Radhanatha Swami's "Preaching Strategies"
BY: SUN STAFF
Jul 06, 2011 — CANADA (SUN) — Over the last year, the Sun has received many emails, letters and phone calls complaining about Radhanath Swami's so-called "preaching strategies". Likewise, we have received many complaints from the Swami's supporters about the negative press he has gotten in the Sun. Mixed in with the latter group has been a steady stream of email threats from one quadrant of his supporters – the 'web seva' crowd – who promise to hack our website, force us offline, destroy our page statistics, tamper with our traffic, etc., etc.
In addition to this, we have had several reports from devotees who tell us they have personally heard Radhanath Swami discuss his desires to 'take us down'. In one conversation, he suggested that there must be a way to defame us, and wondered about how one might do so?
While we have not been in Radhanath Swami's personal presence for a very long time, since the early days of visiting New Vrindaban, he has come to our neck of the woods on several occasions. Last summer he was hosted at the Saranagati/Bhumi Farms Fall Festival here in British Columbia, where he did a book signing and promo tour for his autobiography. He was here again this Spring at ISKCON Seattle, on tour as the 'sacred dancing duo' of Radhanath and Indradyumna Swamis. Like Radhanath, Indradyumna Swami has also been known to make threatening statements about the bodily harm he'd like to inflict upon a certain Sun editor. Indradyumna has also been making news again for his questionable activities, which appear to have him on the trajectory of a complete falldown.
We are always interested to follow Radhanath's activities locally. He has a number of disciples here who are his staunch defenders. No matter how strong the evidence that he has fallen far away from the path laid down by Srila Prabhupada, these supporters never fail to see only his glories. Their dedication is strong, regardless of the fact that they get little or no personal association with their spiritual master.
One devi dasi, who had taken first initiation from Radhanath at the time, told us a few years ago that it doesn't matter whether she gets her guru's personal association or not – he is so advanced, so potent, that he is aware of everything that happens in her life, at all times. On the Swami's recent visit to Seattle, the same mataji was asked if she'd enjoyed getting the personal association of her guru maharaja. Her answer was something to the effect that, "The best way for me to serve my guru maharaja is to not bug him." In other words, she didn't get any association to speak of, and didn't feel it appropriate to seek any out.
Instead of training and personal relationship, what most his disciples are actually getting from Radhanath is one of the worst examples of ISKCON leadership that exists on the planet today. Spiritual leadership that is so bad, it rivals even that given by Radhanath's mentor, Kirtanananda Swami. In fact, if one closely studies his activities, they will see that Radhanath's modus operandi resembles Kirtanananda's more with each passing day.
Radhanath is now busy divesting himself of the obvious Vaisnava symbols like tilak and sikha, and we can only wonder if one day soon, he'll don a quasi-Christian hooded robe like Kirtanananda's… or perhaps it will be something a little more Buddhist. Either way, the trend is certainly going in the opposite direction from Srila Prabhupada's standards, cent percent.
Lest the reader should think we exaggerate, following is correspondence from Radhanath Swami's camp. The 'Michigan Team' are working on event planning for an upcoming 'do' in Detroit, at which the Swami will dovetail "preaching" with book-flogging (his own book, of course, not Srila Prabhupada's books).
Date: Mon, Jun 27, 2011 at 6:52 PM
Subject: I thought you would like this! Details regarding events with HH
Radhanath Swami
Dear devotees,
Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:10:30 -0700
Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Sri Sri Radha Kunjabihari.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
On behalf of the organizing team in Detroit we would like to provide you with
some details for the upcoming book signing events with His Holiness Radhanath
Swami.
We have TWO events - one in Grosse Pointe (on June 28) and the other in Royal
Oak (on June 29). Please RSVP by clicking: http://radhanathswami.com/michigan/
The first two events are formal and indirect preaching events and we beg your
cooperation with regard to following guidelines:
* No devotional attire (Saree or Salwar Kameez is fine for mataji's) and no
tilak
* No offering obeisances at the program, either inside or outside the premises.
* Please do not surround Radhanath Maharaj or hold his bag or bring him his
shoes etc
* Please do not keep staring at Maharaj, please pay attention to new guests and make them feel welcome and comfortable.
* Please do not worry if the general public interacts with Maharaj in a way
that we don't think is appropriate – they do not offer obeisances, or if women
talk to him directly etc.
* Let the audience define the kirtan and how they want to progress with it.
Don't push anything. Let people discover things.
