ISKCON Help! I told the ISKCON Temple President About Prabhupada!

Published on March 26th, 2023 | by Madhudvisa dasa

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Help! I told the ISKCON Temple President about Prabhupada!!

Hare Krishna.
Please accept my humble obeisances.
ALL GLORIES TO SRILA PRABHUPADA.

I am very thankful to u for sending the emails.
I am suffering with a big problem.
My sister out of ignorance told everything about PRABHUPADA to the temple president.
They’re not allowing her to enter the temple.
They’re not allowing anyone to guide her even spiritually.

Nobody is talking with her in the temple.
She is crying. I don’t know how to guide her?
Please help me? How to solve this problem.

your humble servant.

Hare Krishna Prabhu

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

Unfortunately this is what ISKCON does to anyone who is developing any love at all for Srila Prabhupada. They will not tolerate it. They are afraid that this love of Prabhupada and the resulting love for Krishna that comes from attachment to Srila Prabhupada will “contaminate” the temple. They only want love of the GBC and love of the GBC appointed bogus gurus. It may sound a little harsh but that is the fact unfortunately. If you love Prabhupada and they find out you are out of ISKCON immediately. This has happened not just to your sister but to thousands and thousands of sincere followers of Srila Prabhupada all over the world.

I think Prabhu this is Krishna’s arrangement and Krishna’s mercy. Such envious so-called devotees have no ability to give your sister any worthwhile guidance anyhow. At some point we have to accept the reality that although ISKCON have made a very successful business out of Prabhupada, and they will always say “Prabhupada, Prabhupada, Prabhupada…” They do not want you to surrender to Prabhupada. They want you to surrender to someone else…

There is actually an urgent need to create some real sadhu-sanga for the followers and disciples of Srila Prabhupada separately from ISKCON. ISKCON may have a big temple but they will not tolerate any love for Prabhupada so what is the use of going there? It is actually damaging to our spiritual lives to go to ISKCON temples and hear from these people.

It happened to me also. Many, many, many years ago. From reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and following his instructions I became very attached and developed a real personal relationship with Srila Prabhupada and as soon as ISKCON detected this they banned me from all ISKCON temples world-wide. I was–like your sister–very upset, feeling that these are Prabhupada’s temples and as a disciple or son of Srila Prabhupada I had a right to practice Krishna consciousness in Prabhupada’s temples.

But gradually I came to realize that being thrown out of ISKCON was Srila Prabhupada’s and Krishna’s great mercy upon me. The atmosphere in ISKCON is so offensive to Prabhupada and Prabhupada’s disciples that it is actually completely poisonous. If you stay within the association of the ISKCON devotees you will get poisoned for sure. We develop the qualities of the people we associate with. Just look how they are treating your sister, and this not an isolated incident. This is standard practice in every ISKCON temple all over the world. As soon as anyone looks like they are developing any love for Srila Prabhupada the “devotees” will immediately drive that person out of the temple. Because love for Prabhupada is not what ISKCON is about these days. They have a different purpose, a different agenda…

At some point we, as followers of Srila Prabhupada, have to come together and realize that ISKCON is no longer Prabhupada’s movement and that the International Society for Krishna Consciousness established by Srila Prabhupada no longer exists. And we have to reestablish it.

All ISKCON have is a few buildings, Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, He possesses everything, so if we can organize on behalf of Srila Prabhupada to provide centers, big or small, it does not matter, where followers of Srila Prabhupada can come and together glorify, worship and hear from Srila Prabhupada and have kirtan and sadhu sanga without the fear that the temple authorities may discover their love for Prabhupada and ban them from the temple Krishna will provide us with whatever money, buildings and manpower is necessary to do this…

We have to realize that we are not alone. Every sincere soul who has somehow come into contact with Srila Prabhupada, very often by reading his books, has a very strong love for Prabhupada. And anyone who has read Prabhupada’s books can understand what are the qualities of a pure devotee of Krishna and can detect these qualities are no longer being manifest in ISKCON.

So I think we should create a world-wide organization of the followers and disciples of Srila Prabhupada. I can suggest the name “International Hare Krishna Community,” IHKC, and Krishna consciousness is a local thing. Srila Prabhupada very much stressed that managing and running a temple or a preaching center should be done by the local devotees. Prabhupada said the GBC were not supposed to be dictating what would go on in the temples. It should be local devotees managing. Some guidelines have to be there.

And as it develops the “Temple Presidents” or whatever you want to call them from nearby centers can come together for sadhu-sanga and for planning preaching on a national or international scale.

We don’t need this whole top-heavy centralized management system that ISKCON have introduced at all… Everything can be kept simple and local.

This is my feeling. And I would like to hear from devotees around the world who are seriously interested in making an international society of the followers and disciples of Srila Prabhupada a reality… If we work together for Srila Prabhupada anything is possible. Srila Prabhupada’s final request was “You love for me will be shown by how you cooperate together.” So far the devotees have not followed this request of Srila Prabhupada and cooperated together to push Srila Prabhupada’s and Lord Caitanya’s sankirtan movement all over the world. But we can cooperate together and do it for Prabhupada and if we can somehow manage this I am sure that Prabhupada will shower us with unlimited blessings.

So please post your thoughts in the comments.

I am not interested in hearing from people who are not prepared to do practical work in this regard. Krishna consciousness means devotional service. And service means we have to be prepared to surrender some of our valuable time, energy and money in the service of Srila Prabhupada.

So we need practical devotees–workers not philosophers–who can organize preaching, cook bhoga and offer it to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna and distribute, lead kirtans, preach, and who are really dedicated to Srila Prabhupada and who strictly follow the four regulative principles and chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and read Prabhupada’s books and listen to Prabhupada’s classes and who have some real feeling and realization for the great gift that Srila Prabhupada has given us and who want to share this gift of Krishna consciousness with others.

If we can organize this for Prabhupada the face of the world can change. These are dark times and Prabhupada is the only hope to save the word. Somebody has to organize on behalf of Prabhupada so please let me know your practical ideas…

Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

Your servant

Madhudvisa dasa


About the Author

My first contact with a Hare Krishna was a most merciful Mataji in Oxford Street, London who sold me a "Higher Taste" cook book in 1984 while I was on holidays there. I started seriously reading Srila Prabhupada's books in Australia 1985 and by 1986 Srila Prabhupada had convinced me "Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead" and "we should surrender to Krishna." I joined the Hare Krishnas in Perth, Western Australia in 1986. Since then I have been chanting Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare, reading and distributing Srila Prabhupada's books and preaching as much as I can. That's my life and full-time occupation now really. I like it more than anything I've ever experienced before. Srila Prabhupada's books are so amazing... Even after reading them all many times they're still fresh and new. They are truly transcendental! That's it really. Now I'm just hankering to once again see the world chant Hare Krishna, dance and feast and float away in the ecstasy of Lord Caitanya's Sankirtana movement as it did in Srila Prabhupada's physical presence. Let the whole world drown in the ecstatic flood of love of Krishna!



