Ananda Svarupa dasa, AMSTERDAM: I got into a lot of trouble in the past for airing my opinions on the web. I wouldn’t be openly critical if there was an open forum. Unfortunately, since Srila Prabhupada’s departure there is no such thing in his institution. Only strictly off-limits GBC meetings, closed to godbrothers. Not to speak of the official ISKCON websites like Dandavats.com, ISKCON.com, Pamho.com, Chakra.com, etc. All these sites practice a form of censorship and patent propaganda I have not experienced since my days as a young idealistic student in Afrikaner apartheid South Africa.
The two posts below are representative of my feelings and those of 95% of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples. They show that I am not alone in harboring misgivings about ISKCON history and leadership. Like me, many have waited years and years for meaningful dialogue leading to real change, based on accepting truth and concomitant responsibility. As I commented on an earlier post on this blog:
“contemporary solutions depend to a large degree on an honest accounting of the past, which offers plenty of lessons for those willing to listen”
The first post is from someone I’ve known intimately for 30 years. Since I did not ask his permission I will not include his name. However, he had the fortune to spend significant intimate time with Srila Prabhupada and was personally instructed by him on many occasions. Once, Prabhupada even spent more than one hour recording just for him on cassette many chants of verses from the Gita and Bhagavatam. He is a talented, articulate and extremely intelligent person. Just the type Srila Prabhupada worked so hard to attract to Krsna consciousness. Reprehensibly, for him ISKCON has no place conforming to his talents.
The second post is from Gurukrpa das, who needs no introduction. I met Gurukrpa when I was Temple President of ISKCON Hawaii in 1985. He had recently arrived in Honolulu with his wife and young son. Since his forced departure from ISKCON he had been ostracized by the GBC/Zonal Guru combine. That notwithstanding, I sought his association and gave him space in the temple program, invited him to give Bhagavatam classes and lead kirtan, something that had been denied to him for almost ten years. His classes were philosophically perfect and his kirtans exceptionally sweet. It was inconceivable to me that such a senior man, an intimate associate of Srila Prabhupada who had done so much service for the society, could be treated with such cynical neglect. I just did not see Srila Prabhupada condoning something like that. Never!
Over a period of a year, Gurukrpa and I would spend several hours most days discussing Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON history. Actually, he did the talking and I the listening. I have met and listened to many devotees, but have yet to meet one who has as much faith and love for Srila Prabhupada as Gurukrpa Prabhu.
(You can read Gurukrpa’s post on the Sampradaya Sun here).
An e-mail received today from a godbrother:
Ananda:
“… I bow down to him (Gurukrpa) for his love for Prabhupada which is real, and for his humility in not taking the bait and becoming the 12th guru. I disagree with his analysis of why we all followed the 11 when Prabhupada left us. It was a well planned conspiracy. They convinced all of us, even the most intelligent ones… that this was Prabhupada’s desire, his order. I remember the mood back in ’78, ’79. I think TKG and Kirtanananda were the leaders, but all 11 got into the act. And what an act! We wanted things to go on as if Prabhupada was still with us, and they convinced us for the time being that this picture of the new acaryas was how it could happen. None of us ever heard the actual order of Prabhupada told in this article: to stop the expansion, sit together and hear and chant. We heard just the opposite! “Pump it up, join a zonal or hit the highway!” How much different that would have been if we had followed the pure devotee’s guidance! And how sad for us that it never happened and that Prabhupada left us to suffer our fate. (Although he gave us everything we needed to be successful despite our fate, before he left.)
My point is this: we are only going to be around for another 20 or 30 years. So if you have something to say on a subject like this, one of the most important subjects for followers of Srila Prabhupada, then you should say it.
We didn’t screw up the movement. We should take responsibility for screwing up our own lives, but we didn’t hurt hundreds of our godbrothers and potentially hundreds of thousands of jivas who might have been attracted to KC if it had been presented properly. That aparadha goes to the Zonals. I remember being pissed off and angry for years at them. Going back to when you were TP in Hawaii. I never even wanted to visit the temple on Coelho Way except to meet you. That’s what they did to thousands of their godbrothers and sisters. To this day, unless you are a manager or guru, you can walk into any of Prabhupada’s temples in the world and be completely unwelcome. You are seen as no different than a bum from the street. This is the legacy of the Zonals, followed by the Reformers. No sane man in the world would wish to be part of such a society.
