ISKCON Scotland Imbroglio / Where are the devotees? 05 23 24

ISKCON SCOTLAND IMBROGLIO

In March this year, one of the Trustees of ISKCON SCOTLAND, Kamlesh Krishna Prabhu held out a landline to our fractured community in the form of a heartwarming call for cooperation between the warring factions. It was a 90 min presentation of an action plan based on the ISKCON Management Council's review of management and devotee care at Karuna Bhavan over the two decades during which the current ISKCON SCOTLAND CEO has been the temple president. 

In the presentation Kamlesh said that the recording would be available on Zoom Cloud Recordings for public distribution. I request that all of Srila Prabhupada's spiritual family members kindly take the time to watch it.

https://us02web.zoom.us/.../ZnxMTy30KC3QzcxGM...

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I am making this request as someone who was an apologist for the Karuna Bhavan management for fifteen years but now, after hearing testimonies of perceived abuse and neglect, am an advocate for an urgent transition to truly transparent isthagosthi and genuine devotee care. The rigorous application of this long-in-the-making Action Plan (link to document follows) 

https://acrobat.adobe.com/.../urn:aaid:sc:EU:af3974ec...

is crucial for all ISKCON communities who are yet to make this difficult transition. Many of the devotees whose grievances went unheard over the last two decades now have a golden opportunity to get involved with this essential transition. Please leave your comments so that we can bring all the beautiful families together again. Therefore I, once again beg your support in ensuring the comprehensive employment of the action plan in our Iskcon Scotland communities.

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us02web.zoom.us

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WHY ARE WE LOSING SO MANY DEVOTEES?

Any devotee who is a little observant and has been active within ISKCON for a good number of years may have seen a certain phenomenon taking place in most communities around the world: so many people come to Krishna consciousness, they stay around for some time, but then somehow or another many of them fade away. And we may not see them any longer. Sometimes, when we re-visit a temple after fifteen or twenty years, the only personalities familiar to us are the Deities. All other faces are new.

Once when re-visiting a community after fifteen years, where I had spent a considerable amount of time in the beginning of my Krishna consciousness, I was excited to visit after such a long period, expecting to meet old friends. Anxiously awaiting the first Sunday program, I could hardly see any old and well-known faces. I thought to myself: ‘Surely, everybody will be there when our gurus and traveling preachers visit.’ But again I was disappointed. I was anxiously awaiting the Janmastami celebration, and once again I had to ask myself: ‘Where is everybody….?’

This experience disturbed my mind - I was trying to analyze what was happening. I couldn’t stop wondering what we were doing wrong - why we could not keep devotees enthusiastically and actively involved for their whole life time.
Shortly after, I joined the Devotee Care Committee of the GBC Strategic Planning Group. Interestingly, this Devotee Care Committee was initially a Preaching Committee. And within this Preaching Committee we had two moods: one was ‘let’s make new devotees - let’s reach out and bring new people to ISKCON.’ And the other was: ‘Where are all the old devotees? 

What happened to them? What is the use of making new devotees if they fade away after some time?’ Then the Preaching Committee turned into the Devotee Care Committee. This is how the whole concept of Devotee Care evolved - through the realization that we like to concentrate on making new devotees, but we make only very little effort to inspire and nourish the older ones. In a letter to His Holiness Satsvarupa Dasa Goswami on 16 June, 1972, Srila Prabhupada instructs:
“You mention you like to speak now very often, but the first business should be to preach to the devotees. It is better to maintain a devotee than to try to convince others to become devotees.”

In several letters, Srila Prabhupada expressed his concern in regards to putting too much emphasis on making more and more devotees, rather than training them thoroughly, and he gave the famous analogy of boiling the milk. In a letter to Hamsaduta on 22 June 1972, he gave the following instruction:

“Now we have got so many students and so many temples but I am fearful that if we expand too much in this way that we shall become weakened and gradually the whole thing will become lost. Just like milk. We may thin it more and more with water for cheating the customer, but in the end it will cease to be any longer milk. Better to boil the milk now very vigorously and make it thick and sweet. That is the best process. So let us concentrate on training our devotees very thoroughly in the knowledge of Krishna consciousness from our books, from tapes, by discussing always, and in so many ways instruct them in the right propositions.”

It is certainly much easier to attract new people to Krishna consciousness
and impress them, rather than inspiring and uplifting a practicing devotee. In order to give inspiration and nourishment to a senior devotee, one has to be able to come up with something deeper and of substance. We can only uplift others according to our own level, but not higher than that. 

This may be one reason why we tend to put more emphasis on attracting new people - because it is easier.

Sometimes, we can detect the following attitude within ourselves: while a person has not yet accepted Krishna consciousness we reach out and are trying to take care of them in a very personal way. And as soon as the person ‘joins’, we think: “Now he is one of our people.” And we expect and demand service from them and easily lose the mood of caring for their spiritual development. We tend to forget how much care and nourishment the bhakti-lata needs in order to continuously develop and ultimately bear the fruits of pure bhakti.

It is not enough to simply bring a person to Krishna consciousness. In Chaitanya-Charitamrita, Madhya (19.152 to 162), we find the analogy of a devotee having to become an expert gardener. We don’t simply plant the seed and every now and again throw a bucket of water on it. It requires regular and ongoing care, nourishment and cultivation. The process of devotional service is meant to bring about a deep transformation of our heart. It is a dynamic process we are meant to undergo under the guidance of senior devotees. Spiritual life is ever increasing - we never reach a point where we have learnt and realized everything. We don’t want to become stagnant, but progressively move forward to higher and higher levels of spiritual experience.

