (available at http://geocities.com/pointofsurrender/index.htm) and other essays. My original correspondence with BBT representatives concerning the book change on the first page of Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta is available in Appendix C of the second printing of Srila Prabhupada: The Prominent Link, and a short chapter discussing ramifications of this change is included as Chapter Three in Srila Prabhupada: The Prominent Link.
This article is about an apparent knowledge filter that is active in decisions regarding revisions to Srila Prabhupada's books. From what I am able to discern, the psychology underlying the emendation under discussion embraces a priori assumptions regarding which roads may be traversed. Rather than impartially presenting Srila Prabhupada's words with an eagerness to discover which roads open, there seems to be an attitude, albeit subconscious, of pre-determining which paths are permissible for visitation, and accordingly adjusting Srila Prabhupada’s writings.
While recognizing the attempts of the BBT representatives to transparently represent Srila Prabhupada, it seems that in this instance Srila Prabhupada’s clear intentions are obscured for the reader due to a filter composed of presuppositions. These assumptions perhaps have not been closely examined, or at least are not readily apparent to many current and future readers of Srila Prabhupada’s books.
In an article dated May 6, 2006, Bala dasa Prabhu similarly addresses the topic. “This is a very troubling development for yet another reason. For this justification is laying the ground for making ANY further change to Srila Prabhupada's teachings that the GBC deems fit." Notwithstanding the distinction between the GBC and BBT, Bala dasa’s essential point seems to be a caution regarding the peril implied by application over time of this “weightiest argument” to revising Srila Prabhupada’s books.
Apart from future considerations of damage caused by this gatekeeper mentality, I believe it relevant to contemplate present effects. The revision to the first page of Sri-Caitanya-caritamrta (CC) is one of thousands of changes to Srila Prabhupada’s books. Perhaps the knowledge filter has been productive in more than this one case. Maybe it has had its effect in two or three, or perhaps dozens, of the changes to Srila Prabhupada’s books. We might fruitfully deliberate on the influence this has had on the Vaisnava society.
I suggest that sober reflection on the substance of this one change, to CC page 1, and the paradigm of thought that engendered this change, would tremendously impact the philosophical, political, economic, social and spiritual culture of persons and groups that are influenced by the consciousness and determinations of the BBT and GBC. Acknowledgement of this “great consequence” by the BBT directors, or any one of them, would in itself provide momentum for this impact, and would launch torpedoes at embedded institutional structures.
In his Foreword to Srila Prabhupada: The Prominent Link Ambarisa dasa Prabhu quotes Herbert Spencer. “There is principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all information, which is proof against all arguments, and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance. That is contempt prior to investigation.” Contemporary ISKCON policy and thought as a basis for changing Srila Prabhupada’s books carries serious risk of “contempt prior to investigation.” Such a strategy seems to be dedicated to institutional preservation more than to authentically representing Srila Prabhupada. I assert that we may trust that authentic representation of Srila Prabhupada is the strongest assurance of protection, integrity and healthy expansion that an organization may enjoy.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Srila Prabhupada and his books (ISKCON) ys pd
Click to enlarge photo
Prahlad das: Srila Prabhupada once said, "Only hope is that you distribute books, as much as possible, whole Europe, whole America. If they come to some day, they will realize what is this value. [break] ...they will realize that what valuable books we have left for the study of the whole world. That will come. " (Morning Walk -- June 28, 1975, Denver)
Well that day is here! People are looking for alternatives to this materialistic, unfulfilling, economically unstable western lifestyle, and many people are looking to the East for answers. As a result, it's sweeter than ever to distribute Prabhupada's books and people tremendously appreciate receiving this valuable transcendental wisdom!
This opportunity is for everyone.
No experience necessary.
Will accept devotees from all Vaisnava backgrounds.
No experience necessary.
Will accept devotees from all Vaisnava backgrounds.
While you are with me, I only ask you to be faithful to Srila Prabhupada and only distribute his original books, which I can supply at cost.
For more information kindly contact Prahlada-Nrsimha das at:
sanatanadharma108@gmail.com
sanatanadharma108@gmail.com
Saturday, August 27, 2011
False gurus have bad future (ISKCON)
Hare Krsna to all
Pranams
Glories to Srila Prabhupada
Below we have here more valuable information which confirms the principles of bona fide initiation vs. non bonafide and the symptoms by which one can judge for himself.
Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Maharj writes in the book Brahmana and Vaisnava....
..."If an initiated person has not undergone the sacred thread ceremony, then according to the statement of Brhaspati, a compiler of Dharma sastra, he has simply transgressed religious principles. The scriptures state that after receiving initiation one becomes twice born. If this was not so, then it is to be concluded that he has certainly not been properly initiated. If one is properly initiated then the results must come. A cause is known by its effects. If one claims to be a Vaisnava guru while neglecting the tat tenaiva vinirdiset verse, ("he should be accepted according to those symptoms of classification" statement of Srimad Bhagavatam 7.11.35), then he should be rejected. This is the purport of the scriptures.
One who assumes the dress and position of an acarya, who speaks against conclusions of Srimad Bhagavatam and other scriptures or who performs kirtan opposed to the proper glorification of Sri Krsna, certainly goes to hell for countless lifetimes along with his disciples and whoever else hears such non devotional talks and kirtans...."
The above reference to SB is here---SB 7.11.35--
If one shows the symptoms of being a brahmana, ksatriya, vaisya or sudra, as described above, even if he has appeared in a different
class, he should be accepted according to those symptoms of
classification.
And in Srila Prabhupadas purport to SB......
SB 8.20.1 Purport
Anyone who is supposed to be a guru but who goes against the
If one has
falsely accepted such a guru, one should reject him. Such a guru isdescribed as follows (Mahabharata, Udyoga 179.25):
guror apy avaliptasya
karyakaryam ajanatah
utpatha-pratipannasya
parityago vidhiyate
Srila Jiva Gosvami has advised that such a useless guru, a family
priest acting as guru, should be given up, and that the proper,
bona-fide guru should be accepted.
Isopanisad 12
neither
knowledge nor detachment from material affairs, for most of them want to live in the golden shackles of material bondage under the shadow of
By a false
display of religious sentiments, they present a show of devotional
service while indulging in all sorts of immoral activities. In this
way they pass as spiritual masters and devotees of God. Such violators
of religious principles have no respect for the authoritative acaryas,
the holy teachers in the strict disciplic succession. They ignore the Vedic injunction acaryopasana--"One must worship the acarya"--and
Krsna's statement in the ▼Bhagavad-gita (4.2) evam parampara-praptam,
"This supreme science of God is received through the disciplic
succession." Instead, to mislead the people in general they themselves
become so-called acaryas, but they do not even follow the principles
of the acaryas.
These rogues are the most dangerous elements in human society.
Because there is no religious government, they escape punishment by
the law of the state. They cannot, however, escape the law of the Supreme, who has clearly declared in the Bhagavad-gita that envious
demons in the garb of religious propagandists shall be thrown into the
Sri Isopanisad confirms that
these pseudo religionists are heading toward the most obnoxious place
in the universe after the completion of their spiritual master
business, which they conduct simply for sense gratification.
SB 1.19.37 P The Appearance of Sukadeva Gosvami
Unless one is perfectly anxious to inquire about the way of
perfection, there is no necessity of approaching a spiritual master. A spiritual master is not a kind of decoration for a householder.
Generally a fashionable materialist engages a so-called spiritual
master without any profit. The pseudo spiritual master flatters the
so-called disciple, and thereby both the master and his ward go to
hell without a doubt. Maharaja Pariksit is the right type of disciple because he puts forward questions vital to the interest of all men,
particularly for the dying men. The question put forward by Maharaja
Pariksit is the basic principle of the complete thesis of Srimad-Bhagavatam.
CONCLUSIONS--So many come in Kali yuga and claim they are Guru--but the Srimad Bhagavatam
says one should judge these persons by their behavior first, then such persons can be classified as Brahmana, Ksatryia or whatever, etc. If one sees that a person who is claiming to be Vaisnava guru doesn't even chant 16 rounds, the minimum given by his own Guru, then what kind of guru is he? If this same or similar person has also been found to be engaged in sinful acts, then how is he Guru?
Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaj also states that if one has been considered to be initiated by a bona fide guru then the symptoms in the disciple should manifest, namely brahminical behavior. Effect should follow proper cause. Yet if we see that so many of the new "disciples' of this modern age, dont even chant Hare Krsna mantra, or follow the 4 regulative principles, then this simply means that person from whom they took "initiation" was not a bona fide guru in the first place. I read one story of a devotee who sat in on a discussion of some iskgurus who were saying that practically all of their disciples fall away in 2-3 years so get as much (money) out of them as soon as you can. This is the mentality of a family priest not a Vaisnava Acarya.
So after these two types of cheaters come together for some guru-disciple business, then what happens? Sastra states that the bogus guru and the bogus disciple both go to hell. Not a very pretty picture is it?
ISKCON Las Vegas report
By Krishna-mayi Devi Dasi
On Saturday, August 20, 2011, Friends of India, Las Vegas hosted the inaugural India Independence Day parade and celebration on the historic Water Street in downtown Henderson, Nevada to mark the 64th anniversary of India’s independence.
Appreciating the influence of ISKCON in preserving Indian spiritual culture and traditions, Friends of India, Las Vegas invited Govinda’s Center / ISKCON Las Vegas to participate in the festivities. We happily accepted this invitation as an opportunity to bestow Lord Caitanya’s mercy on the very needy souls in Las Vegas.
The fun-filled night began with a parade tribute to the Motherland that included more than 40 entries including traditional Jhankis (floats). Govinda’s was nearly last of all entries in the parade, and with this great fortune we were able to close the parade with our sweet Harinama. The faces of blissful devotees marked with the Vaisnava tilaks shines brightly in the evening light. Carrying a bright yellow banner (with a short description of our activities and the sweet images of Lord Krishna) bordered with yellow smiley face balloons, we filled the atmosphere with a lively chanting of Krishna’s holy names. The matajis were beautifully dressed in colorful saris and decorated with vibrant garlands.
We delivered a genuine joy and excitement to the spectators! The crowd welcomed us joyfully as they clapped their hands and danced to the sweet tunes of the Hare Krishna maha mantra during our blissful performance of Harinama on the main street of downtown Henderson. One of our dear friends who watched the entire parade commented: “The beginning of parade was kind of quiet and boring, but when you guys came, you lifted the whole atmosphere and created the joyful mood. Your chanting was great!”
