Posted by Bhakta Jonathan, 14 Feb 2009: Since HG Sriman Rocana prabhu still cannot present any arguments why Srila Prabhupada’s books cannot give spiritual guidance, di, and absorb sins, ksa, in other words, grant diksa, we must conclude that Rocana prabhu’s only argument is, that he just hates Prabhupada’s system of Ritvik. Unfortunately people won’t be convinced of this, although they might be presently convinced of Rocana Prabhu’s great work, to keep the Sampradaya Sun updated. And that’s where Rocana prabhu seems to be hiding behind – he’s hiding behind his own internet portal. In the long run however, Rocana Prabhu would be well advised to gradually sit down and to write something more substantial, something like who’s actually a bona fide diksa guru for ISKCON? Of course, we all know that Srila Prabhupada is the only guru for ISKCON, but so far Rocana prabhu is giving us a run-around, although his comments on current issues are quite lengthy.
Reform… Be Ready to Pay the Price
BY: ROCANA DASA
Feb 13, CANADA (SUN) — It’s with great delight that I am observing the quantity and quality of content being submitted to the Sampradaya Sun of late, on a whole variety of topics. The most active discussion, it appears, is the fact that devotees are calling for a revival and a renewal of ISKCON. They’re reminiscing about the old days and bringing up the past circumstances that caused them to leave ISKCON. Some are talking about circumstances that exist today that are preventing them from getting involved in ISKCON again.
As much as I’d like to respond to each of these articles, I don’t have the time to do so. But they’ve sparked not only my interest, but also my intelligence in continuing to try and understand what my own position is in this regard.
I’ve written copious numbers of articles over the years addressing many of these issues. I have certain themes that I focus on, including the Sampradaya Acarya theme, Zonal Acarya-ism and how the Zonal Acarya situation is still prevalent, and is really the biggest stumbling block to any kind of change in ISKCON.
Reading these articles also moves me to consider my own personal situation, which I have occasionally written about. Some have criticized me over the years for spending too much time writing about my own problems with ISKCON, and for having a “personal agenda” which they think colors my editorial mood here at the Sun. While it’s true that I don’t mind taking the occasional swipe at some of the leaders who have made my life particularly difficult, my real reason for sharing these personal experiences is not because I’m trying to garner the reader’s sympathy. I focus on these experiences because I know there are so many other devotees struggling under the very same circumstances. I hope to speak for all those who don’t find it as easy to publicly disclose their circumstances, or to challenge the ISKCON dynamics that cause so much difficulty for the devotees.
I’ve taken it upon myself to provide this website, at great expense – far more than most devotees are aware. Directly and indirectly, it is costing me a lot of money, which I have to personally earn. My wife spends hours every day working on the site — editing, coding, and publishing the Sun. She could be out working during those hours, and making a lot more money than I am. We also pay some of our reporting staff. We do all this because we’ve personally concluded that the philosophical concept of freedom of speech is one of the only ways in which we, the disenfranchised members of Srila Prabhupada’s family, can have a direct influence on the institution of ISKCON. We’ve been deprived of our rightful inheritence, of our right to participate in Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON, and we don’t take that lightly.
Most of the huge problems that have plagued ISKCON started with the Zonal Acarya system, whether it be individuals being exposed, or the GBC as a body. One of the main contributors to this phenomenon is the fact that there’s never been free speech in ISKCON. That’s why the Zonal Acaryas could get away with what they did, hiding all the philosophical deviations. Take for instance the letter Pradyumna wrote, which provoked the GBC to throw him out. If that letter had been circulated at the time, if I personally had been aware of the contents of that letter, I would have raised hell back then. So would many other devotees. But the GBC made sure the letter stay concealed. There was no means to publish it or disclose the information society-wide.