61 Responses to Help! I told the ISKCON Temple President about Prabhupada!!

  1. Lila Kirtana dasa says:

    Not all temples or gurus in Iskcon are the same at all. This lumping everyone into the same category is not honest. Iskcon bashing has become a unreasonable trend unfortunately.

    • Yes. Of course there are many sincere devotees in ISKCON, there may even be a few sincere Temple Presidents. But the problem is the ISKCON system is bad, wrong, incorrect and in contradiction to the orders and instructions of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna.

      For example the ISKCON concept of bona-fide guru. That is a very very very different concept to Krishna’s description of bona-fide guru. Krishna describes the actual guru in Bhagavad-gita:

      tad viddhi pranipatena
      pariprasnena sevaya
      upadeksyanti te jnanam
      jnaninas tattva-darsinah

      “Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.” (Bhagavad-gita 4.34)

      This is the principle of spiritual master, according to Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. But ISKCON disagrees with Krishna? And GBC demand that everyone in ISKCON, including their gurus, MUST accept their completely bogus concepts about spiritual master and everything else. So ISKCON disagrees with Krishna and demands all the ISKCON members also disagree with Krishna. If the ISKCON devotees refuse to disagree with Krishna they are bashed, banned from the temples and blasphemed by the ISKCON leaders and their blind followers…

      If you can read English you can very clearly see in Bhagavad-gita 4.34 Krishna is telling us that we have to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master, inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. This part ISKCON like very much and agree with. Every ISKCON devotee must accept a GBC approved guru and surrender to him and serve him [as long as he is a transparent via-medium to the GBC, as long as he is a puppet in the hands of the GBC…]

      But you see here one problem with ISKCON. In ISKCON everyone MUST surrender to the GBC. Not to Prabhupada, not to Krishna… And if they don’t surrender to the GBC, then they are bashed, banned and blasphemed by the ISKCON leaders and their followers…

      So actually, no real devotee can surrender to the GBC, because the teachings of the GBC and the teachings of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna are quite different…

      Here, in Bhagavad-gita 4.34, Krishna describes the principle of guru, and guru principle is that guru is a pure devotee of Krishna who delivers the truth to his disciples. Because actually only a pure devotee of Krishna can understand Krishna, only a pure devotee of Krishna knows the truth. So only a pure devotee of Krishna is capable of delivering the truth to his disciples.

      This part of the verse, of course, ISKCON totally rejects. The ISKCON “guru tattva” is that there are no qualifications at all for ISKCON guru except one, he must be surrendered to the GBC, he must worship the GBC, he must teach his disciples to surrender to the GBC, and he must teach his disciples to bash, ban and blaspheme those pesky devotees who are surrendered to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna.

      So the GBC has created a perverted reflection of Prabhupada’s ISKCON. In Prabhupada’s ISKCON everyone was trained to surrender to Prabhupada, who is a pure devotee of Krishna, and inquire from him about the truth, because Prabhupada is a pure devotee of Krishna and he knows the truth, so he has the power to reveal the truth to his disciples. However, in the GBC’s ISKCON, there is no question of teaching the truth. No. In GBC’s ISKCON everyone has to teach the siddhanta of the GBC… Which is quite different from the truth.

      For example if you go to any ISKCON temple and just repeat Krishna, if you say to any good ISKCON GBC follower, “Only a self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth therefore you have to learn the truth by approaching a pure devotee spiritual master who is self-realized and learn the truth from him.” They will immediately call the Temple Present, bash you and blaspheme you and ban you from all the ISKCON temples worldwide. Try it and see for yourself!

      Because this idea, that to be a bona-fide spiritual master one has to know the truth, he has to be self-realized, otherwise if “spiritual master” is not self-realized, he does not know the truth, therefore he has no power to pass on the truth to his disciples. So if such a non-liberated person poses as a spiritual master he is actually the greatest demon and Krishna keeps the worst hellish planet ready and reserved for these great demons who are in the “spiritual master” business.

      “”This supreme science of God is received through the disciplic succession.” Instead, to mislead the people in general they themselves become so-called acaryas, but they do not even follow the principles of the acaryas.

      “These rogues are the most dangerous elements in human society. Because there is no religious government, they escape punishment by the law of the state. They cannot, however, escape the law of the Supreme, who has clearly declared in the Bhagavad-gita that envious demons in the garb of religious propagandists shall be thrown into the darkest regions of hell (Bg. 16.19-20). Sri Isopanisad confirms that these pseudo religionists are heading toward the most obnoxious place in the universe after the completion of their spiritual master business, which they conduct simply for sense gratification.” (Prabhupada’s purport to Isopanisad 12)

      This completely explains today’s ISKCON and their gurus. Anyone in ISKCON will tell you that the ISKCON gurus are not pure devotees and that there is no need to be a pure devotee or a self-realized person to become a guru… The ISKCON idea of guru is it is just a service, like pot washing is a service, anyone can wash pots, similarly, in the GBC siddhanta, anyone can be a guru, the only requirement is that the gurus must be surrendered to the GBC…

      This is the reality of today’s ISKCON and every sincere devotee knows it. So I dare you, explain this simple point in any ISKCON temple, they will bash you, ban you from all the ISKCON temples world-wide and blaspheme you…

      But, you know, you can fool all the people for some time, you can fool some people for all time, but you can not fool all the people for all the time…

      So ISKCON focuses on the fools who can be fooled all the time, and anyone who is not a fool and somehow stumbles into ISKCON. Well… There is no place for him in ISKCON…

      • Ahinsra das says:

        To be an Iskcon devotee means to commit an offence against Prabhupada and his books – intentionally or unintentionally. First ones are rascals, the second ones are stupids. Hence as long as a devotee is in Iskcon we cannot call him sincere.

        • Hare Krishna Prabhu

          Yes. But it is a very confusing thing, being buried in ISKCON, surrounded by people assuring you that Prabhuapda is dead, you need a living guru.

          I had the experience myself of course, when I first joined ISKCON in 1986. I joined in Australia and could immediately see Bhavananda was bogus and the Australian devotees were very very confused. But I was thinking, then, must be some crazy thing that happened in Australia, so I travelled to ISKCON centers all over the world. I had sort of fallen for the line “Prabhupada appointed these 12 gurus, they are his successors, you have to take initiation from one of them.” And I read in Prabhuapda’s books that you have to test your intending spiritual master, I already tested Bhavananda and he failed miserably…

          So I visited all the ISKCON gurus at the time and tested them all and they all failed in the sense that none of them were truly representing Prabhupada and Krishna…

          So I was somewhat hopeless. I was in Galarati, in Italy at the time, and I just bowed down to the very beautiful Gaura Nitai deities there and prayed silently that “My dear Lord, you are supposed to take initiation from one of these 12 gurus but they are all rascals. What to do?” And I stood up and, must have been the day when the pujari was changing Lord Nityananda’s brahmin thread, and he gave me the thread.