Comments, questions?
asvami@gmail.com
http://carloananda.blogspot.com
I don’t prescribe to any ‘camp’ I just question evil when I see it. As for approaching a spiritual master, I agree but we have made the concept of spiritual master at present one of a rubber stamp guru. A spiritual master is actually revealed by Sri Krsna, you don’t set out to look for one and choose from the plethora of voted in gurus – this is a mockery of parampara and so is NM looking at various tactics employed. With all of them it is proven fact that they do not meet the requirements in areas of, ‘vehemence of the tongue and control of anger’. A real guru is someone who is revealed to be divine through nature. Questioning these things is essential to our spiritual growth and a necessity to having to make an accurate or informed choice about our life.
One-to-one personal, devotional service to a real bonefide spiritual master and truly transcendent, liberated soul is essential to our progress as is real sadhu sanga. Never get carried away with hysteria and always question when looking between the lines.
The 11 zonals have made a terrible offence and until we stop the worship of man instead of God the movement will be a laughing stock.
WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD
By Rupanuga das
The editors of the 1983 revised Gita did not believe that they actually interpolated philosophy or style.* Their idea was to improve both translations and purports by transposing and clarifying portions of old manuscripts, etc. existing prior to the one finally submitted to Macmillan in 1972. Truly, many of the grammatical, spelling, format and historical inaccuracies corrected in the revision would have been approved by Srila Prabhupada himself had he been consulted.
Be that as it may, Srila Prabhupada never instructed anyone to use a procedure of re-visiting and researching old manuscripts or dictations to revise future printings of his first editions. On the other hand, recordings made from 1972 until 1977, six years, demonstrate how Srila Prabhupada often personally read excerpts from the Gita in classes, room conversations, engagements, etc. Many times he also instructed devotees present to read aloud as he listened. There is no evidence indicating that he ordered extensive revisions for the next printing. As the current chief editor wrote; “To my knowledge, Srila Prabhupada never asked us to re-edit the book.†( letter to Amogha Lila, July, 1986 ) .
Interestingly enough, none of the scholars, educators, professors and other reviewers of the Gita called for it either. From 1972 until 1983 we don’t find requests from professionals for a revision to a higher standard. Nor do we hear any demand from devotees in general for such a thorough revision. In fact, the editors state in “A Note About the Second Edition†found in the BBT revised editions: “Yet their effort to publish Srila Prabhupada’s work was a success, and the Bhagavad-gita As It Is has become the standard edition for scholars and devotees around the world.†Still, after eleven years of documented success, the Gita was extensively re-worked. Why? What is the reason?
The editors continue their explanation: “For this second edition, however, Srila Prabhupada’s disciples had the benefit of having worked with his books for the last fifteen years. The English editors were familiar with his philosophy and language, and the Sanskrit editors were by now accomplished scholars. And now they were able to see their way through perplexities in the manuscript by consulting the same Sanskrit commentaries Srila Prabhupada consulted when writing Bhagavad-gita As It Is. The result is a work of even greater richness and authenticity… In places the translations, though already correct, have been revised to come closer to the original Sanskrit and Srila Prabhupada’s original dictations…â€
The editors are claiming the benefit of 15 years work, which would mean 1968 until 1983, the year of the revision. However, the value of those benefits is uncertain, because in June, 1977 Srila Prabhupada severely chastised the editors for changes to his Isopanisad and Bhagavatam. He described the editors as rascals (a term he usually reserved for atheists, material scientists and politicians), and called them “dangerous†at least six times in ten minutes of discussion. Just five months before his disappearance, Srila Prabhupada made this a major issue for the Society.
The same basic issue came up in 1983 and has continued more or less for the last 25 years. But for us, now, who will decide who is right and who is wrong? One side says “responsible editing,†the other says “irresponsible, unauthorized, etc.†But who is right and who is wrong? Who will decide?
