BY: ROCANA DASA
Oct 29, CANADA (SUN) — A weekly response to Dandavats editorials.
Today's edition of Obeisances is in reply to a recent article by Madhava Ghosh entitled, "The Resurgency. Due to my age and past life experiences, I felt that the author's message was intended for devotees just like me.
It just happens that I'm currently writing on the section of the Lilamrta that includes the letter from Srila Prabhupada that Madhava Ghosh prabhu quotes in his article, wherein Srila Prabhupada is introducing the formula by which Krsna consciousness was spread throughout the world. Having joined in 1969/70, I was actively involved in the whole phenomenon of 'how to start a temple'. The formula obviously worked, as I experienced firsthand.
As Madhava Ghosh points out, this formula is not only still applicable, but is essential if there is to be a "resurgency" in the movement. As he guardedly states, this would please Srila Prabhupada, and of course the other Sampradaya Acaryas. In fact, this is what should have continued happening after Srila Prabhupada's departure, until there was a temple in every town and village.
Reading this article, the reader will have an opportunity to observe the borderline of what you can get away with saying, and still be allowed to publish on Dandavats. Basically the author is dodging all the philosophical minefields that one has to navigate in order to get the message across. He wisely and accurately points out that here in the West, the temples by and large have either been completely supported by Hindus, or taken over by Hindus - nothing personal against Hindus, as such. Even in the early days, many of Srila Prabhupada's disciples were Hindus, and many of the temples benefited by their participation. But they can't help but put their cultural stamp on the movement and essentially direct the preaching towards their own demographics. It's human nature. That is not, however, what Srila Prabhupada wanted.
The author points out that the two major success stories in ISKCON today are Eastern Europe and India. In terms of Eastern Europe, which constitutes preaching to Westerners, he tactfully points out that they can't commit the same mistakes that were made in America and which have caused the circumstances we find here today. He also mentions that some of the same problems will rear their heads. But what were those mistakes and problems, exactly? That he doesn't dare to elaborate on.
As someone who is serious about preaching in the West, I've made several attempts to interface with ISKCON in the areas where I've been living for the last 15 years, in Oregon and here in British Columbia. I've also run independent programs such as those the author is recommending, and with some success. What Madhava Ghosh dasa doesn't mention, however, and what I've personally experienced, is that regardless of their independence, such preaching programs are bound to interface with the ISKCON institution.
Unquestionably, the Hare Krsna movement has been branded. As soon as you go out to preach Krsna consciousness and introduce Srila Prabhupada, you will have to deal with the problem of what to call yourself. Eventually you'll likely have to decide what to call your non-profit organization when you incorporate. All of Srila Prabhupada's disciples and followers worldwide have an equal right to share in the value of the ISKCON brand. The current GBC-ISKCON do not own the brand - it belongs to Srila Prabhupada and to Krsna. We, as sincere followers of the Sampradaya Acarya, have every right to employ the ISKCON brand in our preaching efforts, as has been substantiated by recent legal challenges and court cases.
While anyone has the legal right to incorporate and call themselves ISKCON "Wherever", that doesn't mean the GBC-ISKCON will sanction all such entities, or acknowledge them as "bonafide" or "authorized" ISKCON centers. Of course, if you wish to have the GBC's blessing on your ISKCON-named project, then you will have to deal with the consequences of that association. First of all, you have deal with the reality of getting and maintaining GBC approval if you want to be "officially recognized". This means that you must deal with the whole guru issue: institutional rubber-stamping of gurus, pressure on newcomers to "surrender" quickly to diksa, and the inevitable potential for re-initiation that follows.
If you want to fly the ISKCON flag and have a friendly GBC, then you must buy-in 100% to the GBC's most recent concepts of what it means to be hooked-up to Srila Prabhupada and the Sampradaya. You must agree with the way ISKCON is being managed, ostensibly through the GBC... or at least pretend that you do in public.
