Please also see our Traditional Vaisnavism vs Religious organizations FAQ.

DIFFICULTIES WITH ISKCON
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US AND ISKCON
BOOK CHANGES
PROBLEMS WITH LEADERSHIP
DARKER SIDE OF ISKCON
RTVIK
ISKCON HISTORY
POLITICS


DIFFICULTIES WITH ISKCON



ISKCON has greatly deteriorated since I first saw their sankirtan parties in the sixties. Why?
 
It's a shame what has happened in ISKCON. But I was there on the Radha-Damodara party when Tamal Kṛṣṇa started his campaign to change the simple, beautiful and effective preaching program established by Śrīla Prabhupāda and concentrate all the devotees' energy on book distribution. This gradually alienated the thoughtful devotees and encouraged the salesman and political types, until by now all the really spiritual devotees have left. It now has become a political religious organization only, has alienated the intelligent brahminical devotees and the public.

The same thing happened in Gaudiya Math, because any time you have a large organization and the direct connection with the self-realized spiritual master breaks down, the rascals take over and lead everyone astray. There is nothing to be done except to start all over again, and keep everything intimate and simple so the message of the Esoteric Teaching does not get distorted. Please see our Traditional Vaisnavism vs Religious organizations FAQ.



What are your views towards ISKCON?

I have nothing against ISKCON; in fact I wish them well. I have had to forgive them for their various abuses against me, if for no other reason than to have a clear mind and clean heart for approaching Krsna. However their offenses against Srila Prabhupada are destroying them.

My feelings about ISKCON are like having a close relative who is an alcoholic or drug addict: you love them, but you clearly see their problem; you feel concern for them, you want to help them but cannot afford to be in close association with them because they have chosen a self-destructive path. A substance addict uses the substance to try to solve problems for which it is clearly inappropriate. Similarly, ISKCON has chosen the path of politics to try to solve all its problems; but in the context of devotional service, politics is not an appropriate remedy.

Politics is a process of denial or selective unconsciousness. We agree to ignore the glaring faults of certain people, and project them on certain others, who may actually be blameless but who serve as scapegoats for the faults of the power-brokers, in return for the perceived benefits of membership in a certain club. It's an old, old, story; but politics is basically a form of collective insanity. Like impersonalism, politics ignores the facts in favor of a seductive story, repeated over and over until it becomes accepted as the truth. In other words, it's a lie, and anyone who has an actual taste for Absolute Truth cannot countenance a lie.

So we offer obeisances to ISKCON from afar. Even after the current crop of leaders has passed on, their progress will be limited by the fact that the next generation of leaders was trained up by them. The next-generation leaders will not have the shining personal example of Srila Prabhupada, only the twisted example of the present leaders, to guide them. They would have to first recognize that they were trained up in a false way, and then reconstruct the original way from Prabhupada's books and other instructions. No, this is too much to ask, because it would require almost superhuman intelligence. We see from the history of our lineage that once a branch of the tree of Lord Caitanya becomes corrupt, it gradually withers and dies. Look at the history of the Nityananda-vamsa and the descendants of Lord Advaita. So barring some extraordinary miracle, there is not much hope for ISKCON.

Our direct personal instruction from Srila Prabhupada was to leave ISKCON and pursue self-realization independently. He also made certain predictions, which are coming true one by one. So we feel very blessed to be protected by Srila Prabhupada's instructions, and will continue along the path marked out by him. Our independent preaching program is a result of applying marketing research principles to the problem of how to present Krsna consciousness to contemporary people. In other words, we talked to a bunch of people in our target demographic and based our approach on their opinions. No magic there, just method, but why aren't other devotees doing something similar?

Anyone can run a focus group; the trick is to be open-minded enough to learn from it. And therein lies the rub: the ISKCON leaders think they know everything already, and there is no need for change. In fact, that should be ISKCON's maha-mantra: "no change, no change, change change, no no." But in the interval since Srila Prabhupada developed his original very effective preaching program (which ISKCON is not even following), human society had slid even farther down the slippery slope of Mayavada-induced Kali-yuga devolution. So the preaching methods need to adapt to keep up with this moving target, otherwise they become ineffective.

All I have done is build a bridge between what people today care about, and the subject matter of Krsna consciousness. Others like Bhakti Tirtha Swami tried made similar innovations, also with good results. Also as I once discussed with a student, we cannot imitate Srila Prabhupada's preaching style. He could get away with tactics that would sink our preaching project. As he is reported to have said, "Children and old men can get away with saying anything—you cannot." So we have to patient and a little diplomatic.

My focus is to motivate people to read Srila Prabhupada's books, and to explain the overview of the Vedic Esoteric Teaching so that people will be able to understand them. My market research indicated that even for people who were sympathetic to Eastern spirituality, Srila Prabhupada's books were often simply incomprehensible. A big part of my work here is to supply the background required to make them understandable to any intelligent person. Again, any resonably intelligent devotee could do this, but ISKCON has made a fetish out of demotivating intelligent people and driving them away from Krsna consciousness. After all, such people are in the habit asking inconveniently insightful questions, and we can't have that, now, can we?

So unfortunately, ISKCON has been co-opted by The Big Lie, and become part of the problem instead of the container for the solution. I wish I didn't have to say these things, but my commitment is to the Absolute Truth. ISKCON has given up on the truth, even in ordinary matters, and thus lost their qualification to deliver the Absolute Truth. And don't even get me started on the changes to Prabhupada's books. So the whole thing has become its own opposite in just a single generation after Srila Prabhupada's passing.

My most fervent wish is to encourage the many devotees who have some appreciation for Srila Prabhupada's books and the efficacy of Krsna consciousness to shake off their lethargy and complacency, and preach. I am just an ordinary devotee, nothing special. So if I can do it, anyone can. And you will be much happier as a full-time preacher than by compromising with the system and working for some big exploitive Kali-yuga corporation.

"I do not know how long, since what time we have begun this wandering, changing. Lord Caitanya says that ei rūpe brahmāṇḍa bhramite kona bhāgyavān jīva [Cc. Madhya 19.151]. He said that the living entities are wandering in such a way, in different species of life, in different planets, lower and higher. In this way, if he is fortunate enough, he comes in contact with a bona fide spiritual master under the grace of Lord Kṛṣṇa. That means if anyone is fortunate, he comes in contact with guru and Kṛṣṇa, a bona fide spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa. And what is the benefit? The benefit is guru-kṛṣṇa-kṛpāya pāya bhakti-latā-bīja [Cc. Madhya 19.151]. The benediction from the bona fide spiritual master and Lord is that his sense of devotional service is invoked. That is the gift. He does not give anything material opulence. Of course, if one is advanced in spiritual consciousness, material happiness is not very rare for him. That is automatically there. But the gift of Kṛṣṇa and spiritual master is to inject him. Not inject him... The devotional service, love of Godhead is there, but to invoke it. This devotional service is not artificial. In every one of you there is dormant devotional service, as I have already explained, but they are exhibited in a different way. Instead of loving God, that devotional service is diverted in loving a dog. But the love is there. Love is there. Nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-bhakti sādhya kabhu naya: ["Kṛṣṇa-prema can be awakened in a purified heart"]. It is said that this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement is not an artificial thing that we have manufactured something, ideal thing, concocted, and we are preaching to the world that “You become Kṛṣṇa conscious.” The Kṛṣṇa consciousness is there. What is that Kṛṣṇa consciousness? To love God. That is there. We are simply helping that “You try to love God; then you’ll be happy.” That is our mission." [Los Angeles, December 2, 1968]



I had a tough time dealing with ISKCON, it seemed very rigid for my liking. Why is it this way?

We love our ISKCON brothers and sisters, however they can be very difficult to deal with because of their narrow point of view and extreme fundamentalist interpretation of the scriptures. Anyone who has association with ISKCON is marked by it to some degree. It took me years to get rid of the latent impersonalism I absorbed by that association. Vedanta-sutra 1.3.14, references the following quote:

“ ‘And as here on earth, whatever has been acquired by exertion perishes, so perishes whatever is acquired in the next world by sacrifices and other actions performed on earth. But those who depart from here after having discovered the Self and their true desires, for them there is freedom in all the worlds.’ ” [Chāndogya Upaniṣad 8.1.6]

In other words, the Vedānta teaching distinguishes between external religious practices performed for personal spiritual merit, and internal devotional service performed out of transcendental love for the Supreme Brahman. Ritualistic practices performed for self-advancement are good, but they are only preliminary to the actual transcendental life of the direct inner consciousness of Brahman. One may gain great material facility, elevation to heavenly regions, great knowledge, power and even superhuman powers or appointment to the post of a demigod by performance of the ritualistic practices of external religion. But the actual fruit of religion, which only the self-realized know, is the inner enlightenment or direct consciousness of the Supreme Brahman, by which all doubts are erased, all obstacles vanquished and all desires achieved. This is eternal, whereas the fruit of external religious practices is but temporary.

The ISKCON devotees, by and large, have not grasped this. So they remain fixated on the external practices, and the change of heart from self-service to loving devotional srveice never occurs. Vaidhi-bhakti is just preliminary to actual spiritual love, or raganuga-bhakti, and its purpose is to develop the desire for actual love of Godhead. Once that desire arises in our hearts, then our real life of transcendental loving service to the Lord begins.

"In the Skanda Purāṇa there is a statement by devotees praying to the Lord: 'My Lord, I know that young girls have natural affection for young boys, and that young boys have natural affection for young girls. I am praying at Your lotus feet that my mind may become attracted unto You in the same spontaneous way.' The example is very appropriate. When a young boy or girl sees a member of the opposite sex there is a natural attraction, without the need for any introduction. Without any training there is a natural attraction due to the sex impulse. This is a material example, but the devotee is praying that he may develop a similar spontaneous attachment for the Supreme Lord, free from any desire for profit and without any other cause. This natural attraction for the Lord is the perfectional stage of self-realization." [Nectar of Devotion, Chapter 9]

Such spontaneous love is very tender and affectionate. It is also very unique, confidential and personal. The Lord is so beautiful, and unlike the ordinary living entities, there is no difference between His body and His Self. He is completely pure, unconditionally loving and always a transcendental Person, full of delightful transcendental qualities. He loves to please His devotees and is ever engaged in satisfying their desires.

This Supreme Lord is fully present within the heart of every living entity. We should stop and consider what this means. If He is there, then His transcendental abode, associates, potencies and qualities are also present in fullness. Therefore there is no need to go outside, when the Supreme Lord is present within. Everything that we could desire is already there within our hearts: "The Kingdom of God is within you."

I find that most devotees, even after many years, know too little to make proper progress on the path of devotion. Do you think proper education is scarce in ISKCON, although the institution has reached far and wide.

Well, historically the management of ISKCON has placed more stress on establishing temples and collecting funds than on education in the philosophy and practice of Gaudiya Vaisnavism as revealed by the acaryas. Personally I think these priorities are misplaced, as evidenced by the confusion you have pointed out, as well as the spiritual problems and marked decrease in the size and dynamism of their communities on the West.

I think that the management is gradually waking up to these issues, and a more sober and mature mood is coming about, as they see the results of the previous misguided policies. But it will take some time for the sanga in general to wake up to these issues, and grasp the real underlying cause of the problems they face.

Why are there very few self-realized souls from ISKCON?

Well, the fact that so few of Srila Prabhupada's disciples attained complete self-realization is due to the fact that the devotees in general, and the leaders in particular, misunderstood devotional service to be a religion. Thus they applied social and political processes to solve spiritual problems. Of course the result was a failure to attain self-realization, because such self-realization can only be obtained from a direct personal relationship with a self-realized soul.

tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

"Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth." [Bhagavad-gita 4.34]

Krsna doesn't say to approach a committee, a religion or an organization. Nor does He say that a committee, a religion or an organization can impart spiritual knowledge. Only the jñāninas, the self-realized soul, can impart jñāna, spiritual knowledge. Why? Because he is tattva-darśinaḥ, one who has seen the truth. Then what?

yaj jñātvā na punar moham
evaṁ yāsyasi pāṇḍava
yena bhūtāny aśeṣāṇi
drakṣyasy ātmany atho mayi

"And when you have thus learned the truth, you will know that all living beings are but part of Me—and that they are in Me, and are Mine." [Bhagavad-gita 4.35]

So a sincere devotee treats all living beings as Krsna's property, as Krsna's energy, as part of Krsna, and serves them accordingly. But the political devotees are thinking that the living beings who have joined their organization belong to them, and that they can exploit, misuse and abuse the devotees however they like. This is not self-realization, but rascaldom. No wonder that those who follow such phony leaders cannot attain self-realization.

If I have any credit in the matter it is that I never heard from and never followed the materialistic show-bottle leaders, but only heard from and followed my spiritual Master Teacher Srila Prabhupada himself. I could see from the beginning of my association with ISKCON that they were preaching something different from what was written in Srila Prabhupada's books. Their policies actually discouraged the devotees from studying his books, because ignorant people are easier to exploit.

Rituals, sacrifices, prayers, austerities and other preliminary processes cannot grant full self-realization:

"When Mahārāja Rahūgaṇa asked Jaḍa Bharata about his wonderful achievement of spiritual success, he replied to the King that spiritual success is not possible simply by following the rituals of religion or simply by converting oneself into a sannyāsī or offering sacrifices as recommended in the scriptures. These methods are undoubtedly helpful for spiritual realization, but the real effect is brought about by the grace of a mahātmā. In Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura's eight stanzas of prayer to the spiritual master, it is clearly stated that simply by satisfying the spiritual master one can achieve the supreme success in life, and in spite of executing all ritualistic performances, if one cannot satisfy the spiritual master, one has no access to spiritual perfection. Here the word akṛtātmanām is very significant. Ātmā means "body," "soul," or "mind," and akṛtātmā means the common man, who cannot control the senses or the mind. Because the common man is unable to control the senses and the mind, it is his duty to seek the shelter of a great soul or a great devotee of the Lord and just try to please him. That will make his life perfect. A common man cannot rise to the topmost stage of spiritual perfection simply by following the rituals and religious principles. He has to take shelter of a bona fide spiritual master and work under his direction faithfully and sincerely; then he becomes perfect, without a doubt." [Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.22.6 Purport]

So the neophyte devotees who took over management of ISKCON after Srila Prabhupada's disappearance could not attain self-realization because they had offended their spiritual master. Even if one cannot perform all the external duties of spiritual life, if somehow or other one can simply satisfy his spiritual master, he can attain all perfection in spiritual life.


When Krsna sees that a devotee has a sincere desire to satisfy his spiritual master, then He grants the self-realization that is so difficult to attain by any other means. Krsna can give love of God to anyone He chooses, and He gives His criteria in Bhagavad-gita 4.34 as quoted above. The ISKCON leaders ignored this sage advice and severely offended Srila Prabhupada on many occasions. It is not my purpose to recount those horror stories herein, since they are well-documented by other writers. But those offenses killed any chance they had to attain Krsna's darshan. Krsna is not going to reveal Himself to anyone who disrespects His representative. He is not a fool. Therefore one should be very careful to please and not to offend the spiritual master, because he holds the key to ultimate success in self-realization.




I went to an ISKCON temple and a devotee had just taken the Brahmacari oath. I asked him about this and he said that now he had to avoid women. I asked why and he glared at me and said “ Women are filthy, they contaminate men... bla bla bla”… What is up with this?

When a lusty materialistic man who is spiritually immature tries artificially to be celibate, first he presents a false front of being a brahmacari, "Oh I'm so pure." Then he goes into denial about his actual desires, and finally tries to project his own lustiness on women. And guess what: the women, who are generally more emotionally mature and realistic than men, know exactly what is going on, and are completely disgusted with such behavior. So they would never accept such a stupid man anyway.

But the example shows what an artificial social standard exists in ISKCON, that such immature behavior is tolerated and even encouraged. My experience is that when we fall in love with Kṛṣṇa, we automatically lose interest in material sex desire and so on. Why don't they try that for a change?

My disciples once watched a video of a prominent ISKCON leader, and after watching part of it (they could not bear to watch the whole thing) they were disgusted. They were telling me how they could never study with such a phony character. And they could tell this simply by watching a video! I was not looking over their shoulders coaching them, either. It's because their hearts are open, their emotional intelligence is active, and consequently their phoniness detectors are quite healthy. At least I don't have to worry about losing disciples to ISKCON!



I find it unpalatable to even read about ISKCON knowing the recent history. Why do you discuss them?

Although I agree that it's unpalatable, it is valuable to study ISKCON and other failed Vaisnava organizations because they are a rich source of understanding what not to do.

vidyāṁ cāvidyāṁ ca yas
tad vedobhayaṁ saha
avidyayā mṛtyuṁ tīrtvā
vidyayāmṛtam aśnute

"Only one who can learn the process of nescience and that of transcendental knowledge side by side can transcend the influence of repeated birth and death and enjoy the full blessings of immortality." [Sri Isopanisad, 11]

The structure of the material world is discussed in detail in scriptures like Srimad-Bhagavatam, because to escape the trap of material existence, we must have a good understanding of the mechanism of the trap. Similarly, to escape the trap of false religion disguised as Vedic spiritual life, we have to understand how it works. "One who does not understand the lessons of history is doomed to repeat them."

I saw so many of these mistakes played out before my eyes, that they they are indelibly impressed upon my heart. I could not go down those paths in any case. But others are not so experienced; they may, with all good intentions but without a good understanding, try to implement that same kind of scheme in the name of the Esoteric Teaching.

That is not approved by me. I will never give my good name or endorsement to any kind of religious organization. Any of my disciples or their descendants who tries to start a church or other religious organization in my name is a fraud and a cheater. For that is the royal road to hell.

At the very most, one may have an ashram with a few sincere students and a small temple. Let others establish huge cathedrals for the masses, and lose their spiritual advancement dealing with the headaches of such big organizations. We are interested only in teaching the essence of the Esoteric Teaching to our well-qualified personal students and disciples. I am not inclined to sell my soul just for transient riches, name and fame.

Someday ISKCON will attack us, and we will have to deal with them. That is why I am explaining all these things clearly, so that when the day comes our students' faith will not be disturbed.

But they are bullies, and bullies are basically cowards. They will only attack if they think that we will not fight to defend ourselves. I want them to know that I have tons of confidential inside information from Srila Prabhupada himself through his sister Pishima. I have names, dates, places, who did what to whom and why, and who was behind everything. I know how to work the Internet and get it published on thousands of blog sites. And of course, if anything happens to me, there are others.

