Rtvik Philosophy is Covered Impersonalism

[stonehearted]

If Ksamabuddhi called ISKCON's gurus pedophiles, etc., I probably missed it, and I don't have the time or interest for going back to search it out. If that's the case, please accpet my apologies.

[Guest guest]

i'm not english

 

i'm respecting you as a friend saying what i sincerely think

 

you are answering with a bad joke

 

my compliments for your deep and open way to relationate with others ...

[Guest guest]

no problem at all!!!

 

my prostrated obeisances to you and your wonderful salagram silas!!!!

[Guest guest]

You sound like someone sane,sober and wise. I offer my humble obeisances to you.

[Guest guest]

Dear Members, we all agree on the points being argued.

 

Whether the book or the person, it is all bona-fide evidence in the context of these discussions.

 

As previously pointed out, there is no formula to be drived from this. There is no empirical evidence.

 

Ultimately, everything is personal. The book is an expansion of the person. So in arguing for the book, you are really arguing for the person.

 

In the absence of a person, some will take shelter of books. Others will seek other persons.

 

There is no "answer" to this. The individual desires and motives ultimately come down to preferences based on informed decisions and it is highly subjective. We make our choices and we take our chances.

 

Obeisances. Guess Guest

 

[Guest guest]

 

(A Room conversation amongst disciples of Srila Prabhupada)

 

Swami Narasingha: They don't want to accept what Jiva Goswami has said. They want to understand the truth in terms of the present, not in the light of the previous acaryas. They regard their books as dispensable. That is a big mistake. Can you actually imagine walking up to Srila Prabhupada and saying, " The six goswamis are very great, we have their picture on the altar, but it is obvious that since your books are here all the other works of the acaryas are dispensable." That couldn't possibly fly, so to speak. Or they could say it in such a way like, "Srila Prabhupada, through you we are going to get everything. We can't understand many of the previous acaryas, but through you we are going to get everything.Yes." You know in a different mood. If you did it with that mood ... we could burn all the other books. We don't need anything. You are a fool. He would just have to tell you you are a fool right to your face...

 

There are no real philosophers in the world today. There are only politicians, scientists and other types of sense-gratifiers. There are no philosophers. And if there were, they wouldn't have a prayer to deal with, without the help of the sandarbhas. You can only deal with the scientists and materialists with the help of Srila Prabhupada's purports. [When you get into details of philosophy...] For instance, most devotees can detect sahajyaism only because Prabhupada said these are the groups of sahajyas, different things like that. In many cases they really don't understand, what is the sahajyaism about this? For example, there is a group which sings this mantra: nitai-gaura, radhe-syama, hare krsna, hare rama. Srila Prabhupada said, "Yes, they are devotees, but the acaryas have recommended: sri krsna-caitanya prabhu nityananda...(panca-tattva maha-mantra) and then the hare krsna maha-mantra." They sing this mantra and we say this mantra is not bondfide. But Prabhupada says they are devotees.

 

If you look at the mantra, nitai-gaura, radhe-syama, hare krsna, hare rama, there are so many names poetically put together. What is wrong with this? Prabhupada said it is bogus. But if that is all you are armed with, if that is your only proof, a third party will challenge, "Prabhupada said? That is nice. But why is it bogus? This man says it isn't, but your Prabhupada said it is. Okay. Why is it bogus? Don't just tell me who says it is bogus; that is not what I asked you. I asked you why it is bogus." And pretty much they end up saying, "It just is, that's all. Because he said." And then they will be lost. Then there is nothing.

 

Why should they listen to you? "He says, you say, but I want to know why." Then they say, "Why do you chant this mantra?" And they will give you an answer and a meaning to their mantra. If you can't follow the siddhanta, right then they will turn around to you and ask, "What is wrong with that?" And you will say, "Prabhupada said it wasn't right." Sorry, you don't know why it isn't right, you lose. Actually, it has to do with the siddhanta that they know. And that's it in a nutshell: they consider Nityananda to be Radharani. Someone neophyte might say , "Well, it doesn't matter if they have the wrong understanding, they are worshiping Krsna. So they are worshiping Caitanya and considering Nityananda to be Radharani. That may be a mistake, but they are worshiping Gaura-Nitai." The way some devotees think, that is all right, they are worshiping Gaura-Nitai. So you are not a big philosopher, so you have a little misunderstanding. That little misunderstanding makes the whole thing stink right on the spot. That makes the whole thing go rotten and void, become zero. You get nothing out of it. You go to a different place, not where they are.

 

JD: You mentioned this the other day, Sridhara Maharaja's comment on a certain group. They are worshiping the conception of so many different...

 

SN: Their conception is adulterated, but their sadhana is better than ours. Almost exclusively every member of their group chants 64 rounds a day, almost exclusively. They do kirtana hour after hour. We say, remember the days in the 60s and the 70s when we used to do six hours of hari-nama a day? Well they do six hours of hari-nama a day and they have been doing it since the days of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta. In many ways they have a shining program, more complete and better than us. Then someone will say, "Well they have this kirtana-style which is really not what Prabhupada wanted. They have this really flamboyant style of dancing and spinning, and swooning and jumping with the mrdanga."

 

You should have seen the bull fights in Mayapura this year in the kirtana. They also have a strange way of dancing and singing and yelling and whooping and hollering. They are in a very, very weak position, not referring to the siddhanta, not knowing much about the substance.

 

RD: So if one doesn't know the siddhanta, or doesn't know the reason why something is bogus, and another group comes along with a sadhana or philosophy that Prabhupada didn't address directly, they will be helpless in understanding whether it is bonafide or not.

 

SN: Exactly. They can only think,"They are not in our society, they are not bonafide. We know that."

 

RD: So the only safe thing for them is to give a categorical denunciation. Where what Srila Sridhara Maharaja was saying it seems to me, represented a personality who could filter out what was outside of your direct experience of what Prabhupada gave you, could give you the essence of Gaudiya Vaisnavism beyond what Srila Prabhupada may have detailed to us and help us sort through it, but they rejected that so they have either blocked out anything beyond their society or, whatever they do contact outside is very questionable, maybe sahajiyism, maybe something....

 

JD: ...something outside the camp...

 

SN: Like what was done at Mayapur, they invited a big personality in who is basically an impersonalist and had a big program. That is done in the name of money-making.

 

One of the parts to the answer to Mother Dirgha's question is that...how to defeat the ritvik idea and the answer is that, because there is no example of a ritvik acarya ever in the whole history of existence in this universe. And there are hundreds of stories in the Srimad-Bhagavatam of guru disciple, guru disciple. In the C.c. there wasn't even ritvik what to speak of Srila Prabhupada, Caitanya Mahaprabhu was present but the people weren't ritviking for Him. There is no example of a ritvik ever. There is only the example of parampara. In the Nectar of Devotion, Chapter Seven, which is a summary study of Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, you have to look it up, Srila Prabhupada talks about sannyasis. There he says that the sannyasi will always accept any sincere disciple. That is one of the direct references. C.c. Adi-lila 1. The truth of guru-tattva is described. It describes the parampara, the disciplic succession. Without being initiated by a bonafide spiritual master...it doesn't say without being initiated by a ritvik of a bonafide spiritual master although he has left the world. It says without being initiated by a bonafide spiritual master one cannot go back to Godhead. And also in there it says, first one generally takes siksa, then the siksa-guru then gives diksa. So there is no example of a ritvik anywhere except sometimes during the living presence of the spiritual master a ritvik acts as a priest because he can't be present. That is quite common.

 

Otherwise, if you look in the current Sikh magazine you can find many good references for ritviks because that is what the Sikhs are. They are a ritvik religion. They finished off the last guru, Guru Nanak Singh. They define a ritvik body that sits in the temple in Amritsar and they worship the Grantha-sahib. Just like some devotees, all they need is Srila Prabhupada's books as their guru. Well all they need is Guru Nanak's book. It is called the Grantha-sahib, the great book. And they give ritvik. But in our line there is no example. There is no precedence anywhere; not in any lecture of Srila Prabhupada.

 

One time one newspaper reporter inquired, "After you, who will be guru?" And Srila Prabhupada said, "All my disciples will be guru." There is no reference to their brand of ritvik. It is just a play on words that Prabhupada made the ritviks. But he didn't say they would be anything but be the ritviks. He established the ritviks to initiate around the world before he left the world on his behalf. In their mind there is no proof that that was ever changed. Therefore that is what he set up and that is what goes on, until he indicates otherwise. But the otherwise had already been indicated for 12 years of preaching.

 

When I took sannyasa (1976), and I can show you my sannyasa initiation, Prabhupada said in his very short sannyasa initiation lecture, "you become guru." He says it five times in this lecture. "You become guru. You become guru." Some people say that that means siksa guru. In Srila Prabhupada's essay, that is in the BBT archives, we printed that in the book, Search for the Ultimate Goal of Life. Srila Prabhupada says, there are some who say that become guru means only become siksa-guru. And he said, such persons are foolish. They do not understand the parampara. That is in The Search for the Ultimate Goal of Life. What he says five times, particularly in my sannyasa initiation lecture, he says in hundreds of times in other places, both generally and pointedly. There is no reference anywhere of a ritvik. And as I said yesterday, ultimately the ritvik, even if everyone agrees to become a ritvik. My disciples they don't want a ritvik, they are quite happy with their guru. Ask them. Why should they want to become Prabhupada's disciple?

 

But if you say there is no one qualified among Prabhupada's disciples, then why would anyone want to become his disciple?

 

If all of you have been following his teachings for 25-30 years and you are not qualified, then why should I follow his teachings? It must mean that his teachings have no potency. That is what the ritviks are actually saying. They are saying that Prabhupada has no potency. His teachings have no potency. Well maybe, you, [refers to a devotee not present], don't follow the principles, well I do--for twenty-seven years, very strictly. And not just the principles of four regulative principles, a lot of other principles that are outlined in the sastras. What it means to become a Krsna conscious person. What it means to serve the spiritual master. .

 

And basically ritvik philosophy is not good because it is offensive to those who actually do follow. And that is really what it is all about. Oh, you don't follow. You are the one that doesn't do this. You are the one who can't come to the dhama and live in India. You are the one who has no tapasya. You are figuring that no one else does. Well, I've been here for twenty years and I've been following for longer than that these principles and concepts, siddhanta and so many things. So to say that no one is qualified...okay what if no one is qualified? Then why become a disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami? What is the advantage? Oh, now you are going to become qualified? All the others didn't.

 

They don't know what it means to become qualified. The spiritual master can qualify somebody, even though they have a defect in their habit or their practice. That is also possible. Does [ this devotee] accept that Prabhupada's father is a pure devotee? If so, then let him answer why did Prabhupada's father give hashish and marijuana to the sadhus that came into his house? Why did he go and make gifts of marijuana and butter to the sannyasis at kali-ghata? I mean he was distributing dope basically. So which way do you accept him as a pure devotee? What is the criterion that makes him a pure devotee? It is certainly not that. He has a hooka in his house, that is even mentioned in the Lilamrta. And I guess only the guests smoke it. Have you ever sat down with somebody and just tried to get them something to eat. "No, no I won't take." That just doesn't fly. Ten times, but one of the times for sure they are going to insist that you have the drink, the water, the refreshment, the sandwich, whatever it is that you are offering them.

