Indradyumna Swami's Example of Renunciation


beautiful young ladies and money business

Indradyumna Swami Magic
- Indradyumna Swami Magic -

Recently Dandavats.com posted a diary entry from Indradyumna Swami titled "Mysterious Antiques". As most devotees are aware, Indradyumna Swami has an ongoing habit of writing self promotional material under the guise of a "diary".

The sole purpose of the diary is really to advertise himself and attract prospective disciples and donors. Much like Radhanath Swami and his "wonderful stories" that aim only to show how advanced he is, Indradyumna's writings also are just a collection of fabricated tales made to show how Krishna personally guides the advanced devotee - who happens to be none other than himself. The target audience is obviously the new and neophyte bhaktas who don't have enough philosophical training to spot such self promotion.

Recently Rochan prabhu has been highlighting this new style of "devotional writing", where there is no real philosophy and the sole aim is to promote oneself as a highly qualified guru. Satsvarupa has always been the senior expert of this genre. He has written perhaps a hundred books of useless gobblygook. Now that is truly a case where you really do need a guru decoder ring to understand what he is speaking - it is all nonsensical gibberish.

Besides Satsvarupa, other prominent guru campaigners have followed similar styles, with Indradyumna being very prominent, and Radhanatha doing the same in spoken form (knowing his disciples will transcribe it and send it to all the faithful). Last week we had also highlighted Umapati's useless writings on his personal website (www.umapati.net), which contained plenty of utterly mundane topics, such as an article where he spoke about JonBennet Ramsey. So it is clear that this style of writing has become prominent in ISKCON, and is replacing the focus of new bhaktas. Instead of spending their time studying Srila Prabhupada's books, they are catching up on the lastest antics of their favorite superheros.

In the above cited diary entry of Indradyumna Swami, all I see detailed are the ignorant wanderings of a rich american in a third world country. That's the only real message I got out of it, nothing spiritual at all. For example, one of the subjects of the article is how he spent $200 to buy a tiger's tooth necklace to bring him protection. It is not only against international law to purchase or transport products made from endangered species, but it is also sinful to kill an animal just to make a fancy necklace. It is amazing that the Swami didn't have the material nor spiritual insight to figure this out:

As we turned to go I noticed a peculiar item on his desk.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's not for sale," he replied.

"I just want to know what it is," I said.

"It's an old tiger's tooth," he said.

"In a silver casing with a chain," I said.

"Yes," he said. "It belonged to a king hundreds of years ago."

"Is it special?" I said.

"Very special," he replied.

"How so?" I asked.

"The person who wears it will never be troubled by bad dreams," he said. "He'll be blessed, and his dreams will be good."

"Wow!" said Dhruva. "That's incredible!"

I thought about my bad dreams the previous two nights. I couldn't resist looking closer at the mysterious tooth.

"Can I hold it?" I asked.

The man picked up the tooth and put it in my hand.

It was large and dark yellow, and the silver casing had ornate carving all over it. It spoke of antiquity.

"Thanks," I said and handed it back. We turned and started to walk to the door.

"Are you interested in buying the tooth?" the man said.

"No thanks," I said as we started to open the door. "I'm sure it's too expensive."

"Just wait," the man said. "I'm willing to let this piece go for cheaper."

Dhruva and I stopped and turned around.

"I think he needs the money," Dhruva whispered. "Looks like no one ever comes here."

"How much?" I said.

"Two hundred dollars," the man said.

"That's pretty cheap," Dhruva said.

"Not in Bangladesh," I said. "It's one of the poorest countries in the world."

"I'll buy it for you," Dhruva said, and he walked back in the store. After paying for the tooth, he came back and handed it to me.

Indradyumna Swami could have taken the opportunity to tell his disciple, Dhruva, that it is illegal to own a product made from an endangered species. He could also have told him that it is sinful to kill an animal for the sake of making a fancy necklace. Or at the very least he could have told him that one should not waste Srila Prabhupada's money for material enjoyment. But he didn't tell any of these things, he happily took the new fancy silver necklace and put it around his neck.

