Warning: those suffering from cognitive dissonance will be unable to complete this quiz. We apologize for any distress this causes.
(answers below)
1. The first city where Srila Prabhupada stayed after his arrival in the USA was:
A. New York
B. Boston
C. Philadelphia
D. Los Angeles
2. Srila Prabhupada was born in:
A. New Delhi
B. Mayapur
C. Calcutta
D. Vrndavana
3. ISKCON was incorporated in New York City in:
A. 1966
B. 1965
C. 1967
D. 1977
4. To be initiated within ISKCON, a disciple is required to promise to chant 16 rounds of the Maha Mantra, follow the 4 regulative principles and:
A. Accept that your spiritual master is to be worshiped on the same level as God
B. Accept that your spiritual master may fall down, but you can still go back to Godhead, even if your spiritual master doesn’t
C. Before 1989 accept that your spiritual master is to be worshiped on the same level as God, after 1989, your spiritual master is worshiped on a lower level. If your spiritual master falls down, you must accept another spiritual master
D. All three of the above
5. Rumors that Srila Prabhupada was poisoned were started by:
A. Srila Prabhupada
B. Nityananda das
C. Naveen Krsna das
D. A group of devotees who were dissatisfied with ISKCON policies
6. The philosophy that a disciple needs to accept a spiritual master who is physically present is ISKCON policy introduced by:
A. Srila Prabhupada’s books
B. ISKCON management after Srila Prabhupada’s physical departure
C. Devotee consensus
D. Guru/sadhu/sastra
7. The philosophy that a person may give diksa even if he is less than an uttama adhikari is philosophy introduced by:
A. Srila Prabhupada’s books
B. ISKCON management after Srila Prabhupada’s physical departure
C. Devotee consensus
D. Guru/sadhu/sastra
8. The 11 senior disciples who became known as Zonal Acaryas:
A. Were named as ritviks by Srila Prabhupada
B. Told (lied to) their godsiblings that they had been recognized as pure devotees by Srila Prabhupada
C.Went crazy due to their deception
D. All of the above
9. When the truth about the Zonal Acarya deception (lie) became known, the Zonal Acaryas:
A. Apologized to their godsiblings and did everything in their power to right the wrongs they committed
B. Resigned their management positions, performed penance, and took up humble, menial service
C. Were stripped from all authority and removed from all responsibilities by an angry ISKCON congregation
D. None of the above
10. ISKCON devotees are in the dark regarding the details about how Srila Prabhupada wanted initiations performed after his physical departure because:
A. Senior devotees forgot to ask him questions about these matters because they were so distraught with the prospect of Srila Prabhupada’s departure
B. Srila Prabhupada refused to answer any questions regarding these issues
C.The questions may have been asked and answered, but many/most of the audio tapes from Srila Prabhupada’s last months are missing/misplaced.
D. None of the above.
11. In present day ISKCON, devotees who come to different philosophical conclusions than the GBC’s official, agreed upon interpretations, based on Srila Prabhupada’s books, are:
A. Encouraged to explore their understandings in a loving setting such as an istaghosti
B. Allowed to speak about their philosophical conclusions as long as those conclusions are based on Srila Prabhupada’s books
C. Banned from ISKCON premises if they speak about issues that the GBC considers contrary
D. Removed from any service within ISKCON if they speak about their contrary understandings
12. In the Articles of Incorporation for ISKCON recorded in 1966 in New York, one of the purposes is: “(f)To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life.(f)To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life.” This purpose is being actively pursued by ISKCON by:
A. Encouraging devotees to move to farm projects and take up a simple living, high thinking lifestyle
B. Developing many permaculture type teaching projects where devotees are given facilities to grow their own food and care for cows.
C. Encouraging devotees to become vegans because of the conditions and reality for modern dairy cows
D. None of the above
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Answers:
1. (B) Boston
2. (C) Calcutta
3. (A) 1966
4. (D) All of the Above: While Srila Prabhupada’s books and teachings tell us that the spiritual master is the sum total of all the demigods and is to be worshiped on the level of God, experience within ISKCON had shown that worshiping conditioned souls on the level of God leads to insanity, thus the philosophy was modified.
5. (A) Srila Prabhupada discussed the possibility of his being maliciously poisoned (the context is clear that he’s not discussing accidental poisoning) in at least 4 audio tapes, including one where he says, “I believe it is so.” Most of the tapes from the last months of Srila Prabhupada’s life are mysteriously missing, so these 4 conversations are very significant.
6. (D) The philosophy that a disciple needs to accept a spiritual master who is physically present is not found in Srila Prabhupada’s books. When asked what would happen when he died, Srila Prabhupada replied, “I shall never die, I will live forever in my books!”
7. (B) While immediately after Srila Prabhupada’s departure, the 11 Zonal Acaryas presented themselves as being Uttama Adhikaris, it soon became apparent that they were not pure devotees. So gradually the philosophy was revised to allow that sometimes a diksa guru may not have achieved pure love of Krsna, but still he was capable of giving pure love of Krsna to his disciples.
8. (D)
9. (D)
10. (C) See Nityananda’s book “Kill Guru, Become Guru” for a detailed account of the missing audio tapes
11. (C) and (D)
12. (C)
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