We all felt so blissful and very grateful to our beloved Lord Sri Krishna for giving us this amazing opportunity to glorify Him just a day before His Appearance Day.
On Saturday, August 20, 2011, Friends of India, Las Vegas hosted the inaugural India Independence Day parade and celebration on the historic Water Street in downtown Henderson, Nevada to mark the 64th anniversary of India’s independence.
Appreciating the influence of ISKCON in preserving Indian spiritual culture and traditions, Friends of India, Las Vegas invited Govinda’s Center / ISKCON Las Vegas to participate in the festivities. We happily accepted this invitation as an opportunity to bestow Lord Caitanya’s mercy on the very needy souls in Las Vegas.
The fun-filled night began with a parade tribute to the Motherland that included more than 40 entries including traditional Jhankis (floats). Govinda’s was nearly last of all entries in the parade, and with this great fortune we were able to close the parade with our sweet Harinama. The faces of blissful devotees marked with the Vaisnava tilaks shines brightly in the evening light. Carrying a bright yellow banner (with a short description of our activities and the sweet images of Lord Krishna) bordered with yellow smiley face balloons, we filled the atmosphere with a lively chanting of Krishna’s holy names. The matajis were beautifully dressed in colorful saris and decorated with vibrant garlands.
We delivered a genuine joy and excitement to the spectators! The crowd welcomed us joyfully as they clapped their hands and danced to the sweet tunes of the Hare Krishna maha mantra during our blissful performance of Harinama on the main street of downtown Henderson. One of our dear friends who watched the entire parade commented: “The beginning of parade was kind of quiet and boring, but when you guys came, you lifted the whole atmosphere and created the joyful mood. Your chanting was great!”
Friday, August 26, 2011
ISKCON sahajiya problem getting worse
Suvyakta Narasimha Dasa
It's so true that the other ISKCON has become sahajiya. One personal experience was when one group of devotees from ISKCON Mumbai Mira Road temple, accompanied by some congregation devotees, visited our Vrindavan temple. They wanted to do s...ome kirtan in our Open Air Theater & we said ok. After a few minutes of kirtan, one of the brahmacharis announced, "Now we will have rasa lila. This prabhuji will dance as Krishna. We request some matajis to volunteer to dance as gopis & come on stage". That was it! One of our devotees who happened to be there, immediately put a stop to the nonsense & told them to vacate the place! This the outcome of all this guru business.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Devotional service transcendental (quotes from Prabhupada) ISKCON
Lectures : Bhagavad-gita 4.1 -- Bombay, March 21, 1974
So this is... Those who are in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, those who have decided to serve Kṛṣṇa only, they are no longer in the categories of sva-dharma, the bodily sva-dharma, brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, or brahmacārī, vānaprastha. He is transcendental. That is confirmed in every śāstra. So so far we are concerned, Kṛṣṇa conscious, so long our bodily concept of life is not completely eradicated, we must follow the sva-dharma of the body. Brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra, ity ādi. But when actually advanced, that is mahā-bhāgavata. We should not imitate that, but our process is the more we advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we become transcendental to this bodily concept of life, brāhmaṇa, kṣatriya, vaiśya, śūdra.
[...]
So anyone who engages himself without any reservation to the service of the Lord, he is not within the category of these eight varṇāśrama-dharma. He's transcendental. Sa brahma-bhūyāya kalpate. So as a Kṛṣṇa consciousness person, he can act like anything by the order of Kṛṣṇa. He can act as a brāhmaṇa, he can act as a śūdra, because his main business is to carry out Kṛṣṇa's order. He's no longer within the category of this sva-dharma.
Lectures : Bhagavad-gita 2.31 -- London, September 1, 1973
"Prabhupāda: "I am not a brāhmaṇa, I am not a kṣatriya, I am not a kṣatriya, I am not a śūdra. I am not a brahmacārī, I am not a gṛhastha, I am not a vānaprastha..." Because our Vedic civilization is based on varṇa and āśrama. So Caitanya Mahāprabhu denied all these things: "I do not belong to any one of these." Then what is Your position? Gopī-bhartuḥ pada-kamalayor dāsa-dāsānudāsaḥ: [Cc. Madhya 13.80] "I am eternally servant of the maintainer of the gopīs." That means Kṛṣṇa. And He preached: jīvera svarūpa haya nitya-kṛṣṇa-dāsa [Cc. Madhya 20.108-109]. That is our identification. We are eternal servant of Kṛṣṇa."
Japananda dasa writes (ISKCON)
[PADA: More refugee victims of the bogus guru cult.]
Japananda Das Acbsp Poor (ex-guru) Bhagavan dasa. He was a great devotee and sh** ... he was not prepared for such glory. He used (ISKCON) and the best thing he did was to leave ISKCON. He was ashamed of it all ... the problem is that: has he apologized and explained what happened? Neit! We can see the friendship with his former pal Tamal .... all the sh**. I knew him as a Tamal friend, seemed a good devotee, but he was a demon. I imagine Tamal's face when he was pulled from the car wreck by the Yamadutas where he died ... his ambition blinded him and blinded him of his faults. He will have no more to do now than -- to plead that his life in hell is mild. Poor 11 guru squatters and those who follow ... they know they are not gurus anything ... but the disease is so (entrenched). Hare Krishna.
Malaysia ISKCON photo gallery
Includes ritvik initiations photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/112897757096987392551/Analysis of failing guru reforms by Madhu Pandit
Analysis of Failing Guru Reforms in ISKCON
BY: MADHU PANDIT DASA
Aug 24, 2011 — BANGALORE, INDIA — A Vyasapuja offering to His Divine Grace.
Dear Srila Prabhupada, please accept my most respectful, humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace!
Srila Prabhupada, Your Divine Grace have displayed so many exalted qualities during the years that you physically graced this world. In the midst of the most degraded age we live in, it is the good fortune of humanity to have been blessed with your transcendental wisdom. It is our greatest fortune that our lives have been touched by your divine mercy.
On this auspicious day I humbly wish to contemplate on one of the aspects of your transcendence that has greatly impacted me from the very first day I came in touch with you. Your presentation of the purity of guru Tattva or the principle and surrender of a disciple to a Guru, who is a personal representation of such purity was most impressive. You uncompromisingly present the truth by severing the falsehood. You teach who the guru is by your personal example.
Whatever you teach is based on the highest tattva or principles of absolute truth. Hence, when you speak about bogus gurus, you include the entire gamut of gurus, both within and outside of Vaishnava sampradaya. Generally one tends to think that you are referring to cheaters outside of the Vaishnava sampradaya. But in order to teach us deviations in our own sampradaya, you even point out specific examples of Vaishnavas posing as acaryas though not qualified. But unfortunately this is one issue in your movement that had been and is being compromised repeatedly after your Samadhi eating into the purity of your transcendental mission.
We find your instructions playing a most unique role in understanding guruship, post1977. In order to gain a realistic perception of what happened in ISKCON after 1977, one has to go back in time and see things as they were then. In 1977, after your samadhi, and a few years thereafter, everyone understood without a doubt, that ‘guru' is synonymous with ‘pure devotee' i.e. Guru never falls. Nobody in ISKCON even dreamt of a philosophy that accommodated the idea of a guru falling down. It was just not ISKCON's philosophy then is an historical fact. In the following conversation you clarified that the acarya has to be a pure devotee and that the idea that he falls down to mode of passion is a concocted one.
Akshayananda: "I was recently told by one devotee that the acarya does not have to be a pure devotee.
Prabhupada: What?
Akshayananda: That the acarya does not have to be a pure devotee.
Prabhupada: Who is that rascal?
Akshayananda: Well, he said it. Who said it?
Prabhupada: Who said? Who is that rascal? The acarya does not require to be a pure devotee?
Akshayananda: He said it. Nitai said it. He said it in this context. He said that Lord Brahma is the acarya in the Brahma-sampradaya, but yet he is sometimes afflicted by passion. So therefore he is saying that it appears that the acarya does not have to be a pure devotee. So it does not seem right.
Prabhupada: So who is that rascal? I want to know who has said.
Akshayananda: Nitai. Nitai dasa.
Harikesa: Nitai said that?
Prabhupada: Who is Nitai dasa?
Harikesa: Our Nitai.
Akshayananda: Nitai.
Prabhupada: Oh, our Nitai? Oh.
Akshayananda: He said he couldn't understand it, but he thought, he said that he thought...
Prabhupada: He manufactured his idea. Therefore he's a rascal. Therefore he's a rascal. Nitai has become an authority?
Akshayananda: No, actually he said that he thought...
Prabhupada: He thought something rascaldom, and he is expressing that. Therefore he is more rascal. These things are going on. As soon as he reads some books, he becomes an acarya, whatever rascal he may be."
(Morning Walk — December 10, 1975, Vrindavana)
Many times new devotees, who enter the movement have raised a question to me; Prabhu, it is difficult to believe that such senior devotees who did so much service to Srila Prabhupada would actually deviate and fall for such ambition. This is easily understood from your own teachings about the ‘shajiya' trap or pitfall that a practitioner of bhakti is prone to fall into if he one is not careful.
You said:
"Sahajiya means they take very easily. ‘I am.... Everything is all right. Now I am perfect.' That is sahajiya."
(Morning Walk — June 7, 1976, Los Angeles)
Historically, we have seen that Gaudiya Vaisnavism immediately after Lord Chaitanya's times, had gone through a phase of degradation mainly because of deviation arising out of shallow and cheap understanding of the advanced tenets of Lord Chaitanya's philosophy.
The phenomenon of sahajiya is the greatest danger that leads to deviation from the purity of original teachings. It is all about taking transcendental attainment cheaply. It manifests as a disturbance in society in the form of unqualified persons imitating advanced and exalted standards, either because they are ambitious for cheap adoration or they genuinely believe they are advanced and elevated. Sahajiya is a common pitfall that the sampradaya falls into from time to time. Taking shelter of the instructions of the spiritual master and strictly following them is the only way to stay on track since some of these sahajiya traps are very subtle and pass off easily as desire for expanding ones devotional service to ones Guru. It passes off so seamlessly and is impossible to detect as sahajiya, until after a period of time, disastrous results show up. Phalena parichayate.
