GBC position paper concerning H.H Narayana Maharaja (part 3/3)

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KEEPING FAITH WITH SRILA PRABHUPADA (Part 3 of 3)

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Srila Prabhupada always glorified preaching to the highest degree, and

he condemned with equal vehemence the sahajiya babajis and others who

denigrate preaching. For instance:

 

Prabhupada: "Vrndavana, there are so many dangers. All these babajis they

are... 'Oh, I am not going out of Vrndavana.' But he has got connection

with so many women. So what is the use? Have you experience of this? He

is attached to women and doing all sinful activities in Vrndavana. This

is going on, manufacturing bidi, smoking bidi, in the dress of Rupa

Gosvami, loincloth, big tilak, kanthi, and what he is doing? Bidi-making.

Have you seen? Prithu-putra: I have seen some of them doing this, ....

Prabhupada: Not all of them. But they are also claiming they are on the

stage of Rupa Gosvami. We are preaching -- we are lower stage. That is

their opinion. We are preaching all over the world; we are in the lower

stage. And because he has imitated the dress of Rupa Gosvami--he is

higher. This is going on. (Conversation, 28 January, 1977)

 

Srila Prabhupada often cited the statement of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura

that "An uttama-adhikari Vaisnava can be recognized by his ability to

convert many fallen souls to Vaisnavism" (Nectar Of Instruction 5,

purport).

 

Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura said that the position of a Vaisnava can be

tested by how good a touchstone he is--that is, by how many Vaisnavas he

has made during his life. A Vaisnava should be a touchstone so that he

can convert others to Vaisnavism by his preaching, even though people may

be fallen like the hunter. There are many so-called advanced devotees who

sit in a secluded place for their personal benefit. They do not go out to

preach and convert others into Vaisnavas, and therefore they certainly

cannot be called sparsa-mani, advanced devotees. (Caitanya-caritamrta,

Madya 24.277, purport)

 

In this connection, Srila Prabhupada quoted the saying, "Like father,

like son." He preached extensively all over the world with unprecedented

success, and he ordered us to preach in the same way. To the extent that

we follow Srila Prabhupada's instructions to preach, he will be pleased,

and he will bless us with the mercy of the disciplic succession, and we

will be successful.

 

Srila Prabhupada has instructed us to preach and explained the

qualification needed to do so:

 

Kanistha-adhikari devotees cannot turn others into Vaisnavas, but a

madhyama-adhikari Vaisnava can do so by preaching. Sri Caitanya

Mahaprabhu advised His followers to increase the number of Vaisnavas:

 

yare dekha, tare kaha 'krsna'-upadesa

amara ajnaya guru hana tara' ei desa

(Cc Madhya 7.128)

 

It is Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's wish that everyone should become a

Vaisnava and guru. Following the instructions of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu

and His disciplic succession, one can become a spiritual master, for the

process is very easy. One can go everywhere and anywhere to preach the

instructions of Krsna. Bhagavad-gita is Krsna's instructions; therefore

the duty of every Vaisnava is to travel and preach Bhagavad-gita, either

in his country or a foreign country. This is the test of the sparsa-mani,

following in the footsteps of Narada Muni." (Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya

24.227, purport)

 

The members of the Krsna consciousness movement chant a minimum of

sixteen rounds a day, which can be done without difficulty, but at the

same time they must preach the cult of Caitanya Mahaprabhu according to

the gospel of Bhagavad-gita As It Is. One who does so is quite fit to

become a spiritual master for the entire world. (Caitanya-caritamrta

Antya 4.103, purport)

 

In the light of the all the above evidence and discussion we should now

consider how we are to regard Narayana Maharaja's assertions that he

regards Srila Prabhupada as his siksa guru and himself as ISKCON's

well-wisher. It should be abundantly clear, why we cannot accept him at

his own evaluation. The teaching that Narayana Maharaja feels inspired to

bring to ISKCON will harm ISKCON by deviating it away from Srila

Prabhupada's direction. Consequently ISKCON has been left no alternative

but to restrict its followers from interaction with Narayana Maharaja.

The following GBC resolutions passed in 1995 explain what is expected of

ISKCON devotees and the consequences for violators:

 

To fulfill the previous acarya's desire for a united world-wide preaching

organization to expand Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission, Srila

Prabhupada founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness as

a distinct branch of the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya.

