May 15, '07 CALGARY, CANADA — About a year ago, I wrote to HH Prahladananda Swami to receive an application for sannyasa. I received the application, but a vow of allegiance to the GBC was a main feature. I wrote back, saying that I couldn't sign such a vow, that I was dedicated to Prabhupada's Iskcon, not to some questionable GBC body.
In response, he has refused to reply to my inquiries, and apparently also in what I perceive as a mood of political censorship, did not print an offering on my part to the Vaisnava health ministry publication about speech and language development among Iskcon infants, etc. despite saying he would do so before he received my denial of the GBC body as a body worthy of vowing one's sannyasa to. I am an audiologist by profession, and have a degree also in speech and language pathology, so I am well qualified. His change of mind and refusal to reply to me spoke volumes.
Srila Prabhupada specifically told all of us brahmanas to take sannyasa in later years. Iskcon has perverted that natural varna-ashrama function to instead be a rare annointing of "cardinals", a fact in opposition to the natural Vaisnava system. Instead of thousands of renounced preachers, we have a handful of "special" persons, and sannyasis handling daily management affairs. Gour Keshava Maharajah pointed this discrepancy out on Dandavats, near the begining of that website, in response to my question about how to go about taking sannyasa, saying that eventually Iskcon will have to rectify this strange arrangement.
On behalf of the many senior devotees who have been instructed by Prabhupada to take sannyasa in their old age, I am wondering how Iskcon GBC justifies demanding a vow of loyalty to their arguably corrupt system instead of to Sri Krsna Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada? Do they think that oppressing the truthful brahmanas will be good for their schemes?
Sannyasa Asrama
Jun 2, CALGARY, CANADA — Further to the article "Sannyasa, or Sans Us", I have a relevant quote from our Spiritual Master. The current arrangements within ISKCON clearly fly in the face of the spirit of these instructions.
Sannyasa is a natural progression on the path of devi varna ashrama. This has been hijacked for political ends by those who have twisted the meaning of sannyasa. Now it has transmuted into something quite like the Catholic Church’s cardinals. This is not what Srila Prabhupada wanted, if the following has any relevance. Just read and judge for yourselves:
Prabhupada: YES. THAT IS A FORMALITY. THAT IS NOT VERY IMPORTANT. BECAUSE MAYAVADI SANNYASIS, THEY ARE ALSO VEDIC SANNYASIS. THEY ARE NOT OUTSIDERS. BUT THEIR INTERPRETATION OF VEDA IS DIFFERENT. BUT THEY FOLLOW THE VEDIC RULES. SO THIS ACCEPTANCE OF SANNYASA IS FOLLOWING A PRINCIPLE OF THE VEDIC RULES. SO THE MAYAVADI SANNYASI MAY DIFFER IN HIS INTERPRETATION, BUT HE'S FOLLOWING THE VEDIC RULES. SO THIS ACCEPTANCE OF SANNYASA IS FOLLOWING THE VEDIC RULES. SO YOU CAN ACCEPT SANNYASA EVEN FROM MAYAVADI. IT DOESN'T MATTER. BUT YOU HAVE TO TRANSCEND THE LIMITS OF VEDIC RULES. THAT IS KRSNA CONSCIOUSNESS. That also Caitanya Mahaprabhu... Although He took sannyasa, He did not assume the sannyasa title. His sannyasa guru was Kesava Bharati. Naturally, He would have accepted the Bharati title. Sri Krsna Bharati, or something like that. But He remained Sri Krsna Caitanya. Caitanya is the name of the brahmacari under the Bharati sannyasi. One brahmacari... The brahmacaris, they are assistant or personal servitors of a sannyasi. That is the system. So Caitanya Mahaprabhu was... In the beginning, He was accepted... That is the Mayavadi system. One is accepted first of all as brahmacari. So that, His name was Caitanya. But even after His acceptance of sannyasa, He did not assume the title Bharati. That means actually He did not take sannyasa. That was simply formality. Because Mayavadi sannyasi thinks that he is God; so how He can assume that title? He was preaching, He was going to preach that we are servant of God; therefore He did not assume that title. And besides that, when Caitanya Mahaprabhu was going to Lord..., see Jagannatha Puri, His rod was taken away by Nityananda and it was broken and thrown away. So He, apparently He became very angry that "You have broken My rod, sannyasa rod. So I am not going with You." He separated. These statements are there in the Caitanya-caritamrta. So in one sense, Caitanya Mahaprabhu did not require to accept any sannyasa guru, BUT HE ACCEPTED THE FORMALITY THAT IF ONE TAKES SANNYASA, ONE HAS TO TAKE SANNYASA FROM ANOTHER SANNYASI. THAT IS THE SYSTEM. JUST LIKE IF YOU WANT TO GET YOURSELF MARRIED, YOU HAVE TO CALL FOR A PRIEST. THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU HAVE TO AGREE WITH THE PRIEST'S PERSONAL OPINION. DO YOU FOLLOW? YES. HE MAY EXECUTE THE RULES AND REGULATION OF MARRIAGE CEREMONY, BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT ONE HAS TO AGREE WITH THE PRIEST'S OPINION, PERSONAL OPINION. THIS IS THE ANSWER. But when you accept a spiritual master, that is not allowed. Unless you cent percent agree with the spiritual master's opinion or philosophy, there is no need of accepting a spiritual master. There is no need. Yes.
