The “Acharyadeva” has no Bhakti… ISKCON’s False “Acharyadevas”
You are trying to introduce people to a different Acharayadeva. And that is a great disaster. Because your “Acharyadeva” and all the other so-called “Acharyadevas” in ISKCON are presenting a different message to the message we are getting from the real Acharyadeva, Srila Prabhupada.
Dear Mataji
Hare Krishna! Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
I am very sorry to hear of your husband’s experiences leading him to temporarily lose faith in Srila Prabhuapda and the process of saddhana-bhakti he has taught us. That is the great disaster that all this politics and diplomacy.
So many devotees come to Krishna consciousness and leave disgusted with ISKCON and also disgusted with the “Ritviks” because in both camps there is so much politics and diplomacy. So many camps who all have their own separate interest and who are pushing that.
In ISKCON you and your husband are in the Hridyananda Maharaja camp. You call him the “Acrayadeva” but the real Acharaydeva is Srila Prabhupada and my interest is in helping people to come in contact with the real Acaryadeva, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.
You are trying to introduce people to a different Acharayadeva. And that is a great disaster. Because your “Acharyadeva” and all the other so-called “Acharyadevas” in ISKCON are presenting a different message to the message we are getting from the real Acharyadeva, Srila Prabhupada.
Your husband’s whole presentation is based on trying to justify the rather bizarre point that if the “Acharyadeva” falls down that does not mean he was not properly authorized. If the “Acharyadeva” falls down he was never an “Acharyadeva” in the first place. Authorization is not the only qualification of the “Acharyadeva.” That is actually a correct point on the part of your husband and Krishna Kant is incorrect on this point. One can be properly authorized to do something but still he has independence. He can use that independence in any way he likes at any time. So someone properly authorized for example in the material world to act on behalf of some company and collect money on behalf of that company is authorized to do that. But that does not mean that at some point he can not misuse his independence and steal the money and keep it for himself instead of delivering it to the company he is supposedly representing.
We always have this independence to “fall down.” We can disobey the orders of Krishna, we can disobey the orders of the real “Acharyadeva.” That is our minute independence and we will always have it.
But a real “Acharyadeva” does not fall down… He has passed this point. He has no longer any attachement to the body or the things related to the body. He has no attachment to the subtle manifestations of sex life:profit addoration and distinction, he is passed the point of fall-down. How can one who is still on the bodily platform of life be the “Acharyadeva?” It is not at all possible.
So the point your husband has completely missed is that although one may have been properly authorized that is only part of the qualification. One has to also follow all the instructions of Srila Prabhupada and must also be simply repeating what he has heard from Srila Prabhupada, and most importantly, he needs to be “brahma nistham,” fixed on the spiritual platform.
Authorization does not guarantee that the person who is authorized will actually properly follow the instructions given by the person who has authorized him.
Prabhupada authorized so many of his devotees to do so many things and so many of them failed in some way and fell down. That fall down was not due to them being not properly authorized, but due to them not properly following Prabhupada’s instructions and due to them not being “brahma nistham,: self realized. It is not Prabhupada’s fault and it is not because they were not properly authorized.
This argument of Krishna Kant’s that Prabhupada’s disciples are not authorized to become diksa gurus is completely bogus. All of Prabhupada’s disciples are authorized to become the guru of the whole world. The order is open. But the qualification must be there. And that qualification is very sublime and very simple and so very rare. It is a topic one could write on for a long time. But it is a platform that actually has to be attained before allowing foolish disciples to falsely glorify one with elevated titles like “Acharyadeva.”
Srila Prabhuapda gives the example that you can glorify any ordinary man and call him a great man and if he hears this enough he will believe it. He will think, “Yes. I am a great man and everyone should worship me…” You can call one man a King, and every time you see him bow down to him and glorify him and praise him and ignore his obvious defects and pretend he is something he is not at all. And if you get your friends to do this also very soon that ordinary man will be convinced he is the “Acharyadeva.” That is how ISKCON goes on. There is another story, you know it, about the Emperors New Clothes.