 

So by what criterion does he know he is a pure devotee. I don't think [name] Prabhu can answer that question. I don't think he knows. Then by his own estimation Prabhupada's father is not fit. He doesn't strictly follow the principles. Then by which way is he known as a pure devotee? What is a pure devotee?

 

They think a pure devotee means somebody who is materially pure. Nobody is materially pure. What, you don't pass stool? Everyone has a material body. Everyone is materially contaminated, more or less. They don't know what is spiritual purity. It is just that they have some idea of what is material purity. And they fail in that also. They fail in both counts. Therefore they just figure no one is qualified. That is the truth.

 

If I wanted to go and accept a teacher and learn karate, let's say. So I go to one school and I inquire, in the national competition, how many of the students of this teacher took first or second place? Oh, no, no they got their butt kicked every time for a year. Why would you want to become his student for? Then they say, here is another professor, his students win everytime.

 

Immediately you want to enroll in the school where the students are successful. Not where the students are a failure. You don't want a tutor whose students fail the exams. If you look for a tutor you want a tutor whose students pass the exams with flying colors. So if you look for a spiritual master you just don't look for the spiritual master, you look for the spiritual master who has the qualified disciples and then for sure you know you have the right thing. And they discredit Srila Prabhupada by saying no one is qualified. And he also indicated that when he said, You can judge the spiritual master by the disciples. And that is just what they are doing.

 

They are condemning Srila Prabhupada. Why? Because their glorification of him is just mundane. It is not really transcendental. When it is taken and put under the magnifying glass it is no glorification of him. It is a vilification of him. Not a glorification. He used to say, You have to be this or that about behavior and following because one will judge, or one will know about the spiritual master due to the position of his disciples.

 

So that is what we know about Srila Prabhupada according to them, that there is no use in following this teaching, it doesn't work.

 

So they'll have to say they are not qualified and for the dignity of Srila Prabhupada I'll say, that's fine with you but I don't have the same opinion about others. And I see others who are qualified and they've got the mercy and they know the philosophy and they know the practice. And look at Srila Prabhupada... you say you haven't seen God, then sit down and be quiet. I say I have and you listen to me. Ultimately I have to take the same stand even if they say, Oh that is quite puffed up. And I say, Well that is quite an embarrassment for you to keep saying no one is qualified who has been following Srila Prabhupada. That is quite an embarrassment. So ultimately I would have to take that position and say, Yes, I am, I can, I will, I do, and all by the grace of Srila Prabhupada, nothing on my own. And they are saying just the opposite. They are saying his grace comes to me and it amounts to nothing.

 

Then from another side Prabhupada and Krsna are on the same plane, the same transcendental plane. So either you bring down Krsna or you bring down Prabhupada. In either case you have to be qualified.

 

Even if you want to be a ritvik and connect to Srila Prabhupada you have to be able to transcend this world, you have to be connected in the line. The flow of the current has to be coming through you also, otherwise you can't connect anybody.

 

And that is what initiation, real initiation means. The disciples, they are connected to the whole flow. And according to their adherence to the line, to the conception and everything, then that matures more and more.

 

But this ritvik idea is saying, okay you are a Prabhupada disciple, good luck, I didn't make it I hope you do. That doesn't work at all.

 

RD: Another thing we were discussing in North Carolina before we came here is they say you become directly Srila Prabhupada's disciple.

 

SN: Hansadutta, one of the leaders of the ritviks, told his former disciple Ram das (Rahugana), since reinitiated by Srila Bhakti Promod Puri Maharaja, that he doesn't really believe in the ritvik philosophy, but just has to have something to do.

 

What is the meaning of that, connecting me to Srila Prabhupada. What is the meaning of that? He is doing the same thing. So we should consider like, well, who should the truth of the sampradaya come through? And if that is true, if that's the truth... Years ago N. D., a godbrother, had his confrontation and I was asked to do something. So I said that I don't want to get involved with this issue. I have more important things to sort out than the ritvik thing, because it isn't an issue in the world I live in, where I am with the public or with the devotees. Anyway, so I called him up and said, Okay, I'll try to do something. I'll send you a list of twenty questions. You send these questions to [name] Prabhu, either 5 at a time or all at a time, whatever you want. And he said to say this, Well, according to what we conceive of what you are saying, because there are no references to ritvik anywhere in the sampradaya, you are proposing a new course for the sampradaya, so we are willing to accept that but we want to get a little confidence in you that it has taken a turn since the time of Brahma, it is going to be a new type of thing. We just want to be sure, so we want you to answer these questions which will show that you understood the old sampradaya. And if you can answer these questions then we can consider that you may know what is the future that is to be done. If you can't answer these questions then you haven't understood the primary, how you can understand the theoretical science let along what is to be done in the future. This is to be done now, this ritvik. If he didn't understand the old school... and I gave him twenty questions and he mailed them to him but he never got a reply back.

 

I've never met the man personally but I have heard his philosophy and I've heard different kinds of things and there is no way he or his team of ritviks can answer these questions because they seem to miss the fundamental substance of the Brahma-Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya which comes through Lord Caitanya and the Six Goswamis, either from Srila Prabhupada's book or any source.

 

They manytimes give a mundane conception for these things. And that is part of our reply, part of our challenge back to them. If they heard part of this and they want to respond... actually I have forty questions now. They are not tricky questions, or loaded questions. They are straightforward questions. Why this? Why this? What is the meaning of this song? What is the meaning of this? Simple things. Things that they even do. What is the meaning and why do we do it? Who are these people? And they don't know. So...Wasn't there some questions in your little booklet about ritvik or something?

 

RD: That was Prabhupada's initiation lecture.

 

SN: One of these was all about the ritvik also. Well, not all about but part of it was about ritvik.

 

RD: Your booklet?

 

SN: Yes.

 

RD: There is the history of Ramanujacarya when he comes to see the deceased body of Yamunacarya and he has already left the world and he is in samadhi. And there is a mystic transmission of the three vows. He hadn't taken diksa from him. They had never seen each other. When Yamunacarya had come to where Ramanuja was as a boy and he was studying under Yadhava Prakash. He had seen Ramanuja on the street but they never had any direct contact. Before, Yamunacarya he sent his disciple to bring Ramanuja to him. But by the time the disciples had travelled from the distance where Ramanuja was living Yamunacarya had left his body. When Ramanuja arrived there was a crowd...if there was ever an instance of direct public witnessing of divine connection between the guru and the disciple it was that instance. It is very well documented. And yet after that instance, he wasn't initiated, he returned to his village and the disciples of Yamunacarya they got together and had a meeting and said, Well someone has to go on behalf of the sampradaya and give him diksa and initiate him. They choose among themselves one Mahapurnama, who was a householder devotee, disciple of Yamunacarya. And he became the diksa guru of Ramanuja.

 

If there was ever a case that would have been a ritvik initiation, or that they would consider, that would have been done. But it is such an obvious thing that they said, Well now someone has to go and give him diksa to bring him into the sampradaya. A very, very clear case that after that kind of connection still diksa was given by a living acarya who later Ramanuja surpassed. Ramanuja even initiated disciples in the living presence of him. He had many gurus whom he had studied different sastras under. And our sampradaya, to a large degree, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati instituted different things based on the structure of Sri sampradaya. I recently discussed with my wife, that was a very, very prominent example in very strict vaisnava sampradaya, total dismissing any idea of ritvik. Actually the direct opposite.

 

JD: One thing ritviks always say when you come in conversation with them is, Prabhupada said everything is in his books.

 

SN: What is the meaning of the sannyasa gayatri mantra?

 

What is the meaning of the sannyasa gayatri mantra? Prabhupada gave it to over seventy men. What is the meaning of it? It is not in his books. You don't know. Wrong.

 

Where in his books does it say who is the prayojana acarya? Wrong. It is not in his books.

 

Where does it tell us what is the commentary of the brahma gayatri mantra? Wrong. It is not in his books. That is a foolish statement. Because we cannot understand at that time. Everyone is fool. One time Prabhupada said, Preaching is for fools. It means going out and convincing people. They are the fools so we have to convince them. We have to make arguments with them.

 

Srila Prabhupada would meet with Sridhar Maharaja, they didn't have to convince each other that Lord Chaitanya is God. They could relish being in the holy dhama, relish the holy name, relish some aspect of the Brahma-samhita. Again, you have studied Srila Prabhupada's books, you have studied the conversations, the ritvik people, how do they explain in all those fifteen volumes of conversations Prabhupada preaches to everybody and he corrects everybodies misconceptions, from disciples to doctors, to heads of state. But when he talks to Srila Sridhara Maharaja in one of those volumes, Srila Prabhupada makes a statement about Ganesh and Srila Sridhar Maharaja corrects him and says, No, it is not like that. And then Srila Sridhar Maharaja talks for about three fat paragraphs describing Ganesh and the position of Ganesh. And after that Srila Prabhupada says, Oh yes, Maharaja, thank you. Nobody in the world could we ever see correct Prabhupada or tell him.

 

Srila Sridhar Maharaja preached to Srila Prabhupada for six straight years. They lived in the same house together and Sridhar Maharaja did the preaching and Srila Prabhupada learned from him the conception of Bhaktisiddhanta. And Srila Prabhupada was thoroughly abreast of all of these things. Highest conceptions. They come out in a few places.

 

There was an article about that in the Gaudiya. deha-. pallavam... one verse written by Jayadeva Goswami describing Krsna's plea for the foot dust of Srimati Radharani. This verse is only mentioned twice. Once on record and once to Jadurani in 1967 where he told her the whole story about how Jayadeva Goswami wrote that verse. Similarly when Kesava Maharaja left the world in 1968 or '69 Srila Prabhupada wrote a pranama mantra and forwarded by mail to Mathura as a condolence for the disappearance of Kesava Maharaja. That mantra was actually taken from the Stavavali of Raghunatha dasa Goswami verse #4 or 6 and he just changed one of the lines and made the verse go to Kesava Maharaja instead of to Sanatana Goswami. He knew about the Vilapa Kusamanjali also. That is considered the highest and most esoteric poetry. That is why Raghunatha das Goswami is considered the prayojana acarya. Basically because of that set of poems. That is it, there is nothing higher, no aspiration, no concept, no feeling, no necessity, no urgency superior to what the acaryas found in those prayers.

 

This isn't described in Srila Prabhupada's books. But Srila Prabhupada is fully aware of that. Everything is found in Srila Prabhupada's books except over half of the tenth canto, and the eleventh canto and the twelfth canto. Those are not in Srila Prabhupada's books. So, these are spirited statements. Just like here in our temple we have everything, but part of that everything is that desire to be ready to receive whatever else Krsna wants to give. That means in everything. Prabhupada has given us everything, that means he gave us Sridhara Maharaja also, so why do you reject that. That's what they cannot understand. We have Sridhara Maharaja because he gave him to us. I had never been on that side of the river practically.