Therefore he is the Founder-Acarya of ISKCON.

 

a. Srila Prabhupada is the foundational siksa guru for all ISKCON

devotees because he has realized and presented the teachings of the

previous acaryas of the Brahma Madhva Gaudiya sampradaya appropriately

for the modern age.

 

1. A: In obedience to the instruction of His Divine Grace A. C.

Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the GBC directs that the members of

ISKCON should respect all senior Gaudiya Vaishnavas outside ISKCON, but

should not intimately associate with them, personally or through printed

or recorded media, for guidance, teaching, instruction, or initiation as

their presentation of Krishna consciousness often differs from that of

Srila Prabhupada in emphasis, balance and other aspects of both teaching

and practice.

 

B: This resolution is intended to apply categorically to all ISKCON

members. ISKCON leaders' first responsibility is to give considerate

direction, guidance, and counseling to any ISKCON devotees personally

affected by this resolution so as to bring them back to the path set by

Srila Prabhupada.

 

2. In any case, those who continue to act in violation of this

resolution are subject to sanctions by temple presidents and GBC zonal

secretaries, who may exercise their discretion to prohibit any such

devotees from living on ISKCON properties or participating in ISKCON

functions.

 

Given the glaring differences between Narayana Maharaja's preaching and

Srila Prabhupada's teachings, how can anyone wonder why ISKCON has been

led to adopt such resolutions? Yet one senior Prabhupada disciple, who

has recently publicly sworn her allegiance to Narayana Maharaja, declares

with startling naivete:

 

In spite of the way that Srila Narayana Maharaja is presenting himself to

ISKCON [as Prabhupada's siksa disciple and as ISKCON's well-wisher],

there is apparent fear of him that exists within the GBC. I have

struggled to reconcile this dichotomy that exists with his sweet and

respectful sadhu behavior and ISKCON's treatment of him.

 

She explains that her decision to follow Narayana Maharaja is "based on

my realization that Srila Prabhupada's teachings must take precedence

over any later-day decisions taken by the GBC."

 

One wonders how she fails to see that the actual dichotomy lies between

Narayana Maharaja and Srila Prabhupada. Not only are the GBC decisions

completely consistent with Srila Prabhupada' s teachings, they are in

fact demanded by them.

 

This writer goes on to state, echoing a complaint by Narayana Maharaja,

that "There is no record in Shastra, in Srimad Bhagavatam or Chaitanya

Charitamrta where one Vaishnava or group of Vaisnavas have forbidden

anyone from hearing from another bona fide Vaisnava. This policy stands

against Guru, Sadhu and Shastra."

 

Only one completely ignorant or forgetful of the long history of Srila

Prabhupada's actions in relation to some of his Godbrothers could make

such a claim. It is understandable that Narayana Maharaja may be

unfamiliar with Srila Prabhupada's instructions, but how could a senior

Prabhupada disciple have become so ignorant? Or does she no longer

consider Srila Prabhupada and his teachings to be "Guru and Shastra"?

 

Those who know Srila Prabhupada and remain faithful to him cannot forget

the many occasions in India when Srila Prabhupada had to protect his

disciples from adverse actions by some of his Godbrothers. These acts

included:

 

(1) minimizing the position of Srila Prabhupada and belittling his

achievement, (2) minimizing the importance of preaching in favor of

bhajan, or promoting other practices tending toward sahajiyaism, (3)

interfering in ISKCON's management, (4) introducing ideas Prabhupada

considered incorrect, and (5) improperly reinitiating disciples.

 

When Srila Prabhupada first sent his disciples to preach in India, before

many ISKCON temples had been established, he sometimes allowed them to

stay temporarily in Gaudiya Matha institutions. Later on, however, the

problems noted above became such a constant source of difficulty, that

Srila Prabhupada finally felt compelled to issue a blanket restriction

against his disciples' associating with members of the Gaudiya Matha.

This letter to Rupanuga Maharaja of April 28, 1974, illustrates Srila

Prabhupada's level of concern:

 

So it is better not to mix with my Godbrothers very intimately because

instead of inspiring our students and disciples they may sometimes

pollute them. This attempt was made previously by them, especially [names

of Godbrothers deleted] but somehow or other I saved the situation. This

is going on. We shall be very careful about them and not mix with them.

