NEWSBITES (by pada)

* Thanks to new pada subscribers in Australia, UK and India!

* Dear Puranjan Prabhu, Hare KRSNA, PAMHO, AGTHDGACBSSP !!!
This is simply a request for your PADA Newsletter to be sent to the following "RITVIK ": ********* of England. Lord NrsringaDev evidently gave him a wake-up call (more like an alarm) when he was visiting here a while ago. I know your'e busy, so i'll be brief. He is now convinced (he claims 200% and i have no reason to doubt him) that the "Ritviks" and "Prabhupada-nugas" are THE ONLY ONES WHO ARE SINCERELY ATTEMPTING TO RE-ESTABLISH SRILA PRABHUPADA'S TEACHINGS and that all this time he has been distributing a "look-a-like only", BHOGUS edition of S.P.'s literatures and he asked (with great enthusiasm i may add) for me to forward his e-mail address in England to PADA. He asked me to tell you he would be most appreciative of ANY and/or ALL back issues as well as future ones. Thnx Prabhu. All Glories to your relentless pursuit of MAINTAINING Srila Prabhupada's Vision. P.S. : Would you kindly re-direct MY newsletters to: .....many thanx and many dhandabats to you, Sincerely, I remain unworthy, **** Das

* BHUTA BHAVANA DASA is missing (from Alachua). Hope it is not something untowards i.e. he has met violence, but it could also just be that he is having some devotional/ emotional/ financial/ family/ stress and he simply felt the need to take a break. Conclusion: more and more of our devotees need some organized "fall back" help for various crises situations, i.e. a sort of crises intervention plan, so they will not feel that "no one can help." Meanwhile, apparently, his wife needs some assist with her health problems(?). Maybe some folks can at least help her at her hour of need? Srila Prabhupada said he wanted a special bank account to help his devotees, especially when they got sick and/or older and needed more help, but who knows what became of that? Meanwhile, "gurus" (like Satsvarupa?) seem to be able to afford to live full time at Howard Johnson motels and go to fifty doctors a day, i.e. they have unlimited expense accounts? Why isn't this "mercy" being spread here? As for pada's editor, I'll be happy to die in a gutter or a trash dumpster but please, let me not steal money from Krishna and His devotees.

* TALKING TO GOD UPDATE? ANNE HECHE (famous US movie actress) recently admitted that she has another personna named "Celest," who is always talking to God. Apparently, God told her to take the drug "ecstacy" and then wait for a space ship to take her to another planet from a spot near Fresno, California. Well, neither God nor the space ship arrived, but rather the Fresno county nurses from the local mental ward did. And they allegedly gave her a strong tranquilizer and took her away in an ambulance for a mental check up. Similarly, mass murderer Ted Bundy told the FBI that he too was always "talking to God." Similarly, our maha-bhogha-what GBC guru "Ramesvara swami" was also telling folks he was "talking to Krishna" about such things as: saving the souls of his disciples. And then, hmmm, Krishna told him to marry a meat eating lawyer and become a real estate agent? It thus seems that "talking to God" is pretty easy, the question being begged here is, who is listening for His reply? In fairness to Anne Heche, she says the reason she is crazy is that she was molested by her father as a child. This "unresolved molesting" issue is always a problem.

* LOCAL PREACHING. Locally, we are cultivating a few of folks in our city and we are giving them Srila Prabhupada's books to read as well as "Krishna Prasadam." Halvah seems to top the list of favorties here. We are also cultivating some (mayavadi?) bhajan folks who like to chant Hare Krishna as well. This is rather a nice way to make progress, the old "grass roots" level of preaching. As the Bible says, the harvest is great but the harvestors are few. This seems to be the wave of the (at least short term) future for the Prabhupadanugas, they will have to cultivate whomever they can locally. Later, we can and will all join together and form a unified international preaching organization as Srila Prabhupada wanted, but for now, "less equals more" as they say. I'm also surprised that at their kirtan last night they handed me over their harmonium, humbly requested me to lead the chanting of Hare Krishna, told me to bring photocopies of our prayers next time, and they all hugged me like I was their long lost brother at the end? Why can't more of "the devotees" treat us like this?