Unfortunately after your departure, leaders of ISKCON fell prey to sahajiya traps. One, in 1978 and the other, in 1985. The first trap was immediately after your transcendental disappearance. Eleven leaders appointed by Your Divine Grace to initiate disciples on your behalf, declared themselves to be the next acaryas of ISKCON. These eleven were young both materially and spiritually, being in the movement for less than a decade. In fact the leader among them, Tamal Krishna Maharaj acknowledged on December 3rd 1980 in a public meeting, "I can definitely say for myself, and for which I humbly beg forgiveness from everybody, that there was definitely some degree of trying to control(…) This is the conditioned nature and it came out in the highest position of all. ‘Guru, oh wonderful! Now I am guru, and there is only eleven of us." Thus, the case of these eleven is clearly a case of being grossly ambitious in taking a position that they were not qualified. They imitated Your Divine Grace in the manner of sahajiyas and initiated their own disciples. The resultant situation that followed such a sahajiya imitation of Your Divine Grace's position is akin to what Your Divine Grace has said;
Prabhupada: "A patient is thinking, "How shall I dance when I become healthy?" First of all, rascal, become healthy, then talk of all this. The rascals are thinking like that. You are patient; first of all cure your disease, material disease. Then talk of all this. Utopian. "When I will get rich, how I shall treat.... I shall.... Then my wife is disobedient and I shall kick her like this," (laughter) and as soon as he kicked on the earthen pots, all broken. Then he, "Oh, then my.... All prospects have gone." You know this story?
Tamala Krishna: What was in the pot?
Prabhupada: That.... A potter, potter boy, he had got some earthen pots selling. So he was dreaming, that "By selling this earthen pot, I'll make so much profit. Then I shall purchase another batch, I shall make profit. In this way, I shall be millionaire. Then I shall marry, and my wife must be very obedient. Otherwise I shall kick." So in this way, he kicked over the pots and (laughs) all of them broken."
(Morning Walk — June 7, 1976, Los Angeles)
These eleven, being ambitious to become big acaryas, started initiating disciples on their own. The result of the imitation of Your Divine Grace is the sad history of ISKCON over years. The self made gurus, trapped in the clutches of illusion about themselves, have kicked and destroyed all the valuable (pots) assets of ISKCON and rendered it bankrupt both spiritually and materially. The disaster forced thousands to leave ISKCON, thus rendering the movement bereft of their valuable services.
When these self declared acaryas fell down one after the other, thousands of innocent ‘disciples' were left shattered and spiritually abandoned. This is clearly nothing short of spiritual abuse of jivas. Everyone is familiar with the million dollar law suit that hundreds of materially abused children slapped on ISKCON leadership. Bigger law suits wait in the court of Yamaraja, for spiritual abuse of thousands of innocent souls who stepped into ISKCON to surrender to your lotus feet.
Calamity after calamity has befallen these sahajiyas, imitators of Your Divine Grace. These fall downs were not a merely accidental but were also steeped in deceit. All of these fallen self-made acaryas had become habituated to illicit activities for extended periods of time before they were finally exposed to the world. On the one side they were pretending to be pure and receiving worship like pure devotees, as good as Krishna, and on the other side they were simultaneously involved in illicit activities behind closed doors.
"Just like Rupa Gosvami has given, sruti-smriti-puranadi-pancaratriki-vidhim vina, aikantiki harer bhaktir utpatayaiva kalpate [Brs. 1.2.101]. It is utpata, disturbance. If you do not follow the principles of sruti, smriti, purana, pancaratriki-vidhi...... Without following these principles, the so-called devotional service, Hari-bhakti, utpata, simply disturbance, simply a disturbance."
(Lecture on The Nectar of Devotion - Vrindavana, November 1, 1972)
These sahajiya deviations among leaders in ISKCON, have created a great disturbance due to violation of the most important principle of devotional service. What is the principle that they violated? Their act of becoming gurus and accepting disciples without qualification and authorization.
By the year 1984-85, these fall downs had become an embarrassment to the whole movement. There was questioning and rebellion from the rank and file devotees against the then leadership by a 50-man committee, seeking reforms. Ironically many members of the 50-man committee were philosophically bribed into becoming gurus themselves, that year. They, disregarded and ignored the clear direction/order on initiation given by Srila Prabhupada in black and white- explaining it off as ‘non- traditional' and calling it a ‘lone document'. However the glaring fact is that the direction was addressed to the entire GBC and all Temple Presidents. As if the spiritual master has to repeat himself over and over in order to convey himself.
This resulted in rampant multiplication of the cancer of sahajiya. Today there are more than hundred malignant tumors attacking the body of ISKCON. Thousands of innocent souls seeking shelter of Your Divine Grace are misdirected into the faith that these persons are their personal gurus, to be revered and worshipped as per standards taught by you in the matter of perceiving and treating a bona fide guru by any sincere disciple. Your Divine Grace did never taught of any kind of semi qualified bona fide guru with a lower standard of reverence and worship like once a year puja, etc. from the disciple.
Instead of addressing the root of the problem, which is disobedience of the order of the spiritual master, in 1985 the GBC fell into the next sahajiya trap. What exactly was the trap? They legalized their years of rationalization of fall down of gurus by changing the very philosophy. They conveniently accommodated the theory that bona fide gurus can fall down. Today the ISKCON law book contains a chapter on fallen gurus, suspended gurus, when not to reject a fallen guru, rectification of gurus, reinstating fallen gurus after rectification, reinitiation, etc. This sahajiya theory has made a cheap mockery of our exalted parampara and made a laughing stock of the movement even to a common man. This is against everything that you taught about guru tattva. They have struck at the foundation of truth on which you so painstakingly built your transcendental movement.
Srila Prabhupada, you clearly taught that the guru must be a person in the category of Narada Muni.
"This is the process of initiation. The disciple must surrender to the spiritual master, the representative of Krishna. The spiritual master, being in the disciplic succession stemming from Narada Muni, is in the same category with Narada Muni. A person can be relieved from his sinful activity if he surrenders to the lotus feet of a person who actually represents Narada Muni."
(Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 24.258 Purport)
Further you teach about the elevated position of the spiritual master:
"Such an acarya, or spiritual master, should be considered nondifferent from Krishna—that is, he should be considered the incarnation of Lord Krishna's potency. Such a personality is krishnalingita-vigraha—that is, he is always embraced by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. Such a person is above the considerations of the varnasrama institution. He is the guru, or spiritual master, for the entire world, a devotee on the topmost platform, the maha-bhagavata stage, and a paramahamsa-thakura, a spiritual form only fit to be addressed as paramahamsa or thakura."
(CC Madhya 25.9 Purport)
"The guru must be situated on the topmost platform of devotional service. There are three classes of devotees, and the guru must be accepted from the topmost class…….. Such a guru can accept disciples from all over the world. Prithivim sa sishyat. This is the test of the guru."
(CC Madhya 24.330 Purport)
You have clearly taught that to become a spiritual master one needs an order from his predecessor acarya. This rule of needing authorization to become a guru from the predecessor guru is the only protection against a misjudgment by oneself or other conditional souls as to the qualification of a soul for rendering such a grave service to the guru parampara. Assessment of conditioned souls or self assessment to qualify for that service, without a specific order, is a road guaranteed to lead to the sahajiya trap, even if it is well intended by some among them.
"One should take initiation from a bona fide spiritual master coming in the disciplic succession, who is authorized by his predecessor spiritual master. This is called diksha-vidhana."
(Srimad Bhagavatam 4.8.54 Purport)
And you have emphasized that unless authorized, one cannot become spiritual master.
"The spiritual master is the manifested representative of the Lord to help one achieve ultimate success. One who is not authorized by the Lord cannot become a spiritual master. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami is an authorized spiritual master, and thus he was inspired by the Lord to appear before Maharaja Parikshit and instruct him in the teachings of Srimad-Bhagavatam"
(SB 1.19.36 Purport)
"Following the order of the bona fide spiritual master is the only duty of the disciple, and this completely faithful execution of the order of the bona fide spiritual master is the secret of success."
(SB 2.9.8 Purport)
"The Lord's order descends in disciplic succession through the bona fide spiritual master, and thus execution of the order of the bona fide spiritual master is factual control of the senses. Such execution of penance in full faith and sincerity made Brahmaji so powerful that he became the creator of the universe."
(SB 2.9.8 Purport)
"The parampara system of disciplic succession is very important as a means of spiritual success. One becomes a mahat by the grace of his mahat spiritual master. If one takes shelter of the lotus feet of a great soul, there is every possibility of one's also becoming a great soul. When Maharaja Rahugana asked Jada Bharata about his wonderful achievement of spiritual success, he replied to the King that spiritual success is not possible simply by following the rituals of religion or simply by converting oneself into a sannyasi or offering sacrifices as recommended in the scriptures. These methods are undoubtedly helpful for spiritual realization, but the real effect is brought about by the grace of a mahatma. In Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura's eight stanzas of prayer to the spiritual master, it is clearly stated that simply by satisfying the spiritual master one can achieve the supreme success in life, and in spite of executing all ritualistic performances, if one cannot satisfy the spiritual master, one has no access to spiritual perfection."
(SB 3.22.6 Purport)
"Sometimes the spiritual master is addressed as Prabhupada. Prabhu means "the Supreme Personality of Godhead," and pada means "post." According to Vaishnava philosophy, the spiritual master occupies the post of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or in other words he is the bona fide representative of the Supreme Lord."
(SB 4.8.69 Purport)
Thus you have taught in very clear terms the qualifications of a bona fide spiritual master to whom one should surrender in order to advance in spiritual life and go back to Godhead. Undoubtedly he has to be a pure devotee and confidential servant of Krishna, one who is constantly embraced by Krishna and in the category of Narada Muni. Who else can certify a person to be on this most exalted platform other than the predecessor Acarya? Thus the rule of ‘authorization'. Unless you have specifically authorized one or more, Your Divine Grace continue to be the current link in the parampara.
Their imitation having miserably failed for three decades, most of the self-made gurus of ISKCON have been humbled by kala to now state it is Your Divine Grace alone who takes everyone Back to Godhead, except one of the original eleven. It took decades of debate and discussion for them to even concede that Your Divine Grace is the siksa guru for everyone in ISKCON. The fact that it took decades to accede to Your Divine Grace even your foremost siksha position in ISKCON alone goes to show how deep routed was and is disease that has crept into the movement of neglecting Your Divine Grace. But having got addicted to the intoxication or rasa of jivas surrendering to them, they are unable to come out of the trap entirely and have now settled for a compromised position as unqualified small time gurus who are not pure devotees (pre-empting disciples from shocks of future fall downs). But Your Divine Grace has said:
"It is illegal to become a spiritual master if one is unable to deliver the disciple."