          So at that moment, for the first time, it dawned on me that I was already initiated by Srila Prabhupada.

          This was about 12 months after I joined and I could see my life had been totally transformed, I was truly a totally different person to the person I was before I joined, and I understood, at that moment, that this transformation in my life was simply by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada alone. No one in ISKCON helped me. Rather I was being banned and blasphemed everywhere by the ISKCON leaders particularly, general devotees were more friendly.

          Anyhow, the point is, even I was somewhat bewildered in the association of ISKCON devotees.

          But really ISKCON today does not want serious devotees. GBC has transformed ISKCON into a “Hindu Church”. And as with all churches, they attract some pious people who believe in God and worship God but not people who want to actually surrender to God, to surrender their lives 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. No. They don’t want to surrender. They want a temple, they want to be able to see the Aroti, get a bogus guru who will tell them they are great devotees and don’t have to do anything actually except give the guru money.

          You know, ISKCON today is like that, mundane religion. Exactly opposite to Prabhupada’s ISKCON.

          But there is a big market for mundane religion. There is no market really for pure devotional service.

          So GBC has transformed ISKCON into mundane religion.

          And it is not that mundane religion is totally useless. The people attracted by mundane religion are pious, but they are materialists, they have no intention of surrendering to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna. They want to get some benedictions from Krishna and Guru to help them enjoy more in the material world, and later on, when totally frustrated with their attempts for sense gratification, they want mukti, liberation.

          So this is mundane religion: dharma, arta, karma, moksha. That is ISKCON. It is just like any other religion. No better than a Hindu temple, a Muslim mosque or a Catholic church.

          This is very devastating for sincere devotees who like the idea of pure devotional service. When I go to an ISKCON temple these days I get that same horrible sinking feeling that I used to get so many years ago going to my local Catholic church…

    • Ahinsra das says:

      If all gurus in Iskcon are not same then why the qualified ones do not warn us, innocent people about unqualified ones. Either they do not understand that there are unqualified ones among them, or think that why shold I bother, let the follovers of unqualified gurus go to hell.

      Ahinsra das

  2. Gauri Devi Dasi says:

    Hare Krishna dear devotees. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
    I am sorry but I do not agree with the things said in the text. I am ISKCON devotee since 2016 and I have never seen such a thing as a devotee not being allowed in temple due to his devotion to Srila Prabhupada.

    Everytime I was in temple, all devotees were always speaking about him, taking care of his murti and telling the visitors about the glories of Srila Prabhupada. The same I can say about the ISKCON VRINDAVAN.

    Also, I have had close association with devotees who were directly initiated by him and who are still in the movement and helping spreading bhakti and the love for our Lord.

    This separation that have been created is a waste of time and I am sure that both Krishna and Srila Prabhupada are not happy to see devotees defaiming each others.

    Hare Krishna

    Humbly,
    Gauri Devi Dasi.

    • Hare Krishna Gauri Devi Dasi

      It is devotees who find that Srila Prabhupada is living in his books and take shelter of him in this way and surrender to Prabhupada and serve him that ISKCON hates and bans from all their temples. I am one of those devotees. Banned from every ISKCON temple worldwide, because I have accepted Srila Prabhupada as my spiritual master.

      This is the biggest sin, the biggest crime in ISKCON. In ISKCON Prabhupada is just a figurehead. He is not someone that ISKCON devotees are meant to surrender to and follow. ISKCON devotees have to surrender to the GBC and their representatives, the ISKCON Gurus and the ISKCON Temple Presidents. In ISKCON everyone has to surrender to the GBC, not Prabhupada and not Krishna.

      So if you do happen to surrender to Srila Prabhupada and Krishna, then there will be no place for you in ISKCON.

  3. Ramoll Bugwandeen says:

    Hare krsna prabhuji well done on your excellent feed back on the current state of iskcon its not just one particular temple,these challenges are world over.definite need for sanga of devotees who are interested in keeping hdg srila prabhupada in the middle at all times. The real iskcon is where the holy name is chanted we shd not concern ourselves too much about temples & buildings our goal shd be harinam sankirtan on the streets & we can use other temples & community halls to hold our preaching programs, happy to help & organise structures for preaching & sanga purposes we are a group of devotees who are currently meeting take association of like minded devotees & many of us have completed bhakti sastri & bhati vaibhav.Temples are expensive to maintain therfore harinam sankitan in its many facets is the effective way to bring new comers to the devotional service platform. We are based in durban, south africa,& most happy to serve hdg srila prabhupadas mission hare krsna your servant ramoll bugwandeen

  4. Jahnava-Jivana says:

    Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Shrila Prabhupada. I don’t feel this is true of all temples. My temple is wonderful, we all love Prabhupada, we all make him the center of all. My experience is limited, but Im a glad to be where I’m at.

  5. Anjaneya says:

    Join Hare Krishna movement or akshay patra here prabhupada is only guru it have lot of centers all over the world

  6. Dr mihir says:

    I had a horrible experience in vrindavan iskcon since then have stopped going to any iskcon temple.. I have been a iskcon devotee since childhood and visited vrindavan many times before, we kept on hearing things about the temple, but never thought I would experience it, I would not like to share my experience here, but when I told it to a senior mataji staying there for many years I was shocked to hear her reply when she said that it has been going on for years..this has left me with questions like why do such things in vrindavan..?

    • Hare Krishna Dr Mihir

      Yes, I am also disgusted with ISKCON and have not visited an ISKCON temple for almost 10 years now. I find no encouragement there, no Krishna consciousness there, no interest in the actual teachings of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna there. It is just a mundane religion and full of so many demons exploiting it in so many ways for their personal sense gratification and there ambitions for fame, profit adoration and distinction…

      And yes, Vrindavan also, over the past 20 years, has degraded so much. Previously Vrindavan was a village of sadhus, but now it is just like an extension of Delhi. Of course Vrindavan is still there, Vrindavan will always be there, but it is being covered over because of so many materialistic people living there now. I used to visit Vrindavan very often, I used to live there for six months of every year for a long time, but now I have not been to Vrindavan for about five years and really have no desire to go there.

      Vrindavan is wherever the pure devotees are engaged in chanting Hare Krishna, glorifying Krishna, preaching, distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books, performing Hari-Nama sankirtana, distributing Krishna prasadam, etc. So we have to create Vrindavan all over the world. At the moment the situation in Vrindava, India, is very bad indeed.

