Ananda Das' folly....

[Guest guest]

(This was written by Jahnu prabhu and he asked me to post it, since he's

travelling and doesn't have regular access to a computer or addresses:)

 

-------

 

In an article posted on Chakra May 29, 2004 by Ananda Das, he propounds

some rather unusual and frankly unenlightened views on Srila Prabhupada,

the Ganges, astrology, female anatomy, as well as the alleged moon landings.

The author then expands his views as if these were already established

scientific facts. The reality is of course that they are not. While on the

surface the author appears to be a reasonable person, his article, rather

than saying anything meaningful about Srila Prabhupada's position or the

relationship between a guru and his disciple, is simply an exposé of his own

immature and strange understanding in these matters. Whereas among devotees

there is always room for differences of opinion regarding the application of

details, in the case of the author it is easy to spot a fundamental

difference in the principle method by which he suggests we discern reality.

Rather than going through the article point by point to reveal his poor

grasp of Vaishnava philosophy and his cluelessness of many material matters,

I have selected just one paragraph to comment upon. Just from the paragraph

below it is possible to understand the author's frame of mind:

 

"Neither was Srila Prabhupada utterly free of error-on material matters,

he sometimes repeated hoary and factually incorrect canards such as the

theory, refutable by any student of anatomy, that women's brains are

smaller than those of men. Nor was Srila Prabhupada beyond the sway of

darkness-he lent unnecessary credence to such risible nonsense as

astrology and, by his excessive aversion to science and modern medicine,

caused many devotees to waste time (and ISKCON's reputation) in alleging

the supposed falsity of lunar landings or in futile attempts to disprove

the evolution of species, and even to risk their lives in the hands of

charlatan "faith healers". He perpetuated false myths such as the alleged

uncontaminability of the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers, which, while as vital

to India as ever, are now among the most heavily industrially-polluted

rivers in the world. "

 

Not only does the above indicate a serious lack of spiritual understanding,

but as an apparent educated academic the author stands out as singularly

uninformed. Ganges water has been scientifically proven to possess

extraordinary qualities of purity. There is hardly a need to discuss whether

or not astrology is risible nonsense, as the author would like to assure us.

Astrology is a science practiced by serious students. Our own venerable

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami was a student of astrology. Does

the author want us to believe that Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami would

be a student of 'risible nonsense?' A preposterous thought. The author is

also quick to denounce Srila Prabhupada's opinion that the US never went to

the moon as mere myth, but he offers no reason or argument in favor thereof.

On the other hand there is all kinds of evidence and extremely good

arguments available to suggest that the moon-landing was a hoax -- by all

manner of non-devotee and devotee groups alike. Didn't they promise us in

the 70's that we would all be holidaying on the moon by now? Of course it

has never happened.

 

The author may lack the necessary faith in Srila Prabhupada to accept his

statement that we never went to the moon, but how can he as an apparent

rational, educated person overlook all the rather convincing evidence of a

hoax that has been floating around on the net for years? It would seem

through spiritual weakness he has become prejudiced by allowing himself to

be bewildered by the modern educational system - the educational system

Srila likened to a slaughterhouse.

 

The author dares to denounce Srila Prabhupada's statement that 'we never

went to the moon' as mere myth, but what he doesn't seem to realize is that

instead of placing his faith in Srila Prabhupada and the Vedic process, he

has elected NASA as a worthy repository of his faith. Rather than accepting

the authority of the most prominent proponent of Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy

the modern world has known, instead he is now accepting the views and myths

perpetuated by NASA and the Disney culture and let us be in no doubt here

the author doesn't actually have the slightest clue as to whether they

went to the moon or not. He simply has to take it from NASA. Who in their

right mind would favor the authority of NASA over that of Srila Prabhupada?

 

So the problem here is very simple. It is not a question of whether or

not Srila Prabhupada was perfect -- a fact that the author seems incapable

to observe or appreciate -- or whether we went to the moon: it is solely a

question of what kind of authority we select to place our faith in. The

author has apparently chosen the paradigm of the modern naturalistic

approach, wherein the information and rationale that results from the

empirical method is his foundation for understanding reality. Devotees of

Krishna have (and often for good and rationally defendable reasons) chosen

to base their view of the world on the Vedic accounts, as given to us by

Srila Prabhupada, and the methods inherent in that model. Thus this

discussion most of all is a clash between material and spiritual paradigms

and much less about ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada. The strangest part of all

is that the author calls himself by a name that shows he has sold out to the

material paradigm, and thus we are here dealing with clear duplicity. He

presents himself as a devotee but he neither talks nor thinks like a

devotee.

 

Jahnudvip das