I'm a Practicing Hindu?
BY: JAYA MADHAVA DAS (ACBSP)
Aug 26, 2010 — MOSCOW, RUSSIA (SUN) — This Month's August 2010 ISKCON News Tells the whole devotee community and the world that Hollywood actress Julia Roberts says, "I'm a practicing Hindu." Ms. Roberts went to India to film her current film, Eat, Pray, Love based on the novel by Liz Gilbert. The fact that Julia Roberts is going towards Hinduism in many ways is good for her and any progress on the spiritual path is auspicious.
Hollywood stars often fall victim to the pitfalls of stardom, i.e., too much money, drugs, intoxication, illicit sex, divorce, false ego, etc… In Hollywood, success is often a double edged blade. Many fallen stars abound and too many of them end up dead before their time, overcome and eaten up by the material energy, Maya.
I myself wish Ms. Roberts well and Godspeed on her spiritual quest, and I hope she gets Srila Prabhupada's/KRSNAs mercy as soon as possible. I'm sincere for her spiritual efforts, not the false Hindu hype PR for ISKCON, but for her as a spiritual soul. If she stops eating meat and follows Vedic principles, this would be auspicious for her and her family. If she became a Krsna devotee and chanted Hare Krsna, that's the perfection of her life!
Being Hindu and Hinduism is not necessarily automatically being a Krsna bhakta/Vasinava! And for ISKCON News or websites to put this in the mix for ISKCON's preaching is confusing and deceptive. Why? Because it's common knowledge, most people don't know about Hinduism or ISKCON /Bhakti Yoga. This leads to misunderstandings between Hindus, non-Hindus about what is ISKCON. Is it Hindu? Srila Prabhupada went out of His way to emphasize that his ISKCON was not a mundane religion and non-sectarian. ISKCON News and Dandavats.com purposely exploits this misunderstood point and blurs the Hindu issue for cheap PR. What to speak of financial support from the Indian community. This is called cheating and misrepresenting Srila Prabhupada. His preaching and his true intentions for ISKCON.
Please note the article in ISKCON News is not from ISKCON News staff but reprinted, form another news source. Nowhere in the article is it saying she is a Krsna devotee - because she did not become one, she is a Hindu. Yet ISKCON News likes to imply otherwise.
"Hindu" these days means so many concoctions in the name of Vedic civilization/India. Srila Prabhupada always preached strongly and straightforwardly about this issue.
Srila Prabhupada was strongly and vocally against the hypocrisy of modern day India's Hinduism. There are many Indian gurus who say they are God, and they are a dime a dozen in India. With cheap magic tricks and mystic yoga they masses. This is Hinduism.
This is what is Hindu,,, 'any damn thing'! Demigod worship, endless pujas, sentimentalism, impersonalism, I am God, bodily conceptions of life. I'm Hindu, you're Muslim, etc... the worship of the country/nature as a God and an All are One mentality. I'm American, I'm Indian, I'm white, I'm black concept. As Srila Prabhupada said openly, Hinduism is a hodge podge.
In stark contrast, this is NOT what Srila Prabhupada's ISKCON is supposed to be preaching! How carelessly ISKCON uses the word "Hindu" these days to make it look so acceptable to the Indian people and the public. It's obvious the 'new sanitized ISKCON wants to please every Tom, Dick and Mary!
ISKCON News is a complete embarrassment to read by many devotees, a mere spin doctor, or tool. Like the mainstream media in the USA, ISKCON News is not always telling real news... rather a mix of questionable, sentimental news, like on the Tamal Krishna memorial beach, 'The Million Balloons in the air for peace' at the Bhaktivedanta Manor, etc. It's more like hot air then meaningful serious preaching, and it's an insult to Srila Prabhupada.