So now we must come to the point of reason. Is it reasonable to conclude that just five or six years after deserving that 1977 chastisement, editors could have emerged as “accomplished scholars†–by 1983? One editor escaped chastisement. Still, isn’t six years a short time for everyone to turn up as “accomplished scholars?†But even if all the editors had been studying Sanskrit for 30 years by 1983, is it plausible that such editors could be able to dive into the superexcellent depths of Sanskrit revelation, and come up with an understanding of it’s complexities—the same complexities—understood by previous acaryas? Was this the prerogative of such disciples, that they could be “able to see their way through perplexities in the manuscript by consulting the same Sanskrit commentaries Srila Prabhupada consulted when writing the Bhagavad-gita As It Is? Is it possible?
And further, “In places the translations, though already correct, have been revised to come closer to the original Sanskrit…†Here the implication is that the editors in 1983, whoever they were, thought they could interpret the original Sanskrit texts comparatively as well as Srila Prabhupada himself, or at least well enough to put their new realizations in his book under his name. And, that they could understand the same complexities understood by previous acaryas (presumably Sridhar Swami et. al.) simply by using the same Sanskrit commentaries Srila Prabhupada used. Is this credible? Is it reasonable to conclude that such editors were capable of producing “a work of even greater richness and authenticity?†Or that translations “already correct†could have been revised to even more correctness by them? Was all this perfection really possible by 1983?
May be, if they had received authorizations and blessings from Srila Prabhupada in 1977 before he disappeared, but that didn’t happen. It is known from that recorded conversation of June, 1977, that when Tamal Krsna suggested to Srila Prabhupada Jayadwaita check any changes before reprinting, Srila Prabhupada countered: “But they are doing without any authority!†In other words, no need for Jayadwaita to become an inspector of changes because nobody was authorized to make such changes in the first place! Tamal had already said to Srila Prabhupada: “Your original work that you’re doing now, that is edited by Jayadwaita. That’s the first editing.†Srila Prabhupada had answered, “He is good.†So Srila Prabhupada, in the midst of all the turmoil, made it clear that he was satisfied with Jayadwaita’s work. Yet a “first editing†is entirely different from re-editing an already finished or printed work, which is what the others were doing. Srila Prabhupada never authorized anyone, including Jayawaita or Pradyumna to do that with the Bhagavad-gita then or in the future.
The extent of Srila Prabhupada’s disappointment in this matter can not be underestimated. He said, after being informed of the changes in the Isopanisad, “I know what these rascals are doing. What can be done? How they can be relied on?†And later, “It is starting. What can I do? These cannot…These rascals cannot be educated. Dangerous. Little learning, dangerous…What can I do? Ultimate it goes for editorial…â€
In the 3rd Canto (3.4.26), Srila Prabhupada writes, “Although one may be well versed in transcendental science, one should be careful about the offense of maryada-vyatikrama, or impertinently surpassing a greater personality. According to scriptural injunction one should be very careful of transgressing the law of maryada-vyatikrama because by so doing one loses his duration of life, his opulence, fame and piety and the blessings of all the world. To be well versed in the transcendental science necessitates awareness of the techniques of spiritual science.â€
At this point the significant question emerges: Has maryada-vyatikrama, impertinently surpassing a greater personality, occurred in the process of editing and reprinting Srila Prabhupada’s books? It certainly had by 1977, according to the momentous June 22nd room conversation about changes to the Isopanisad and Srimad Bhadavatam. Six years later, considering the exaggerated claims in the “Note About the Second Edition†and the extreme content-editing of the text, it appears to have occurred again in the 1983 “Revised and Enlarged†version of the Bhagavad-gita As It Is. Vaisnava etiquette demands that Srila Prabhupad’s disciples, grand-disciples, et. al. always think themselves fools in front of Srila Prabhupada. But, unfortunately, sometimes some of them forget that, and dare to rush in where angles fear to tread.
