BY: ROCANA DASA
Nov 5, CANADA (SUN) — A weekly response to Dandavats editorials.
I made my usual perusal of Dandavats this week in hopes of finding something philosophical to comment on, and was overwhelmed by the number of articles dealing with death and disease amongst the devotees. Yesterday 25% of the front page articles fell into this category. With today's news and the aged rollover, we still have a 22% mix of these articles on the Dandavats front page. Newcomers who are checking out the online Hare Krsna community might find this balance of content rather disturbing. Not only is it overwhelming by sheer volume, but upon reading the remarks made by various devotees one might begin to wonder about our philosophy.
It's with a certain degree of trepidation that I again approach this subject. In the past I've gotten a great deal of negative feedback as a result of commenting on Bhakti Tirtha Swami's activities while he was in the process of leaving his body, on the leadership's memorials to Suhotra Swami, on the subject of Tamal Krishna Goswami's demise, and on the samadhis that are now manifesting at Srila Prabhupada's major projects.
When you consider our philosophy, as Srila Prabhupada has clearly stated, the only real absolute truth in the material world is that everyone is going to die -- death is the ultimate truth here, and as such it is worthy of philosophical commentary. The Bhagavad-gita itself is concerned with the death of so many exalted personalities, and at the time of the battle of Kurukshetra death was Arjuna's main concern. But Krsna reassured him that everyone dies, and whether you die on the battlefield or you die of old age, still death is certain. Of course, taking another body is also a certainty.
In recent weeks we have found a cornucopia of eulogies, medical reports and commentaries on Dandavats, and these fall into two main categories: stories about those who are sick, and those who have already departed. Of those in the sick category, I found the most disturbing to be the input by various very well-known ISKCON personalities on the medical condition of Shyamasundar dasa. Of course, the main thrust of the focus on him was generated by his ex-wife, Malati devi dasi. A certain phenomenon of sentiment has been attached to Shyamasundar for many years due to his early ISKCON lila days, when he was involved in interfacing with the Beatles while Krsna consciousness was being spread in England. The fact is, however, that Shyamasundar not only left ISKCON before Srila Prabhupada even departed, but he's one of the few people that Srila Prabhupada himself condemned. Shyamasundar stole money from Srila Prabhupada in order to engage in some hair-brained scheme, dealing in semi-precious jewels. Not surprisingly, he lost all the money in the process. He's long been known as one of the most eccentric personalities from the early days… and "eccentric" is really just a euphemism for crazy. There are many weird stories about how he virtually ran the London temple into the ground due to his foolish decisions.
Since that time, other than his ex-wife and a few old friends, no one in the movement has really heard much about him. He hasn't been actively preaching either inside or outside of ISKCON. Yet as soon as he gets sick, it's his old ISKCON friends who are still in power that orchestrate his medical miracle. He needed a liver, and his ex-wife Malati, who's also an ex-sannyasini, apparently encouraged a kind-hearted devotee from New Vrindaban to come forward with an organ donation. We've been updated on these unfolding events by Malati as well as Hari-sauri dasa and others.
One wonders where all the money came from to facilitate this medical feat? I doubt very much that it's coming from him personally. The question arises, why lavish so much time, money and attention on Shyamasundar, when we know very well that there are many sincere people within ISKCON who are suffering from diseases that cannot be attended to on account of a lack of money. These devotees were not sanctioned by Srila Prabhupada for stealing Krsna's money. Instead they're just humble, sincere, low visibility devotees who have been quietly working away all these years to serve their Spiritual Master. Because they're not notorieties, and don't have friends in high places, we never hear about their suffering or needs. When it comes to Shyamasundar, however, the "early days" phenomenon just seems to take over, fogging everyone's vision. We read the Shyamasundar update on Dandavats by Parijata devi dasi, who reports that Gopinath prabhu, the liver donor, gave a copy of the George Harrison book by Yogeshvar prabhu to a hospital staffer… not Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad-gita As It Is, or Teachings of Lord Caitanya, but a book about Shyamasundar's early pastimes with the Beatles.