Srila Prabhupada is no dummy. He and Pishima had a secret language, sort of like Pig Latin, but based on Bengali. He gave her all kinds of information right in front of the big men and no one understood a thing. And he had her pass that information on to certain devotees in whom he had confidence, because they were not a part of the insiders' group. He let them think they had won, by allowing himself to be sacrificed. But actually he cheated them all.

"It is said that for spiritual realization one must follow great personalities like Lord Brahmā, Devarṣi Nārada, Lord Śiva and Prahlāda Mahārāja. The path of bhakti is not at all difficult if we follow in the footsteps of previous ācāryas and authorities, but those who are too materially contaminated by the modes of material nature cannot follow them." [Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.24.26 Purport]

One of these days the conditions to satisfy Srila Prabhupada's instructions will occur, and we will bring the ultimate secret of ISKCON out. And the others will corroborate our story. We are just waiting, remembering Srila Prabhupada's greatness, his kindness and mercy, and cursing the heartless rascals who took him from this world. We are just thinking over his final instructions and waiting for the right moment to implement them.

"The service of the spiritual master is essential. If there is no chance to serve the spiritual master directly, a devotee should serve him by remembering his instructions. There is no difference between the spiritual master's instructions and the spiritual master himself. In his absence, therefore, his words of direction should be the pride of the disciple." [Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 1.35 Purport]

The demons who usurped ISKCON from Srila Prabhupada's control made a great blunder by offending him. Because of that terrible offense, now entire countries will be devastated and millions or even billions of people will die horribly. We could have had peace, prosperity and a paradise planet, if only they had followed his instructions. That will come, but first there will be the inevitable reaction to offending the pure devotees.

We are just waiting to see that day come, otherwise we have no interest whatsoever in this horrible material world. Meanwhile we are trying to help as many people as possible to understand the real causes of the strange things that happen in this strange world, and the real power of the seemingly insignificant, ordinary men who happen to be the representatives of God on this planet.

And he said unto them, "Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth Him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great [in the Kingdom of Heaven]." [Luke 9:48]







DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US AND ISKCON


Was the purpose of Prabhupāda's mission to create a huge organization?

No. The teaching of the Vedas was considered very dangerous, so it was entrusted to the scholastic rascals. They turned out terrible translations, impossible to read unless your Ph.D. thesis counted on it. Their cultural biases showed in every word; their real mission was not to present but to sabotage Vedic culture by making it look so unattractive that no one would take it seriously. Meanwhile the British East India Company was creating 'hinduism' out of whole cloth, making sure the Indians themselves knew nothing of their actual cultural tradition.

They did a fine job of mucking it up, but they did not count on the resiliency and dedication of the actual followers of the Vedas. Srila Prabhupada's incredible austerity—leaving his lifetime quarters in Vrndavan's Radha-Damodar temple, established by Srila Rupa Gosvami 450 years ago, and coming to preach in New York City's East Village at the height of the hippie revolution—was unprecedented and unanticipated. He slipped through the walls and before he could be stopped by the self-appointed guardians of Western materialism, delivered the real message of the Vedas in the form of Srimad-Bhagavatam.

The cat was out of the bag, the genie out of the bottle, and now it's too late—no one can ever put them back in again. Now there are thousands of followers of the Vedas all over the world, and we are increasing every day. By creating the mass movement of ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada ensured that the scholars would have to read his books. The ones who are sincere have become converted, and this message of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu is gradually percolating through the highest levels of human society.

Its full impact and significance may not be revealed for hundreds or even thousands of years, but one thing is assured: Srila Prabhupada is a world teacher of such stature and importance that he will cast a very long shadow over history. People centuries or even thousands of years from now will sigh, wishing that they could have been born in the ancient days of the 20th century, so they could have known and served him directly.

We who are Srila Prabhupada's direct disciples are so incredibly fortunate. I regard the highest purpose of my preaching mission simply to introduce as many people as possible to his amazing books. If anyone somehow or other reads these books, he will be convinced of the Vedic philosophy and become a devotee.

So as I see it, my role is to act as Srila Prabhupada's representative to the intelligent class of people, and try somehow or other to interest them in these supremely valuable books. I have no transcendental potency; all my teaching is just sales talk for Prabhupada's books. They are the real Esoteric Teaching.

Read them, take them into your heart and look at life through their divine vision. Then your real life begins.



Is the ISKCON movement the same as Esoteric teaching?

A student answers:

No, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is not the same as the Esoteric Teaching.

ISKCON is a religious organization, which was built up by Srila Prabhupada to spread Krsna consciousness in the western world. His main aim was to establish this philosophy here, so that people get access to it and gradually more and more people take up the practice of Bhakti-yoga. A very important task was also to translate and print all the important books on Krsna consciousness like Bhagavad-gita, Sri Isopanisad or Srimad Bhagavatam.

ISKCON is not following the instructions given by Srila Prabhupada which the administrating parts of the organization were supposed to follow after his disappearance of this planet. It is a religious organization similar to the catholic church. Spiritual leaders are chosen by political considerations and not due to their realization of the Absolute Truth. Because of this many problems arouse in this society, like the scandal of child molestations and other disgusting things.

The Esoteric Teaching is the original way of presenting the Vedic philosophy to the sincere aspirant. This is the upanisadic style of teaching. (Upanisad means to sit down near a spiritual master and to hear from him submissively.)
As you see on this site, our Master Teacher responds personally to your questions and helps you establish your devotional service in daily life.

We are no organization, but a lose community of students. We are all here to learn from our Master Teacher and to render service unto him. We don´t engage in politics or other mundane activities. This is the Esoteric Teaching.
To learn the Vedic Absolute Truth personally from a self-realized soul. All information about spiritual life you get here are exact the informations you get in the Vedic source codes. We don´t change anything or make anything up. That is why we always give links and name our sources directly, so that everybody can see that we don´t state our personal opinion but the information given by Krsna or the Vedic sages.These seminars are the infrastructure which make it possible to reach people all around the globe and to share this knowledge with them.



What is missing in ISKCON?

What is missing in ISKCON is simply intellectual integrity and independent rational thought. Like most religions they are into control, and discourage members from thinking for themselves. As a result, they are stuck in the past and cannot adjust to the changing requirements of the present—what to speak of the future. And they have given up their integrity for politics.

Don't get me wrong; I have nothing against my Godbrothers, they just don't get what we're doing. Well we're in good company: Śrīla Prabhupāda's Godbrothers didn't get what he was doing either; but that didn't stop Śrīla Prabhupāda from pleasing his spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa, and it won't stop us either.

All we are doing is trying to present the eternal message of the Esoteric Teaching of the Vedas in a language and style that contemporary people can relate to. That's the challenge before every spiritual teacher, but we have to be open-minded enough and willing to change to succeed at it. The trick is knowing the difference between what is absolute and eternal, and what is relative and can be adapted to circumstances.



I know some disciples of Prabhupada who are in family life and are still practicing nicely. How is your approach going to be different?

I also know older disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda who are keeping their practices and are very sincere. That's fine for them, but what about all the people who are suffering in material existence due to ignorance of the real Vaiṣṇava standard? Who is going to take care of them, teach and encourage them in devotional service?

I started preaching under the Esoteric Teaching moniker because my market research indicated that people in general had lost faith in anything connected with the name "Hare Kṛṣṇa." My Godbrothers cannot understand why I think that market research is important; maybe that's why they have accomplished next to nothing in terms of real preaching at a time when the Internet has made worldwide communication and publishing dirt cheap and easy for everyone.

It's not surprising that many former devotees have lapsed back into impersonal monism or even Christianity after experiencing the vicious politics within ISKCON. Who would want to expose themselves to such a corrosive atmosphere? All this means that any future progress will have to take place independently, outside of ISKCON; therefore creative approaches to organization, preaching and finance are very much needed to maintain the momentum Śrīla Prabhupāda established.

Our policy has always been to license all our materials under a very liberal Creative Commons license, the better to make them available to those who are trying to preach independently. Alas, no one has really taken this up. We would like to see little local groups springing up all over, but where is the determination, initiative and energy going to come from? So after trying ineffectually to start small local groups, we had to switch tactics.

Our program to make a structured approach to the Esoteric Teaching of the Vedas available through our University of Higher Knowledge is working well. We are very pleased that so many students have registered and are making good progress in the courses. But so much personalized effort is necessary that we have to charge—not for the material, which is already available on the site for free, but for the guidance and counseling services necessary to help our students achieve an expert level of practical application of the material.

Finally, while culturing devotion in a family setting is very good, there also needs to be support for a monastic environment for cultivating pure devotional service of the highest standard. The natural demands of family life tend to interfere with exclusive devotion (kevala-bhakti) and interrupt the focused internal attention required for the highest attainments of bhakti-marg. And the great challenge of re-establishing daivī-varṇāśrama-dharma still lies before us.

I notice ISKCON enforce copyright protection on their art and music. What does this mean?

This shows that ISKCON supports the idea that intellectual property is proprietary, which strikes at the heart of the open sharing of information required in any authentic devotional or religious culture. Every religious group that made their most powerful teachings secret has eventually disappeared. Our Vaiṣṇava model is open-source, meaning that even the initiatory secrets such as the Gāyatrī mantras are openly recorded in Śrīla Prabhupāda's books. This secretive practice is not Śrīla Prabhupāda's mood:

"So this formula, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare, this sound vibration, you can practice it. It is not difficult. There is no secret. I don't say that "I have got a secret mantra which I shall give you, and you pay me fifty dollars" or like that. It is open secret. You have simply to accept kindly. Then you see the result. There is no loss on your part, but the gain is very great. Why don't you try it? I request you, most humbly I request you that you kindly chant these sixteen names—Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare/ Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma... We have got our record also. If you want to practice, you can play the record and it will be very easy." [Lecture, Boston 4/26/69]

How could Śrīla Prabhupāda have spread the Kṛṣṇa-consciousness movement if he made everything secret: "Now you have to pay me $100, and I will give you the secret mantra"? No, his mood was completely open, "Come and take it. I request you most humbly." So ISKCON wants to enforce copyright protection on their art, on Śrīla Prabhupāda's books and lectures, so they are stopping the preaching by creating a mood of secrecy. This inhibits the free spread of Kṛṣṇa consciousness to anyone and everyone.

You notice all our music is in MP3 and you can download, share or do anything else you want with it. It is all Creative Commons licensed so you can even produce derivative works as long as you give atribution. So we are following Śrīla Prabhupāda's mood. Give Kṛṣṇa consciousness away freely to everyone!



Do you think ISKCON is doing much preaching? Do you think ISKCON see you as preaching-competition?

When I traveled to Washington DC a few years ago, almost as soon as I arrived I received an email from an old devotee friend, a member of ISKCON who lives in the area. The email was a forwarded message inviting me to a nama-hatta meeting at an Indian congregation member's house. The funny thing is that I have not heard anything from this devotee since leaving ISKCON almost two years ago.

When I contacted him, I mentioned that I thought it was strange that I received the email just at the time I happened to be in the DC area. He made some evasive remark that didn't really explain anything. I attended the meeting as well as some other devotional events at the local temple. At one point Anuttama, ISKCON Director of Communications, came over to talk with me and basically pumped me for information about our activities.

Of course, we have nothing to hide, since we make it a point never to do anything even remotely illegal or suspicious. Plus we are not any kind of threat to ISKCON, since our policy is not to accept disciples with an ISKCON background. It is hard enough to train students in the Esoteric Teaching of the Vedas without also having to counteract the neophyte misunderstandings and habits due to bad association.

Still it is my experience, repeated many times over, that any association with ISKCON results in mental agitation. After my encounters with ISKCON devotees, I know they are monitoring our newsletter or forums. How else would they know I was in Washington? Why was my devotee friend afraid to explain how he knew I was in the US? What are they hiding? Why did Anuttama cross-examine me?

In a helpful mood, I offered to help the devotees with webcasting their meetings and festivals. I also offered to train them to present seminars to educate people in spiritual values and the philosophy of the Esoteric Teaching. They all said they were very interested, yet... until now none of them have contacted me. Why would they turn down an offer of free help?

ISKCON's mission is supposed to be preaching the Esoteric Teaching of the Vedas. But there are no new people coming to their meetings. Even when offered an opportunity to learn the techniques that have made our preaching successful, they could offer only false promises. And when I was at New Talavan, every attempt I made at preaching was stopped by ISKCON management.

ISKCON may claim that they are preaching, but if they are preaching then where is the result? Where are the new devotees? Their preaching is what Srila Prabhupada called show-bottle. A show-bottle is a product container with a label and some contents that look like the real thing, but it is only for display and actually the contents are not the real product, but just colored water or oil.

So if ISKCON is not really interested in preaching, what are they really doing with all those temples, money and men? No, forget it, I don't really want to know, because whatever it is, it is not about following Srila Prabhupada's instructions, and following the instructions of the guru is the essence of the Esoteric Teaching.

I do think they have an intelligence operative assigned full-time to monitor sites like ours. The shill is a registered member, receives our newsletters and has reviewed every page in the site and especially every mention of ISKCON. After all, that is their business. Especially they want to prevent anyone they cannot control from becoming a serious competitor.

Of course it's not a threat, because we are under protection of Krsna and Srila Prabhupada's direct instructions to preach. Besides, we have no aspirations to take over their disciples or their turf. Who needs the anxiety? They have done their best to ruin the preaching field, and now they will have to live with the consequences of soiling their own nest. We are not about to rescue them, especially after this incident.

Our plans and methods are something completely different, which they are ontologically incapable of comprehending. Because by Krsna's grace and Prabhupada's mercy, we have actually attained self-realization, our teaching is effective even over the Internet. We don't need huge budgets and expensive buildings, big congregations and anxiety-producing politics. We are quite able to attain our objectives and meet our needs by virtual association alone.

And we have the association of so many nice devotees. They cannot imagine that the blessings and good wishes of a few sincere souls effortlessly overcome the temporary power derived from money and politics. By remaining committed to open, transparent and fair dealings based on love and trust, we get the affection of the pure devotees. And that is worth everything, because it leads to acceptance in Krsna's direct loving service.

Why do you call yourself Babaji? Who gave you that title?

Every once in a while, someone brings up the question of why I refer to myself as "Babaji." Usually such people are contaminated by association with my ISKCON Godbrothers or similar organizations. Unfortunately even if I explain, their neophyte level of realization does not permit them to understand. This is why we generally do not preach to people who have a background in ISKCON or other sectarian religious organizations. Anyway we had quite an interesting conversation about it in this darshan.

To adorn the end of this recording, here is a very nice quote from Srila Jiva Gosvami's, Sri Bhakti-sandarbha Volume Twelve Verse 1 and 2:

"One does not attain perfection merely by following the rules of vaidhi bhakti. Neither does one attain perfection by disobeying the rules of vaidhi bhakti. The way to attain perfection is given in the following words of Srimad Bhagavatam 7.1.130"

"Many, many persons have attained liberation simply by thinking of Krsna with great attention and giving up sinful activities. This great attention may be due to lusty desires, inimical feelings, fear, affection or devotional service. I shall now explain how one receives Krsna's mercy simply by concentrating one's mind upon Him."

And some more quotes:

Vedānta-sūtra, Adhyāya 3, Pāda 3, Adhikaraṇa 13: The Path of Spontaneous Love

Viṣaya [the subject to be discussed]: Here the author of the sūtras proves that ruci-bhakti [the path of spontaneous love] is the best.

Saṁśaya [doubt]: Who is best: one who follows the path of spontaneous love [ruci-bhakti] or one who follows the path of following rules and regulations [vidhi-bhakti]?

Pūrvapakṣa [the opponent speaks]: Because he carefully follows all the rules, one on the path of vidhi-bhakti is the best.

Siddhānta [conclusion]: In the following words the author of the sūtras gives His conclusion.

Sūtra 3.3.31

upapannas tal-lakṣaṇārthopalabdher lokavat

upapannaḥ – best; tat – of that; lakṣaṇa – characteristic; artha – of the goal; upalabdheḥ – because of attainment; loka – in the world; vat – like.

It is best, because of attainment of the goal that is He who has that nature, as in the world.

A person who worships Lord Hari by following the path of ruci-bhakti is the best, or is the one who has attained the goal of life. Why is that? The sūtra explains, tal-lakṣaṇārthopalabdheḥ: “For it brings the goal that is He who has that nature.” The phrase “He who has that nature” here means, “He who loves His devotees.” This refers to the Supreme Personality of Godhead when He manifests His quality of sweetness. Here the word upalabdheḥ means “Because of independently attaining.” Then the author clarifies this by giving an example, lokavat: “As in the world.” The Lord is like a great king who himself comes under the control of an expert and devoted servant.

This nature of the Lord does not in any way diminish His supreme independence. This is so because the Lord’s being controlled by the love of His devotees is actually a great virtue on His part. The Supreme Personality of Godhead is attracted by the love of His devotees, and He reveals His own sweetness to the devotees that love Him. Seeing His sweetness, the devotees love Him all the more, and they respond by offering themselves to the Lord. The Lord accepts this offering, and by doing that, He sells Himself to His devotees in exchange for their love.

In this way the Lord makes His devotees very exalted and important so they can directly associate with the Lord. Without this it would not be possible for the devotees to see the Lord and associate with Him. Śrīmān Śukadeva Gosvāmī explains [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.9.21]:

nāyaṁ sukhāpo bhagavān
dehināṁ gopikā-sutaḥ
jñānināṁ cātma-bhūtānāṁ
yathā bhaktimatām iha

“The Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, the son of mother Yaśodā, is accessible to devotees engaged in spontaneous loving service, but He is not as easily accessible to mental speculators, to those striving for self-realization by severe austerities and penances, or to those who consider the body the same as the self.”

Although the Lord is controlled by all His devotees, He especially places Himself under the control of the devotees filled with spontaneous love for Him. Therefore the path of spontaneous love [ruci-bhakti] is the best of all paths and the devotees who follow this path are the best of all devotees.

............

"O my Lord! Transcendental poets and experts in spiritual science could not fully express their indebtedness to You, even if they were endowed with the prolonged lifetime of Brahmā, for You appear in two features—externally as the ācārya and internally as the Supersoul—to deliver the embodied living being by directing him how to come to You." [Srimad Bhagavatam 11.29.6]

How come you teach outside of ISKCON? I am so far away from you and it is impossible for me to join you in India so I fear I will never be initiated.

I was often called 'eccentric' by the ISKCON managers; at least that's what they said to my face. I'm sure what I was called in the discussions that went on behind my back was far less polite. All this because I dared to question, for example, book-distribution practices that falsely claimed we were feeding kids in Vietnam, stealing construction materials in the middle of the night "for Krsna," and fund-raising businesses that involved bribing federal tax inspectors.

