Prithu Prabhu Resigns as GBC and initiating spiritual master

[krsna]

Prithu Prabhu Resigns

Forwarded by

the GBC EC

Posted October 19, 2004

 

From the EC:

 

Dear devotees,

 

Please accept our most humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

We are informing you, as the below posted letter indicates, that HG Prithu Prabhu wishes to resign from his services, both as member of the Governing Body of ISKCON and as an initiating spiritual master. Therefore the GBC are making arrangements to help all those affected by his resignation, and we thank him for all his service and look forward to his continuing to serve in whatever capacity he can in the future. We also wish him the best regarding his health and welfare.

 

Hoping this meets you in the best of health.

 

Your servants,

the GBC EC

 

AC Bhaktivaibhava Swami, Bir Krishna Dasa Goswami, Devamrita Swami, Praghosa Dasa, Radha Krishna Dasa

 

From Prithu Prabhu:

 

Dear devotees in the ISKCON family and outside,

 

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

I wish to inform you of my present situation.

 

I have been suffering from some very serious health problems for the last few months. I have been going through a period of massive depressions, and my experience has been, and at times still is, a nightmare of intense unhappiness, utter hopelessness, coupled with feelings of abandonment and helplessness.

 

These difficulties may have possibly been exaggerated by both my hepatitis C condition as well as a recent severe fasting regime.

 

Yet there is an underlying spiritual cause to all of this, and I owe it to you to disclose it: I have been failing to follow our spiritual principles for a good while. The present intense bout of depressions are actually the deserved reaction for not practicing what I have been preaching, keeping the other very dark side of myself to myself and locked away from my family, my dear disciples, and the rest of the world.

 

Thanks and appreciation from dipika.org to our sponsor and host,

 

 

For me to get to a better place it is clear that I need first of all to be honest with myself and with all of you. Further, I need to resign from my service of initiating guru and discontinue guiding my disciples in that capacity. Last, but not least, I wish to resign from my position as member of the Governing Body of ISKCON.

 

As for the future:

 

There is no question in my mind as to my ongoing dedication to Srila Prabhupada and his movement. What exact form that service might take is not clear to me as yet, and I would appreciate your feedback.

 

I am sorry and apologize to you for being a disappointment. Let me ask for forgiveness for offences I have committed over the years to many of you.

 

I pray that you be kind to this poor soul, pray for me, and give me your support at this trying time.

 

My heart goes out to my beloved disciples, who have been wonderful friends to me all these years, a great source of happiness and support, especially in the last very trying days. May Sri Krishna bless them more and more and be able to drag me home, back to Godhead.

 

Thank you for listening to my story— the story of one who went out to save the world while being on the inside a deeply troubled, helpless, and unhappy soul.

 

Your servant,

Prithu das

 

© dipika.org October 19, 2004

 

[Guest guest]

I think that in a bad health condition is very dificult to be a spiritual master, i really hope that our H.G. Prithu Prabhu will be recovery quickly.

[anadi]

 

I think that in a bad health condition is very dificult to be a spiritual master, i really hope that our H.G. Prithu Prabhu will be recovery quickly.

 

 

I appreciate your sincerity.

 

I have been failing to follow our spiritual principles for a good while.

I appreciate his sincerity.

and my experience has been, and at times still is, a nightmare of intense unhappiness, utter hopelessness, coupled with feelings of abandonment and helplessness.

 

 

He and "harikesh" preached heavily agaisnt Gaudya Math and Srila BVNM. They missed "The heart of Krishna" by Srila Bhakti Pramoda Puri Maharaja.

 

kriti sadya bhavet sadya bhava sa saddhana abhida

nitya siddhasya bhavasya prakatyam hridi sadyatam

 

The ones who practice sadhana bhakti is very rare in this world.

 

 

 

[mini]

 

 

The post from Prithu Prabhu is really touching my soul for all its sincerity . At the same time I feel sad to read about all that.

 

I don't know him and this is the first time I have heard of him, but I appreciate the courage he has displayed in accepting his shortcomings. Not everyone is so brave. And let us understand the message he is trying to convey.

 

I pray and hope he gets well soon and finds out a way out of his bad health and depression.

