Kiwi Spirit: Satsvarupa dasa Goswami’s Diary

KIWI SPIRIT, Jan 30 2009, NEW ZEALAND — ISKCON guru Satsvarupa dasa Goswami attends his own Vyasa-puja celebration, which is organized by his “faithful disciples”, as Satsvarupa calls them. That is, the disciples who haven’t rejected him as guru since his fall down. The disciples sincerely observe the Vyasa-puja, cooking a feast, offering homages, etc.

The celebrations are observed in two parts. The morning is the main Vyasa-puja and then there is an afternoon program, as Satsvarupa describes below. But even with such a tight schedule on this most auspicious holy day of his Vyasa-puja, Satsvarupa and his associates have time to catch a bit of television back at the hotel! Meanwhile the sincere and “faithful” (foolish) disciples clean up and prepare for the afternoon program. Just see the cheating.

The following is a report of his Vyasa-puja day, written by Satsvarupa on his web journal entitled, Tachycardia:

“At about 1:30, we ended the kirtana and went down for a feast. The feast was mostly cooked by Lila-avatara, who has been cooking for three days, along with her husband, Visnu-aradhanam. There were many nice preparations, especially the spinach, but I didn’t take so much because our schedule was tight. We had to go back to the hotel and return within a couple of hours for the afternoon program. The schedule was for us to meet again at 4:00 P.M., when I would read excerpts from the new book Human at Best and then distribute them for donations. At the hotel, we turned on the TV and watched the closing moments of the Army-Navy game, seeing Navy smash Army 33 to nothing. Our hotel has many West Point fans gathered in it (more than Navy). They were even holding a meeting of the West Point Graduates Association in one of the hotel rooms.”

Satsvarupa also contemplates lying about his television addiction. He writes:

“Today I’ll probably indulge in my weakness and watch a little Sunday pro football, but not too much. I don’t want to be thinking of “first down and ten to go” at the time of death. When I go to Vrndavana, there will be none of that. You have your own room and privacy. Spend it well. Krishna and Prabhupada have given you time and space. The journal scoops the day. The free writing goes out to whatever comes. Don’t tell of watching football. Tell of editing your book and later watching the pastimes of Krishna. Show the good side of yourself. You are a spiritual master for disciples, so you have to set a good example.”

So according to Satsvarupa, if you are an ISKCON guru and you watch television, better you don’t tell your disciples, rather tell them of all the Krishna conscious things you do. In this way you will be setting a “good example”. Unfortunately the only example Satsvarupa is setting is that of a devotee who is struggling to control his senses, and this television watching is certainly plaguing Satsvarupa’s ability to control his mind. As he writes:

““I was not praying so much but just getting the rounds done. I suppose that is a kind of prayer also. What were you thinking of instead of Krishna’s names? I thought a little bit about the end of the Baltimore Ravens football game last night.”

““I just have to be careful that with the television set in my room, I don’t start watching other shows. So far I have disciplined myself and taking to proofreading of the fourth volume of A Poor Man Reads the Bhagavatam. It’s a book worth printing, with its many questions and answers on parampara subjects, although it is sometimes abrupt in the way it moves from question to question, and there is not much personal writing in the beginning. The blank face of the television stares me in the face, and I defy it. I did watch a little college football today (Saturday), but stopped when I felt the beginning of a headache. Today they play the last three innings of a World Series game, game number five, which was postponed due to rain. If the Phillies win, the World Series is over. If they lose, then Tampa Bay has another chance at their home field, where they have a great advantage.”

Srila Prabhupada said:

“So one who is under the control of the senses, he is go-dasa. Go means senses and dasa means servant. And one who is master of the senses, he’s goswami. Swami means master and go means senses. You have seen the goswami title. Goswami title means one who is the master of the sense. One who is not the servant of the sense, so long one is servant of the senses, he cannot be called a Goswami or swami. Swami or goswami, the same thing, means one who is the master of the senses. So unless one is not master of the senses, his accepting this title of swami and goswami is cheating. One must be master of the senses.”

“One who attains perfection in controlling the senses, he is called swami or goswami. So one has to become swami, goswami. Then he can become spiritual master. Without being swami or master of the senses, to become a spiritual master is bogus.” (Bhagavad-gita Lecture, Los Angeles, February 18th, 1969)

It is clear that Satsvarupa’s disciples are being cheated. They are bowing down and offering prayers to a phony. Even though Satsvarupa claims that his journal writings are based on honesty, he is actually living a most dishonest life, and the GBC and his sannyasi/guru godbrothers are endorsing it.