Srila Prabhupada has given us the greatest gift. The ABSOLUTE TRUTH. Krishna consciousness, pure love of Krishna. He explains in great detail the simple and beautiful philosophy of Krishna consciousness. It is this BEAUTY, PERFECTION and SIMPLICITY of the timeless philosophy of Krishna consciousness so perfectly presented by Srila Prabhupada which attracted me to Krishna consciousness.
Over the years, to my GREAT DISMAY, I have seen ISKCON systematically REJECT, MISINTERPRET and now, with the BOOK CHANGES, change THE TEACHINGS of Srila Prabhupada to suit their own ends. We have seen ISKCON introduce “POLITICAL CORRECTNESS,” love for the MAYAVADIS, HINDUIZATION, the GURUDEVIS and SANNYASINIS, centralized management, an INSANE Deity worship system, the BOOK CHANGES, the Destruction of the BRAHMACARI ASHRAM, the Destruction of the GURUKUL SYSTEM, and so much other INSANITY and DESTRUCTION that it is impossible to list without writing an encyclopedia…
Of course, ultimately these rejections of the teachings of Srila Prabhupada and the introduction of CONCOCTED new ideas by the GBC are all centered around the main ISKCON deviation, and that is the ISKCON GURU TATTVA… Actually there is no ISKCON GURU PHILOSOPHY that can be supported by any SASTRIC EVIDENCE. Every year the GBC set up a new ‘Guru Sastra Research Committee’ and gave them the task of PROVING that what they are doing is bona fide according to the sastra. But of course none of these ‘Guru Sastra Research’ committees can ever come up with anything that JUSTIFIES what the ISKCON gurus are doing. Because it is INSANE.
The current ISKCON Guru Tattva is simply that ANYONE in ISKCON can become A GURU provided he or she has some aspiring disciples, and that none of the GBC members object to him or her becoming a guru. THAT’S IT. There are NO QUALIFICATIONS required at all.
The DEMONS who understand they can become powerful by following the Vedic system ALSO STRICTLY FOLLOW. You will not find a more strict follower than Hiranyakasipu, but his ‘strict following’ was to gain strength so he could ultimately kill Visnu. Of course Hiranyakasipu could not kill Visnu, but he did become very, very strong through his ‘strict following.’
One who really does strictly follow everything Srila Prabhupada says is a pure devotee, a liberated soul and a perfect spiritual master, that is a different thing… and that is very rare…
Of course, the GBC will never add ‘strict following’ to their non-existent list of qualifications for becoming an ISKCON guru. They absolutely DO NOT require ISKCON gurus to follow anything strictly. Their idea is everything goes as long as the gurus don’t get caught. And even if they get caught that is also OK as long as they can cover it up and the disciples don’t find out… They knew PRABHUVISNU “Swami” was collecting guru daksine from his followers and going to Thailand and Bangkok and spending it on prostitutes. He got caught at least THREE TIMES over a period of more than ten years, but this is fine according to the GBC, he is a bona-fide ISKCON guru, because they were able to COVER it up. It only becomes a problem if they CAN’T cover it up…
So, with this background we can understand why ISKCON is quite desperate to keep their existing ‘GURU TATTVA (anyone can be an ISKCON guru as long as no one on the GBC objects to them becoming a guru). Of course this means rejecting EVERYTHING SRILA PRABHUPADA AND KRISHNA Taught US about guru. And it also means REDEFINING THE PHILOSOPHY of Krishna consciousness into something that is no longer LOGICAL. The philosophy ISKCON preaches today does not make sense therefore thoughtful people CANNOT ACCEPT such rubbish.
Every ISKCON temple strongly preaches that the guru DOES NOT have to be a LIBERATED SOUL, he DOES NOT have to be FREE from THE BONDAGE of the three modes of material nature. Conditioned souls in the material world are NOT FREE. They are bound by the modes of goodness, passion and ignorance which are compared with three very strong ropes twisted together. So, you can imagine a man completely tied up with these three very strong ropes. He is absolutely NOT LIBERATED. And you can imagine that man “PREACHING” to another conditioned soul who is also bound up with those three strong ropes and he is boasting, “I AM A GURU, surrender to me, wash my feet, if you please me I will untie your ropes for you…” But how can this FOOLISH BOGUS GURU untie the ropes of anyone else? His own hands and legs are completely bound up and tied up. He is completely incapable of untying the ropes that bind another person, he CANNOT even free himself.
But some fools will go along with this bogus ISKCON guru, give him money, wash his feet and GO TO HELL with him…
So let us hear some PERFECT KNOWLEDGE from a perfectly LIBERATED SOUL, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada which if you dare to repeat in an ISKCON temple you will be very quickly SHOWN THE DOOR…
It is to be understood that the conditioned soul is tightly tied by the ropes of illusion. A man bound by the hands and feet CANNOT FREE HIMSELF–he must be helped by a person who is UNBOUND. Because the bound cannot help the bound, the rescuer MUST BE LIBERATED. Therefore, only Lord KRISHNA, or His bona fide representative the SPIRITUAL MASTER, can release the conditioned soul. Without such superior help, one CANNOT be freed from the bondage of material nature.” (from Srila Prabhupada’s purport to Bhagavad-gita 7.14)
Of course, ISKCON has a quote, only one quote, from Srila Prabhupada, and they say: “Prabhupada Said:” “A neophyte Vaisnava or a Vaisnava situated on the intermediate platform can also accept disciples.” This is the “justification” ISKCON gives for its philosophy that conditioned souls can be gurus… But this is a typical example of ISKCON taking a statement from Srila Prabhupada completely OUT OF CONTEXT and using it to establish exactly the opposite thing that Srila Prabhupada is really saying.
This quote from Srila Prabhupada is taken from his purport to Nectar of Instruction Text 5.
Just see how dishonest ISKCON is!!! This is their “proof” that conditioned souls can be spiritual masters! Actually, this is a WARNING to the devotees NOT TO BECOME spiritual masters unless they are UTTAMA-ADHIKARIS and a warning NOT TO ACCEPT a spiritual master unless HE IS an uttama-adhikari.
Who is such a fool that they cannot understand this????
This is another argument the ISKCON gurus put. They say “the people need gurus, someone has to do this service, so I am doing this service. Yes, I am a conditioned soul but someone has to be guru!!!” They do not realize, like the noble man who wanted to save the drowning man, but who could not swim himself so he could not save the drowning man, they CANNOT help the people who need gurus unless they are themselves LIBERATED SOULS … To be a guru one has to be liberated. A conditioned soul CANNOT BE A GURU, because people come to a guru so they can get help from the guru to become liberated themselves. So, if a “guru” is NOT LIBERATED he is A CHEATER. He is presenting himself as someone who can help but he CANNOT EVEN HELP HIMSELF.
So ISKCON ignores, rejects, misinterprets and twists everything Prabhupada says about the guru, to try and ‘prove’ that conditioned souls can become gurus. In this way they have REJECTED PRABHUPADA. Of course, Srila Prabhupada is not saying anything on his own strength. He is simply a messenger. And he has received the pure message of Krishna consciousness in the disciplic succession from his SPIRITUAL MASTER and in this way the message is coming directly FROM KRISHNA through Srila Prabhupada. So, REJECTING Prabhupada means REJECTING Krishna. So naturally we find ISKCON also REJECTS the very basic and fundamental teachings of Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita:
by Madhudvisa dasa
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