 

Tripurari Maharaja was massaging Srila Prabhupada's feet when Srila Prabhupada said, if you have any questions regarding the philosophy you go to see my Godbrother B. R. Sridhar Maharaja in Navadvipa. Tripurari Maharaja was massaging his feet. If you ask anybody, if you took a picture, painted a picture of that, there is Tamala Krsna Maharaja and a few people standing around by Srila Prabhupada's head and Tripurari Maharaja is massaging his feet and he said, on this particular day at this very moment the order was given, or not the order but a reply to a question, an answer to an inquiry was given to this group of devotees. Is there any body in this group that we might think that this reply would go to more than the others?

 

Yes, the man who is massaging the feet is the man to receive this order most prominently. There is evidence that when Duryodhana and Arjuna came and Arjuna went to the feet of Krsna. Duryodhana went to his head and it is not because when Krsna looked and opened His eyes and looked down His body. It is more advantageous to be at the feet of the guru than to be next to his head. It is better to be at his feet.

 

So basically, the ritvik's philosophy is a frustrated philosophy. It comes from frustration which stems from the inability to follow, inability to follow the teachings of the spiritual master, not properly studying, not properly understanding, not properly following. It comes from this type of frustration. It is also like a scape-goat. It's like-that's right, now you don't have to practice and you never do.

 

You never have to become pure and we can just continue the lineage of Srila Prabhupada. We can continue his glory in the world and we don't have to become pure to do it. We can just be screw ups the whole life and the answer is, no, you will be a failure. You can only continue to glorify the spiritual master by becoming pure yourself.

 

Even in the Manu-samhita, which is the original law book of mankind, it says that after the spiritual master disappears the disciples have two choices: one is to serve the senior brother, the senior disciple, and the other is to sit on the seat, the asana, of the guru and take the position, the command, continue the line. There are only two choices.

 

Srila Sridhara Maharaja sort of added a third choice there, get out of the way. Either give support, take the post, or step aside. The history of ISKCON was they only gave one choice: give your support. There was no question of someone else taking the post. Neither was there any chance of getting out of the way. You couldn't even step out of the way. If you stepped out of the way you were branded as an envious snake for not giving your positive support. In other words, if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. But Srila Sridhara Maharaja says that either one has to take up that service and carry the line, give support to a senior Godbrother, or just step back and don't interfere, just step out of the way.

 

So, the ritvik idea is a cop out philosophy, to say that no one is qualified, therefore I don't have to become qualified, we will just initiate everyone as Prabhupada's disciple.

 

RD: The question we had was that they will encourage everyone to become directly Prabhupada's disciple but will they ever accept them as an equal Godbrother?

 

SN: No. If they have enough money they might even accept them as a superior Godbrother. If they have enough money they will make it. But actually they don't.

 

Srila Bhakti Promod Puri Maharaja said this ritvik philosophy is very dangerous, it is the death of the sampradaya, it is the death of the line. There is no life there.

 

In fact, this ritvik acarya idea is dead conception. Where is the life? Life means I must become pure, I must surrender. I must embrace the life of unalloyed devotion and I must preach.

 

But what are the ritvik acaryas doing, they are pointing to the so called disqualification of others. They say no one is qualified to hold the post of guru. They see only disqualification in everyone. They are like Duryodhana but we should not be like him, we should try to see like Yudhisthira.

 

There was a story. One day Lord Krsna met with Duryodhana and Yudhisthira. Krsna asked Duryodhana to go into the kingdom and bring back a person more qualified than himself. Then Duryodhana went out. Krsna then requested Yudhisthira also to go into the kingdom and to find a person less qualified than himself. Yudhisthira Maharaja was also highly qualified in all the military sciences and more. Then Yudhisthira went out. After some time both men returned alone, empty handed. Krsna then inquired from each why they had returned alone. Duryodhana said, I could not find anyone more qualified than myself. And Yudhisthira said, I could not find anyone less qualified than myself.

 

You see? Those with the ritvik mentality are like Duryodhana. They do not and cannot see the good qualities of others. In this way what they want to say is that they alone are qualified, at least to judge the qualifications of other. This kind of thinking is avaisnava and it is against the devotional line.

 

Another argument is this: the ritvik acaryas are saying that no one is qualified, but they have not seen everyone, so how do they know for sure? It is the same old story.

 

A man says that he has not seen anyone who has seen God, therefore he says that no one has seen God. But how does he know? He has not met everyone and inquired, "Have you seen God?No." And if he met someone who said that he had seen God, would he believe him? Probably not.

 

Consider this point also: Srila Prabhupada had at least five thousand disciples, and many of them are still carrying on Krsna consciousness even to this day. Now you want to say that none of them have become qualified, none of them have become Krsna conscious, none of them are qualified.

 

So if that is true, then why on earth would you want to become a disciple of Srila Prabhupada? After all, not even one of his disciples became qualified-- even after following the process for almost thirty years. Then what will be the use of your following that process? Certainly it will be defective. If one is a professor but none of the professor's students have qualified to pass the examination then why would I want to enroll as one of his students? I would do much better for myself to find a professor who has got some qualified students. Then at least I might have a chance to qualify myself.

 

Those who are preaching the ritvik conception are actually doing great harm to Srila Prabhupada's movement. This ritvik idea is dangerous, it simply leads to the grave, it has no life.

 

But how can we know for sure if a Godbrother is a qualified paramahamsa or not?

 

First you surrender. Become the pure devotee of Krsna and your spiritual master then you will know who is who. It takes one to know one. So they say there is no one qualified, but I say that I have met so many qualified personalities.

 

For example, if I ask you was Srila Prabhupada a pure devotee? Everyone will say yes. But what is your proof? What is your proof that he was a pure devotee? Prove it. Here is an answer from one Godbrother: Well, Srila Prabhupada came to America alone, spread the movement, preached to the public, published many books on the topic of Krsna consciousness.

 

Then here is my reply: Yes, Srila Prabhupada did that and much, much more but that is all external. Do you mean to say that if an old man simply comes to America and publishes some books on Krsna then we should consider him a paramahamsa? No. Then what is the actual proof? Prove it. The Godbrother say, I have my faith and I know it in my heart that Srila Prabhupada is a pure devotee. And then myself speaking: Yes. That is your proof. That is your only proof.

 

Your faith is your proof. Faith allows us to know, to understand, to measure the standard but that is our only real proof.

 

And Srila Prabhupada also stated that. And this is somewhere in the Folio. It is somewhere on tape. He was asking the devotee how do you know Krsna is God? They were giving sastra. Prabhupada said, the Bible also says, how do you know? And they would give another answer. And Prabhupada would say, the Christians are also saying. He was playing the devil's advocate. Finally one devotee says, Well I know in my heart and Prabhupada said, yes, that is your proof.

 

The sastras are not the proof, there are so many sastras. The Bible, the Koran, so many. But what is your real proof. You can seek help from the sastras to know some of the necessary qualifications in guru but ultimatey we must hear from our heart. And that is the real proof. It is a subjective experience. They don't even have a conception of objective and subjective consciousness. These people don't understand different planes of consciousness, objective, subjective etc. It is a matter of knowing from the inner flow of the heart. It is not objective but subjective. Knowledge of the position of the guru descends from above. Krsna Himself reveals the guru to a prospective candidate. Krsna chooses who will be guru and for whom. It is not a matter of voting a man to the post of guru nor is the position of guru understandable by those who have no faith.

 

The qualifications to know the truth, to understand the position of guru depends on sraddha, our faith. Yasya-deve para-bhaktir... If we have proper faith then the truth is revealed in our heart and there is no greater proof than that. We may judge the position of so many persons in this world by their various qualification and disqualifications but if we try to understand what is guru in that way we will be baffled.

 

Godbrother: But the guru must be pure and perfect?

 

SN: Yes. He must be pure. He must be perfect but what are your conceptions of purity or perfection? In which way shall we consider that he is perfect or not? How shall we understand his purity?

 

By Vedic standards the gopis are impure. They were unchaste from the material point of view but what was their standard of spiritual purity.

 

They are actually the purest of the pure because they simply wanted to satisfy Krsna. They have no separate desire other than the pleasure of Krsna. Then why is it that the wives of the Vedic brahmanas in Krsna-lila were more pure than their husbands? Because they simply tried to satisfy Krsna and His friends. Materially women are considered less intelligent than men and they are always impure like the sudras. But they were more pure than their husbands.

 

Also Ramananda Raya was a sudra, a government servant, therefore he was impure by vedic standards and as such a sannyasi should never touch such a person. But Caitanya Mahaprabhu rejected such measures of purity and impurity and embraced Ramananda Raya. Not only that but he accepted Ramananda Raya as His rasa-guru.

 

We cannot know what is spiritual purity simply by trying to measure purity by material standards. One may perfectly follow the four regulative principles for many, many lifetimes but he may remain impure. On the other hand one may not so expertly observe the regulative principles yet he may be a pure devotee of Krsna. What? The Godbrother says, But that is impossible. Srila Prabhupada taught us to strictly follow the regulative principles otherwise we cannot go back to Godhead.

 

My answer: Yes, we may strictly follow the regulative principles but without surrender to guru and Krsna where is our purity? It remains only material purity. There are many brahmanas and sannyasis in India who are very, very strictly following the four regulative principles yet they are great oppressors and offenders of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission (Mayavadi's for one). Similarly there are examples of many devotees who are not so strict about the regulative principles but they are pure devotees nonetheless. What? You have got to be kidding, the Godbrother says, Like who?

 

And I say: Like Srila Prabhupada's father for example. Everyone knows that Srila Prabhupada dedicated his Krsna Book to Gour Mohan De, a pure devotee of Krsna. Yet his father kept a hooka, a water pipe, in his house for entertaining saintly persons. And he sometimes supplied them with ganja, marijuana also. So what is his purity if he supplied a water pipe and ganja to his guests? If you did such things at this time your Godbrothers would drive you out with a stick. You will be outcast from the society. So what was the purity of Srila Prabhupada's father that he took him to be a pure devotee of Krishna?

 

His purity was that he simply desired that his son would become a pure devotee of Srimati Radharani and he prayed to all those saintly persons whom he entertained to please give this blessing to his son. That was his purity. He simply desired for his son to become a pure devotee of Srimati Radharani.

 

So we have to judge purity from the inner plane not from the external circumstances. There is another example. There was Pundarika Vidyanidhi. When he came to Navadwip he was setting in his luxurious house smoking a water-pipe, wearing costly clothing and perfumes. From his external appearance and habits he was a materialist. But when he heard the verse aho baki yam stana-kala-kutam recited by Mukunda Datta he became mad with love of Krsna.

 

 

aho baki yam stana-kala-kutam

jighamsayapayayad apy asadhvi

lebhe gatim dhatry-ucitam tato 'nyam

kam va dayalum saranam vrajema

 

" Oh, how amazing it is! The sister of Bakasura (Putana) desiring to kill Sri Krishna, smeared poison on her breasts and forced Krishna to drink her milk. Even so, Lord Krishna accepted her as His mother, and so she reached the destination suitable for Krishna's mother, Of whom should I take shelter but the most merciful Krishna?"

