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| Four Deviant Factions (II) Part Six of Benefic and Malefic Spheres and Patterns of Influence The Die is Cast (1975) By Kailäsa Candra däsa |
“Actually, we are not a religious institution. We are presenting a cultural program, making men of good character. Therefore, it is a cultural institution.” Our so-called religion is unique in the world, simply because we stand solidly on philosophy, and, because we are strong in that way, no one can refute or defeat us. So, we are wiping out sentimental religion wherever we penetrate . . .” “Religion is flawed, but only because man is flawed.” There are twenty dharma çästras in the Vedic compendium, and all of them are bona fide ways and means to attain higher standards of living after removal of the human coil. The number of people who actually become qualified to follow any one of these Vedic lines is another question entirely. Life in Kali-yuga is full of strife, brutal, and it is short. People are lazy in self-realization, unlucky, often misguided, and highly argumentative. Real religion aims to rectify this condition, but deviant off-shoots only make things worse. Culture is Never Religion All the dharma çästras are meant of give a human being the chance to live a comfortable life, as he or she sincerely and seriously attempts to get free from unnecessary laws native to material nature. These laws are binding in the conditioned state and counter-productive to the eternal nature of the living entity. All of them can and must be eventually transcended, but accomplishing that by any individual transcendentalist is a great feat. All emphases added for your edification and realization The effort and its ultimate and special attainment, however, has to be made by the saner section; the dharma çästras assist in that. The attainment of heaven is certainly not a final goal, and it is also temporary (although of long duration—much longer than human life on earth). Still, its attainment can be progressive, and there is far more enjoyment in heaven than on this planet. Dharma is often translated as religion, but, at its essence, dharma means something more than that. It indicates the intrinsic, eternal nature of the living entity. Each and every dharma çästra, including varëäçrama-dharma, gradually assists the human being in the quest for realization of his or her eternal sva-bhäva. Kåñëa consciousness is also dharma, but in the truest and highest sense of the term, i.e., Kåñëa consciousness is transcendental to the twenty Vedic dharma çästras. Becoming engaged in its evolutionary current is the best sphere of activity in which any conditioned soul can reside. When practiced according to correct philosophical teachings and process, bhakti-yoga provides most of the benefits that can be gained from any of the above-mentioned dharma çästras, all of which are also benefic influences. Material nature constantly works against genuine dharma; that is the duty assigned to her by the Supreme Controller, the Parameçvara. Another name for material nature is Mäyä, and she particularly attacks the practice of real religion, of which there is precious little at this time: “Regarding religion, not only at present, but also in the past, all of them are described as pseudo-religions.” It should be no surprise, then, that she has severely assaulted Çréla Prabhupäda’s movement of Kåñëa consciousness, i.e., his branch of the Madhva-Gauòéya-Vaiñëava sampradäya. Her attacks, often executed through the agency of Western culture, have been highly effective. One of the most effective ways that she has undermined Kåñëa consciousness has been through manifesting warped versions of it, four of which are now prominent. She has noticed the four chief weaknesses that were and remain present in Prabhupäda’s movement (even while he was still physically manifest), and she has exploited them. These weaknesses had and have nothing to do with the teachings or processes he presented, the transcendental system that he attempted to establish. These weaknesses had and have no bearing on the purity and power of his personality, on his management style, or on his divine objectives. These weaknesses remain cent-per-cent related to his disciples, particularly his leading secretaries. All of the four deviant groups are now controlled by those misleaders, as well as by their loyal disciples and followers. You can’t pin any of today’s deviations on Prabhupäda. Nor did his Divine Grace come to the West in order to institute another organized religion. He did not come here to represent any of the twenty dharma çästras nor was he an emissary of the Gouòéya Mutt or of Hinduism. He came here on the order of his spiritual master, and, although his cultural movement can be called theistic, it cannot be considered an organized religion—at least, not like anything that dominates the international landscape today. His spiritual master deprecated theocratic oppression and, elsewhere on our websites, you may consult Organized Religion, wherein this is established beyond doubt (starting with its title). The track record of organized religion, especially in the West, is horrendous, chock full of atrocities and associated evils. If any of the current four deviant factions ultimately prevail, expect to experience, in due course, greater atrocities and horrors than ever before. Today’s remaining devotees will not find solutions to the ever-growing host of problems found in the form of the organized religion known as “ISKCON” nor can any reform of that farce ultimately be effective. Instead, today’s weakened Kåñëa culture itself must undergo a revolution, but that cannot even be undertaken unless Çréla Prabhupäda’s movement is rightly understood: “Culture is never religion. Religion is a faith, and culture is educational or advancement of knowledge.” That advancement of knowledge is directly related to Kåñëa conscious philosophy; it has no relationship whatsoever to any kind of sophisticated manifestation of organized “Vaiñëava religion,” with all of its pomp and pukka get-up, hierarchy, quasi-Hindoo ceremonials, make-show worship, and glitzy, P.R.