At 9:13pm on October 24, 2009, HH B. RADHA-GOVINDA SWAMI said…
You wrote: "Yes, one has to sign and pledge allegiance to the GBC ! Since when in all of recorded history was this political type of oath a part of taking the ashrama of sannyasa ?? You are so right, it is quite absurd. That is why independent web sites have such value; We can tell the tuth, then people can take it or not. Otherwise, all they hear is the party line of deviatons. Everyone in the world has become a propaganda expert 'As the great men do, so the whole world follows (imitates)'."
In Kali Yuga, because so many of us are devoid of proper intelligence - I include myself in this description - many times we accept someone who is possessed with demonic qualities to be "great." We attribute qualification to someone ONLY because they have some position. So it was/is within ITS GON; FOOLowers accepting this one or that (unqualified) person, even to "be a 'pure' devotee" when the person is clearly exhibiting demonic tendencies; such acceptance to the point of fanaticism, that such FOOLowers will beat up and even kill GOOD (qualitied) people. So today in Kali Yuga, things are so topsy-turvied.
In a way, you should be GLAD!!! that Prahladananda refused you sannyas, because had he not done so, there's a possibility your sannyas would have been given a compromiser.
Prahladananda himself is such a COMROMISER. He (along with the other GBC and ISKCON sannyasis, KNOW that Srila Prabhupada was poisoned. (No need to go into the details of how I know this, because I don't want to get anyone into "unnecessary" trouble.) But the following is a fact: At one point someone was discussing with Prahladananda about Srila Prabhupada's being poisoned. Prahladananda acknowledged that ALL the GBC and ISKCON sannyasis at that time KNEW this to be a FACT. This other devotee asked Prahladananda (since he's the "ISKCON 'sannyas minister'") if he knew of any sannyasi who would "get on board" for pushing the GBC to do something regarding Srila Prabhupada's having been poisoned. Prahladananda then went through the list of ISKCON sannyasis, and for each one, he would "give a reason" why he knew that they would NOT!!! make a push in this regard. He would make various comments of this regard: "Oh, he's getting a lot of money, so he wouldn't do it." "He's waiting for his perks, so he wouldn't do it." And they went down the line of the list of ISKCON sannyasis, Prahladananda giving various "reasons" along these lines of "why this and that one will NOT "do it," EVEN THOUGH THEY KNEW, and this was THEIR SPIRITUAL MASTER, Srila Prabhupada, Who was GIVEN POISON to MURDER!!! Him. (And of course, Prahladananda wouldn't "get on board" either; so that says something about him also.)
So it is GOOD that you didn't have to accept sannyas from some compromiser. I WONDER how many (few, if any) of these ISKCON sannyasis would stay under a tree for rendering service in terms of preaching. OR, how many of them would have taken sannyas IF they REALLY had to LIVE!!! according to the PRINCIPLES of sannyas? I wonder how many of them would have taken sannyas if there was a stipulation that they were not allowed to be getting the money that they do by "being" "a sannyasi." So how many of them have taken sannyas for the REAL reasons of accepting sannyas?
What an ASININE (and HYPOCRITICAL) thing, that when someone wants to take sannyas they have to "pledge themselves" TO THE GBC!!! (Greedy Bastard's Club) a body that is SO!!! DEVIATED!!! from Srila Prabhupada's desires. I could see if they wanted the person to pledge themselves to SRILA PRABHUPADA!!! (But it just shows you how OFF they REALLY are.)
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