* 2001 RATHAYATRAs. Reports from ALL of the West Coast "rathayatra festivals" are very favorable this year. Even Los Angeles temple authorities were more friendly / favorable to our "Prabhupadanuga" devotee network members this year. San Francisco festival was especially very nice, and we noted many more nice new and/or teens and twentys devotees as well as some of the "old timers" who are seemingly re-appearing after a long hibernating. We went to the San Francisco festival personally and saw that the mood all round has changed, especially among the few old "hard line" GBC types who were brave enough to appear at all. The recent Rathayatra festival in Seattle has had many favorable reports. In all, the mood seems to be shifting, at least here on the West Coast, to favor the worshippers of Srila Prabhupada --while simultaneously-- the GBC's "guru worship imbroglio" seem to be reducing if not sinking in support and followers.

* Special "pada appreciation" award to "Titikshava Karunaya dasa," a nice devotee who lead Hare Krishna chanting at all of these festivals. We have known him since 1984 and he has always been inducing others to chant Hare Krishna, and he has travelled to Russia and everywhere else doing just that all along. This makes him more advanced in inducing others to chant the holy name than most of the GBC's "gurus" -- all put together.

* Dear Puranjana Prabhu, pamho, agt Srila Prabhupada! Just to let you know we were away for a while, so we didn't write much e-mail. How are you? We're missing your newsletters a lot, they've became quite rare these days, due to your time-consuming job we guess. Here's all the same, majority of so-called 'devotees' doesn't give a fig for Prabhupada's complaints, no matter how clear they are. But not everyone is blind or motivated. I was just talking to two nice Prabhupadanugas, it always gives you a hope for better future. Please be more frequent if you can, very best regards, ys, Gana PS: Yeah, things haven't much changed in the sanat/ puru/ mukunda/ nnv tribe, aren't they? God, they still think it's OK to bail for NM, kirtanananda and similars ...Sheesh! What a characters! They will become a new measure for sheer stupidity, and be listed as such in all future encyclopedias, for generations to laugh at them...

[PADA: One of Sanat's ex-friends says that he makes friends with people --but then attacks them-- since he is like a GBC man himself. In any event, they wanted support for their so-called cow program, but by insulting and threatening violence to all of the Prabhupadanuga devotees they will never get any. So they seem to have cut off their own noses to spite their faces. As for the Sanat/ Mukunda/ Naranarayana "brilliant writings," for example that they are going to smoke pot until the bombs drop, this is the same drug-induced violent fanaticism styled "preaching" we are finding in other bogus cults. We thus wanted to identify it as such so that these people will be on notice: (1) the legal authorities are watching you and (2) the devotees are never going to follow you and/or be implicated in your lawless antinomianism attitude.]

* (to pada) ...But after we have agreed on the fact that their system is faulty and does not work, how will we practically implement the right system (i.e. ritvik)? I'm sorry but the posting of angel108 does not say anything about this. In other words, who will go around giving ritvik diksa in the name of Srila Prabhupada? Is there any ritvik out there ready to risk his/her neck in the open without planning to become a pope/ antipope or a new Math acarya? In my private correspondence prior to getting public into the Council I was mentioning that IRM is not really setting a perfect example of vaisnava dealings, and I wouldn't be enthusiastic of following Adridharan into his crusade "against".

[PADA: Well, the reason that I do not think it is required to specify who is acting as an agent, preacher, brahmana, a priest, or de facto a ritvik is that there are already thousands of devotees preaching "on my behalf" as Srila Prabhupada says is the standard for a ritvik. Anyone who does that, and many people already are, they are de facto ritviks. As for an official title, I am at least not in need of that. Some folks have however asked me to formally give them a ritvik initiation and I tell them they are already initiated if they accept the process given by Srila Prabhupada, just like anyone who accepts Christ is his devotee whether baptised or not, that is the formality.

I also had a strange but beautiful dream of Sulochana. He was walking towards me and we both realized we had not seen each other in a long time. Yet in the dream I did not know he had passed on in 1986, he was still here with me now as far as I knew. So we ran at each other and embraced while patting each other on the back. He was smiling and laughing all the time. After we talked for awhile, I realized I did not know where he lived. So I kept asking, where do you live now?, and he replied with an impish grin saying, "ehhhhh!" while shrugging his shoulders (he would not say where he was living now).