* “Our editing is to correct grammar and spelling errors only, without interpolation of style or philosophy.†( Srila Prabhupada, 02/17/70 )
FOOLS RUSH IN.COM WHERE ANGLES FEAR TO TREAD
Yes, that is the problem, vaishnava etiquette is missing in iskcon nowadays. But Madhupandit prabhu in bangalore gives usa good example,how we can stand together for Prabhupada and fight since the time is rigth and the fruit is ripe. Gurukripa and Rupanuga as oldest should give the kickstart to a historyical new beginning, to a everfresh and everlasting Prabhupadanuga world-vision,Prabhupada as the sampradaya sun, his vision as the keynote to his bhaktivedanta mission. This could lead us away, please dont go astray, ending up on the highway to hell. Yes, all together now, thats the way it goes, since we are on our road to freedom, this wy we kam to Prabhupad. Since his path leads us direktly & savedly back home back to godhead. Thats.could.be.the.plan.a.new vision.harinam. prabhupadas.dream.com.alive.better.now.than. never.please.stand.together.and.win.for.ever.
Note: Srila Prabhupada is ONE DIKSA Guru so THERE MUST MUST MUST be ONE Vyasa Puja in ISKCON. Instead there are MONEY SCREWING SLAVERY MAKING BUNCH OF CROOKS who want to be worshiped on EQUAL level as Srila Prabhupada. Bhaja Hari das ex-Temple President for Bhaktivedanta Manor wanted to distribute ORIGINAL Srila Prabhupada’s books INSTEAD OF JAYADWAITAS CHANGED MANIPULATED ONES in the society he was barred by Pragosh WHY WAS HE BARRED: Salary. These people want to SCREW MONEY they only USE Srila Prabhupada’s name, fame. They do NOT ACTUALLY accept Srila Prabhupada. The do not care for Srila Prabhupada. They just want MONEY:
Bhaktivedanta Manor Accounts SALARIES
http://www.prabhupadanugas.eu/news/?p=38907#comment-24810
http://apps.charitycommission.gov.uk/Accounts/Ends49/0000259649_ac_20111231_e_c.pdf
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The letter below is a about what the Institution has become: Ashes. ALL the respect is NOW GONE. Meet the NEW SALARY PAID STAFF who in Vaisnava dress tilak stamped on forehead chant and dance the Hare Krsna Maha Mantra FOR the money paying Hindus who have come to watch the CIRCUS.
Letter to: Bali-mardana
—
Tokyo
25 August, 1970
70-08-25
New Vrndavana
My Dear Bali Mardan,
Please accept my blessings. I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated nil and your reference to Srila Vyasadeva on this Vyasa Puja Day is very significant. Srila Vyasadeva is the original Spiritual Master for anyone who is following the Vedic way of spiritual realization.
Spiritual Master is the representative of Vyasadeva because he carries the message of Vyasadeva throughout the world. As you know it very well that Vyasadeva compiled all Vedic literatures wonderfully. Sometimes so-called “realist” philosophers do not believe that there was any person of the name Vyasadeva. Their opinion is that any person distributing the Vedic knowledge is called a Vyasadeva. This class of philosophers generally being impersonalists cannot appreciate how one man could write so many books. Actually it is astonishing.
Before Vyasadeva, all the Vedic Scriptures were taught and received verbally by the disciplic succession. Both the students and the Spiritual Master of those ages were so sharp in their memory that once they heard the transcendental message from the Spiritual Master the message was immediately imprinted in their brain as vivid as a written language. For example, Sukadeva Gosvami was narrating Srimad-Bhagavatam extemporaneously. The whole Srimad-Bhagavatam, eighteen thousand verses, very difficult to pronounce even and what to speak of memorizing, were narrated very easily just like reading some printed book. He narrated the whole subject matter of Srimad-Bhagavatam continuously for seven days and Maharaja Pariksit also understood the subject matter very clearly. Both of them were so meritorious that they attained the highest goal of life, namely the Lotus Feet of Lord Sri Krsna simply by reciting and hearing respectively.
Of course that time was just the moment when Kali, the predominating Deity of the present age, was peeping to infiltrate in the worldly affairs and later on it was complete through the exigency of an upstart brahmana boy. So Vyasadeva was a real person accepted by all authorities and any one can judge how wonderful he was to compile the Vedic literatures. He is therefore known as Mahamuni. Muni means thoughtful or great thinker or great poet and Maha means still greater. So there is no comparison with Vyasadeva with any writer or thinker or philosopher. Nobody can estimate the scholarly importance of Srila Vyasadeva. He composed many millions of Sanskrit verses and we are just trying to receive a fragmental knowledge out of them by our tiny efforts only. Srila Vyasadeva therefore summarized the whole Vedic knowledge in the shape of Srimad-Bhagavatam which is known as the ripened fruit of the desire tree known as Vedic knowledge. The ripened fruit is received hand to hand through disciplic succession and anyone who does this work in disciplic succession from Srila Vyasadeva is considered as representative of Vyasadeva and as such the bona fide Spiritual Master’s Appearance Day is worshiped as Vyasa Puja. Not only that, the exalted seat on which the Spiritual Master sits is also called Vyasasana.
