Why Throw the Blame on ISKCON
BY: BASU GHOSH DAS (ACBSP)
Apr 01, BARODA, INDIA (SUN) — This is in response to the recent article by Chaitanya Simha das entitled, "More on ISKCON Philadelphia".
First of all his allegation that taking money from Devideva das, who runs an independent "mundane charitable institution" (NGO) is a sin. If that's true, then we are all guilty. Who knows who puts the donations into the temple donation box? Fact is that all devotees who take charity from the public at large come in contact with money that may have been earned by sinful means.
My humble understanding is that we purify this type of Lakshmi - yes, money is a representative of Lakshmidevi Herself -- if, and I agree it's a very big if in many cases (but not all), the Lakshmi is engaged in the service of the Lord, it becomes purified. After all, that Lakshmi is HIS energy. If Sita (Lakshmi's "avatar") has been recovered from Ravana and given back to Rama, is that a sin?
Of course, if the donation money is used for something besides the service of the Lord, then yes, it's sinful and there will be a reaction.
It seems to me that the "book sales business" inaugurated by Srila Prabhupada in the West entails earning profits from cow killing, meat eating mlecchas and yavanas, from the same "stock" as we ourselves (those of us of a "non-Hindu/Indian" origin) come from! And yet those profits have been ploughed back into book production for the BBT over the past 35/40 years. Is there an objection to this as well?
If someone will not give up his sinful activities, but continues to donate to ISKCON, would Prabhupada have refused to accept such contributions? If this was the case, he would have stayed at Vrindavan dham and engaged only in "bhajan".
"Food for life" is a slogan that was coined by HH Mukunda Goswami, post-Prabhupada. As I recall, "food" wasn't a word that Srila Prabhupada liked to use.
Srila Prabhupada definitely stressed "prasad distribution". "Food for Life", in my humble opinion, is more associated with the "service to man is service to God" misconception of the Ramakrishna Mission -- a mission that was labeled "murgi ("chicken") mission", because their sannyasis eat chicken, mutton and other non-vegetarian foodstuffs.
It's sad that all over, ISKCON temples use "Food for Life" to attract donations by showing that we are engaged in "social welfare work". This is akin to the "we are helping feed the children in Bangladesh" pleas of the early and middle 1970s, that Srila Prabhupada didn't authorize, but was an easy fund raising plea. If Devideva das is using the title "Food for Life", why blame ISKCON? This title "in and of itself" has no relation to ISKCON or any preaching program begun by Srila Prabhupada, except, admittedly, that many ISKCON temples employ it.
Certainly in the case of ISKCON Philadelphia, they have no managerial connection to Devideva das and his institution(s). So the charges in this connection made by Chaitanya Simha are unfair. Also, how many NGOs are functioning at Philadelphia? They are all enjoying tax exempt/deductible status. While it's a fact that Devideva das is probably an initiated devotee in ISKCON (I don't know him personally), if he's running an independent NGO, then why throw the blame on ISKCON for his acts? Again, it's simply unfair.
As far as the situation in the Philly temple itself, I'm not able to comment, as I haven't visited there since 1991 (as far as I remember). Vishnugada Prabhu, a godbrother who himself was a Temple President and a very intelligent devotee (holding a Ph.D. in Psychology), was kind enough to comment on the situation at the Philly restaurant. Haryashwa Prabhu has been running a devotee restaurant there for at least 20 years, and frankly such dedication to the service of running such an enterprise is very rare in the USA. We all have our faults, and I'm sure he is no exception, but then, shouldn't we see the good in what he's doing, rather than find faults with his efforts? Wasn't it Srila Saraswati Thakur who said that the "bees go for the honey and the flies go for the
sores"? Why not accept this sage advice?
Also, one NA-GBC told some devotees in a group meeting some months back that they are searching for a new Temple President for Philadelphia. What I understood from that statement is that at least some GBCs are aware of the need for some changes at ISKCON Philadelphia. Let's hope for the best and not just throw stones at ISKCON Philadelphia. I very much doubt that this is the way to inspire changes that may be needed.
In conclusion, I agree with Chaitanya Simha das that "qualified preachers from India" should go to the USA to help the efforts to expand ISKCON's preaching there. At present, here in India there are a number of centers that are very successfully recruiting "modern educated youth" and training them to become dedicated preachers for ISKCON.
In the coming years, I hope the leaders of ISKCON in the USA will tap into this group to help them with the "thankless task" of pushing forward the mission of Mahaprabhu. In fact, some of these "youth leaders" have already started making visits to the Western world, and as time goes by, they will probably take a more active role in preaching, by lecturing, book distribution, running Govinda's restaurants, etc., etc.