 

When Pundarika Vidyanidhi heard this verse he became very serious and soon shivering, shedding tears, and rolling on the floor in ecstasy became manifest in his body. He began to cry, "Of whom should I take shelter but the most magnanimous Lord? Where should I take refuge without such a Lord?" So much devotion Pundarika Vidyanidhi had for Krishna within but outwardly he appeared to be an ordinary materialist.

 

Godbrother: Is there more than one pure devotee manifest on the planet at a time.

 

SN: Certainly. Srila Prabhupada used to say that there were many pure devotees living in Vrindavana chanting 100 rounds japa daily. But it is not so easy to find such devotees because they usually keep themselves hidden from the public eye. Many of Srila Prabhupada's godbrothers were also pure devotees; Sripad Keshava Maharaja, Srila Sridhara Maharaja, and Krishna dasa Babaji Maharaja, just to name a few. As Srila Prabhupada once said, "My spiritual master did not initiate fools." Both Kesava Maharaja, Sridhara Maharaja, and Babaji Maharaja have all been certified in writing by Srila Prabhupada as being paramahamsas and pure devotees, and or both. No question about it, it has been confirmed by him. So even if we have no faith, no, Prabhupada confirms. Kesava Maharaja is a pure devotee. Sridhara Maharaja is paramahamsa. He is a pure devotee. Babaji Maharaja he is paramahamsa.

 

A neophyte devotee who has some faith in his Guru thinks that his Guru is the only paramahamsa. Ami guru, jagat guru, my Guru is Jagat Guru. This thinking will be troublesome for the disciple. The neophyte does not understand the faith of others ­ he thinks that everyone must be of his mark. The neophyte must make progress in his vision otherwise he runs the risk of commiting offense and again falling back into the mundane world. There is not only one guru or one pure devotee but many.

 

This point has not been properly understood by the general body of devotees. For example, just after the disappearance of our Srila Prabhupada it was said that there were only eleven pure devotees. Now it is widely said by a number of devotees that there are no pure devotees at all. The propaganda machine goes on but where is the proper understanding ­ where is the knowledge and realization? In the beginning they were claiming there were eleven pure devotees now they are saying there are no pure devotees. But we are thinking that in both cases there is no proper knowledge or realization.

 

There is always a plurality of Gurus; chaitya-guru, vartmana-pradarshika-guru, siksha-guru, nama-guru, mantra-guru, sannyasa-guru, rasa-guru, sastra-guru, dham-guru, param-guru, etc. There are many Gurus but the neophyte devotee has trouble to understand what is actually Guru so he is some times accepting one (or eleven) and rejecting another (or everyone).

 

The search for Guru is not limited to your society or mine or anybody else's. Guru is a universal principle not a sectarian concern. Srila Prabhupada had to leave the Gaudiya Math started by his spiritual master in order to preach and pursue the truth. Similiarly, individually we have had to leave the movement to maintain our proper conceptions of the Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya. Not only ourselves but many have felt the necessity to leave in their search for a bona fide Guru and to maintain the proper standards of purity free from vaishnava-aparadha since the disappearance of Srila Prabhupada.

 

Godbrother: Can one have two Gurus?

 

SN:Why two Gurus? One can have hundreds of Gurus if necessary. For example. If in a previous life one has accepted a Guru but due to his own short coming he could not achieve success then in a future life he will be given another chance. He will meet Sri Gurudeva in a future life but that may or may not be the same identical personality who was his Guru in the past. But Guru he will get, that is sure. We may pass many lifetimes being helped by many Gurus before we reach perfection.

 

Godbrother: But what about this lifetime. Can one have more than one Guru in this lifetime. For example, you have first, second, and sannyasa initiation from Srila Prabhupada but you also have a disciple relationship with Srila Sridhar Maharaja. How is that possible?

 

SN:That is also not a new thing. It is more the standard in our parampara to have two or more Gurus rather than having only one. In fact Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur often remarked that the, "eka-guru-vadis, those who preach the philosophy of having only one Guru will certainly have a difficult time achieving perfection."

 

If you study our Guru-parampara carefully you will see that many of our acaryas such as Krishna Dasa Kaviraja Goswami, who offers respect to Rupa and Raghunatha at the end of every chapter of the Caitanya-caritamrta, had two or more Gurus. Actually he mentioned four gurus.

 

There is his initiating guru, Lord Nityananda was his guru, and Rupa and Raghunatha. He had four gurus mentioned.

 

Actually, after the disappearance of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, many of his disciples accepted siksa from Srila Sridhar Maharaja. Our Srila Prabhupada also accepted Srila Sridhar Maharaja as his siksa guru. And on the order of Srila Prabhupada I have also accepted Srila Sridhar Maharaja as my siksa guru and that has been a great blessing for me.

 

Godbrother: Wouldn't it be better if everyone was just a ritvik-acharya and initiated disciples on behalf of Srila Prabhupada?

 

SN:That is all right but we are not Sikhs. That is the conception started by Guru Govind Singh. He announced that there would be no more Gurus, only that a body of ritvik-acharyas would initiate. Since then Sikhism has become a dead religion. We are not interested in that. We are members of a living conception, a living sampradaya.

 

JD: Even if you wanted to use that statement that everything is in Prabhupada's books you could agree with it; that's true so where is the ritvik philosophy.

 

Prabhupada said everything is in my books so where is the ritvik philosophy? If its not in the books so then it can't be...

 

MD: Is the word ritvik even mentioned in the books?

 

RD: Yes, in a yajna, a priest. I forget. It was pointed out years ago.

 

SN:The way the ritviks were appointed...I was a ritvik. I mean, can you imagine when Srila Prabhupada is in good health, anyone else chanting on the beads. And Prabhupada is going to give the beads...I mean, can you imagine I was there and Prabhupada said to me, "here you chant on the beads." And the disciples are sitting there and I chant on the beads and then I give them back to Prabhupada and he gives them to those disciples? Right in front of them? Can you imagine how wierd that would be? Can you imagine that happening?

 

Well, it happened. Right in front of the devotees Prabhupada asked me to chant on the beads. In Hyderbad farm there were three people being initiated and he asked me to chant on the beads and then he gave the beads and the name because he was tired. And he asked me to chant on the beads. I chanted on the beads and he gave the beads to those three devotees and gave them first initiation. And so many times Prabhupada wrote: chant on their beads and this is their names. Many times. That is ritvik. That is the ritvik function. Can you imagine their thinking with Prabhupada sitting right there and he asks someone else to chant on the beads and then he takes the beads and he hands them to them.

 

When Srila Prabhupada was ill he started setting up a system, this area and that area they would initiate on his behalf. And there is that point I mentioned the other day it is the Godbrothers mainly saying this. A new person he doesn't come and decide that, they decide that for him. According to the association he comes into his faith develops. So if he meets a ritvik and he tells him, no one is qualified, you just do this and that and we will initiate you and you can become a disciple of Prabhupada. Even if you did that you may find in due course, I mentioned this the other day, where the candidate disciple just said, well I don't want to be Prabhupada's disciple, I want to be your disciple. I don't know Prabhupada. I read his books but I am inspired by what you tell me. No, no you will be Prabhupada's disciple.

 

That happened during the time of Srila Prabhupada. Some man wanted to be initiated by Brahmananda. There is a letter. In the living presence of the spiritual master generally the etiquette is followed. That is just another rule of etiquette. As I was pointing out to someone the other day, the disciple who is preaching knows that the potency for preaching that whatever people are attracted to in him that is actually just the grace of the spiritual master just working through him. So it is natural that he wants everyone to be initiated by his own guru. But after his disappearance the same principle is working if he is surrendered to that principle. Actually in this little blue book it mentions two good qualifications there for becoming guru. guru-nistha and niskincana bhakti. We must give respect to the post of guru, of course we should have the necessary qualifications, guru nistha and niskincana bhakti, firm faith in the order of the spiritual master and freedom from the desire for power, profit, adoration and distinction. And we should have this before accepting the post of guru and accepting disciples. But it will be very difficult to say from an objective point of view who is or who isn't a paramahamsa. In here Prabhupada says about the post of guru. Someone says the guru must be paramahamsa. The answer is the post is paramahamsa.

 

Srila Sridhar Maharaja said the same thing in a more elaborate way. He would say, yes in Trafalgar Square there was a billboard in WWII, wear this uniform, the uniform will show you what to do. He gave that example, without qualification take the post, the post will dictate to you what is your duty. Srila Prabhupada said that in my sannyasa initiation lecture also. And he says, the post of the guru is paramahamsa, the message is paramahamsa, that will make you paramahamsa. Take this post. If you fail, you have lost nothing. They asked him once. In ISKCON they called a sannyasi a vantasi; it means a vomit eater.

 

They asked Srila Sridhar Maharaja what is the fate of a fallen sannyasi? He said, a vedic sannyasi, who has taken sannyasa in the course of varnasrama certainly suffers a tremendous loss.

 

Those who have sacrificed their youthful life, and this and that, and fame and country, to take the calling of preaching and make the sacrifice for Caitanya Mahaprabhu, under great personalities like Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, their gain is tens of hundreds of thousands of times greater than their apparent present loss of having fallen down from sannyasa. The sacrifice of serving such a soul for even a moment is thousands and thousands of times greater than the defect that comes to them for losing their sannyasa, for falling down. ISKCON doesn't have such a generous view at all. And that generous view comes from a proper appreciation.

 

[Guest guest]

Sri Vaisnava Acharya Rules with Love

 

 

 

Pure souls always come to the same conclusion

Sri Vaisnava Acharya is always in agreement with all other acharyas and self-realized souls, who are free from all contamination of material logic. Pure souls always come to the correct conclusion. Logic is of two kinds: pure [suddha] and mixed [misra]. Pure logic is present in the spirit soul in his original pure nature. When the spirit soul is imprisoned in matter, his activities are mixed with material conceptions, he possesses mixed, or misra logic. [much of this is paraphrased from Srila Bhaktivinode's Tattva Viveka.]

 

Materially contaminated souls always come to multifarious and wrong conclusions

Pure logic always arrives at the same conclusions, whereas mixed or material logic is full of the 4 defects, [mistakes, illusion, cheating, sensory inefficiency] and such conclusions are always faulty. Such imprisoned souls always generate a great host of mutually contradictory conclusions. A good example is radio or tv talk shows where everyone comes to different conclusions.

 

Reality, anti-reality, and reformation of the rebellious jiva souls

Sri Siksastakam gives the perfect examples of the 3 phases of reality, or thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. In other words- ultimate reality, anti-reality, and reformation. Thesis is represented by the first verse of Sri Siksastakam, which explains the glories of Lord Sri Krishna and His Holy Name, "Param Vijayate Sri Krishna Sankirtam," which is the original ultimate reality. Sri Vaisnava Acharya comes from the spiritual world to give this supreme thesis to others.

 

Antithesis, antichrist, or anti-Krishna souls

Lord Caitanya says in His 2nd stanza, "but I am so unfortunate, I have no attraction to Your Holy Names." This is representative of antithesis, anti-reality, having no attraction for spiritual life. The jiva souls are imprisoned in material bodies, and thus work with material senses, and execute their thoughts with material logic, thus they are rebellious to the thesis of Sri Krishna and Sri Vaisnava Acharya. Thus we conditioned souls are the antithesis, we are the antichrist, or anti-kristos, or anti-Krishna rebellious souls. The synthesis, or reformation is in the next verse, "Trinad api. become lower than the straw, more tolerant than the tree."

