God knows why

[anadi]

27.11.2002 von Balaka

 

Letter from Vipramukhya Svami ,

 

 

My dear friends and disciples in ISKCON, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I'm sure some of you who saw me this summer, might have wondered why I had grown my hair out a little bit. One person even asked me about it the other day in England and I told him it was because of erving "chaturmasya" -the four months of the rainy season in India when sannyasis in the renounced order of life typically perform austerity, which sometimes includes not shaving.

 

Unfortunately, it is not actually the case with me. And so it is with a heavy heart that I write this letter that I never thought would be written. After giving so many years of my life to the Hare Krishna Movement (more than 29), twenty of which have been as a sannyasi, I have reached an emotional and spiritual crossroads. I have tried as sincerely as I could to give my mind, body and soul to the eternal service of my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, and also trying my best to help others in need. Yet, while working sincerely to help others, I regret that I neglected my own emotional and spiritual needs.

 

Although I never stopped chanting my rounds, over the last few years my rounds became "sloppy," and although I worshipped Salagram and Govardhan Silas, gave many lectures, and traveled the globe, I could not shake the loneliness and emptiness of my silent world. I felt unable to discuss my problems with anyone for fear of repercussions and the blight that someone in my position might encounter for having such problems. Regretfully, I also confess that seeking some kind of recourse and companionship, I was not always able to strictly follow the regulative principles, though I was not able to discuss this with anyone except one kind devotee who has been a true friend. It might come as a surprise to some of you that someone like me, who was blessed to have so many truly good and descent friends in the Hare Krishna Movement, could feel so alone and isolated within himself, but that is exactly what I have felt over the years. I joined ISKCON at the age of 20 after a brief and short failed marriage from the age of 18. Two years later, at the age of 22, I was put up for consideration to take sannyasa, which I eventually did accept at the age of 28. I was approved for accepting disciples at the age of 32 and accepted my first disciples at the age of 33. Now, many years later, at the age of 49, I have reached a dead end in my ability to continue.

 

There are truly good friends and disciples out there that have loved me and dedicated their lives to assisting ISKCON under my guidance, and for them I have no proper words to say. It is not that I want to neglect you or abandon you. It is only that I am simply unable to continue living the external show of being the advanced devotee that I am not. I don't think that would be beneficial either to you or to me. There are advanced devotees in ISKCON, and it is my duty to request those who have accepted guidance and shelter under me to take shelter of other senior devotees within ISKCON, and if in doubt to consult your local GBC representative. I bear no ill toward the GBC or ISKCON, and have not ever knowingly preached in such a way that would be considered inappropriate for a representative of ISKCON.

As my behavior and activities are no longer appropriate for someone in the renounced order of life or spiritual leader, I will no longer be able to maintain those posts of honor. As for me, I still believe in Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. I still believe in the GBC system that Srila Prabhupada set up for ISKCON. However, I will be living a life of seclusion from ISKCON now and will sort out my personal emotional and spiritual needs independently. I sadly release my disciples and aspiring disciples. I hope that you do not curse me out of anger and despair. However, it would be cruel and unfair if I were to falsely mislead you into believing that I am in some way qualified or capable to act as your true spiritual master. I am not. The email addresses that most people know for reaching me will be discontinued shortly after sending this letter. I wish to be left alone for awhile.

One or two persons regularly send me donations. Vrindavan-lila and the Garrisons in New York regularly send me money. I am no longer qualified to receive these contributions. In Vancouver, Canada, I have a lot of stuff in a corner room in which I lived for many years at the temple. These things include the bed, the dresser of drawers, the couch, the electric heater and the microwave oven. I give these to Madhumati devi dasi with the exception of the bed, which should remain as part of the room. In that room there are some white cabinets to the right as you enter the door from outside. Jaya

Govinda Prabhu has the key to those cabinets. I have already removed the valuables from those cabinets that I wish to keep and have taken them away. The rest may be discarded or kept by whoever desires them. The air conditioner belongs to Janardana dasa but I think he will not come and remove it from the room. At Bhaktivedanta Manor in England I have some cabinets in the sannyasa guestroom in the brahmacari ashram. Likewise, I have already gone through these cabinets and removed what I wish to keep. However, in the right hand cupboard there is a chest of drawers (where the blue network wire emerges from). Next to that you will find two microphone stands.