(SB 2.8.7 Purport)
The self made gurus further reason that a spiritual master in flesh and blood is required to guide the disciple and therefore ‘out of necessity' some have to become gurus. That such guidance from a guru in flesh and blood is not necessary and that ‘vani', transcendental sound, is more important has been amply emphasized by Your Divine Grace, like in the conversation below:
Indian lady: "Is that the spiritual master still guiding after the death?
Prabhupada: "Yes, yes. Just like Krishna is guiding us, similarly, spiritual master will guide. We are being guided by Krishna, by the Bhagavad-gita. Although Krishna is not physically present, still, His book Bhagavad-gita is there. And that Bhagavad-gita is nondifferent from Krishna."
(Lecture on HDG Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Appearance Day, London, September 23, 1969)
The very reason, Srila Prabhupada, you have mercifully set up the ISKCON institution with your transcendentally brilliant foresight, is to make this guidance available at all levels from different Vaisnavas who are servants of Your Divine Grace. This system of guidance or sadhu sangha worked during your physical presence. Most of the guidance for a devotee automatically comes from your books and the system you set up, with Vaisnavas delivering sadhu sangha. Even at a practical level, none of these self-made gurus are really guiding the disciples on a day to day basis. Not even as much as others in the ISKCON institution like temple leaders, temple commanders etc are doing.
So who are these new entities called ‘gurus' in ISKCON and what part are these self-made gurus playing when there was never such a functional requirement prior to 1977? Just a blind traditional ritual of having someone in flesh and blood to be called ‘guru.' Just figure heads, doing nothing more than what Srila Prabhupada's books and his institution are all ready. Just a group of imitators choking on their attempt of trying to be "as good as Krishna." The sastras point out that nobody can imitate Lord Shiva by drinking the ocean of poison, nor can anybody imitate Lord Krsna's lifting of Govardhana Hill. By such audacity, these self-made gurus are in turn choking the institution with a parallel people management structure. Can these very persons not do what they are doing more honorably, without being initiating gurus and claiming disciples for themselves?
Your Divine Grace in fact exposes a type of guru exactly like the ones in ISKCON now. They are the ones who on their own initiative become spiritual masters i.e. self-made gurus.
"The spiritual master must never be carried away by an accumulation of wealth or a large number of followers. A bona fide spiritual master will never become like that. But sometimes, if a spiritual master is not properly authorized and only on his own initiative becomes a spiritual master, he may be carried away by an accumulation of wealth and large numbers of disciples. His is not a very high grade of devotional service. If a person is carried away by such achievements, then his devotional service becomes slackened. One should therefore strictly adhere to the principles of disciplic succession."
(Nectar of Devotion 14)
And a bona fide guru who follows the orders of his guru will never fall down.
"If one always follows the orders of the spiritual master, there is no question of falling down. As soon as a foolish disciple tries to overtake his spiritual master and becomes ambitious to occupy his post, he immediately falls down. "
(SB 5.12.14 Purport)
The latest genre of gurus is the ‘humble' guru. The fad among them now, is competing to become the ‘humbler guru.' But guruship cannot be given up by them at any cost. They somehow want disciples. They don't mind any guru reform as long as there are disciples. It is not just a guru disease but a ‘disciple disease' - a disease, ranging from gross to subtle manifestation of usurping Your position and Your disciples in ISKCON.
Srila Prabhupada, you have already foreseen all these shams and have written about them. You have pointed out that these ‘humble gurus' are also sahajiyas.
This kind of mind game is described by Your Divine Grace below:
"Actually a first-class reputation is due Madhavendra Puri because he was a most confidential devotee of the Lord. Sometimes a sahajiya presents himself as being void of desires for reputation (pratishtha) in order to become famous as a humble man. Such people cannot actually attain the platform of celebrated Vaishnavas."
(CC Madhya 4.147 Purport)
Today more than 40 gurus have fallen down, majority of them being other than the first set of imitators. The results show that the so-called reform of 1985 is no reform at all but perpetration of the same disobedience and disturbance in the society. Many keep falling down and a few new ones crop up every year. Countless souls have gone through the abuse as disciples of these self-made gurus, when these self-made gurus fall down. While the world does not tolerate any institution abusive of its members, we are pained to see what innocent souls experience in ISKCON today, by placing their spiritual faith simply to be abused again and again. We pray at your lotus feet that this illusion be quickly broken by propagating the truth spoken by Your Divine Grace and that people who read your books and associate with ISKCON, understand Your Divine Grace as the current link and accept none other than Your Divine Grace as their spiritual master; and that these self-made gurus meet their destiny of one day having no takers of their philosophy.
Why should there be infighting in ISKCON? You Divine Grace has given an answer why this schism happens:
"This verse describes the beginning of a schism. When disciples do not stick to the principle of accepting the order of their spiritual master, immediately there are two opinions. Any opinion different from the opinion of the spiritual master is useless. One cannot infiltrate materially concocted ideas into spiritual advancement. That is deviation. There is no scope for adjusting spiritual advancement to material ideas."
(CC Adi 12.9 Purport)
Today a guru falling down does not create a tremor as it did in 1980 when we heard that one of the eleven gurus had fallen down. The reason for the change in reaction is easily understood from the instructive parable used in Management:
If you place a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will immediately try to scramble out. (This is like the initial reaction when the first few of the eleven started falling down- many jumped out of ISKCON). But if you place the frog in room temperature water, and don't scare him, he will stay put. Now if the pot sits on a heat source, and if you gradually turn up the temperature, something very interesting happens. As the temperature rises from 70 to 80 degrees, the frog will do nothing. As the temperature gradually increases, the frog will become groggier and groggier, until he is unable to climb out of the pot. Though there is nothing restraining him, the frog will just sit there. This is because the frog's internal apparatus is geared to sudden changes, not to slow gradual changes.
ISKCON today can be compared to this. Over the last three decades, we have gradually got used to hearing of so many gurus' fall downs. As an organization we have become incapable of doing something about it, just like the frog, oblivious of the fact that ISKCON has degraded to a sahajiya organization where guru has become really cheap. We are abusing the most pristine position of guru. Sadly, we have become an organization different from the spiritual organization that you had founded and left behind. Even this you had foreseen, and warned us about the consequences of such deviations:
"Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has therefore advised us to avoid bhakti-siddhanta-viruddha and rasabhasa. In this way the devotee can remain pure and free from falldowns. Everyone should try to remain aloof from bhakti-siddhanta-viruddha and rasabhasa."
(CC Madhya 10.113 Purport)
You further quote your Guru Maharaja cautioning about sahajiya:
Prabhupada: "Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, he said that "When our men will be sahajiya, oh, they'll be more dangerous." So our men are becoming, some of them, sahajiyas. This very word he said, that "When our men will be sahajiyas he'll be more dangerous."
Room Conversation — January 24, 1977, Bhuvanesvara
Prabhupada: These sahajiyas will come out of so many devotees. What can be done? From my Guru Maharaja's disciples, so many sahajiyas came. These are called sahajiyas. Very easily they capture thing. So my Guru Maharaja used to say, "When my disciples will be sahajiya, it will be more dangerous." He used to say like that. Take things very easily. You know that Purushottama, supposed to be my Godbrother?"
(Room Conversation — January 28, 1977, Bhuvanesvara)
This is your most important analysis on why the Gaudiya Matha failed:
"Why Caitanya Mahaprabhu says guru more murkha dekhi' karila sasan? This is sahajiya-vada. He is thinking, "Oh I have become liberated. I don't require any direction of my guru. I'm liberated." Then he's rascal. Why this Gaudiya Matha failed? Because they tried to become more than guru. He, before passing away, he gave all direction and never said that "This man should be the next acarya." But these people, just after his passing away they began to fight, who shall be acarya. That is the failure. They never thought, "Why Guru Maharaja gave us instruction so many things, why he did not say that this man should be acarya?" They wanted to create artificially somebody acarya and everything failed. They did not consider even with common sense that if Guru Maharaja wanted to appoint somebody as acarya, why did he not say? He said so many things, and this point he missed? The real point? And they insist upon it. They declared some unfit person to become acarya. Then another man came, then another, acarya, another acarya. So better remain a foolish person perpetually to be directed by Guru Maharaja. That is perfection. And as soon as he learns the Guru Maharaja is dead, "Now I am so advanced that I can kill my guru and I become guru." Then he's finished."
(Room Conversation —August 16, 1976, Bombay)
Unfortunately the very thing that you feared has happened in ISKCON after your disappearance.
"The result is now everyone is claiming to be acarya even though they may be kanistha adhikari with no ability to preach. In some of the camps the acarya is being changed three times a year. Therefore we may not commit the same mistake in our ISKCON camp. Actually amongst my Godbrothers no one is qualified to become acarya. So it is better not to mix with my Godbrothers very intimately because instead of inspiring our students and disciples they may sometimes pollute them."
(Letter to Rupanuga — Tirupati, 28 April, 1974)
Srila Prabhupada, you are the seer of past, present and future. You have forewarned of all that was to happen in ISKCON. In your transcendental vani lie the answers for everything. Your transcendental instructions and association of likeminded sadhus are all that is required to go back to Godhead this very life as assured by Your Divine Grace. When the confidential mission of a pure devotee is being obviously disturbed, it is the duty of every disciple to do something to quell such disturbance. It is only in such a spirit of service to Your Divine Grace that, we devotees in Bangalore are engaged in vigorously propagating your instructions regarding initiation in ISKCON. It is not in the attitude of being ‘holier than thou' meaning holier than other Vaishnavas in this world. I am ever grateful to Your Divine Grace for sheltering us so lovingly and protecting our devotional service in spite of always falling short of sufficient faith and devotion unto your lotus feet. Please bless me so that I can be worthy of being the servant of the servant of the most sincere and obedient disciples of Your Divine Grace. It is only by your causeless mercy that I am engaged in devotional service since I am not worthy of it and have no personal qualification to be engaged thus. I am eternally indebted to Your Divine Grace for your eternal shelter, kindness and continued flow of mercy.
Your fallen servant,
Madhu Pandit dasa
BY: MADHU PANDIT DASA
Aug 24, 2011 — BANGALORE, INDIA — A Vyasapuja offering to His Divine Grace.
Dear Srila Prabhupada, please accept my most respectful, humble obeisances. All glories to Your Divine Grace!
Srila Prabhupada, Your Divine Grace have displayed so many exalted qualities during the years that you physically graced this world. In the midst of the most degraded age we live in, it is the good fortune of humanity to have been blessed with your transcendental wisdom. It is our greatest fortune that our lives have been touched by your divine mercy.