This displays another huge problem in ISKCON. ISKCON Gurus are stealing money that should go to Srila Prabhupada's movement, and instead diverting it for their own sense gratification. Spending $200, which is around 10,000 rupees (enough money to run a small ISKCON temple an entire month in India), on personal fancy jewellery is hardly the best example one would expect from a sannyasi. We have countless examples of past ISKCON "Gurus" purchasing golden plates for themselves to eat off of, expensive clothes, jewellery, and so many other nonsensical things, most of which are later given away as "prasadam" to the cute looking lady disciples. The fact that Indradyumna didn't even blink or hesitate a second when spending $200 US dollars to buy himself fancy jewellery shows it is a regular spending habit. It's clear that this isn't the first time he has spent money like this, he has a lot of experience spending money whimsically. These false gurus are often surrounded by neophyte disciples who are eager to serve their gurus by buying them unique and exotic things. Unfortunately, the fake gurus take advantage of this kind sentiment and engage their disciples in buying all sorts of mundane things like Tiger's teeth necklaces. This money should really be directed towards the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada, but instead it buys fancy jewellery for ISKCON sannyasis.

We should note that originally Indradyumna doesn't even know what the jewellery is, yet he is so attracted to it. He wrote:

"I just want to know what it is."

So even though he has no idea what this fancy, shiny jewellery is, this sannyasi has an immediate attraction for it and starts the process of purchasing it, knowing his disciple is there to foot the bill.

Let us now look at the philosophical message Indradyumna Swami presents in this diary entry. He wrote:

"The person who wears it will never be troubled by bad dreams," he said. "He'll be blessed, and his dreams will be good."

I thought about my bad dreams the previous two nights. I couldn't resist looking closer at the mysterious tooth.

Indradyumna Swami doesn't have faith that for protection devotees should chant Lord Krishna's holy name and pray to Srila Prabhupada and Lord Nrisimhadeva. Instead he feels an expensive talisman, a tiger's tooth necklace, is what is really required for devotees to be protected from bad dreams. What type of nonsense is Indradyumna Swami teaching to his disciples by his words and actions? If Lord Krishna's names cannot protect Indradyumna Swami from bad dreams, then nothing in this universe can protect him. Or perhaps the problem is he isn't actually chanting Lord Krishna's names anymore, like many of the other GBC and gurus. Whatever the case, it is clear by his actions that his faith in the transcendental potency of Lord Krishna's names is very small. He feels that the real solution to all his problems are not in Lord Krishna's name, but in a special talisman, an illegal Tiger's tooth necklace.

Next we would like to study Indradyumna's level of common intelligence. He writes about the Tiger's tooth:

"Yes," he said. "It belonged to a king hundreds of years ago."

And later he writes about several pairs of deities which "must be hundreds and hundreds of years old", which he later bought for $100 US Dollars. Anyone who has experience living in third world countries knows this is the oldest trick in the book. There are many special factories where they manufacture deities and make them appear old or antique using various chemicals. In India it is common to find people selling "antique coins" dating from hundreds of years ago. They sit with piles of them at many holy places, selling the coins to foolish tourists. The reality is they are all brand new forgeries, treated by chemical processes to appear old. Indradyumna falling for the line about his tiger's tooth previously belonging to a king hundreds of years ago shows he is just a foolish American in a third world country waiting to be ripped off. Later when he falls for the same line about the deities, it just confirms his stupidity. In there countries the customs officers are specifically trained to catch the smuggling of antique dieties, which are usually valued well above $15,000 US dollars each. The thought that Indradyumna found a real set of deities that were hundreds of years ago, and bought them for a mere $100 USD is hilarious. If they were even made from high quality brass, they could have melted them and received more than $100 USD just for the metal. The fact is they are made from cheaper metal combinations, primarily zinc, but given a high grade external polish to look nice (and ancient) to the tourists.

A few other portions of the diary entry caught my eye and deserve comment. For example this line which shows that Indradyumna just globe hops like a rich hippy, with no particular predesigned plan. Suddenly hop on a plane and go for an adventurous vacation at the expense of the disciples' donations:

Later in the day, I telephoned my disciple Dhruva das to ask about the possibility of visiting another holy place in India before our scheduled Vrindavan parikramas in Kartika. We talked about Haridwar, Tirupati, and Udupi. Then suddenly I had an inspiration.

