Guest guest Posted December 27, 1999 Report Share Posted December 27, 1999 >[Text 2887275 from COM] Ekanath das prabhu wrote: >> ***Concern over Preservation of Srila Prabhupada Vani*** ______ >> At the Bhaktivedanta Archives it has come to our attention that bootleg >> versions of Bhaktivedanta Archives items and an MP3 version of the Srila >> Prabhupada Tape and CD ministries are being sold to the devotee community >> at large. To which Ugresa das prabhu, of Graz, Austria, responded: > It is sad to notice that there is such a low moral basis prevailing in our > movement. I helped my neighbors which are members of another spiritual > tradition to download a live speech from their master on the internet. They > had to pay 25 US$ to be allowed to download it. The web site said that it is > forbidden to record the lecture and distribute the record. > They recorded it since they had no time to listen to it while I downloaded >it but when I asked them why they dont [lend] the tape to their friends they > said that it is not allowed and that therefore they would never do it. >It works in other movments, why not in ours? > We might be able to cheat each other for some time, but we will not > be able to cheat Krishna. ============================================ I think the "low moral basis" to which Ugresa alludes is real, and it should be of concern to us all. There has been too much preaching within ISKCON about how the devotee is somehow transcendental to mundane morality. Although is a fact that Krsna consciousness is beyond all material designations, one cannot transcend something until one has learned to follow the mundane rules in the first place. Even when the uttama-bhaktin has passed beyond all need to obey mundane rules, he or she will generally do so anyway, out of concern for the example set for others. How much more, then, should we kanistha- and madhyama-devotees be concerned to behave properly where morals and ethics are concerned! But it is unfortunately more typical in ISKCON to see someone saying that we can do anything for Krsna, with little or no concern as to whether the results of what one does in such a mood truly DO go to Krsna. If we act amorally on the claim of doing everything for Krsna, but keep even one bit of the proceeds back for our own sensual gratification, it would seem that what we thus do has become ordinary karma for which we will suffer the ordinary rewards and punishments we would be entitled to by the laws of karma. The antinomian viewpoint is that faith alone is sufficient for liberation, and that obedience to morality is trivial and unnecessary. A more holistic viewpoint might express our doctrines more palatably: the devotee, though under no compulsion to do so, will voluntarily maintain a high moral basis for the good of his or her own devotional advancement as well as for the good of the world, and will eschew illegal behaviour unless he or she, properly counselled, can find no alternative. Under this system, disobedience to law would be the extremely rare exception, not accepted as "normal", and would only be justified by extremely unusual circumstances. Best wishes, Ananda das Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 27, 1999 Report Share Posted December 27, 1999 >[Text 2887275 from COM] Ekanath das prabhu wrote: >> ***Concern over Preservation of Srila Prabhupada Vani*** ______ >> At the Bhaktivedanta Archives it has come to our attention that bootleg >> versions of Bhaktivedanta Archives items and an MP3 version of the Srila >> Prabhupada Tape and CD ministries are being sold to the devotee community >> at large. To which Ugresa das prabhu, of Graz, Austria, responded: > It is sad to notice that there is such a low moral basis prevailing in our > movement. I helped my neighbors which are members of another spiritual > tradition to download a live speech from their master on the internet. They > had to pay 25 US$ to be allowed to download it. The web site said that it is > forbidden to record the lecture and distribute the record. > They recorded it since they had no time to listen to it while I downloaded >it but when I asked them why they dont [lend] the tape to their friends they > said that it is not allowed and that therefore they would never do it. >It works in other movments, why not in ours? > We might be able to cheat each other for some time, but we will not > be able to cheat Krishna. ============================================ I think the "low moral basis" to which Ugresa alludes is real, and it should be of concern to us all. There has been too much preaching within ISKCON about how the devotee is somehow transcendental to mundane morality. Although is a fact that Krsna consciousness is beyond all material designations, one cannot transcend something until one has learned to follow the mundane rules in the first place. Even when the uttama-bhaktin has passed beyond all need to obey mundane rules, he or she will generally do so anyway, out of concern for the example set for others. How much more, then, should we kanistha- and madhyama-devotees be concerned to behave properly where morals and ethics are concerned! But it is unfortunately more typical in ISKCON to see someone saying that we can do anything for Krsna, with little or no concern as to whether the results of what one does in such a mood truly DO go to Krsna. If we act amorally on the claim of doing everything for Krsna, but keep even one bit of the proceeds back for our own sensual gratification, it would seem that what we thus do has become ordinary karma for which we will suffer the ordinary rewards and punishments we would be entitled to by the laws of karma. The antinomian viewpoint is that faith alone is sufficient for liberation, and that obedience to morality is trivial and unnecessary. A more holistic viewpoint might express our doctrines more palatably: the devotee, though under no compulsion to do so, will voluntarily maintain a high moral basis for the good of his or her own devotional advancement as well as for the good of the world, and will eschew illegal behaviour unless he or she, properly counselled, can find no alternative. Under this system, disobedience to law would be the extremely rare exception, not accepted as "normal", and would only be justified by extremely unusual circumstances. Best wishes, Ananda das Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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