RE: To set the record straight --The ISKCON Rasa

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna,

 

Hear is an article I submitted yesterday to Chakra and VNN:

 

The ISKCON Rasa

 

Bhaktas of the “Greater ISKCON” are tossing a lot of fire and brimstone at

each other regarding the role of Narayan Maharaja’s recent preaching efforts

around the world. No one wants to offend an elevated Vaishnava, but ISKCON

members have a right to be concerned. That doesn't mean ISKCON devotees have

a right to offend Narayan Maharaja or his followers, but they don’t have to

be happy about the current state of affairs, nor do they have be complacent

or ignore the problem.

 

In order to resolve this issue, we need to fall back on some basic

principles of the Krishna consciousness movement -- as well as a little

common sense. There’s no need to become over-complicated or offensive.

 

For all practical purposes, the modern Krishna Consciousness Movement began

with Bhaktivinode Thakur. He started the globalization of bhakti-yoga

through his writings in English, his nama-hata programs, etc.

Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur extended the preaching on a large scale

through the institution of the Gaudiya Math. HDG A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami,

Srila Prabhupada, manifested this preaching on a world-wide basis. These are

the facts.

 

I use the title “Srila Prabhupada” for my guru, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Maharaja, because that is how he is known throughout the world as the

Founder-Acharya of the global Krishna Consciousness Movement. I well

understand that my spiritual master does not have the sole claim on that

honorific, and some people find that use pretentious. However, the name

Srila Prabhupada is presently synonymous with A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami for

all but a few hundred or a few thousand members of the Gaudiya Math. This

use of “Srila Prabhupada” is neither right nor wrong, neither offensive nor

non-offensive. It is however, the current state of affairs all over the

planet. Case closed.

 

Prior to Bhaktivinode, the practice of Gaudiya-vaishnava bhakti yoga was a

very private affair. There is no tradition or precedent for wide-scale

preaching after the disappearance of Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda. The

recent acharyas of our sampradaya have pioneered the use of the chanting of

the Holy Name as the means of self-realization fitting for the masses. This

has required a lot of adaptation in the details of spreading the sankirtan

movement.

 

The issue at hand is the siddha-pranali practice of meditating on the

individual role each bhakta plays in the intimate pastimes of Radha and

Krishna. That specific role is to be revealed by the spiritual master.

 

Now, let’s get to the heart of the matter. Is there something intrinsically

wrong in the preaching of Narayana Maharaja? Absolutely not. He has all

sastric evidence behind him as to the bona-fides of his preaching position.

 

So what exactly is the problem then?

 

Srila Prabhupada did not reveal this siddha-pranali information to any of

his followers. Is that because Srila Prabhupada was incapable of doing so,

or was it for the protection of his disciples and the preaching mission? As

a matter of record, after the publication of Chaitanya Caritamrta in 1975, a

group of devotees sprang up in Los Angeles known as the Gopi-bhava club.

This club met to specifically study the intimate pastimes of Sri

Radha-Krishna as revealed in Chaitanya Charitamrita. When Srila Prabhupada

found out about the club, he dismembered it with all possible haste. Why? He

did not find it suitable for his disciples. And who knew more about those

disciples than he?

 

Personally, I do not feel cheated in any way because my spiritual master

hasn’t admitted me to this intimate lila. I trust Srila Prabhupada to know

what is best for me and his disciples and grand-disciples. Prabhupada

explains in Krishna Book, that after the death of this body, the successful

devotee takes his next birth on whichever planet (in whatever universe)

Krishna is beginning his Gokula pastimes. We will be trained by the perfect

spiritual beings Krishna brings to this world as His entourage.

Specifically, we will learn how to serve Krishna properly, in our particular

rasa, without subjecting Krishna to rasa-bas. After these pastimes are

concluded, the next birth is in Goloka-dhama. Sounds good to me.

 

In 1966, Srila Prabhupada incorporated the International Society for Krishna

Consciousness in New York. The Articles of Incorporation state, “A.C.

Bhaktivedanta Swami is the Founder-Acharya of ISKCON. No one else may ever

occupy that position.” In the very germination of ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada

made his unique position known. ISKCON is the embodiment of Prabhupada’s

vision. No one else has the right to redirect that vision.

 

Like it or not, ISKCON is an institution – an institution formed

specifically to foster Krishna conscious preaching all over the world. This

is ISKCON’s purpose; and as loyal followers of Srila Prabhupada we must

recognize this. Rasa means mood, or taste, or flavor. Those who wish to be

known as followers of Prabhupada must acknowledge this ISKCON rasa.

 

So what should be done when other Vaishnava preachers come to visit ISKCON

temples and centers? They must be treated with respect, served according

Vaishnava tradition, and encouraged to participate in temple programs and

community events. However, if they wish to preach, they must respect the

mood of Srila Prabhupada and his institution ISKCON. If that cannot be done,

then temple leaders are under no obligation, spiritually or otherwise, to

facilitate or permit preaching in any different mood.

 

No one has a right to climb on the back of Srila Prabhupada’s creation and

use it as a preaching forum in a manner Prabhupada clearly did not feel was

appropriate for his followers or for the Krishna Conscious Movement as he

developed it. There is no intrinsic disrespect in delineating and enforcing

reasonable boundaries to be respected by all. We need not be sentimental

about this.

 

However, we do need to be careful so as not to create another debacle as was

done by the GBC shortly after Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance. We did not

limit our consultations with Sridhar Maharaja to the proper procedures to be

followed after the passing of our spiritual master, as Srila Prabhupada

directed us to do.

 

Instead we drew Sridhar Swami into ISKCON management and then later rejected

him when we realized that ISKCON had to be carried on within the parameters

set by Srila Prabhupada. There was no gain -- only loss -- in this affair.

 

Again, I want to emphatically express that there is nothing wrong with

Narayana Maharaja’s presentation of Krishna conscious philosophy. That is

not the issue at hand. We are not talking philosophy here. We are concerned

with the details of managing and developing Srila Prabhupada’s legacy to the

entire world.

 

If Narayana Maharaja and his followers feel a need for an institution to

facilitate their preaching, they are free to create whatever organization

they desire. There is no need to tread on ISKCON and create a poisoned

atmosphere that confuses and bewilders innocent souls.

 

We must keep our eyes focused on the basic principles. Then we can resolve

our problems without risking offense and without losing sight of common

sense.

 

Your servant,

Sri Rama das

 

[srirama (AT) bbt (DOT) se], or

[srirama (AT) reachme (DOT) net]

[http://www.web-construct.net/creditcard.html]