These belong to the theatre department. I am leaving them the

pop-screens attached to those stands, although I have taken the studio microphones which I purchased with my mother's money. Inside my small room between room 4 and 5 in the brahmacari ashram, I have also removed the things I wish to keep. I suggest the microwave oven remain as part of that small room. Of particular interest, however, is that I left a stereo CD player in that room. I wish that this CD player be given to Dvaraka Puri and the theatre department. The rest of the items in the room may be dispersed or discarded, as I have already removed whatever I wish to keep.

 

ISKCON Long Island, in Freeport, NY, owes me $10,000 plus interest for a loan I gave them to help pay off the mortgage, as documented in the promissory note that we drew up at the time of the loan. Although I am no longer continuing with my roles in ISKCON, I would expect that this money be paid back as planned, as this was money I received from my mother. I wish you all well, and I pray that although fallen, I may one day be forgiven for my offenses. Although I have about 40 initiated disciples, there are a few very close friends and disciples who I see or speak with regularly and who will always be close to my heart, and who may be affected even more than others. I wish to mention these people by name. Manik, Prema Lila, Madhumati, Bhakta Chris and Rasa Parayani, Vraja Vilasini, Citralekha and Mirabhai - will all be deeply affected by my departure. Others such as Panca Pandava, Ekacakranath, Amrta Keli, Devahotra, Taruna Krishna and his wife Gokula Taruni, Mayapur Lila, and Vrindavan Lila have all been close disciples in Canada, the USA, Australia and Great Britain.

 

My apologies to all of you for my shortcomings.

Yours sincerely,

Vipramukhya dasa

 

[anadi]

Krsna bhakti janma mula haya sadhu sanga

Krsna prema janme tenho punah mukhya anga

CC Madhya 22.83

 

Sadhu sanga

ist the root cause of krsna-bhakti

waters the creeper of bhakti

bring the fruit of krsna-prema

remains the most essential anga of bhakti when krsna prema was awakened.

[Guest guest]

When I see things like this, it makes me wonder about two concerning trends in ISKCON. I bring this up not for the sake of pointing fingers, but only with an interest in making ISKCON better.

 

There are two trends I have noticed in ISKCON which don't seem very spiritually healthy:

 

1) The tendency for men to try to avoid marriage

2) The tendency of sannyasis to actively use things, keep posessions, etc which is against the spirit of the renounced order.

 

Let me take these one by one and then invite comments.

 

(1) There is, without a doubt, a tendency among males to eschew marriage in favor of renounciation and sannyasa. This would be ok if the many of these males stuck to the chosen path, but seeing the very large "bloop" rate, many of which seem at one point or another connected to a need for female companionship, it is only reasonable to ask if this mood of "renounciation" isn't false. Some Vaishnavas in other traditions actually believe that householder life is a necessary stage of spiritual development, and that no one can become a sannyasi without first being a householder. I don't personally agree with that logic, but it does have some practical merits. On the other extreme are those Vaishnava traditions where sannyasa is given to children, before they are even old enough to know what sensual desire is.

 

It seems reasonable to me that there might be some people who have such great faith in Krishna-consciousness and such strong attraction for Krishna that they naturally lose taste in women. These people don't need to get married. But many individuals, regardless of how strongly comitted they are to their gurus, don't necessarily have the attraction to Krishna. It is becoming a "macho" thing for them to speak out against marriage, even make fun of those who get married. Of course, seeing many householders who don't stick to the principles, I guess I can see where some of this is coming from. But perhaps by such criticism these brahmacharis are not being entirely honest with themselves.