The Bhaktivedanta Manor is shamelessly hyping a Hindu school and brahmacaris in ISKCON, promoting silly fundraising hikes to Mount Kilimanjaro, cut us a break. We'd expect this stunt from Sri Chinmoy's ashram, not ISKCON! ISKCON websites are not addressing the real serious problems in ISKCON in a truthful, meaningful way. Also they allow no disagreements at all. Censorship rules. I have watched in dismay at the decline and compromise in Dandavats.com and IskconNews.com. The ISKCON News PR machine and Chakra.org are constantly going off in strange directions in the name of Krsna Consciousness, like pro-Women's Lib and pro Gay Marriage and other nonsense in the name of Krsna Consciousness. It's truly embarrassing to see and its hard to preach for Srila Prabhupada when ISKCON contradicts Srila Prabhupada so often.
Now ISKCON News, Dandavats and Chakra follow in the inglorious tradition of the government controlled, corporate media karmi news sites, mostly no truthful or real news. Is ISKCON news so desperate for real news or any good news, that they'll print anything? Meanwhile there is no honest, straightforward discussions on these ISKCON websites of all the problems in the society. This is healthy and honest news?
So my original point is that ISKCON News is making a cheap and dishonest plug in their website for Julia Roberts by purposeful, misleading news and indirectly suggesting that she now being Hindu and is automatically 'one of us' in ISKCON. Clever media hype? This dangerous deviation now runs amok in what was once Srila Prabhupada's strict program to be followed in Prabhupada's ISKCON.
It's a very sly way of making something look as one thing, when it's not. Many devotees and people won't fall for it. Many will, and that's unfortunate. We don't need to see another example of shameless exploitation of the word "Hindu" by ISKCON websites. The official ISKCON webpages that boast 'The Heart of Hinduism ' are bad enough. I confidently say Srila Prabhupada would have had gotten angry, really upset with His disciples if they dared at Bury Place Temple and The Bhaktivedanta Manor to preach ISKCON was Hindu in England. Srila Prabhupada, said he wanted the preaching in England to be to the locals, the non-Hindus. Had it been that way in the 70's in England, the Bhaktivedanta Manor might not even exist today! Thousands of British/Scottish/Welsh non-Indians may have never joined ISKCON in the 70's had the Manor preached it was Hindu. Preaching to local British people in England -- this was the KEY to why the preaching was so successful in the early years in England. The UK Yatra would not have dared say or imply this in Prabhupada's presence at Bhaktivedanta Manor. They wouldn't have dared to pull a stunt like this in front of Srila Prabhupada. So why do it in his absence? That's cheating. That's change and compromise.
That's what I see… constant cheap misguiding information on ISKCON's webpages. This is wrong misinformation and misleading. Anti-preaching. Myself and thousands like me didn't join ISKCON to become a Hindu -- just the opposite! Before coming to ISKCON, I had already been a member of TM (Transcendental Meditation), I had read the books and teachings of many yogis and gurus from India, from Meher Baba to Sai Baba, and the thing which struck me to the core of my heart was Srila Prabhupada's disciples preaching in the 70's, the Maha mantra - HARE KRSNA - Prasadam and Srila Prabhupada's bold, relentless straightforwardness and no compromise of Krsna Consciousness to modern day Hindus. This amazed me. All the other gurus and yoga groups were full of compromise and wishy washy.
I was deeply impressed by Srila Prabhupada's preaching candor and straightforwardness with all people. (Which is so noticeable by its absence in most preaching done in ISKCON today.) Needless to say, I got a HIGHER Taste and Srila Prabhupada's causeless mercy, and I joined ISKCON. I was a brahmacari and long time book distributor, preacher/teacher in ISKCON for many decades. Nowhere in Prabhupada's 1970's ISKCON did we preach we are Hindus, rather we presented Bhagavad-gita As It Is, as Srila Prabhupada intended it for the world.
ISKCON had no compromise to Hinduized programs or compromise to the Hindu religion for support. Superstar Julia Roberts is now a Hindu… good for her! (Really.) Let's wish her well, but........... once again, I DID NOT JOIN SRILA PRABHUPADA'S ISKCON TO BECOME A HINDU! Now I'm a Hindu? How about you?
Your servant,
Jaya Madhava das (ACBSP)