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

      • Biswambhar says:

        To,

        The Iskcon India

        Bureau members,

        Bureau secretary

        Dandwat pranam to all,

        Please read full and donot trash it,

        Hare Krishna,

        Srila Prabhupada’s first temple in India (at  his birthplace Kolkata) is in chaotic condition due to egoistic,misuse of his power  by temple president Dayaram Das (who incidentally is widely rumored to be  involved in land business worth crores of Rupees and is more interested in his business  than managing temple affairs) and his cronies namely Dauji Kripa das, Vallabh chaitanya das, Mohan govind Prabhu, Rajkumar Krishna Prabhu,Devamidh prabhu and Rajkumar Bansal Prabhu to name a few.
        They are torturing H.G.Ashray Gauranga Prabhu ,the Temple’s main congregational bhakti vriksha preacher and in charge of thousands of grihasthsa, householders and their family for their spiritual upliftment for past 17 yrs.
        His fault- congregational devotees purchased land from mayapur land department in mayapur to construct a building for stay of congregational devotees, subsequently they started fighting amongst themselves for some reason, justified or unjustified I can’t say, so much so that building work was stopped and court litigation started.All devotees naturally approached Ashray gauranga Prabhu to help them out as he is respected and acceptable by all,so he accepted to take charge of building with full knowledge of Kolkata temple authorities and ultimately emerged winner in courts and the building is finally ready.Of course some legal and technical issues like mutation etc are still to be solved and are expected to be solved in due course of time.
        Taking advantage of this fact of building some temple brahmacharis and devotees already and always jealous of Fame and knowledge of Ashray gauranga Prabhu complained in writing to Temple authorities about him labelling false charges(all these charges are now proved  to be false by investigation committee appointed by temple president).
        Temple authorities without any hearing suspended him in june this year pending investigation,which of course is one sided  and 3 months is still not enough for investigation to be completed by wretched investigation team headed by Dauji kripa das.Meanwhile all congregational activities are in limbo and all devotees are headless rudderless and no help is coming from temple authorities.
        Looks like we are reading about some corporate board room battle and not initiated vaishnav devotees who sit in Vyasa Asan ,high pedestal and preach morality to general public.
        This is why Hindu Dharma is earning a bad name and films like pk are made.
        Founder acharya Srila Prabhupad gave his life to build iskcon and said that he will consider his life to be successful if he can make one devotee in life,and his so called vaishnav devotees are enjoying material wealth and are involved in this dirty politics and kicking out devotees brahmacharis and grihasthsa alike.
        Kolkata temple president declares when about 50 of us went to meet him in presence of Devamidh Prabhu,Dauji kripa Prabhu, and others
        1)that he damn cares about vaishnav apradh,
        2)that he is most  powerful,,sounds like hiranyakashipu,
        3) that he will ignore directions of even GBC and zonal secretaries as he is on path of truth as if he is incarnation of satyavadi harishchandra and yudhisthir,
        4) that if we communicate about all this to GBC or any other authority he will extend punishment of Ashray gauranga Prabhu by 6 months-please note that at this time investigation report is not ready and he is showing his prejudice by announcement of punishment.
        If at all any fault has been committed by Ashray gauranga das Prabhu it’s technical in nature and he has no way benifitted financially, and such long punishment without final outcome of investigation is unwarranted.This is in fact punishment upon Srila Prabhupad and congregational devotees who are dependent on Ashray gauranga Prabhuji for continued spiritual guidance.Moreover Kolkata temple authorities are in no position or not willing to provide us with a replacement for regular bhagwatam classes and other activities.
        Sorry to say but Dayaram das’ tone is not of a vaishnav but seasoned hardened criminal.
        No doubt Dayaram das has done great service to Iskcon in past but now has become so proud and egoist that he doesn’t reply to anybody’s communication,not even to sanyasis or his guru maharaj leave apart us.
        At this point may I ask how many days Dayaram das was himself suspended when he was accused of abetment to suicide twice and when praghosh das labelled serious allegations against him in mayapur.
        I request to GBC to remove him from temple president post and appoint someone more efficient true vaishnav in his place as Kolkata temple president else Kolkata iskcon will earn more bad name and all preaching development till date will go waste.
        I also request to stop demoralizing Ashray gauranga Prabhu and reinstate him in his past position as preacher of bhakti vriksha with full honor and glory which is his due.
        Investigation should also be done why the recent janmashtami festival has to be curtailed down for want of funds even while crores of rupees are being collected every year  by renting out as marriage venue the  gurusaday road property(which originally was donated by Tulsyan family to Prabhupad for a grand Krishna temple and inaugurated  several times) .
        Iskcon is using public donations so it cannot shrink away from answering the public.
        Please condone whatever vaishnav apradh I might have committed in this letter and save me from going to hellish planets for committing these offences,but somebody must speak out.
        Hare Krishna
        Trying to be servant of your servant,
        Dr Biswambhar Agarwal

        9831024425 cc to 

        H.H JAIPATAKA SWAMI MAHARAJ

        H.H RADHANATH SWAMI MAHARAJ

        H.H BHAKTI PURUSHOTTAM SWAMI

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      • Biswambhar says:

        Kolkata iskcon is worst , president Dayaram das is worst and dictatorial

      • peter kerr says:

        I also listen to the hare krishna culture tv series which is on for a hour at 6 in the morning in the uk,i find this very good they have 15min with prapa in the 70s then hare krishna chanting,then a lecture on gita or srimad bhagavatan for a half hour,i seen no wrong with this have you seen this

  7. Dr mihir says:

    I had a horrible experience in vrindavan iskcon since then have stopped going to any iskcon temple.. I have been a iskcon devotee since childhood and visited vrindavan many times before, we kept on hearing things about the temple, but never thought I would experience it, I would not like to share my experience here, but when I told it to a senior mataji staying there for many years I was shocked to hear her reply when she said that it has been going on for years..this has left me with questions like why do such things in vrindavan..? The guilty ones thought I would complain about them so they started a elaborate mudslinging campaign against me sending there stooges everywhere following me.. To see such mob like behaviour is nauseating and just reminded me of the earlier horror stories that I heard…

  8. rathayatra dasa says:

    Hare Krsna
    Living near Vaikunta hill and Hare Krsna hill with the Bangalore group of temples for many years, experienced that they will not allowed western devotees as myself or godbrothers that visited me to associate too much or do service with their devotees unless your one of the few close friends of MPD.

    They are friendly and let you stay in their expensive guesthouses and visit their opulent temples as they are mainly concern with the rich indians to fund their projects and provide a good living for all their Indian devotees.

    The elite leaders and big collectors having private drivers w/new cars/iphones/computers, housing provided where ever they go, air travel paid for, their householders get a salary and housing.
    Oh….forget about joining or asking for help if you have old or have health or living needs unless your Indian and willing to be in their cult.

    Sunday feast is in the morning where they serve bland kitcheri. No rasa (taste) with these brainwashed devotees as their kirtans and classes (anti western speeches) are quite boring to me, they are using Prabhupada’s movement for Profit, Adoration and Distiction (PAD) , keeping out international and western devotees as they think they are better than us, which they are, staunch and regulated programs to keep them fixed up but very Anti western.
    As they know, most of us had no choice but to stay Independent as we have no where to go and many of us fell down during the crazy eighties as temples disappeared and pro rivik got you kicked out with remaiming temples. Corrupt GBC and their appointed gurus turned 90% of us away.
    At least they should stop using the name Prabhupada started with “International society for Krishna Consciuoness” they should call their temples “Indian Society for Krishna Consciuoness” stop wasting milllions of dollars, or let international devotees join them for the fight as this is the way Prabhupada would want it and we could provide you with real facts on making Prabhupada’s ISKCON take over, instead of one person ruling over everything.
    Anti western racism very rapid.