So I was trying to be serious and ask where he was staying now and he kept laughing and smiling saying, ehhhh, when i asked him where he lived now. He also looked much younger than i last saw him, and he was sort of golden or glowing, but most of all he was so full of joy it was simply amazing. I awoke from the dream simply startled and shocked that he was not here now. I am still somewhat startled and shocked, and also simply sometimes crying in joy since he was so joyous it was infectuous. This was very amazing and it was so full of joy it is hard to even explain it. Thanks for reading this and trying though, ys pd]

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1) DINADAYADRI WRITES

Hare Krishna, Puranjan prabhu!

First, I want to thank you for sharing with us that amazing dream you had of Sulochana prabhu. That was really beautiful. And it's beautiful to see the depths of feelings that devotees can have in their relationships with each other that they span even death. This is the true nature of spiritual relationship.

Thanks also for taking the time to write so lucidly in response to Danavir's rather silly articles. First of all, he practically comes out and calls his Godsister a "faithless, mundane scholar who always fails to understand transcendental knowledge" -- no love lost there, and not an attitude very conducive to constructive debate. But what really struck me as amiss is how he created a big loophole for himself in the first article by referring to Srila Prabhupada as an "extraordinary" guru. That left an opening for him to later write about "ordinary" gurus who fall down into all kinds of abominations as opposed to the "extraordinary" type who never do.

Finally, I really appreciated your comments in "Re: Machiavelli." It startled me to see your reference to "Christians tossing hand grenades at little girls in N. Ireland" because on my way home in the car just before writing this, I had the radio on and heard the news story about the group of Catholic girls in Belfast who have to walk through a Protestant neighborhood to get to school. They had to be accompanied by their parents and a heavy police escort, and still someone managed to toss a bomb at them -- at little girls on their way to school! And all the Protestant adults came out of their homes and lined the street, turning their backs to the little girls to make them know they were not welcome there. I was about to get outraged at the behavior of these so-called "adults" and "Christians" when I remembered that we also have fratricidal war going on in our "religion." Anyway, thank you again for your good analysis. It did help to make some sense of the puzzling predicaments of life in this material world.

Your servant and godsister,
Dinadayadri dasi

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2) JAYARADHE WRITES

Dear Vishoka prabhu and the rest of you wonderful devotees, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. This post is so encouraging that now I will have to dive into the other posts that I missed on this thread. You create the picture of devotional service, and having more direct service, as a simple and attainable possibility.

During my recent visits to Berkeley temple, where the worship of Srila Prabhupada continues with enthusiasm, every bit of service I could get my hands on was so wonderful. I even got to be Madanasini for a little while, as she was away for a few days. For those who don't know, Madanasini has been the one devotee who has stayed in New Jagannath Puri for the past twenty-five years or so, remaining aloof from the politics, a quiet, somewhat shy, humble soul who reminds me that the Deities are always there for us. She has always performed behind-the-scenes service. She is glorious for her steadiness and faith. She also has a subtle sense of humor and makes me laugh. She embodies the quality of a devotee in her warmth. Anyway I got to wash the Deities' hankies, washcloths, and Brahmin underwear. I got to hang them up, and iron them. I got to help fold and put away the Deities' clothing after the festivals.

I got to sweep floors and wash counters. I got to remove the lights and greenery from the abhiseka gazebo. I got to make Deity garlands and Prabhupada garlands and garlands for decoration. I got to give out garlands to guests, from the stash I had intended to take home with me (it kept growing, each day; well, I just had to have this Govinda garland for Madhavi, and this one from Radharani for me, and also the Gokulananda one, oh and the Prabhupada one and Nrsimhadev's, etc. etc. until the bunkbed and the doorknob was just loaded with these garlands).

I got to serve pappadums at the feast, and lunch prasad to the devotees. I got to clean a very yukky toilet after the Sunday program. None of these services had I got to do in years and years, and it was as if those years vanished the moment I engaged; I was in my natural constitutional position. I was instantly at Home. I felt self-esteem like I never feel anyplace else. Best of all, I got to do these services alongside the sweetest people on this planet. Because of this real life experience, this taste of devotional service in the here and now, I have great hopes for, and much faith in, our re-establishing the mood of Srila Prabhupada where it has been deviated from. I think Berkeley temple is a good example of this mood, and would love to see an increase in that mood with the distribution of these street BTG's, of a cheap price, that I have been hearing about. That is exciting to think about, and is the very spine that is needed. Seems to me that will be our main catalyst.