-driven festivals. As Prabhupäda said, everyone is sophisticated by his so-called religion, but he did not bring that kind with him here. He brought real religion and, as paradoxical as it may sound, it is always transcendental to every other kind of “religion”: sarva-dharmän parityajya mäm ekaà çaraëaà vraja “Give up all the other religions and go and surrender to Me alone. Don’t worry, I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions.” The devotees of the Lord in the line of His Divine Grace Çréla Prabhupäda are not meant to follow any of the convoluted Western ecclesiastical manifestations nor are they meant to follow any of the dharma çästras, including varëäçrama-dharma. They are, instead, meant to follow vidhi-sädhana-bhakti until they reach its highest level, leading to bhäva-bhakti. This is our “religion.” It is real theistic culture, because it is the essence of Vedic knowledge. It entails an emphasis on Vedic and Vaiñëava philosophy and wisdom, realized by a surrendered service attitude. Game Change “Everyone is concocting something of their own. It must be checked. The sannyäsés should work with what men they have got and they cannot secretly convince men in the temples to leave their duties.” “The Miami situation is a great discredit for us because we have made such a bad impression on the neighbors that they have had us kicked out. This is because of nasty management. . . if the management continues to be so nasty, then that place will also be ruined. Management must be done very nicely, otherwise it is useless.” “I am very much depressed by the recent incidences . . . It is now evident that some of our top men are very much ambitious and there has been so many fall-downs.” The ominous lateral octaves established in the previous three years—since the foiled G.B.C. conspiracy of early 1972-- continued in 1975, but this was also a threshold year. It could be said that it was the year that “ISKCON” took root and began to flourish. In the viewpoint of your author, 1975 marked the point of no return, and His Divine Grace may well have seen it that way, also. The themes of 1975 were expressed by Çréla Prabhupäda to his followers and disciples, particularly in his letters. It is beyond the scope of this treatise to list and track every issue or minor theme addressed by His Divine Grace to his disciples during the year, so a retrospective selection has been made. In 1975, there were five major themes and two major events. Everyone Should Adore Us as Honest nétir asmi jigéñatäm : “Of those who seek victory, I am morality.” mo-ral-i-ty /n. . . . 3: conforming to ideals of right human conduct. hon-est /adj. 1a: free from fraud or deception . . . 4a: marked by integrity b: FRANK. SINCERE. Mailed to four prominent disciples within the initial fortnight of 1975, one of the year’s five major themes—the importance of honesty-- was emphasized by His Divine Grace Çréla Prabhupäda. It is duly listed here first. There can be no right conduct without engagement in genuine spiritual activity. The highest moral action, previous to the stage of actual self-realization, is performance of duty in Kåñëa consciousness. Because it is transcendental to the way of the world, it is supposed to be free from fraud and deception. The Vaiñëava is thus adored in human society, and sädhana bhakti has distinct characteristics. One of these is honesty or sincerity: “Regarding the controversy about book distribution techniques, you are right. Our occupation must be honest. Everyone should adore our members as honest. . . These dishonest methods must be stopped. It is hampering our reputation all over the world.” Çréla Prabhupäda did not come here with a cheating agenda. He presented the philosophy and process of Kåñëa consciousness as it is, the ripened fruit of all mature Vedic revelation. Since he didn’t cheat when he brought it to us, why should we think that he wanted us to cheat in our presentation of it? Most definitely, he did not want that, and these excerpts make it self-evident that dishonesty and cheating were not acceptable to him in his great movement: “We don't need to take cheating method. I never had to use any cheating method when I first began. I simply presented the real thing.” “Regarding dishonest means being used, I have never advised or taught anyone like that. That is not my idea.” Yet, in 1975, insincerity, fraud, lying, chicanery, cheating, and the change-up were becoming rampant throughout the Western world—all rationalized in the name of spreading Kåñëa consciousness. The short-term financial results cannot disguise the fact of the negative long-term ramifications and repercussions we all recognize at this time. However, even back then, those adverse reactions were clearly anticipated by His Divine Grace: “Hansadutta was . . . using all tricks, by any means. The incident in Germany has caused havoc all over the world. It is hampering