On this auspicious day I humbly wish to contemplate on one of the aspects of your transcendence that has greatly impacted me from the very first day I came in touch with you. Your presentation of the purity of guru Tattva or the principle and surrender of a disciple to a Guru, who is a personal representation of such purity was most impressive. You uncompromisingly present the truth by severing the falsehood. You teach who the guru is by your personal example.
Whatever you teach is based on the highest tattva or principles of absolute truth. Hence, when you speak about bogus gurus, you include the entire gamut of gurus, both within and outside of Vaishnava sampradaya. Generally one tends to think that you are referring to cheaters outside of the Vaishnava sampradaya. But in order to teach us deviations in our own sampradaya, you even point out specific examples of Vaishnavas posing as acaryas though not qualified. But unfortunately this is one issue in your movement that had been and is being compromised repeatedly after your Samadhi eating into the purity of your transcendental mission.
We find your instructions playing a most unique role in understanding guruship, post1977. In order to gain a realistic perception of what happened in ISKCON after 1977, one has to go back in time and see things as they were then. In 1977, after your samadhi, and a few years thereafter, everyone understood without a doubt, that ‘guru' is synonymous with ‘pure devotee' i.e. Guru never falls. Nobody in ISKCON even dreamt of a philosophy that accommodated the idea of a guru falling down. It was just not ISKCON's philosophy then is an historical fact. In the following conversation you clarified that the acarya has to be a pure devotee and that the idea that he falls down to mode of passion is a concocted one.
Akshayananda: "I was recently told by one devotee that the acarya does not have to be a pure devotee.
Prabhupada: What?
Akshayananda: That the acarya does not have to be a pure devotee.
Prabhupada: Who is that rascal?
Akshayananda: Well, he said it. Who said it?
Prabhupada: Who said? Who is that rascal? The acarya does not require to be a pure devotee?
Akshayananda: He said it. Nitai said it. He said it in this context. He said that Lord Brahma is the acarya in the Brahma-sampradaya, but yet he is sometimes afflicted by passion. So therefore he is saying that it appears that the acarya does not have to be a pure devotee. So it does not seem right.
Prabhupada: So who is that rascal? I want to know who has said.
Akshayananda: Nitai. Nitai dasa.
Harikesa: Nitai said that?
Prabhupada: Who is Nitai dasa?
Harikesa: Our Nitai.
Akshayananda: Nitai.
Prabhupada: Oh, our Nitai? Oh.
Akshayananda: He said he couldn't understand it, but he thought, he said that he thought...
Prabhupada: He manufactured his idea. Therefore he's a rascal. Therefore he's a rascal. Nitai has become an authority?
Akshayananda: No, actually he said that he thought...
Prabhupada: He thought something rascaldom, and he is expressing that. Therefore he is more rascal. These things are going on. As soon as he reads some books, he becomes an acarya, whatever rascal he may be."
(Morning Walk — December 10, 1975, Vrindavana)
Many times new devotees, who enter the movement have raised a question to me; Prabhu, it is difficult to believe that such senior devotees who did so much service to Srila Prabhupada would actually deviate and fall for such ambition. This is easily understood from your own teachings about the ‘shajiya' trap or pitfall that a practitioner of bhakti is prone to fall into if he one is not careful.
You said:
"Sahajiya means they take very easily. ‘I am.... Everything is all right. Now I am perfect.' That is sahajiya."
(Morning Walk — June 7, 1976, Los Angeles)
Historically, we have seen that Gaudiya Vaisnavism immediately after Lord Chaitanya's times, had gone through a phase of degradation mainly because of deviation arising out of shallow and cheap understanding of the advanced tenets of Lord Chaitanya's philosophy.
The phenomenon of sahajiya is the greatest danger that leads to deviation from the purity of original teachings. It is all about taking transcendental attainment cheaply. It manifests as a disturbance in society in the form of unqualified persons imitating advanced and exalted standards, either because they are ambitious for cheap adoration or they genuinely believe they are advanced and elevated. Sahajiya is a common pitfall that the sampradaya falls into from time to time. Taking shelter of the instructions of the spiritual master and strictly following them is the only way to stay on track since some of these sahajiya traps are very subtle and pass off easily as desire for expanding ones devotional service to ones Guru. It passes off so seamlessly and is impossible to detect as sahajiya, until after a period of time, disastrous results show up. Phalena parichayate.
Unfortunately after your departure, leaders of ISKCON fell prey to sahajiya traps. One, in 1978 and the other, in 1985. The first trap was immediately after your transcendental disappearance. Eleven leaders appointed by Your Divine Grace to initiate disciples on your behalf, declared themselves to be the next acaryas of ISKCON. These eleven were young both materially and spiritually, being in the movement for less than a decade. In fact the leader among them, Tamal Krishna Maharaj acknowledged on December 3rd 1980 in a public meeting, "I can definitely say for myself, and for which I humbly beg forgiveness from everybody, that there was definitely some degree of trying to control(…) This is the conditioned nature and it came out in the highest position of all. ‘Guru, oh wonderful! Now I am guru, and there is only eleven of us." Thus, the case of these eleven is clearly a case of being grossly ambitious in taking a position that they were not qualified. They imitated Your Divine Grace in the manner of sahajiyas and initiated their own disciples. The resultant situation that followed such a sahajiya imitation of Your Divine Grace's position is akin to what Your Divine Grace has said;
Prabhupada: "A patient is thinking, "How shall I dance when I become healthy?" First of all, rascal, become healthy, then talk of all this. The rascals are thinking like that. You are patient; first of all cure your disease, material disease. Then talk of all this. Utopian. "When I will get rich, how I shall treat.... I shall.... Then my wife is disobedient and I shall kick her like this," (laughter) and as soon as he kicked on the earthen pots, all broken. Then he, "Oh, then my.... All prospects have gone." You know this story?
Tamala Krishna: What was in the pot?
Prabhupada: That.... A potter, potter boy, he had got some earthen pots selling. So he was dreaming, that "By selling this earthen pot, I'll make so much profit. Then I shall purchase another batch, I shall make profit. In this way, I shall be millionaire. Then I shall marry, and my wife must be very obedient. Otherwise I shall kick." So in this way, he kicked over the pots and (laughs) all of them broken."
(Morning Walk — June 7, 1976, Los Angeles)
These eleven, being ambitious to become big acaryas, started initiating disciples on their own. The result of the imitation of Your Divine Grace is the sad history of ISKCON over years. The self made gurus, trapped in the clutches of illusion about themselves, have kicked and destroyed all the valuable (pots) assets of ISKCON and rendered it bankrupt both spiritually and materially. The disaster forced thousands to leave ISKCON, thus rendering the movement bereft of their valuable services.
When these self declared acaryas fell down one after the other, thousands of innocent ‘disciples' were left shattered and spiritually abandoned. This is clearly nothing short of spiritual abuse of jivas. Everyone is familiar with the million dollar law suit that hundreds of materially abused children slapped on ISKCON leadership. Bigger law suits wait in the court of Yamaraja, for spiritual abuse of thousands of innocent souls who stepped into ISKCON to surrender to your lotus feet.
Calamity after calamity has befallen these sahajiyas, imitators of Your Divine Grace. These fall downs were not a merely accidental but were also steeped in deceit. All of these fallen self-made acaryas had become habituated to illicit activities for extended periods of time before they were finally exposed to the world. On the one side they were pretending to be pure and receiving worship like pure devotees, as good as Krishna, and on the other side they were simultaneously involved in illicit activities behind closed doors.
"Just like Rupa Gosvami has given, sruti-smriti-puranadi-pancaratriki-vidhim vina, aikantiki harer bhaktir utpatayaiva kalpate [Brs. 1.2.101]. It is utpata, disturbance. If you do not follow the principles of sruti, smriti, purana, pancaratriki-vidhi...... Without following these principles, the so-called devotional service, Hari-bhakti, utpata, simply disturbance, simply a disturbance."
(Lecture on The Nectar of Devotion - Vrindavana, November 1, 1972)
These sahajiya deviations among leaders in ISKCON, have created a great disturbance due to violation of the most important principle of devotional service. What is the principle that they violated? Their act of becoming gurus and accepting disciples without qualification and authorization.
By the year 1984-85, these fall downs had become an embarrassment to the whole movement. There was questioning and rebellion from the rank and file devotees against the then leadership by a 50-man committee, seeking reforms. Ironically many members of the 50-man committee were philosophically bribed into becoming gurus themselves, that year. They, disregarded and ignored the clear direction/order on initiation given by Srila Prabhupada in black and white- explaining it off as ‘non- traditional' and calling it a ‘lone document'. However the glaring fact is that the direction was addressed to the entire GBC and all Temple Presidents. As if the spiritual master has to repeat himself over and over in order to convey himself.
This resulted in rampant multiplication of the cancer of sahajiya. Today there are more than hundred malignant tumors attacking the body of ISKCON. Thousands of innocent souls seeking shelter of Your Divine Grace are misdirected into the faith that these persons are their personal gurus, to be revered and worshipped as per standards taught by you in the matter of perceiving and treating a bona fide guru by any sincere disciple. Your Divine Grace did never taught of any kind of semi qualified bona fide guru with a lower standard of reverence and worship like once a year puja, etc. from the disciple.
Instead of addressing the root of the problem, which is disobedience of the order of the spiritual master, in 1985 the GBC fell into the next sahajiya trap. What exactly was the trap? They legalized their years of rationalization of fall down of gurus by changing the very philosophy. They conveniently accommodated the theory that bona fide gurus can fall down. Today the ISKCON law book contains a chapter on fallen gurus, suspended gurus, when not to reject a fallen guru, rectification of gurus, reinstating fallen gurus after rectification, reinitiation, etc. This sahajiya theory has made a cheap mockery of our exalted parampara and made a laughing stock of the movement even to a common man. This is against everything that you taught about guru tattva. They have struck at the foundation of truth on which you so painstakingly built your transcendental movement.
Srila Prabhupada, you clearly taught that the guru must be a person in the category of Narada Muni.
"This is the process of initiation. The disciple must surrender to the spiritual master, the representative of Krishna. The spiritual master, being in the disciplic succession stemming from Narada Muni, is in the same category with Narada Muni. A person can be relieved from his sinful activity if he surrenders to the lotus feet of a person who actually represents Narada Muni."
(Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 24.258 Purport)
Further you teach about the elevated position of the spiritual master:
"Such an acarya, or spiritual master, should be considered nondifferent from Krishna—that is, he should be considered the incarnation of Lord Krishna's potency. Such a personality is krishnalingita-vigraha—that is, he is always embraced by the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. Such a person is above the considerations of the varnasrama institution. He is the guru, or spiritual master, for the entire world, a devotee on the topmost platform, the maha-bhagavata stage, and a paramahamsa-thakura, a spiritual form only fit to be addressed as paramahamsa or thakura."
