Hindustan Times Article

[Guest guest]

All due respect Hari Sauri prabhu, but I don't know why you bother: of

course your letters are solidly based on sastra and many years of

experience, but there's obviously a level of intelligence required to

understand even the most simple points you've made, and it's clear that this

Solai has missed out on even the most miniscule quota. His comments are

utterly ridiculous, and pointless to discuss.

 

I'm sick to death of lame complaints like his, eg: that his son's lack of

education is ISKCON's fault. It's no one's fault but his that his son has no

education, but any old axe to grind against ISKCON will do, for some. Yawn.

 

I am always inspired, however, by reading someone's texts when they are

defending ISKCON against such nonsense. Thank you.

 

Your servant

Braja Sevaki dd ¾

 

> > I wish to elaborate my point since my radical views are subject to

> > unjust criticism by devotees.

>

> Actually the criticisms are very just and completely to the point.

>

> I accept that in some circumstances devotees are more materially

> motivated than spiritual and thus they hope to make a "cut" from the

> proceeds of their preaching. However, even if there is such a motivation,

> they are still being engaged in Krsna service, which is far better than

> being engaged in ordinary material activity. They get eternal spiritual

> benefit but as even the Christians recognise "what benefits a man if he

> gains the whole world but loses his eternal soul?"

>

> > ISKCON has the right to teach BG to students, but do not have the right

> > to preach.

>

> According to whom? What is the purpose of teaching and the purpose

> of preaching? They are one and the same --- sarva dharman parityaja mam

> ekam saranam braja. As Krsna induced Arjuna to surrender everything to

> Him, similarly the teachings of BG are meant for inducing a conditioned

> soul to fully surrender. If a person makes the attempt to fully surrender,

> even if he is unsuccessful and later retreats from the path, which is what

> your concern seems to be, still he has not lost anything. Rather he has

> gained so much that it is incalculable by any material estimation.

>

> On the other hand, if he declines to make the attempt to surrender,

> and that choice is always there (yatecchasi tatha kuru), and takes up a

> material career, what is his gain? One may argue that once having gained a

> good job he can then focus on devotional life without having to look to

> ISKCON for material support. But what if he dies in the meantime?

>

> And we all know that the pursuit of material opulence is endless and

> all-consuming. First you want a "good job" so you work like an ass day and

> night to get the qualifications so that you can door to door begging from

> the employers, "Please sir, I have a Phd. kindly give me a job." And then

> you work like an ass day and night to keep your job. And then you get

> married and work like an ass for the whole life to maintain the family. In

> this way, you may never get to the point of taking up spiritual life

> seriously, thinking that "In my old age I will take it up when my material

> responsibilities are done." But in old age the attachements and

> entanglements of material affairs are so strong and are so deeply

> impressed on the psyche that one cannot detach one's self from them. And

> then you die and then you have to start a new material career--in another

> body, another place, another family. And the caring mother and father of

> our last lives who carefully ensured that we got a good job, family,

> house, car, etc. etc. are forgotten, covered by the mist of passing time.

>

> How many lifetimes do you want to keep up this nonsense of pursuing

> a material career? If someone is fortunate enough while they are young to

> understand the urgency of taking up this Krsna consciousness process they

> should be fully encouraged. There is no loss and the gain is very great.

> Even the most humble devotee in an ISKCON temple is far more exalted and

> fortunate than Bill Gates, who has more than anyone could possibly wish

> for materially, but has not the slightest understanding of God and his

> relationship with Him. As Srila Bhaktisiddanta said, there is no shortage

> of anything in this world, except Krsna consciousness.

>

> > Preaching in the form of advocacy some time leads to unsuspecting

> > individuals take up to KC life leaving their schools or colleges with

> > false hopes projected by preachers. This is what I mean as Brain

> > washing. I have case studies in this regard and it has the potency to

> > evolve in to a legal issue if pursued to its logical end.

>

> You mean to its illogical end. The threat to attack the preachers of

> the message of SB and BG is the last resort of rascals. Rather than

> support and encourage the efforts of the devotees, the materialists see

> them as a threat to their lifestyles. Although a person's miserable

> material life can only be ended by contact with devotees, we have the

> foolishness to think that the devotees are actually a threat to

> civilisation and we think they should be curbed by legal means.

>

> Of course we had to fight this nonsense in the 1970's in America and

> other places but Srila Prabhupada pushed ahead with his agenda regardless.

> His intention to redirect the entire human society from material pursuits

> to spiritual ones. He especially encouraged the residents of Bharat-varsa

> to take up this para-upakara, acting on the instructions of Sri Caitanya

> Mahaprabhu himself. It is very unfortunate that now in Bharat varsa, punya

> bhumi, we have to hear such words from one of its inhabitants. It is very

> sad that someone who claims to be a devotee should present these arguments

> as a serious discussion point in an assembly of Vaisnavas.

>

> Such an entirely abysmal lack of self-realization might be expected

> from the western side, the land of the mlecchas and yavanas, who are

> bewildered by the material energy and are thoroughly compromised. But this

> is now India's great misfortune, that its inhabitants are madly pursuing

> the western lack of culture; and threats to take the preachers of the

> message of BG to court are a natural consequence of this.

>

> Your humble servant,

> Hari-sauri dasa