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What Happened to the Hare Krishna's?

• Subject: What Happened to the Hare Krishna's?
• From: Badrinarayan das
• Date: Fri Jan 12 11:38:11 1996
• Message-Id: id696

Dear Badrinarayan Prabhu

Hello. Hare Krishna! Please accept my humble obeisances, all glories to Srila
Prabhupada.

Thanks for your letter. I apreciate what you are saying and feel the same way
myself. I know Srila Prabhupada wants us to stay in ISKCON and work in ISKCON. But
that option is not open to me as you well know. Only blind followers who are
prepared to surrender to one of the ISKCON gurus [who are not even aproved by the
GBC according to Jayadvata's "New Guru System"] are alowed in ISKCON these days
and soon there will be no one in the temples at all. Just a Hindu church with a
program on Sundays done by paid brahmins. That is where it is headed but, of
course, it can be changed.

>I received your BTGs and they are very beautifully laid out. My
>reaction was mixed....like Srila Prabhupad's example of sweet rice
>mixed with sand...sweet and painful.


That is the nature of Krishna consciousness. Krishna is so sweet and separation
from Krishna is so painful. Yet there is an incredible emotion hidden in that
separation. I am in that position now. I am always remembering the devotees, the
Deities, ISKCON. But I can't go to the temple. [Last time I went to visit Sri Sri
Radha Gopinatha the devotees there threw me out and told me if I ever come to the
temple again they would bash me so badly that I would never walk again -- and I
have no doubt they would do it too.]

>
>I notice that one of your themes is maligning ISKCON.

It certainly is not... It is simply to tell people something about Krishna. You
have to be realistic, ISKCON has caused the spiritual death of so many innocent
people who were attracted by Krishna and Srila Prabhupada and then exploited by
ISKCON. I have no argument with the ISKCON Srila Prabhupada established and he
said even if it becomes unbearable we should stay. So I would have done that. But
you throw me out. Only because I repeat Srila Prabhupada's instructions. So what
choice do I have?

I have dedicated my life to Srila Prabhupada, there is nothing else worthwhile, so
I will preach in any condition, inside or outside ISKCON -- it is my
responsibility to Srila Prabhupada, and in any case I will tell the truth. That is
our business. To present the real thing, the transcendental knowledge given to us
by Srila Prabhupada. We should just accept Prabhupada's instructions, live our
life in accordance with them, and repeat the same message to others. Our business
is chanting Hare Krishna, distributing Srila Prabhupada's books, distributing
prasadam and preaching. These are the authorized ways of preaching and attracting
people to Krishna consciousness.


>I first met
>Srila Prabhupad in 1969 and took formal initiation in 1970. A room
>conversation of his in 1970 will always stand out for me. A devotee
>asked  "What do I do when I find fault within ISKCON?" Srila Prabhpada
>said "ISKCON is my body. The Britishers have one line of poetry `Eng-
>land, with all your faults, I love you'. You should be as loyal to
>ISKCON."

Yes. Of course I am loyal to ISKCON. But there are so many "devotees" in ISKCON
who are not loyal to Srila Prabhupada. I more-or-less just ignore them. But they
throw me out.

>
>Another time I heard a devotee ask a similar question and Srila Prabhu-
>pad said that we should work within to correct the problem, but we
>should never leave ISKCON.

I didn't leave. I was thrown out [many times], bashed [many times], poisoned,
etc.. But I always came back and tried to find somewhere I could be engaged in
distributing Srila Prabhupada's books or working in a prasadam distribution
program where I could cook something, offer it to Krishna, and distribute
Krishna's mercy to the fallen conditioned souls. But these days the temples are
not the same. I like to chant Hare Krishna. Just now I have arrived here after
chanting 45 rounds and having a nice Kirtana. I really like chanting Hare Krishna.
My distress is when I go to ISKCON and find the "devotees" don't like chanting
Hare Krishna... How is that? They can't even chant 16 rounds and if they do it is
a great austerity. And the Kirtana's [of course it may be different there in
Southern California, I do not know] but here [in Sydney] they have abolished the
Kirtana altogether after Srila Prabhupada's guru-puja and they [2 or 5 of them]
just chant "Hare Krishna" three or four times at the Mangal Aroti time... [I was
thrown out one time for complaining that the Kirtana was abolished -- the TP
[Atmarama Prabhu] said the Kirtana was not Prabhupada's program at all and there
was a time and place for everything [and the morning in an ISKCON temple was
definitely not the place to chant Hare Krishna]... And the GBC [Prabhu Visnu
Swami] and all the visiting Sannyasis go along with it...

