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Sannyasa, or Sans Us?

Posted by Welcome on October 23, 2009 at 8:30

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.

Charity for the Brahmanas

Posted by Welcome on October 23, 2009 at 8:30

Apr 14, '07 TORONTO, CANADA — Giving in charity to the brahmanas is essential to Vedic culture. Our Iskcon society may be benefited tremendously if we simply encourage our congregational grhastas to actually do this! There are too many poverty-restricted brahmanas, but where is the program to ensure that they are given sufficient charity to maintain themselves and their families, what to speak of performing the brahminical duty of expansively passing such charity on to others in need? Who better to empower than the surrendered, poverty-stricken devotees? Who do we want in control, a selfless brahmana or a self-motivated administrator? So where does Krsna’s Iskcon money go? Are the congregational members encouraged to give charity to the brahmanas, or are our brahmanas considered to be kali-yuga fakes not worthy of spending any money to support? I am not talking salaries here, but spontaneous donations to worthy devotees. A place to sleep, nutritious prasadam, and steady service is mor

Debate on the Heart of Islam

Posted by Welcome on October 23, 2009 at 8:00

Sep 23, '06 CALGARY, ALBERTA — There has been much debate and discussion recently about the heart of Islam. That this same debate has been going on for centuries, tells us something in itself. Current events, including train bombings in India and the presence of armies of Islamic fundamentalists throughout the world, ready to do the necessary to ensure that their version of Islam rules, should clarify what is the actual position. This includes persons in Malayasia etc. where there is freedom of religion. Somehow or other, the Qu’ran is being used to attract or encourage fanaticism. Let me tell a story; I worked at the Security Forces Hospital in Riyadh between 1995 and 1998, as head of the audiology section, linked closely to the otorhinolaryngology (EarNoseThroat) surgery department. ENT surgeons have extensive education, roughly some 12 years. This education is in English, mostly, and so these men have lots of exposure to western thought, etc. One good friend was Dr. Ibrahim. It was

'Easily' Joining ISKCON

Posted by Welcome on October 23, 2009 at 8:00

Sep 21, CALGARY, ALBERTA — Once upon a time, some four years ago at ISKCON Sri Sri Radha-Gopinatha Mandira in Toronto, one of the Indian-Canadian devotees, if you please pardon my bodily designation, was giving a lecture to the assembled devotees. In it, he described that the early followers of Srila Prabhupada “easily joined ISKCON because they had no love for their families”. Further, he described that we Westerners have no strong family attachments, and so it is easy for us to leave our families to join ISKCON, and that it is so much more difficult for most Indians because they have natural love for their families. Seems to me that this cheap excuse for failing to surrender to the Lord has gone so far that now it has become a rally cry for those who need excuses for their failure to serve. Instead, they dare to criticize the surrendered souls out of their extreme ignorance and envy. Today, I again saw this sort of mentality, held by some foolish Indian-body devotees, touched upon b

Out-of-Context Quotes Don't Help

Posted by Welcome on October 23, 2009 at 8:00

Aug 31, '06 — Satyaraja dasa Prabhu; PAMHO. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada, who had to address the sensibilities of persons from all positions in life, in order to preach to them. He has called them all learned gentlemen, then asks them to forget all that they have learned and instead to try to understand Krsna. We know that they are fools number one, but we speak nicely just to give them a chance to hear. You have answered Bhakta Abdula, but you have not mentioned the two articles which I submitted on Dandavats and also Sampradaya Sun, so you will please excuse me if I comment nonetheless. Kindly read Caitanaya Bhagavata. In it, you will find that Lord Viswambhara vowed to destroy the entire Yavana race if they continued to interfere with the chanting of the name of Hari. Once, the Khazi and his men attacked the devotees of a sankirtana party, breaking the drums and beating severely the devotees. In response, performing a massive sankirtana, He and the devotees broke and burned the

Naive Liberalism in the Name of Equality

Posted by Welcome on October 23, 2009 at 8:00

Aug 25, '06 — I am writing briefly in response to Gadadara dasa’s article, “Thoughts on Manipura”. Certainly it is true that many have exploited or abused others in the name of religions originating in the mid-east. However, when confronted with the current world situation in which there is so much strife perpetrated by Islamic terrorists, please keep in mind that in Islamic countires, one can be executed for causing a conversion from Islam to any other faith. I lived in Riyadh, KSA, for three years, and also in Kuwait for some months. Although I did manage to do some preaching work, I was “black-balled” on this account and cannot enter a Muslim country in the mid-east. I was almost arrested for saying my gayatri while living there, and as well, was not allowed to enter any mosque on account of not being a Muslim. The Muslims in Saudi do not accept the Vaisnavas as followers of the supreme, but as followers of their Satan, and so they hate them and have engaged in campaigns against

Reply to Praghosa

Posted by Welcome on October 23, 2009 at 8:00

Jul 18, 06 — Haribol, Praghosa Prabhu; PAMHO. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada! Are you the Praghosa Prabhu that used to go to New Orleans for Mardi Gras book distribution, back in about 1974-76? I travelled there with the Winnipeg brahmacaris, and used to follow you about on the streets, because you were so undeterred by Maya's face, and I took shelter of that determination and transcendence. To the point at hand; I suppose that having spent some time with Gour Govinda, I believe from observation as well as reading, that he is 100% Prabhupada's man, with no taste for self-aggrandizement at all. I tend to be protective of him, as he was definitely abused by our godbrothers back in the day, causing much hurt and disillusionment among literally thousands of respectable persons in Orissa. I practically had to force him to accept any glorification in the times before he was recognized more widely. I remember having a nice decorated cushion made for him to sit on when he gave class in Ori

At the Crossroads

Posted by Welcome on October 23, 2009 at 8:00

Jul 14, 06 We are standing now at a crossroads and have a choice to make; will we unite worldwide, including all other bonafide Vaisnavas, and thus create a unified front of devotees to present to the world, or will we continue to deride and abuse other Vaisnavas to establish our own sense of right and wrong, and in so doing, reject the principal of unified preaching? We have the common goal of going back to Godhead, taking as many with us as we can carry. We have no shortage of sincere and loving devotees anxious to serve, whether they currently are living in the ISKCON temple or not. We have the right stuff; the right philosophy, the right method of worship, the right Deities, the Holy Names…we have it all, basically. We came up from being assorted hippies and revolutionaries to being the representatives of God on earth. The Western world has correspondingly come up from ignorance, such that nowadays, everyone knows what is reincarnation, what is vegetarianism, what is karma, and a

Disappearance Day Offering to Srila Prabhupada

Posted by Welcome on October 21, 2009 at 15:30

It is only possible to deliver a conditioned jiva from Maya, By divine intervention of God. To a realm that is higher; Ecstatically deep and broad. An ocean of liquid love! In His mercy, to bring us there, He sent us Srila Prabhupada. Sri Krsna Caitanya desired to moisten the dried-up souls. To acheive it, He not only comes Himself, But Nitai-Balarama empowered Srila Prabhupada, To bountiful conceive it. A world encircling garland of prema-nama-sankirtana! All Glory to Lord Gaura Krsna! All Glory to Lord Sankarsana! The envious conditioned souls actually have no direct access to the Lord. But by His sweet will, just as the ambassador represents the king, The Guru is the personal embodied mercy of Lord Gaura. That person who would set the dove of his love of Krsna a-wing, Can do so, by the expanded mercy of Srila Prabhupada! You fortunate persons around the world, Just hear the words of Srila Prabhupada! His vibrations have the power to deliver you from all fears. Just take, just