Of course, many of the senior godbrothers and sisters that Madhava Ghosh is directing his article to are no longer willing to pay the price required in order to receive the blessings of the GBC. That is precisely why some 90% of us are no longer working within the institution. Instead, many have quietly gone about their own personal preaching by way of nama hatta programs, and the like. They keep it low-key, and if they incorporate and open a full-service temple, they often call it something other than ISKCON - like the "Vedic Cultural Center" or the "Bhakti Yoga Center".
There is a new trend manifesting, however, and it is directly tied to the legal realities about the ISKCON brand that have been emerging from recent legal actions. While it seems very likely that part of the long-term strategy behind the GBC's new Bylaws scheme is to take control of the ISKCON brand, it seems they are closing the barn door after the horse is already out. Having finally realized that the GBC (a West Bengal Society) does not own the ISKCON brand, small preaching centers like our own are now gearing up to incorporate under the name ISKCON. Granted, they won't be blessed by the GBC unless they 'kiss the rod' and surrender to the institutional leaders, but many preachers today are much less concerned about that than they were in years past.
Devotees are re-assessing the cost-benefit ratio of working on the "inside", as opposed to working on the "outside" of ISKCON. Many of Srila Prabhupada's original books are now available outside of ISKCON/BBT - in fact, almost everything available from the "inside" has been changed and adulterated. Srila Prabhupada's Ratha Yatras are now everywhere around the world, so any and all can participate. In other words, what is really lost by the independent preaching centers who operate as ISKCON-on-the-outside? Not a great deal, actually. You won't be on the lecture circuit, of course, and you'll miss out on having many of the ISKCON celebrities come to give darshan to your congregation. In the eyes of many, however, that's nicely balanced out by the absence of diksa-politicking and pandering to the high-maintenance personalities that one must deal with on the inside.
What can't be avoided by the independent programs, however, is that sooner or later, the newcomers that you're preaching to will come into contact with, and be influenced by, members of the institution. They will eventually be pressured to take diksa (usually indiscriminately) from an ISKCON guru. They will certainly be challenged by devotees on the inside, who try to magnetize recruits from the satellite independents, thereby draining them of their own preachers and congregants. In reality, however this is a fate that many of the GBC-ISKCON temples also suffer. Take Vancouver, BC, for instance. Local temple managers are often heard complaining that they recruit and train-up so many nice devotees, only to have a big diksa guru roll into town, or more often recruiters for the big gurus. They woo away the candidates, who leave for more exotic locales like India, where they can be with their guru. Many North American temples are having to import Bengalis and Eastern Europeans to maintain their programs, while the westerners head east.
The bottom line is, all these problems are philosophical problems. This is the main reason I developed my Sampradaya Acarya position paper - so that I could present a sensible, philosophically sound position to newcomers that will answer their questions and help them to develop their Krsna consciousness without having to blindly surrender to the institution. I educate them as to who I believe Srila Prabhupada is, what I believe ISKCON is, and what I believe Srila Prabhupada's conception of the GBC is. Of course, this doesn't align with the current institution's thinking. In my preaching, I unfortunately find it necessary to inform all newcomers that ISKCON has basically reverted to being a religion. And this is essentially the big problem that Madhava Ghosh hints about but never elaborates on.
There is no doubt that we can attract the kinds of westerners who sincerely want to participate in the spiritual program that Srila Prabhupada originally introduced. Through his formula of opening a small temple, inviting people to come, preaching and giving out books and so on, the westerners, who want pure spirituality as presented by the Sampradaya Acaryas, are by and large not interested in religion. They're actually trying to escape the hypocrisy of the religions they were brought up with in the West, primarily Christianity. Many are disappointed when they eventually figure out that ISKCON today isn't much different.