"Let's go to Bangladesh," I said, "and visit the great saint Narottam das Thakur's birthplace in Keturi.

The following also shows that Indradyumna was more interested in going to the tourist resorts than visiting the ISKCON temple. He could have easily waited another 2 minutes to find a taxi that was willing to take him to the ISKCON temple, but instead he just said, "show me the beautiful tourist spots":

There was a lot of traffic and we waited a long time for a taxi. "Let's go to the temple," I said to Dhruva as we finally stepped into a taxi. But the driver refused.

"Is it dangerous to drive there?" I said.

"Not today," he replied. "But it's too far and I'm stopping work soon."

But neither Dhruva nor I wanted to wait on the street any longer. "Then take us to a
beautiful part of the city," I said.

The driver laughed. "There's not much beautiful about this city," he said.

"Well then," I said, "take us where the tourists go."

"What tourists?" he said.

So rather than try to go to the ISKCON temple for preaching and associating with devotees, this ISKCON sannyasi asks to go to the beautiful tourist areas in the city. Again, the fact that there is no hesitation on the part of Indradyumna Swami shows he has a lot of experience going to beautiful tourist places while he travels. Otherwise, how would that be his immediate next response.

At the conclusion of the diary entry, Indradyumna lets us all know what was the final lesson his dear disciple learned from him on the trip:

"Dhruva!" I said excitedly. "I just had an amazing dream. I dreamt we were on Harinama in a Muslim village. As we chanted through the village all the people came out of their houses to sing with us. They were singing 'Allah Akbar!' and we were singing 'Hare Krishna.' We all joined hands and danced together in bliss. It was so vivid!"

Dhruva looked at the tiger's tooth around my neck. "Guru Maharaja," he said, "that's exactly what the man said would happen if you wore that tiger's tooth. Just imagine if we'd been able to get the peacock feather, the coin, the deity of Ganesh, and the special pot that neutralizes poison."

Indradyumna had previously highlighted these magical items, all being sold by the "antique dealer", as follows:

"I can show you some unusual items," he said, "but I have to go home to get them. I don't keep them here."

"Like what kind of interesting things?" Dhruva asked.

"I have a centuries-old coin," he said. "If you put grains on it, they'll immediately disappear."

"Is that true?" Dhruva said.

"I also have a peacock feather that casts no shadow."

"Wow!" said Dhruva.

"I have a deity of Ganesh that doesn't appear in any photo you take of him."

"Really?" said Dhruva.

"And I have a pot that neutralizes poison."

"Neutralizes poison?" said Dhruva.

So in conclusion, the message we really get is this: "Geepers, if we had just managed to collect all the magical crap that the antique fellow was selling then our Krishna consciousness would be perfect!" That's the final conclusion we get from Indradyumna. The purpose of Krishna consciousness is to wander the globe like a hippy, going in search of talismans, magic beans and mystical pixie dust. This is the essence of Indradyumna's fabricated "diaries of a traveling preacher".

At the very beginning of his diary entry, he began by stating:

"Going to India is more of a necessity than a luxury for one in the renounced order of life."

What in his description is anything but a luxury? A rich, globe hopping American who roams like a hippy, living off the expense of foolish disciples, and squandering Srila Prabhupada's money for fancy illegal jewellery.

All glories to Indradyumna Swami.



 

Thursday, June 7, 2007

Diary of a Betrayed Godbrother

How Indradyumna Swami "somebody" talks to his godbrother Jauvana "nobody"

I’ve found it interesting and somewhat amusing to follow the critique on the brahminical website, Sampradaya Sun (www.harekrsna.com/sun), of Indradyumna Swami’s “Diary of a Traveling Preacher” by Rocan, and now the rebuttal of that critique, “In Defense of a Traveling Preacher,” by a gurukuli who finds the Swami’s writing “mildly inspirational.” First i would like to know what “mildly inspirational” means? Is it a form of inspiration that doesn’t quite get you motivated but makes you feel good? Or is it some new age spiritual literature that inspires you to become a kind of Krishna conscious Indiana Jones character? “Hey, Maharaj: Go to Tibet and give them the nectar!” I’m not writing to criticize Kapila prabhu or Indradyumna Swami. I respect their opinions and right to preach, immature or self serving as they may seem to me. But i have my own small anecdote and sad tale to share with you, dear readers.