>
>I am not advocating blind following.


UNLESS YOU ARE A BLIND FOLLOWER YOU ARE THROWN OUT... You have to be a politician
to stay in ISKCON. But this duplicitous mentality is not at all conducive to
making advancement in spiritual life. I don't like it.

> You talk of seeing fault...but I
>have been around for over 25 years...a quarter of a century...and 19 of
>those years as a temple president. Whatever you have experienced, I
>gone through in spades...I have been burned, fried, exploited, offended
>etc.

>I have been through the SKP wars, the sannyasi vs grhasta campaign,
>Srila Prabhupad's departure, zonal acharyaism, guru falldowns...as well
>as numerous asampradayic philosophical infiltrations.

And the GBC has not explained why any of it happened, nor have they changed
anything since the zonal acharya days, just more "acharya's"... And there has
never been more bogus philosophy being presented in the name of Srila Prabhupada's
movement as there is now. What are you doing about that? Nothing. That is why you
can stay in ISKCON.

>
>We should hear the message of the Bhagavat through the medium which most
>attracts us. Eventually, through purification of the modes, we will be
>more attracted to hearing Bhagavt in wonderful Sanskrit, etc. In the
>meantime if you, a kid living in Sweeden on your own and visiting the
>temple now and then, wants to listen to Shelter or 108 24 hours a day,
>that will be your entry ticket back to the kingdom of God.
>  (Vraja Kishor to a bhakta in Sweden)

[....no chanting of Hare Krishna, no reading of Srila Prabhupada's books...
Hardcore 24 hours a day is the way back to Godhead...]

I have been through so many things in ISKCON too. Eight of my last ten years have
been in ISKCON. I would just find another temple after being thrown out. It
started on the third day after I joined. It was Australia in the Bhavananda
["Visnupada"] days. He came and gave some nonsense classes and I could see he
wasn't speaking the same things as Srila Prabhupada has written in his books -- I
didn't know anything about the other nonsense he got up too. So I just asked a
couple of questions to the TP. I was confused -- so I just asked a couple of
points, quoting Srila Prabhupada's books and Bhavananda's class -- the devotees
couldn't answer so they threw me out... Only blind followers were allowed.

>
>But I know, just as certainly as the sky is blue, that Srila Prabhupad
>wanted, and frankly expected, all of us to work within ISKCON's struc-
>ture to make changes....to tolerate and co-operate with each other...
>and yes, to accept the authority structure and work within it respect-
>fully even when we disagreed.

That option is not open to me or the thousands of other disciples of Srila
Prabhupada out there. You say "you should work in ISKCON" -- but when we come to
work in ISKCON there is no service, the temples are full of gundas who have no
idea of Krishna consciousness and will just bash you if you say anything to
disturb their sense gratification [in the name of Krishna consciousness].

>
>To advertise real and or imagined faults to the outside world...to
>push others away from the association of ISKCON temples and devotees
>which your magazines definitely do....would anger and sadden Srila
>Prabhupad. I have absolutely no doubt about this.

WHERE DO THEY DO THAT?????

There is nothing to "push people away from ISKCON" in them. You are pushing people
away yourselves [including me and the thousands of other Prabhupada disciples out
there].

>
>So while the presentation is very well done, it reminds me of Srila
>Prabhupad's analogy about material advancement....they are very expert,

>like the moth expert at flying...but they are flying in the wrong direc-
>tion...they are flying into the flames.

It is an attempt to tell some people something about Krishna, that is all. I tried
to do it in ISKCON, I was doing it in ISKCON, I had a very nice Christmas marathon
distributing Srila Prabhupada's books in ISKCON then they threw me out again and
as I told you I promised Sri Sri Radha Govardhandari to do at least 2,500 book
points so I had to keep distributing something. I tried to buy the books from the
BBT but they won't sell them to me. So what choice did I have?