We will go to any length to teach as long as it gets real results, because that's what Prabhupada did, and wants us to do:

na ca tasmān manuṣyeṣu
kaścin me priya-kṛttamaḥ
bhavitā na ca me tasmād
anyaḥ priyataro bhuvi

"There is no servant in this world more dear to Me than he, nor will there ever be one more dear." [Bhagavad-gita 18.69]

Those who are sacrificing everything for giving, making fortunate these rascals, they become immediately very, very dear to Kṛṣṇa. Just like, if a rich man gives his money for public welfare, immediately he's recognized by the government, "Yes." He's given some title. Why? Because he has given his possession for the benefit of the public. Similarly, the devotees, they are distributing their possessions to these unfortunate people. Therefore he's immediately recognized. That is the process. But devotee does not want any recognition, but he knows that "My Lord wants this rascal to go back to home, back to Godhead. So let me try my best." [Morning Walk Conversation, 1/18/74, Hawaii]

The prime duty of a sincere devotee is to help others understand and practice pure devotional service, because such service is the solution to all difficulties in this material existence. We have to interact personally and directly with our disciples and students because that is the only way to encourage them, correct their misunderstandings, solve their unique problems and engage their specific personal qualities and talents in Krsna's service. Again, Srila Prabhupada demonstrated the way to deal with devotees by his own very personal dealings with his disciples.

There cannot be any such thing as mass-production of devotees. That is what ISKCON tries to do, and it is a complete failure. I lived through some of the worst times in ISKCON, and my determination to avoid the same mistakes in my own spiritual teaching work inspires many of the innovations we developed and introduced. What is the use of being called 'Maha-mega-super-transcendental das' but trying to sabotage your spiritual master's instructions at every turn? The real initiation is humbly and sincerely following the instructions of our lineage as originated by Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu:

"The chanting Hare Krishna is our main business, that is real initiation. And as you are all following my instruction, in that matter, the initiator is already there. Now the next initiation will be performed as a ceremony officially, of course that ceremony has value because the name, Holy Name, will be delivered to the student from the disciplic succession, it has got value, but in spite of that, as you are going on chanting, please go on with this business sincerely and Krishna willing, I may be coming to you very soon." [Letter to Tamal Krsna, 8/19/68]

How ironic that the recipient of this letter went on to become the ringleader of the movement to defy Prabhupada's authority and turn ISKCON into a 'religious organization' in the image of a Western church.

So as long as you are following, there is no need for formal initiation; that is only to give recognition, and to encourage you and others to follow the instructions. I am not much interested in elaborate ceremonies and ritual observances; Srila Prabhupada gave me my second initiation directly, personally, without any ceremony, simply on the recommendation of his sister Pishima. She dragged me into his office and as I was paying my obeisances said simply, "Initiate him!" Prabhupada laughed, whispered the words of the Gayatri mantra into my right ear, and I was dismissed, head spinning, into the corridor.

My initiation was never recorded in the official annals of ISKCON, never approved by the GBC, and therefore I cherish it much more than any ceremonial blessing or official sanction. This is how our school is meant to be: intimate, personal, meaningful and moving. No official ceremony, no matter how elaborate, can substitute for that.

So you have all of our respect and encouragement to continue learning this wonderful, deep science of the Esoteric Teaching of the Vedas from the best source, Srila Prabhupada himself, through his potent books, lectures and videos. We are here to help and encourage, clear things up and patch devotees up when necessary. But if we actually follow the process without any cheating, we find that we become bhagyavan, fortunate, and our life begins to proceed smoothly and steadily on the way back to home, back to Godhead.







BOOK CHANGES


Where can I see the changes to Prabhupāda's books?

The site http://bookchanges.com/ has detailed indexes of the changes to Śrīla Prabhupāda's books. They used a software program to index every single one! The Sampradaya Sun also has a regular series of articles called "Changes" that contrast the differences between Śrīla Prabhupāda's original books and the new editions.



Why is changing Prabhupada's books such a big deal? Some of them are improvements in my opinion.

The readers and also the editors are not self-realized, so they can't tell if the meaning has been altered, because they don't know what the meaning should actually be. The editors who changed the books admit that they are not perfectly self-realized, so how can they know whether the changes they introduce make the books closer or farther away from the original meaning and intention?

The only basis they have to judge is mundane and academic literary standards. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam supports the view that mundane literary standards are not a reason to alter the words of saintly persons and pure devotees. The Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam says that such literature is like a pilgrimage place for crows; so why would we want to change the words of a perfectly self-realized soul to meet those standards?


na yad vacaś citra-padaṁ harer yaśo
jagat-pavitraṁ pragṛṇīta karhicit
tad vāyasaṁ tīrtham uśanti mānasā
na yatra haṁsā niramanty uśik-kṣayāḥ

"Those words which do not describe the glories of the Lord, who alone can sanctify the atmosphere of the whole universe, are considered by saintly persons to be like unto a place of pilgrimage for crows. Since the all-perfect persons are inhabitants of the transcendental abode, they do not derive any pleasure there."

tad-vāg-visargo janatāgha-viplavo
yasmin prati-ślokam abaddhavaty api
nāmāny anantasya yaśo 'ṅkitāni yat
śṛṇvanti gāyanti gṛṇanti sādhavaḥ

"On the other hand, that literature which is full of descriptions of the transcendental glories of the name, fame, forms, pastimes, etc., of the unlimited Supreme Lord is a different creation, full of transcendental words directed toward bringing about a revolution in the impious lives of this world's misdirected civilization. Such transcendental literatures, even though imperfectly composed, are heard, sung and accepted by purified men who are thoroughly honest." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.5.10-11]


The Vedic principle is that one does not change even one word of a spiritual master's books after his departure. Even the Supreme Lord does not dare to find faults in the books of a pure devotee. There is a nice pastime of Lord Caitanya about this narrated in Caitanya-Bhagavata, Adi-khanda Chapter 11:

Every evening after studying and teaching, Lord Caitanya visited Īśvara Purī to offer His respectful obeisances. Īśvara Purī was always glad to see Nimāi, and although he did not know that Nimāi was the Supreme Personality of Godhead, his love and affection for him flowed unrestrainedly. He spoke affectionately to the Lord, “I know you are a great scholar. I have written a book about the nature of Śrī Kṛṣṇa. I would like you to go through it and find the mistakes. That would please me very much.”

“This is the description of Lord Kṛṣṇa by a pure devotee,” replied Nimāi. “Whoever finds fault with a devotee’s description of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is a sinful offender. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is always pleased by the poetry of His pure devotee even if it might be imperfect grammatically. An ignorant person while offering obeisances in the temple might make a grammatical mistake by saying ‘viṣṇāya’; whereas, an educated sober person would use the proper form of addressing Lord Kṛṣṇa, which is ‘viṣṇave’. However, the Supreme Lord, Śrī Kṛṣṇa accepts both their obeisances, when offered with devotion. The Supreme Lord, Śrī Janārdana, is not impressed with mere learning, but He is supplicated by the inner mood of surrender of the living entities. The uneducated may use the incorrect form ‘viṣṇāya namaḥ’ and not the correct ‘viṣṇave namaḥ’ as used by the scholar, but the Lord sees the devotion and on that basis rewards the result. Whoever looks for faults in your writings is actually at fault himself because the writing are in fact meant only for the pleasure of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, who is always fully satisfied by the writings of this pure devotees. Whatever you have written is an expression of your love for Kṛṣṇa; who has the audacity to find some discrepancy in it?”

Īśvaracandra Purī felt ecstasy surge through his entire body upon hearing the explanation of Nimāi Paṇḍita, which was like a shower of nectar. Yet, Śrī Purī affectionately persisted, “I know you wish to be uncritical, but in my works there may be so many types of errors. Kindly point them out to me—You will not be at fault for doing so.”

After this discussion, Śrī Purī and Nimāi Paṇḍita would sit together for a couple of hours daily and consider the book. One day, Nimāi Paṇḍita apparently detected a fault in one of Īśvara Purī’s poems, commenting that the use of a particular verb root was inaccurate. “Here should be a different verb root, not the ātmanepadī form as you have used,” said the Lord. After the discussion, Nimāi went home and Īśvara Purī, who was an erudite scholar in all the scriptures and certainly a paṇḍita in grammar, considered Nimāi’s proposal. He enjoyed analyzing intellectual topics and after Nimāi left, he considered Nimāi’s comment from various aspects and compared it with many sastric conclusions.
When Nimāi came to see him the next day, Śrī Purī gave his conclusion, “That verb root you considered to be wrong is actually correct, as I have used it. It should not be the parasmaipadī form, as you suggested yesterday. Actually, the ātmanepadī form is correct.”

Hearing this analysis, the Lord had to agree and found no further fault. Within His heart, He felt most satisfied that his devotee servant had been victorious over Himself. All the Vedic scriptures confirm that the Lord, by His magnanimous nature, always desires to increase the name, fame, and victory of his devotee—even at cost to Himself. For the next few months, the two great paṇḍitas, Īśvara Purī and Śrī Gauracandra, fully absorbed in their scholastic pastimes, enjoyed every moment of their discussion and debates.

So we can see from this pastime that there is no point in trying to "improve" Śrīla Prabhupāda's books. After all the point of Vedic study is not to become a great scholar, but to realize God. The Katha Upanisad says,

"One should love the Vedas, not for the sake of the Vedas, but for the sake of the Lord."

Lord Caitanya said: “This is the description of Lord Kṛṣṇa by a pure devotee. Whoever finds fault with a devotee’s description of Śrī Kṛṣṇa is a sinful offender. Śrī Kṛṣṇa is always pleased by the poetry of His pure devotee, even if it might be imperfect grammatically."

This is also the verdict of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. It doesn't matter if Śrīla Prabhupāda's books meet some artificial materialistic standard; they are perfect because they are written from his perfectly pure and divine love of the Lord. So we should leave them alone, as even Lord Caitanya, the the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself, refused to correct His Spiritual Master's books. So Jayadvaita Swami now thinks that he is more intelligent than God?




Has Sri Caitanya-caritamrta been edited?

I was one of the editors of Srila Prabhupada's Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, working mostly on the Madhya-lila (middle pastimes) and Antya-lila (final pastimes). So I was intimately associated with the project. Srila Prabhupada finished the entire translation and commentary in record time, and we had to race to keep up with him. The entire work was finished in a little more than a year and published in 1975.

"Śrīla Sanātana Gosvāmī has written in his Hari-bhakti-vilāsa:

avaiṣṇava-mukhodgīrṇaṁ
pūtaṁ hari-kathāmṛtam
śravaṇaṁ naiva kartavyaṁ
sarpocchiṣṭaṁ yathā payaḥ

Transcendental literature that strictly follows the Vedic principles and the conclusion of the Purāṇas and pañcarātrika-vidhi can be written only by a pure devotee. It is not possible for a common man to write books on bhakti, for his writings will not be effective. He may be a very great scholar and expert in presenting literature in flowery language, but this is not at all helpful in understanding transcendental literature. Even if transcendental literature is written in faulty language, it is acceptable if it is written by a devotee, whereas so-called transcendental literature written by a mundane scholar, even if it is a very highly polished literary presentation, cannot be accepted. The secret in a devotee's writing is that when he writes about the pastimes of the Lord, the Lord helps him; he does not write himself. As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā 10.10, dadāmi buddhi-yogaṁ taṁ yena mām upayānti te ["To those who are constantly devoted and worship Me with love, I give the understanding by which they can come to Me."]. Since a devotee writes in service to the Lord, the Lord from within gives him so much intelligence that he sits down near the Lord and goes on writing books. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī confirms that what Vṛndāvana dāsa Ṭhākura wrote was actually spoken by Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and he simply repeated it. The same holds true for Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta. Kṛṣṇadāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmī wrote Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta in his old age, in an invalid condition, but it is such a sublime scripture that Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Mahārāja used to say, "The time will come when the people of the world will learn Bengali to read Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta." We are trying to present Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta in English and do not know how successful it will be, but if one reads the original Caitanya-caritāmṛta in Bengali he will relish increasing ecstasy in devotional service." [Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi.lila 8.39 Purport]

The subject matter of Sri Caitanya-caritamrta is most elevated. Nevertheless because of Srila Prabhupada's direct supervision, I am not aware of any editorial problems in the original edition.

However, later editions contain literally thousands of changes. Because of the BBTI's illegal transfer of the copyrights from the BBT, they need to change 20% of the words to apply for a new copyright. So of course they are also changing the philosophy and Srila Prabhupada's instructions to something more convenient for their political centralization and bureaucratic guru schemes. In the process they are destroying the value of this important work and defrauding readers by failing to inform them of the edits.

Of course, our online version is the original edition.









PROBLEMS WITH LEADERSHIP


Is ISKCON being run by rascals?

ISKCON originated as a transcendental esoteric school under the direction of Śrīla Prabhupāda, a self-realized pure devotee. Unfortunately, there was an internal coup that removed most of the organization from Śrīla Prabhupāda's direct control, and erected a 'saffron curtain' of mostly gay, phony sannyasīs between Śrīla Prabhupāda and the rest of the movement. Śrīla Prabhupāda retreated to India, but the damage was done and the rest of the devotees practically were cut off from their spiritual master by the false renunciants.

The materialistic neophyte leaders turned ISKCON into a sectarian religious organization, changing or ignoring Śrīla Prabhupāda's intelligent management strategies and substituting their own half-baked ideas. I was right in the middle of all this and knew most of the principal players. From the very beginning of my association with ISKCON, it was very clear to me that the leaders were unscrupulous; and although I protested, there was really nothing anyone could do about it. The phony leaders held all the bank accounts, organizational papers and other keys to the ISKCON kingdom.

Things got worse after Śrīla Prabhupāda's disappearance, when the phony leaders nominated themselves as his successors. Long story short, 30 years later they are all either dead, crazy, fallen or have become gay-rights activists. ISKCON is in complete disarray; it still exists only because of the tremendous momentum and potency of Śrīla Prabhupāda's preaching and writing. So what are they doing? Changing the books.

It would be hard to name a crime that has not been committed by ISKCON devotees, in the name of service to Kṛṣṇa, and with the full knowledge and protection of the ISKCON leaders. As far as anyone can tell, they are completely and irrevocably corrupt. I left ISKCON in 1978 on Śrīla Prabhupāda's instruction; he told me to wait for 25 years and then begin preaching. I used the time to complete my sādhana and attain self-realization.

An important part of our mission in the Esoteric Teaching community is to learn from ISKCON's mistakes and avoid repeating them. The best way to do that is to keep our group small and intimate, and our standards very high. We do not accept anyone with an ISKCON background or association; not do we accept gays and other undesirables. Actually I have enough disciples; our real challenge is to train up the disciples we have got to the highest standards of self-realization, so that we can reinstate the original glory of this great lineage.

"This means that now you all leaders, especially the GBC members, must become very much responsible and do the work that I am doing to the same standard. So I want you leaders especially to become very much absorbed in the philosophy of Bhagavad-gita, Srimad-Bhagavatam, and become yourselves completely convinced and free from all doubt. On this platform you shall be able to carry on the work satisfactorily, but if there is lack of knowledge, or if there is forgetfulness, everything will be spoiled in time. So especially you must encourage the students to read our books throughout the day as much as possible, and give them all good advice how to understand the books, and inspire them to study the things from every point of view. In this way, by constantly engaging our tongues in the service of the Lord, either by discussing His philosophy or by chanting Hare Krishna, the truth is that Krishna Himself will reveal Himself to us and we shall understand how to do everything properly. Now we have got so many students and so many temples but I am fearful that if we expand too much in this way that we shall become weakened and gradually the whole thing will become lost. Just like milk. We may thin it more and more with water for cheating the customer, but in the end it will cease to be any longer milk. Better to boil the milk now very vigorously and make it thick and sweet, that is the best process. So let us concentrate on training our devotees very thoroughly in the knowledge of Krishna Consciousness from our books, from tapes, by discussing always, and in so many ways instruct them in the right propositions." [Śrīla Prabhupāda, Letter to Hamsaduta, 6/22/72]

Why did the ISKCON leaders fight?

They fought because they were competing to become the next guru. They did not and still do not understand that one cannot become guru through politics. That is phony guru. One can only become guru by the order of one´s spiritual master confirmed by Kṛṣṇa.

Letter to: Kirtanananda
—
Bombay
18 October, 1973
73-10-18

Delhi
My Dear Kirtanananda Maharaja:

Please accept my blessings, and I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated October 16, 1973 [...]

Now this displeasing of godbrothers has already begun and gives me too much agitation in my mind. Our Gaudiya Math people fought with one another after the demise of Guru Maharaja but my disciples have already begun fighting even in my presence. So I am greatly concerned about it.
Following in the footprints of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu:

trnad api su-nicena taror iva sahisnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniya sada harih

"One should chant the holy name of the Lord in a humble state of mind, thinking oneself lower than the straw in the street; one should be more tolerant than a tree, devoid of all sense of false prestige and should be ready to offer all respect to others. In such a state of mind one can chant the holy name of the Lord constantly.''

We must always remember this verse and be as tolerant as the tree, as we execute the Krsna consciousness movement. Without this mentality we cannot be successful.

Material nature means dissension and disagreement, especially in this Kali yuga. But, for this Krsna consciousness movement its success will depend on agreement, even though there are varieties of engagements. In the material world there are varieties, but there is no agreement. In the spiritual world there are varieties, but there is agreement. That is the difference. The materialist without being able to adjust the varieties and the disagreements makes everything zero. They cannot come into agreement with varieties, but if we keep Krsna in the center, then there will be agreement in varieties. This is called unity in diversity. I am therefore suggesting that all our men meet in Mayapur every year during the birth anniversary of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. With all GBC and senior men present we should discuss how to make unity in diversity. But, if we fight on account of diversity, then it is simply the material platform. Please try to maintain the philosophy of unity in diversity. That will make our movement successful. One section of men have already gone out, therefore we must be very careful to maintain unity in diversity, and remember the story in Aesop's Fables of the father of many children with the bundle of sticks. When the father asked his children to break the bundle of sticks wrapped in a bag, none of them could do it. But, when they removed the sticks from the bag, and tried one by one, the sticks were easily broken. So this is the strength in unity. If we are bunched up, we can never be broken, but when divided, then we can become broken very easily.

I hope this meets you in good health.

Your ever well wisher,

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
ACBS/bs
cc: Karandhara Das, ISKCON, Los Angeles
Mohanananda Das, Gurukula, Dallas

Most devotees in ISKCON (if any) are not 100% pure yet they promote themselves as pure devotees. I think this is wrong. Do you agree?