our reputation everywhere.” We have already touched upon “the incident in Germany,” but it did not stop there. As we shall soon read, another major Western country responded with a severe backlash to devotee dishonest (and even violent) methods of collection. As such, foreseeing what was going down, Çréla Prabhupäda tried, unsuccessfully, to warn his disciples to stop fraudulent practices. He never really wanted “plainclothes sankértan,” and now his chief reason for giving it only a tepid, forced, and provisional “approval” was made apparent. The Commissars Get Over “. . . has the G.B.C. become more than guru mahäräja? As if simply G.B.C. is meant for looking after pounds, shilling, pence.The G.B.C. does not look after spiritual life. That is a defect. All of our students will have to become guru, but they are not qualified. This is the difficulty.” “5) Resolved: The selection of GBC members is that Çréla Prabhupäda will nominate, and if there is a discrepancy, His Grace (sic) will change him. There will be no elections, and the present GBC member (sic) will remain.” “There are two kinds of people in the world: Those with the guns, and those who dig. You dig.” There was a game change in the spring of 1975. Originally, back in 1970, there were twelve G.B.Cs, with all but one (an unmarried student) situated in householder life. Now, less than five years later, the field had expanded to fourteen, and half of them were sannyasés, or so it would seem. The rest remained householders. Six of the original twelve were no longer on the board, and all but one of those former members was considered “blooped” from the movement. The character of the G.B.C. had changed. That alone, however, would not demarcate what could be considered a game change. As we have pointed out in a number of places on our websites, the original charter of the G.B.C., technically called the Direction of Management, entailed a regular turnover of the board via elections controlled by all the temple presidents. There were two distinct provisions included in the 1970 charter that called for this vote. These mandated elections, scheduled at three-year intervals, were integral to the way that His Divine Grace wanted the governing body to be constituted and operated. Most—and, perhaps, all—of the original G.B.C. men did not like those voting provisions. The rings of hierarchical power in this movement placed the G.B.C. at the uppermost circle. Their movement was not (yet) governed by guns, but it was governed by a psychic equivalent—by commands and directives imposed by order-givers. Everyone was supposed to follow such directives, i.e., those who gave orders (to the ones who didn’t) were the men with the power, the lords of the rings. If mere second-echelon temple presidents could vote them out via an ever-rotating cycle, it would mean that their power and perquisites could be--and, indeed, would be--considerably compromised. As such, they took action to avoid that vote by not informing any of the temple presidents of their fiduciary duty to hold it every three years. That strategy succeeded, because the first vote was due in late July of 1973; as we all know, it never took place. That does not, however, mean that His Divine Grace was naive as to this negligence on the part of his “best men.” Most certainly he was not. Evidence is there in 1974, wherein Çréla Prabhupäda referred back, as the ultimate authority, to the Direction of Management (D.O.M.). Reference to it was made in three different letters to leading disciples and/or commissioners. He was tolerating the malfeasance (of neglecting the vote), but, somewhat indirectly, he let them know about it in this way. However, during the raucous G.B.C. meetings held in the last week of March, 1975, the commissioners finally got over, i.e., they were able, through the intentionally vague (and careless) wording of Resolution Five on March 25th, to get the D.O.M. voting provisions invalidated. On March 28th, we also find this gem: 2) Resolved: Unless he becomes a first class devotee and follows the four regulative principles, Karändhar must be removed as President of Spiritual Sky. This is but another example of the sloppy and sleazy manner by which the Commission operated. First-class devotee? That means uttama-adhikäré; at least, that’s how Çréla Prabhupäda employed the term. So, Karändhar was obliged to become mahä-bhägavat in order to remain president of the incense company? Did the other G.B.C.s consider themselves such first-class devotees? And, if the term was used in some kind of generic manner, then why was that not clarified? These kinds of discrepancies were always present in the governing body. We have already noted that, in Resolution Five, Çréla Prabhupäda is referred to as “His Grace” (instead of His Divine Grace), terminology applicable to any initiated disciple in the Hare Kåñëa movement. We further notice that the singular was employed (“the present G.B.C. member”), when logical terminology would have put that phrase in the plural form. The past is prologue. The G.B.C. meeting of 1975 planted the seed for what went down exactly three years later. That 1978 zonal-äcärya cataclysm quickly destroyed the ISKCON movement, converting it into an apa-sampradäya. If you are unable to recognize this fact, then there is a bridge in New York that I would like to sell you. “Study My Books” “By reading my books and chanting Hare Krishna, your life will become perfect.” “How much you should read and how much you should do other types of service--that