One expert tailor was appointed by the King to prepare some very fine new clothes for the King. The tailor was very qualified, the best in the country, and he was preparing the clothes very expertly from the most costly materials. The problem was somehow the King could not see the clothes. But everyone was so convinced about the qualifications of the tailor that they thought the cloths were so fine and so beautiful and somehow it was their defect that they could not see the clothes. Everyone was too embarrassed to admit they could not see the fine new cloths that obviously the King could see and all his other advanced ministers could see.
One expert tailor was appointed by the King to prepare some very fine new clothes for the King. The tailor was very qualified, the best in the country, and he was preparing the clothes very expertly from the most costly materials. The problem was somehow the King could not see the clothes. But everyone was so convinced about the qualifications of the tailor that they thought the cloths were so fine and so beautiful and somehow it was their defect that they could not see the clothes. Everyone was too embarrassed to admit they could not see the fine new cloths that obviously the King could see and all his other advanced ministers could see.
So the day came and finally the new cloths were finished and finally the King was able to wear his new cloths in public. Of course all the people were too embarrassed to admit they could not see the Kings new cloths and actually they were seeing a naked man there. Everyone was commenting on how beautiful the King’s new cloths were.
That is of course until one young boy, who had no idea about this politics and diplomacy and could not care less what the people thought of him exclaimed, “The King has no clothes…” Some others caught on and the people could realize that actually the King had no cloths on. It was not their fault that they could not see the cloths. Actually there were no cloths…
So, at least for the most part, the ISKCON guru system is like this. These “Acharyadevas” are surrounded by so many foolish followers who accept their “Acharyadeva” as a paramahamsa, a topmost pure devotee who they believe is capable of delivering them back home back to Godhead. And they are encouraged by all the other followers of the “Acharyadeva” who surround them and reassure them of the qualities of the “Acharyadeva…” And, like the King with no clothes, when surrounded by so many big ministers and subjects glorifying his new cloths, actually believes that he is wearing some fine new cloths, when in reality he is standing there stark naked for everyone to see, the ISKCON “Acharyadevas” actually believe they are pure devotees, paramahamsas, the topmost liberated persons, that everyone should offer them respect, that everyone should surrender to them and server them… Even though they have no taste for chanting Hare Krishna and are still full of material desires and are not seeing Krishna at every moment. And they actually know this also… It is a type of madness. And it has driven a lot of the “Acharyadevas” to madness and mental breakdowns leaving their followers lost bewildered and broken-hearted.
So ISKCON needs someone like the young boy who called out, “The King has no clothes…” We need to call out quite loudly in ISKCON that “The Acharyadevas have no bhakti….” We are supposed to be teaching people how to develop love for Krishna. That is the whole point of Krishna consciousness. So if we do not love Krishna. If the whole purpose of our life is not serving Krishna, by serving Krishna’s pure devotee, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, then we are not at all qualified to be called the “Acharyadeva…”
So you are part of a great scam. And I know when you are surrounded by all those people saying “Look at the King’s fine clothes, it is hard to call out, “The King has no clothes.” But that is what you have to do. Otherwise your spiritual life and the spiritual life of your “Acharayadeva” and all his other followers is doomed.
We have to be honest. The last time I saw your “Acharyadeva” was when he visited us at ITV in Topanga Canyon maybe a year ago. Nrsimhananda Prabhu invited him for a “Japa walk.” He arrived without any devotional clothing, without any neck beads, without any tilok, without any bead bag, without any chanting beads, without even a clicker that some devotees use to chant. We went on a walk in the Topanga State Park and we were chanting Japa but the “Acharyadeva” did not mummer even one mantra: “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare… Not even once. Then he came back to the house and accepted a breakfast of cheerios and talked prajalpa. Nothing connected with Krishna at all.