 

(2) The tendency for sannyasis to not be very renounced. Of course, we have in our tradition the concept of "yukta-vairagya" - renounciation of the sense of proprietorship of a thing. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta was said to have ridden into Vrindavana in a car just to make this point. But its modern appliation is a little dubious. I met Vipramukhya Swami once. He seemed like a nice guy, very humourous and friendly, and I wish him no ill will. But I recall him once having a very protracted argument on Chakra about his dependence on electronic items - PDA's, notebook computers, internet, etc etc, all of which he discussed quite publicly which is why objections were made later. Someone made the very sensible point that a sannyasi should not be attached to such things, both from a practical as well as a spiritual standpoint. Needless to say, the ISKCON devotees responded in typical fanatical fashion - he was quickly declared to be offensive, etc etc. This was a few months before Vipramukhya announced his fall down. It seems in retrospect that the critic who made these suggestions was right. Granted, we must use things in Krishna-consciousness, but how many of us really have the necessary consciousness? Also, if sannyasis can do this just as much as householders, then is celibacy the only difference between them? Perhaps sannyasis should set a better example of not keeping so many posessions (or at least, not being so public about their use of them). Maybe this is where some explicit guidelines spelled out by the GBC would be wise. I am only opening the table for discussion here. Any comments would be welcome.

 

 

 

[anadi]

To chant you need the inspiration of elevated association

 

 

Although I never stopped chanting my rounds, over the last few years my rounds became "sloppy ," and although I worshipped Salagram and Govardhan Silas, gave many lectures, and traveled the globe, I could not shake the loneliness and emptiness of my silent world.

 

 

[HEAVY WARNING AGAIN]

 

pratyah laksa-nama grahana na karile patita vyaktiganera visaya-bhoga pravrtti vrddhi paya; takhana ara tahara sri gaurasunderarera seva karite pare na.

 

Those who don't accept this vow of chanting 100,000 names daily, they fallen down even more although they were fallen in the first place (due to contamination of Kali-yuga). Thus their propensity for enjoying the senses and sense-objects increases and ultimately they are not able to render any kind of service to Lord Gaurasundera.

 

[Note: Srila Sarasvati has conclusively established here that those who don't chant laksa-nama daily are absolutely sure to fall down even from the service of the merciful Lord Gaurasundera in due course of time. Then what to speak of rendering service to Their Lordships Radha & Krishna]

[Guest guest]

Post deleted by Admin5

[Dervish]

Welp ... I think Srila Bhaktivinode Thakur stated that true Vairagya is deep within the heart. I suppose they weren't ready. Better to own up to it ASAP than to live a lie. The sooner the better.

[Guest guest]

vipramukhya has damaged the image of vaishnavism so severely he ought to be deleted

[gHari]

That he is no longer a devotee of Sri Caitanya. We should be more careful.

 

[livingentity]

 

vipramukhya has damaged the image of vaishnavism so severely he ought to be deleted

 

 

This is just uncalled for meaness. I can only imagine how difficult his decision to leave must have been - the stuggle within his heart and mind.

 

I pray that he is living peacefully now, chanting, preaching and remembering.

 

From what I hear he still communicates with devotees etc. He is just not a sannyasi anymore nor part of ISKCON. That does not make him a non-devotee.

 

Lighten up!

 

Hare Krsna

[krsna]

The Chalk Charade

by Mohini Rupa dasi

 

Posted April 16, 2004

 

As a non-sectarian devotee aspirant, I sometimes visit the various local gaudiya vaisnava temples. There is one prominent group who advertise their guru as being a "maha bhagavat" and use this label as a way to canvas for converts. Though they have been successful in their goal to increase numerically, this type of conversion is against the spirit and practice of gaudiya vaisnavaism, and smacks strongly of the odor of the lower modes. It is born of the desire to control and manipulate, which deceptively appears to be faith in the guru, but is as different as chalk to cheese...