has to be decided by each individual devotee.” “Please continue reading my books seriously and everything will be revealed to you.” Throughout the year, His Divine Grace, in his letters, emphasized the importance of studying his books. He wanted such study to be undertaken intensely, daily, carefully, and profoundly: “So, please study my books intensely . . .” “Always be sure to chant sixteen rounds and study my books daily. This will keep you strong in spiritual life.” “Please study my books very carefully . . .” “. . . study my books very deeply.” The key to wisdom was to be realized by studying and understanding the sacred science he had presented in his written translations and commentaries, his books. Such repeated study had to be undertaken seriously, and the science had to be understood: “Please try to read and understand my books very carefully.” “So, I request you to kindly study with seriousness our books, and you may compare Krishna consciousness with other philosophies.” “. . . read our books over and over.” He wanted all of his disciples to engage in this way: If his books were studied in the way he thus ordered, as per all these many references from 1975, concoctions would terminate: “You should all spend more time reading my books very carefully and stop all this unnecessary manufacturing.” Were the rank-and-file, the real workers, informed of this order? Very few, if any. Studying Çréla Prabhupäda’s books liberates his disciples from the status of compulsive, psychic slaves. It was up to each disciple to determine how much to study and how much to engage in other seva. This was never the standard imposed by any of the leaders. Indeed, at least one temple president in mid-America questioned the validity of such study when undertaken outside of a scheduled class—which he usually gave. We have herein presented eleven quotes about the essential importance of studying Çréla Prabhupäda’s books; there were well over twice this number of references on the subject scattered throughout his letters in 1975. It constitutes a major theme and a threat to oligarchic power; it was not acknowledged or even made known to the devotees in general by the temple leaders . . . and why it was not so is not at all difficult to understand. Immense Potential “May, by the grace of Krishna, your country last forever, and may the justice also live a long time . . . Your country is very much liked by me, and I am sure that if your country takes this Krishna consciousness movement, then nobody will be able to vanquish America at any time. With this aim in view, try to convert your great country to become Krishna conscious. There is a good chance for it.” “. . . all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of abuses and usurpations , begun at a distinguished period and pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to subject them to arbitrary power , it is their right, it is their duty , to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security.” His Divine Grace Çréla Prabhupäda could have founded his movement in Great Britain. It would have been much easier for him to have done so, because India is part of the British Commonwealth, i.e., the passport and visa issues related to travel by citizens of the Commonwealth are minimal when compared to an Indian national traveling elsewhere. Or he could have started his movement in either Canada or Australia, which are also both Western members of the Commonwealth. He also could have begun his movement in Japan, where he had received an all-expenses-paid invitation by the organizers of The Congress for Culturing Human Spirit held there during the late spring of 1961. Instead, he chose to found his movement in the United States: “The U.S. has got immense potentiality for accepting Krishna Consciousness. . . Krishna has His own plan for using your country-men for this movement.” His mission was to spread Kåñëa consciousness to the people of the West, and America was the leading Western country. Another part of this theme, expressed by Çréla Prabhupäda in 1975, was his deep appreciation of the United States, particularly in terms of the Vaiñëavas who had been born there: “My special mission is for the Western countries.” “So many Vaiñëavas have taken birth in America. Now, America is going to be glorified.” For various reasons, the term “Äryan” is misunderstood today. When understood rightly, it is a glorious term, signifying genuine spiritual culture. Prabhupäda considered that many of the people in the Western world were Äryans in their origin, but they had deteriorated. He wanted to rejuvenate their actual status: “The Western people, they are Äryans and kñatriyas in their origin. But due to bad association with the aborigines, they have taken all bad habits and become degenerated. Now, we have to revive this Äryan civilization and rectify things.” Letter to Bhagavän, 11-14-75 Misuse of a great science neither invalidates it nor does such misuse make it ultimately useless. “Avoid All of My Godbrothers” “So, any one of my godbrothers cannot help me in this way of book writing, because they are unfortunate in the matter of preaching work. They are simply trying to infiltrate our society to sow something harmful by their attempt.” “Besides that, in 1933, Bon was given the first chance to preach Lord Caitanya's movement in London. . . he was called back by guru mahäräja. Then, where is his authority? . . . if he is still authority by his own imagination, then people should ask him what he has been doing