 

My sincerest wishes to Prithu Prabhu.

mini

[gHari]

Is that the last hurdle to complete the surrender to our eternal self? Do we cling onto a little mischief just to feel independent somehow - out of fear that we will have no control otherwise?

 

I would think the guru's depression is a good thing. Hopefully Krsna will show compassion for his pain and remove that final fear unhooking the ahankara.

 

[theist]

I agree yet again with gHari. It all sounds like good news to me. This soul has come to grips with with a major dark spot in his pysche. The battle is really on. Some will abandon him, his friends will not. I believe in this Prithu das and in the Krsna who is supporting him.

 

What lies hidden in our own? It takes courage to even look let alone engage in battle.

 

Is there a lesson in this crisis of his for us?

 

I see several.

 

Krsna will surely see to his victory.

[Guest guest]

 

I agree yet again with gHari. It all sounds like good news to me

 

 

and to me too.

I hope with you for more such uninterupted good news from ISKCON! And they come regularly.

 

"this Prithu das" was a fierceful german devotee, famous by his anti Narayana Maharaja and anti Gaudya Math propaganda.

 

hari sthane aparadhe ta re harinama

toma sthane aparadhe nahiko edana

 

May Krishna be merciful with him, put him in sadhu-sanga and bestow on him the seva vriti.

 

all glories to sri sri guru and gauranga

anadi krishna dasa

[theist]

I wasn't so much of thinking in terms of ISKCON or any other institution. I was thinking of Prithu das personally.

 

I don't know him or much about him but had ocassion to attend a function at his ashram in Vrndavan once. He seemed very gentle on that day. We all have our issues and moments.

[Guest guest]

It seems a little narrow minded to now judge that his difficulties may be due to his preaching against someone else. Only Lord Sri Krishna who is the only One with unlimited knowledge can judge.....we have to be careful of the offences ourselves.

[Pankaja_Dasa]

 

 

I don't think its narrow minded to think that. In fact I think we should think this. And not do it ourselves. We think we are all Prabhupada's. We're not.

 

I have picture of Prithu Prabhu who did all this work and Lord Narayana {4-handed form} looking down upon Him in sadness.

 

Like Thiest Prabhu said in another post its a lesson for us all to learn. I think somebody should say all the work Maharaja has done so we can see what devotees go through for Krishna.

[stonehearted]

I do know Prithu. I spent some time with him on a couple of occasions in San Diego and sometimes discussed certain issues with him by email.

 

Prithu is an enthusiastic preacher with a strong personality. He can also show signs of having a soft heart. Because of his personality and the ethos in ISKCON that tolerates--even encourages--vilification of others, even (sometimes especially) other Vaishnavas, I don't think it's possible to rule out the possibility that his spiritual difficulties may be due to Vaishnava aparadha. His physical health is due to some choices he made earlier in his life (at least I assume they were earlier).

 

Nevertheless, I don't think that any of us here has any reason for judging him. Rather, we should find ways to encourage him to continue serving Srila Prabhupada enthusiastically and honestly. About 25 years ago, it occurred to me that the best preaching is an overflow of our own Krishna consciousness; this is further enhanced by the pure character of advanced devotees. This will impress people on the level of the heart, which is where we want to go, much more than rattling off verses, wearing shiny silks, and riding in cool cars.

 

Our real concern should be to examine ourselves honestly and scrupulously to see that our practice and association are helping us shed the anarthas and false sense of identity that hamper the awakening of our inherent love for Krishna.

 

If you know Prithu and can ofer him good wishes, ecnouragement, or help of any kind, by all means do so. Otherwise, remember that charity begins at home.

[mini]

Hello guest,

 

 

I don't know not what this man has been, but what I see here is most probably an act inspired by divine.

 

Blessed are the people who are shown the mirror of reality, and I can tell from my personal experience , the reality hurts a lot. (Though I was not as much blessed )

 

 

I forgot who spoke these lines, maybe it was Kabir,( forgive me if I am wrong, also pardon my poor translation):

 

"Bura Jo Dekhan Main Chala, Bura Na Milia Koi,

Jo Man Dekha Aapna , Mujhse Bura Na Koi."

 

"When I went in search of evil, I could not find any. When I searched within myself, no one was worse than me."

 

He has realised something !!