This is my instruction to you all. They cannot help us in our movement,

but they are very competent to harm our natural progress. So we must be

very careful about them.

 

On November 9, 1975, Srila Prabhupada wrote in a similar vein to

Visvakarma Dasa:

 

Please accept my blessings. I am in due receipt of your letter dated

September 3, 1975 with the enclosed statement about [name deleted]. So I

have now issued orders that all my disciples should avoid all of my

godbrothers. They should not have any dealings with them nor even

correspondence, nor should they give them any of my books or should they

purchase any of their books, neither should you visit any of their

temples. Please avoid them.

 

These letters show how far Srila Prabhupada was prepared to go to protect

his movement from contamination by outsiders, even those as close to him

as his own Godbrothers. The general policy of Srila Prabhupada was to

limit the association of his disciples with outsiders, and the GBC's

recent concern about the influence of Narayana Maharaja on members of

ISKCON is certainly in keeping with Prabhupada's attitude and, indeed,

his well-documented policy.

 

Remarkably, the very same problems that arose during Srila Prabhupada's

time in regards to his Godbrothers have all reappeared with respect to

Narayana Maharaja: (1) minimizing the position of Srila Prabhupada, (2)

minimizing the importance of preaching in favor of bhajan, (3)

interfering in ISKCON's management, (4) introducing incorrect ideas, (5)

improperly reinitiating disciples.

 

Although Narayana Maharaja glorifies Srila Prabhupada, it is the type of

glorification which manages to include explicit criticisms, such as

objecting to the names Prabhupada gave Deities (Rukmini-Dvarakadish,

Radha-Parthasarathi) and to Prabhupada's initiating women into the

Brahma gayatri mantra. In addition, an implicit minimization of

Prabhupada is contained in Narayana Maharaja's theme that Prabhupada's

teaching was rudimentary and requires completion.

 

Narayana Maharaja has also reinitiated disciples of ISKCON gurus in good

standing. He is attacking ISKCON and its leaders, reinitiating ISKCON

devotees, and confusing ISKCON's congregations with teachings at variance

with those of Prabhupada--all this, in spite of the assurances given by

two of Narayana Maharaja's followers, both re-initiated former members of

ISKCON (one of them a disciple of a guru in good standing), who write:

 

We would like to allay your fears of any systematic efforts on our part

to canvass. Maharaja has repeatedly publicly stated that he is not

interested in giving diksha, "re-initiating" anyone, collecting crores,

or in any way invalidate the spiritual position of the devotees, for he

is well aware that this will cause confusion. That is surely not his

position, for he only wants to encourage the devotees in their love of

Srila Prabhupada, Iskcon and Sri Gauranga. His mission is to give

respects to Srila Prabhupada and to offer his friendship.

 

This is indeed a strange letter to receive from one who, though a

disciple of a respected ISKCON guru, had only a week earlier been

reinitiated by Narayana Maharaja. Nor is his case unique: Other ISKCON

devotees with gurus in good standing have been reinitiated, often by the

transparent devices of receiving new spiritual "pet names" and by

receiving second initiation These acts transgress Vaisnava etiquette, as

well as the long-established accord among the various Gaudiya Mathas. In

1984, Narayana Maharaja said that in his institution if a member takes

diksa or siksa from another Matha, he is asked to leave. Ten years ago,

when another Gaudiya Matha leader had begun reinitiating ISKCON members

and drawing them from ISKCON, Narayana Maharaja stated with great

emphasis, "No Vaisnava will do like that. This is avaisnava." Now,

however, he seems to be committing the same acts that he once

unhesitatingly condemned.

 

In addition, Narayana Maharaja does not demand the same rigorous

standards for initiation that Srila Prabhupada established. Another

Prabhupada disciple who has become a new admirer of Narayana Maharaja

attempts to justify Narayana Maharaja' s liberality in giving initiation

in these words:

 

I hear the cry that says, "but he is initiating devotees without the

mandatory year-long waiting period". Who says that it's "mandatory"? I

saw Srila Prabhupada initiate a woman who no one even recommended to him,

who came one day, got initiated the next, and no one ever saw her again.

