Jun 27 2009, Los Angeles, California: Now rarely used, but in popular currency during the Middle Ages and Renaissance when the Catholic Church had secular control over the ‘civilized’ world, is the word ‘simony’.
According to Wikipedia:
“Simony is the ecclesiastical crime of paying for holy offices or positions in the hierarchy of a church, named after Simon Magus, who appears in the Acts of the Apostles 8:18-24. Simon Magus offers the disciples of Jesus, Peter and John payment so that anyone he would place his hands on would receive the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the origin of the term simony but it also extends to other forms of trafficking for money in “spiritual things”. Simony was also one of the important issues during the Investiture Controversy.”
Well, this ancient custom has been given a full Renaissance (French for ‘rebirth’) by the Western traffickers in ecclesiastic favors – specifically, the ISKCON brahmanas. One of the few disadvantages of the seperation of Church and State is that it is no longer a crime under secular law. Bishoprics were all the rage from the Middle Ages to the Reformation.
Territories of secular control were procured and paid for exactly like the zones in the Zonal Acarya days. Of course, the zones in ISKCON were paid for by the sweat and toil of its serfs – called ‘devotees’. That simony has since been upgraded to the barter of diksa for daksina and serfdom of disciples as well as brahminical blessings for Hindu cash. $$$Hare Krishna$$$
In some sense, the term applies to the current corporate ISKCON model only because it keeps promoting itself as a religious insitution rather than a legitimate business. The disciples are for the most part paid employees and the gurus CEOs. It is distinct from, say, an empire like Microsoft in that it is nowhere as successful (because the materialist players are not even good capitalists), but also in that, instead of software, it sells religious goods and services – the most important being the grace of God – Krishna bhakti. It does so in trade for abject servitude or cash, whichever is available at the time.
I am surprised, for instance, that I was banned from New Dwaraka because Svavasa has been known to ‘cultivate’ anybody, such as I, who brings money into the community. Such charity covers a multitude of sins. No matter one’s personal habits. No matter whether one has a criminal past. Svasasa is compassionate – just show him enough green – hit the right number – and a deal can be struck and even bans can be lifted.
Clearly person to person book sale is not the most efficient method of distributing product. The secular book companies have worked this through and have used the distribution methods of wholesale to retail outlets to maximize profits and benefit from the economies of scale.
The ISKCON vaishya consultants like Gopal Bhatta should get to work on optimizing the book business. Why not? They have optimized the diksa business. They probably hesitate because they need to maintain the cover that they are ‘spreading Lord Caitanya’s sankirtana movement’. Having retail outlets might raise suspicions about the currently unquestioned purity of their intentions. Look at how many people they are bringing to Krishna. Look at all the service they are performing. Every cult on the block can say the same while they fill their coffers in the name of missionary zeal. Look how many people the Bakers brought to Jesus! Praise the Lord and display the toll free number where you can submit your credit card! (All major credit cards accepted.)
None of this is hyperbole. It is a tradition that traces back to Elmer Gantry and snake oil merchants.
God help the fools who are soon parted from their money and successful life.
Speak Your Mind