While Shyamasundar's medical drama was playing out, other devotees were also in the process of dying. I don't know many of them personally, but I have no doubt that most, if not all, deserved recognition for their efforts on Srila Prabhupada's behalf. Unfortunately, it seems that the recognition factor at Dandavats is relative to how well-known the sick and dying are to the ruling elite. They seem to come out of the woodwork when it's time to offer sentimental memorials to the fallen and departed, but where are these leaders when the hard (and expensive) work is being done to support the ill and aging devotees? Case in point: the Vrindavan Hospice program. For years, we heard the pleas from Yadunandana pada dasa, who untiringly worked to generate funds for the excellent, compassionate work being done by the hospice staff in Vrindavan. For a long time the program received scant support from the leadership, in the way of money or other facility. Eventually it stabilized, built a volunteer support base and developed a reputation for its excellent work. Yadunandana pada prabhu moved on to other projects, the program administration was rolled into another program, and in short order, an ISKCON leader happily attached his personal name, fame and glory to the project.
When it comes to reading the eulogies and In Memorium columns penned by ISKCON leaders, we often find their offerings to be "politically appropriate" but philosophically disturbing. This phenomenon is not limited to Dandavats, but is found throughout the movement. Over the last two years I've attended a number of memorials and funerals for devotees, wherein the speakers or writers are categorically and absolutely saying that the departed personality has gone back to the spiritual world, back to Godhead to be with Srila Prabhupada. In other words, s/he is totally liberated. Of course, these sentimental mourners are themselves not in a spiritual position to make such declarations, but regardless, this has not become standard practice. ISKCON leaders and congregants alike essentially offer this same benediction to any and all of the departed.
This sentimental, un-philosophical mood is also reflected in the whole issue of samadhis. The stories that develop around those who've left their body, and especially the more well-known devotees, are like Hare Krsna urban myths. While the surviving devotees are gratified to hear such sentimental remembrances of their departed friends and loved ones, such statements actually weaken our philosophical position. Krsna consciousness is ultimately a science, and that science is based on the principle that everything is accurate. We don't make statements that aren't verifiably supported. And neophyte devotees making statements about anyone, and coming to absolute conclusions about them, is something that should be strenuously avoided. Of course, the same can be said about the opposite - that neophytes should never proclaim that someone is going to hell or is committing great aparadhas, when the person speaking has no idea of the dynamics involved in such circumstances.
The question also arises as to what will become of those who are not in "good standing" in ISKCON at the time of their departure. What sort of facility and hospice support will be made available for them in Vrindavan or Mayapur? At the time I leave my body, will I be invited to stay at my Spiritual Master's asrama? That's rather doubtful, considering the fact that many of the leaders don't consider me to be an ISKCON man, because I criticize them. Many of the eulogies we read in Dandavats offer glorifications of the departing persons as having been members in good standing of ISKCON. Of course, there's no longer any parity between being a "good Prabhupada man" and an "ISKCON member in good standing". Those who are not in "good standing" are left to wonder what this will mean at the inevitable time of departing their body.
But even being an ISKCON member in good standing doesn't ensure one an easy transition. We were interested to note one of the recent Dandavats letters about a female disciple of Srila Prabhupada who went to the nearest ISKCON center, Gita-nagari, to prepare for her departure. The letter basically states that Gita-nagari has so little money and so few people that they can't bear the burden of helping this person. The letter is basically a cry for help for people outside their community to come and assist them in caring for this devotee. Meanwhile, Satsvarupa is living high in his Mexico hacienda, squandering Srila Prabhupada's resources on his contaminated so-called artistic works. He is apparently not stepping up to help the Gita-nagari community in this regard.
One can easily see that as time goes by, we will more and more often see these circumstances unfold, as the original followers and disciples of Srila Prabhupada get older and older, and come closer to the time of death. ISKCON leadership has a responsibility to make their position abundantly clear in this regard: Just who will they help, and under what conditions? Who qualifies as someone worthy of assistance, and who will be rejected? Will they reject all the Rtviks? Will they reject anyone who has taken siksa from one of Srila Prabhupada's Godbrothers? If you don't have friends in high places or a lot of personal money, what are the options or circumstances for leaving one's body at the Holy Dhamas?
As Srila Prabhupada stated and demonstrated, when you want to leave your body it's best to do so either in Vrindavan or Mayapur. Therefore it is the duty of the ISKCON GBC and leadership to provide clarification on these matters, and we don’t find such answers in the ISKCON Lawbook.
Obeisances to Dandavats.