These are not the activities of the “Acharyadeva.” So I am sorry that I am the one bearing the news. But “The Acharayadeva has no bhakti.” And I have given a hint in my previous email as to the most likely reason for this lack of bhakti in the “Acharyadeva.” It is offenses to Srila Prabhupada and to the Vaisnavas.
The “Acharyadeva” has to come to terms with this and admit these offenses and beg forgiveness from Srila Prabhupada and the Vaisnavas. Srila Prabhupada and the Vaisnavas will, of course, easily forgive the “Acharyadeva” for his offences, that is the nature of the Vaisnavas. But he has to admit the offenses and humbly beg forgiveness for them.
If you do not know the offenses I am speaking of you can ask the “Acharyadeva.” He will let you know.
He and his ten other co-conspirators took over Prabhupada’s movement, claiming they were 11 “Acharyadevas…” But look what happened….
They were not qualified. And they are still not qualified…
I am sorry to say, but you better listen or your spiritual lives will be destroyed, just like the Acharyadeva has destroyed the spiritual lives of thousands of others who have surrendered to him in the past, he has a lot of blood on his hands… “The Acharyadeva has no bhakti…”
Why? That question you should ask him…
This is a very important email and could make the difference between a disaster and the spiritual world for you.
Please take shelter of Srila Prabhupada. Please actually follow the system of saddhana bhakti, Krishna consciousness, that Srila Prabhuapda has taught us. Please rise before 4:00 AM in the morning, offer Mangal Aroti to Srila Prabhupada and Lord Caitanya, please chant at least 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra every day, please strictly follow the four regulative principles: no illicit sex, no meat eating, no gambling and no intoxication. And please be engaged in serving Srila Prabhuapda and Krishna 24 hours a day. Chant Hare Krishna constantly and read Srila Prabhupada’s books constantly. Make serving Srila Prabhupada and Krishna your whole life’s activity. Do not do anything else.
You can not tell who is the real Acharyadeva unless you are quite spiritually advanced yourself. That is the problem. There are 3 stages of advancement in Krishna consciousness. kanistha, madhyam and uttama. Only when one reaches the madhyam platform can he actually distinguish the real “Acharyadeva” from the unlimited number of imitation “Acharyadevas”.
So it is a little difficult. To advance in Krishna consciousness you need the guru and to work out who is actually the guru you need to be advanced in Krishna consciousness. So what to do? The obvious answer is that we know Srila Prabhupada is the qualified guru so we have no choice but to take shelter of him and follow his instructions and advance to at least the madhyam platform so we can see who is qualified and who is not qualified. And if Srila Prabhupada helps us advance to the madhyam platform then if we stick with Srila Prabhupada and accept him as the “Acharyadeva” he will also help us advance to the platform of uttama-adhikari. If we actually surrender to him and follow his instructions and serve him and hear from him submissively. Then if we are actually on that very rarely achieved platform of uttama-adhikari, then we have the qualification of the “Acharyadeva.” Otherwise we are simply like the King with no clothes. Everyone can see the King has no clothes actually, they are simply too embarrassed to say it.
So in conclusion your husband’s debate with Krishna Kant is pointless.
Yes. There are so many faults in Krishna Kant’s “Final Order,” but your husband’s faulty logic is that “Krishna Kant’s paper is faulty therefore my “Acharyadeva” is pure….” It is very a very foolish, sentimental and not at all logical premise to make. It is a great mistake and a great logical flaw on the part of your husband…
Yes. There are so many faults in Krishna Kant’s “Final Order,” but your husband’s faulty logic is that “Krishna Kant’s paper is faulty therefore my “Acharyadeva” is pure….” It is very a very foolish, sentimental and not at all logical premise to make. It is a great mistake and a great logical flaw on the part of your husband…
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Your servant
Madhudvisa dasa
About the Author
Madhudvisa dasa 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!
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Hare Krsna Madhudvisa dasa prabhuji. What is Prajalpa. Can you explain in detail?