 

Some jivas join the movement of the acharya

Some jivas become less rebellious, and somehow attain the position to serve the great acharyas. They join movements and try to sincerely follow such acharyas. Yet we see in history of how material logic tends to seep back into the equation. We think materially, because we're basically selfish, as the principle of the material world is selfishness, with most people thinking "I and mine." Everyone comes here to enjoy for himself. So naturally, although some followers of the acharya are very great souls, it is seen that they are not always 100% surrendered, and therefore the material logic will still linger in the equation. This is seen in history.

 

Some control with love, and some control with force and intimidation

Jayananda always controls us with love, as did Visnujana Swami and Srila Prabhupada and other great acharyas. This is Krishna's philosophy. Krishna controls His devotees with love only. We have free will and must act out of love, not force. Krishna never interferes with our free will. Surrender by force isn't real surrender. The material world is the place where everyone tries to force others to fall under their control.

 

Control by force is found in religious movements

Sometimes we see material logic and material methods of force and intimidation within great religious movements. This happened in Christianity. The words of Jesus were perverted into abominations. He never taught to slaughter and eat animals. He never said that souls go to hell forever, he taught reincarnation. The early Christians were vegetarian, believed in reincarnation. But since the church hierarchy could not control the people with love, they had to use fear and intimidation, "you're going to burn in hell forever, unless you do what we say!"

 

Sri Vaisnava Acharya's clear broadcast and the antithesis radio static

The words of the pure acharya are like a clear broadcast on the radio. Interpretation of the acharya's words, which is transformed into church doctrine, is like radio static and loss of reception. Thus we see that the radio static of the organized church doctrine became opposed to the character and teachings of Jesus. The followers of great acharyas are often great souls, yet due to the 2nd verse, or antithesis, they may not be fully surrendered to the words of the great acharya. By mixing material logic with spiritual logic, they come to many conclusions, and introduce deviant philosophies into the founder acharya's movement.

 

What part of "thou shall not kill" is it they don't understand?

Jesus said, "thou shall not kill" and the radio static of church doctrines say "kill innocent animals in slaughter houses and eat their flesh." Sripad Sankaracharya said, "worship Govinda you fools, your word jugglery will not help at the time of death," and his radio static church followers did not worship Govinda, but they chose to juggle words. Lord Buddha said, "Ahimsa" and some radio static Buddhists couldn't care less, and they eat meat. Thus the tendency for antithesis is deep rooted in temporary liberated souls, even when they are trying to surrender to a great acharya. Just see how mixed logic ruins the mission of the acharyas! If the followers of Jesus would have been true to his words, if the Buddhists had been true, then imagine how many vegetarian stores and restaurants would be all over the world instead of McMurder outlets! See what twisting of the acharya's words does to the history of the world.

 

Get back to the words of the acharya, not fallible opinions of church doctrine

Srila Prabhupada wanted us to cooperate, and our past history of the last 27 years, have been rifts and fighting within the congregation and un-cooperation. Srila Prabhupada said that when great acharyas leave the planet, then chaos ensues. This follows the antithesis template, that due to mixed surrender to the words of the great acharya, and interpretation, based on mixed logic, transformed into church doctrines, it is seen that sometimes the followers create chaos in their guru's mission.

 

We could have changed the world

We could have conquered the world. We could have followed Srila Prabhupada cent-per-cent and we could have made a great impact upon the world, at least. But we choose to fight over this non-sense ritvik issue, pumping it up with trumped up charges of being "evil" and "dangerous" and stunting the spiritual growth of new devotees, and displacing the service and energy of the older devotees. Instead of preaching the pure message of Lord Caitanya and Srila Prabhupada, instead of discerning the truth of what Srila Prabhupada said about ritviks through ., instead of opting for unity within diversity, we sapped our collective energy and fought over this mythical issue.

 

Understand the problem, and utilize the solution given in Sri Siksastakam

We should understand the reality of antithesis in Srila Prabhupada's movement, and what are our solutions. The greatest antithesis is the phenomenon of hatred generated in the hearts of young Vaisnavas, due to the falsity of the concept of a deviant philosophy of the so-called ritviks, which is not seen in guru, sastra or sadhu. This is false politics, and Pralada's teachings show us that such politics are devoid of Krishna consciousness. Why is this the greatest problem? Note here that I'm not trying to prove or disprove the ritvik position. I'm pointing out that the hatred and intimidation generated in the hearts of young devotees is the greatest disservice we could ever do to Srila Prabhupada's movement. The solution is the 3rd verse, trinad api, lower than straw, respect all Vaisnavas.

 

Where is this found?

A great many great souls have joined the Krishna consciousness movement. But alas, material logic has crippled us. Where do they get this information that the so-called ritvik theory is deviant and evil? Think about it. Does this information come from the acharyas? I don't recall any acharyas writing about the "evils" of the so-called ritviks. Does this information come from sastra? You know the word "ritvik" is in the Srimad Bhagavatam about 20 times, and I don't recall the Srimad Bhagavatam giving any warning about a "dangerous" ritvik system. Do you? Did Srila Prabhupada say this? He used the word ritvik several times in letters and conversations, but he never warned us about some "dangerous" ritvik system. If there was ever something dangerous, he always warned us. What about the sadhus, well, HH Srila Sridhara Maharaja said something about the ritvik system. You know that Srila Prabhupada has said that SM had very high realizations, and Srila Bhaktisiddhanta said he was very learned. But we see that SM asked for a ritvik system for his Matha succession, and this I can point you to a website for confirmation of this fact, if you ask me to. So how can such a ritvik system be "devious" and "dangerous" if SM asked for such a system? Other Vedic authorities and sadhus have said the same thing.

 

Control them by fear

The Christian clergy used the threat of hell to control, and Iskcon used the hatred of ritviks to control. This is control out of intimidation and fear and hatred, not control out of love and understanding. This is not following the path of the great founder acharya, Srila Prabhupada. This is following the path of antithesis and selfishness, and mixed material logic.

 

Enter the temple of your heart and gaze upon Their Lordships Sri Sri Radha Krishna, and then look within your heart, and see if there's hate or love for the so-called ritviks or for any devotee of this Krishna consciousness movement. If you see some hate, then look upon Their Lordships, see if They are smiling or frowning at you? Then love all devotees in Srila Prabhupada's movement with all the unconditional love in your heart, take their hand and dance with them, cooperate in your heart, like Srila Prabhupada wanted, and look at your Lords, are They smiling now?

 

We've been duped by maya! We've been duped by mixed material logic and the antithesis factor. We must return full force, back to the acharya's pure words! If we continue in this twisted path then world history will get the same effect as the perversion of the Jesus teachings. Trinad api, being lower than the straw, means being pliable putty in the hands of the founder acharya. We can change it all, we can return to the pure words of the acharya, synthesis, the solution, only if we become humble like the straw, tolerant like the tree. The 3rd verse represents sadhu sanga, or association of devotees, which is only possible when the 3rd verse is realized and practiced, and when we engage in free istaghosthi, which leads us to the truth of the founder acharya.

 

Your servant, Visoka dasa

 

 

[Guest guest]

 

A Vyasa-Puja offering of five prayers glorifying special characteristics of Srila 108 Bhaktisiddanta Saraswati Goswami Thakura. Presented on the commemoration of his appearance, by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, at the Radha-Damodara temple, Vrindavana, India, in 1961.)

First Vasistya

 

1. On this day, O my master, I made a cry of grief; I was not able to tolerate the absence of my guru.

 

2. On this auspicious day I have come with this offering just to worship you, remembering your lotus feet.

 

3. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's judgement is that renunciation is most important. Not only that, but such knowledge must be delivered to every conditioned being.

 

4. The beginner in devotional service has no ability to solve this dilemma, but you are a maha-bhagavata, you have given us direction.

 

5. One bewildered by ignorance, what kind of renunciate can he be? He will only be a "phalgu-vairagi"; renouncing externally.

 

6. Renunciation is actually the result of real spiritual emotion. Without such feeling it is simply known as show-bottle.

 

7. But there is another "show-bottle" for the purpose of preaching. That is the Lord's sannyasa by which the Mayavadis are defeated.

 

8. Lord Caitanya's Philosophy is beyond varnasrama; it is Bhagavata dharma, for putting an end to all cheating processes of religion.

 

9. Performing dry renunciation there can be no real preaching. Therefore "Yukta vairagya" is given the highest essential understanding.

 

10. "That sannyasa which I have given you" is for preaching in devotion. The faithless sense enjoyers are unable to understand this.

 

Second Vasistya

 

11. Generally the sannyasis renounce everything and go and stay in the mountain caves, but you, O master, keep your sannyasis in mansions of marble.

 

12. To see a sense enjoyer is just like drinking poison, but you, O my master, go far and near, even abroad, to give them your darsana.

 

13. Mlecchas and Yavanas are forbidden to enter the Hindu temples, but you my Lord, make them chairmen and sit them in the assembly of devotees.

 

14. Hindus are not allowed to cross the ocean, but you send your devotees overseas to preach.

 

15. In the cities of Kali-yuga, the instructions of the bona fide spiritual preceptors are forbidden. Still you remain here in any way possible.

 

16. The devotees want to hide in a secluded place to perform their bhajan. You, however, do not accept this in your judgement.

 

17. Whenever there is an increase in population, there in that place preaching is to be found.

 

18. In London you want a student hostel. You explain that it must be first-class.

 

19. In the land of barbarians a student hostel for preaching Hari-Katha! Who can understand the significance of these things?

 

20. To resolve all the apparent contradictory statements is not the play of some incompetent fool.

 

21. If everyone simply sat down together and considered these things, what nice preaching there could be.

 

22. What is your order also, that everyone, coming together, should merge in your message and preach it to the world.

 

23. If everyone just initiates then there will only be a contradictory result. As long as it goes on there will be only failure.

 

24. Now even, my godbrothers, you return here to the order of our master, and together we engage in his puja.

 

25. But simply a festival of flowers and fruits does not constitute worship. The one who serves the message of the guru really worships him.

 

26. The service of the message is the real meaning of the Vedas. Don't be proud, brothers, come back to this.

 

27. Kalidas Nag (a learned man who was defeated by Srila Saraswati Thakura and later became his disciple), that master said in public forum one day.

 

28. That Kali's mission was to kill the entire world while the essential meaning of Lord Caitanya's message was kept locked up in a cage.

 

29. O shame! My dear brothers, aren't you embarrassed? In the manner of businessmen you increase your disciples.

 

30. Our master said to preach. Let the neophytes stay in the temples and ring the bells.

 

Third Vasistya

 

31. All these things are not our spiritual master's preaching methods. These are all the things done by the caste Gosvamis.

 

32. But just take a look at the terrible situation that has arisen. Everyone has become a sense enjoyer and has given up preaching.