for the last forty years . . .” “Yes, Swämi Bon is envious. What can be done?” Another theme of the year centered around continuing harassment of Çréla Prabhupäda by his envious godbrothers. We have already read how he called them “the great sinister movement” in September of 1970. Their effort to sow harm in his movement never abated throughout the duration of Prabhupäda’s preaching mission to the West. It’s a long story, and we shall attempt to do it more justice in Part Eight of this series. The main culprit in 1975 was Prabhupäda’s elder godbrother known as Swämé Bon, a.k.a., Bon Mahäräj, a.k.a., Väëa Mahäräj. He was one of the few disciples of Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta (His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedänta Swämi being, by far, the chief one) who traveled to the Western world for preaching purposes. Bon had done so in the early Thirties, but that attempt showed no response. In 1975, he traveled to Canada, a Commonwealth country, to Toronto, where he was given all facilities at the ISKCON temple there. At first, it appeared that Swämé Bon was favorable, and he was even allowed to give platform lectures during his visit. He said that Prabhupäda was doing good work in the West, and he appeared to be impressed with the standards of the temple. When informed of this unexpected turn of events, Prabhupäda, in turn, initially responded favorably to Swämé Bon, but the camaraderie between these godbrothers did not last long. That was due, of course, to Swämé Bon changing his attitude. He began to engage in acute fault-finding, and the devotees predictably began to be negatively impacted by it. Swämé Bon’s track record with His Divine Grace Çréla Prabhupäda was less than stellar; indeed, it had been, just a few years previously, highly offensive. During the period when Prabhupäda’s initial contingent of devotees in India were gaining no traction (in the late Sixties and early Seventies), they, more or less, had to rely upon institutions such as the Gouòéya Mutt and similar dharmaçälas. In Våëòävana, Swämé Bon had his own facilities separate from the Mutt, and two of Prabhupäda’s disciples made camp there for many months while wandering and preaching with no results. The actual result, however, was that Swämé Bon completely turned one of them against Prabhupäda, convinced him that his initiation was bogus, and re-initiated him. Prabhupäda rightly condemned this act. The other disciple barely escaped the same trap. As such, Swämé Bon came to Canada with this baggage, but, quite magnanimously, Prabhupäda opted to overlook it and see only the good (at the beginning) of Bon’s stay at Toronto. Soon enough, however, Prabhupäda was informed that the devotees at that temple were starting to question their connection to the Vaiñëava paramparä and Kåñëa consciousness; there was no doubt that this was due to Swämé Bon’s faultfinding, which will not be analyzed here. It was the last straw for His Divine Grace: “ . . . issue one newsletter to the temple presidents, G.B.C., and sannyasés concerning the nefarious activities of Swämé Bon. Kindly copy this and send out to all the temples accordingly, that they should have no dealings with Swämé Bon . . .” With the exception of one (rather poorly packaged) parcel sent to Çréla Prabhupäda in New York by a prominent disciple of his (Prabhupäda’s) sannyäsa-guru, along with a certificate verifying that His Divine Grace was a bona fide emissary of Çréla Bhaktisiddhänta, none of Çréla Prabhupäda’s godbrothers helped him in his mission in any tangible way. Simply put, they did not approve of it and did not consider it authorized by the paramparä (their “paramparä,” of course). Instead, some of the Mutt leaders attempted to harm his movement, and those efforts were not always thwarted. The bottom line was that they were against him, and, as a result, he, accordingly, had no choice but to preach against them. He activated the chopping technique in his letters, although there are some references in his purports, also. By late 1975, Prabhupäda finally drew a hard line in the sand in relation to his godbrothers: “So, I have now issued orders that all my disciples should avoid all of my godbrothers. They should not have any dealings with them nor even correspondence. Nor should they give them any of my books or should they purchase any of their books. Neither should you visit any of their temples.” As we shall see in Part Seven, the nefarious influence of Prabhupäda’s godbrothers against not only him but any devotees in his movement (who they could contaminate) would culminate in a big-time parting shot just after His Divine Grace left the scene in November of 1977. The negative ramifications and repercussions of that harmful (and effective) attempt are felt to this day. Envious G.B.C. In-Fighting “This fighting is going on everywhere. It is not a good sign.” “What can I do? I have appointed the G.B.C. not to fight amongst yourselves but to manage. If there is fighting, then how will you manage?” “Why is there this politics? This is not good. If politics come, then the preaching will be stopped. That is the difficulty. As soon as politics come, everything is spoiled. In the Gauòéya Math the politics is still going on. My guru maharaja left in 1936 . . . after forty years, the litigation is still going on. Do not come to this.” As we have already pointed out, the commissioners got over in a big way earlier in the year, being able to remove the voting restriction from their charter through a