(CC Madhya 25.9 Purport)
"The guru must be situated on the topmost platform of devotional service. There are three classes of devotees, and the guru must be accepted from the topmost class…….. Such a guru can accept disciples from all over the world. Prithivim sa sishyat. This is the test of the guru."
(CC Madhya 24.330 Purport)
You have clearly taught that to become a spiritual master one needs an order from his predecessor acarya. This rule of needing authorization to become a guru from the predecessor guru is the only protection against a misjudgment by oneself or other conditional souls as to the qualification of a soul for rendering such a grave service to the guru parampara. Assessment of conditioned souls or self assessment to qualify for that service, without a specific order, is a road guaranteed to lead to the sahajiya trap, even if it is well intended by some among them.
"One should take initiation from a bona fide spiritual master coming in the disciplic succession, who is authorized by his predecessor spiritual master. This is called diksha-vidhana."
(Srimad Bhagavatam 4.8.54 Purport)
And you have emphasized that unless authorized, one cannot become spiritual master.
"The spiritual master is the manifested representative of the Lord to help one achieve ultimate success. One who is not authorized by the Lord cannot become a spiritual master. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami is an authorized spiritual master, and thus he was inspired by the Lord to appear before Maharaja Parikshit and instruct him in the teachings of Srimad-Bhagavatam"
(SB 1.19.36 Purport)
"Following the order of the bona fide spiritual master is the only duty of the disciple, and this completely faithful execution of the order of the bona fide spiritual master is the secret of success."
(SB 2.9.8 Purport)
"The Lord's order descends in disciplic succession through the bona fide spiritual master, and thus execution of the order of the bona fide spiritual master is factual control of the senses. Such execution of penance in full faith and sincerity made Brahmaji so powerful that he became the creator of the universe."
(SB 2.9.8 Purport)
"The parampara system of disciplic succession is very important as a means of spiritual success. One becomes a mahat by the grace of his mahat spiritual master. If one takes shelter of the lotus feet of a great soul, there is every possibility of one's also becoming a great soul. When Maharaja Rahugana asked Jada Bharata about his wonderful achievement of spiritual success, he replied to the King that spiritual success is not possible simply by following the rituals of religion or simply by converting oneself into a sannyasi or offering sacrifices as recommended in the scriptures. These methods are undoubtedly helpful for spiritual realization, but the real effect is brought about by the grace of a mahatma. In Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura's eight stanzas of prayer to the spiritual master, it is clearly stated that simply by satisfying the spiritual master one can achieve the supreme success in life, and in spite of executing all ritualistic performances, if one cannot satisfy the spiritual master, one has no access to spiritual perfection."
(SB 3.22.6 Purport)
"Sometimes the spiritual master is addressed as Prabhupada. Prabhu means "the Supreme Personality of Godhead," and pada means "post." According to Vaishnava philosophy, the spiritual master occupies the post of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, or in other words he is the bona fide representative of the Supreme Lord."
(SB 4.8.69 Purport)
Thus you have taught in very clear terms the qualifications of a bona fide spiritual master to whom one should surrender in order to advance in spiritual life and go back to Godhead. Undoubtedly he has to be a pure devotee and confidential servant of Krishna, one who is constantly embraced by Krishna and in the category of Narada Muni. Who else can certify a person to be on this most exalted platform other than the predecessor Acarya? Thus the rule of ‘authorization'. Unless you have specifically authorized one or more, Your Divine Grace continue to be the current link in the parampara.
Their imitation having miserably failed for three decades, most of the self-made gurus of ISKCON have been humbled by kala to now state it is Your Divine Grace alone who takes everyone Back to Godhead, except one of the original eleven. It took decades of debate and discussion for them to even concede that Your Divine Grace is the siksa guru for everyone in ISKCON. The fact that it took decades to accede to Your Divine Grace even your foremost siksha position in ISKCON alone goes to show how deep routed was and is disease that has crept into the movement of neglecting Your Divine Grace. But having got addicted to the intoxication or rasa of jivas surrendering to them, they are unable to come out of the trap entirely and have now settled for a compromised position as unqualified small time gurus who are not pure devotees (pre-empting disciples from shocks of future fall downs). But Your Divine Grace has said:
"It is illegal to become a spiritual master if one is unable to deliver the disciple."
(SB 2.8.7 Purport)
The self made gurus further reason that a spiritual master in flesh and blood is required to guide the disciple and therefore ‘out of necessity' some have to become gurus. That such guidance from a guru in flesh and blood is not necessary and that ‘vani', transcendental sound, is more important has been amply emphasized by Your Divine Grace, like in the conversation below:
Indian lady: "Is that the spiritual master still guiding after the death?
Prabhupada: "Yes, yes. Just like Krishna is guiding us, similarly, spiritual master will guide. We are being guided by Krishna, by the Bhagavad-gita. Although Krishna is not physically present, still, His book Bhagavad-gita is there. And that Bhagavad-gita is nondifferent from Krishna."
(Lecture on HDG Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura's Appearance Day, London, September 23, 1969)
The very reason, Srila Prabhupada, you have mercifully set up the ISKCON institution with your transcendentally brilliant foresight, is to make this guidance available at all levels from different Vaisnavas who are servants of Your Divine Grace. This system of guidance or sadhu sangha worked during your physical presence. Most of the guidance for a devotee automatically comes from your books and the system you set up, with Vaisnavas delivering sadhu sangha. Even at a practical level, none of these self-made gurus are really guiding the disciples on a day to day basis. Not even as much as others in the ISKCON institution like temple leaders, temple commanders etc are doing.
So who are these new entities called ‘gurus' in ISKCON and what part are these self-made gurus playing when there was never such a functional requirement prior to 1977? Just a blind traditional ritual of having someone in flesh and blood to be called ‘guru.' Just figure heads, doing nothing more than what Srila Prabhupada's books and his institution are all ready. Just a group of imitators choking on their attempt of trying to be "as good as Krishna." The sastras point out that nobody can imitate Lord Shiva by drinking the ocean of poison, nor can anybody imitate Lord Krsna's lifting of Govardhana Hill. By such audacity, these self-made gurus are in turn choking the institution with a parallel people management structure. Can these very persons not do what they are doing more honorably, without being initiating gurus and claiming disciples for themselves?
Your Divine Grace in fact exposes a type of guru exactly like the ones in ISKCON now. They are the ones who on their own initiative become spiritual masters i.e. self-made gurus.
"The spiritual master must never be carried away by an accumulation of wealth or a large number of followers. A bona fide spiritual master will never become like that. But sometimes, if a spiritual master is not properly authorized and only on his own initiative becomes a spiritual master, he may be carried away by an accumulation of wealth and large numbers of disciples. His is not a very high grade of devotional service. If a person is carried away by such achievements, then his devotional service becomes slackened. One should therefore strictly adhere to the principles of disciplic succession."
(Nectar of Devotion 14)
And a bona fide guru who follows the orders of his guru will never fall down.
"If one always follows the orders of the spiritual master, there is no question of falling down. As soon as a foolish disciple tries to overtake his spiritual master and becomes ambitious to occupy his post, he immediately falls down. "
(SB 5.12.14 Purport)
The latest genre of gurus is the ‘humble' guru. The fad among them now, is competing to become the ‘humbler guru.' But guruship cannot be given up by them at any cost. They somehow want disciples. They don't mind any guru reform as long as there are disciples. It is not just a guru disease but a ‘disciple disease' - a disease, ranging from gross to subtle manifestation of usurping Your position and Your disciples in ISKCON.
Srila Prabhupada, you have already foreseen all these shams and have written about them. You have pointed out that these ‘humble gurus' are also sahajiyas.
This kind of mind game is described by Your Divine Grace below:
"Actually a first-class reputation is due Madhavendra Puri because he was a most confidential devotee of the Lord. Sometimes a sahajiya presents himself as being void of desires for reputation (pratishtha) in order to become famous as a humble man. Such people cannot actually attain the platform of celebrated Vaishnavas."
(CC Madhya 4.147 Purport)
Today more than 40 gurus have fallen down, majority of them being other than the first set of imitators. The results show that the so-called reform of 1985 is no reform at all but perpetration of the same disobedience and disturbance in the society. Many keep falling down and a few new ones crop up every year. Countless souls have gone through the abuse as disciples of these self-made gurus, when these self-made gurus fall down. While the world does not tolerate any institution abusive of its members, we are pained to see what innocent souls experience in ISKCON today, by placing their spiritual faith simply to be abused again and again. We pray at your lotus feet that this illusion be quickly broken by propagating the truth spoken by Your Divine Grace and that people who read your books and associate with ISKCON, understand Your Divine Grace as the current link and accept none other than Your Divine Grace as their spiritual master; and that these self-made gurus meet their destiny of one day having no takers of their philosophy.
Why should there be infighting in ISKCON? You Divine Grace has given an answer why this schism happens:
"This verse describes the beginning of a schism. When disciples do not stick to the principle of accepting the order of their spiritual master, immediately there are two opinions. Any opinion different from the opinion of the spiritual master is useless. One cannot infiltrate materially concocted ideas into spiritual advancement. That is deviation. There is no scope for adjusting spiritual advancement to material ideas."
(CC Adi 12.9 Purport)
Today a guru falling down does not create a tremor as it did in 1980 when we heard that one of the eleven gurus had fallen down. The reason for the change in reaction is easily understood from the instructive parable used in Management:
If you place a frog in a pot of boiling water, it will immediately try to scramble out. (This is like the initial reaction when the first few of the eleven started falling down- many jumped out of ISKCON). But if you place the frog in room temperature water, and don't scare him, he will stay put. Now if the pot sits on a heat source, and if you gradually turn up the temperature, something very interesting happens. As the temperature rises from 70 to 80 degrees, the frog will do nothing. As the temperature gradually increases, the frog will become groggier and groggier, until he is unable to climb out of the pot. Though there is nothing restraining him, the frog will just sit there. This is because the frog's internal apparatus is geared to sudden changes, not to slow gradual changes.
ISKCON today can be compared to this. Over the last three decades, we have gradually got used to hearing of so many gurus' fall downs. As an organization we have become incapable of doing something about it, just like the frog, oblivious of the fact that ISKCON has degraded to a sahajiya organization where guru has become really cheap. We are abusing the most pristine position of guru. Sadly, we have become an organization different from the spiritual organization that you had founded and left behind. Even this you had foreseen, and warned us about the consequences of such deviations:
"Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu has therefore advised us to avoid bhakti-siddhanta-viruddha and rasabhasa. In this way the devotee can remain pure and free from falldowns. Everyone should try to remain aloof from bhakti-siddhanta-viruddha and rasabhasa."