There were a few individuals calling for reform, especially after the kangaroo court that threw Pradyumna and Yasodanandana prabhus out. We’ve recently heard from Gurukrpa, and he and Yasodanandana were two peas in a pod. They were like the dynamic duo. Gurukrpa couldn’t have achieved what he did without Yasodanandana, and vice versa. They complimented each other. That in itself is a long story. Perhaps because Yasodanandana has gained the dubious reputation of being the founder/acarya of Rtvikism, we note that Gurukrpa didn’t make mention of him in his first few article, although he did in his most recent posting. Gurukrpa has made it a point to say that he is not a Rtvik, much to the chagrin of members of that camp.
While Gurukrpa hasn’t put much focus on his relationship with Yasodanandana, we know that Yasodanandana was essentially maintaining their contribution to Srila Prabhupada, in that he was running the gurukula that was built with the funds they raised. And Yasoda was doing a good job – far better than those the Zonal Acaryas replace him with. Of course, Gurukrpa has his own personal story. Like so many of those who played a significant role in Srila Prabhupada’s lila period, he has his own sanitized, Reader’s Digest, false ego conception of his story – of who he was and the part he played.
Anyone who was on the scene at the time, including myself and other middle managers, just assumed that Gurukrpa was going to be included as one of the Zonal Acaryas. And if the Zonals had included Gurukrpa and Yasodanandana in their original plot to take over the movement, and had given them Zonal Acarya status, then its very likely they would not have left. In fact, many speculate that they would not have protested… would not have come up with theories such as Rtvikism. But in fact these individuals who had contributed so much weren’t included, and things turned out to be a lot different than they might otherwise have been. Of course, it’s possible that they would have refused what the Zonals offered on the basis of their strongly held beliefs that it was a coup, and that Srila Prabhupada would not agree, but they unfortunately never had an opportunity to prove that to be the case. History is left to speculate.
As I’ve stated in the past, I have a lot of problems with some of these old-timers who are now being invited to festivals, invited to temples, invited to tell the devotees all their Srila Prabhupada stories, even if they left during Srila Prabhupada’s lila and abandoned him. Some of them are busy writing biographies, trying to make money on the sentiments of the devotees, even though their spotty past is filled with stories they don’t want anyone to hear.
I suppose it’s particularly difficult for me, personally, to watch this personality parade, given that I have been soundly rejected from participating in ISKCON. Here in Vancouver, where the Sun is being produced, I live, make a living, and do what preaching I can with absolutely no support. In the context of the recent upsurge of emotion about reforming ISKCON, I want to make this clear to everyone. I don’t have any real support from the readership of the Sun — not a penny from anybody. Although the site now gets over 2 million hits a month, we don’t take advantage of that traffic by pushing the advertising. We’re happy to serve those who want to advertise, and of course, we’ll gratefully accept donations (you can PayPal us at sun@harekrsna.com), but we don’t feel it wise to engage in fund-raising campaigns. We’re intent on maintaining independence, and don’t want to create the perception that we’re publishing in order to profit.
In our devotional lives, very few of the local devotees have anything to do with us. This is true of both the devotees here in Vancouver and the devotees up at Saranagati. We have a few good friends at Saranagati, whose association we’re very grateful for. But because I produce the Sun and I say what I have to say, the majority of my godbrothers and sisters in the area will not associate with us. Of course, rarely do any of them deny that what I’m saying is true, or step up to rebut or challenges me philosophically, or even factually. Some who obviously appreciate our work are also friendly with ISKCON locally, and they don’t support us (at least not openly), because the local temple authorities would likely respond by making their lives miserable, depriving them of some kind of service they want to perform.
The reason I’m banned from the Vancouver temple, which I moved back here hoping to serve, is due to my godbrother Kripaniti and his wife, Karuna Mayi, who complained to the bogus GBC, Hari Vilasa dasa that I was criticizing Radhanath. Karuna Mayi devi was initiated by Radhanath, and therefore they concluded that because I dared criticize him, I should have no right to preach at the temple. Regardless of the fact that Kripaniti has his own unsavory past to deal with, he apparently feels he has a right to preach there, but I do not.