 

33. In the temples they have also begun to lock the doors. Preach this bhagavata dharma, don't hesitate.

 

34. Within this world is another world, Whose sound is the unequaled penetrating force.

 

35. The preaching that "mullah (Muslim priest) only goes as far as the mosque and no further" should be put to an end today.

 

36. From the seas, across the earth, penetrate the universal shell, come together and preach this Krishna consciousness.

 

37. Then our master's service will be in proper order. Make your promise today. Give up all your politics and diplomacy.

 

38. Everyone come together on this day and make your valued comment. The five of you get together and decide what should be done.

 

39. You have become renouncers, brothers, so renounce everything. But if you also renounce the order of the spiritual master, then what kind of renunciation is that?

 

40. The one who renounces the guru's order (guru tyagi) and the one who tries to enjoy the assets of his spiritual master (guru-bhogi) are two kinds of useless persons. First become a servant of your spiritual master (guru-sevi) and then you will understand things clearly.

 

Forth Vasistya

 

 

41. If there is only one Supreme Lord, then a true sadhu, if his faith increases, he gives up the desire for profit, distinction and adoration in the material world.

 

42. Your gold, brother, is the father of sense gratification. This meaningful statement was spoken by Srila Prabhupada himself.

 

43. Give up your wealth for preaching. Sit down together and make some special judgement.

 

44. The Supreme Lord says that everything is Mine. Don't protest. Just unite and preach.

 

45. Srila Prabhupada gave this final message himself. Take care to follow that completely in all respects.

 

46. Otherwise your sannyasa will be wasted and useless. O saintly ones, be careful; afterwards you will regret.

 

47. So what is the difficulty for all of us to come together in this way and why do all these things even have to be said to you?

 

48. Give up your stubbornness, there is no time. Come all my brothers on this auspicious holy occasion.

 

Fifth Vasistya

 

 

49. When will that day come when there will be a temple established in every house in every corner of the world?

 

50. When the big court judge will be a Gaudiya Vaisnava with tilak beautifully decorating his forehead.

 

51. A Vaisnava winning votes will be elected president of the land and preaching will spread everywhere.

 

52. The demons simply plunder the Lord's wealth. The hapless populace cry, "Hai Hai" in distress.

 

53. The demons want so many plans just to cheat the people. They sell wheat flour at 32 rupees a mound.

 

54. Will opening a factory fill a hungry man's belly? Being oppressed by starvation they will eat grass and mango pits.

 

55. Wearing a two pisa string a man is called a brahmin. Wearing a saffron cloth he has become a sannyasi.

 

56. The householders beg from sannyasis, and why not? The sannyasis have tens of millions of rupees in the bank.

 

57. As the days pass, the influence of Kali-yuga increases and the poor are crying in distress.

 

58. Ten thousand cows are killed daily and the nations expert leaders are all eating untouchable foodstuffs.

 

59. People of muddy intelligence increase day by day. A man and his wife separate on mere word.

 

60. Everyone has become a witch by the influence of this age. Everyone is unhappy due to the absence of the mercy of the Vaisnavas.

 

61. The Vaisnavas are famous as "para dukha dukhi." This fame will increase as the preaching increases.

 

62. If eternally pure devotional service to Krsna is awakened in everyone, then Kali will flee, screaming of his own accord.

 

63. "Praninan upakaraya" do work for the benefit of all living beings. This is Mahaprabhu's teachings. This is the storehouse of happiness in this life and the next.

 

64. So much work has fallen into your hands, so gather together and do it.

 

65. Vasudeva Datta said to the Lord, paying his obeisances, save all the living beings in the material world.

 

66. Give all their sins and suffering to me, who am the lowest of all. In this way all the suffering and miseries of the fallen will end.

 

67. He was the best of the Vaisnavas, para dukha dukhi. He knows that there is not real happiness in gratifying the senses.

 

68. And what kind of mercy can the non-Vaisnavas give? They simply make offenses by their Daridra Narayana philosophy.

 

69. The mercy of the Vaisnavas is scientific and authorized, without their mercy this world is simply insurmountable maya.

 

70. If there is a kingdom of Visnu and Vaisnavas on the surface of the earth, then the world will be happy--so say the great sages and rishis.

 

71. Why is everyone crying for Rama-rajya? The only way it can be had is if there is a Visnu centered kingdom.

 

72. Lord Krsna enthroned King Yudhisthira; then the whole world was rich and fortunate due to the qualities of a Vaisnava.

 

73. The streams, rivers, trees and fields and mountains, were all full of fruits and flowers. The milk laden cows were floating in abundant milk.

 

74. The birds, beasts and lower creatures were all non-envious. Material life in the Vaisnava kingdom was regulated and perfect.

 

75. All immersed in bliss, singing the glories of the Hari. The hearts of Vaisnavas dance in ecstasy to see this.

 

76. The entire world is filled with the use of material objects, without a trace of devotion to the Lord.

 

77. Still they are searching after peace. Preach Krsna consciousness; fulfill their desires.

 

78. Today my brothers, get to this task. Save the battered souls by your preaching.

 

79. Srila Prabhupada, please be merciful today. This time have compassion. You are not a conditioned soul of this material world.

 

80. Whatever independence we have, let it be cast to the waters. The lowly Abhay offers this presentation today.

 

Vrndavana, Radha Damodara.

 

 

[Guest guest]

20 Characteristics of Srila Prabhupada's Movement, His Wishes, and What Happened

 

 

 

 

Abbreviations frequently used:

 

SP: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada

SSM: His Divine Grace Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridhar Deva Maharaj

GBC: Governing Body Commission of ISKCON

ISKCON: International Society for Krishna Consciousness

 

 

 

 

 

1. Unified love for our spiritual master created an ever enthusiastic atmosphere.

 

1. The first important introduction was the zonal gurus. They were allowed to distort the philosophy and to establish themselves over everybody, including the GBC. Frequently non-initiating GBC's had to negotiate with the zonal gurus their influence and territory. Later after that system started to break to pieces, the gurus lost importance almost all together and membership in the institution was made to be the most important aspect of spiritual life.

 

Solution:

Let devotees preach to their hearts' content and freely chose their places, and associates they feel inspired to work with. Stop intimidating the ISKCON members into thinking that they are "incapable to decide anything for themselves". Use the organization structure of the institution only to coordinate world projects and let the local groups of devotees figure out who shall lead them and how to maintain their purity.

 

 

2. The acceptance that Srila Prabhupada's vision can resolve any problem gave everybody peace. Srila Prabhupada even changed his own rules whenever that was necessary in order to accommodate somebody happily.

 

2. Stifling rules, incapable leaders and justice committees - all that red tape created the opposite effect. The bureaucrats took over and inspired preachers were discouraged. No open discussions, no free field could be found.

 

Solution:

Accept anybody who wants to serve SP's mission and the way he wants to serve, unless he creates havoc in SP's name (precisely the reason why this book is being produced, since the GBC was not willing to voluntarily address the topics of our concern.)

 

 

3. A clear line of our transcendental philosophy and siddhanta was always available through SP's personal presence.

 

3. Constantly changing conceptions, unanswered questions, contradictory GBC resolutions became the way of ISKCON from GBC meeting to GBC meeting.

Example: In one year they published three different GBC resolutions regarding SSM which read as follows.

1. It was decided that the GBC should apologize to SSM for the offenses committed against him. (A group was sent).

2. Panchadravida Swami is removed from ISKCON because he went to stay with SSM.

3. ISKCON members are advised not to associate with SSM or those devotees connected to him in order to avoid "offenses".

Relationship to vaisnavas outside of ISKCON becomes a big confusion. Nobody is allowed to go, but even zonal gurus frequently go, consult, distort, offend, or even try to play out one Gaudiya Math Guru against the other.

 

Solution:

Establish a true forum for the exchange of vaisnava thought, for example,

A - some publications which actually research the contributions from all sides of guru sastra and sadhu,

B - A place without party-line control,

C - A forum which will allow the light of truth to shine by its own effulgence, and without fear that the truth will confuse more then the attempt to hide it. Currently the ISKCON World Review is only making propaganda and fund driving. It confuses more then it clarifies. And the BTG is a party-line paper claiming to be open and intellectual. ISKCON Review on the other hand claims to promote discussions but is used to simply slash opponents. All confusions have to come out in the open, in order to be digested and transcended. Trusting in guru sastra and sadhu will be successful.

 

 

4. The temple presidents had a direct connection with their gurus. They acted almost like Ritvik Acharyas, including holding the initiation fire sacrifices and fully representing SP in their temple. Nobody had a right to interfere into their temples, lest they were rejected by the members of their temples. In some instances when certain sannyasis or GBC's caused disturbance to a temple president, SP dismissed that GBC and established a direct link to the presidents. On two occasions he even dismissed the entire GBC body for their speculation.

 

4. Temple presidents lost their importance. SP's order to take that service as a lifelong commitment was totally ignored. Temple presidents were changed on the whim of any GBC and his friends. There is no protection. The previous protector from power-hungry managers, SP, was now substituted by those very power-hungry managers, the new zonal acharya and his cooperators (regional secretaries).

 

Solution:

Take away the zonal control. A zone is a temple and the preaching field of someone. Don't interfere in your brother's love and trust field. That is a bonafide zone, not a geographical zone. Those hearts who are encouraged to serve Krishna by somebody's preaching, that is his real zone. Even a low born sudra realizes that he has to be responsible for the children he produces. Preachers produce spiritual children. Therefore spiritual fathers have to be responsible to provide to their children a loving environment where they can grow and also start preaching happily. ISKCON has failed to do so, because due to their geographic zones restrictions and due to their endorsement of gurus who did not actually have the capacity to give protection, the new preachers are mostly discouraged because they do not see a loving place to guide new devotees there, nor are they free to establish such places. Besides that, how could they establish a place to give shelter when their own diksa-gurus turned out to be confused and unprepared? Geographical zones destroy the real needs of every place. One city can have many many temples and many GBC's as well. Regional secretaries should no more be imposed, instead a free choice of a GBC amongst the local devotees allowed. The temple presidents can become again, what they were meant to be.

 

 

5. All services were available to all ISKCON members. All you had to do to get a certain service was to request SP to do some special service and generally he very gladly accepted.

 

5. It is remarkable how little trust the GBC's showed in their godbrothers. SP trusted anyone of his disciples, even sometimes after some disciple had already committed some fault. But the GBC, in the name of "protecting ISKCON" gave only support to their own members. And they often removed even senior disciples of SP from services which they had started from scratch to big success, just in order to maintain the power in their faulty system. One famous example of that was when SP's panditji Pradyumna Prabhu pointed out to the GBC the wrongs in the zonal acharya system. He was removed from his service to finish the translation of the Srimad Bhagavatam which SP personally had asked him to do under the guidance of SSM. After depriving Pradyumna from his service and protection, they appointed one of them to do that work, who did not even know Sanskrit. They announced this to all of ISKCON's members. Pradyumna has been defeated and the reaction is that nobody really wants to read the missing volumes of the Srimad Bhagavatam.

But the list of human atrocities is so long that it would fill many volumes. Krishna definitely wanted all the disciples of SP to wake up from their slumber, because all of them were affected by the new ISKCON GBC style. And also because all of the disciples of a Guru are equally responsible that his mission is carried on properly.