    The other ISKCON also lets me visit their Temple in Vrindavan, as I try to stay low key during Kartik/spring programs where I can get surcharged with international association, book distribution plus enjoying great kirtans and classes (avoiding gurus GBC lectures) along with real good prasadam!
    Forget asking for housing or health needs as they only cater to the elite ISKCON leaders, as the rank and file devotees are brainwashed to support their book changes and voted in gurus, as they also have no where to go.

    Your eyes open up when the fake gurus come by with a hoard of followers carring their feet mats, blankets and cushions to sit on, water bottles and recording equipment, its really funny to see so many imitating Srila Prabhupada. They live good with big houses, new cars w/ drivers, iphones, computers, servants, most leaders and devotees now get a salary while scamming their blind followers as they also go for the Indian congregations for money. They are also using Prabhupada’s movemnet for Profit Adoration and distiction (P.A.D.) Just think if both ISKCONs cooperated, we could change the world, but not in my lifetime.
    Anti rivik racism very rapid.

    These two ISCKON waste millions of dollars fighting each other in India’s Supreme court over property, my prediction is that this will go on for years to come.

    Best for me to stay alone & keep caring for the local cows, distribute original books as I keep fixed on Prabhupada who keeps guiding me and revealing so much to me. Amazing to see the truth as maya is in both ISKCONS.

    So thanks for letting me rant, If I offended anyone,I do appolize & please read Srila Prabhupada books on cooperation and unity.
    Your unqualified servant
    Rathaytra dasa

  9. Vinod says:

    Hare Krishna!

    I have seen it here in Denmark where I live at the moment. I tried to buy some books in Danish for distribution, and when I asked for the original versions pre ’77 they simple stopped answering my emails and ignored me completely. They not once said ‘Hare Krishna’ back to me on the phone, emails or when meeting them.

    • Hare Krishna Vinod

      Yes. There are many demons in ISKCON these days unfortunately. They criticize devotees for reading Srila Prabhupada’s book…..

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

      • peter kerr says:

        Madhudvisa hare krishna,
        i read Prabhupada books every day and know they are the way to krishna.Several years ago i went to Bhagavidenta manor Watford which i thought and still do think it good and they do worship Prapa,I enrolled on the back to godhead magazine which i get 6 times a year and it has a lot of nice stories still,as Praphupaba originated this magazine i would thing this is ok to read still.I find all this a bit confusing.I agree also with no changes to Praphupaba books ,but is Iskcon the problem, how could you be involved with krishna without praphupaba it dosent make sense

  10. Aman says:

    Hare Krishna Prabhu! This is great effort. Lord Krishna will surely help us in building International Hare Krishna Community. I will give at least 50% of my income to the community and whatever else I have. And I will also do preaching work according to your instructions. I can promise this much for now.

    • Hare Krishna Aman

      It is very good but the Hare Krishna Community does not exist at the moment unfortunately in any tangible way.

      The thing is it is very easy to give money. These days money is everywhere. Money is so cheap now it is almost meaningless. What is not so easy is to surrender our lives. And the real problem is there is no proper leadership, no bona fide non-corrupt organization to accept our service and surrender.

      So realistically leaders are required who can become pure devotees of Krishna and who can push on Srila Prabhupada’s mission following in his footsteps.

      So the main thing Prabhu is you become a pure devotee of Krishna. You chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, you strictly follow the four regulative principles, you study all of Srila Prabhupada’s books and you use your money in the service of Krishna according to the instructions Srila Prabhupada gives you as you read his books.

      Don’t give your money to someone else. Become a pure devotee of Krishna yourself and work out how to preach and make devotees of Krishna for Srila Prabhupada and use your money for this work. Sometimes the only way is to do it yourself…

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

      • Aman says:

        Hare Krishna Prabhu! What you are saying is correct. Pure devotees are needed not so much the householders who can give money. I’m trying to follow your instructions to follow the orders of our guru and progreessing by guru and Krishna’s grace. I ask Krishna to give me only pure devotion and nothing else. Take everything I have and give me pure devotion if You ever consider me worth bestowing anything upon.

  11. rachana says:

    Read the above incident and feel very bad. Would like to share another thought that I feel all should know. Maybe after hearing this they will all correct themselves but the fact is you can take the mala and take good name sitting in the toilet too. Sounded odd but my husband is with iskcon and I went for their pravachan and saw that prabhujis and the matajis are more into having fun in the name of bhakti. This is what iskcon does.i hv seen it with my own eyes. The marajis are helpless whereas prabhujis are eternally ready to help. Specially the iskcon at Bangalore is it into preachings at all. Kindly preach what you believe in. We are not stupid ppl to fall for the rasleela you all do.i am amazed at the way you all function.

    • Hare Krishna Rachana

      Yes. ISKCON today is terrible, most temples are like brothels now. It is very embarrassing.

      But the real thing, the real Krishna consciousness, is very different from ISKCON and is very nice.

      Best thing is to stay completely away from ISKCON and just read Srila Prabhupada’s books and chant Hare Krishna and worship Srila Prabhupada and Krishna in your own home with your family members and friends. This way you can become actually Krishna consciousness without being distracted by maya in the name of ISKCON…

      As far as chanting Hare Krishna in the toilet. Yes. We can chant Hare Krishna anywhere and everywhere, even in the toilet. But we can not take the japa beads into the toilet. That would be disrespectful. But we can chant Hare Krishna in the toilet without japa beads.

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

  12. Jaya Jaya dasa says:

    Dear Madhuvisa dasa,

    I just read your reply text beginning with : “Unfortunately this is what ISKCON does to anyone who is developing any love at all for Srila Prabhupada. They will not tolerate it….”

    I am stunned ! But now I understand the attitude of the people in the ISKCON Temples I went to for all these years (alomost 40 years now). A deep personal relationship was born in my heart with our dearest Srila Prabhupada thanks to His books and Instructions and then those of Jiva goswami and other great and pure devotees.

    I am about to retire. I am in great health and wish to consecrate myself to Krishna full time as a sannyasi. I was think to head to Ashcroft (Canada) but you letter is a “think twice bofore doind so”.

    You write about creating a pure sangas of our dearest prabhupada”s firends and loving disciples. I am ready to be part of that, if this is possible.

    Please reply to me if you can. Starting this summer I am leaving home and everything here (eastern Canada). I hope to be able to associate with pure devotees as this Lord Caitanya’s order for all of us.

    Very humbly your friend in Krishna and Prabhupada.