Well, I totally agree. We are at best, sadhana-siddha. Most are still kanistha-adhikari. Even they may be advertised as pure, then why are so many falling down and leaving the post of guru? We must learn how to properly establish who is guru, not by political measures but by ability to follow the teachings and inspire others.

I am reminded of the history that after Srila Prabhupada's samadhi, the ISKCON 'new gurus' were going to Narayana Maharaja for instruction in rasa-tattva. He was telling them, "Well somehow or other now you are guru, so you better know what you have got yourself involved in."

So he was teaching them from Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu-bindu, Raghunatha das Gosvami and Jaiva-dharma. Then they went and started repeating the same to their disciples as if it were their own realization, just to pose as nikunja-yuno rati-keli-siddhyai. Narayana Maharaja chastised them, that "Why are you repeating this to neophytes? This is improper. This is for your ears only." Then they became offended, and that is the origin of the enmity between ISKCON GBC and Narayana Maharaja.

In my opinion, these concepts will become properly established in the general ISKCON association only after several more generations.

What will become of the ISKCON leaders?

I once had a dream of Srila Prabhupada. I feel inspired to share this dream, knowing his intentions and the lessons he is teaching through it. Without narrating the whole complex dream, I will describe two really striking scenes from it that summarize the whole message.

In the first scene, some of the 'big leaders' and 'prominent devotees' were massaging Srila Prabhupada's feet; but instead of gently touching his feet, they were slapping and pinching them. Srila Prabhupada was obviously uncomfortable, but they didn't seem to notice. Instead they went on abusing the feet of their spiritual master.

In another scene of the dream, some devotee was telling me to "Take shelter of so-and-so (a well-known devotee)," right in front of Srila Prabhupada! In both of these scenes, both Srila Prabhupada and I remained silent; but his expression as he fixed me with his intense, clear-eyed gaze spoke volumes. Therefore even though I find organizational politics extremely distasteful, I have to speak out because Srila Prabhupada's message in this dream is so clear and forceful.

So many improper things were and are being done by Srila Prabhupada's so-called 'prominent disciples' that one begins to question whether their actual aim is to spread Krsna consciousness, or to convince everyone, including other devotees, that it is a bad idea. Over time we see that the 'big leaders' and 'prominent devotees' actually have less sincerity and spiritual advancement than others who may not be so famous or powerful, but who have remained devoted and steady in their service to their spiritual master.

I think that the personal qualities, motivation and ethics of anyone who seeks a prominent leadership position in a big society are suspect. People who are driven to dominate and control others have, at the very least, delusions of grandeur and may even be sociopaths. Here are some links to articles about how to recognize toxic organizations and sociopathic managers. They are perfect descriptions of both ISKCON and other so-called spiritual organizations I have encountered.

I also once again recommend that everyone carefully read Organized Religion by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Maharaja, the spiritual master of our spiritual master Srila Prabhupada. The basic point of this profound essay is that the false leaders of spiritual organizations dilute and usurp the natural personal relationship between the self-realized soul and his students, causing their service to be diverted from pleasing Krsna and guru to building up their personal glory and power.

A mundane spiritual organization may masquerade as an esoteric school, but it is not the same because it cannot deliver an intimate personal relationship with a self-realized soul. Krsna Himself gives the system of receiving spiritual knowledge:

tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

"Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth." [Bhagavad-gita 4.2]

evaṁ paramparā-prāptam
imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ
sa kāleneha mahatā
yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa

"This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost." [Bhagavad-gita 4.34]

Why does the disciplic line of the transcendental science sometimes become broken? Because ignorant people, who cannot distinguish a real esoteric school from an imitation one, accept and follow the material organization rather than the authentic transcendental teacher. Like all material things, spiritual organizations have a beginning and an end. They are not ends in themselves, but only means to spreading an eternal transcendental message. It is the message, rather than the organization, that is important.

So then why is the organization founded by Srila Prabhupada now changing his books to suit their fancy? By altering the transcendental message to incorporate their own ideas, they are diluting and destroying the very basis of and reason for their existence. Srila Prabhupada wanted his disciples to distribute his books, but instead they are corrupting them. This is very displeasing to their spiritual master and to Krsna, the original author of this Esoteric Teaching.

There is a great lesson in the fact that Srila Prabhupada himself left the organization founded by his spiritual master, the Gaudiya Math, to preach independently. When that organization ceased to serve the purpose for which it was founded, the next acarya rejected it. The misunderstanding between Srila Prabhupada and his Godbrothers was never resolved. Thus their separatist mood and sectarian views invalidated their eligibility to serve Krsna's disciplic line. Their branch became disconnected from the tree of Lord Caitanya, and is therefore gradually drying up.

The same thing is now happening with ISKCON. The sincere devotees have left, and only the exploiters and their foolish disciples are left. What will become of them? Oh, they will become just another parochial religious organization. Their material success will belie their spiritual failure. They will continue to fight among themselves for power and position. The real disciplic lineage will move on, and predictably they will reject the next actual acarya. And in the name of Krsna consciousness and devotional service, they will continue to indulge in dissimulation, politics, child abuse and so many other sinful activities. That is the inevitable result of offenses against the pure devotee.







DARKER SIDE OF ISKCON


I get the feeling ISKCON has criminal elements to it. Am I right?

Yes. A criminal gang is just the same, whether they oversee garbage collection in Staten Island or a temple in Mayapur. The same nonsense that is going on inside the Beltway is going on inside the GBC. They are all rascals, because they deliberately distort the truth for their personal benefit. As a result, they have lost their taste for the truth; they are lost, and so is anyone who follows or associates with them.

Everything looks wonderful on the outside; big temples, lots of devotees all nicely dressed with perfect tilak. Everyone is chanting, bowing down and speaking nicely with expressions of great humility. But on the inside everything is rotten; most of the sannyasis are fallen, many of them are gay, many so-called renunciants are actually millionaires. Many sincere devotees who become politically inconvenient are made into political footballs and booted out of the Society by various devious means. Others are hoodwinked into giving up the principles of truthfulness and straightforward dealings and enticed by offers of power and influence into an intricate labyrinth of politics and diplomacy, from which there is no escape.

The kīrtans that were originally so sweet and ecstatic that we literally wanted them to go on forever have now become raucous, too loud, too fast and too short. The singers and drummers are facile but shallow; passion has replaced sweetness because everyone has lost their taste for the authentic rasa of love of God. Power and opulence have superseded actual devotion and sensitivity as the measure of spiritual advancement; "big-big" projects absorb the devotees in endless fundraising marathons, and devotees are considered leaders when they are politically expert; meanwhile nobody studies the books.

Behind the scenes, drug-dealing and money-laundering schemes go on, using the temples and devotees as cover. Covert political operations use the same cover, and bribe the leaders under the table to look the other way. Meanwhile political operatives masquerading as bogus devotees abuse the children in the Gurukulas, where they live in terror instead of being absorbed in love of God.

Is it any wonder that the average person has completely lost respect for the devotees? It's not enough to blame the leaders. When the devotees accept leadership of such low quality and continue to serve despite the numerous abuses, the fault lies with them as well. Anyone with any intelligence or sensitivity should refuse to accept such tainted leadership as spiritual, and walk out the door. The bogus leaders have power because we give it to them instead of exercising it ourselves. Our Esoteric Teaching saṅga is the proof that people can create meaningful alternatives to overbearing, political religious organizations if they really want to.



Would it be beneficial for me to go to a local ISKCON gathering for Sankirtan?

It is always beneficial to chant the Holy Name. The average person who is associated with ISKCON is sincere and innocent, but they are being exploited. Just be careful of the ISKCON leaders. They have become leaders by cheating all of their Godbrothers.

We all made a lifetime commitment to serving in ISKCON; but when those rascals poisoned Srila Prabhupada and took over the organization, they gradually forced all of us out. I have analyzed the ringleader's chart, and he doesn't even have moksa-karaka.

What kind of spiritual teachers are they? They are just politicians with dhoti and tilak. They have taken the exalted esoteric school of our Guru Maharaj and turned it into an ordinary religion. So be careful.



Prabhupāda was poisoned???

In 1975 I was living at the ISKCON center in Mayapur, and made the acquaintance of Srila Prabhupada's sister Pishima. She informed me then that Prabhupada had "called her there to cook for him, because he was being poisoned." Quote-unquote.

Later on in 1977 Srila Prabhupada suddenly fell sick and was unable to travel. He subsequently became weaker and weaker, and left his body in late 1978. Prabhupada even stated that he was being poisoned. But he was surrounded by a cadre of 'prominent disciples' who later on declared themselves gurus and ruined ISKCON. So in his last days his communications were, to all intents and purposes, cut off from the rest of his disciples.

There has been an investigation, including analysis of tapes made recorded by his bedside where comments about poison can clearly be heard. Hair analysis showed a very high degree of arsenic. But so much time has elapsed that it is doubtful whether justice will ever be done, on earth anyway. It is interesting that of the 11 who declared themselves gurus after Prabhupada's untimely death, almost all have died young—some under quite gruesome circumstances—or gone mad.

Power, honor and position are so addictive that people will even kill their most sincere well-wishers, family members or guru to attain a high position. Be very careful of the siren lure of prestige. It is far better to remain in a humble position and perfect your self-realization than to let honor and power lead you astray. As Srila Prabhupada used to say, "First deserve and then desire." In other words, first become qualified and then you can take a position as a spiritual teacher or guru.



Who would do such a thing?

I use a simple rule: demons love money, so find out where all the money is going, then run the other way. ISKCON is wealthy, but they came into that money by the most illicit means.

The underlying logic is this: there is a lot of competition in society in general and religion in particular. Therefore if some person or organization has an unusual amount of money, power, fame, etc. then it is likely they got it by cheating. In fact, it is almost certain.

Of course it happens that an innocent person inherits a fortune or wins the lottery, or attains fame and fortune by plain old merit and hard work, but that is very rare and they are usually cheated out of their windfall very soon. For example, I was cheated out of inheriting my grandfather's property by my grandmother, old maid aunts, crooked lawyers and the family clergyman. So in this fallen age, no one is immune to the cheating propensity, even religious people.

Whenever you see an unusual occurrence, such as the sudden death of a great personality, you have to ask cui bono: 'who benefits?' This line of inquiry will usually lead right to the culprit(s). The people who benefited from Srila Prabhupada's untimely passing were his 'principal disciples,' Godbrothers and ambitious religious leaders like Narayan Maharaj. With Prabhupada out of the way, they were free to carve up his ISKCON empire among themselves, and that's exactly what they did.

The GBC never went after the many ISKCON authorities who left the organization with embezzled funds. No criminal or civil actions were filed against the leaders who perpetrated or covered up the Gurukula child molestation. No one resigned when the scandals came to light. What's wrong with this picture? Everything. It stinks to high heaven of corruption, cronyism and irresponsibility.

Why anyone, knowing this history (which is a matter of public record) would join or support ISKCON is completely beyond my understanding, unless they are also crooks looking for a good con.






RTVIK

I went to the Bangalore ISKCON temple and there was a different feel from other ISKCON temples I've been to. Why?

That is nice you went to Bangalore ISKCON. I think you will find it is a very nicely run temple. You should know, however, that this particular temple is operated by a splinter group of ISKCON which does not accept our philosophy. They have made some changes in the philosophy of guru, namely that Srila Prabhupada is the only guru forever. Thus they have become like the Christians, that Jesus is the only guru forever and there is never a need for anyone else.

That philosophy is not correct. Our actual philosophy is that while Srila Prabhupada is the founder-acarya and the most prominent guru in recent times, there is still a need for everyone to have an individual guru for the purpose of diksa, or initiation. Srila Prabhupada has set the standards for the whole lineage, and his books and practices are used as standards by all the spiritual Master Teachers in his line. Therefore Srila Prabhupada is certainly the preeminent siksa-guru or instructing guru of our lineage for all time.

But still everyone must have some personal relationship with a contemporary Master Teacher for several reasons. One, you must be able to ask relevant questions and receive appropriate answers from someone who understands the present situation. The Esoteric Teaching is not a static process or set of rules which is learned by rote; it is a dynamic set of principles that require proper interpretation for specific circumstances. So a self-realized Master Teacher must be there to direct the students in the proper understanding and application.

Second, the Master Teacher must have a personal relationship with the Student to certify him or her for Initiation. Without knowing the Student's qualifications, someone may be admitted for Initiation who does not have the proper qualification, and this would be a disaster for both the Student and the Teacher.

Finally, the ancient system of the Esoteric Teaching is that it is passed down by means of the parampara, or disciplic succession. This is given in Bhagavad-gita 4.2.

evaṁ paramparā-prāptam
imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ
sa kāleneha mahatā
yogo naṣṭaḥ parantapa

This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way. But in course of time the succession was broken, and therefore the science as it is appears to be lost.

So the Bangalore ISKCON temple are saying that one can be initiated directly by Srila Prabhupada, without a relationship with a contemporary Master Teacher. This is incorrect for the reasons given above.

Actually they are taking this position because of some abuses that were perpetrated by a group of ambitious leaders that became gurus prematurely, immediately after Srila Prabhupada's death, without fully understanding guru-tattva. Their position is in response to that situation; it is not really supported by our scriptures or philosophy. In other words, their motivation for being separatists is primarily political. What they are doing has never been done before in the tradition of the Esoteric Teaching, and therefore it is not really our philosophy or practice. It is better to remain friendly, but a little separate from them, because of this.

Because the self-appointed gurus were certainly wrong, isn't the rtvik system is the solution?

Two wrongs do not make a right. It was certainly disruptive for the self-motivated leaders of ISKCON to declare themselves guru practically before Srila Prabhupada's body was even cold, so to speak, disrupting the spiritual lives of thousands of disciples. But it is also a mistake to react to this by changing our philosophy and practices, especially in such a crucially important area as guru-tattva.

The rtvik-vadis, as the splinter group the management of ISKCON Bangalore belongs to is called, want to avoid the question of whether or not a successor guru is qualified by shutting them out altogether. They want to say that "We are absolutely sure that Srila Prabhupada is bona fide guru, so why accept any other guru? What if they make some mistake or fall down?"

This has happened many times already in the history of ISKCON, mainly because certain ambitious and politically motivated people try to become guru before they are really qualified. And also it is clear that Srila Prabhupada is a special class of guru: nitya-siddha acarya or an eternally perfect soul empowered and sent by Krsna to perform a very special class of service that no one else can perform. So then why should anyone want to take shelter of someone else who is certainly less qualified, and who may not be as perfect?

I will answer this below as we discuss further.

It is certainly a fact that Srila Prabhupada lives eternally by his transcendental instructions. But he stopped accepting disciples through diksa or formal initiation shortly before his departure from this world. He continues to enlighten many through his books by the process of siksa or instruction. But diksa-guru must be physically present. Why? So you can ask his permission to accept diksa initiation.

It is wrong to say "I am (or someone else is) following Srila Prabhupada's instructions, therefore I can simply declare that I am (or he is) qualified for initiation." What is missing from this is Srila Prabhupada's personal approval of that person. Guru is not a machine. He is not subject to our perceptions or understanding. We cannot assume that Srila Prabhupada would accept a certain person as a disciple unless we personally ask his permission. He is a person and therefore we have to accept his will. Since he is not available to ask or give permission, then we cannot just assume that he is willing to accept someone.

Technically this philosophy is call karma-mimamsa: that God is bound by His own laws to give a certain result of our actions, and by following a particular scheme of action, God's response is therefore guaranteed. Nonsense! God is completely independent, even of His own laws and instructions. And so is God's representative, the guru.

Therefore we must approach the current representative link in the chain of disciplic succession, and request diksa from him. It is our responsibility to examine him and ascertain whether or not he is actually fit to represent the disciplic lineage according to the criteria given in the sastra. And it is his responsibility to examine us and determine whether or not we are fit to accept diksa or formal initiation into the lineage. None of this can be done by a machine, because a machine is not responsible.

So we cannot treat guru like a machine. However, none of this prevents anyone from taking shelter of Srila Prabhupada's instructions as given in his books and letters.

Is association with devotees that follow the Rtvik philosophy good association or detrimental?

This is a very important question. As usual, the answer is right there in Bhagavad-gītā:

tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

"Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth." [Bhagavad-gītā 4.34]

How are you going to approach Śrīla Prabhupāda? Dictionary.com defines the verb approach as follows:

1. to come near or nearer to: The cars slowed down as they approached the intersection.
2. to come near to in quality, character, time, or condition; to come within range for comparison: As a poet he hardly approaches Keats.
3. to present, offer, or make a proposal or request to: to approach the president with a suggestion.
4. to begin work on; set about: to approach a problem.
5. to make advances to; address.
6. to bring near to something.

Which if these definitions do you think matches the usage of the word approach in Bhagavad-gītā 4.34? Is it possible to apply this meaning to approach Śrīla Prabhupāda at the present time? Can you inquire from him?

1. to seek information by questioning; ask: to inquire about a person.
2. to make investigation (usually fol. by into): to inquire into the incident.

Certainly one can associate with and learn from Śrīla Prabhupāda through his books, recordings, videos etc. and you can serve him by following his instructions, but you cannot inquire from him. He cannot act as a śīkṣa-guru except in the most elementary way by providing the Esoteric Teaching of the Vedas in literary form, but he cannot respond to inquiries; and he certainly cannot act as dikṣa-guru because he is not physically present to give initiation.

If you investigate the usage of the word ṛtvik in the Vedic literature, its most common meaning is a brāhmaṇa priest who performs a Vedic sacrifice for a kṣatriya king. Even in this usage, the king is physically present, as in the following śloka.

"Lord Viṣṇu appeared before King Nābhi with four arms. He was very bright, and He appeared to be the best of all personalities. Around the lower portion of His body, He wore a yellow silken garment. On His chest was the mark of Śrīvatsa, which always displays beauty. He carried a conchshell, lotus flower, disc and club, and He wore a garland of forest flowers and the Kaustubha gem. He was beautifully decorated with a helmet, earrings, bangles, belt, pearl necklace, armlets, ankle bells and other bodily ornaments bedecked with radiant jewels. Seeing the Lord present before them, King Nābhi and his priests [ṛtvik] and associates felt just like poor people who have suddenly attained great riches. They received the Lord and respectfully bent their heads and offered Him things in worship." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 5.3.3]

I do not know of any description in the Vedas of a sacrifice performed by a ṛtvik priest for someone who has left the physical body. The only example that is anywhere close is the śraddha ceremony, where food is offered to Viṣṇu in honor of a departed relative and the praṣādam is offered to the departed soul. But even though a brāhmaṇa priest is often used in the śraddha ceremony, we never see the word ṛtvik used in that context.

