From Antardvip Prabhu in the UK...

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> ©1999 VNN

> EDITORIAL

>

> August 9, 1999

>

> The Devotee Abuser Now Abuses His Guru

> -----------------------------

> ----------

> BY ANTARDWIP DAS

> EDITORIAL, Aug 9 (VNN) Ñ Dear Anuttma prabhu, You write (and

> thanks for writing):

> "Sri Antardwipa Das suggests that Adridharan and Madhu Pandit

> Prabhus step out of ISKCON if they are "unhappy" with the

> system of initiations currently practised in ISKCON. "

> "And don't tread the path laid by the "qualified disciples" -

> removing sincere & honest devotees -- the real followers, from

> Prabhupada's home, it will serve you no good purpose. Gone are

> the days when you could manipulate the devotees, beat them up,

> remove them from temples and brainwash them."

> Adri is no victim of anyone, and far from being thrown out of

> ISKCON, he is throwing Srila Prabhupada's entire society out

> of Calcutta Temple with his present court action. Adri is the

> one who is being harsh on ISKCON. Adri deals harshly with

> everyone, and despite many changes of GBC to try to

> accommodate him, no GBC has yet been able to develop a working

> relationship with him. And still he has been kept on as

> President - so where is harsh ISKCON? To those under him OR

> above him he demands total compliance and throws out anyone

> who - not just challenges him - but just is not his sold-out

> supporter, into the street. As an example, he once got the

> hired outside guard to throw a vaishnava I know well, into the

> street (down two flights of stairs) just because he was

> chanting his rounds instead of being in class - honestly, it's

> true. There are dozens of sad stories of abuse like this,

> especially with the Bengali vaishnavas. The Bengalis used to

> make a rather racist joke saying Adri being a Sindhi, when he

> dies, five vultures take birth, he is so heartless. The

> western devotees used to say that Adri interprets humility and

> tolerence in vaishnavas to mean he can exploit and abuse

> vaishnavas.

> These claims of harsh treatment by persons like Adri (or other

> leaders) are like the wolf creating chaos in the hen house,

> jumping outside and saying "Look what a mess the hens have

> made!". Many of our harshest leaders, on leaving, claim that

> ISKCON is harsh, actually ISKCON is gentler for their absence,

> not vice versa. Of harsh leaders, Adri certainly is a leader.

> You say gone are the days "when you could manipulate the

> devotees... sincere and honest devotees..., beat them up,

> remove them from temples and brainwash them." This is a good

> description of your Adri in the past and nowadays, why do you

> say those days are gone, if you want him to stay in ISKCON?

> Adri, by going to the Calcutta Courts has taken his

> enviousness to a new level and shown that the ritviks don't

> care even if they break Srila Prabhupada's heart to achieve

> their aims. The ritviks have taken over where the zonal

> acharya system left off in trying to dismantle the ISKCON

> family.

> You say "Srila Prabhupada did not give any instruction (known

> to us at present) to stop that system of initiation upon his

> departure" - so: 1: Where did Srila Prabhupada take back his

> instruction that the GBC were the authority in ISKCON? So why

> don't you follow that?

> 2: Where did Srila Prabhupada retract his statement that only

> a disciple of Kali would use the courts to decide spiritual

> conflicts? So why don't you follow that?

> 3: Srila Prabhupada said he wanted "All my disciples to become

> spiritual masters" Prabhupada NEVER contradicted himself in

> philosophical matters. Srila Prabhupada was always

> philosophically consistent, and the perfect understanding of

> his having ritvik priests to conduct initiations was that it

> was a system adopted to initiate disciples in his last months

> when he couldn't initiate personally, and when etiquette

> prevented his disciples to take disciples during his manifest

> presence. Now he has left, etiquette allows them to initiate.

> That's it. And now everything he has said about his disciples

> taking disciples was not a mistake of his, as ritviks claim,

> but still stands.

> Even though some disciples have failed as spiritual masters,

> others are doing fine. Still, we aim to improve our society

> and fulfill Srila Prabhupada's desires to the point that ALL

> his disciples will become the compotent spiritual masters

> Srila Prabhupada wanted and that his followers deserve.

> Because Srila Prabhupada's potency is that great. I don't

> think Adri will make better Srila Prabhupada disciples than

> Srila Prabhupada himself made. And why he would want to make

> more Srila Prabhupada disciples beats me, because he thinks

> the Calcutta Court has more spiritual knowledge! Perhaps he

> should get people to take initiation from Calcutta lawyers,

> no? Where's his logic? In his wallet, perhaps.

> Again, thank you for your reply,

> Antardwip das