    Jaya Jaya dasa

    • Hare Krishna Jaya Jaya Prabhu

      Yes. ISKCON is different now. Read Srila Prabhupada’s books, he will guide you. Really the whole world is suffering due to a lack of Krishna consciousness. You say your are in great health, so why retire? Follow in Srila Prabhupada’s footsteps and preach. You can sit down anywhere where there are young people and chant Hare Krishna and they will gather around you and you can teach them about Krishna.

      Why go and rot in an ISKCON temple with other old rotting devotees?

      Preach. If you have life. Preach.

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

  13. Digger53 says:

    Dear Madhudvisa dasa:

    Please accept my obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

    I am interested in your concept. I have been trying to build a devotee network here in the Northeast USA for some time.

    I have been offering classes at a local adult education center for about 3 years. I started with BG and now offer Eastern Philosophy classes since the BG classes did not get much of a response. Had maybe 20 registered attendees total. Interestingly enough every single person admitted they did not understand the BG. Very surprising. I first read the BG AII in 1972-73 and it made perfect sense to me.

    I also put a notice on Chakra and other sites with only a few responses which did not work out.

    I became an ISKCON Life Member in 1973 and stayed at several temples throughout 1974. I was shaved up and following the brahmacari rules. Contrary to what some think, the deviations were happening way back then. I personally knew some of the big devotees such as Jayadvaita, Harikesh and Bali-Mardan. The temple authorities were twisting Prabhupada’s teachings even then.

    I received a personal response to a letter I sent to Prabhupada in 1975. In 1979-1980 I tried to follow his instructions by living part-time at a temple here in Connecticut. The zonal thing turned me off and I foolishly rejected Prabhupada’s teachings as very nice in theory, but could not be practically applied.

    After many years living in maya, I have returned to the teachings after realizing that the deviations were due to immature disciples. I attended a Ratha-Yatra a few months ago. First time I had direct contact with ISKCON in 35 years. Talk about being unpleasantly surprised. The kirtan leader was chanting ho-re krishno, ho-re ramo. The excuse is that Bengalis often pronounce a as o, overlooking the fact that Prabhupada was a Bengali and had no trouble pronouncing the Maha-mantra correctly.

    Is there a way we can connect with other like-minded devotees and open our homes to meetings for discussion of Prabhupada’s teachings? Maybe a page somewhere that can devotees can use to identify what cites they are in?

    Keep up the good work.

    Your servant,

    ps, I can provide personal information if you contact me off-list.

    • Hare Krishna

      Yes. ISKCON today is terrible. Whatever deviation you can imagine, they do it.

      There is nothing stopping you from preaching in your own area.

      It will be successful depending on your purity. That is the real point. We are not pure devotees of Krishna and we expect that we will be able to preach. The idea is preaching is for pure devotees of Krishna. So if we want to preach then first we have to become pure devotees of Krishna and then our preaching will be effective.

      We have to become instruments in the hands of Krishna. Then our life will have some meaning.

      There is no real point in preaching to the choir. Better to just go out to the general public and preach to new people. You will have much more success with them.

      Anyone who has been associated with ISKCON is poisoned and it will be very difficult for them to every understand Krishna consciousness.

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

  14. Alex says:

    We really need to revive Srila Prabhupada glories, i cry and pray to Krishna for the glories of Srila Prabhupada.

  15. Alex says:

    HARE KRISHNA MADHUDVISA!

    ALL GLORIES TO SRILA PRABHUPADA!

    ALL GLORIES TO YOU! MADHUDVISA!

    Hare Krishna, i am so lucky to find you Madhudvida! i really want to do something for Srila Prabhupada!!! he is my life and soul!!! i daily chant 16 rounds, follow 4 regulative principles and read Srila Prabhupada books!

    You know Madhudvisa, i discovered Srila Prabhupada two years ago on internet and from that day on i just love him unlimited! his books are full of potency!!! after reading his books i became super pure, now i have no desire for SEX!!! but only for Krishna’s and his service!!! i studied his books and became a devotee of Krishna, he saved me, if he wasn’t there i will be doomed!!! thank you infinitely Srila Prabhupada!!!!!

    Srila Prabhupada is real guru! after discovering his books i also researched about everything related to him and came to find about falldown of iskcon, after knowing the current situation of Srila Prabhupada’s Iskcon, which he built with alot of love, i became very very sad, i cried for days, i always pray to Krishna for its revival, that they accept Prabhupada as their guru and kick out these mayavadis!

    i am in real love with Krishna and Prabhupada, whenever i see a pic of Srila Prabhupada i cry in love, i really want to do something for him! i want to dedicate my life to him and you Krishna.org guys are my only hope! thank you so much for this selfless service to HIS DIVINE GRACE A.C. BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI PRABHUPADA! you guys are the only hope in this dark world, THANK YOU MADHUDVISA PLEASE KEEP DOING WHAT YOU ARE DOING, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

    THANKS FOR DISTRIBUTING SRILA PRABHUPADA ORIGINAL BOOKS!! THANKS FOR ALL THESE SITES LIKE PRABHUPADABOOKS.COM, ASITIS.COM, KRISHNA.ORG!!!

    We really need to do something for Srila Prabhupada, i love your idea of IHKC, the army of PRABHUPADNUGAS must get together!!! Prabhupada is so good that i am ready to die for him anytime!!!

    THANK YOU SO MUCH.

    LOVE YOU SRILA PRABHUPADA! AND KRISHNA!

    really want to know how to revive his unlimited glories!!!

  16. Balarama das says:

    Balarama das can be contacted at : harekrishnaturkey@yahoo.com

  17. sitto says:

    Where are temple in istanbul . anybody can help me?

  18. Shravan prajapat says:

    Hare krishna prabhu
    my question -we know that srila prabhupada ji is guru and all the swami are made him self gure my question is there who is guru srila prabhupada or all the iskcon swami

    • Hare Krishna Shravan

      Real guru is a pure devotee of Krishna. Actually only a pure devotee of Krishna can understand Krishna. So guru’s business is to teach his disciples about Krishna, to introduce his disciples to Krishna. So if the guru is not a pure devotee of Krishna, if the guru does not know Krishna himself, then he is not a guru, he is a cheater. So in Kali-yuga you will find that practically every so-called guru or religious leader is a cheater who is in the ‘guru business’ for some personal benefit. So it is very hard to find a real guru, a real pure devotee of Krishna, in Kali-yuga.

      So the best way is to presume everyone who is presenting themselves as a guru is actually a bogus demon. And let them prove they are a pure empowered representative of Krishna by their activities and by the results of their preaching. We see what happened when Srila Prabhupada started preaching. Krishna consciousness spread all over the world in a few short years and changed everything.

      So anyhow there are symptoms of a bona fide guru, there are qualities of a bona fide guru, and you can learn these things by studying Srila Prabhupada’s books. So once you know what a real guru is yourself you will not be cheated by so many bogus gurus.