 

The writer seems to have lost her memory of Srila Prabhupada, who in the

beginning did many expedient things to establish the Krishna

Consciousness movement, but who later personally insisted upon certain

basic qualifications that every candidate must meet, not the least of

which was the completion of a six-month probationary period and a

recommendation by a Temple President. During that probationary period,

the devotee was supposed to demonstrate the ability to follow Srila

Prabhupada's minimum standard: strictly following four regulative

principles and chanting sixteen rounds a day. Narayana Maharaja, however,

has a considerably lower standard for giving first initiation.

 

Because of his faith in his spiritual master's order, Srila

Prabhupada--and no one else--undertook all risks to bring Krsna

consciousness to the world. By Krsna's grace, his effort was crowned with

unprecedented success. Therefore, we who follow him accept him as the

acarya for the world-wide preaching of Krsna consciousness. We believe

that Krsna gave him in particular the intelligence to determine the

standard practices for the global Hare Krsna movement. In light of all

these things, we have pledged ourselves to keep faith with Srila

Prabhupada.

 

Among those standards established by Prabhupada were the strict following

of four regulative principles and the chanting of sixteen rounds a day.

Also among those standards was his insistence that rigorous measures be

taken to keep the confidential topics of Radha-Krsna-lila from becoming

the common discourse of conditioned souls. Also among these standards was

the obligation of every devotee to become "fired up" with enthusiasm to

spread Lord Caitanya's mission, for that enthusiasm to spread Krsna

consciousness will transport the devotee to the most confidential service

of Krsna.

 

Narayana Maharaja, however, has a different realization of the way to

preach Krsna consciousness. He wishes to modify Srila Prabhupada's

decisions in this matter. We cannot accept that he is qualified to do so.

Those in ISKCON who have been taught by Srila Prabhupada, and who now

have much experience of preaching outside of India, have strong

misgivings about Narayana Maharaja's endeavors. We have premonitions of

disaster when we see someone liberally initiate many unqualified people

and then immerse those same people in a culture in which rasika topics

are a central focus.

 

Although Narayana Maharaja finds fault with ISKCON and believes he is

presenting something superior, yet he--like some other sannyasis of the

Gaudiya Matha--seems to find himself continually dependent on ISKCON's

preaching. As one of them candidly acknowledged recently, "We are all

simply eating Swami Maharaja's [Prabhupada's] prasad."

 

Narayana Maharaja has his own realizations, at variance with those of

Srila Prabhupada, concerning the way to present Krsna consciousness. If

he wishes to preach outside of India and test his realizations in

practice, we wish him well and do not stand in his way. After all, there

are five billion people around the world to preach to, only a tiny

fraction of whom are in ISKCON. He should not, however, interfere with

ISKCON, but let ISKCON minister to its own members in the manner taught

by Srila Prabhupada, and let Narayana Maharaja bestow his mercy on all he

can of the remaining five billion. Then we shall see who turns out

successful.

 

We therefore ask Narayana Maharaja and his followers not to disturb

ISKCON's efforts to preach according to the dictates of Srila Prabhupada

and not to lead ISKCON's adherents away from those dictates. And we ask

all those who are part of ISKCON to understand clearly that Narayana

Maharaja's policies and practices differ in significant ways from those

of Srila Prabhupada, as we have shown. To recapitulate: Srila Prabhupada

insisted that concentration on topics of conjugal lila is a matter only

for those completely free from sex desire. These topics should never

become the currency of public discourse. Prabhupada silenced any

discussion of his own internal relation with Krsna, and he condemned as

improper inquiry by his disciples concerning the matter. He emphasized

that the qualification for advancing to the highest stages of Krsna

consciousness could be attained by careful hearing and chanting and by

increasing one's ardent endeavors to bring fallen souls back to Krsna.

These practices in themselves will lead the devotee to the perfectional

platform, and he never told us to eventually find a rasika guru and

engage in various practices under his guidance. Any faithful follower of

Srila Prabhupada will carefully observe his directions and not compromise

his teachings with other things.

 

All those who come in the line of Srila Prabhupada should keep faith in

him and worship his order by following it strictly. Those who do so are

assured by Prabhupada of attaining the fullest blessing possible from

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Prabhupada, from Srila Rupa

Gosvami Prabhupada, from Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, and from Sri Sri

Radha-Krsna.

 

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