Then there’s my old friend and Godbrother, Gokulananda, who’s living on the temple grounds. His son has been initiated by Radhanath, and he hasn’t taken kindly to my comments about the Swami, either. And there are others in the local Yatra who have concluded, erroneously and un-philosophically in my opinion, that we Srila Prabhupada disciples shouldn’t be criticizing or protesting… that it’s aparadha, and we just have to be friendly and nice to everybody. The wife of one of the local Prabhupada disciples who everybody loves, one of the temple’s best kirtana men, informed us that everyone loves her husband because he never criticizes anyone. The obvious inference was, that’s what we should be doing. They don’t support our work, don’t invite us to their home programs, and won’t protest at the temple about anything that’s going on in ISKCON, because they want to go along to get along. Like all the local devotees, they want to be able to lead kirtans, or give lectures, or perform some other service, and they want to be considered friendly devotees. They couldn’t care less about the philosophical principles we attempt to represent here in the Sun.
Saranagati is where I would prefer to be living, and my oldest friend and godbrother, Bala Krsna dasa, is one of the oldest and most active residents in the community. Of all the devotees up there, he’s one of the most focused on following Srila Prabhupada’s plan for self-sufficiency. He’s developed an organic farm, and has so many good programs going on there. Jahnava and I would very much like to move to the Saranagati community, but it seems we’re not welcome there, either. I’ve been told by more than one devotee at Saranagati that there’s no way we’d be accepted for membership in the community. There are devotees at Saranagati who have a lot of influence, and the community has set-up a system wherein members of the corporation can accept or veto anyone who wants to come in, on whatever grounds they feel. They don’t have to have any real justification.
Several of the more recently arrived American members at Saranagati have considerable status in the community now, including Yadubar das and Visaka devi, and Yamuna and Dina Tarini devis. While they have never confronted us personally, we often hear that these devotees are strongly opposed to our opinions and preaching efforts, and would surely move to block our membership. Their greatest complaint, it seems, is that I criticize Radhanath Swami, who they dearly love.
Let us be very clear – Radhanath Swami is a Zonal Acarya. He inherited his position from another Zonal Acarya, Kirtanananda. His whole system is based on the principle of Zonal Acarya-ism, and he holds a lot of sway over many of my Godbrothers and sisters, what to speak of the second generation devotees. Some of our detractors at Saranagati are having their rice bowl by the members, disciples and followers of Radhanath. Yadubar and Visaka, for example, have spent considerable time in Bombay, and their daughter was initiated by Radhanath. You may have seen the recent photographs of Yamuna and Dina Tarini’s recent travels to Bombay where, accompanied by Radhanath, they went to visit Jayapataka Swami. So it’s apparent to me that on the basis of their relationship with Radhanath, and with his followers and supporters, they have determined that I do not deserve to have the association of devotees at Saranagati, because I am an aparadhi offender for criticizing the so-called ‘pure devotee’, Radhanath Swami.
So this is a brief overview of our personal circumstances here in Vancouver, British Columbia. Over a period of more than 30 years, I’ve served this Yatra. This is my prabhu-datta-desa. I was one of the original persons who joined in Vancouver; I was the Temple President here; I brought the Deities here from India, along with Bahudak; I ran the farm project that preceded Saranagati (Bridesville), and even owned land at Saranagati a number of years back. But today, because some of my Godbrothers and Godsisters, who are enjoying Srila Prabhupada’s facilities in this part of the world, because they have decided that my philosophical positions and my willingness to freely speak my mind and criticize my Godbrothers makes me an offender aparadhi, they say I should be banned from the community, and prevented from having the association of the devotees here in any meaningful, communal way.
We know that Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu, when asked what is the definition of a devotee, replied that a devotee is one who associates with other devotees. So this is the very essence of Krsna consciousness. And its my opinion that Srila Prabhupada established ISKCON for that very reason, namely to allow his devotees to associate together. So by banning your fellow godbrothers, Srila Prabhupada’s disciples and followers from ISKCON, it essentially means you’re condemning them to spiritual death — the worst kind of punishment.
Regardless of the great price we’re having to pay, my wife and I believe in the principle of freedom of speech. We think it’s absolutely required in order to bring about change in ISKCON, and we’re willing to suffer the consequences of taking that position. And we’re not unique in that regard — there are so many devotees around the world who feel this way, and who are standing up and being heard. But we can also see that so many of our Sun authors feel they have to contribute as “Anonymous”, or invent a name to post under. They can’t afford to be known by their local temple authorities for speaking up publicly about the things that are so obviously wrong in ISKCON today.