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

      • SHRAVAN PRAJAPAT says:

        Hare Krishna prabhu
        All glories to srila prabhupada ji

        Thank you prabhu ji
        For your wonderful replay

        HARE KRISHNA

  19. aditya says:

    Hare krishna, gurujii,
    i would like to be the member of world-wide organization of the followers and disciples of Srila Prabhupada.

    servant’s servant
    Aditya

  20. Willhelm the third says:

    There is potency in Srila Prabhupada’s books. The more the GBC wander away from the original books doesn’t it stand to reason that the more the message of the Gita will be watered down or polluted? So I wonder, does anyone become a devotee by reading Jayadvaita Swami’s Bhagavad Gita according to him? Has anyone ever picked up a Srimad Bhagavatam continued by the disciples of Srila Prabhupada and given the final strokes of Hrdayananda’s pen and become a devotee? Has anyone ever picked up Satsvarupa dasa’s Lilamrta and read his mundane descriptions of Srila Prabhupada’s life that are in there and said, “Oh! Prabhupada was so great, I think I will surrender to his philosophy?”. Or was the entire book meant for the glorification and support of the new gurus who came after him? I know for a fact that devotees used to join the temple by reading Srila Prabhupada’s original books. How many are doing the same thing now?

    • You are correct Prabhu. The potency is in Srila Prabhupada’s books. Only a pure devotee of Krishna has the potency to make another person into a devotee of Krishna. It is not possible for a conditioned soul to convince another person to become a devotee of Krishna. This is only a false imitation of Srila Prabhupada’s activities but there is actually no transmission of real transcendental knowledge in such false imitation.

      We need the real thing, Srila Prabhupada himself, not false imitators of Srila Prabhupada…

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

  21. Michelle says:

    I would dearly love to learn deeper and practice and serve with you, Madhudvisa dasa. I was raised in a Christian (well pseudo) environment and early on noticed the hypocrisy of the whole thing. I do cherish ONLY the words of Christ..but the only writings that make sense to me are the Bhagavad Vita… my research and quest for truth led me there. I have children and grandchildren. We would love to become a part of your culture and service.

    Humbly,
    Michelle

  22. nama das says:

    your comments are very inspirational do you go out and distribute Srila Prabhpada books?

  23. J. Harris says:

    hari Bol, I am seeking to surrender to Shrila Prabhupada 100% as well. I have taken nama hatta initiation from ISKCON and am seeking to fully follow Prabhupada. Any help you may give will be most welcome.

    Your servant,

    J

    • Hare Krishna J

      The answer is always the same, you have to actually follow the basic things that Prabhupada orders his disciples to follow. You really need to chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, follow the four regulative principles, rise early and offer Mangal Aroti, only eat Krishna prasadam and constantly read Srila Prabhupada’s books and chant Hare Krishna…

      Most people do not even follow the basic four regulative principles or chant 16 rounds a day and wonder why Krishna consciousness is not working very well for them… Actually it is not easy at least in the beginning. We are attached to sleeping and intoxication and sex and we don’t want to give these things up and we don’t have the patience to chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day… So then we can’t make advancement in Krishna consciousness. So we have to surrender to these things and strictly follow them and somehow please Srila Prabhupada, for that is the real key to making advancement in spiritual life, to please Krishna’s pure devotee. That is the secret to success…

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

  24. Gaurasundara Das says:

    Hare Krishna Madhudvisa Prabhu.
    All glories to Srila Prabhupada.
    Please accept my humble obeisances.

    Your proposition is a very nice policy to demonstrate how difficult is to work with god brothers and how useful will be the ritvik movement of god brothers. This is the same problem of Iskcon today; they are bunches of chiefs but without indians. The people attached to Iskcon, makes me remember the analogy of the monkey attached to its death son even thought its bad smell.

    Srila Prabhupada said that the rubber stamped guru will be not effective; it means that accordingly with the elevation of the guru there will be effectiveness. Palena prarisiate the answer is the proof, or in words of Christ: “By their results you will know them.” The Channakya pandit´s maxims 5-5 says: “He who speaks out plainly cannot be a deceiver.”

    So, we need ideas to be effective in preaching. Srila Prabhupada always critiqued his god brothers because their lack of idea for preaching and Srila Prabhupada at last asked his god brothers: “Please send me some people.” But only echoes were the answer. The history would have been different with Srila Prabhupada and an army of god brothers. Then Srila Prabhupada some way of another saved the situation.

    If some one knows some thing better than this, tell me please where it is, to go there.

    Best regards.

  25. Jagadananda Gauranga dasa says:

    PAMHO. AGTSP!
    I am currently attempting to start a preaching center here in the Greater Cincinnati/Northern Ky area. There once was a strong program here, but it was destroyed by the Zonal GBC for this state.

    I encourage anyone interested in helping to please contact me and see if we can cooperate in fulfilling Prabhupada’s desires and spread KC once more here.

  26. Gourasundara Das says:

    Hare Krishna
    Madhudvisa Prabhu.
    AGTSP

    I am identifying completely with your program and it is something that I recommend to all prabhupadanugas to join and work together for Srila Prabhupada in this way. “A single rod can be broken easily but not many.” We all know Madhudvisa Prabhu had worked hard for decades, and that he has the blessings of Srila Prabhupada to print and distribute his books. Regarding the name of the organization I believe that that the word movement is less closed than community, and the word Hare is more hermetic than consciousness, so I suggest you can call it: “Movement for Krishna Consciousness, Founder Acharya His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. And to it can be added: joined to the International Hare Krishna community, since people tend to accept more easily something national than international.

    In my humble opinion to begin can be printed pamphlets for distribution in mass and call so the Prabhupadanugas closest to the community. Of course the program must be the one established by Srila Prabhupada without variation. I think the conversation would be more comfortable via email. I wish every success to this program and ask the Lord Krishna for His blessings.

    Sincerely,
    your servant
    Gourasundara Das.

    • Hare Krishna Gourasundara Prabhu

      Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

      My ideas in this posting are more idealistic than realistic I fear. There has not been much response from anyone practically wanting to do anything and a lot of response from devotees who are very attached to ISKCON and do not want to do anything separate from that. So it is an ideal, but maybe its time has not yet come. Maybe ISKCON will change, who knows.

      But one thing we have to all do individually is chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and strictly follow the four regulative principles and read Prabhupada’s books and keep ourselves engaged in serving Srila Prabhupada and Krishna 24 hours a day. Otherwise we will just drift back into maya and not be of any help at all in the service of Srila Prabhupada and Krishna.

      The solution to all the problems of kali-yuga is sankirtan-yajna. And if we can get many men together and perform sankirtan then that is wonderful. But if we can not then we can also perform the sankirtan ourselves. And we can go out on the street and preach to the people and distribute Prabhupada’s books to them and ask them to chant Hare Krishna. And this is the solution. Chanting Hare Krishna and getting others to chant Hare Krishna.