Anyhow it is worthwhile, it is Krishna-katha, it is what ISKCON should be doing,
trying to tell people about Krishna. [instead you have turned the BTG into an in-
house magazine for devotees] I met one young boy and he told me he read one BTG
with the story about Krishna killing the Agasura demon in it. He said he was so
impressed with Krishna and the way He looked after His friends. He alone made it
worthwhile. But thousands of people read them [I distributed about 30,000] and you
are more-or-less calling me a demon for trying -- under great difficulty -- to
tell some people something about Krishna. So that is the problem with ISKCON. You
bash devotees, throw them out and refuse to sell Srila Prabhupada's books to them,
then you call them demons if they preach outside ISKCON! So I think you should
reevaluate your approach. It is crazy to write a letter to me saying "Prabhupada
says we should stay in ISKCON...", and then bash me and throw me out if I dare to
speak anything from Srila Prabhupada's books in the temples.

>
>Public fault finding....aimed at Srila Prabhupad's ISKCON and dedicated
>followers, will not help your audience and will not help you.
>
The public already know! They are asking "What Happened to the Hare Krishan's?"
Sometimes seven or eight people ask me "What Happened to the Hare Krishna's?" in
one day while I was distributing books [in Sydney].

I would like to work within ISKCON and try to help solve the problems in that way
but you don't give me that option. It is not that I want to find faults, but
everybody has noticed something has gone wrong with the Hare Krishna's. It's not a
very difficult thing to notice. I want to help people come to Krishna
consciousness, to be engaged in Srila Prabhupada's service. But there is no
service for me in ISKCON so I have to preach separately and naturally people ask
"why are you not in ISKCON". So I have to tell them.

I get many letters from devotees fried with ISKCON and of course most of
Prabhupada's disciples are now no longer with ISKCON at all. Today I received a
magazine from London, "Back to Prabhupada" by the Prabhupadaanaguas there. It is
nicely done. Have you ever wondered why so many devotees are still attached to
Srila Prabhupada and Krishna but are not welcome in ISKCON? Even if some of the
public don't know there are problems how will you keep all these devotees quiet?
Perhaps it would be better for ISKCON to consider what has gone wrong before it is
too late and there is no more ISKCON.

Of course I want to serve Krishna and Srila Prabhuapda in ISKCON. I had many, many
letters with Bhakta Matts in Sweden [he is in the BBT - legal advisor] but he [and
presumably Harikesa Maharaja] wrote me many letters along the lines of "I don't
think there will ever be a chance for you to serve in ISKCON..." So what do you
expect me to do? I have some material skills, etc, I want to use them in Krishna's
service... Otherwise I will fall into maya's hands... [of course I can just hear
your reply, "Your not really chanting Hare Krishna, your not really serving Srila
Prabhupada, your reading of Srila Prabhupada's books is useless, you are a great
blasphemer.... " I have heard it so many times. But anyhow I will continue to
chant Hare Krishna and try to tell people something about Krishna wherever I am
[inside or outside ISKCON].

>I know you have probably heard this all before, and I expect a long
>reply with all your rationalizations and logic...but I sense an intelli-
>gent and sensitive voice deep inside your efforts, so I felt it my
>duty to at least give this a try.

Of course I have no other business now except serving Srila Prabhupada and
Krishna. That is my rationalization and logic. I believe in Krishna and I know
Srila Prabhupada is a pure devotee of Krishna and his words are non-different from
Krishna. I know everyone is suffering only because they have forgotten Krishna. So

I printed something about Krishna to try and help some of them [only because you
threw me out and won't sell me Srila Prabhupada's books]. I don't know if you can
understand this or not.

My only crime is following Srila Prabhupada's instructions, wanting to preach and
distribute his books and accepting him as my spiritual master.

Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

Your servant

Madhudvisa dasa


P.S: I sent you another letter before but it bounced back as if your link account
had been canceled. It is from a bhakta there, I will send it again.

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