Please carefully read the email below by HG Harivilas Prabhu, GBC and President of Seattle temple, we request everyone to follow similar guidelines here in Michigan.
Please forward this email to visiting devotees from other cities or any congregation members who plan on attending the event.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us by email.
Thank you very much.
Your servants,
Radhanath Swami Michigan team
Email from HG Harivilas Prabhu:
Subject: Vaishnava Seva: Important: Message from HG Harivilas Prabhu about the August 13th event
To: vaishnavaseva@googlegroups.com; vaishnavavani@googlegroups.com
Hare Krishna Dear devotees,
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada
HG Harivilas Prabhu had called for a meeting with the devotees on Sunday August 1st to discuss the vision and the dos and donts for the kirtan program with HH Radhanath Swami and Gaur Vani Prabhu on August 13th - Dance to the Source of Love.
Prabhuji expects all members of VCC to follow these guidelines as in this
program there will be many new people who will be attending an event organized by the VCC for the first time. Prabhuji has conveyed that extremely strict action will be taken if any of us are found violating these rules.
Please note the message from HG Harivilas Prabhu below and please get back to me with any questions on email.
Your servant,
Navkishori dd
Our Goal:
We want to conduct this program in such a way that it will have a long term
benefit for the temple. We want to project a certain image of our movement that
leaves a positive impression in the minds of pe0opke who attend the program.
This program will attract people interested in kirtan who are affiliated to
other groups. We do not want them to see us as a sectarian movement or an
internally closed group of people with special language, dress, body
language, etc that may undermine our purpose. The purpose is to make them think "These Hare Krishna people are different from what I thought they were. I feel I can come often and see their programs" If we leave this impression in our
mind then they can appreciate in an unbiased way - Krishna Prabhupada and
ISKCON Gurus"
We must not create an obstacle to their appreciation of our Gurus by our
behavior. This program is not about a lecture , it is presenting a wonderful
evening of joyful kirtan so that people can penetrate the Vaishnava mood of
hearing and chanting. If we do this properly, the people who attend will want to
come again and again to take part in such a program.
American people are looking for joy, if they experience happiness and joy then
they may ask important questions. We want to allow them to experience joy
through kirtan and prasad. We don't want to necessarily preach Krishna
Conscious philosophy directly. When we do aggressive book distribution some may take the book begrudgingly but not read it as their first contact was not
pleasant.
The potential of the program is that it can be repeated year after year and it
can grow progressively until we attract 5000-6000 people to attend.
Our preaching at this event is through kirtan and prasad and good behavior. We
want their first contact with us to be a joyous and happy one.
There are certain things that we need to be extremely careful about:
* Timing: Please help the volunteers maintain the event schedule and event
plan.
* Preaching : The preaching will be through kirtan and Prasad. Let the people
discover things and experience the ecstasy of kirtan and appreciate the
gentleness and friendliness of the devotees.
* Program is not a love fest for Guru: The Program is not a love fest for
Guru, but the purpose is to attract people to the program so that they look
forward to this event year after year. The risk we have is people will see a
demonstration of love for the Guru which is hard for them to understand. It
looks strange to the people and they feel that they don't want to get attracted
to us because they don't want to become so gung-ho as us
* Please be careful about shouting out or saying the words "Jai Gurudev", "Savior of humanity", "Gurudev ki Jai" "Haribol" and other exclamations that
come across as the language of a fanatic. Remmeber many of the people are
coming for the first time for a Hare Krishna Program .
* No tilak
* No offering obeisances at the program within and without the premises.
* Please do not surround Radhanath Maharaj or hold his bag or bring him his
shoes etc
* Please do not keep staring at Maharaj.
* Please do not worry if the general public interacts with Maharaj in a way
that we don't think is appropriate – they do not offer obeisances, or if women
talk to him directly etc.
If we do such things it will undermine our progress in developing
relationships with the people who will come.
* Dress Code:
* Men dress up in their regular trousers/shirts etc – no dhotis, and other
attire.
* Women can wear sarees or salwar kameezes if they want.
* Women do not cover their head.
* Act like you would act at work. Be cool : Look cool together , eyes should
be on the people and not on Maharaj make the people feel comfortable so that
they can hear properly they should not feel weird because of our behavior. Let
the audience define the kirtan and how they want to progress with it. Don't
push anything. Let people discover things. Note: At michigan events there wont
be any dancing
* Children :
* Children aged 7 and under will be in the Fellowship Hall along with at least one parent in the first part of the event which is from 6:30pm -8pm after that
they can go to the main hall when the kirtan starts.