Śrīla Prabhupāda's mood was never to create any new system of religion:

"Presently it has become fashionable to manufacture a new system of religion, but Kapiladeva, like Kṛṣṇa, does not manufacture anything new. This system is not new, but very old (purā). Kṛṣṇa also says the same in Bhagavad-gītā (4.2), evaṁ paramparā-prāptam imaṁ rājarṣayo viduḥ: "This supreme science was thus received through the chain of disciplic succession, and the saintly kings understood it in that way." Thus Kṛṣṇa and Kapiladeva are not teaching anything new. They are simply repeating the same message because, in the course of time, the knowledge has been lost." [Teachings of Lord Kapila, 14]

There are many, many quotes like this throughout Śrīla Prabhupāda's books and conversations. So Śrīla Prabhupāda is not going to change or add a new form of initiation to the ancient Vedic tradition. Rather, his mood was that all of his disciples should become guru:

"We simply repeat. That is our business. We are not learned scholars. But our mission is to repeat the words of Kṛṣṇa. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's order. He says, āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra' ei deśa: [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya 7.128] "You become guru." "Now, how shall I become guru? I am neither learned nor Vedantist, neither sannyāsī. How can I become guru?" "No, no, you have no difficulty. You, on My order, become guru simply..." Yāre dekha tāre kaha kṛṣṇa-upadeśa [Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta Madhya 7.128]. Bas. "You become guru. Whomever you meet, you simply try to convince him what Kṛṣṇa has spoken. Then you become guru." So we request everyone the same thing. And become guru. It is very urgently necessary. I... People are becoming godless, atheist, nonbelievers, and they are suffering. So every village, every home, every neighborhood, they require guru. But who will be guru? One who repeats the instruction of Kṛṣṇa." [Evening Darśana 5/12/77]

So this order has been coming down from Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His direct disciples. There is no need to change it now or ever. All the disciples of a bona fide spiritual master should become guru, according to their capacity.

But ISKCON and similar organizations changed the meaning of guru, from a self-realized spiritual preceptor with whom one has a direct personal relationship, to a political figure who manages a huge organization. Guru is one thing; religious political leader is a completely different thing. As soon as the requirement is there that a 'guru' must also be political leader, then the whole thing is changed. Spiritual master gives the Absolute Truth, but a political leader must compromise among different sides and factions. So a politician can never be a guru.

But the big organizations require leadership, and those leaders have declared themselves guru, even though they are involved in so much politics. That is cheating, and it has given the very idea of guru a bad name. So naturally there is a reaction against it, and the ṛtvik-vadīs are the most extreme reactionary group. But they cannot find any justification for their views in śāstra; it is simply a reactionary movement against the abuse and misuse of the position of guru by the political religious leaders.

Both the false political gurus and the reactionary ṛtvik-vadīs will prove to be unable to maintain the disciplic succession in the long run. The politicians are changing Śrīla Prabhupāda's books to make them more 'politically correct,' and the ṛtviks do not have anyone from whom they can inquire on philosophical questions. Therefore both factions have a very weak understanding and realization of the Esoteric Teaching of the Vedic scriptures.








ISKCON HISTORY


What do you think of Satsvarupa's Lilamrta?

We do not accept Satsvarupa's Lilamrta, for a number of reasons. Satsvarupa was one of 11 offensive conspirators who falsely declared themselves 'gurus' after Srila Prabhupada's disappearance. They instituted the unauthorized 'zonal acharya' system, which was a complete disaster, ruined ISKCON's preaching and led to so many falldowns, criminal activities and other problems. ISKCON still has not recovered from this disaster, and IMHO will never recover, at least within our lifetimes. As the brains of the operation, Satsvarupa had to craft a literary work that made the new 'gurus' look good, so he denigrated Srila Prabhupada by making him seem to be an ordinary devotee instead of a nitya-siddha. So Satsvarupa's Lilamrta is a perversion, completely out of line with other biographies of great Vaisnavas, because from the start it was written to support a false political ambition. Everything mentioned in that book is highly suspect. Satsvarupa himself has publicly admitted that he was in a fallen state while writing the Lilamrta, and more recently has exhibited many symptoms of degenerative mental illness and an unhealthy preoccupation with sex life and other mundane subjects in his books. These are reactions due to his offenses against his spiritual master Srila Prabhupada. Rocana Prabhu has published a very detailed refutation of Satsvarupa's Lilamrta on his site Sampradaya Sun, and we concur with his analysis.



What do you think about The Hare Krsna Explosion by Hayagriva?

Hayagriva's impressions make very interesting reading. But notice what he says right at the end of the first paragraph of the opening notes: "...Prabhupada had truly launched a dynamic world religion."

He doesn't understand the distinction between a Vedic esoteric school and a religion. This subtle ontological distinction was lost on most of the devotees. Then when things started to go wrong, they could not identify the cause. But there it is staring us in the face on the first page of Hayagriva's memoirs—and he was the editor of the original edition of Bhagavad-gita As It Is, had a Master's Degree in English poetry and a deep interest in spiritual literature and philosophy. So just imagine what a distorted conception of the Esoteric Teaching the less-intelligent political-minded devotees who later became leaders and managers had.

It is very interesting to note what he says, and also what he leaves out. For example, in describing his companions in the Mott Street apartment, he neglects to mention that they were all gay, and that several of them maintained illicit sexual connections for many years, even as they grew into major leaders of Srila Prabhupada's movement. Keith Ham later became the infamous Kirtanananda Swami, who later spent almost 10 years in Federal prison on charges of drug dealing, copyright violations, racketeering and child molestation.

They accepted Srila Prabhupada, not really as guru but only as a means to their own personal ends. This not spiritual life, but material ambition. Now after Srila Prabhupada's disappearance, the few survivors of the eleven so-called gurus who succeeded him by political means are losing whatever spiritual advancement they might have had, and are slowly going mad.

When I caution you about the consequences of denigrating the Esoteric Teaching to the status of a religion, this is not mere theological posturing; I am trying to save you from the same sad and tragic fate. I want you to get the real spiritual benefit of the Vedic tradition, and not just become religious functionaries or bogus new-age gurus. So read The Hare Krsna Explosion carefully, thoughtfully, and learn from their mistakes.




Were there any nice devotees in ISKCON?

Indeed there were many. For example, Visnujana and Jayananda. Here is a website with a good deal of remembrances and other information about Jayanada. I cannot say very much more, but I will post here a short compliation of remembrances of him. Hopefully it will provide inspiration for those who ever have doubts about the potency of the process of devotional service. This is only a small compilation; there are many more testimonies online for those interested. Just follow the link I provided:

Remembering H.G. Jayananda Thakur __ACBSP

(compiled by HG Kala-kantha das)

After the disappearance of H. G. Jayananda Dasa on May 1, 1977 His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada instructed devotees all over the world to commemorate the event every year as they would any great Vaishnava's disappearance day.

Therefore, we respectfully submit these pages to all devotees and friends of ISKCON as a means to remember and understand more about Jayananda 's devotional service. Of course, we will see how he joined ISKCON and how he left this mortal world. More importantly, we shall see the astounding qualities possessed by a true devotee, a sincere disciple and genuine servant of Srila Prabhupada.

Jayananda 's Beginnings In Krishna Consciousness

Jayananda was the all-American boy. Handsome, strong, intelligent, born in a more than middle-class family, Jayananda (Jim Kohr) took a degree in mechanical engineering from Ohio State University . With a background like that, it is surprising that Jayananda ended up as a cab driver in San Francisco . Karandhara once asked him why he didn't get a better-paying job. "I didn't fit in with the upper class crowd," he said.

Srila Prabhupada was always fond of Jayananda , and sometimes he would invite his budding disciple to take prasad with him in his room. "Srila Prabhupada would cook prasad and serve me," Jayananda recalled. "He didn't say anything - he just kept feeding me, and I kept eating." Jayananda soon donated his life savings of $5,000 to Srila Prabhupada to help His Divine Grace print the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is. As more and more devotees joined ISKCON in the Bay Area, Jayananda continued to work as a cab driver and supported the Temple by contributing all of his earnings.

Jayananda's Attraction For The Process Of Krishna Consciousness

He was completely enamored by Krishna consciousness. Even when he'd go out on incense runs all by himself, he would rise every morning before four, have a little mangal-artik, chant all his rounds, read and cook prasad. He never deviated. He loved it. He was completely happy as long as he was practicing Krishna consciousness."

Take prasadam, for example. Jayananda worshiped prasadam. When a little prasad spilled on the floor, he would always bend down on all fours and lick it up . He loved to cook, offer, distribute and eat prasad in a big way. He would always take prasad with him and distribute it, whether he was making a bhoga run (buying bulk foods from the market) or taking a chanting party downtown. He would even say "prasadam" in a special way that made you immediately want to take some.

Another example of his attachment to Krishna consciousness is Jayananda 's love for kirtan (chanting ). Jayananda was always eager to take the whole Temple out on hari-nama chanting parties. He had a special attraction for chanting in the streets . Whether kirtan was held in the temple or in the street, Jayananda could always be seen dancing and chanting enthusiastically.

Of all the processes of Krishna consciousness, Jayananda was most attached to preaching . His preaching was very simple and easy to listen to. "We just have to keep chanting and have faith in the Name." "We just have to chant and take prasadam. Srila Prabhupada is so kind to give us such a simple process." Karandhara remembers how Jayananda preached to him on his first day in the temple. As they worked together preparing a little garden for Srila Prabhupada at the old Los Angeles temple. Jayananda said, "You know, things don't always go just right in Krishna consciousness. You have to keep chanting." At the time, Karandhara couldn't imagine how anything could go wrong in Krishna 's service. Years later, however, as he found himself still remembering those words, Karandhara could appreciate the real potency of what Jayananda had said. "So many things may come and go. Just have faith in the Name."

There was no protocol or strict etiquette. Just sincere and confidential glorification of Krishna . True to his character, Jayananda was often seen preaching to guests from his wheelchair even during his last days in this world. Devotees who knew him could tell from a distance exactly what he was saying: "You just have to have faith in the Name."

Jayananda 's Humility

Humility was certainly Jayananda 's most prominent quality. He treated everyone as his superior, even new devotees. Although his service was glorious, he never wanted any glory. He avoided praise like the plague. Devotees got to know that if they wanted to be around him, they'd better not praise Jayananda . Otherwise he would simply leave.

Feeling himself unworthy, he would step aside so that others could lead kirtan, give classes, or do aratik. Instead, he could be found fixing cars, unplugging toilets, washing dishes, or taking out trash.

Once a new boy came to visit the San Francisco temple. He wanted to help, so Kesava Das sent him to the trash area where Jayananda was preparing the weekly trash run. Jayananda told the boy, "I'm the garbage man around here. For years I've been watching garbage men carry out trash, and now Krishna is giving me a chance to do this for Him." The boy not only helped load the trash, but accompanied Jayananda to the garbage dump. Later that boy became a devotee, and he recalled thinking , "If the garbage men at this temple can be so blissful, just imagine what the rest of the devotees are like!"

Although perfectly qualified, Jayananda was reluctant to take a post as temple president or sannyasi. It was not that he wouldn't or couldn't do it - he would do whatever was asked of him. He was happiest just to be working under someone. In this way he was the backbone of the Bay Area's ISKCON temple for years. Through frequently changing administrations, he would always faithfully serve the acting temple president. He was very special, and yet no one paid any special attention to him. That was just the way he liked things.

Jayananda 's Service Attitude

Jayananda was always ready to do whatever was necessary to push on Krishna consciousness. He was expert at everything: cooking, preaching, Deity worship, public relations, sankirtan, selling incense, construction, and everything else it takes to run a temple. He was a tireless worker. He would be the first one up in the morning and the last one to sleep at night. It was Jayananda who was always running out to get the flowers, Jayananda who was washing dishes and making sure the kitchen was clean, Jayananda who was often missing class while he was out doing some service, and Jayananda who was always encouraging others to go out and preach, and setting the example himself. Whatever assignment he was given, he would always get done, even if he had to suffer personally for it. No matter how hard he was working, he would never stop for a nap during the day. He seemed to be inexhaustible. Leading devotees would often describe him as "the most advanced devotee in the movement."

Jayananda 's Freedom From Fault-finding

Those who knew Jayananda always noticed one remarkable quality about him: he could not criticize others. It was against his nature. Even if a devotee did something which warranted criticism, Jayananda would usually say nothing, or else something that made the mistake appear to be perfectly understandable. No matter who was giving class or leading kirtan, he would always appreciate it. He never spoke harsh words or chastised anybody. If one devotee was criticizing another within earshot of Jayananda , Jayananda would simply leave.

Because he knew how to encourage people, the temple leaders would always assign new men to work with Jayananda . He saw no distinction between new devotee and old devotee. Both were his superiors. He could quickly give a new man a sense of identity and a feeling that he belonged in Krishna consciousness. A true Vaishnava, he was expert at fanning any little spark of Krishna consciousness into a big fire. Few will dispute the claim that Jayananda made more devotees and helped more pull through than anyone else in the movement.

Dear To Everyone

Like the Six Goswamis, Jayananda was "dear both to the gentle and the ruffians." He was as much at home with the Italians at the produce market as with the brahmacharis in the temple. He would make friends on street sankirtan, and they would often come up to him and say, "Hey, where have you been?" Once a devotee was approached by a staggering drunk in San Francisco . The drunk looked at his robes and asked the devotee, "Hey, where's my old friend Jayananda ?" Like Maharaja Yudhisthira, Jayananda 's enemy was never born.

Expert At Engaging Everyone

Because of his genuine compassion, Krishna gave Jayananda the unique ability to make people want to serve Krishna , directly or indirectly. Whenever a new bhakta would come, Jayananda made him feel that he was engaged in important work. He was older, bigger and stronger than just about anyone in the temple, and everyone was glad to be working under him. He was willing to let people do things their own way, without getting finicky about details - unless creativity interfered with practical necessity. New bhakta or old, everyone felt satisfied after a day's work with Jayananda .

This was especially evident during Ratha-yatra time. Jayananda would organize a crew of cynics, bloopers, uncooperative personalities and non-devotees off the street to build the Ratha carts. Although many of his men sat down for a smoke during breaks, he would get them to work 10, 12 or 14 hours a day. He was always glorifying others and working hard himself. In fact, he worked harder than anybody else. All those qualities made him very inspiring to work with.

Moreover, there was something very personal about Jayananda that made everyone want to help him. Once he and Maharaja Das were struggling to load a heavy refrigerator on a truck. Two drunks were walking up the alley, and Jayananda said, "I'm going to give them a chance to do some devotional service." His enthusiasm for devotional service was usually contagious, and this was no exception. Those drunks were right in there helping, and the job was done in no time. Afterwards, as usual, Jayananda said to the drunks, "Now say Hare. Now say Krishna . Now say Hare Krishna." "Hare Krishna." "Jai, Hari-bol! Thank you fellas. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!"

Jayananda 's Frugality

Jayananda was well known as a transcendental miser. He hated to spend any of Srila Prabhupada's money. Personally he had almost no possessions, even during his years as a householder. When he was on the road selling incense he would sleep in the car or on a bench, or sometimes with friends he'd make in various cities. Many of these friends, such as Maharaja Das and Jiva Das, later became devotees as a result of Jayananda 's preaching.

Jayananda : King Of Ratha-yatra

Jayananda was the backbone of the Bay Area Ratha-yatra for years, and his experiences at each one are summarized in the 1977 Ratha-yatra edition of Back To Godhead magazine. Behind the scenes, Jayananda was doing everything in preparation for each festival. He would beg food, flowers and funds, buy materials and build the carts, advertise, arrange for permits, and organize the cooking and serving of prasad. Although things always went right down to the wire, he would consistently succeed in fulfilling all his plans every year . After the festival, Jayananda personally brought a prasadam cake or pie to each and every person who had helped in some way or another. Because of his efforts, the devotees in the Bay Area enjoy, to this day, an amazingly harmonious relationship with the city officials.

During the weeks before the festival, Jayananda would sleep at the site where the Ratha carts were under construction. He would rise every day at 4:00 A.M. without fail, even if that meant he was getting only three hours sleep or less. To keep his crew enlivened, he would cook fantastic prasadam on a tiny gas stove at the site. The preparations were always carefully offered, and each was filled with so much bhakti that the temple devotees would sometimes sneak down to the cart site just to get some. Jayananda regarded his final Ratha-yatra, the 1976 festival in New York , to be his "most successful."

Jayananda 's Relationship With Srila Prabhupada

Jayananda said of Srila Prabhupada, "I knew he didn't want to cheat me so I wanted to work for him." In his dealings with Srila Prabhupada, Jayananda kept his usual low profile. He was generally off working on some project when Srila Prabhupada came to San Francisco . Their relationship was, therefore, as Karandhara describes it, "one of old friends," or "very economical." That is to say, Jayananda did not go in for long meetings with Srila Prabhupada, even when all the other temple leaders were doing so.

By way of reciprocation, Srila Prabhupada would invariably call for Jayananda when he arrived in the temple. Sometimes he would have to make repeated requests, and when Jayananda was finally located, he would resist, saying, "No. I can't go to see him. I'm too dirty. I'm too fallen." He'd work after festivals and let others see Srila Prabhupada. Thus Jayananda 's relationship with Prabhupada was always one of service. Service to Prabhupada was the core of Jayananda 's life.

Once Danavir asked him, "How does one make spiritual advancement in Krishna consciousness?" Jayananda answered, "I don't know. I'm too busy working ( doing service to Krsna ) to think about it."

Srila Prabhupada always appreciated Jayananda 's sincere service.

He wrote to Jayananda in December, 1975:

"I was very happy to get your recent letter. I am always thinking of you and praying to Krishna for your advancement in Krishna consciousness. Yes, I remember the old days in San Francisco . Krishna has been so kind upon me to have sent so many sincere disciples to help me push on this movement on behalf of my Guru Maharaja. You continue with your program there in San Francisco , always strictly keeping our principles and Krishna will bless you with greater and greater realization of the importance of this movement. I am dependent upon you, my older disciples, to carry it on. I hope this meets you well."

Jayananda 's final meeting with Srila Prabhupada took place in New York City at the 1976 Ratha-yatra. When Prabhupada arrived at the airport, Jayananda drove the car to pick him up. Prabhupada was sitting in the back seat and he asked, "Who is driving?"

The devotees said, "This is Jayananda ." "Oh, I know Jayananda ," said Prabhupada. "He gave me $5,000 to print my Bhagavad-Gita."

Prabhupada's final letter to Jayananda , written after his disappearance in May 1977, is enclosed herewith.