      So that is what I am doing and that is the practical program actually and if we all try this, chanting Hare Krishna ourselves and getting others to chant Hare Krishna, then everything will be successful in the ultimate issue.

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Madhudvisa dasa

      • Ahinsra das says:

        Dear Madhudvisa Prabhu,

        I appriciate your attempts to do something to improve the situation. Similar despair was felt by Prabhupada after the departure of Bhaktisiddhanta Maharaja and he wrote a poem, where he expressed his frustration and anger. While reading this poem I was very much amazed that exactly same thing happened again, after his own departure.
        Prabhuji, right now I am unable to help you and do something practical. Practical programs can be effective only when it is performed by the one who has Krishna, or who can give Krishna. Right now I can only suggest a mean, or means how to get Krishna. This kind of preaching is not so effective and not enough to establish a society. So, we have to follow your advice to read Prabhupada’s books and chant Hare Krishna. And one day Prabhupda will make a pure devotees out of us. Then we will be able to implement all kinds of practical programs under Krishna’s guidance.
        As far as ISKCON is concerned there is no need to rely on and have a hope in it.

        Your servant,
        Ahinsra das

  27. yadagiri says:

    hare krishna madhudvisa,

    i want to ask how can i do complete 12 hours krishna consciouness, as i am married and have three childrens. With doing current job how is it possible.

    • Hare Krishna!

      You don’t have to do 12 hours of Krishna consciousness. Actually we should do 24 hours of Krishna consciousness–always remember Krishna, never forget Krishna–but what we have to do is chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, which takes about 2 hours or a bit more, and follow the four regulative principles (no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication). They are the initiation vows we make. Then we can add more and more Krishna conscious activities as much as possible. Absolute minimum is finding 2 hours out of 24 hours in the day to chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra and I think everyone can do that…

  28. Balarama das says:

    I was very moved by your last letter regarding a new Prabhupada based comunity. I am in 100% !!
    I have also been kicked out of my fathers home because I am trying to love and serve him more than anyone else!
    So since 1998 I have been serving Prabhupada as my Gurudeva. In 2005 I open a nice temple for him here in istanbul Turkey.
    I am ready with time, energy and money, everything is set up here, the shell is ready I just need other like minded devotees to join me here.
    I invite all like minded devotees to come here and help me please Srila PRabhupada.
    Let me know what i need to do to help us all get better organised to please Prabhupada more with more service and I am in 🙂
    Hare Krsna
    Ys Balarama das
    All glories to SRila Prabhupada 🙂

    • Hare Krishna Balarama Prabhu

      Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

      I am so happy to hear from you again Prabhu and I know you are pioneering the preaching there among the Muslims. I think you already have a few devotees there and this is basically all you need.

      We just have to be pure ourselves, strictly following the four regulative principles and chanting at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily and reading Prabhupada’s books and when we speak only speaking the things we have heard from Srila Prabhupada. No speculation. Our speaking will be effective. Krishna will use us as instruments if we actually surrender to Srila Prabhupada and follow his instructions.

      Even if you can get a few devotees together and establish the standard program Srila Prabhupada established. Everyone rises early in the morning before 4:00 AM, takes bath and together you perform the Mangal-Aroti ceremony. It can be in front of a photo of Srila Prabhupada and the Panca-Tattiva. Or if you have Deities, in front of the Deities. And everyone chants at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, and after the japa period there is the Deity greeting and Srimad-Bhagavatam class and my recommendation for the Bhagavatam class is that we have to hear from Srila Prabhupada on a regular basis. Otherwise we are completely lost. And at the same time we also need to explain the philosophy of Krishna consciousness. That is sravanam [hearing Prabhupada] and kritanam [explaining to others what we have heard from Srila Prabhuapda]. Both things are required. So my suggestion is we should alternate, one day Srila Prabhupada will give the Bhagavatam class and the next day, presuming there is someone in the temple who is qualified, he can give the Bhagavatam class. But it is useless for someone to try and give the Bhagavatam class if they have not even read the Bhagavatam. We see this so much in ISKCON. People who have never read practically anything from Prabhupada’s Bhagavatam sit up on the Vyassasana and speak a mixture of things they have heard other devotees speak in the Bhagavatam class and their own speculations and “realizations” and opinions… It is completely bogus and completely useless.

      So until we learn the process and the science of reciting the Bhagavatam we should not try to do it. We should hear from Prabhupada, how he is speaking on the Bhagavatam, and learn how to do it. And we should not try and speak on the Bhagavatam unless we have read it, and we are reading it on a regular basis. Only a person Bhagavata actually can speak on the book Bhagavata. So we have to become person Bhagavata…

      So anyhow, if we actually do the standard things that Srila Prabhupada is is instructing us to do [strictly follow the four regulative principles, chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily, rise before 4:00 AM in the morning, every morning and offer Mangal-Aroti and chant our rounds and hear the Bhagavatam..] And if we develop a real taste for chanting Hare Krishna… This is the real test actually to see if we have made any spiritual advancement at all. “Do I enjoy chanting Hare Krishna?” “Is chanting Hare Krishna the most wonderful thing in my life?” It should be. If we are following Srila Prabhupada actually it will be. And if is not we have to start looking into “What am I doing wrong?” “Why don’t I have any taste for chanting Hare Krishna?” If that is the case that has to be fixed. It is useless to try and preach if we ourselves do not find chanting Hare Krishna to be the most wonderful experience in our lives. If we have not taste ourselves for chanting Hare Krishna we should not try to preach to others. We have to find out what is the problem and fix the problem…

      So I am sorry for the long answer Prabhu. But it is not that we have to import devotees from outside to preach. We have to follow in Srila Prabhupada’s footsteps. He went to New York City alone. With a small drum and sat under a tree an chanted Hare Krishna and when some people gathered he had a kirtan and invited them back to hear him speak on the philosophy of Krishna consciousness. And he would offer a piece of fruit to Krishna and cut it up and distribute prasadam. This program was incredibly powerful. Because Srila Prabhupada was completely pure. So it requires one pure person only. From that everything will come. You could import hundreds of devotees into Turkey but if they are not pure it will have no effect in the long run.

      We just have to become ourselves pure and then we will be able to convince at least a small percentage of the local people to take to Krishna consciousness. And that will be the real success… In your case if you can get a small group of Muslims there to seriously take to Krishna consciousness and shave them up and dress them up in dhotis and send them out of sankirtan. It will be wonderful!

      And it is possible also. Anything is possible for Krishna, it is requiring our surrender and purity only.

      All glories to your service!

      Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

      Your servant

      Madhudvisa dasa

    • sudeep says:

      Hare Krishna Balarama Prabhu and Madhudvisa Dasa prabhu, I am also in favour of a separate entity where we can keep everything simple not as complicated and behind the scene as in ISKON.I am not criticizing ISKON but I am not satisfy in the way they operate. I personally very strongly push your idea to develop IHKM. kindly guide me for further steps.

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