simple (sloppily worded) resolution. Did Prabhupäda approve that resolution? Admittedly, it is probable that he did, but, if so, that should not be misinterpreted to mean that he liked the direction his leading secretaries were taking his movement through their inept “management.” In other words, Mäyä found a new opening for attack, and attack them she did. Just after the G.B.C. Annual Meeting in Mäyäpur, a major theme in Prabhupäda’s letters—arguably, the major theme of the whole year—was the displeasure he felt due to all the fighting for supremacy that was taking place at the level of his leading secretaries and commissioners. We have posted three examples his displeasure (above), and we shall reproduce nine more of them subsequently. That does not comprise the totality of references on this subject for that year, but it is a strong sampling of Çréla Prabhupäda’s actual assessment of his “best men,” particularly after they were able to gut the voting provisions of the Direction of Management. Çréla Prabhupäda affirmed that some amount of enviousness between and amongst godbrothers was to be expected, and he also made it clear that the central point—their obedient loyalty to him—had to remain fixed in order for that fighting to be tolerable. It is questionable, however, whether the central point remained firm after the G.B.C. wiggled free from the voting provisions: “So, it is a natural thing for the brothers to fight, as long as they all stay obedient to the father.” “It is almost inevitable that there should be enviousness amongst the godbrothers, just like amongst my godbrothers.” They were supposed to be like the demigods in relation to Viñëu. Instead, they tended to, in effect, harass him about almost anything and everything, particularly when they wanted to eke out some approval for a self-interested objective: “. . . but if Tamäla Kåñëa flies ten thousand miles to lodge some complaint against Jayatértha, what can I do? If you all leaders cannot work together, then, how can you expect the others to cooperate with you?” “Another thing, why are you always calling on the telephone? Are you such important men that you have to call all over the world?” “Do not bother my brain how to do it.” “If I have to be involved in every dispute, then what is the need for the G.B.C.?” What is the need, indeed! They were the beneficiaries of many perquisites, but they did not pay the price for these gifts. Instead, they fought each other for more and more. Just as importantly, they made major blunders on a regular basis, as well. They were supposed to be men of advanced transcendental knowledge, but, even in relation to minor things, they could not get it right: “Big G.B.C. man, so many editors, and it is not detected? You are all müòhas. What can I do?” In other words, His Divine Grace was beginning to conclude—and express that rather directly—that the creation of the G.B.C. was not going to turn out successful. The board was meant to relieve him from mundane and semi-spiritual issues and problems, but it was turning out to even create more of these: “I appoint G.B.C. for peaceful management of affairs, and now you are creating disturbances amongst yourselves. So how can I be peaceful to translate my work?” “My only grievance is that I appointed G.B.C. to give me relief from the management but, on the contrary, complaints and counter-complaints are coming to me. Then, how my brain can be peaceful?” Although situated above the topmost rung of ätmäräma, His Divine Grace unequivocally stated that his brain was not peaceful in 1975. The chief source of disturbance was the Governing Body Commission. The letters are crystal clear in this connection. Their politics and in-fighting was contrary to all that was to be expected of a body of saintly persons. Instead, even at this early date, the G.B.C. was turning into an asat-sabhä. It would get worse. Super Success, Sudden Sayonara “This is very bad. These reports about Japan are coming from all over the world. This is very disturbing to me. Their own original face is coming out. This is not at all good.” “What is this stealing and violence? This is not good. . . Stealing is not our business. Our business is to become Kåñëa conscious. Caesar's wife must be above suspicion.” “A man’s got to know his limitations.” Lt. Callaghan, Magnum Force The pick was really big, and, contrary to all the other collection tactics in the West, it was conducted in devotional garb. The Japanese economy of the mid-Seventies experienced a major boom, even common people on the street were often rich, and two of Çréla Prabhupäda’s sannyäsés put together a squadron of hardcore Americans to take advantage of it. Those fellows were dedicated to their two leaders and dedicated to collect. All of a sudden, as if out of nowhere, a cash cow emerged in the heart of the Orient. This crew was ready to exploit it, and that’s just what they did! The revenues from their collections, almost entirely accrued in 1975, were huge and unprecedented. Most of that money was used to build the great devotional complexes in Våëòävan, Mäyäpur, and Bombay (now, Mumbai). Indeed, these wonderful buildings stand as a testament to that pick in Japan back in the day. Any devotee who has traveled to India has taken advantage of these facilities and each owes a debt of gratitude to the two “Lobster Swämés” for their efforts. Of course, they themselves did not collect but instead pushed and inspired the chelas under them to do so. They pushed them very, very, very hard. In no small