Jayananda 's Fearlessness

Jayananda was not only big and powerful in body; he was strong with faith in Krishna . Therefore nothing could frighten him.

The ultimate expression of Jayananda 's fearlessness came at the end of his life when he was diagnosed with leukemia and cancer of the lymph glands. He wrote from the hospital, "I was out of the hospital for a month going to the clinic, and now I am back for a couple of weeks of intensive treatment. Actually, the whole thing was a real blessing as it made me realize that death is right at hand. Somehow I need these potent reminders to help me advance in Krishna consciousness. For the time I was in the temple I was appreciating Krishna consciousness so much more than ever before, so it's been a real blessing."

Even in his last few months in L.A. temple, Jayananda never succumbed to fear or self-pity. When his old friends would come to his room and see his withered form and ghostly appearance, they would find it hard to talk their way around his condition. What Jayananda communicated, on the other hand, was complete disinterest in the whole subject of his health. Instead he was scheming how to put on Ratha-yatra in Los Angeles .

Jayananda pushed on the Los Angeles Ratha-yatra until he was so weak that he could no longer pick up the phone and call old friends to ask for donations. Factually he collected a large amount of laxmi and devised the various means by which the festival could take place. The festival managers will readily admit that, without Jayananda 's presence, the first Ratha-yatra festival in L.A. would not have taken place in 1977. Thus he proved that by engaging in devotional service, one transcends even the fear of death.

Conclusion

That Jayananda passed away while Srila Prabhupada was still on the planet is not insignificant. In this way, Srila Prabhupada was able to confirm to all of us that "everyone should follow the example of Jayananda ."

Certainly those who knew Jayananda should take it upon themselves to preach about his qualities of humility, eagerness to serve, equanimity, and devotion to Krishna and Prabhupada.

We offer our humble obeisances to all such devotees who understand these qualities and try to share them.

We offer our humble obeisances unto His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada and to Sri Srimad Jayananda Prabhu, the exemplary practical teacher of devotional service in Krishna consciousness.

---

Srila Prabhupada wrote this letter to Jayananda Prabhu , on his disappearance , as a Eulogy (In Memorium Tribute ) to his Liberated Disciple.

My Dear Jayananda ,

Please accept my blessings.

I am feeling very intensely your separation.

In 1967, you joined me in San Francisco . You were driving my car and chanting Hare Krsna. You were the first man to give me some contribution ($5000) for printing my Bhagavad-gita. After that, you have rendered very favorable service to Krsna in different ways.

I so hope at the time of your death, you were remembering Krsna and as such, you have been promoted to the eternal association of Krsna . If not, if you had any tinge of material desire, you have gone to the celestial kingdom to live with the demigods for many thousands of years and enjoy the most opulent life of material existence. From there you can promote yourself to the spiritual world. But even if one fails to promote himself to the spiritual world, at that time he comes down again on the surface of this globe and takes birth in a big family like a yogis' or a brahmanas' or an aristocratic family, where there is again chance of reviving Krsna Consciousness.

But, as you were hearing Krsna-kirtana, I am sure that you were directly promoted to Krsna-loka.

(Letter to: (Late) Jayananda -- Bombay 5 May, 1977)

Can you tell us a little more about Visnujana Swami and your time with him? I heard some lectures and kirtans by him and they are ecstatic.

Visnujana was a very special devotee. I had the privilege of associating with him on the Radha-Damodar bus for about a year. As a former professional musician, I was his backup kirtan leader, and knew all his arrangements; I could even duplicate his singing voice well enough to pass a blindfold test. It was a deeply formative experience that prepared me well for editing Srila Prabhupada's Caitanya-caritamrta and later, going to India and serving Prabhupada directly.

Visnujana was a very advanced soul who was very dear to everyone. I met him soon after joining ISKCON when his bus party wintered in Miami where I was staying. I left Miami with his group and traveled all over for more than a year. He trained me up as his backup kirtan leader and could do all his tunes and harmonium licks. I could even imitate his voice.

I have to say that Visnujana gave me my first glimpse of ecstatic love of Radha-Krsna. He was very devoted to Sri-Sri Radha-Damodara, the beautiful Deities on our bus. Sometimes he would chant kirtan for 8-12 hours a day. He often displayed symptoms of ecstasy such as breaking of the voice, tears and goosebumps. He was very austere and would often sleep on the bare floor or ground, with only a blanket over him. He was very kind to everyone and in all that time, living and traveling on a bus with 10-20 brahmacaris, I never saw him lose his temper.

His death occurred under mysterious circumstances which have never been fully resolved.

 He is one of the reasons why the Hare Krsna movement in America was so wonderful and successful in its early days. Visnujana Swami exemplified the bliss and enthusiasm we all felt in those days.

I have to give Visnujana Swami credit for showing me what it means to practice real bhakti. It was one thing to hear Srila Prabhupada, but it was more theoretical. To live and travel with Visnujana Swami day after day for over a year, and see how steady, determined and enthusiastic he was, and simultaneously loving and kind to everyone, was a vivid experience that sank in very deeply. Serving as his backup kirtan leader trained me to perform devotional service with an attitude of love.

Let me tell you my experience of how this wonderful mood was lost.

At some point around 1971-72, Srila Prabhupada could understand that the vast majority his Western disciples would not realize Krsna consciousness completely before his departure. There was too much politics, they were not becoming purified, were not following the regulations strictly; marriages were breaking up and sannyasis were falling down.

Actually he became disgusted with the immature behavior of his disciples, and he realized that his only chance to have a big impact on Western society was to distribute lots and lots of books. So at the Mayapur festival in 1972 he ordered his big leaders, especially Tamal Krsna Maharaja, to increase the book distribution program as much as possible.

I was on the Radha-Damodara bus party when Tamal returned from India in 1972, all fired up with this new direction. He saw it as a way to consolidate his power and get the sannyasis to take over management of ISKCON from the householder managers that had run most temples and programs to that point. Which is exactly what he proceeded to do.

Here I should backtrack and mention the history, that I knew both Visnujana and Tamal Krsna before they joined ISKCON. They both had lived at Morningstar, a big hippie commune in the country near Sonoma, California, in the mid-60s. At that time Visnujana had a very cool tree house, a platform about 30 feet up in a circle of redwoods. You had to climb a rope ladder to get up and down. Once you were up there you didn't want to come down, it was so beautiful.

Anyway, in those days Tamal was a gay crossdresser, and completely fell in love with Visnujana, who was bisexual. They lived together in the tree house for some months before joining ISKCON around the same time, right after Srila Prabhupada's visit to Morningstar in 1967. Tamal maintained his homosexual attachment to Visnujana for decades afterward. But Visnujana was sincere and once he took sannyasa, would not have any more connection with Tamal. Over the succeeding years Tamal gradually drove himself insane with lust and jealousy.

Tamal got his revenge by taking over Visnujana's bus party. When he returned from India in 1973, he used various political means to subvert the loyalty of Visnujana's men and steer the party in a completely different direction, toward becoming a corporate book-distribution machine, and away from the original program of Krsna-conscious festivals and harinam sankirtan. Suddenly Visnujana had nothing to do except chant and study, no more kirtans to lead and no festivals. Tamal took his service, his party, his men and his power and used it for his own purposes. This was the beginning of the gay sannyasi corporate centralization and takeover movement in ISKCON.

To me, Visnujana symbolized the original sincere, pure intention and direction of ISKCON, and Tamal perfectly embodied the sinister, selfish, left-hand path of centralization and domination by corporate-minded gay so- called sannyasis. 'Sankirtan' was redefined to mean distributing books, and the devotees proceeded to alienate the public with heavy-handed, pushy distribution and cheating money-collection techniques—all in the name of 'preaching' and 'pleasing Srila Prabhupada' of course.

I was completely disgusted, and left the bus party to help edit Srila Prabhupada's Caitanya-caritamrta in Los Angeles. Later on in 1975 when Visnujana's ex-wife approached him at the San Francisco Rathayatra, Tamal made sure someone took pictures of the encounter, and spread the gossip everywhere that Visnujana had 'fallen down.' This, of course, led to Visnujana's likely suicide at the Triveni. Tamal never got over either his attachment or his guilt at what he had done, and later got an operation in China that rendered him a eunuch. But he was not really ready for celibacy, and it drove him mad.

So you see why I counsel all my students to avoid organizations, politics and position, and just remain humble students of the Esoteric Teaching. Purity is the force that leads to real spiritual advancement. External show of power and position, even in a so-called religious context, is just a subtle kind of illusion. The people who boast of high ecclesiastical positions are, in my experience, always corrupt. They commit the sin of pride, create an artificial mood of competition and anxiety, and hurt many people's faith when they make mistakes due to pride or fall down due to lust.

Who knows how the history of ISKCON might have been different if Tamal had not gone mad and tried to consolidate his power, against all of Srila Prabhupada's clear management instructions never to centralize the organization. As a result, the organization has become practically useless. They are changing Srila Prabhupada's books, alienating the public, crippled by lawsuits and becoming generally irrelevant to the actual spread of Lord Caitanya's movement. Without the purity and humility exemplified by saintly devotees like Visnujana, no one can spread devotional service, because the essence of bhakti-yoga is not pride and power, but love.







POLITICS

Is a small esoteric school is better than a corporate religious organization?

I once had an experience that underscored how deeply the Western corporate mentality has infected the Western Vaisnava sangas. I heard from Mother Vrajavala that her guru Srila Govinda Maharaj was coming to Mexico on his world tour. She suggested that I might approach him for sannyasa initiation. I thought I would check it out just in case by some miracle, this sanga was actually in line with traditional Vaisnava principles.

I emailed the devotee in charge of the festival, a senior sannyasi, inquiring about it and he replied immediately and very cordially. Next day I wrote back asking about Govinda Maharaja's policies for sannyasa initiation. Days passed, then weeks without a reply. Finally I heard that Srila Govinda Maharaj was in Mexico, but still had not received any reply even after several emails.

I found the phone number where the sannyasi was staying and called him. He was very diplomatic and evasive, but after some conversation he admitted that he had some discussion with his Godbrother who I had some brief contact with more than 20 years ago, and as a result had decided that they did not want my association.

Of course, they made this decision independently from their spiritual master. They did not inform either him or me, or give me an opportunity to reply to whatever issues were discussed. I was simply suddenly unwelcome, without any explanation or chance to correct the situation.

Needless to say, if that is the quality of devotees and association in that sanga, I no longer have any desire to meet Srila Govinda Maharaj or to accept sannyasa from him. For all I know, he may be a boundless ocean of mercy and compassion, but from my experience his senior disciples certainly seem hard-hearted and devoid of understanding.

This highlights the difference between a corporate religious organization and an authentic esoteric school. Anyone can come to us and receive individual instruction and counseling in spiritual life. Your status or lack thereof in some organization does not matter. In fact if you have been rejected from some so-called Vaisnava sanga, then you are most welcome here. We deal with individuals according to their spiritual qualifications, not their reputation or whether they are on some organizational blacklist.

Everyone gets a fair chance here. Even if we don't like you for some reason, we will make it clear and give you a chance to correct the problem. Try to find a Vaisnava religious organization where you will get this kind of fair, individual treatment. Unfortunately, I do not think you can. My experience is a perfect example of the issues raised in Srila Bhaktisiddhanta's famous essay on Organized Religion. An important part of our mission is to reverse this unfortunate trend and return to the original personal Upanisadic model of the Esoteric



Sounds like that Vaisnava Sanga is some private club with something to hide. Why does Govinda Maharaja accept it?

It's the old game of "five against one." They pretend to be his disciples, but they are actually manipulating him. He is too old and tired to care, or to take any action against them. I think it is well known among the management circles of these so-called Vaisnava groups that I tried to expose illicit activities several times in ISKCON, in VRINDA, in Narayan Maharaj's sanga and most recently at New Talavan. So if I am unwelcome it is because they see the truth as something dangerous to their hegemony.

The real joke is that they manufacture and spread lies about me, when actually the truth is they are the ones doing all nonsense. Anyone can come and visit here and see what we are doing. I have to admit, I have a bad habit of staying up late writing and then sleeping late in the morning. But at least I am sincerely investing all my waking time and energy in transcendental activities, according to the ability that Krsna has given me. We are not putting up a front of managing a temple or ashram and then doing nonsense behind the scenes, like some of these so-called devotees.

The old hippie anti-establishment attitude of "Well if you can cheat and get away with it, it's cool," is very deeply embedded in all these groups. So people who, as you put it, have something to hide, penetrate these groups and establish illicit networks under cover of being Vaisnavas. It stinks, and it makes all sincere transcendentalists look bad.

This is why I took very deliberate steps to disassociate our mission and school from these corrupt groups. They are misusing the Vedic tradition for their own personal gain. There is a saying, that "Bad money drives out good." In other words, when so-called devotees support their religious association with money from crooked activities, then sincere people will not give donations and will be driven away by the bad karma. Why should they support the organization when the devotees are willing to stoop so low?

Combine that with the nasty politics, and it's no wonder the public perception of ISKCON and similar groups is that they are basically exploitive criminal gangs. There has to be a better way, and there is: however, it requires being truthful, open, fair, responsible, accountable, transparent and giving people access to recourse and the benefit of the doubt—all qualities in very short supply in other groups.





Why are religious organizations often against self-realized souls like yourself?

There is always a tension between the authentic self-realized soul and organized religion. Both are necessary for the complete expression of spiritual principles in the material world. There are two main stages of spiritual growth: vaidhi-bhakti or regulated execution of spiritual principles under the rules and regulations of the scriptures, and raganuga-bhakti or spontaneous devotion based on feelings of ecstatic love for God.

The complete path of spiritual development is given in the famous ādau śraddhā verse by Rupa Gosvami:

ādau śraddhā tataḥ sādhu-saṅgo 'tha bhajana-kriyā
tato 'nartha-nivṛttiḥ syāt tato niṣṭhā rucis tataḥ
athāsaktis tato bhāvas tataḥ premābhyudañcati
sādhakānām ayaṁ premṇaḥ prādurbhāve bhavet kramaḥ

"In the beginning one must have a preliminary desire for self-realization. This will bring one to the stage of trying to associate with persons who are spiritually elevated. In next stage one becomes initiated by an elevated spiritual master, and under his instruction the neophyte devotee begins the process of devotional service. By execution of devotional service under the guidance of the spiritual master, one becomes free from all material attachment, attains steadiness in self-realization, and acquires a taste for hearing about the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Śrī Kṛṣṇa. This taste leads one further forward to attachment for Kṛṣṇa consciousness, which is matured in bhāva, or the preliminary stage of transcendental love of God. Real love for God is called premā, the highest perfectional stage of life." [Bhagavad-gita 4.10, Purport]

So the stages of spiritual life are:

• śraddhā—preliminary faith
  
• sādhu-saṅga—association with a pure devotee
  
• bhajana-kriyā—initiation and performance of vaidhi-bhakti
• anartha-nivṛtti—cessation of undesirable qualities
  
• niṣṭhā—steadiness in the mode of goodness
  
• ruci—taste for the Absolute Truth
  
• āsakti— attachment for devotional service
• bhāva—preliminary ecstatic love
  
• premā—full Krsna consciousness
  

The neophyte disciples must follow the path of vaidhi-bhakti until they reach the stage of bhava, then the stage of raganuga-bhakti begins, which gradually matures into full prema, or pure love of Godhead.

Those who are merely in the beginning stages of the transcendental path will never be able to understand or recognize the advanced souls in the stage of spontaneous love of God. They are attached to regulative worship and spiritual organizations as the all-in-all, and are incapable of comprehending those who have graduated from the preliminary stage. Just like if elementary students of addition and subtraction try to talk with someone who is studying the calculus, they will argue that "What is this nonsense about integrals and limits? Only Newton can understand that. You are not correct; you have to study addition like us." This is the consciousness of one with limited knowledge and experience.

A funny true story: Once I was talking with a person involved in Scientology. I had been studying it because I could see clearly that it was an ontological science of consciousness based on General Semantics, a favorite subject of mine. I remarked that it was very nice that Hubbard had developed Scientology, because if he had not, then I would have had to do it, and he saved me a lot of work. The poor brainwashed sap did a classic double-take, looked at me like I was a three-headed, green-and-purple mongoose-man from Neptune, and said with the utmost sincerety, "You can't think that!"

At that moment, it took all my self-control not to dissolve in helpless peals of laughter. But I get similar reactions when I try to talk with neophyte devotees about subjects like raganuga-bhakti. They automatically assume I am speculating, showing off or pretending to be advanced. But this is only because they have never had any direct personal experience of such states, so they imagine that it is impossible for anyone else, except maybe Srila Prabhupada. They can estimate a person's spiritual advancement only in terms of the rules and regulations of the scripture, because they cannot recognize and have no taste for spontaneous love of Godhead.

But the reason I had to study and understand these topics is not because I am trying to impress people—do you think I would take up such an unpopular subject and point of view if I were concerned about social graces, politics or popularity? The real reason was that I was having regular experiences of transcendental consciousness, and I had to study advanced topics like raganuga-bhakti and rasa-tattva just to understand my own inner experience.

In other words, Kṛṣṇa made me do it.

Even understanding the consciousness and dynamics of the non-self-realized soul, I am often surprised by the vehemence with which they reject and persecute those who are, by some great good fortune, situated in actual spiritual consciousness. Every great spiritual teacher had to tolerate organized, often violent opposition from those who are ostensibly religious, but actually have no direct understanding or consciousness of God.

And there is the key to actually understanding what is going on. People who manage big spiritual organizations are generally not really spiritually advanced, but simply expert politicians imitating self-realized souls. An actual self-realized soul is the greatest threat to them, because an actually spiritually advanced person can unmask their deception. They are deeply afraid of losing their pretentious positions, crowds of cheap followers and the illicit enjoyments they indulge in when out of the public eye.

The funny thing is that the actual self-realized soul has zero interest in the pompous rituals, inflated selfish egotism and phony spiritualism of the neophytes. Even if such a position were offered to him, he would never accept it. What attraction can ersatz religion offer when one has the real thing? Therefore authentic self-realized souls always eschew the ego-inflating trappings of pretentious organized religion, and at most accept only a few very sincere students or disciples in an intimate personal setting.