If you read Mao Tse Tung’s ‘Little Red Book’ on revolution, one of the first tenets in a political revolution is for the government to curtail freedom of speech by taking over all the media outlets. In years past the ISKCON leaders have essentially owned the media, by intimidating the devotees into keeping silent. Back in the early days, a few devotees, including Yasodanandana, Jadurani, and Kailash Candra wrote various protest papers, printed them up, and tried to circulate them throughout the movement. (This was prior to Yasodanandana coming up with the Rtvik theory.) The ISKCON authorities made sure that these papers were banned and would confiscate any they discovered in the temples.
With the advent of the Internet, however, we ‘revolutionaries’ have become unstoppable in our efforts to facilitate free speech. While the Sun is one of the biggest Vaisnava sites on the Net, we’re certainly not the only venue promoting free speech in ISKCON today. Every day there are more and more sites coming online, out from under the thumb of the institution. We should be appreciating and supporting these venues as much as possible, and we should all renew our personal commitment to stand up and speak the truth about our own local circumstances and experiences in ISKCON.
If we want change in ISKCON, then first of all we have to be committed to freedom of speech. We can see from the stories that are being published recently how it’s possible to generate a groundswell of support, that may attract many more devotees to getting actively involved in the reform movement. Yet at the same time, we have devotees still glorifying some of the worst Zonal Acaryas from our past. We’ve recently heard in pro-reform articles here about the glories of Bhagavan, and how wonderful Radhanath and Indradyumna Swamis are. They’re all great, great devotees! So this is some of you what you’ll hear from devotees sitting at the table, discussing reform. And how to deal with this phenomenon? There are so many devotees wanting change, but who still carry around this sentimental, un-philosophical attachment to past authorities and present leaders who have directly contributed to the downfall of ISKCON.
Again, we have an interesting example of this dynamic here in the Vancouver Yatra, which has recently seen the return of Jagadisa ex-swami, ex-GBC, ex-guru. He recently resurfaced at the Ratha Yatra, and was greeted very warmly, and encouraged by members of Saranagati to return to the community.
This, despite the fact that a few years ago he ran away with one of his female disciples, breaking the hearts of so many disciples. In fact, the President of Saranagati’s wife recently left him. She had been a disciple of Jagadisa’s, and she left ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada in disgust. He’s now living alone at Saranagati, and I have a great deal of sympathy for the position he’s been put in. But it seems that these personalities like Jagadisa, regardless of what they do, regardless of the fact that they supported the Zonal Acaryas, always seem to be welcomed back to the fold on a wave of devotee sentiment.
Jagadisa was himself a second wave Zonal Acarya. He was one of the first leaders that the Zonal Acaryas allowed to give initiation in the mid-80’s, along with Gopal Krishna Swami, who’s now the GBC here. They were included by the Zonal Acaryas. This is actually before the Reform protests, which happened around 1985. I was an active participant in that reform movement, and I can assure you, we never heard a peep from Jagadisa. Not only was he in charge of the gurukulas at the time, a legacy that has crippled ISKCON, but he also knew of the disgusting activities that were going on in the schools. He oversaw the schools during that whole period. He knew that Bhavananda was a raving homosexual. He knew that Kirtanananda was sending homosexual teachers to the school in Vrindavan, but we didn’t hear a word of protest from him.
Similarly, we haven’t heard a peep from Yadubar dasa, or Yamuna devi, or so many others who are considered leaders in ISKCON to this very day. Yadubar and Visaka were very active in ISKCON during the Zonal Acarya period, and they were essentially the media at that time. They were involved with the BTG, writing articles, taking photos, etc., but they were always friendly to the Zonal Acaryas. They never protested, they never exposed them, they always remained “in good standing” with the leaders. Today they strongly support Radhanath Swami, and apparently consider my wife and I great offenders for criticizing this modern-day Zonal Acarya.