As I see it, ISKCON has put formidable barriers against programs such as Madhava Ghosh is proposing. And while it seemed for many years that there were equally formidable barriers against independent programs starting-up on the outside, we're finding that this is no longer the case. The ISKCON brand and the spiritual potency of Srila Prabhupada cannot be controlled by the institution. The mercy of Lord Caitanya's Sankirtana movement cannot be held by institutional bounds. Today, we senior citizens are free to come back, to fly the ISKCON flag, and to maintain our philosophical and brahminical independence as we see fit. We can interface with the institution, support it to the degree that we wish, in any way that will support our own preaching work. And perhaps more importantly, we will be free to withdraw our support in response to asiddhantic, un-bonafide policies and positions taken by the ISKCON leadership. For the time being, the GBC may refuse to facilitate a democratically-run organization made up of leaders who are voted in by their constituents, but we can still vote with our hearts, our feet, and our wallets. The more local independent programs that can prove by the results of their dynamic preaching that that they deserve to be supported, the more easy it will be for congregational members to re-direct their support away from the corporate institutional temples that are no longer following Srila Prabhupada's program, but follow instead the kinds of asiddhantic constructs we find in ISKCON today.
Whether you work from the inside or the outside, as a preacher you must be able to articulate very clearly who is Srila Prabhupada, what is his vision of ISKCON, and what is the Sampradaya's position on being initiated and gaining entrance into the Sampradaya through the medium of initiation. You have to take a position on such matters as the book changes, ISKCON's position on controlling diksa and sannyasa candidates, re-initiation, Rtvik-ism, B.V. Narayana, and the Gaudiya Matha phenomenon. If you want to start an independent preaching program and you're not prepared in that way, then you're going to have to deal with the problems on the fly. There is simply no way to avoid them.
In his article, Madhava Ghosh prabhu hints at these problems, but he never states them outright. Basically we have to accept the fact that due to the physical absence of the Sampradaya Acarya, there are significant problems and complicated circumstances in which we can no longer expect his direct, immediate intervention. We must now draw upon our own realizations and solve these problems ourselves. By sticking closely to Srila Prabhupada's original formula, I have no doubt that we'll get the mercy of the previous Acaryas, and Krsna will reciprocate with our sincere efforts. But be prepared to deal with the problems, nonetheless.
It's so easy, in your mind, to expect that ISKCON's leaders are going to encourage you and support what you're doing in whatever way they can just because you're running a successful independent preaching program. Just as Madhava Ghosh points out, this is obviously what Srila Prabhupada wants, and what he'd be pleased with, so you'd assume the leaders of his society would be supportive of such a scenario. Unfortunately, that's more often not the case. You're going to learn some valuable lessons in your own Krsna consciousness in terms of the hurdles you'll have to navigate, with little or no support from the institution - and sometimes with their directed antipathy. It's not as simple as figuring out just how to get the books into people's hands and how to instruct and nurture those who are inquisitive.
One of the things Madhava Ghosa said that I found strange was when he pointed out that when Srila Prabhupada was preaching, he was preaching to what he calls the "newly minted adults", namely his disciples. I was one of them. Most of us were in our 20's, and that youthful enthusiasm and mentality was one of the ingredients in Srila Prabhupada's formula that made it work. However the "resurgence", as Madhava Ghosh presents it, relies on the oldest generation, who he assumes have paid for their houses, have pensions, have put their kids through college, and are now coming to a stage where they're free. But that's not necessarily the way it is for many of the older devotees. It depends on when you left ISKCON, and under what circumstances. If you left ISKCON later in life, and you struggled with why you left ISKCON for some time before starting a career or family life, then it's quite possible you won't be "comfortable" at this point in time. So for us to sponsor the younger folks, as he's proposing here, is not necessarily an easy solution.
One of the main messages that I've taken away from my direct association with Srila Prabhupada was his simple statement, "Somehow or other, just try to think of Krsna." Preaching is the best way I know to think of Krsna, as Srila Prabhupada himself demonstrated. Going out and presenting Krsna consciousness to the public, to the fallen conditioned souls, will convince you that the philosophy as it's presented by Srila Prabhupada is the only solution to save the individuals and humanity at large in this age of Kali.
Obeisances to Dandavats and to Sriman Madhava Ghosh dasa.