Our direct, confidential personal instructions from Srila Prabhupada were delivered through his dear sister shortly after his disappearance from this world. These directions were centered on the necessity of maintaining the purity of the Gaudiya teachings in the Western world. Thus from the beginning of our spiritual teaching work, quality has been a far greater priority than quantity. This automatically results in a mission that is small but very potent and influential. I do not want, and will not accept, more students and disciples than I can guide and instruct on a personal basis. That is the Upanisadic style, and the traditional means of propagating the Esoteric Teaching.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta and Srila Prabhupada created ecclesiastical organizations because they were a requirement for penetrating Western culture and establishing Gaudiya Vaisnavism around the world. This was an important desire of Lord Caitanya, and those great Vaisnavas sacrificed everything to please Him. Nevertheless, if we are to attain the actual benefit Lord Caitanya desired to deliver to us, we have to rise above the stage of vaidhi-bhakti and worship the Lord with pure unadulterated spontaneous devotion. This is raganuga-bhakti, the stage of ecstatic love.

My analysis of Srila Prabhupada's preaching style, especially in the early days of his movement in New York, is that he was preaching vaidhi-bhakti and raganuga-bhakti side by side. He was giving the ultimate goal along with the means for reaching it. However, over time, the devotees who managed his organization got entangled in the details of politics and management and lost sight of the ultimate goal. They have forgotten the forest, and are just trying to take care of the trees. So when someone like myself comes along saying, "Hey look at the big picture, think of the whole forest," this is not very welcome—especially if I have no interest in helping them establish and expand their little kingdoms of trees.

So we have the vast majority of vaidhi-bhakti devotees following the preliminary process of regulated devotional service, and a very few raganuga-bhaktas performing actual devotional service based on spontaneous love of Godhead. These two attitudes, viewpoints and styles of consciousness are essentially incompatible, incommensurate and irreconcilable, in the same way as the devotional spiritual ontology can accommodate the empirical scientific ontology, but not the other way around.

Therefore I do not ever expect to be accepted by my Godbrothers, and in fact the more successful our mission becomes, the more resistance, lies and nasty tricks we can expect from them. Their history of rejection and persecution of anyone with a different point of view is well known, even to the point of murdering dissidents. Why should there be any surprise that they maintain a campaign of black propaganda and character assassination against me? After all, we are not dealing with gentlemen, but with impostors who are terrified of being unmasked, and livid with envy that someone who is, in their eyes, less qualified than themselves, has actually made it.

Jesus and the Pharisees, Bhaktisiddhanta and the caste brahmanas, Prabhupada and Gaudiya Math, Baba and ISKCON: it is the same play, just with different actors on a different stage. The detractors will do or say anything to maintain their false positions; they have no ethics and have already abandoned their consciences. We have deliberately taken the high road and refuse to be deviated by those without scruples, whose only aim is power and exploitation. We have nothing to prove to anyone, because our spiritual attainment is already a source of complete satisfaction. But we desire to share the benefits of the transcendental state of consciousness and self-realization with anyone who can appreciate it in terms of the authentic Vedic Esoteric Teaching.





Is sannyasa merely a corporate political position in todays Vaisnava organizations?

The selection of sannyasis by political means is a new practice, not approved by the practices of previous acaryas in our line. Formerly the sannyasa initiation was a matter of the personal spiritual relationship between a guru and disciple. Now it has become the function of an administrative committee. One must have approval of the administrative body before accepting sannyasa. This is a matter of historical record. Why have they introduced this distortion? Because it is politically convenient for the leaders. But this is not real sannyasa, it is politics. Therefore we see that so many of the sannyasis made according to this new fashion are falling down. Anyway, here are some quotes.

eta bali’ bhāratī gosāñi kāṭoyāte gelā
mahāprabhu tāhā yāi’ sannyāsa karilā

"After saying this, Keśava Bhāratī, the spiritual master, went back to his village, Katwa. Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu went there and accepted the renounced order of life [sannyāsa]." [Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 17.272]

PURPORT

At the end of His twenty-fourth year, at the end of the fortnight of the waxing moon, Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu left Navadvīpa and crossed the river Ganges at a place known as Nidayāra-ghāṭa. Then He reached Kaṇṭaka-nagara, or Kāṭoyā (Katwa), where He accepted ekadaṇḍa-sannyāsa according to the Śaṅkarite system. Since Keśava Bhāratī belonged to the Śaṅkarite sect, he could not initiate Caitanya Mahāprabhu into the Vaiṣṇava sannyāsa order, whose members carry the tridaṇḍa.

Candraśekhara Ācārya assisted in the routine ceremonial work of the Lord’s acceptance of sannyāsa. By the order of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, kīrtana was performed for the entire day, and at the end of the day the Lord shaved off His hair. On the next day He became a regular sannyāsī, with one rod (ekadaṇḍa). From that day on, His name was Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya. Before that, He was known as Nimāi Paṇḍita. Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, in the sannyāsa order, traveled all over Rāḍhadeśa, the region where the Ganges River cannot be seen. Keśava Bhāratī accompanied Him for some distance.

gopīnātha kahe,—iṅhāra nāhi bāhyāpekṣā
ataeva baḍa sampradāyera nāhika apekṣā

Gopīnātha Ācārya replied, “Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu does not rely on any external formality. There is no need for Him to accept the sannyāsa order from a superior sampradāya.” [Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 6.73]

PURPORT

[...]

When Sārvabhauma Bhaṭṭācārya was talking with Gopīnātha Ācārya about Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s sannyāsa community, he appreciated the first name, “Śrī Kṛṣṇa,” but did not like the surname, “Caitanya,” which is the name for a brahmacārī belonging to the Bhāratī community. He therefore suggested that the Lord be elevated to the Sarasvatī community. However, Gopīnātha Ācārya pointed out that the Lord does not depend on any external formality. Gopīnātha Ācārya was firmly convinced that Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu was Kṛṣṇa Himself and therefore independent of any external ritual or formality. If one wants to engage in pure devotional service, he does not require titular superiority as a Bhāratī or a Sarasvatī.

"So in one sense, Caitanya Mahāprabhu did not require to accept any sannyāsa-guru, but He accepted the formality that if one takes sannyāsa, one has to take sannyāsa from another sannyāsī." [class 681127BG.LA]

"Just like myself, I took initiation from my Guru Maharaja, but I took sannyāsa from a Godbrother who is a sannyāsī. " [Discourse 670405lc.sf]

Neither Lord Caitanya nor His disciples like Gopinath Acarya accepted the notion that He had to be reinitiated into the Sarasvati sannyasa sampradaya. That is politics, not spiritual life. Lord Caitanya's initiatory relationship was with Keśava Bhāratī, because even though he was an ekadandi-sannyasi of the Mayavada school, he had realized the essence of spiritual life, love of Godhead. Similarly Srila Prabhupada directly approached his Godbrother, Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Gosvami Maharaja, for sannyasa initiation. There is no mention of accepting the sannyasa order requiring the approval of a committee. Yet this is going on in almost all so-called Vaisnava organizations, because it is simply the nature of a so-called religious organization to degenerate into mundane politics and sense gratification. We solve that problem by going back to the original Upanisadic form of Vaisnava society where there is a direct personal relationship between the aspiring disciple and a liberated soul.

I have a long history of experiences with these politicians in the dress of Vaisnavas, and generally it was a nightmare. They act out their envious materialistic nature by unnecessarily giving trouble to the sincere souls, making arbitrary decisions on the basis of politics that affect devotees' lives and destroy their service, and engaging in illicit business that compromises the reputations of all Vaisnavas. As a result, the whole Vaisnava movement is in crisis, and has fallen into worldwide public disrepute. Like Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, Srila Prabhupada was a sampradaya-acarya, a nitya-siddha. Other gurus are at best sadhana-siddhas. There is a tremendous difference in potency between the two.




What do you think of the Sampradaya sun's opinion of ISKCON?

I once wrote a response to Rocana Prabhu's editorial "The Stars of Follywood " published on The Sampradaya Sun. This expresses my opinion of the Sampradaya sun.

I am in full agreement with Rocana's critical analysis of ISKCON propaganda, such as the shamelessly self-promotional, materialistically-tinged writings of Indradyumna and Radhanatha Swamis, the bland Chakra and myopic Dandavats sites, and especially Satsvarupa's deeply flawed Srila Prabhupada Lilamrta. Nevertheless, I wonder about Rocana's own motivations and intentions, and the editorial policy of The Sampradaya Sun.

First of all, it will be very interesting to see if Rocana actually publishes this. On one hand, he asserts that he is fully in favor of freedom of speech and discussion; however when I left ISKCON last May, I submitted a detailed account of my reasons and motivations to The Sampradaya Sun. While I was engaged as New Talavan's Minister of Congregational Development, Rocana published my work immediately without comment, but he did not publish that article. And although several times I submitted my preaching podcast, Your Perfect Body , according to the instructions on the site, he has not posted that link in his podcast section either. Nor has he replied to my emails to explain why.

Those of us who have given our valuable time and energy serving in ISKCON have been exposed to a warped way of dealing with issues: instead of working things out like mature adults, important communication is swept under the rug and into a black hole of denial. No criticism or examination of the underlying philosophical issues is seriously discussed or even entertained. Instead, raw power politics is used to dispose of issues--and devotees--rather than deal with them. Despite his accurate criticisms of this neurotic habit, Rocana seems to have fallen into these same old ways, at least when it comes to my issues. Could there be a reason for this?

Let us examine the overall mood and editorial approach of The Sampradaya Sun. If we look at the structure of the site and the topics that get the most press, attention and discussion on the site, we begin to discern a pattern. First, there is no open public forum. The content of the site remains tightly under Rocana Prabhu's editorial control. So while he may accuse ISKCON managers of being dictatorial, despite his claimed support of free speech, Rocana does not actually offer a platform for free speech on The Sampradaya Sun or HareKrsna.com.

Secondly, the unstated editorial theme behind much of the material published on The Sampradaya Sun seems to be: "The ISKCON leadership is corrupt. We long for the good old days when Srila Prabhupada was here. There must be a way to reform ISKCON and bring back the purity and spiritual power of those times." Please bear with me while I debunk this wishful thinking in preparation of my main point.

Although I certainly agree that ISKCON leadership is corrupt, this is nothing new. One of my first impressions as a new bhakta aspiring for initiation was that the leadership was corrupt, even then. I could easily see that the leaders displayed symptoms of the mode of passion. This was abundantly confirmed shortly afterward when the temple VP showed me around the temple's boat donation fundraising program, proudly boasting how his idea of bribing federal tax inspectors was the key to the program's success.

Srila Prabhupada is not gone; he is very much present for those of us who actually read his books and follow his instructions. His instructions are still available and potent, if we but care to follow them. How many of us have even read all of his books and letters? All the secrets of transcendental life are there, but if we take the point of view that Srila Prabhupada is gone, and then promote reading other books, such as unauthorized translations of Mahabharata instead of deeply studying and discussing Srila Prabhupada's Srimad-Bhagavatam, Caitanya-caritamrta and Nectar of Devotion, we lead people away from the supremely valuable instructions contained therein.

That distraction may make it easier to build a case for trying to reform ISKCON, when in truth the time when such reforms were possible is long past. My understanding is that when the GBC rejected Srila Prabhupada's Direction of Management, containing instructions for oversight of the GBC by the Temple Presidents, they sealed ISKCON's fate. The crippled, disintegrating organization we see today is the natural and inevitable result of that policy, set almost 40 years ago.

Further, even if it were possible somehow or other to rally devotees to take local temples away from GBC control, the organization such a reform movement would inherit would still have to correct its centralized management policy, pay off the huge child abuse settlement fees, and execute the bankruptcy orders of the federal court. This is the karmic result of the child abuse committed in the 1970s, more than 30 years ago, by people who are mostly no longer even associated with ISKCON.

We cannot turn back the clock. No one can wrest control of ISKCON from the present entrenched GBC members. ISKCON the organization is doomed. To think otherwise is simply wishful thinking, living in the past.

A lot of the causes contributing to the current terrible situation lie in our poor understanding of Vaisnava philosophy and the science of devotion. Are most devotees really any better or more advanced, any wiser or materially detached than the materialistic ISKCON neo- sannyasis? Have we really maintained the preaching spirit, become more expert in Sanskrit, gone deeper into Deity worship or developed our devotion to the Holy Name? If ISKCON drops the ball, are we prepared to individually and collectively take its place by engaging our time, energy and resources in preaching activities?

These are the real issues. Saving or reforming ISKCON is futile, a dead issue, long past the stage of possibility. There is a lot more I could write about this issue, but since it seems unlikely that this will get published on The Sampradaya Sun, I will close here.

We have to stop living in the past and see the present for what it is. The appropriate response is to organize local preaching programs all over, make new devotees and disciples to carry on the real tradition and mood of Srila Prabhupada, and use our hard-won ISKCON experience to avoid making the same mistakes.

Some time later I had an exchange of emails with the sun and soon after it came to my attention that some members of our community had received anonymous black propaganda emails. The sender hides behind a spoofed or deleted email address, so no one can trace, reply or debate his poisonous nonsense. I know who was doing this; he told me directly in a personal email that he was going to do it. The rest of this message is the exchange of emails between us leading up to the present cowardly attack, followed by my analysis. It's a little long but extremely revealing as to his motives.

---

8/14/2008 from me to Sun:

Dear Devotees,

Please accept our obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

It is our great privilege and pleasure to announce the publication of a new complete edition of Sri Vedanta-sutra, with the commentary of Baladeva Vidyabhusana, and additional commentary and editing by David Bruce Hughes (Sri Gaurahari Dasanudas Babaji). The three-volume set includes the original sutras and commentary originally translated into English by Sripad Kusakratha das Brahmacari, with full Sanskrit diacritics, professionally edited and with all errors and omissions corrected. Additional material, expanded excerpts from the Upanisads and clarification of subtle philosophical issues have been drawn from "The Vedantasutras of Badarayana with the Commentary of Baladeva" by Srisa Chandra Vasu, the only other English edition of Vedanta-sutra with the Govinda-bhasya now extant. Additional original commentary has been added to connect the profound spiritual issues raised by Srila Vyasadeva with contemporary themes such as the discoveries of materialistic science.

A reader says,

"I just received the Adhyayas 1 & 2. This was the first time I had ordered from Lulu.com. Every step of the process was just right. Their website was straightforward and easy to use. The registration, cart handling and the rest of the ordering process was streamlined correctly. They even offered to pay by PayPal, so we don't have to share the credit card info. They offered media mail shipping, which works out much cheaper than UPS. In my particular case it took only 5 business days to get these 2 books in my hand. The books were packaged first in a thin foam and then in a 3-fold cardboard cover that was custom-sized for the books - unlike some other online giants that use a big box and then a lot of packing material. The books themselves are printed really well. The cover prints are very nice and the paper and print quality is excellent. The font size and the ink darkness are good. Soft cover allows these large size books to open properly.

I don't have enough words to describe how I felt reading the contents. The expanded commentary is written in a language that we can follow and understand, not some kind of circular logic. A lot of supporting quotations are provided from a variety of Vedic literature to expand upon and prove the point. The experience of reading a book in hand was so much better than reading on the computer screen that I just couldn't put it down." -- Swati Agrawal

The 688-page, 8.5 x 11" perfect bound three-volume paperback edition can be ordered singly or as a set of three books, along with our other books from our online store. There is also a PDF download edition for only US$14.95 complete.

The full text of the books is available online at our website. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License. Devotees are encouraged to quote from the work, host it on their websites and even create derivative works, as long as an attribution and link to the original is included. The details of the licensing terms are included in the books themselves.

With respect and love,
Esoteric Teaching Seminars
http://www.esotericteaching.org
om namo bhagavate vasudevaya

8/14/2008 from Sun to me:

Dear Prabhu,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

We would be happy to review a copy of your book if you wish, and would need to do so in advance of running this news story. This is our regular editorial policy whenever we're asked to promote sastra purported by individual devotees.

Hare Krsna.

your servants,
Sun Staff

8/21/2008 from me to Sun:

Dear "Sun Staff",

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Please accept my blessings. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda!

I would like to know how your review is progressing. My intention is to make these books available to the devotees in honor of Janmastami. Will you be able to publish this story by then? Also, who am I actually corresponding with? "Sun Staff" is a bit impersonal.

love,
Baba

8/21/2008 from Sun to me:

Dear "Baba",

Hare Krsna. Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Thank you for your follow-up email. Your manuscript is in the queue of books to be reviewed. It's hard to guess when we'll get to it, but surely not by Janmastami.

Today, you're talking with Jahnava. We sometimes sign 'impersonally' as Sun Staff because the content is an admin or housekeeping detail likely to be passed from person to person. It's sometimes easier to keep the exchange generic.

your servant,
Jahnava

8/26/2008 from me to Sun:

Dear Rocana Prabhu,

Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

This is written directly to my Godbrother Rocana Prabhu, to be read and replied to by him personally.

I am very concerned about the tone and editorial policy expressed in the preceding emails of this conversation. I know from personal experience that if I submit some material critical of ISKCON, it gets published on your site within a few days without any fact-checking. But now that I am submitting an article about something of great positive value to all Vaiṣṇavas, namely my recent publication of Śrī Vedānta-sūtra, suddenly there is a long wait required before publication, for reasons that are never quite clearly or completely explained.

When I left New Talavan you were very curious to know all the details. Why don't we see the same level of interest in this subject? A few days ago you published an article about the Large Hadron Collider that contained many factual and philosophical errors. Why did you miss them? And that article never really gets around to presenting the Kṛṣṇa-conscious viewpoint on the subject.

Who does fact-checking for these 'scientific' and political articles? If you answer that the readers will respond if there is anything wrong, then why don't you publish my article and let the readers respond? I have a lot of criticisms of the LHC article, but frankly I have better things to do than nit-pick an article on quantum physics. Studying Vedānta-sūtra, for example.

Another concern is that many of the topics in my work are quite technical. About four years ago I did six months of research at the post-doctorate level at the then cutting edge of symbolic ontology. This led to some very deep insights into the nature of the reality of consciousness described in the Vedic scriptures. These have been incorporated into my commentary on Vedānta-sūtra. All this work is still available in its original form for critical review and verification on my site transontology.org.

My concern is that a reviewer without the necessary technical background might reject the work simply because of not understanding or worse, misunderstanding my points. After all, if your reviewer missed the factual errors in the LHC article, they are almost certain to miss the philosophical points in my commentary on Vedānta-sūtra.

I also have some concerns about the version of Vedānta-sūtra that was serialized on your site a few months back. The diacritics were missing, making it impossible to chant the Sanskrit mantras accurately, with the result that it is almost impossible to realize the elevated subject matter. Also there was much missing and incorrectly labeled material, even whole chapters. I have corrected all these problems in my edition, at great personal labor over a significant span of time.

Considering all these points, perhaps your site's motto should be "The bad news we print immediately; the good news has to wait. And wait." Finally, if you really believe in transparency, I request that you publish this email exchange and make this discussion public.