So in summary, the idea that ISKCON has reformed is totally ridiculous. The Zonal Acaryas still have all the power, and now people like Radhanath, Bir Krishna, Gopal Krishna and Bhakti Caru Swamis have all the money, prestige, and exclusive Zones. Sivarama has his zone, and no one says anything about it. No one protests about this, and even some of the articles coming into the Sun continue to glorify many of these devotees.
I agree with the recent article written by Balavidya dasa, about how you’re just dreaming if you think that ISKCON, the GBC, or any of these leaders are going to capitulate or participate in a reform movement. Change has to come from within. And from my perspective, there are two main areas in which I can take action: 1) providing for freedom of speech, and 2) promoting Srila Prabhupada as the Sampradaya Acarya. I see these two areas as being the main problems.
And of course, there’s a philosophical aspect to all this. In a varnasrama culture, the brahmans should be free to speak out and say whatever they want to say. Srila Prabhupada has mentioned the pastimes of Carvaka Muni, who preached atheism. The culture in India was such that there was freedom of speech, and the way one challenged exponents of any philosophy was to challenge them to philosophical debate, just as Lord Caitanya did when the Kashmiri brahman came to Navadvipa to preach his bogus philosophy. This is the real Vedic tradition. They didn’t stone Carvaka or throw him out, they debated him. The Muni had his voice, and the devotees had a chance to challenge and defeat him. He wasn’t strung up in the nearest tree, even though he was preaching against the very tenets of sastra. But today in ISKCON, what is our situation? If you want to speak the truth, then you’re just not welcome in the society. No one bothers to challenge you personally, philosophically. Instead, they politic behind your back.
And this whole nonsense idea that those who tell the truth and speak out are the aparadhis… that Srila Prabhupada somehow or other just wanted us to keep our mouths shut, just take whatever the GBC and leaders hand out… take it on the chin, don’t do anything that will blemish their glorious position, because they are ISKCON, and you are not ISKCON.
If we want reform, we need to start right here, confronting this mentality which has become pervasive amongst the devotees – including many of those who sentimentally jump on the bandwagon of “change”. And those of us willing to continue to fight for reform must be willing to pay the price.
History in his clearest words as it is.
Like Prabhupadas preaching,sharp,clear & direkt.
Yes Rocana is a good writer, however, at his manifesto, “Sampradaya Acarya”, he clearly says, Ritviks are envious people. When being asked who is his successor of Srila Prabhupada, Rocana cannot answer, remains silent.
Rocana das:”Expanding this vision into post-samadhi diksa unnecessarily complicates the Sampradaya Acarya notion. For all the reasons listed above, this idea becomes a lightning rod for those who wish to relegate Srila Prabhupada to normalcy for their own envious reasons.
The Ritvik manifesto, “The Final Order”, appears to be modeled on the western Judeo/Christian model of organized religion. Srila Prabhupada is transformed into a Christ-like personality who, in absentia, is supposedly willing and able to forgive all the sins of those who are baptized/initiated. Rtviks are, after all, priests by definition. Organizations like the IRM are establishing procedures for Rtvik initiation that will likely evolve over time in ways that create even greater similarity to the western model. The West Coast Rtviks have absorbed the “poisoning of Srila Prabhupada†conclusion into their depiction of Sampradaya history. The result engenders a similarity to the persecution and crucifixion of the Biblical Christ. Religions tend to promote sentimentally dramatized stories over and above disseminating spiritual philosophy.”
http://www.harekrsna.com/philosophy/vada/writings/sampradaya_acarya.htm
Yes, this sounds quite right what Rocana prabhu says about the sampradaya acarya, it seem logical and in linie with srila Prabhupada. And he is not hiding behind his own internet portal so fare i can see, at least he is writing his name out to be known as the webmaster of the sampradaya sun, so we can talk to him & ask questions & get answers.
My opinion about his great & strait to the point artikel ” Sampradaya Acarya ” is, that he gives us a clear inside about who is who.
