Like a Rolling Stone
BY: SURESH DASA
Mar 17, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (SUN) — I was reading Rocana Prabhu's recent article "Praghosa's Masquerade", and was immediately struck by how similar I feel I might be to Praghosa dasa of New York, at least in his apparent madness and illusion. For such a long time I believed myself to be a pretty important writer as well as investigative reporter into the goings on of ISKCON's many fumbles and failings. Time finally caught up with me though. I was only able to hide my lack of education for so long.
I neglected my spiritual life for many decades, putting in only the most minimal of effort, and way below Srila Prabhupada's minimum standards for an initiated disciple. I hadn't even kept up with my studies of his books. I never received an education beyond high school. My spiritual studies are really only limited to Srila Prabhupada's books themselves.
I don't possess a very deep understanding of philosophy or debate. Consequently it is very difficult for me to understand the differences between the teachings of Srila Prabhupada's original books, the BBT edited versions of his books, Mayavadi philosophy, Narayana Maharaja's philosophy, etc. When it comes to high philosophy I only have limited capability of explaining concepts and understanding differences between various schools of thought on the subjects of sociology, religion, and transcendence.
Back in the day, some 35 years ago, when I was distributing books, in ISKCON, just like Praghosa das (although he was a huge distributor compared to me), it appeared that ISKCON devotees could do no wrong. We were on top of the world then. We could say just about anything we wanted and get away with it. Nobody could defeat us. We represented Srila Prabhupada. We always sensed that if all else failed, and we couldn't win an argument, Srila Prabhupada would do it for us, and carry the day. Even though we didn't really know much of anything, if we just spoke Srila Prabhupada's words nobody could stop us. We received the most minimal of education within ISKCON too, limited really to temple classes, or private reading of our books. As time passed, classes were neglected and even cancelled, and private reading was discouraged and even forbidden, in favor of greater and greater distribution and money collecting.
Many years went by. Educated and intelligent people bought our books and actually studied them, questioned the philosophical concepts, and actively challenged them. Are the devotees ready to respond in kind, and represent, what to speak of defend our own philosophy?
Last summer as an example, I tried to challenge Vrajabhumi's attacks of Srila Prabhupada on her website, using only my limited understanding of Srila Prabhupada's concepts from his books. I had won simple arguments before in the past with various atheists and believed I was up for the task. Although resorting to censorship on her site, if anyone manages to puts forward valid points that might counter her belief systems, the reality is she appears well educated, and is really quite a powerful debater, with an apparent deep philosophical understanding of Vaishnava philosophy. It appears she has many valid points that need clarifying. She has thoroughly studied Srila Prabhupada's books and philosophy with the aim to discredit him as a valid spiritual authority. It was embarrassing for me to even attempt to engage in debate there, along with many hundreds of other devotees who have visited her site, or attempted to defeat her. I was flicked away with her tiniest pinky finger. There are many controversial statements Srila Prabhupada purportedly made that must be addressed and answered. Sweeping them under the rug, neglecting them, or editing them out will not be satisfactory to answer challenges such as Vrajabhumi's. For myself though, I was glad to have met her, because she gave me pause and made me question myself. Do I really know anything? For a long time, almost a year, I was afraid to write anything here or other places, for fear I might run into her and be smashed by her again.
The same holds true for George A. Smith, a regular contributor to the Sampradaya Sun, who is favorable to Srila Prabhupada. Not only does he appear to possess a deep understanding of Krishna Conscious philosophy, but he understands philosophy itself, including methods of argument and debate. I fear him, and know I am no match for him, if we were ever to have a run-in over philosophical issues. I give him a wide berth.
I am grateful to Rocana Prabhu, too. Last year I attempted to question whether all the facts against Hridayananda Swami were valid, and was labeled by him as foolish. This hurt deeply, but again made me question myself, take a step back, and live in silence for some time, away from writing at this site and others on philosophical issues.
I hope that Praghosa dasa of New York learns something from his recent foolishness. How embarrassing for him to be branded as "Margaret on the Weekends" by the community of devotees. I pray that he takes a long time off and questions his motives and belief systems, especially his choices of whom to defend. ISKCON devotees are so used to winning all the arguments in the past, but in these times we possess no such power. Of course I may be way off base here, as these are just my observations.