Giving and accepting shelter is the very essence of spiritual life and accompanies us throughout our entire life within Krishna consciousness: we are meant to continuously endeavor to take shelter - in the holy name, in guru, Krishna and the Vaishnavas. And we are meant to qualify ourselves more and more in order to reach out to others and give shelter. Unless we endeavor to get to deeper levels of understanding of what it means to take shelter, it easily remains external and superficial, and we take shelter in name only, as a formality.

However, deep within our hearts we maintain our independence. Furthermore, understanding the connection between the principles of giving and accepting shelter and culture serves as an eye-opener. In spiritual culture, they form the natural foundation of any meaningful relationship, whereas in materialistic culture it is unknown: nobody wants to accept shelter, and nobody wants to give shelter to others....

Your servant, Devaki dd

Please visit www.theholynameretreat.net
www.therootsofspiritualculture.net
https://www.facebook.com/instituteforspiritualculture/

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SRI MADHAVENDRA PURI-APPEARANCE DAY! [23rd May 2024]

Before Lord Caitanya appeared He sent His eternal associates like Sri Advaita Acarya, Sri Jagannatha Misra, Saci Mata, Madhavendra Puri, Isvari Puri to earth. Sri Madhavendra Puri took initiation from Sri Laksmipati Tirtha in the Madhvacarya sampradaya. He had many but Sri Advaita Acarya and Sri Isvara Puri were the chief disciples of Madhavendra Puri. In one way or another, all the Vaisnavas in Bengal and Ksetra mandala (Jagan­natha Puri) were connected with Sri Madhavendra Puri. After Lord Caitanya came many of his disciples joined Mahaprabhu's sankirtana movement.

"Madhavendra Puri's body was completely full of divine love; so were his followers. He displayed uncommon love of God. Seeing a dark blue rain cloud, he would fall down unconscious. Day and night he was intoxicated from drinking the ambrosia of Krishna prema." (Vrndavana Dasa Thakura)

After making an extensive pilgrimage of Bharata-bhumi (India) he passed his life in Vrndavana and Orissa. He began the restoration work of Vrndavana that Sri Rupa and Sanatana Gos-vamis continued later. Wandering from grove to grove, remembering Radha-Krishna's sweet Vrndavana pastimes, Madhavendra Puri would faint in ecstasy.

In a dream, Sri Gopala ordered Madhavendra Puri to uncover a buried Gopala Deity and install Him atop Govardhana Hill. Madhavendra Puri celebrated Gopala's installation with an annakuta (grand festival offering a mountain of foodstuffs to Krishna). This Annakuta festival, also called Govardhana Puja, is one of the most important Vaisnava festivals in Vrndavana, in India, and around the world. The original Gopala Deity, known as Sri Nathaji, is now worshiped in Nathadvara, Rajasthan.

Madhavendra Puri introduced the conception of madhurya bhava (conjugal love) in the Madhvacarya sampradaya. Mad­havendra Puri sowed the seed of prema bhakti. And Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu became the towering tree dropping honey sweet fruits of prema upon everyone. He also revealed viraha bhava, the mood of love relished in separation from God. His branch of the Madhva sect distinguished itself by this ecstatic love of God. 

It is known as the Madhva-Gaudiya sampradaya.

In Jagannatha Puri, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu showed an intense mood of viraha bhava. This increased unlimitedly when the Lord heard verses from Srimad Bhagavatam tenth canto, Krishna Karnamrta, Gita Govinda, Padyavali, and the love poems of Can-didasa and Vidyapati. Mahaprabhu's viraha begins with a single verse spoken by Madhavendra Puri, His param guru (grand preceptor):

ayi dina dayadra natha he
mathura natha kadavalokyase
hrdayam tvad aloka kataram
dayita bhramyati kim karoty aham

"0 compassionate Lord of the poor and humble! 0 Lord of Mathura! When shall I see You again? Without seeing You, My heart has become very much afflicted. Oh My beloved, I am overwhelmed. What shall I do now?" (Caitanya-caritamrta Madhya 4.197)

Sri Krishna Dasa Kaviraja says that as the diamond kaustubha jewel is the most precious amongst all rare valuable jewels, this sloka is the rasa kavya (the best verse in the entire treasury of rasa poetry). Actually, this verse was spoken by Srimati Radharani Herself. It was Radha's pathetic cry to Syamasundara, who had gone to Mathura leaving Her alone, desperate in Vrndavana. Radharani's mercy brought this same verse from the mouth of Madhavendra Puri.

Reciting even a few words of this sloka [verse] would tear open the door of Mahaprabhu's ecstatic love, making Him swoon in ecstasy falling unconscious. Feeling intense separation from Krishna, Madhavendra Puri constantly chanted this verse when departing this world.

Krishna Dasa Kaviraja says that with this verse Madhavendra Puri teaches devotees how to achieve Krishna prema by cultivating intense feelings of separation from Sri Krishna. Gaudiya Vaisnavas accept that this verse expresses the essence of the mood of separation.

The Gaudiya sampradaya teaches that worship of Radha and Krishna in separation represents the highest level of devotional service. At this stage of realization the devotee feels completely "vacant in the world in the absence of Krishna." A moment without Madhava feels like a millenium. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu always swam in the ocean of divyonmada mahabhava, the maddened ecstatic emotions shown by Sri Radha in Brahmar Gita (Srimad Bhagavatam 10.47). In this verse Madhavendra Puri discloses similar emotions. 

The Gaudiya Vaisnavas conclude that the mon­soon shower of ecstatic love exhibited by Lord Gauranga during His manifest pastimes began with Madhavendra Puri. It then came through Isvara Puri, who played the role of Lord Caitanya's spiritual master.

Madhavendra Puri's samadhi is in Remuna, Orissa just a walk down the road from the temple of Ksira-cora Gopinatha.