Not the Real World??

[Guest guest]

Dear Pranava prabhu,

 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

Thank you for your responses...

>

> People and devotees don't take the courses primarily for learning a new

> philosophy, more about devotional service or just meeting "diverse"

> people, they do them because they get something out of them in terms of

> interpersonal relationships, social competence and personal development.

 

One may argue that these things "aren't available" in ISKCON. But who says?

Because someone has difficulty, or they've had a bad experience, or they're

having problems with interpersonal r/ships, is that cause to leave the

social boundaries of ISKCON and seek it elsewhere? If what was being offered

was proven as a sound philosophical option, then there would be no problem

in that. But the sheer foolishness of those who defend it even after hearing

about it's organizer and chief promoter is impossible to fathom. No one

seems to be wiling to listen to any philosophical reason: whatever happened

to "milk touched by the lips of a serpent?" Are all the devotees who do this

course able to withstand the emotional pressure they'll be under? This is

what DG is coasting on: the emotional vacuum that people often live in due

to not being able to develop interpersonal r/ships.

 

But this is a Kali-yuga symptom, NOT an ISKCON symptom. That some have come

to devotional life and found themselves unable to meet the incredibly

challenging arena of interpersonal r/ships is not surprising. That they go

outside of philosophical boundaries to do so is surprising. Well, at least

to me: devotees are supposed to be discriminate and intelligent. But what

I'm seeing is the Gita coming to life: "hardly one knows me in truth." Those

who are leaving in droves to find so-called fulfilment elsewhere are, I'm

afraid, not in the category of understanding Krishna -- and unfortunately

are being dragged further away.

>

> Some people call the course wonderful because it meant something to them

> personally.

 

Yes, no doubt -- some temporary, feel-good high, a band-aid more or less.

>

> Ultimately, I hope that the need for these courses will naturally slowly

> decrease, since they are a medicine for hopefully temporary diseases

> within our society. But that will only happen if the society will become

> the truely loving place it is meant to be (which I see indeed already

> happening).

 

Yes, it is: and not thru any results of soft sciences. If the private emails

I've received from people "supporting" this kind of thing is any indication,

these courses have done nothing to address some serious emotional issues,

and they're kurking beneath the surface. People hate to hear that what

they're doing is wrong; it's like the Bhagavatam says: give a fool advice

and they become angry. If someone doesn't have first class intelligence they

have to listen to one who does:

 

"Therefore our process is to approach the bona fide teacher and learn from

him everything. That is brahmac€r… life. Not by practical experience. That

is Vedic knowledge. The experience is already there. You simply hear and

take it. Then it becomes easier. But if you expect that 'First of all let me

fall down into the ditch, then I shall cry...' Better man is, he takes

advice, 'Don't go there. You'll fall down in the ditch.'"

 

So what can you do? We're not ever going to stop people making stupid

choices, but we're at least obliged to prevent the less intelligent from

dominating the Vaisnava community, like it was some kind of insane democracy

where those in favor of something are ruling. What a thought....

>

> Therefore, on our part, I suggest that we should not only ask why people

> take the courses, but what we can do with our society and in our

> devotional relationships to render these kind of courses entirely

> superfluous.

 

The method is already there; the problem is that there is a lack of faith in

that method and people are too lazy to practice Krishna consciousness. What

are the problems, other than this?

 

Your servant

Braja Sevaki dd