part, they were able to secure all those sensational donations because of the Japanese peoples’ cultural tendency, in both Shinto and Buddhism, to respect anyone in the garb of a renunciate. In due course, the effort went sour. This transpired for a number of reasons. There can be no doubt Japanese secular authorities, using police muscle, wanted to put a stop to all those millions of yen regularly leaving the country. Yet, to no small degree, the devotees brought the debacle upon themselves. Stealing gold pens from the lapels of wealthy and unsuspecting businessmen (using magazines as hooks, while hitting them up for a donation) became a technique of choice; it was perfected into a kind of art form, if that participle is appropriate. This particular rip-off also devolved into a kind of status symbol, i.e., the best and biggest collectors brought back the most pens at night. Things eventually got intense out on the street, as the two sannyäsé leaders tended to attract rougher elements to themselves for reasons best left unexplained. In the concluding months of the campaign, violence broke out daily, and it was usually not provoked by the Japanese. Indeed, near the very end, the men, once they met their quotas, could do whatever they wanted for the rest of the day; that often entailed trips to the Geisha houses. Guru Kåpä prabhu (then Swämé) was different from all the other leaders in the movement. He was controversial, colorful, charismatic, rougher, and tougher than all but, arguably, one of his peers, also an American of Germanic descent. He was determined, and, most importantly, the vast majority of the monies his devotees collected was given straight to Çréla Prabhupäda. He did not care whatsoever what Prabhupäda decided to do with it. Most of his fellow leaders, for a variety of reasons, were contemptuous of him. Did he and his close sannyäsé compatriot please Çréla Prabhupäda? Considering it was their party that almost alone funded those great centers in India, there can absolutely be no doubt that they did. Conversely, did they also displease His Divine Grace by allowing and encouraging tactics that led to prematurely burning Japan out? That answer can be gleaned from the relevant excerpts of Prabhupäda’s letters, cited above. They stretched the rubber band past its break point. The Japan yajïa and everything connected to it, both pro and con, constituted one of the two major events of 1975. It emerged as a great surprise and then—poof!—it disappeared just as suddenly. An Immense Field of Ruins “. . . If we are not very careful to always stick to the . . . purest standards of high living, then everything will spoil very quickly, and the whole show will be a farce.” “Only the complete realization by man of the inevitability of his own death can destroy those factors, implanted thanks to ourabnormal life, of the expression of different aspects of our egoism, this cause of all evil in our common life.” “For a time, I would feel I belonged still to a world of straightforward facts, but the feeling would not last long. Something would turn up to scare it away.” The changing Kåñëa movement of 1975 had not yet gone off the rails, but profound deviations that had been incubating in it for no less than three years—and which would eventually lead it to jump the tracks—were transformed into seedlings which sprouted during that fateful year. An underlying, semi-theological Western mentality, contrary to the Vedic mindset of a yogé, had infiltrated its way into the group consciousness. The events and themes, described above, give us some insight into the nature of that weed. It is a mundane religious sub-culture different and opposed to Äryan culture, the culture epitomized by what was established by His Divine Grace Çréla Prabhupäda in his Hare Kåñëa movement of Kåñëa consciousness. This weed has a nasty astral smell, and it has grown from within the movement. According to its influence, there are the eternally blessed and all the rest, the others--who may or may not wind up saved at the end. Whether they will or will not be blessed can only to be indicated, on this plane, according to their loyal connection to imperious superiors, i.e., in terms of slavish servitude to the special ones, the anointed section. The real significance of this psychic contrivance is to destroy the essence of Kåñëa consciousness in the minds of the devotees in general. The basis of Prabhupäda’s movement was thus being slowly but surely rotted away and transformed via an enveloping sphere of putrefaction that quickly devolved into everything non-Äryan. This crypto-Talmudic subculture is deeply alien to the freedom intrinsic to, and creative intelligence inherent to, a higher faculty of bona fide buddhi-yoga (prajïä) within everyone. The metaphysics of the Kåñëa consciousness viewpoint and outlook--what constituted a breath of fresh air in the mid-Sixties—is distinctly different from the mentality of organized religion. It is particularly distinct from any form of institutional metaphysics. The yogé sees the world, the universe, his fellow man, and the Supreme—along with his own developing eligibility to enter into the spiritual atmosphere of form, rasa, and activity—in a way that is available to all through the bona fide Vaiñëava process. He does not adopt the superficial view of organized religion, viz., feeling himself an exile doomed to entrapment in a mechanical machine with no way out except blind “surrender” to cult leaders who, somehow or other, are the chosen ones, special in