Generally the complaint of the godbrothers were answered by the GBC suggesting to the involved person; "Why don't you work under someone else, in another part of the world? Don't be too attached to protecting others. We, the GBC's, are the rightful protectors. Whoever tries to point out any wrong in us must be an offender of SP". In this way many disciples of SP started to make the rounds of the world, from one zonal guru to the other, only to discover, that they were all the same and that in ISKCON there was no more home for them, what to speak of a peaceful place to give protection to others and live happily in Krishna Consciousness.

Any service in ISKCON became attached with the shoe-kissing of some zonal acharya. In some zones daily flower offerings to your godbrother became an obligation and if you really still need more details you can read the book "Monkey on a Stick". It is a very disgusting subject.

 

Solution:

Realize that a vaisnava leader is a leader in humility and service. He serves anyone who gives him the mercy and allows that leader to serve him. Krishna wants to serve his devotees, but they won't let him do so. Therefore Krishna is very pleased if you serve his devotees. And you can be sure, if you like to serve somebody he will be very happy with you, not disgusted.

 

 

6. Nobody was expected to work under someone he considered in any way harmful to SP's mission.

 

6. Not only were devotees obliged to serve, many were intimidated to take initiation from zonal gurus who they either did not know, or did not feel inspired by. ISKCON proved to completely neglect the position of Siksa Gurus, which according to SP writings in C.C. is a grave offense since they are on the same level as the diksa-gurus. Frequently the situation was so bad, that new disciples were requested to reject as offenders of SP the very same devotees who happened to have convinced them to join the movement of SP.

Later that mistake was partially recognized but never really rectified.

Rather the wrong overdose of power was shifted away from the zonal Guru to the Zonal GBC.

Gurus were now restricted under GBC control with innumerable laws and restrictions. Even temple presidents can check the necessarily free relationship between a devotee and his guru. Actually the old problem remained plus a few new problems appeared.

The zonal Diksa-Guru was transformed into a Zonal GBC Siksa-Guru, or into a Zonal Temple President Siksa-Guru, or into Zonal Regional Secretary Siksa-Guru.

Not understanding that the problem lies in the zonal aspect of these services, not in the guru or preaching aspect, the GBC's confused the situation even more and clearly emphasized the institution and the managers (themselves) to be the rightful successors of SP. Thus again they undermined the personal individual characteristics of surrender in love and trust. And also because so many new diksa-gurus appeared in ISKCON, many of them captured these zonal siksa-guru posts, and established new MINI ZONAL GURU zones. There they straitened to force the disciples of other gurus to lend support to them or face the same destiny, which SP disciples had to experience under the first ZONAL GURU GOVERNMENT. (THE CUCKOO FAMILY EXPANDS.)

 

Solution:

Reject the zonal control all together. Let leading preachers voluntarily choose representatives to participate and be communicated with over all ISKCON news, world projects and facilities. Let leaders be loved once again, because of their excellent service performed to all, or let them be rejected at once if they are just on a big ego or enjoy trip or if the temples and Vaisnava population felt dissatisfied with their level of dedication.

 

 

7. Leaders in SP's mission who were to eager to be in the center, rather than to humbly serve SP and the other vaisnava members were easily detected and rejected, or at least repositioned and corrected, regardless of how high an office they had occupied. Thus it was always clearly understood that only someone pure in purpose could keep a leading position in ISKCON.

 

7. It is unbelievable how much damage a zonal guru or zonal GBC can do to SP's movement, without being checked. It is practically up to Krishna himself to kick out the worst offenders. But that problem is far from over and we pray that this book will accelerate the purification process.

 

Solution:

Let mercy be above justice, but also provide that intense tender love and care to all members of SP's mission, not just the leaders amongst themselves. Every member is a potential sannyasi, guru, GBC or whatever and should be fully respected with his respective feelings. Otherwise our leaders, instead of becoming Rajarsis, will be like rotten aristocrats.

 

 

8. SP's movement was highly personal in the loving dealings amongst SP's representatives and their particular groups. On a very individual basis anybody could get the mercy of SP and his attention by doing some outstanding service.

 

8. Very few outstanding personalities have risen on the sky of ISKCON after the GBC's ISKCON rule began. Rather former outstanding personalities fell into disgrace or keep disappearing. ISKCON POLITICS have dominated the energy and conversations of its members now for many years. Out of fear of being diminished in their "glory", the GBC has organized that very ugly campaign against SSM. They accused SSM of wanting to take over ISKCON, while they were in the middle of doing that very same thing. You see others with your own condition we have learned from SP. SSM had not left even his room for ten years before they started consulting him and his main request was: "You are coming together for your yearly meeting. Now don't let anybody go home before everybody is happily accommodated in your ISKCON movement. Leading preachers are going to the hidden quarters. Don't let that happen. That is the only real GBC duty! Not to come together, make a few resolutions and then go home and everybody does what he wants. That is my urgent request."

ISKCON GBC's have hardly trusted anyone to open new temples or zones. Generally so much red tape is attached that nobody wants to do it anymore. Even previously highly prestigious posts like the LA presidency, etc., don't find candidates, who are eager to perform that service and many GBC's have resorted to paying high salaries to their managers. And who wants to collect for such a program? Many temples cannot even pay their mortgage or they are living from the energy which was accumulated in the past. Some temples have more dieties than devotees, but still the GBC's don't want to change.

 

Solution:

Let everybody who feels an affinity for SP inside and outside of ISKCON know all this and invite them to join and Help to create the Real ISKCON.

Assure them that everything will be completely different. The GBC should publicly recognize in detail all the mistakes they have committed in the past, otherwise nobody will believe that there is a true change happening. The devotees will not loose their faith, but rather gain an incredible new strength to help to save ISKCON.

 

 

9. SP obviously preferred administrative disputes to be resolved by his zonal secretaries, it being impossible for SP to personally attend all reappearing complications, but NEVER to the point of disregarding one of his disciples who requested SP's perfect consent to resolve problems they had.

 

9. The GBC systematically ignores their critics. To reach them is close to impossible. To reach them quickly is altogether impossible. Usually they deal with a topic when it is already damaged. Their bureaucracy, centralization and ecclesiastical structure is close to useless and completely against SP's vision of administration. The result is no protection for ISKCON's members and projects. Their justice ministry is a joke and another invention like the regional secretaries, etc.

 

Solution:

Let problems be resolved amongst those who have them, not by committees who are out of touch, time, and realization to resolve anything. Only insiders of a problem are capable of giving the personal attention everybody in this world deserves.

 

 

10. Individual, spontaneous and creative contributions were highly appreciated by SP. Especially personal preaching capacities attracted his attention.

It was expected that a good preacher be lifelong dedicated to his project, expert in the philosophy, able to face any challenge. In other words SP wanted his disciples to be personally convinced and also speak about the siddhanta, to stand on their own feet. Regardless of who you were, it was understood that a member of SP's family had the right and duty to protect the mission. It was for example a mataji who exposed the 1970 New Vrindavana nonsense, where some sannyasis tried to distort SP's teachings.

And it were the grihasta temple presidents who saved ISKCON from the powertrip of some GBC members, who tried to kick the unmarried mothers out of the temples and to ban grihastas from being temple presidents. SP's initial comment was: "I wanted you all to become gurus, and these girls got this human form of life and they came to their guru's mission, and you (GBC's) want to kick them away."

 

10. ISKCON membership became conditioned to figuratively signing a paper declaring one's own incapacity to think and decide for himself, like judges declare senile persons on request of the family. We already discussed what happens to those who don't accept ISKCON's dogmatism as absolute.

 

Solution:

Only personal realization and true humility can change this. Don't forget that most members of ISKCON also see their material security in ISKCON and therefore don't dare to openly criticize those who control the system that provides their bread. Only if the daring critics are heard and satisfied can we believe in a change, not if a number of YES MEN shout, "The system is good, let it remain as it is."

 

 

11. SP originally established the GBC to be voted out of a group of six temple presidents for a three year period (see original GBC Bylaws). He also said that no GBC should have more then six temples in his service area. SP always wanted a check and balance system for all ISKCON officers.

 

11. The GBC resolved that only if 75% of their members would reject someone amongst them could they be removed from the GBC body. Similar conditions were there in order to admit new members. The problem is the following. Unfortunately more then 50% of the GBC's are materially motivated. Therefore they did not kick out the bad ones and never admit a new good one. Only the New Vrindavana meeting, where all the temple presidents requested the GBC's to simply take off or make changes brought a temporary change. Some changes were forced upon the GBC. Quickly they promoted a few critics into their group, but successfully maintained the GBC's inability to change the problems. All they did was to give more power to themselves. Not even the grossest mistakes they could rectify, like having local GBC's with backgrounds incompatible with the resentment of the local people. Often they did not speak the local language, and showed no sensitivity for the reality they were supposed to lead. Imagine an Arabian born Vaisnava as temple president in Tel Aviv.

 

Solution:

SP wanted a viable check and balance system to regulate the relationship between leaders and their other cooperators. That is the main point. It has to be practical and it has to make everyone happy. Do you agree?

GBC SHOULD FORGET THAT ITS SERVICE IS SO IMPORTANT.

ACTUALLY THE TEMPLE PRESIDENT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT. ANY GOOD TEMPLE PRESIDENT WILL MAKE AN EXCELLENT GBC. It is no doubt a very important Vaisnava seva, but isn't the actual way the GBC is presenting itself. They just congratulate each other for wrongly acquired privileges. Many of them, I fear would not be able by themselves to open a temple, to actually make some bhaktas, or to actually go out and collect the rent. What will it take for a dictator to recognize that his dictatorship is useless - all the intellectuals must flee the country? In the material world dictators don't change but with vaisnavas we still have a little hope.

 

 

12. SP did not like bureaucracy and centralization. He requested the yearly GBC meeting to only last a few hours, he wanted every temple to be separately incorporated and locally managed.

 

12. The evidence is mountain high, but obviously all these plans of SP's diminish zonal control and give power to local devotees. That is why they were hardly given any attention. It was in Colombia where all the local leading devotees complained and after deciding that ISKCON was not going the right way, they decided to change their affiliation from ISKCON's GBC into the ISKCON it was really meant to be. Obviously the GBC denounced us as thieves, etc. But actually if you analyze eight years later impartially, you will see that all these temples are still used to glorify SP. On top there are so many new temples and properties in the name of SP's ISKCON in Colombia. New vaisnava literature is published and many new devotees are chanting the holy names. We did not print many of SP's books because the GBC threatened to sue us in the courts, and we did not want to waste our energy in such a childish fight. Also we take it as Krishna's hint to publish other vaisnava nectar which the GBC has not discovered as yet. It is just painful to see how this Spanish-speaking BBT was plundered for so many years and could never produce even laser-written copies of SP's books for the devotees. But they do have time to discourage others from printing SP books who could do so. I call that power-hungry and not service conscious.

 

Solution:

There are so many different problems, but really only one solution which we are looking at from different viewpoints. That is love and trust, unity in diversity.

