Question regarding Day 6

[Guest guest]

> But what in the world does it mean that

> they took a straw vote on a proposal to "endorse the grihastha

> ashram"? Does that mean that it has been illegitimate in the GBC's

> eyes, or that they are implicitly admitting that? Is it okay for me to

> be married now? (That would certainly ease the mind of my wife of 32

> years!)

 

Perhaps Babhru's question can be answered in part by some exerpts from GBC

Emeritus HH Hridayananda Maharaja's essay Vaishnava Moral Theology... which

reveal a perception of the Grihasta ashram that leads one to conclude that

Maharaja thinks it is indeed illegitimate in some respects.

 

> The real situation

> in ISKCON is that many, many householders follow the

> easier, less ideal version of the rule: no sex outside of marriage.

 

> The fact that many or even most grhasthas

> find it difficult to always act on the ideal platform ....

 

> Yet sometimes devotees state that “no illicit sex” means

> “no sex outside of marriage.” Indeed that is the standard that

> many respected grhasthas are able to follow.

 

Having established to his own satisfaction the illegitimacy of the grihasta

ashram and most of its members, even its respected ones, HH Hridayananda

Maharaja leverages that opinion as a platform to propose the introduction of

another, parallel illigitmate ashram for monogmous gays...

 

 

> The question then arises: is the policy of choosing the lesser

> of evils valid only for heterosexuals, or it is also a necessary

> strategy for homosexuals?

 

However Maharaja has neglected to note the most important purpose of the

Grihasta ashram, real or ideal, which is the procreation of children. Even

the most fallen of grihastas will come to realise over the prolonged period

of his or her life spent in the sometimes sweet and sometimes sour task of

raising children that "all this trouble and pain is not worth the few

moments of pleasure it took to create it, so let me give up my attachment

and think only of Krishna". When this meditation eventually crystalizes into

jnana and vairagya, the Grihasta ashram will have served as a valuable

stepping stone to bring its members to a fixed state of Krishna

consciousness free from fall-down.

 

How wrong Maharaja is to mischaracterise the Grihasta ashram's role in

helping conditioned souls struggle to come to a higher platform. And how

wrong he is to suggest some sort of equivalency between it and the union of

homosexuals where there is little or no program for reformation, but only a

program for social acceptance and normalization.

 

Babhru Prabhu, please dont feel shy about encouraging the GBC to endorse the

Grihasta ashram, they really need all the help they can get, especially with

your and your wife's 32 years of experience.

 

Your servant

Paradhyeya das