More on Them n'All
BY: ROCANA DASA
Sep 19, USA (SUN) — Thank you for your reply, Kesava Krsna dasa. While there’s nothing to be ‘sorry’ about, I do take exception with the assumptions made in your reply. I’ve heard such rebuttals many, many times. I’d like to take this opportunity to clarify the fact that even though I use my own personal circumstances and experiences to make my philosophical points, it’s not that this is my sole motivation, or my motivation at all, really. It’s just that I like to put a personal touch on things, and speak from my own experience and realization. I could be saying that same things strictly on behalf of so many of my Godbrothers.
Many of my experiences with ISKCON, by and large, were not unpleasant. In fact, I have so many fond memories, especially during Srila Prabhupada’s lila period, and with many, many devotees. In my recent Obeisances to Dandavats article, I was primarily addressing philosophical issues. You seem to be cavalierly avoid replying on that level, and treat my philosophical positions as unimportant, as though they were only a guise to cover up my ‘real’ motivation, which is to ‘get back at’ my senior Godbrothers for giving me some sort of hard time. This is a very non-philosophical response on your part.
After reading about all your problems with multiple gurus and going through the trauma of them falling down, it sounds to me like you may have had a harder time than I did. But like you, I didn’t succumb to “ritvik fallacies”, nor did I join the Gaudiya Matha. But I also don’t buy this whole idea that if you stay in ISKCON, then you’re following Srila Prabhupada’s desire to cooperate. If you want to swallow that line of thought to justify staying for your own personal reasons (which you haven’t actually disclosed), that’s your business.
In many ways, it’s undoubtedly more comfortable to be in ISKCON than to be outside of it… so long as all the asiddhantic deviations don’t agitate your mind too much. These deviations are going on right in front of you, and you’re not allowed to even think of them let alone speak out about them. In fact, the story of your own personal history highlights one of the many philosophical deviations, namely re-initiation. But that’s a subject for another time.
The fact is, you don’t address anything I said to you. You actually admit that you choose to ignore the real problems, that are internal. Of course, Srila Prabhupada said that if ISKCON’s going to fall apart, it’ll be from the inside, not outside. In your article, you emphasize all the problems we have in preaching that are coming from the outside, but you never mention those coming from the inside. That in itself is not straightforward.
The big philosophical issue is whether or not we should tone down the absolute philosophy we’ve been given by Srila Prabhupada, and lighten it up so everyone can be more friendly towards us. I’m saying this is something the Sampradaya Acaryas were against. You’re basically saying we can’t imitate the Sampradaya Acaryas in our heaviness. Of course, the leaders you’re protecting were only too willing to imitate Srila Prabhupada, and still are - not in his preaching, but in every other way. Why do you think your past gurus fell down? Because they were imitating the Sampradaya Acarya. Why do you think so many other gurus fell down? Same reason.
When we say Srila Prabhupada was heavy, we must note that he was heaviest with his disciples. If one listens carefully to what he’s saying on morning walks or in room conversations, he’s instructing his followers to preach the way he’s preaching. In fact, he’s ordering them to be heavy. Trying to imitate Srila Prabhupada by taking on all the external vestiges of a Sampradaya Acarya, like the titles, asanas and worship, etc., is far different from trying to imitate his heaviness in preaching. In fact, what’s happening today is an imitation of his exalted status, not his preaching, and this is a sign that the pure spiritual movement is devolving into a religion.
As for your freedom, I don’t understand this thing about your freedom to write articles. You’ve already gone to the boundaries of your freedom. Beyond that is the freedom that is enjoyed by brahmanas who, as Srila Prabhupada has explained, speak the truth regardless of whether it hurts other people, because it is the truth. You’ve admitted it is the truth, yet you’ve chosen not to speak it because it will hamper your freedom. Where’s the logic there?
Your kind words in regards to memories of me are appreciated. If you had used the name Jayatirtha gave you, I might be able to place you. As for the loving family atmosphere you’re referring to, that’s only there as long as you’re willing to do what you’re doing - be an apologist for the leaders and say what they want to hear. And that’s why you call “give and take”. The reality is that my position is much different than yours. You apparently didn’t go through Srila Prabhupada’s lila period, and you have decided to go along with the re-initiation aspect of ISKCON. In other words, you’ve always been a disciple of one of my Godbrothers. Consequently, your comparisons are somewhat limited.
Since you mention past history, the fact is that I didn’t have any big blowout’s or “problems” with any individual leader that I was dealing with that caused me to leave ISKCON. Of course, my mind was very much agitated for years due to the fact that I saw what was going on, and what was the truth, especially in the position I had as a so-called “middle manager”. I knew much more than you did about what was going on, and I kept my mouth shut. Being forced to see, using my intelligence, sastra and what Srila Prabhupada taught me to recognize truth, and not being able to do or say anything about it - that was painful. In fact, the most painful part was having a part in encouraging devotees like you to get initiated by people like Jayatirtha and Bhagavan.
And while I’m sure you won’t appreciate the comment, it merits mention that your current guru, HH Giriraja Swami, was not only a strong promoter of the Zonal Acaryas, he was also one of the biggest promoters of the Gopi Bhava Club. These are two of the biggest siddhantic deviations to take place in ISKCON since Srila Prabhupada departed. Please encourage your Spiritual Master to take advantage of all the freedom you say you have in ISKCON to give us a detailed philosophical explanation of his involvement with the other ISKCON leaders in those asiddhantic activities. Now that would be an expression of free speech I might believe.
You close by saying you accept the corrections I offered, with gratitude and thanks, but you don’t articulate just which corrections you accepted. You obviously rejected some of them. It would be interesting to hear specifically which errors you accept.
Insofar as your Spiritual master having not given his approval of your article, that’s not what I said. Surely Giriraja Swami reads what you write and publish after the fact. Your article had been up on Dandavats for quite some time, yet he didn’t correct you as I did, and he’s your guru and a long time sannyasi. That’s what I was referring to.
In your article, you talk about living in a society full of crazy fanatics and people who lump the devotees in with other cults, etc. Yet the very thing that you’re criticizing mundane society for is exactly the thing that the ISKCON society you belong to is doing to me. In other words, they have often called me a rtvik, lumping me into that group because it’s a convenience catchall. Of course, it’s not true - I’ve never been a rtvik. At least in the outside karmi society you’re calling to task, one has freedom of speech, religion and expression, which you don’t have in ISKCON. So that’s the hypocrisy I’m really speaking out against. You’re basically saying it’s OK, this is the way it should be. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu and the Sampradaya Acaryas would be pleased to have this kind of circumstance identified with them.
