Guest guest Posted January 1, 2002 Report Share Posted January 1, 2002 Braja: >"Materialistic and selfish idea"? To whom are you referring? Was Srila >Prabhupada being materialistic and selfish in his desire to build this >temple? I'm of course not saying there's anything wrong with building a temple for worship, as long as the devotion, the inner mission, is more important than the material benefits and considerations. That is obvious, but has not always been the case. (I'm of course not referring to Prabhupada.) What I'm saying is that I'm very disappointed at the choice of priorities of the leaders of ISKCON, in general. As we all know, there are many important problems to deal with in ISKCON, and that should be more important than anything. The decades of abuse of women and children, and the consequences related to that, being the most serious, will keep echoing through the organization for a long, long time. I have still not seen nearly enough effort to truly change this and aid the victims, as well as finally stop giving shelter to and defending abusers. What I do keep hearing about is money issues, about local and regional leaders who are keeping "private" accounts, defending "their" last penny, "disappearing" funds, new ideas to make money etcetera. All that has nothing whatsoever to do with spiritual life. Now do you see why temple building, in company with the "condemning" of welfare work, such as prasadam distribution to the poor, rings so false in my ears? Building temples doesn't solve these problems, but for some it may actually become a way to avoid the real issues, a reason to keep pushing for fund raising, that in itself has created serious problems for so many individuals. The fund raising has over all been a big problem in itself, because it has enhanced a materialistic attitude, a non stop craving for money, asskissing of the rich and famous, and even the illusion that bringing in big bucks to ISKCON is equal to spiritual advancement. (So the rich, the strong, healthy and resourceful would "make it back to Godhead", according to such a belief, but not the poor and sick...) Of course, we all know (or should know) that this is not vaishnava philosophy, but still this became an unfortunate, almost all pervading "philosophy", with many negative consequences, also for the children, whose parents were forced to leave them behind to go on endless fund raising tours. >> Nothing material will "impress" the materialists, only love, compassion >> and respect of others can do that. >> >> When are these men going to learn? >> >Again, I would humbly suggest that you be careful when considering that you >have much more understanding of this matter than Srila Prabhupada's >dedicated disciples. I know that being a leader in ISKCON is not a pic nic, even if it's a voluntary responsability. Perhaps those who are in leading positions in ISKCON, are constantly considering how they may share their true understanding, their compassion for every living entity and their love of the Lord with others in a useful fasion, that may truly benefit the individuals in this organization. They just need to show it in action too. I don't think lack of understanding is their problem, but perhaps lack of perspective. As a leader there are many pits to avoid. The demands and pressure on them have been / are enormous. Who wouldn't loose perspective in such a position? Who wouldn't begin to underestimate the understanding and capability of others, when constantly confronted with personal, local, regional as well as general managing problems? >There has been a lot of long, hard work put into the >Mayapur Temple Project, some 20 years' worth, and to question the devotees >who have surrendered their lives to this project only serves to leave you in >a questionable position. My position is of no importance and I'm not at all questioning these devotees. But isn't it about time to change focus? And put the welfare of devotees, every single individual, living here and now, before any spectacular project? No project will EVER be successful unless that comes first, don't you agree? "Peace begins at home", as the saying goes... That's all I'm saying. Lotta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 5, 2002 Report Share Posted January 5, 2002 then stop your criticism look for the honey not the pus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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