Rocana Prabhu is the only one speaking the truth about the situation. We do need an Acaraya but on every side is a distortion of the conclusions. There is no Maha-Bhagavat right now so we all need to preach that fact to eachother.
Rocana prabhu speaks a little of reform and open discussion, but the simple fact is that his website is seriously censored, just like dandavats.com! Any truly strong arguments in favor of the Prabhupadanugas, and any determined outspoken ritvik devotees with too much information which cannot be disputed, are not allowed to be printed without their articles being rewritten and turned into brain mush. I have heard several reputable devotees complain to me personally that their articles were censored or changed by Rocana prabhu, such that they were not at all pleased by the result. Pragosa Prabhu (NYC) and Radha Govinda Swami, come to mind, and I can acclaim to the same treatment.
Only wishy-washy or watered-down versions of ritvik are allowed at the Sampradaya Sun, so don’t be fooled into thinking there is any freedom of speech there, except the freedom to be used by the Sampradaya Sun to promote Rocana’s own pre-approved ideas. He approves and selects only those articles which support his designs and philosophy. You will never get a wholistic picture from Rocana prabhu’s site, so don’t be misguided by his strongly-biased propaganda machine.
This article appeared in the Sun a few days after I received a note from Rocana clearly displeased that I exposed him here. It took him weeks to come to this site. He now refuses to post any of my articles, but who cares? Now the truth is out, and I believe he has stopped some of the heavy censoring out of rtivik matterials at SS, lest he lose clientele. The result is that the ritviks are now smashing the bogus guru system at the SS! We could have been getting this true message out clearly years ago, but we have been duped and partially wasting time by submitting them at the SS instead of here, as many of our best articles were changed drastically or never printed. See SS for Nov 5,6,7,8. Pressure has convinced him to stop being so selective, in part. The Prabhupadanuga News is still much more relevant and unbiased. ( notice how he uses dandavats, never referring to this site. )
Rocana Prabhu says;
This is in response to the recent article by Kesava Krsna das entitled “Real Free Speech”. At the end of this article, the reader will find links to several other responses I’ve made to this author in my “Obeisances to Dandavats” column; he is a regular contributor at Dandavats.
Kesava Krsna’s main theme in his current article is freedom of speech. He obviously considers the Sampradaya Sun to be a “free speech zone”, and apparently concludes that we publish anyone and everyone who has anything to say. Of course, that’s not the case.
As he points out, ‘free speech’ is an interpretive or contextual phrase. In a national context, such as in the United States, freedom of speech is protected by the Constitution, albeit with boundaries and limitations. Freedom of the press provides a medium through which people can voice their opinions for broad distribution. Although many who live in totalitarian countries like to fantasize that ‘free’ means completely free, we know that is not the case. In the so-called free countries, the concept of freedom goes hand-in-hand with the freedom to speak one’s mind without the fear of retaliation, and without being muzzled by the government. If you’re critical of the government or other authorities, then you have a right and an opportunity to speak out against them. Of course, you may still experience repercussions for doing so, for example, by way of pushback in your local community, where others disagree with your opinions.
As we all know, it’s the desire of the living entity, the desire of the soul, to be free – as free as we can possibly be in this material world. Even those in the human form of life are in ignorance, thinking ‘I’m this body’, and they also want the body to be free. They want their voice — the sound vibration coming out of their mouth — to be as free as possible. They want to be free to move around the country, and to feel protected while doing so. They want to be free of fear, and they especially want to be free to engage in the animal propensities: free to eat whatever they want, free to sleep and have sex under whatever conditions they wish to create. The sastras try to regulate these animal propensities: marriage regulates the freedom of mating, and when it comes to eating there are certain limitations the government institutes, like food inspectors. The authorities define the boundaries we can exercise our freedoms within. And the same goes for freedom of speech: those who wish to have a voice can stand on a soapbox or congregate with placards, as long as they stay within the bounds of the law.