* At any given time, parents have to accompany their children – no running
around and screaming at the children.
* We have a sound proof room in the auditorium. First preference for that room will be given to newer guests.
* Story about Sarva Prabhu's friend: Sarva Prabhu's Coworker Bill came for Ananda Mela. He is around 56 years old . Sarva Pr and his friend sometimes
talk about spirituality at a very high level. He came for ananda Mela – the
first festival he ever attended by our temple. When asked how he liked the
festival he said "Great I had a blast – the highlight was the gobi Manchurian –
ate on both days. Full family liked gobi Manchurian. Next day he met devotees.
He got Radhanath Swami's autobiography from Sarva Prabhu.He asked – " So Ananda Mela was organized by the Hare Krishna's – it was great." Sarva Prabhu invited him for the kirtan event on Aug 13th. He said he will go but with Sarva Prabhu. He said when he was growing up "I had a different experience of Hare Krishnas- mom said stay away from them.If he knew it was a Hare Krishna
festival he would not have come for Aannda Mela, since he had preconceived
notions about the Hare Krishnas.
HG Harivilas Prabhu said :"This is how Sarva's friend became attracted to
experiencing a social event called Ananda Mela. At the end of two days he
finally understood that it was really a Hare Krishna festival. He read
Radhanath Maharaj's book and he became interested because he he has a friendly
relationship with Sarva pr, He enjoyed eating the Manchurian prasad,he enjoyed
the Ananda Mela event and reading the book. By reading the book he developed a liking for Radhanath Maharaj. Then he even spoke to anotehr person to convince them that Radhanath Maharaj's program will be worth seeing. In a short period of time Sarva Pr's friend became a friend of the Vedic Cultural Center and the Hare Krishna movement. When he comes to this program in Seattle along with another Microsoft employee and sees many devotees acting like fanatic followers of a sect then all the positive cultivation that was done by Sarva , the
festival at Ananda Mela and reading Radhanath Maharaj's book will be destroyed
because some of our devotees could not control themselves at the program. We
want to maximize the hearing process at the program. We dont want to obstruct
their hearing and appreciating of Krishna Consciosuness. They have expectation
about fun if we disappoint them we are the losers and they don't get benefit
Following is another story of Radhanath Swami's current preaching strategy, this one recently told by Rukmini-Devi dasi, who was commenting on the articles above:
"Reading the above has encouraged me to relate my experience with
Radhanatha Swami.
About a year ago, he was on one of his extensive book tours and was
coming to Reno, Nevada. Radhanath was to speak at a Yoga Studio and
the local Hindu temple. There are only about 10 devotees in this area
- a mix of Iskcon devotees, two ritviks (myself and one other) and
some riding the fence. I found out that the devotees were all going
to the Hindu temple to see him.
My curiosity got the better of me and I decided to go to the program
at the Hindu temple.
To make this brief, I listened to him very carefully and not once did
he mention Srila Prabhupada or the maha mantra. Radhanatha's whole
talk was about himself and the wonderful mystical events that made him
the "guru" he is today.
I approached his servant after the talk and asked when we were going
to have kirtan. I was told we weren't. So I sat down on the floor
and began playing my kartals and singing Srila Prabhupada's prayers.
Radhanatha, who was standing directly in front of me with his back to
me, turned around, stared down at me for a second and then turned away
and walked off. Not a word, just a cold impersonal glance.
He did not even accept any of the prasadam that the devotees had
brought to the temple and that I offered on the altar to Radha
Krishna. Radhanatha seemed to just want to leave and leave quickly.
In fact, he seemed highly perturbed when one of the Iskcon devotees
wanted to talk with him. He was literally backing away towards the
door and not saying a word, just nodding.
Throughout the whole program (if you could call it that), Radhanatha's
facial expression never changed - it remained that same one that seems
to be his trademark.
This was my experience of Radhanatha and it actually haunts me
somewhat. I looked through his book and it looks just like his talk
that night - all about himself with one pic of Srila Prabhupada tucked
at the very end of the book like an afterthought. But preceded by
many pictures of Radhanatha with famous people and mayavadis.
I am unimpressed.
your servant,
Rukmini-Devi dasi
Tomorrow we will provide another devotee's observations on Radhanath Swami's "web preaching" style, and further evidence of the Swami's devolution into gross religiosity. And, we will offer suggestions on how devotees can make their feelings about this known, both in ISKCON and outside it.