(CC Madhya 10.113 Purport)
You further quote your Guru Maharaja cautioning about sahajiya:
Prabhupada: "Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, he said that "When our men will be sahajiya, oh, they'll be more dangerous." So our men are becoming, some of them, sahajiyas. This very word he said, that "When our men will be sahajiyas he'll be more dangerous."
Room Conversation — January 24, 1977, Bhuvanesvara
Prabhupada: These sahajiyas will come out of so many devotees. What can be done? From my Guru Maharaja's disciples, so many sahajiyas came. These are called sahajiyas. Very easily they capture thing. So my Guru Maharaja used to say, "When my disciples will be sahajiya, it will be more dangerous." He used to say like that. Take things very easily. You know that Purushottama, supposed to be my Godbrother?"
(Room Conversation — January 28, 1977, Bhuvanesvara)
This is your most important analysis on why the Gaudiya Matha failed:
"Why Caitanya Mahaprabhu says guru more murkha dekhi' karila sasan? This is sahajiya-vada. He is thinking, "Oh I have become liberated. I don't require any direction of my guru. I'm liberated." Then he's rascal. Why this Gaudiya Matha failed? Because they tried to become more than guru. He, before passing away, he gave all direction and never said that "This man should be the next acarya." But these people, just after his passing away they began to fight, who shall be acarya. That is the failure. They never thought, "Why Guru Maharaja gave us instruction so many things, why he did not say that this man should be acarya?" They wanted to create artificially somebody acarya and everything failed. They did not consider even with common sense that if Guru Maharaja wanted to appoint somebody as acarya, why did he not say? He said so many things, and this point he missed? The real point? And they insist upon it. They declared some unfit person to become acarya. Then another man came, then another, acarya, another acarya. So better remain a foolish person perpetually to be directed by Guru Maharaja. That is perfection. And as soon as he learns the Guru Maharaja is dead, "Now I am so advanced that I can kill my guru and I become guru." Then he's finished."
(Room Conversation —August 16, 1976, Bombay)
Unfortunately the very thing that you feared has happened in ISKCON after your disappearance.
"The result is now everyone is claiming to be acarya even though they may be kanistha adhikari with no ability to preach. In some of the camps the acarya is being changed three times a year. Therefore we may not commit the same mistake in our ISKCON camp. Actually amongst my Godbrothers no one is qualified to become acarya. So it is better not to mix with my Godbrothers very intimately because instead of inspiring our students and disciples they may sometimes pollute them."
(Letter to Rupanuga — Tirupati, 28 April, 1974)
Srila Prabhupada, you are the seer of past, present and future. You have forewarned of all that was to happen in ISKCON. In your transcendental vani lie the answers for everything. Your transcendental instructions and association of likeminded sadhus are all that is required to go back to Godhead this very life as assured by Your Divine Grace. When the confidential mission of a pure devotee is being obviously disturbed, it is the duty of every disciple to do something to quell such disturbance. It is only in such a spirit of service to Your Divine Grace that, we devotees in Bangalore are engaged in vigorously propagating your instructions regarding initiation in ISKCON. It is not in the attitude of being ‘holier than thou' meaning holier than other Vaishnavas in this world. I am ever grateful to Your Divine Grace for sheltering us so lovingly and protecting our devotional service in spite of always falling short of sufficient faith and devotion unto your lotus feet. Please bless me so that I can be worthy of being the servant of the servant of the most sincere and obedient disciples of Your Divine Grace. It is only by your causeless mercy that I am engaged in devotional service since I am not worthy of it and have no personal qualification to be engaged thus. I am eternally indebted to Your Divine Grace for your eternal shelter, kindness and continued flow of mercy.
Your fallen servant,
Madhu Pandit dasa
Why ISKCON is a skeleton crew
Dear Yuga: Here in Berkely we had 195 devotees in 1977, Yuga wanted to see all of them kicked out for the crime of being "rtiviks," and so his team kicked them all out and now we are down to about 10 devotees and the temple is a constant crises zone because there is no one to do anything. Thanks God a few rtiviks come here to dress the deity or no one would be doing that. Yuga thinks this is the way forward, to have teeny skeleton crew of almost no devotees, and have no one to dress the deity. Why does he want no one left in the temple? ys pd
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Radhanatha swami and Anuttama dasa (ISKCON)
Communication Breakdown BY: DHARMACANDRA DASA
Anuttama Dasa, the ISKCON Miscommunications Minister Defends Radhanath Swami
If Anuttama dasa wants to keep Radhanath Swami nicely on board, "cooperating" with ISKCON, why does he try to accomplish that by disparaging Srila Prabhupada? The offhand effrontery to the Founder-Acarya of ISKCON that is so evident in the paragraph written by Anuttama, and analyzed below, is most disturbing, particularly when one considers that this is the proclamation of the" ISKCON Communications Minister".
Anuttama's paragraph with comments in brackets interspersed and indented:
"From what I've witnessed, RNS's approach to preaching is tailored to how he perceives his audience's receptiveness to the Vaisnava message. No, it's not the blunt speech that Srila Prabhupada generally espoused, but it has a much more cautious approach."
[Here is Anuttama's premise. He draws a comparison between Srila Prabhupada and RNS. First, he starts by a direct insult to Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada "generally espoused" "blunt speech". Whereas, RNS is "more cautious".]
"Many devotees see his preaching as too timid, almost impersonal. I think that is a mistaken perception."
[This is the classic "straw man" strategy. Those ‘questionable persons' that criticize RNS are characterized as defining his preaching as "too timid, almost impersonal". While many may criticize in that way, however that is a sad inaccurate portrayal of the wide-ranging criticism of RNS's preaching. If one actually wants to accurately summarize the objection to the preaching of RNS, then one must concisely state that it bears little relationship to the potent and direct sastrically-based presentation of Srila Thakur Bhaktivinoda, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Prabhupada and Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Of course ,we have seen Anuttama characterize such direct presentation as "blunt speech" and by implication not "cautious". Yet, it is this deviation from the shining example of these recent and wonderfully successful Vaisnava acaryas that is at the heart of the unease with RNS.
But that is hardly the fault here. The way Anuttama puts down Srila Prabhupada's preaching in comparison to RNS makes it clear that Anuttama has lost "awe and reverence" towards Srila Prabhupada. To characterize Srila Prabhupada's brilliant, potent and straightforward preaching as "blunt speech" is pure effrontery to Srila Prabhupada and his faithful disciples. Srila Prabhupada's particular genius was the ability to present subtle transcendental knowledge clearly and in a manner that was easy to assimilate. "Blunt" means dull, insensitive, stupid, even inappropriate. To stick such a label on the preaching of genuine maha-bhagavat uttama-adikari devotee is so crass and plainly offensive that one can only recoil in disgust. Is this the view of the ISKCON "Communications Minister"? Is this the kind of ‘disciple' we want in such a high post, propagating that our glorious Acarya was "blunt"?
Further, the implication is that RNS is "more cautious" than Srila Prabhupada. This insinuation is abhorrent. Srila Prabhupada preached to every class of person from young hippies to government ministers. Brilliantly without assistance, he was able to navigate the minefields of opposition, East and West, and quickly establish Krsna-consciousness against opposition from caste Hindus, fanatic Christians, deprogrammers, antagonistic governments, legal battles, etc.
Yet, Anuttama tells us, by implication, that Srila Prabhupada was not "cautious", thereby rather wild and undisciplined. Unlike RNS who is now presented as the new "cautious" example to save us from the mistaken blunt and wild preaching of Srila Prabhupada.
Moreover, in this introductory paragraph, comparing Srila Prabhupada and RNS, we are told that the preaching of RNS is "tailored to how he perceives his audience's receptiveness". So, here the implication is that Srila Prabhupada was not so skilled, but rather was bashing his audience with "not cautious" and "blunt" speech. Disgusting and offensive, and plainly out of touch with the brilliant and perfect way Srila Prabhupada preached with all potency according to time, person and place. How can Anuttama make such idiotic misperceptions of Srila Prabhupada's brilliant and so effective preaching? Words fail at this stupidity of Anuttama.]
"One has only to listen to his lectures before assembled Vaisnavas to understand that he knows only Krishna as his Lord."
[This is a red herring to distract us. The issue with RNS is not how he relates to the local devotees. But rather, the public persona and speaking of RNS.]
"However, his book reveals his natal approach to spiritual life as one of "inclusiveness," and his sentiments in this regard are in full bloom as the "man of the hour" status that he has attained."
[Again as RNS has been compared to Srila Prabhupada, then the implication is that Srila Prabhupada was not "inclusive" in his preaching, when in fact Srila Prabhupada was the very embodiment of "Wherever you go, whomever you meet, teach the science of Krsna".]
"There are plenty of examples of Srila Prabhupada not preaching the "party line" to various people, and he even befriended a diehard atheist in India for many years without significantly challenging him."
[This is waffle. What is this "party line"? Srila Prabhupada preached the "Absolute Truth", to have this characterized as a "party line" is vulgarity, and more detestable inappropriate language.]
"Instead, he engaged him in enthusiastically supporting the Movement. (I forget his name; he was in Bombay and helped with the temple project.)"
[Here almost accidentally, Anuttama say something positive about the skill of Srila Prabhupada. Rather like, Sisupala inadvertently glorifying Sri Krsna.]
"So I think there is plenty of wriggle room for SP's disciples to preach according to their realizations and capacities without being labeled as mayavadi's, rebels, demons, impersonalists, sentimentalists, etc."
[Again the strawman tactic. A wild distracting assertion that all critics are going overboard and enviously (remember anyone who critics the GBC is "envious") calling people "demons," etc. When, in fact, the prevailing doubts about RNS are well substantiated and sastrically based.]
"I believe that we have to be more nuanced in our appreciation of other godbrother/sisters/nephew/niece preachers - all of whom necessarily pale in the light of the mahabhagavat, Srila Prabhupada."
[Such irony! After crudely insulting Srila Prabhupada, Anuttama talks down to us telling us to be "more nuanced" and have "appreciation". Physician heal thyself! Actually it is because the experienced preachers of ISKCON are very "nuanced" in their appreciation that they have so many reservations about the preaching of RNS.]