every respect and inconceivably blessed. He does not see the material creation as a seemingly insuperable abyss completely separated from the Supreme Source--as only a prison house, to escape from which there is but one institutional key providing sole hope. He instead sees material nature as a representative of the Supreme, who ultimately serves Him for the purpose of assisting yogés and yogénés in their bid for re-admittance to the divine abode: “When jévas begotten of the marginal potency (taöasthä çakti) forget the service of Kåñëa, they are confined in the mundane prison house, the citadel of Durgä. The wheel of karma is the instrument of punishment at this place. The work of purifying these penalized jévas is the duty devolved upon Durgä. She is incessantly engaged in discharging the same by the will of Govinda. When, luckily. the forgetfulness of Govinda on the part of imprisoned jévas is remarked by them by coming in contact with self-realized souls, and their natural aptitude for the loving service of Kåñëa is aroused, Durgä herself then becomes the agency of their deliverance . . .” Material nature has her connection to Ultimate Source, and human beings are themselves temples of the Paramätmä, as well. This constitutes a different vision from that of organized religion, with its entirely absurd stress on slavish impulse and inconceivable (read, irrational) blind loyalty to an ecclesiastical hierarchy as the only means for allegedly being saved at the time of death. That irrationality does not merely lead to fanaticism, it already is fanaticism! The continuous perpetuation of this mentality, with all of its incessant friction (experienced within and without the group), is what the current “ISKCON” movement is all about. The emphasis, in all yoga systems (Äryan or Vaiñëava) is connection to the Absolute Truth here and now—andfor any and every human being who intensely wants to experience it. The stress in organized religion, conversely, is eternal separation except for a special few, who must be followed blindly—along with their institutional superstructure and governing body. This peculiar pattern is being passed down, on all existential planes, by the post-modern “ISKCON” pharisees, and we should recognize the unmistakable fact that it is anything but Kåñëa conscious. However, all too many have allowed themselves to become intimidated by phantom fears, projected by those evil leaders who possess but the shadow of mystic power. As such, the chelas no longer have any confidence in facts, because they have allowed their misleaders to spook them. The so-called secret of the abyss is ultimately the pivot upon which guilt, fear, and bewilderment are employed to beguile those caught in the revolving door of organized religion, invultuated by the “ISKCON” béja. That herd instinct is opposite the yogic outlook, which stresses knowledge, realization, personal spiritual power, and action via self-discipline for freedom from any and all institutional delusions such as “ISKCON.” There can be no reconciliation between these two outlooks. It is high time to call a spade a spade rather than babble about how we wish things were. The errors of the past are still fully active today in terms of their consequences, and they augur disaster in due course of time. “ISKCON” dogma is shrouded in an illogical doctrine that is never really explained and can never be explained. It promotes an unrealistic lifestyle that dumbs down, stifles, and deadens all devotees who have accepted its béja. It is traversing a terrible trajectory that must be opposed, vigorously. Worst of all, it has usurped Prabhupäda’s movement for decades, having gained much momentum for its current ascendancy in 1975. The cunning of the “ISKCON” leaders is at the root of their philosophy, and all their apparent efforts at persuasion—that they represent the Absolute and are true to the Founder-Äcärya-- do not constitute säma, but, rather, are in the category of bheda (deception). This needs to be realized and acted upon. Vaiñëava culture is at the opposite pole of organized religion, particularly that of the crypto-Talmudic variety. Institutional religion is hostile to the spiritual desires that brought us to real Kåñëa consciousness back in the Sixties and Seventies. There is no way that the contaminated consciousness of “ISKCON” can be checked and ultimately defeated unless we first open our eyes and understand it for just what it is. You are invited to wake up. Those who are lazy in self-realization mistake organized religion for spiritual culture, but it is not so and can never be so. All spiritual life revolves around pleasing—or, better yet, impressing--the guru. The psychic peculiarity of hankering for a shortcut in spiritual life--by kow-towing to institutional gurus and their governing bodies--is endemic to Kali-yuga. There appears to be a logical connection in its rationalization, but that is based upon bad logic. The cheap guru becomes so when he accepts institutional certification as the ticket to his rite. Institutional guru means bogus guru. He instead becomes a rent-an-äcärya, carrying a stamp of approval from all the other sophisticated, institutional gurus in this cult. Bluffers, cheaters, rascals, and fools--all of them--and the whole show certainly devolves into a farce in short order.  Quotes from the books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada are copyright by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust |
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