So while Kesava Krsna das seems interested in exploring the most fundamental concepts of freedom of speech, those of us who have lived in ‘free’ cultures should not find it hard to understand what we, at the Sampradaya Sun, consider “free” to mean. We’ve created a media outlet, but it has certain boundaries. It might be surprising to Kesava Krsna to know how many articles we reject, because they fall outside the boundaries of our editorial policies. We do have a focus, and a constituency that we attempt to serve.
Obviously, the Sun is in a position to be more free than the Dandavats site, for instance, which Kesava Krsna identifies with. He seldom submits articles to the Sun because within the ranks of ISKCON, which he is a loyal member of, his constituency are loyal to the GBC authorities, and will likely frown upon him for contributing to the Sun. At the current moment, however, he is willing to submit an article, obviously due to the recent editorials that have appeared about some of ISKCON’s most sacred cows, Radhanath Swami and Hridayananda Goswami. The pressure is on, and the supporters of these individuals are motivated to try and give us a dose of what they consider to be the truth, or what is primarily ISKCON’s party line.
Kesava Krsna questions the notion of speaking out against anything and everything that irritates you. Of course, the contributors here, myself included, hardly do that. Countless things about ISKCON irritate us that we don’t bother writing about. We focus primarily on circumstances we find to be of very significant importance, both inside and outside the institution. For example, we address issues like the B.V. Narayana phenomenon, guru-tattva and the Rtviks, and the Gaudiya Matha – anything in the sphere of Vaisnava community that directly affects Srila Prabhupada’s preaching mission. And while we publish some of their editorials pieces, we don’t allow these different groups to overly propagandize or try to recruit Srila Prabhupada’s followers through our site. If they have some interesting information to share with everyone that expands upon what’s already been said, then we tend to permit it. Aside from that, we’ve been willing to publish Candrabhanu’s articles, and Kesava Krsna’s, because it gives the readers an opportunity to hear diverse opinions. Like a drop of water from the ocean, they gives us a little taste of what it’s like to be a member of the current institution known as ISKCON.
ISKCON doesn’t have a constitution, and they don’t define in any way, shape or form what ‘free speech’ is in the context of their community. They claim, like other communities, to be plugged into the Vedic conclusion. The Rtviks and ISKCON at least accept Srila Prabhupada as the ultimate authority, although other Gaudiya Matha members do not. But many ISKCON leaders don’t aspire to come up to the standards of Vedic culture, whether it’s in their asramas — sannyasa, grihasta, brahmacari – or in other areas in which they’re not strict, which generally covers the entire brahminical concept. And that’s why we differentiate ourselves at the Sun as representing ‘independent reporting and brahminical commentary’. We feel that Srila Prabhupada wanted to create brahmans and a brahminical atmosphere, both in the temples and amongst his disciples. He emphasized brahminical training, study of the sastra, and writing. In other words, he supported the concept of the devotees expressing themselves, including through istagoshti.
One of the great benefits of being free to communicate with other members of the society is that you will get to know as much as you need to know in order to make decisions about your life. You can better deal with your own personal life by receiving knowledge as to what’s happening in the society around you. There are leaders and gurus, GBC, temple authorities and communities who are profoundly affecting your existence in Krsna Consciousness. And if you’re trusting them, you are essentially giving some of your individual power to them. Assuming it will benefit you, you facilitate them. You worship them. You listen to them in obedience because you trust them.
All this is going on in the scary material world, where influences of the modes of nature and individual karma are playing out. Everyone is a conditioned soul here – we’re not dealing with pure devotees, regardless of whether they’ve taken on the title of Swami, Guru or GBC. Now we hope the leaders are more advanced than the average person, but history has shown that’s not always true. In fact, the leaders have put themselves into spiritual danger by taking on these responsibilities. Krsna tests them, and they often fail. We should understand that power and money, and being distracted by material circumstances is not a recipe for making advancement. Even though we like to euphemistically say that “we’re doing it for Srila Prabhupada, we’re doing it for Krsna, Krsna will protect us”, that’s proven not to always be the fact.