All glories to the Berkeley devotees, and all glories to the devotees of this grand discussion group.

your servant, Jayaradhe dasi

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3) ISKCON - A Gurukuli's Analysis

After Srila Prabhupada's departure, there were so many deviations that crept withn the ISKCON movement, all in the guise of devotional service. So many in leadership positions simply stood by accepting these deviations without objection. These gutless leaders stood by as the homosexuals ran rampant, pretending to be gurus and acharyas; and other "senior gaudiya acharyas" certified these homosexuals as pure devotees. As a result many people, especially gurukulis, have left the Krishna consciousness movement, some even blaming Srila Prabhupada for the problems.

What have the leaders done? Some have left and pretend they were never part of the problem. They point from a distance, saying, "Look at all those faults." They were themselves the problem. They are the one's who made the mess, both actively and passively by allowing such things to go on. Now they are comfortably sitting from a distance trying to pretend they had nothing to do with the problems of ISKCON. We still remember the Swami Toms, Swami Dicks, and Swami Harry's. They may have left, but our memory remains.

New people will be fooled, but we remember them for what they were - part of the problem of ISKCON. They were even worse than others, for they just ran off, forgetting about all the responsibilities they had. They took the easy way out; made a mess and ran. What should we do? We could follow their shallow example, and run off ourselves, blaming everything on someone else. Maybe find a place in the forest and start an isolated ashram, while pointing fingers and blaming ISKCON for everything. Thats what others have done, but I won't do that. I for one am staying. We have a duty to our acharya, Srila Prabhupada, to fix the problem. The first step is a vigorous campaign to defend the integrity of Srila Prabhupada.

Those who wish to blame these problems on him are in fact the creators of the problem. The second step is a vigorous defending of the philosophy established by Srila Prabhupada. Do not change anything. There was a great attempt to minimize Srila Prabhupada after he left. Every Tom, Dick and Harry wanted to become a mini-Prabhupada, but they lacked the true spiritual qualification of the guru. Within the blink of an eye, these people suddenly became Swami Tom, Swami Dick and Swami Harry. They concocted their own teachings, deviating from Srila Prabhupada, and as a result began to fall down one by one. The so-called leaders stood by as these imposters stole Srila Prabhupada's legacy. The weakest of them ran off, after creating a good enough mess themselves, and pretended they had nothing to do with the problems. Nope, it didn't work. We saw you, we know what you did. We were watching the mess you were making.

Now such people want to point fingers at the problems of ISKCON and pretend it wasn't caused by them. They want us to believe that if we change Srila Prabhupada's teachings to suit the modern times, everything will again be fine. That was where the problems first started! As soon as they deviated from Srila Prabhupada there was chaos.

I won't run off like some other shallow leaders. I will stand up and fix these problems; I won't let this morphing of philosophy continue. I've seen enough fraudulent self-proclaimed Gaudiya matha certified "acharyas" come and go. You've all stood by as Kirtananda and Bhavananda ran rampant as homosexual "acharyas" destroying ISKCON. Are you going to let this go on? Srila Prabhupada is our acharya, and we must follow him, not other self-appointed "acharyas".

"Do not change anything", this is Srila Prabhupada's instruction. Do not accept homosexuality in any form as anything other than a weakness. Do not make up stories that there was a secret unrecorded conversation wherein he said his disciples could have homosexual marriages. Do not falsify the Vedic teachings as is going on in websites like Galva, and do not propagate these lies internally within ISKCON on sites like Chakra.

Those who left have to stop pretending they weren't part of the problem. They deviated from Srila Prabhupada, and allowed other deviations to go on. Even today so many deviations are continuing. Its time for them to stand up and say, "I will be part of the solution, I will follow Srila Prabhupada's instruction As It Is." Is this too much to ask of a disciple? We don't need more gurus, we need more disciples, devotees who will faithfully follow the orders of their spiritual master.