In the Mayavadi Sampradaya they observe the Guru Purnima day to offer respect to the Spiritual Master. This system of offering respect to the Spiritual Master is current in all sections of Vedic followers, but so far we are the Gaudiya Sampradaya is concerned, we offer on the Appearance Day of the Spiritual Master our humble homage annually and this particular auspicious moment is called Vyasa Puja.
I have received the painting of my Guru Maharaja. It is very nicely done. Please convey my thanks to the girl. I have immediately placed this painting on my Deity altar.
Yes, this attitude of surrendering to the Spiritual Master is the best qualification of spreading this movement of Lord Caitanya. That is the Vedic way. One should have unflinching faith in Krsna and similarly in the Spiritual Master. That is the way of understanding the secret of Krsna Consciousness. Unfortunately, attempt has been made lately in our Society to shake this formula. This mischievous attempt has done a great harm, but if you the members of the Governing Body Commission can rectify this mischievous attempt, then still there is hope of making our progress uninterruptedly. I hope Krsna will help us.
There are two verses in the Canakya Sloka how a family or an institution can be glorified or burned into ashes by one person. The Canakya Pandit says that if there is one tree in the forest producing nice aromatic flower, that one tree can glorify the whole forest by the flavor of its flower. Similarly if there is one tree in whose cavity there is a little fire, that one tree can burn into ashes the whole forest. So this simile is applicable anywhere. In a family if there is one good boy, he can glorify the whole family and similarly if there is bad boy he can turn the whole family into ashes. Similarly in this institution if there is a bad disciple he can burn the whole institution into ashes. The Governing Body Commission’s duty is therefore to see that every member is following the rules and regulations and chanting sixteen round regularly on the beads. I hope the GBC in cooperation with the Sannyasis in their touring program will be able to keep vigilance systematically in order to keep the Society as pure as possible.
I hope this will meet you in good health.
Your ever well-wisher,
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS:ds
pamho agtACBSP
Here the question is not to become the next guru but to be practical, as our guru maharaj used to say several times. Krsna is one and the guru is also one vande SRI KRSNA jagat guru,angani yasya sakalendriya vrtti manti, everything is connected with someone inside us upadrastanumanta ca bharta bhokta mahesvarah.
To be nirguna means to be practical hundred per cent,in the saguna platform one forgets that material world means time because in the spiritual world there is not question of being trapped within the factor time, nimesardhakhyo va vajrati na hi yatrapi samayah, brahma sammita 5..56. Everyone is trapped in the material world through the influences of the factor time, and when the time is over will start another journey Everything around us makes us condizioned souls by those influences which make us more entagled through the wheel of kala cakro the factor time, that’s the way how the three gunas of material nature are working, but we are beyond it, and to understand the way how they are working is enough to overcome them, used to say SRILA PRABHUPADA.
Of course one must engage all the hours of the day as SRILA PRABHUPADA advice us to do otherwise one get first covered and then pushed down by the three gunas of material nature through the factor time, but if the time is engaged in GURU SADHU SASTRA sanga seva constantly the three gunas get not chance to come in our lives like the hati mata, but this danger is there until we are still trapped in the saguna platform within the factor time. That’s why it’s said that the real satsanga is sudurlabah is very rare to be obtain. We got that rare satsanga through SRILA PRABHUPADA books and vani seva, therefore we will get delivered by the causeless mercy of SRI SRI GURU GAURANGA like sarvabhauma battacharya got delivered because of SRI GOPINATH ACHARYA who was his brother and a pure devotee of SRI GAURANGA MAHAPRABHU.
SRILA PRABHUPADA is situated in that transcendental position too, therefore got the spiritual power to deliver us to the lotus feet of SRI SRI GURU GAURANGA
agtSP ys haribol