Devotees leaving ISKCON -- involuntary omission

[Guest guest]

I am so sorry, Janaka Prabhu, I left out an important part of your proposal.

I was in a hurry and accidentally deleted your paragraph #2. Once it went

out of sight, it also went out of mind... until now. I felt so bad I had

made that mistake that instead of being somewhere else I came back just to

correct myself.

 

> 3.Our GBC should consist of a small number (around 5 people) of most

> qualified devotee managers that we have in ISKCON today.

 

This hierarchical approach -- a ksatriya reform -- sounds fine but, I'm

afraid, necessary yet not sufficient. I'd venture to say that the

hierarchical approach -- to be significant, coherent, effective -- has to

be complemented with a horizontal, sort of brahmanical approach.

 

Janaka Prabhu, in fact recognizes the need of the complementary approaches

when he writes as his second proposal:

 

> 2.Our sannyasis should dedicate their time in teaching all other varnas

> and ashrams, how to do their prescribed duties properly and depend on

> KRSNA's mercy at the same time.We still dont have a single varnasrama

> college established in ISKCON, because our sannyasis are rather focused on

> managing than on teaching.They should concentrate more on preaching and

> inspiring people all over the world how to nicely surrender to KRSNA.

 

A brahmanical approach means, among other things, clear individual and

collective self-awareness, a precise knowledge of the intricacies of

Prabhupada's spiritual and karmic network, a pro-active approach to the

issues and goals in which every individual's skills and potentials are

involved (sort of grassroots), etc.

 

The hierarchical-cum-brahmanical approach, however, while being badly

needed is not yet sufficient. The third foot is also needed: the

vaisya-centered varnasrama culture, lifestyle, and social organization.

 

This third approach is, indeed, also found in Janaka Prabhu's plan; it is

included in his point 2 quoted above. I am not sure, however, whether his

proposal matches exactly the three-feet approach I am outlining here.

I also do not know whether any of the existing varna-asrama proposals

spells out the distinction between, on one hand, clear-cut, mutually

exclusive varnas as social and cultural and cosmic categories and, on the

other, the real-life possibility that an individual may belong in more than

one varna.

 

your servant,

Kunti-Devi dasi

[Guest guest]

I am so sorry, Janaka Prabhu, I left out an important part of your proposal.

I was in a hurry and accidentally deleted your paragraph #2. Once it went

out of sight, it also went out of mind... until now. I felt so bad I had

made that mistake that instead of being somewhere else I came back just to

correct myself.

 

> 3.Our GBC should consist of a small number (around 5 people) of most

> qualified devotee managers that we have in ISKCON today.

 

This hierarchical approach -- a ksatriya reform -- sounds fine but, I'm

afraid, necessary yet not sufficient. I'd venture to say that the

hierarchical approach -- to be significant, coherent, effective -- has to

be complemented with a horizontal, sort of brahmanical approach.

 

Janaka Prabhu, in fact recognizes the need of the complementary approaches

when he writes as his second proposal:

 

> 2.Our sannyasis should dedicate their time in teaching all other varnas

> and ashrams, how to do their prescribed duties properly and depend on

> KRSNA's mercy at the same time.We still dont have a single varnasrama

> college established in ISKCON, because our sannyasis are rather focused on

> managing than on teaching.They should concentrate more on preaching and

> inspiring people all over the world how to nicely surrender to KRSNA.

 

A brahmanical approach means, among other things, clear individual and

collective self-awareness, a precise knowledge of the intricacies of

Prabhupada's spiritual and karmic network, a pro-active approach to the

issues and goals in which every individual's skills and potentials are

involved (sort of grassroots), etc.

 

The hierarchical-cum-brahmanical approach, however, while being badly

needed is not yet sufficient. The third foot is also needed: the

vaisya-centered varnasrama culture, lifestyle, and social organization.

 

This third approach is, indeed, also found in Janaka Prabhu's plan; it is

included in his point 2 quoted above. I am not sure, however, whether his

proposal matches exactly the three-feet approach I am outlining here.

I also do not know whether any of the existing varna-asrama proposals

spells out the distinction between, on one hand, clear-cut, mutually

exclusive varnas as social and cultural and cosmic categories and, on the

other, the real-life possibility that an individual may belong in more than

one varna.

 

your servant,

Kunti-Devi dasi