Radhanatha swami’s past history
Tue, Mar 16, 2010, ancientvarnasramanism < deadhorseje@yahoo.com > wrote:
I have always had a lot of respect for Pada. Just the name Prabhupada Anti-Defamation Association is rightous. Most of the history of Iskcon happened either before I was born or when I was just a little kid so I have tried to stay objective and really learn from all sides what exactly this ritvik vs. “traditionalist” controversy entails. In my interaction with both sides on Audarya I always found myself sympathizing with the ritviks even though I can understand that reasonable Vaisnavas could come to different conclusions on the subject.
I always appreciate people that speak freely and tell it like it is so I have always found Puranjana Das to be an admirable character with a ksaitra spririt and also funny even though the subject matter of what happened isnt ultimately funny.
I know some Vaisnavas are turned off by his method of communication but personally considering the completely disgusting, irksome, horrible things that have gone on under the guise of the “living guru” camp sarcasm and parody are actually appropriate forms of communication in this circumstance.
In regards to you always being right, personally I have read your posts for a number of years and sometimes you get going on something and get fixed on it but when push comes to shove you are ultimately fair in your assesment of things and you are willing to admit when you are wrong. I remember a time when you seemed to side with the “living guru” crowd and were harsh on the ritviks but still you didn’t have the superiority complex and hubris than many of the “living guru” crowd exhibit so I still respected you even then. Even then you were willing to give the ritviks thier say whereas the “living guru” crowd often times will get completely tyrannical and not allow ritviks any forum at all.
Ancientvarnasramanism das
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In Vaisnavacouncil@yahoogroups.com , “mahaksadasa” <mahaksadasa@> wrote:
Haribol. A writer accused me of never admitting mistakes. Now this is rather absurd, concerning I have engaged in forum discussion for 14 years, and have only had this person in the forum recently.
I hold to the vaisnava ettiquette ideals that require frequent admissions of mistakes. My very return to this council was accompanied with sincere apologies for my critical comments about rtvik over the years. My mistake was that I failed to see the people behind the rhetoric, and I offended many fine devotees by insisting on semantics as something that was valid. The devotees who abide by rtvik are actually victims of an evil purge by kali cela who infiltrated this movement, just as Srila Prabhupada warned us in his Madhya lila of Chaitanya Charitamrta. While I accused the rtvik proponants of revisionism, I failed to see that they were actually, without any support from the house that prabhupada built, fighting the horrid revisionism created by the unscrupulous folks who destroyed ISKCON. That some rtviks were excessive in their rhetoric, most were noy, yet I mistakenly lumped them in with neophyte folks on the rtvik side that were naturally prone to a bit of fanaticism.
The mistakes Ive admitted cannot fill this page. My second day on Dharma Mela (accompanied by Garuda Express, excellent sites provided by Rocana das), I admitted to a real great writer on forums, Sriman Vaisnava das, that I was new to computers, and apologized for using all capital letters.
But am I wrong or right? This is your job, reader, not mine. As a member in good standing of this council, I am free to discuss issues I deem important, giving my realizations in an atmosphere free from reprisal or coercion. Therefroe, all my statements are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief. If someone is intelligent enough to defeat me, using the guide of guru-shastra and sadhu, I am intelligent enough to note the erroneous conclusions. Accepting defeat, apologizing to vaisnavas, these things are great gifts that I crave. It is not a bad pastry, this humble pie. But I find that the jocks who demand apologies and admission of error are mostly useless contributors to any forum that I would inhabit. This is not a game, this is the death march. Im held accountable for my words. However, not by any forum member who has his own debt to my Shaktivesa avatar of choice, Lord Sri Yamaraja. My only debt is to Srila Prabhupada, and he always lets me know the error of my ways.
I have never backed away from aggressive writers. Though he did not think I was qualified to even have an opinion, I still took on Kundali das. I fought with Sriman Puru das for years, yet my eulogy was read at his funeral by Sri Locanananda das (who, by the way, is my officiating acarya if I should ever need officiating acarya action.) I took on Puranjana das head on while he was accusing me of following someone who I used to serve under the direction of Srila Prabhupada, and he had a habit of posting much derogatory statements about me on his site. But I really miss this wonderful devotee and wish he would post here on VC once in a while, just so we can experiance the rasa of spiritual brotherhood, which when push comes to shove, both of us appreciate.
If someone thinks Im puffed up and never admit mistakes, all I can say is google me, there are ten thousand posts out there, which contain many heartfelt apologies where I got carried away, made errors, etc.
Enough of this, Im going to bring back an issue me, Visoka, Locanananda and others were discussing at the beginning of the life of Vaisnava Council. It was so “sept 10” back then.
Hare Krsna,
ys, mahaksadasa
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Dear Ancientvarnasramanism Prabhu,
Hare Krishna! Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
You’ve probably heard of the famous fighters for the truth and justice, Michael Moore and George Noory , but did you know that both of them are from the Detroit area of Michigan?
It might also interest you to know that Sulocana Prabhu, Puranjana Prabhu, and I all joined ISKCON in Detroit. Puranjana Prabhu and I were both initiated in person by Srila Prabhupada at ISKCON Detroit (Jefferson Avenue temple) on July 17, 1971 (I was born on July 17, 1944). Srila Prabhupada gave both of us very unique names which have nothing to do with our karmi names.
Another ritvik fighter for truth and justice, Naveen Krishna Prabhu also joined in Detroit. He is a former ISKCON Detroit temple president and a former member of the GBC. After hearing the “poison whispers,” h e resigned from the GBC in order to devote full time to investigating the possibility that Srila Prabhupada was poisoned.
Although he didn’t get initiated in Detroit, I’m pretty sure that Praghosa Prabhu, the untiring promoter of Srila Prabhupada’s ritvik system of initiations and Srila Prabhupada’s Oath of Allegiance, joined ISKCON in Detroit. In any case, he grew up in the same neighborhood where ISKCON Detroit is currently located.
The ISKCON Detroit devotee community is where the famous Turley child abuse lawsuit against ISKCON and the GBC got it’s start in early 1999 .
Your servant,
Pratyatosa Dasa
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