I’m a godbrother of Rocan’s and Indradyumna’s. I joined Iskcon in the same temple and maybe the same year as Indradyumna did, Bhagavan’s Jefferson St. temple in late 1970. Iskcon was quite different then. But soon i left to go to other temples and we never knew each other during those early years. It was several decades later, after the Swami started his internet diary that i came into some contact with him again. A devotee friend of mine in Holland who also liked his mildly inspirational writing, forwarded a couple of his travel pieces to me. I don’t like self promotion, and that’s exactly what the “Diary” smelled like to me, so after reading the articles, i asked my friend not to send me any more. That was a few years ago. I was living at that time in Vrindavan, at MVT. It happened that Indradyumna Swami also came to Vrindavan that year for Kartik and stayed in the flat next to mine. Although i didn’t know him personally, i knew he was part of the GBC guru establishment, and i didn’t like his “Diary,” but i decided to be friendly. After all, we’re godbrothers, i thought. And maybe i’m wrong in my judgement. So whenever we passed by each other, i would smile and say “Haribol.” Although he could see i was living next door to him (in the flat above his actually), and he must have known that we’re godbrothers, he never once stopped to talk with me or even ask my name. Fair enough, i thought, he’s a busy guy. We ran into each other the whole month of Kartik and i continued to be friendly.

The following year, i found another forwarded “Diary of a Traveling Preacher” in my mailbox, again sent by the same friend in Holland. This time i got upset and told my friend i really didn’t appreciate receiving unsolicited articles and to please never send me another one. I had no interest in the Swami’s globetrotting heroics. A few months later, i was at the International Airport in New Delhi waiting to catch an Emirates flight to Dubai. (Sounds like my own travel diary now). Guess who’s in the transit lounge waiting for the same flight? Yep, Indradyumna Swami. I thought to myself, should i say hello to him, or should i ignore him, as he ignored me when we were neighbors last Kartik? We were the only devotees in a transit lounge full of passengers. I decided to approach him and walked over to where he was standing in the cue.

“Maharaj, haribol!, how are you?”
He looked at me, not recognizing me, but said, “Haribol.”
“We’re godbrothers, you may not know me. My name’s Nava Jauvana. We were neighbors when you stayed at MVT last Kartik.” He gave me a slight smile but no reply.
“Are going to Dubai?” i asked him.
“No, i’m going to South Africa.”
“Oh, i’m on my way to Amsterdam,” i said.
No response from him. Well maybe he’s tired, i thought. But we were just standing in the cue waiting to board the flight. So i gave it one more try.
“I’ve been living in Vrindavan for the past 3-4 years. I just recorded an album of original devotional music. The cd’s called Jivatma Express.”
He gave me a look that a traveling salesman must get when he solicits business from someone who has no interest at all. He just stared at me. Well, i wasn’t trying to sell him anything; i just wanted to have a conversation. If he doesn’t say anything back, i thought to myself, i’m not going to continue. I paused another second, waiting for some feedback, and when none came, i said:
“Well, have a nice flight, Maharaj.”
He looked relieved. “Yea, you too.”

As i walked back to my place in the economy line, (he was standing in the premier business/first class cue), i felt like a jerk for approaching him. Here was a godbrother sannyasi who loves to talk, gives classes for hours, sits on his vyasasan meeting hundreds of people. Why, i thought, would he not have the slightest interest in talking with an old godbrother? While waiting to catch a plane with nothing else to do? But this is part of the problem that young devotees like Kapila and thousands of other younger devotees cannot understand. Godbrothers who become “somebodies” (GBCs, gurus) don’t like to waste time with “nobody” godbrothers. It is almost a disturbance to them. If they know you from the “old days,” you might get a condescending haribol or a limp handshake and a “how’s it going?” If they want something from you, some favor, they may show you some warmth. But real friendship, genuine interest, concern, give and take exchange, revealing of minds, listening, help? Forget it. (As always, there are a few rare exceptions, but this neglect is almost universal.)