Krsna gives us warnings, and that is part of the function of the principle of freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. The press mainly tends to tell us about the broad picture – what the politicians and powerful people are doing, and news in that regard. But in the context of association with other devotees, which is one of the essential ingredients for making advancement, that association requires that you feel free to share your mind. You may say to your friend: “Prabhu, excuse me, I think you’re doing something wrong, it’s against what Srila Prabhupada wanted. I think you’re showing signs that you’re not properly following, or you’re speaking nonsense philosophy, according to what I perceive. So let’s talk about it, let’s debate, let’s monitor each other in that regard.” This is not restricted to only being done one-to-one, but can also take place society-wide, and should take place particularly in the context of our society, in which corruption has been rampant, cover-up’s have been business as usual, and non-disclosure the standard.
In the temple in the early days, if you weren’t getting up and going to mangal arotika, someone was in your face, finding out why. If you weren’t participating in the temple program, or contributing to the upkeep of the temple, if you didn’t have a service, then you were confronted about it, often publicly. That kind of pressure helped you to comply with Srila Prabhupada’s program. But we now have an institutional paradigm, which Kesava Krsna dasa represents, wherein there are all these different gurus, unique personalities, many with a lot of disciples, which means they have access to a lot of money. A number of them are also GBC members. So this complicates matters considerably when it comes to free speech. When people’s circumstances, livelihood or service is going to be interrupted by confronting someone who has that much power, then Kesava Krsna suggests they may just have to just grin and bear it. They shouldn’t even mumble or grumble, let alone take subtle swipes at certain individuals. They should just suck it up, keep their mouth shut, and focus on their own life and Krsna Consciousness, being very, very careful not to offend anybody.
Of course, offending someone who’s a conditioned soul, who’s attached, who has a big false ego, who is susceptible to anger, lust and greed – that can be a dangerous business. Most devotees just don’t have the courage or the inclination to fight Goliath, so they do just keep their mouths shut, as Kesava Krsna is suggesting we all do. Just do what he does. Do what thousands of other members of the institution do. Put on your rose-colored glasses when it comes to the leaders. Just accept whatever they do as bona fide and alright. Whatever they say from the vyasasana, if you disagree with it, you can try to ask a subtle question, but you can’t confront it. Instead, you have to flatter the leaders, because they give you more facility and make your life more bearable if you do.
So this freedom of speech is really an individual’s choice. You have free will, and for many devotees it’s a trade off: “I’ll keep my mouth shut, but at least I get to go to the temple everyday, see the Deities, chant my japa and have nice kirtans, and work amongst the devotees.” Just keep your blinders on, and stay on the straight and narrow. And for certain individuals, this may be the best thing for them, due to their nature. But those like myself, and many other disciples of Srila Prabhupada who joined in the early days – when we did have more freedom and proper leadership – for us, keeping quiet is not an option. It goes against our sense of duty to the Spiritual Master.
In fact, many of us joined Krsna Consciousness in something of a rebellious mood. We disagreed with the government, we disagreed with civilization, we disagreed with material life, and our expression of freedom was to join the Hare Krsna movement. Srila Prabhupada appreciated that mood, as well as the fact that countries like America weren’t so demoniac and totalitarian that they wouldn’t allow us to chant on the streets. They permitted us to function as a society. So it may be convenient to criticize freedom in some regards, but we have to acknowledge that we’re also being facilitated as an institution by virtue of living in a free society. In the early days, we opened up all those airports and distributed millions of books based on the principle of free speech. We had the freedom to propagate what we believed to be true, and it was only the Constitution that protected our rights in that regard. Srila Prabhupada understood and appreciated this.
I sometimes lament the fact that I’ve had to make such a big trade-off in order to assert my freedom of speech. It has a big downside, like the fact that I’m persona non grata at the local temple, and even at the Saranagati community which exists on the fringes of ISKCON, all because I speak out. And I’m not a hermit-like personally, by nature. When I was in ISKCON I was quite gregarious and always in leadership positions, so this trade-off has been a price to pay. But believe me, the pain I experienced in the institution while keeping my mouth shut about things that were wrong, which I now speak freely about, was far, far worse.
So I hope this answers some of Kesava Krsna’s concerns and helps to enlighten him a little more about what our conception of free speech is here at the Sampradaya Sun.