 

 

regards,

mini

[Kulapavana]

it is sad news for ISKCON indeed... and I do agree with you that this "culture" of unprovoked attacks on non-ISKCON Vaishnavas has lead to the downfall of many otherwise wonderfull devotees.

 

that "culture" of power cabals using perverted philosophy to concentrate material power in their own hands has ruined the purity of ISKCON and individuals inside. it reminds me of power struggles between communists during the Revolution. if you know the players involved, the similarities do not end there /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[Sunanda]

What i found interesting is this "Dear devotees in the ISKCON family and outside" outside.... i suffered from His preaching when i took initiation from Srila Narayana Maharaja, my Beloved Gurudeva, as some of His disciples i was good friends with preached me against Gaudiya Math. we kind of loose touch for some time now.

 

So i take it as a good lesson. i may seem hard-hearted but believe me this would be a mistake cause i really feel sad fome Him and His disciples. But Vaisnava Aparadha is there and i really think it is related. My Gurudeva is always warnong us against this great offense, never criticize ANY devotee. Never. if you feel they're doing bad things then offer you respect and walk away. but never criticize. so, as most of us, i do a lot of offenses too, but i think about more and i hope i'll stop for real one day.

 

Please forgive me if i said anything that have hureted you in any way. if so i beg your forgiveness.

 

Sunanda dasa.

[Guest guest]

I "met him" once, back in 1996 during San Francisco Ratha-Yatra. I thought he was headed for trouble back then. Despite it being an auspicious day and everyone wanting to hearing some nice Jagannatha Katha, he instead used the Bhagavatam class to discuss ISKCON politics vis-a-vis the Gaudiya Math. This in spite of the fact that no one pushed him in that direction - he went there all by himself, and that too in the Berkeley temple room crowded full of devotees who had gathered from across the country to be there for Ratha Yatra.

 

Not only that, but during the class he reminisced about his childhood days and told us about how he and his friends used to beat up some small kid they did not like. I don't remember exactly how he worked that into the class. It didn't strike me as relevant to Lord Jagannath.

 

Overall, I found him and his talks to be very distasteful.

 

After that I mostly saw him from time to time on the internet. It seemed he was always getting in a fight with someone, usually preachers outside ISKCON, i.e. Tripurari Swami, Narayana M. etc. I am surprised that he was an initiating guru. He seemed rather immature and sectarian minded for such a position. In fact, I thought he was basically a big bully.

 

Nowadays we seem resigned to the fact that gurus are going to fall down, and the most aggressive, political, offensive ones will probably do so first. But, they aren't so bad as long as they are honest with us about their character weaknesses, their lack of fidelity to the regulative principles, their secret meetings with female therapists, etc.

 

While I think it is good to remember that these individuals are human beings, and thus worthy of our good wishes, I wonder if we aren't becoming a little too comfortable with this new standard of "today a guru, tomorrow a fall down." It seems like there is a major guru fall down at least 1-2 times a year, what to speak of the "falldowns" that we don't hear about. Is it their fault for thinking they are qualified to act as gurus, or is it our fault for accepting them as such without proper discrimination, proper study of their character, proper questioning based on scripture, etc?

 

I think the question is most relevant in such a case. The trend has always been to blame the institution, but this is hardly fair. There is no legitimate basis for a political body "approving" of someone's becoming a guru. Nor is a political body like the GBC prepared to take responsibility if one of its gurus fails to live up to the standards. People will become gurus of their own accord, but they can only instruct if someone is prepared to accept them as such.

 

Thus, I think the real issue is our lack of discrimination when it comes to selecting a guru. We accept too quickly that someone is a "pure devotee" or that his seniority gives him the right to certain excesses. We don't question behavior that seems instinctively wrong to us, nor do we consider whether the guru has the depth of knowledge to provide mature answers that go beyond "well the GBC resolution is this, therefore you should accept it." We think that a web page on the internet or a spam-mail campaign are acceptable means by which to begin hearing about a guru, rather than meeting a guru who still goes out into the streets and humbles himself by distributing books and braving scorn and the elements to accomplish his spiritual master's instruction. We don't study the guru's character carefully, or we ourselves are victims of sectarian thinking which blind us to the excesses that this causes in some would-be gurus.