Prajalpa means unnecessary talking, “village talk”. We should only ever speak krishna-katha. We should use the tongue only to chant Hare Krishna, to speak about Krishna and to taste Krishna prasadam. That’s all. There is noting extensive to speak about prajalpa. It is any talk that is not about Krishna. And we have to avoid that.
Dear Madhudvisa I am a disciple of one acaryadeva. Whenever I listen a lecture of my acaryadeva I can understand he has no clear knowledge of God and His energies, but still the neophytes or better the fools glorify them as the top of knowledge. Causeless mercy means there is no material cause and it is under control of Krsna, if by great fortune we can receive His mercy then we can understand and speak as Prabhupad was speaking, spontaneously about anything related to Krsna.It is not so relevant how we dress but where our heart is, because where our heart is, our legs will follow. If we think that the stool of pig is more tasty than Gulab Jamun what we can do? We should pray for this acharyadevas and their foolish followers and be happy we are with Prabhupad.The acharyadevas have failed to realize the greatness of Prabhupad and like the fishes looking at the moon thinking it is just one of them. The Panca Tattva movement Prabhupad has established will make the revolution in this world if only one of us become pure and unalloyed like him and the previous Acharya.Better to stay in a low position and from there glorify sincerely Krsna through Panca tattva then become very high and eat after some time the stool of pigs and feel content. If we follow Prabhupad transcendental knowledge we can feel if somebody is transcendental or not and do not run the risk of being cheated. Arthada das
You have spoken very wisely Prabhu.
Madhudvisa dasa,
Can you tell me where I can find Srila Prabhupada’s books before they were changed? This should be very important to any devotee.
Hare Krishna!
Bhakta Mark
Hare Krishna Bhakta Mark
Yes. You can get Srila Prabhupada’s books before they were changed at:
http://www.KrishnaStore.com
and you can read them online at:
http://www.PrabhupadaBooks.com
Madhudvisa dasa
Hari Bol.
I have a question. Would someone pleasae be so kind as to answer it for me. I accept that Srila Prabhupada can become my life and soal if only I take shelter of him and his instructions. But his divine grace has left the plannet and I am no longer in a position to take DIRECT shelter of him besides his books and instructions. If for example a pure devotee becomes apparant in a vaisnava matha outside iskcon is it right and proper to immediately take initiation of that person if his mood is in line with srila prabhupadas.There is a lot of scaremongering going on that one cannot leave iskcon and I find this cultish and sectarian like many christian churches. I wonder why devotees think like this because joining iskcon generally meant in the first place that the person would have initially moved from his religious tradition to a new one.So why not change again if need be to another krishna consciousness movement outside of this iskcon. My experience with this iskcon movement makes me believe that so many devotees are more intrested in politics than serving krishna and they argue, fight, debate and shout people down constantly. They themselves not being happy and content and ultimately not fully satisfied with what they have. I would draw a conclusion that they are lacking something which a only a pure devotee manifesting again would put right.But I bet if one became manifest they wold be the first to decry and critisise that person too.Before I get as far away from this iskcon as i can can somebody clarify wether I am correct to look for another vaisnava institution which is more compassionate and loving.I hear there are many others which have nicer moods and are attracting western devotees. With thanks. Mike
Hare Krishna Mike
What is going on under the name of ISKCON today has nothing to do with Srila Prabhuapda or his teachings.
It is a cult as you say.
Prabhuapda is living in his books and other recorded Vani [instructions].
Please take advantage of Srila Prabhupada’s asssociation in this way, by reading his books, listening to his classes and watching the video and film recordings of him. In this way you will actually become connected to Krishna.
Prabhupada is the real thing. A real pure devotee, a real bona fide guru. We do not realise actually how rare a real qualified guru is. Do not waste your time looking for someone else. You have already found Prabhuapda, the real thing. Surrender to Srila Prabhupada and serve him, follow the instructions you find in his books, and your life will become perfect.
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!
Madhudvisa dasa