"Let's remember that no one can hold a candle to His Divine Grace when it comes to delivering the message of Lord Caitanya; to expect anyone to be nearly as good as him is going to cast that person in a shadow."
[Anuttama is the very person who should do the remembering about the glorious and most skillful preaching of Srila Prabhupada. Again this is most ironic. He tells us to do the very thing that he should obviously doing.]
"Radhanath may not preach like me or you, but he is certainly effective. His congregation is living proof of his potency to inspire. Let him do his thing without so much criticism. See where it all goes."
[Actually, Anuttama has a point here: we will "see where it all goes" – just like the "effective" and "inspiring" preaching of so many of the GBC rubber-stamped gurus. If he had written just these words only and stopped, he would be have been better situated, instead of designating Srila Prabhupada as "blunt" and "not cautious".]
"Trust him a little."
["Trust him very little with the history of GBC rubber-stamped gurus being what it is, and with the direct involvement of RNS in the vicious murder of Sulocana dasa be very cautious" would have been a more sensible appeal.]
"He's a nice Yid from Highland Park, Illinois. He's not unlike you and I. He needs some down time; he likes prasadam;"
[Here Anuttama tries to come down from his GBC ivory tower and show us that he's ‘one of the people', using the same language as what he thinks all us common folk use. So, very smartly, and so informally, he calls RNS a "yid". Well, calling a Jew a "yid" is very derogatory; rather like calling an African a "nigger". This ISKCON Communications Minister is such a genius with his language, not at all mundane. Actually, RNS is very "unlike you and me", for example in his recent life-story book, RNS informs that he fell into the Ganga and while drowning was initiated into the Maha-mantra and given "secret knowledge" by Ganga Devi. But hey, don't worry everything's alright because RNS needs "down time" and surprise, surprise "He likes prasadam". What revelations we are receiving from the Communications Minister!]
"he can banter with the rich and famous and, at the same time, even with me."
[So Anuttama now tells us what RNS is preaching: He's "bantering with the rich and famous" and "even with me (Anuttama)". This is so reassuring to know that now preaching is "bantering", no longer that wild "blunt speech" of Srila Prabhupada. This is pathetic rationalization.]
"Yeah, he likes to control the conversation, doesn't seem to want to listen as much as speak,"
[Here Anuttama tells us that RNS is narcissistic – just like all the other crash and burn GBC rubber-stamped gurus we have seen for decades. How reassuring and convincing this is of RNS's validity.]
"he carries a few blemishes from his past association, etc."
[Talk about euphemism. RNS's "few blemishes" is that he allegedly instigated and organized the murder of Sulocana dasa. After the murder, the murder's first stop was to hide out at the preaching center of RNS, who then allegedly organized the murder contract payment. And this "past association" for whom he was apparently ready to murder to protect was Kirtanananda Swami, an active predatory homosexual pedophile, who, wait for it, was also into this watered down Interfaith, I'm OK, you're OK, hogwash nonsense that is evident in RNS.]
"Maybe he even has some pride! Not surprising. Don't we all? He's really more like you and I than we think,"
[Here the Communications Minister continues with his common touch by insulting us all. How wonderful and convincing. RNS has "pride", and yet "we all" have pride also. So now everything is hunky-dory because we are all proud like RNS, therefore we should all forget the past and present activities of RNS.]
"yet he's dedicated his energies to carrying the message that Krishna is God."
[Yes, but is that "message" unchanged. This is the actual objection to RNS, but Anuttama chooses to ignore that issue, and tries to soft-soap us all with his common touch.]
"And he has been cooperating with ISKCON for many years."
[This short sentence could easily slip by, but is actually the most significant. Popping up at the end, it reveals what is driving this claptrap paragraph of Anuttama. RNS is "co-operating with ISKCON for many years". Anuttama is letting the cat out of the bag. RNS is not ‘in ISKCON', but rather "co-operating". Yes, everything RNS controls is not registered in the name of ISKCON. His operation is legally distinct. And now RNS is a big media personality "bantering with the rich and famous". So it is best to keep RNS on board and "co-operating". Anuttama knows that RNS is on a weird trip, but can't do anything about it. RNS is just too powerful now, so instead of speaking the truth of the situation Anuttama tries to waffle and soft-soap his readers. This is called "real politick", meaning the real politics and necessary compromise of the material world.
After all, if the GBC were to get on the case of RNS, then this absolute guru might just tell his disciples "History is repeating itself. My godbrothers are envious of my success. I order that henceforward, my disciples should have nothing to do with ISKCON." With all those "rich and famous" involved that would not be good for ISKCON. But the actual fact is that RNS already tells his disciples to have only distant and formal relations with ISKCON. Not perhaps because we might pollute his disciples with our envy. But rather because RNS knows that in ISKCON, everyone knows that he was centrally involved in the murder of his godbrother, Sulocana dasa, and that he supported the perverted Kirtanananda, and now carries on the same weird deviant ‘preaching'. To be fair, Anuttama has a practical point: why castigate RNS, he's just too powerful right now. And if he does crash and burn, then he's not "in" ISKCON, just "co-operating".]
"Certainly, I, or you, may not agree with some of his "liberal" views, but is that reason to continue to disparage his style of preaching?"
[Well, yes! If RNS is not following in the footsteps of the previous Acaryas, but rather the preaching footsteps of the murderous pervert Kirtanananda, then this is certainly a matter of great concern. And just like our Founder-Acarya, Srila Prabhupada, we should all be ready to "disparage" such watered-down hogwash.]
"Like I said, we must embrace a more nuanced understanding of the various arms of preaching styles"
[Here Anuttama quotes himself as his own vindication – no wonder that earlier he brought up "pride" and projected it on all of us, his readers. He speaks down to us. We should not be "blunt" like Srila Prabhupada, but be up to fashion and "more nuanced" like himself, Anuttama. Anuttama has shown us just how "nuanced" he is. Anuttama has called the Founder-Acarya of ISKCON, the society he pretends to serve, of "blunt speech", implied that Srila Prabhupada is not "cautious" in his preaching, not "inclusive", etc. If there is anyone who should be more "nuanced", it should be the dolt Anuttama dasa.]
"and always remember that no one will ever equal Srila Prabhupada - at least in our hearts."
[This is just some soft-soap waffle to get the readers on board with the greatly nuanced Anuttama and not criticize the present big elephant, RNS. We don't need Anuttama to remind us about Srila Prabhupada; Anuttama started his hogwash by mindless, offhand offensive nonsense towards Srila Prabhupada and spent the rest of the time being an apologist for RNS, who seems to be following Kirtanananda in his "preaching style", not the Acaryas of the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Sampradaya.]
Concluding Words
Anuttama just presents the same old, same old of the GBC: Keep quiet and better still, put your head in the sand. But he has a fair point. The RNS story will play out to its inevitable conclusion. And why should the GBC start a fight that it can't win with RNS? Better to keep RNS on board and "bantering with the rich and famous". But why does Anuttama have to do his diplomacy thing by being offensive to Srila Prabhupada? Further, being of evidently "blunt" intelligence himself, Anuttama presumes that all his reader are of the same dull ilk as himself. In this way he insults the intelligence of the general body of devotees with his evident hogwash.
Anuttama is thus not qualified to continue in this Communications Minister post, having insulted Srila Prabhupada, rationalized the deviations of RNS, and being condescending to the general body of Srila Prabhupada devotees. But of course there will be no change. Anuttama is part of the untouchable oligarchy that rules ISKCON. The first priority of an oligarchy is survival, and then to maintain its autocratic control by any means.
Yes, welcome to the real world of GBC ISKCON politics, bantering with the rich and famous, and saying hogwash. But, if you want to leave this world of nonsense tin-pot charlatan spiritualists, then "follow in the footsteps of the previous Acaryas" and leave far behind the association of motivated deviant pretenders who are surely devoid of the mercy of Sri Krsna.
Now Rocana says Prabhupadanugas are correct?
PADA: Yesterday, Rocana was saying that worshipping Srila Prabhupada was a severe aparadha, and is equal to worship of the Devil. Today he changed his mind, now he says the ritviks are correct, we need to "fly the flag" of worship Srila Prabhupada and join the ritviks? This man is very confused. One day -- he sees Srila Prabhupada as the messiah, and the very next day he thinks that worship of Srila Prabhupada is the same as worshpping the Devil. Ooops, the next day, he changes that, he has no idea what is to be done and what is not, which is the symptom of people in the modes of ignorance -- ok Rocana -- who still promotes the post 1977 pedophile pooja (by recently saying the GBC can be diksha gurus). No wonder Rocana has refused our challenge to debate him, he cannot debate a flea. ys pd
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/08-11/editorials7666.htm
http://www.harekrsna.com/sun/editorials/08-11/editorials7666.htm
Kirtanananda health report looks grim (ISKCON)
"…Haribol. Yes I just sent an email to Srila Bhaktipada's brother. The last doctor who saw Bhaktipada says one lung has collapsed and the other is half full of fluid, so even with oxygen he is having trouble breathing. Right now he is resting though. And we have full time nursing care for him. They said there is no use taking him back to the hospital. His condition is beyond that now.
Radhanath Swami called this afternoon and I talked with him for some time. I told him Bhaktipada can hear but can't respond so he wanted me to convey his respects to him.
Yours, RVC Swami
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
My reply to Kishan Phadke (ISKCON) ys pd
Dear Kishan Phadke, Your gurus used the word illicit sex to describe their fall downs, I just repeated what your gurus say ABOUT THEIR OWN GURU LINE? Now you are saying that is not what your gurus say, but they have said their gurus have been having illicit sex with men, women and children for the past 35 years, and now you say you agree with them -- that acharyas have illicit sex, so you are promtong their illicit sex guru program. Your gurus are saying that their guru parampara line is full of illicit sex, and when I report what your gurus say ABOUT THEIR OWN GURU LINE, then you say I am bogus, but I am repeating YOUR own GURUS! So now you are saying anyone who repeats your gurus, its bogus! What! Anyway, I like your answer that your gurus are speaking nonsense when they say gurus have illicit sex and I will post this on my blog http://krishna1008.blogspot.com/, you are syaing anyone who repeats your gurus is defeated, so -- you have defeated yourself. ys pd
Hindus at Janmastami Festival
Click Photo To Enlarge
Indian youth make a human pyramid to reach and break the "Dahi Handi," an earthen pot filled with yoghurt, as they celebrate Janamashtami, the birth anniversary of Hindu God Krishna in Mumbai, India, Monday, Aug. 22, 2011 (<http://www.cbsnews.com/2300-202_162-10009111.html>)
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