 

These are random thoughts only... food for thought. No offense is intended. But personally, I would never accept someone as a guru who thought that talk of beating up small children was acceptable during Bhagavatam class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kulapavana]

there are times when it may be neccesary to bring up critical comments regarding a particular behavior or idea, when they are contrary to our siddhanta. yet, such criticism does not have to be offending. It takes a lot of humility and realization to present critical comment in a proper, constructive way. one should criticize the sin, not the sinner.

 

sadly, the often stunning immaturity of ISKCON leaders (especially in the past) criticizing other Vaishnavas comes on the opposite end of the spectrum of critical analysis.

[theist]

I appreciated guest's point of not forgeting to let followers accept their share of the responsibility. It takes two to Tango they say. Though new people come with a certain innocence and it is all so new and foreign they have an almost impossible task right away to choose who to hear from.

 

This is not helped by the pressure that comes to accept someone as a guru. They get unindated from almost day one with "you need an initiating guru or your can't advance" and you ceratinly can't fit in very well with the ISKCON culture. And I suspect something similar from other groups as well.

 

Why can't people just be taught to pray to the Lord in heart for direction in this matter and then everyone just mind their own business as to who someone's guru is?

 

Besides the absurdity of considering someone who has moved into a temple that Prabhupada established, following the sadhana that Prabhupada prescribed, reading Prabhupada's books etc. as being without a spiritual master in the first place.

 

 

[Guest guest]

if you follow srila prabhupada than you can not go around the order of 1977 ( rittvik prest and not GURU )

 

guru who is later to be fallen star hav never been a GURU , these words are from srila prabhupada...

 

 

why not ?

[theist]

oh ok. I don't do ritvik.

[stonehearted]

Somehow, I missed the "and outside" part of Prithu's greeting. That does add something worth considering.

 

My earlier comments were not meant to obscure or distract from the issue of vaishnava aparadha. Rather, I meant them to call attention to this issue, which, as anyone who knows me at all knows, is a central issue for me. I think that if anyone wants to find a central theme in the parade of fallen/falling ISKCON gurus, I would suggest a dearth of humility. Someone who actually feels lower than a straw in the street would be reluctant, not eager, to criticize anyone, much less another Vaishnava. I am not happy about what I've often called the culture of Vaishnava aparadha (a phrase I coined) in ISKCON, and I have protested it publicly and often, including while giving classes in ISKCON temples.

 

That's one of the reasons I wrote an article in response to Danavir Maharaja's article criticizing Tripurari Maharaja's presentation of Bhagavad-gita a year ago. Another reason is that I have a close relationship with Tripurari Maharaja. So I have also been personally upset by reports I get sometimes of things Prithu has said about Maharaja.

 

That said, I think the real reason for anyone not directly affected by Prithu's situation to pay any attention to it is the warning about how corrosive Vaishnava aparadha can be.

[vijay]

I liked stonehearted's point, it does take 2 to tango, I hope with all these fall downs devotees will start to anylse guru's thorougly as the responsibility lies in thier hands, any way I will wait a while before i get initiated in iskcon. I think alot of the leaders where given responsibity and power early on but failed to increase thier humility, resulting in the power fuelling anarthas lacking the humility to weed them out.

[stonehearted]

Well said, Vijay. And that's an important point, precisely why these incidents merit discussion. Responsibility for the relationship rests with both parties, and prospective disciples would do well to enter such relationships with their eyes open. And this brings up another serious problem about the nature of guru-disciple relationships in ISKCON. I think the society of devotees, in ISKCON and outside it, would have taken a much dofferent shape over the last 20-odd years if the relationships had been more personal than institutional.

[Pankaja_Dasa]

 

 

But I learn most of what Guru and disicple is from coming here. Internet. Over about a year.

 

[stonehearted]

I'm not sure what you mean by "jumping over" anything I said.

 

I'd be cautious about learning about the guru-disciple relationship on the internet. It's better to read what shastra and advanced Vaishnavas say about it. An excellent source is Srila Sridhar Maharaja's Sri Guru and His Grace. Also, it's a good idea to consult your own guru maharaja when possible.

[Pankaja_Dasa]

 

 

Just trying to be humble. Can't even do that right!

 

Well: Sri Guru & His Grace

 

I read parts of it. Seems I read only parts of books lol