All glories to Śrī Guru and Gauraṅga,
Śrī Gaurahari Dāsānudās Bābājī

8/26/2008 from Sun to me:

Dear Śrī Gaurahari Dāsānudās Bābājī,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I don't know what you found problematic in the tone of our previous emails. Your harsh comment about our supposed 'instant publication' of anything critical is simply wrong. We receive a great deal of anti-ISKCON material that we reject. So if you're here to ask us to render some service to you, you might want to rethink your approach. Starting out by wrongly criticizing us doesn't grease the wheels.

You say that your new books is of great positive value to all Vaiṣṇavas", which frankly I find to be a rather pretentious statement.

Our reasons for delaying publication were clearly stated: we wish to review the book in advance. What is not clear about that, prabhu? Our policy on promoting books written by Srila Prabhupada's followers who put themselves forward as being commentators or purporters of sastra, we ALWAYS review before publishing. In fact, we don't even publish reviews of such books, let alone the manuscript itself, without first reviewing it.

We were curious about your departure from New Talavan because from our reading of your own websites and writings, we had gotten indications that your philosophy had perhaps gone rather far afield from that given by Srila Prabhupada. We knew Bir Krishna had supported your work there, so we were curious about the parting of ways. Our concerns about your philosophical conclusions and presentations are all the more reason we'll be interested in reviewing your siddhantic books before promoting them.

As for the Hadron Collider article, it was presented as a piece written by a mundaner. That fact alone informs the devotees that it is to be taken with a grain of salt. And our policy in the Sun has long been to encourage the devotees to preach and write about Darwinism and science from a Vaisnava viewpoint. That was the purpose of the article – to inspire response.

There is a great difference between an article written by a karmi, and an article written by one appending 'das' to his name. We would not publish an article about Vaisnava philosophy written by a karmi, nor will we publish articles, without vetting them, wherein devotees put themselves forward to write like acaryas. So we did not fact check, nor did we miss erroneous statements in the Hadron article.

As for the likelihood that we will not be advanced enough to understand and judge your elevated writings, of course that's always possible. We can only work up to the limits of our abilities… just like any other news site you might approach.

As for your closing comments, I refer back to my opening remarks. And this is not an exchange we're interested in publishing.

your servant,
Rocana dasa

11/20/2008 from me to Sun:

Dear Rocana das,

Hare Kṛṣṇa! Please accept my blessings. All glories to Śrīla Prabhupāda!

Yes, now I understand everything. What brought it into perspective was some conversations with my students about your website. Their consensus was, "It's a good thing we found your website before we started reading Sampradaya Sun, or we never would have become devotees."

The Sampradaya Sun paints a very clear picture of a religious community in decline. The vicious internal politics of ISKCON and similar organizations are revealed in stark detail. Who would want to join a community at war within itself? Your site is actually a very effective anti-Kṛṣṇa-consciousness propaganda machine.

Whether you realize it or not, you are doing great preaching against the cause of Śrīla Prabhupāda and all sincere devotees. You publish so many articles proving that devotees are politically-minded, corrupt, fallen, deviant, dishonest rascals. So naturally you would not publish our Vedānta-sūtra or other works by sincere devotees who actually are following Śrīla Prabhupāda's instructions, or link to our website.

You claim that we have deviated from Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings, but of course do not present any evidence to support your claim. Your claims of transparency are similarly bogus. Not that it makes any difference really, nor is it worth discussing or debating with you; like most of our unfortunate Godbrothers you have lost all your intelligence due to political involvement. It would be far better for us simply not to be associated with your website at all.

Therefore I request that you kindly delete any and all articles written by me published on your website presently or at any time in the past. I never signed any release of rights, and therefore still hold the copyright on all material written by me. I hereby withdraw any expressed or implied permission to use my name or my work on your site. This is to inform you that if you do not delete all my articles on Sampradaya Sun within 24 hours, I will file an official DMCA takedown notice with your hosting provider, and they will take your site offline until you comply. Thank you very much for your prompt cooperation.

Hare Kṛṣṇa,
David Bruce Hughes (Gaurahari Dāsānudās Bābājī)

11/20/2008 from Sun to me

Dear Gaurahari prabhu,

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Thank you for your letter. Yes, many of the articles in the Sun depict ISKCON as a religious community in decline, because that's precisely what ISKCON is. Under the circumstances, we do not believe that Srila Prabhupada would hesitate to call a spade a spade in this regard, any more than he hesitated to call his own Spiritual Master's mission the very same thing – a matha degenerated into a religious institution. Srila Prabhupada taught us that the Absolute Truth shines through all the mundane, and that one is always free to tell the truth about a thing, without failure.

Those who are seeking the truth will find it in the Sun, in the many positive (including ISKCON positive) and sastric articles we print. They will also find truth in the heavy, contentious articles we publish, which almost always offer an alternative view – writers point out the dirt and dysfunction and asiddhanta, and simultaneously describing how things would look if they actually worked. We think this has great value.

Your preaching strategy may be to buffer your students from the reality of circumstances in and around ISKCON, but that is not our strategy. We also preach to many newcomers, both online and at programs in our asrama. At first, they struggle to understand the much talked about downsides in ISKCON. In our experience, all it takes to make them understand is good preaching. If you can't apply the philosophy to explain the Kali-yuga manifestation – even in our ISKCON movement – then what good is having the philosophy?

In fact, the difficult circumstances in ISKCON and the degree to which they're publicized can be an excellent springboard for preaching, because it forces one to explain the fundamental philosophy, stripped free of sentiment, pretense, warm fuzzies, and religious rhetoric. The material world is a hellish place, and the devotees of ISKCON are not immune. We all struggle, and the worst of Kali yuga can be found in our ranks. Also found here are the writings of those pure, simple, humble souls who exemplify Vaisnava tradition and devotional service. New candidates need to understand all sides of this reality, and they might as well get it right up front, rather than having someone (like you) encourage them to build up a big illusion in their minds as they head for huge disappointment a few years down the road, when the truth of the matter gets through to them anyway, as it inevitably will.

How do we know that our preaching strategy works? That fact is evident in the devotees we have preached to over the years. They get a solid philosophical platform under their feet, they learn how to navigate through the ISKCON milieu without getting eaten alive by opportunistic gurus, they develop real love and affection for Srila Prabhupada, and they love his ISKCON mission, seeing it for what it really is. Some of them go on to become Life Members of ISKCON… they serve in the temples, giving laksmi and time. They take their non-devotee family members to ISKCON temples. They preach and distribute Srila Prabhupada's books.

So don't try to tell me that you can't introduce newcomers to Krsna consciousness even through an environment like the Sun, and have them successfully become devotees of Sri Krsna and followers of the Sampradaya Acaryas.

As for your personal mood, Baba, I find it disappointing, and I am sorry for you. You came to us with a request, we told you what the process was, and you instantly got nasty, critical, offensive and demanding. It's obvious that you don't understand that our willingness to serve the devotees by publishing the Sun is our personal choice. We are not required to serve those who kick dirt in our face while at the same time demanding, 'please serve me right now!

You write:

"So naturally you would not publish our Vedānta-sūtra or other works by sincere devotees who actually are following Śrīla Prabhupāda's instructions, or link to our website."

In making this statement, you show us that you are simply a fool or a liar. To say that we will not publish "other works by sincere devotees" is complete nonsense. We do it all the time, and the site is full of such content. It's just that other devotees aren't so puffed up that they insult us while simultaneously demanding our publication services, nor do they strut and preen as you do, stating that your work 'must be published because it will be an enormous help to all the Vaisnavas in the world'. This sort of pretension almost always indicates just the opposite – unless the speaker is a pure devotee, which you clearly are not.

"You claim that we have deviated from Śrīla Prabhupāda's teachings, but of course do not present any evidence to support your claim."

Again, complete and abject nonsense. This is a crazy statement. The Sun and the HareKrsna.com site are full to the brim with such evidence.

"Therefore I request that you kindly delete any and all articles written by me published on your website presently or at any time in the past."

We'll be happy to, as soon as you provide us with a list of URL's for the articles you wish to have removed. That is your responsibility, as the DMCA clearly states. We will be happy to accept service of your list of URL's and request for their deletion by email, although the Act requires you to give us hard copy service.

Your servant,
Rocana dasa

11/20/2008 from me to Sun:

My name is Babaji.

Oh I see, your pride is hurt. Well don't worry, I'm sure most of the people who read your site are as clueless and offensive as you are.

11/20/2008 from Sun to me:

Be advised that we plan to put up an article one day critiquing you, your book, and your version of presenting the philosophy. We'll include many excerpts from your correspondences with us that illustrate your real persona and mentality. And that 's an article you won't be able to remove from the archives. It will stay in perpetuity, so all parties interested in you can get a sampling of your "transcendental mood". We've saved up quite a little collection of these gems. It should provide an interesting read for all the clueless and offensive devotees who read the Sun.

---

My analysis of Rocana's site is that whether he is aware of it or not, he is making very strong propaganda against the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement begun by Śrīla Prabhupāda. It is in essence an admission that the whole thing is a failure. He is a perfect example of the majority of devotees, who do not understand the Vedic philosophy very well, so instead of discussing philsophically on the basis of śāstra they accept a false replacement of political means to decide questions that are actually spiritual. Of course this leads to many mistakes and foolish, self-destructive moves.

We have a better way, and we have always been outspoken against the rascals that portray themselves as big devotees, but all they do is engage in politics. Just see how angry and offensively overbearing Rocana becomes after I criticize his site. Yet he poses as someone who believes in transparency and open discussion of issues. Then why would he not publish our complete email exchange, as I am doing here?

Now he is sending black propaganda emails from dead-drop email addresses. This is an intelligence trick, right out of the psyops playbook. This reinforces my suspicion that Rocana is actually not a devotee at all, but an agent making propaganda to discourage people from taking up the Vedic path. How is he funded? Apparently he doesn't work, but spends his full time making politics. So how does he fund his expansive website and other activities? No transparency on that subject!

Anyone who takes seriously what they read in the Sampradaya Sun is not a candidate for our community anyway. So let him publish anything he wants. Actually, the material he says is supposedly from me was spoofed by philosophical opponents on the old alt.religion.vaisnava Usenet newsgroup after I exposed some of them as being professional intelligence agents. Spoofing is a way of posting messages on a newsgroup that impersonates another user, so the post appears to come from one person or address even though it is sent by another. Check out this article:

Basic Email Forgery (Taken from Technotronic) It's all too simple to create a new email identity--or assume someone else's. Try this: Go to the preferences section of your browser or email software. In Netscape Navigator, for example, select Options/Mail And News Preferences. Once there, simply reset the header information in your email preferences, establishing a false address at a nonexistent domain. For example, try This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Now send yourself an email to your real address. Check your mail. You should have received a message from This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . How can you recognize a forged email message? If you've received a piece of nasty, obscene, or otherwise annoying email, look at it closely. If the sender's address is familiar, but the message sounds out of character, check the message header to make sure that all of the information--the sender's name, Internet service provider (ISP) address, and domain name--agree. If they don't, it's an indication that you may be the recipient of a forgery. The first step in trying to find the person actually responsible is to send an email inquiry to the purported sender. Don't use the Reply button to do this. Inexperienced forgers will often neglect to change the Reply To field when composing a false message, meaning that your reply will go directly to the forger rather than to the person whose email was forged. Type in the mail address of the supposed sender, asking in the message field whether he or she sent you a message. Basic Email Forgery using Telnet and older versions of sendmail You need a telnet program like NETTERM or a UNIX shell account. Replace www.somedomain.com with the ISP of your choice. Replace This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any email address you would like. Send the email to your actual email address as a test. Check the header information. Results will vary depending on the Send Mail Program. telnet www.somedomain.com 25 You should get something like this: Trying 129.24.96.10... Connected to www.somedomain.com. Escape character is '^]'. 220 www.somedomain.com Smail3.1.28.1 #41 ready at Fri, 12 Jul 96 12:17 MDT Port 25 moves email from one node to the next across the Internet. It automatically takes incoming email and if the email doesn't belong to someone with an email address on that computer, it sends it on to the next computer on the net, eventually to wind its way to the person to who this email belongs. helo This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 250 www.somedomain.com Hello This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it mail from: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 250 ... Sender Okay rcpt to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

250 < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it > ... Recipient Okay data 354 Enter mail, end with "." on a line by itself It works!!! . 250 Mail accepted Basic Usenet Post Forgery Using Telnet: The Usenet port usually is open only to those with accounts on that system. So you will need to telnet from your ISP shell account back into your own ISP as follows: telnet news.myISP.com 119 where you substitute the part of your email address that follows the @ for "myISP.com." With my ISP I get this result: Trying 198.59.115.25 ... Connected to myISP.com. Escape character is '^]'. 200 myISP.com InterNetNews NNRP server INN 1.4unoff4 05-Mar-96 ready (posting) Now when we are suddenly in a program that we don't know too well, we ask for: help And we get: 100 Legal commands authinfo user Name|pass Password|generic <prog> <args> article [MessageID|Number] body [MessageID|Number] date group newsgroup head [MessageID|Number] help ihave last list [active|newsgroups|distributions|schema] listgroup newsgroup mode reader newgroups yymmdd hhmmss ["GMT"] [<distributions>] newnews newsgroups yymmdd hhmmss ["GMT"] [] next post slave stat [MessageID|Number] xgtitle [group_pattern] xhdr header [range|MessageID] xover [range] xpat header range|MessageID pat [morepat...] xpath MessageID Report problems to < This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it < To detect forgeries, take a look at the header information. The header is something that shows the route that email or Usenet post took to get into your computer. It gives the names of Internet

host computers that have been used in the creation and transmission of a message. When something has been forged, however, the computer names may be fake. Alternatively, the skilled forger may use the names of real hosts. But the skilled hacker can tell whether a host listed in the header was really used. Start with the Posting Host line. Preform a whois on the Posting Host Name. whois can be executed from a utility like NetScan, the UNIX Shell Prompt, or http://www.internic.net whois forgery.com No match for "FORGERY.COM" If you happen to get a match and still suspect a forgery, finger can be executed from a utility like NetScan or the UNIX Shell Prompt finger This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it We get: [forger.com] finger: forger.com: Connection timed out There are several possible reasons for this. One is that the systems administrator for forger.com has disabled the finger port. Another is that forger.com is inactive. It could be on a host computer that is turned off, or maybe just an orphan. To see if the system is currently on the internet, ping can be executed from a utility like NetScan, the UNIX Shell Prompt, or the Windows Command Prompt ping forger.com if you get a response, the system is currently on the internet. If your ping "times out" the system is non currently connected or was forged. If you get a response, try telnetting to the machine to see if you get a logon screen. Through trial and error you may be able to determine the origin of the forgery. Working your way through the header information, telneting to port 119 (news) and port 23 (login). By determining which addresses are valid news servers and which are invalid, you can determine from which news server the forged post originated. This last updated on Thursday, 30-Apr-98 10:41:12 CDT

All of the so-called evidence that Rocana references in his email was in fact forged—spoofed by the above-described intelligence tactics during similar philosophical and political quarrels many, many years ago by Rocana's evil-minded friends.

Now perhaps you understand why I warn people again and again not to have anything to do with ISKCON devotees. Why I refuse to accept people with an ISKCON history as intimate students or friends. Why I do not link to ISKCON websites or recommend their association. This kind of sociopathic behavior runs through ISKCON like a river of poison.

But let Rocana and his pals do their worst; it doesn't worry me a bit. Anyone who is stupid enough to give a cowardly anonymous attack like this one any credibility would not do very well in our group anyway. So they are actually doing us a favor by helping us screen out undesirable candidates for the Esoteric Teaching of the Vedas.

I have been dealing with these rascals for a long time, and I know exactly where they are coming from. Very early on, ISKCON and other similar organizations were penetrated by intelligence operatives, and became entangled in the intrigues of international politics. These connections persist to the present, and many of the organizations and websites that pretend to present Kṛṣṇa consciousness are actually fronts for intelligence activities, drug dealing, etc. After all, an ostensibly religious organization is very good cover for any kind of clandestine activity.

We have nothing to do with politics, which we find extremely distasteful because it is nothing but lies. Our work is to present the Absolute Truth, so it is just the opposite of politics. Śrīla Prabhupāda's Godbrothers also gave him, as he expressed it, "maximum torture: nothing but compression, repression, oppression, depression." Similarly I have gotten zero support, and nothing but pain and resistance from my Godbrothers. They are incapable of having relationships with anyone except on the basis of being the controllers.

This cripple-hearted mentality is not only mean and low-minded, but has destroyed the goodwill and popularity of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, especially in the US. I am convinced that this is by design; the powers that be just can't tolerate the idea that such an ancient culture that they have tried many times to destroy can stand against their materialistic civilization. So they manipulate the devotees into self-destructive acts.

Of course that includes trying every dirty trick to discourage sincere devotees like myself and others who want to follow Śrīla Prabhupāda's instructions without any thought for personal gain. As a result my Godbrothers, instead of purifying their hearts by devotional servce, have become completely corrupt.

The dogs may bark but the caravan will pass.




What do you think of the NWO, etc. Are they our enemies?

This is an esoteric school. We do not want to get involved in politics; nor to we want to declare that anyone is our enemy. Actually we are the only friends of all, because we are giving the Absolute Truth. There is no need to demonize anyone; Kṛṣṇa is arranging everything and directing everyone. We do not need to antagonize other religions, governments, different religious organizations, etc. What we do need to do is very seriously engage in transcendental devotional service, which is beyond all material distinctions of parties, politics, religion etc., and realize the Absolute Truth.

It is not that what is happening in the world is bad; that's what Arjuna thought, and he was lamenting, but Kṛṣṇa called him a fool because he apparently did not understand that Kṛṣṇa was doing everything according to His plan. Our job is to see how everything and everyone is following Kṛṣṇa's plan, whether they want to or not. They think they are doing everything, but Kṛṣṇa asserts that "I am the doer in every body." That is why our predictions are successful; not because we are mind readers or can see the future, but because we are seeing only Kṛṣṇa acting through these different people and groups, and we can understand Kṛṣṇa's plan from our careful study and analysis of the Vedic scriptures.

We do not want to cultivate political consciousness or economic consciousness or conspiracy consciousness or any other kind of consciousness except Kṛṣṇa consciousness. So we must remain sober and dedicated to spiritual life, and refuse the temptation to take a material position because as soon as we do, then we become swept up by the modes of material nature. We must remain in the transcendental position of love of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, then everything we say and do will be right and true and beneficial. This is the art and science of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.

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