 

The gaudiya vaisnava preacher naturally instills faith in the conditioned soul by presentation of the Bhagavat philosophy, through use of the proofs of sastra, logic and experience. By hearing of sastra, presented very powerfully, by the questioning of it, by raising objections, by considering it from different angles, steadily faith in this science develops, if one is receptive. Then, by association with persons following it, one gets inspiration in overcoming one's inhibitions. To the extent that a certain person facilitates this awakening by his example and precept, that person is guru. He is not guru by popular vote, nor a mahabhagavat by proclamation of the masses. But neophyte devotees, bereft of the real article, want to make a show of faith and promote their "good fortune". Having no idea what faith is and how it is born, they convert people the way they were converted, and so attract more sentimentalists and fanatics to the cause.

 

Did we see Srila Prabhupada use preaching opportunities to foam at the mouth about his guru? Rather, time and again we saw him present, with all manner of logic, reason, compassion, humanity and humor, the process of self-realization, intelligently adjusting it according to time, place and circumstance. The intensity of his faith in his guru and his intimate love for the Lord were his private affair. Following his guru's instructions was his life and soul, for which he sacrificed everything. Sadly, this group neglect their guru's instruction which is to use their surplus funds for temple construction, rather than flocking to see him in India, and instead they do exactly the opposite. Ours is the process of hearing and acting upon instruction, not just sitting starry eyed, mesmerized by the presence. Even if one is awed, one should subdue such emotions which impair one's assimilation of the message, for it is this message of the Lord, not the guru himself, which is powerful to uproot the fourfold miseries of material existence. Inasmuch as the guru is thoroughly transparent and devoid of desire and envy, he is potent to deliver that message, unspoilt.

 

The genuine guru tries to empower all to become gurus and deliver the world. His genuine followers do not make a monopoly of him as the sole conduit for bhakti, but themselves, on his order, strive to become transparent via media and thus follow in his footsteps. The tendency to turn the guru into an idol has at its root the tamo guna quality of laziness- to have a guru so powerful that just being near him accomplishes everything, and they his disciples just enjoy the ride back to the intimate pastimes of Krsna. It has the rajo guna qualities of desire for fame- by association; and control, manipulating the emotions of the innocent and ignorant, through the force of group proclamation and fervor. It is a festering place for fanaticism, instead of sobriety and steady scientific progress toward self-realization. It has degraded the guru-disciple relationship into an idol-fan club thing.

 

But they are confident of their success- their numbers are increasing; their guru has not fallen from the principles like others in ISKCON have- he is a lifelong celibate! This conviction is amazing. Krsna is so clear in the gita that it is offensive to take seriously a devotee's accidental falldown and fail to consider him saintly when he is still committed to the path in all sincerity. Yet in ISKCON and out of ISKCON, the track record of celibacy has to be clear, or he is considered fallen. This particular group proclaim he must be so, even from birth, and thus disqualify practically everyone but their idol from the all-powerful, uplifting mercy of Lord Chaitanya. He wanted everyone to be guru- not just lifelong celibates. Anyone who has learnt from his guru the philosophy and has the heart and brain to disseminate it according to time place and circumstance, can and should be guru. This is love, and control of the monopoly of guruship is a manifestation of lust. Whether done by the GBC by force of law, or by the fanatic by force of fervor, though appearing differently, it is the same.

 

 

[Haridham]

I have some things to say about Vipramukya swami. First I know him quite well as he stayed in vancouver and where I had constant association with him.

 

It was his encouragment that I became a devotee. He is responsible for a lot of the youths in iskcon vancouver to develop their spiritual life.

 

I remember in 1992 when I was confused at what to do he encouraged me to go to Padayatra. Since that day and since having his association for about 2 weeks during that padayatra my devotional life started.

 

So who cares if he has "fallen" Its kali yuga. Krsna will never foget what he is doing. I am sure he will start his next life as a devotee.

 

look for the good things devotees do like bees attracted to honey instead of find fault and like fly's who are attracted to stool.

 

I owe my whole devotional life to Vipramukya swamil.

[Guest guest]

I found this article insightful, and hope others will consider its message seriously.

 

It is indeed a plague of Vedic society this tendency to "idolize" the guru to the point of failing to take up his example. It has been in India for several hundred years at least. And even people in ISKCON and other ISKCON-clone societies are not immune from it.