 

 

13. SP always stressed, "Let local people manage". Even though he sent his disciples all over the world, he wanted them to immediately train up local devotees to do all services.

 

13. Those who are fried in the US or fried the US often find another place in the ISKCON world to become a leader. Local devotees are ignored even though they would be more qualified and thus the local needs are often totally neglected. Local devotees generally cooperate out of respect for the older devotees, but the real message is, we should all qualify and become true leaders to properly serve the world.

 

Solution:

Krishna can give anything and also take away everything. If you do not have a program now of your own, don't count on others to give you big facilities. Just search out a vaisnava friend and try to start a new program. As far as permission from the GBC is concerned, they have no permission to act as they do to begin with. It is not easy to believe either that they will change in the near future. (Hope against hope). Don't worry about anything except SP's loving grace. He can empower you, just as he has empowered all his other sincere followers.

If you cannot find one friend who is ready to join with your effort and conviction, then try to start alone or search out people who are preaching outside of ISKCON, inspired by SP and SSM. Here you will find a friend who wants to join with you. If you are not a disciple of SP, pray to Lord Nityananda to take you to a real Sadhu whose realizations help you to go foreword. We cannot follow a guru who is only teaching and living contradictions. Otherwise how will you be able to preach, if you yourself have no real trust in anybody? Even devotees who accept disciples always search, always aspire for sadhu-sanga. (SP told SSM in 1977: "Please come to live with me in Mayapur. I will construct an elevator for you. Sometimes I have nobody to consult with.")

It is always wonderful to have the association of Vaisnavas like Govinda Maharaj or other true Vaisnava saints. They clear away our doubts quickly.

If you want to take sannyas don't expect to be maintained by some institution. Go out into the world of preaching, just like SSM sent his new sannyasis out to start their work immediately. ISKCON Sannyas has often become an institutional privilege. That is why they make it so hard to take. But really all godbrothers should be dancing if another one wants to join the sold out preacher who is going to roam the world distributing Krishna Katha.

 

 

14. SP never wanted any temple to be closed and he was furious if someone closed or even moved one temple to another city. SP wrote to Hanuman: You can open a temple anywhere in the world you like, but with one condition, it shall not be closed after.

 

14. ISKCON has reached a level where closing temples and falling gurus don't even make topics in the GBC meetings anymore. It is just too common, and if there is not much money involved; who cares?

The preaching spirit of SP's times has disappeared into institution consciousness.

 

Solution:

Let local people have free hand to reopen all the temples which have been closed. Promote lifelong dedication of temple presidents and teach all members to love, respect and serve every devotee, and friends of the devotees. Any temple is a permanent representation of the glories of SP.

 

 

15. SP wrote a letter to Hansadutta prohibiting the installation of Sri Narasinga Bhagavan in the same temple with Radha-Krishna.

 

15. Nevertheless SP was disobeyed and Lord Narasinga was installed in Germany dominating over the worship of Radha Madan-Mohan. Later that same speculation was introduced in Sridam Mayapur, where deity worship was already distorted. Even the diety of Srimati Radharani had been stolen from the ISKCON temple. SP had installed the dieties of Gouranga and of Radha-Madhava. That particular type of worship is generally found in temples of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and his followers. It is representative of the revelation to Ramananda Roy and it is in the mood of Madhurya rasa. Sri Krishna Chaitanya Radha-Krishna nahe anya. It is very high to even conceive of that mercy which SP bestowed on us. Later when the GBC decided to expand that worship, they got back Radha-Madhava dieties but so happened to forget Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord of Mayapur. At one point they even separated the small Mahaprabhu from Radha Madhava and put him on the opposite side of the huge altar. There's no end to the speculation. Then they wanted to bring in eight huge gopis to join (four actually arrived), to create more Vrindavana atmosphere, all that right next to the Lord of Vaikuntha Sri Narasinga-Bhagavan. We all know how great offenses were committed by ISKCON leaders right in Mayapur, without proper rectification. Little surprise that they did not understand the proper way of puja, but amazingly enough the rest of the GBC did not object either.

If Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is worshiped alone, like SP had on his altar in Jhansi, that worship is in madhurya-rasa inviting Radha-Krishna to appear if they are pleased. In that worship lord Nityananda is represented as Guru and that worship is called Guru Gouranga seva. When Gour Nitai or Krishna Balaram are worshiped together, that worship is in sakya-rasa. When Sri Jagannath Subhadra and Balaram are worshiped, that is in the mood of Dvaraka. When Sri Narasinga Bhagavan is worshiped that is seva in the mood of aisvarya, the mood of Vaikuntha.

 

Solution:

Construct extra temples for Lord Narasinga as requested by SP. Install a big diety of Sri Gouranga next to Radha-Madhava. Explain to the devotees the real meaning of the Istadeva of our Sampradaya and of other dieties.

 

 

16. SP, out of his love, trust and necessity rewarded Sannyas initiation to some devotees as soon as, in some cases, less than two years in his mission, GBC offices with only three years in the mission, and any worldwide temple president or preacher position to anyone at any time he wished to render such a service.

 

16. We already discussed what is happening in the GBC's ISKCON.

 

Solution:

Follow the example of SP and you will be amply rewarded.

 

 

17. SP forgave very easily even grave offenses when someone wanted to return to his shelter after having failed.

 

17.ISKCON GBC's only forgive those who bolster their power structure. If you have enough money you may become a GBC too. One GBC I met asked me repeatedly: when are you coming back to the family of SP? I explained for quite a while how ISKCON was not given an open field for real preaching. After he kept asking the same question. Again I answered; "We will be back in the family of SP the day you GBC's realize that we never left the real family of SP."

 

Solution:

A real vision of Vaisnava union could undoubtedly do wonders in this world.

 

 

18. SP would have never accepted that his Puspa Samadhi in Sridham Mayapur is higher then the temple of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, the Lord of Mayapur.

 

18. BIG IS BEAUTIFUL. Let us show that we are the best disciples by making the biggest Samadhi ever for a guru, so it truly becomes a monument. SP wanted to construct in Mayapur the "Temple of Understanding" with a planetarium which was suppose to be constructed according the Brihat Bhagavatamrita under the guidance of SSM. But they constructed the Monument of Misunderstanding instead.

This is a gigantic Puspa Samadhi, ill conceived from the beginning, just to show off. They wasted money like water and got ripped off from their own always changing construction administration. They did not finish the first Samadhi, but they started the second one. At the same time they offended their godbrothers as well as SP's godbrothers and could not even understand that SP would not like to have his samadhi to be constructed higher than his Lord's temple. Srila Jiva Goswami had no lack of funds and much less of devotion when Srila Rupa Goswami's Samadhi was constructed. And look at the size of the Radha Govinda temple. Why do everything opposite? By not consulting higher Vaisnavas it becomes very noticeable that we don't really understand much of this philosophy. That is the message of the monument of misunderstanding.

 

Solution:

Make the Puspa Samadhi the temple of Gouranga Radha Madhava, at least until a bigger temple is constructed for the deities. This is Antardvip, the birthplace of our Supreme Lord. Every Gaudiya acharya will give him the first and outstanding glorification. It is not that that little building is too big for the glory of our SP, but we should follow in his mood of worship. In the meantime Srila Prabhupada will be very happy to have his puspa samadhi closed to his eternal Lords.

 

 

19. SP enthused his disciples to do very hard service totally voluntarily. He stressed that you cannot force the devotees, you can only inspire them. Do not demand respect, but command respect by your example.

 

19. Brahmacaris with private bank accounts, GBC's traveling with firstclass air tickets and Rolex competitions will not inspire new devotees to give up their own fruitive desires. Indian businessmen managing ISKCON temples may turn out to be better management than frustrated members embezzling the resources of the mission. But again, our highest ideal is the full surrender SP taught us. Without such an example, very soon everything is lost and another normal church will remain, with paid priests only for Sunday worship.

 

Solution:

The vow of voluntary poverty is the vow of sannyasis and Brahmacaris. That has to be stressed and shown to the public. Preachers should live very simple lifestyles. Fancy silks and big cars are good for bhogi yogis. And the television guru is only for those who want to fall into sense gratification (you remember - while contemplating the objects...) That is not the style of Gaudiya Vaisnavas. It will not be easy, but our gurus expect that sacrifice.

 

 

20. SP never stressed rituals or formalities, what to speak of tantric practices. He did not recommend devotees to go to astrologers. SP priorities were the need of the day, to spread Krishna Consciousness. SP never encouraged devotees to neglect the preaching and to procure Gopi sentiments. Like SSM he preached to serve the order of Sri Guru and thus come to realize the internal meanings of Sastras like Bhakti Rasamrita Sindhu etc. SP stressed that he had written all his important messages in his books and that it was not a valid authority that somebody simply quotes a: "Srila Prabhupada said..."

 

20. Just like the monument of misunderstanding, there are quiet a few other symptoms which reveal that ISKCON is off the right track. The most obvious is the introduction of crazy ghost exorcisms organized inside ISKCON temples involving GBC's and gurus and ripping off stupid devotees by supposedly locking thousands of ghosts in bottles, holding midnight yajñas and confusing the entire devotee community. As if the Bhagavad-gita and the C.C. had not condemned all type of ghost consciousness, they claim to only follow what SP said. Where the hell did he write about bringing exorcisers into our life, or having initiated devotees consult astrologers to know their karmic fate!! IS IT NOT UNDERSTOOD THAT THE MERCY OF GURUDEVA INTERFERES AGAINST OUR KARMIC FATE? Even several gurus claimed that the exorcist took away their ghosts, but I fear if they don't watch it, they may be ghosts very soon themselves.

All these handreaders, tantrics, gypsies and other charlatans you can simply ask to leave us alone. Krishna's laksmi is not to be spoiled on cheaters. Astrology to preach karma and reincarnation may be a system to attract new devotees, but when even the BTG starts reporting how gurus, sannyasis and GBC's are consulting tantrics in India. This is a great irresponsibility. Why accept a guru then? The tantrics are cheaper.

But there is much more. Huge South Indian style yajñas may look very impressive to the public, but they do not create the mood of our Srila Rupa Goswami bhajan.

Now in ISKCON every new bhakta carries Rasa literature and shows his learning by quoting books SP mentioned in his books to be very confidential. The fashion of talking about those topics goes around and foolish conclusions are resound, such as SP did not teach us Raga, etc. Without Raga, none of us would have been initiated to begin with, because by the rules we all disqualify. Everybody writes books now, but when you ask them about the siddhanta, they have no answer. Temples charge money even for prasadam on Sunday feasts, etc. etc.

 

Solution:

The path of Bhakti is full of bliss, and preaching in a proper way will protect the preacher and will give him so much wonderful engagement that he want even have time for all that nonsense like tantrics, videos or other entertainments. He can even stay celibate if he careful serves the vaisnavas and carefully avoids all offenses. And he will not experience any scarcity. It is a wonderful life SP has given us, and SSM has elaborated further nectar to make it even more nectarian. And they both can save us from the dangers of sense enjoyment, Mayavada, Sahajaism, pride, speculation, and even from service in awe and reverence to take us back to their eternal Lordship in Goloka Vrindavana.