Let the Truth Shine
BY: JAGANNATHA MISHRA DASA
Jul 23, AUSTRALIA (SUN) — A response to Akruranath Prabhu's recent comment in Dandavats.
Believe me I love ISKCON. I gave my life when I was 18, all my youth and still I do, and I do not regret it a pinch. I am not here to disturb you or anybody, to cause disruption or in pursuit of fame.
Something is very wrong and I want to help fix it.
When I read your article my first reaction was of some anger and my blood was starting to rise its temperature. But after a while, I came to the conclusion that I have to thank you, and sum up all the misunderstandings, false positions and mistakes that are keeping our movement from blooming. In this way I can just go one by one through your statements and refute them, not as a personal matter but in the name of sanity. You have simplified my "work" and for that I sincerely thank you.
Let me begin by quoting a sentence: "The evil of this world is not due to the bad people, but mainly to those that see the evil and look the other way."
I do not know you personally, but by your writings I can see that unwillingly I presume, you form part of the later group. In all these years I arrived at the conclusion that we have the leaders that we deserve, because if more people would be more just and balanced, some disgraceful things and disgraced leaders would not be able to rise as they did.
It is always the same thing, trying to mistake humility with yesmenry, cooperation with tyranny, external status with internal spiritual advancement. Maybe you haven't seen enough of all these things, maybe yes.
But what I can say is that you are doing the greatest disservice to Srila Prabhupada by making the haziness even more hazy, the smoke curtain a bit more thicker, the deceit more difficult to ascertain behind your apparently nice words.
"The selection of GBC members is that Srila Prabhupada will nominate, and if there is a discrepancy, His Grace will change him. There will be no elections, and the present GBC member will remain."
You have heard the famous phrase the Christians have, "Only through me you can go to the father", and you probably know the answer to that. Why you are doing the exact same thing, taking out of context some sentence and trying to apply it to eternity?
The sole fact that you doubt that Srila Prabhupada would put such an important document as the DOM with such significant changes amended in black and white, that alone, my friend, is an offense.
Ask servant devotees of His Divine Grace how accurate, organized and conscious of details he was. The 2 duly signed documents from 1970 and 1974 that His Divine Grace asked to be incorporated into the temples' constitution remain as they are and that cannot be compared to a statement that obviously can be interpreted, due to its context nature.
Now you can go on saying this or that, but that DOM is still there and if you have a pinch of faith in Srila Prabhupada you will know he did not want to change it, he wanted it to be the future instructions for all temples and all devotees.
Sorry to doubt our dear leaders, but it is not the first time in the GBC history that they deviated in a very dangerous way, even in His Divine Grace's presence.
Forgive me if I trust a pure devotee's direct instruction, signed and not revoked in any similar way, more than I can trust some devotees that even though they have my respects, I know are not infallible and could deviate, as proven by historical data.
"Some of the devotees wrote very stridently, accusing the GBC of disobeying Srila Prabhupada's order that there be regular elections. Some even suggested the "Direction of Management" had been hidden by leading devotees in a conspiracy to cover up Srila Prabhupada's actual desire for elections, and so on."
Now you are the ones that have to prove that those two documents are invalidated by that sentence or that subjective explanation of yours.
For any sane person, any judge for that matter, a purposely signed document that was to be incorporated to the temples is far more reliable than all the out of context explanations you are giving so far.
"It is a shame that there is an atmosphere of sufficient distrust and the kind of speculative gullibility (fueled by haziness about the details of the history of the legal and managerial organization of ISKCON) that conspiracy theories can get traction among devotees. We
are playing right into Kali yuga's hands, quarreling when we need to be cooperating."
It is always the same theme: if you distrust, if you have doubts you are not cooperating. You are "out" and a puppet in maya's hands. Are you completely free from mayas grip to be able to judge so lightly? Are the GBCs free from error, as individuals as well as a group?
One thing is to be loyal, another thing is to be stupid, and the GBC might want intelligent people to cooperate with, not lame ones to look after the well being of the movement.
Now, cooperation is a two way street, can you please cooperate to unveil the truth?
Cooperation:
1 : the action of cooperating : common effort
2 : association of persons for common benefit
You seem to be taking advantage of the haziness you admit. Let's dispel it not to form factions, but to know the truth, not to support a conspiracy theory, not to support possible self-deceiving managers either.
"Apparently, the old 1970 direction to hold GBC elections was simply determined to be impractical or otherwise undesirable. Whatever the reasons, the undeniable fact is that in 1975 Srila Prabhupada personally approved a resolution stating, "There will be no elections."
These words you use, "apparently", "was simply determined", are very political, not
conducive to straightforwardness and as I said, tend to thicken the "haziness".
"What to speak of other groups and others predisposed to distrust established ISKCON authority, some of the grumblings about elections even came from loyal ISKCON devotees. This suggests that we need to do a better job of keeping devotees aware of ISKCON's management and its history. A sense of confidence and trust is still lacking somehow. We have plenty of room for improvement."
"Grumblings" is a disrespectful and derogatory word, like the ones that doubt are crazy, governed by rage or just insane. Prabhu, are you biased?
So, you admit some loyal ISKCON devotees are having doubts, well that is a credit to their intelligence, to want to dispel "haziness". Not to simply follow blindly the leaders maybe right into the ditch.
"It might help if there could be well-documented and carefully researched historical materials about the details of ISKCON management in its formative stages. We could use some honest attempts to preserve and record and recount the facts as best we can while they are still somewhat fresh."
I am willing to discuss and present material to prove my point. Are you ready?
"Even a sense that there are existing materials where the records are available might do a lot to calm down fears that important documents and statements or instructions of Srila Prabhupada might have been hidden or "covered up".
If the truth is the one we propose, those who hide the truth will be exposed and someone will start having fear, those who cheated.
"We already have a lot of materials preserved by Bhaktivedanta Archives and so on. We should also make an effort to do an oral history project, recording the various recollections of those who participated in ISKCON management about their experiences, while we still can."
Oh yes, lets ask the Bhaktivedanta Archives to bring to light all the material that is still unavailable for the devotees at large. You ask for accounts, but you seem to have your sources and explanations already chosen. In an apparent effort to find the truth, in reality you think you already have it. But it is mandatory in these times of change and free press, to look "open".
Let's see who in the "all is well" camp comes with real refutations or clearer explanations that the "loyal" but doubtful devotees present. Let's do it for the sake of truth, for the sake of advancing our movement, without political or biased lens. And if you convince me (us), I will give you the credit and will cease to be "loyal but doubtful".
Let's dispel our doubts or we will continue to be at unease.
But if the explanations do not satisfy us, let us exert our right to be independently thoughtful and even if the big mistakes are proven and no action remedy is taken, let us have the right to cease to be loyal.
Because loyalty to deceive is an even worse kind of evil.
your servant,
Jagannatha Mishra das