I don’t wish to judge Indradyumna’s entire career as a devotee or his service as a preacher just by a couple of small insignificant encounters with me. But these are not isolated incidents. Time and again, in countless ways, disciples of Prabhupada who took leadership positions in Iskcon and became gurus have betrayed their godbrothers. It started with the original “Zonal Acaryas” who forced themselves on their godbrothers, and has continued with the “Guru Reformers” who themselves became gurus but not reformers. My little incident with Indradyumna is nothing compared to the betrayal experienced by many if not a majority of godbrothers. And that abuse and neglect is perpetuated by the absolute silence from each and every GBC and guru godbrother about the mistakes of the past and present. That silence continues to this day.

So it’s really more than a critique of a Traveling Diary that Rocan is making when he writes about Indradyumna’s self serving prose. It’s about a history of 30 years of godbrothers stealing the spiritual wealth and legacy given to us by our uncommonly great father, Srila Prabhupada. We are not talking about jealousy here. Most godbrothers would be more than happy to let their guru godbrothers keep their positions, their service and their disciples, if they were doing their job properly and not behaving like wannabe rock and roll celebrities. If they were attached to following the example of Prabhupada's humility rather than their personal fame.

How could anyone complain if everyone had a fair opportunity to express themselves and participate in devotional service? But the structure does not allow this. Since Prabhupada's departure, Iskcon has become an exclusive club of elites and rank-and-file. Either you’re in or you’re out. And loyalty to the club, not individual inspiration to serve Prabhupada, is the gold standard. It sounds more like a totalitarian state than a society for promoting love of God. Or perhaps an ecclesiastic church. In any case, it’s not the same movement envisioned and nurtured by Srila Prabhupada, no matter what the propaganda on dandavats.com says. We need more than Traveling Diaries to bring about a spiritual revival of the movement founded by our beloved Guru Maharaja in Tompkins Square Park 41 years ago. We need devotees who have the courage to speak the truth. Millions of obeisances to Srila Prabhupada for the courage he had to tell the world about Krishna, and the sacrifices he made to teach his disciples the truth.


1 comments: Axel said...

I read the exchange on the Sampradaya Sun and although I am not all that keen anymore to get into this kind of subject (it just agitates my mind) I like to offer a little comment. I do respect Rocan Prabhu for his patience, precise debating, and polite tone of voice (among other good qualities). The same applies to my friend Nava Yauvana Prabhu. The outspoken attitude of both of them is what is needed. I also feel that the time is getting ripe to become even a bit more radical. The last and final piece I read by Indradyumna Swami was his account of his American style tourist shopping in Bangla Desh. Any person with a bit of common sense, let alone an (aspiring) vaishnava devotee can clearly see that this so-called diary of a traveling preacher has nothing to do with Krishna Consciousness, or preaching. It is a dangerous kind of misleading young devotees looking up to you. At least, in that particular entry, Indradyumna revealed himself as outright foolish, accepting the first-quoted price of a Bangladesh bazaar shopkeeper as a deal.

Like Rocan Prabhu, I also lost my “offence fear syndrom” long ago. Of course, I am still convinced that offences against vaishnava devotees will create havoc to your spiritual life. But I am also convinced that you cannot make progress if you are too afraid of committing offences when truth needs to be told. I also do not know Indradyumna Swami very much personally except when I ran into him in the Eighties. He was always one of Bhagavan’s main Yes-Men and to me it seems that these days he considers himself the “Better-Bhagavan” - the mood hasn’t changed the least. Anyhow, all these branches are going to dry up - sooner or later - Indradyumna Swami, Radhanath Swami etc. In some people’s minds they still seem to be important, but they are not. I also have a little story to relate. Last summer I sat down and told myself: Don’t be so damned negative - these godbrothers are doing preaching work. I really mad an effort to become more positive. I remember that was on a Saturday. Next day I went to the Hamburg Preaching center. The President had fresh video footage from the Polish Festival 2006. The very first thing on screen that I had the doubtful pleasure to watch was Indradyumna Swami with a water hose in his hand giving refreshment to a bikini-clad lady by spraying her with water. Go figure - you don’t need Sigmund Freud for that. His followers and fans will probably say: “Maharaj is so far-out”, which is the kind of talk I know all to well from the days with Hansadutta and the like.

Atmavidya das


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