Yours in service,
Jahnava Nitai Das, Bhaktivedanta Ashram,
http://www.indiadivine.com

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4) DANAVIR UPDATE

[PADA: Danavir dasa (one of the main apologists for the current GBC's "gurus") has penned two recent articles on "guru tattva" --which contradict each other-- and indeed mimic and repeat VERBATIM the deviated post-1936 Gaudiya Matha's siddhanta: (1) In Danavir's first article he writes that the guru is always pure and beyond the juristiction of maya; Thinking that the guru is faulty or materially conditioned is indeed a grevious offense (apararadha) and so on.

Simultaneously (2) he writes in his next article that the guru is always subject to, if not prone to, illusion (maya) and indeed he is prone to very serious maya (such as chid molesting, murder and so on) and as such he has had to lecture the followers of said gurus over and over as to how their guru could be actually a total rascal.

How can the guru be simultaneously fully pure and fully impure? Indeed Danavir's "gurus" have proven to be sometimes violent murderous criminals? Anyway, here is Danavir's first article in which he states that the guru is beyond mistakes, illusion, cheating and sensory defects. This is good, but then he will fully contradict this point in his next writing as we shall see...]

Response to "Can the Guru Make Mistakes?" By Danavir Goswami

Niscala devi suggests a relative view of the spiritual master, particularly Srila Prabhupada, where disciples are free to accept or reject portions of his teachings.

[PADA: And Danavir does the same thing. He cites that the parampara gurus (also known as acharyas) are always pure, when it suits him, but then he tries to fabricate that the acharyas are prone to severe illusion, so he is accepting part of the vedic teachings while rejecting other portions.]

Danavir: This opinion represents well the faithless, mundane scholars who always fail to understand transcendental knowledge by tinkering with Vedic literature. However, Niscala devi's own mentally - manufactured ideas are also subject to scrutiny and we are not obliged to blindly accept them.

"To commit mistake, to become illusioned, to become cheater, and to possess imperfect senses. This is our qualification. And we want to write books and philosophy." (Srila Prabhupada lecture: London, August 16, 1971)

On the other hand, Srila Prabhupada proved his purity and realization through activities and words supported by Vedic authority. Relegating an extraordinary guru like Srila Prabhupada to an ordinary, mistake-ridden level may appeal to falsely termed liberal thinkers who are not very serious about making spiritual advancement. Such a notion, nevertheless, is diametrically opposed to guru, sastra and sadhu.

[PADA: Why then does Danavir write that the guru is an illusioned cheater in his next diatribe?]

yasya deve para bhaktir/ yatha deve tatha gurau/ tasyaite kathita hy arthah/ prakasante mahatmanah

"Only unto those great souls who have implicit faith in both the Lord and the spiritual master are all the imports of Vedic knowledge automatically revealed." [Svetasvatara Upanisad 6.23] In this instance the word "implicit" means: having no doubts or reservations; unquestioning (American Heritage Dictionary)

[PADA: Yet in his next article, he cites that he has alll sorts of doubts about the position of gurus?]

Danavir: As Narottama Dasa Thakura says, guru - mukha - padma - vakya cittete kariya aikya: "Make the orders of the spiritual master your life and soul." And then, ara na kariha mane asa: "Do not think otherwise." Simply accept what he says. (Quest for Enlightenment)

[PADA: Danavir striclty forbids this. As soon as we say that the guru's orders are eternally pure and uncontaminated, Danavir says we have to leave ISKCON because (his) gurus are impure.]

Danavir: I request Niscala devi to explicitly delineate where she thinks Srila Prabhupada made "mistakes" or "antiquated perceptions" regarding women. We shall in return attempt to allay such doubts.

Danavir Goswami

[PADA: Notice that in this next article penned by Danavir, he says that the gurus are always prone to illusion, cheating, imperfect senses, if not mafia styled criminal activities.]

Guru in the Morning By His Holiness Danavir Goswami. Looking back to 1987, I remember trying my best to counsel several weeping ISKCON Vaisnavas when they learned that their guru had just defaulted his position.

[PADA: Notice this word jugglerly. The guru has "defaulted" his position? No. Srila Prabhupada says in the Nectar of Devotion that the bona fide gurus never fall down, only those "gurus" who artificially usurp the post of guru, they fail because THEY never were actual GURUS. Moreover, Danavir has never explained how the eleven GBC got "the position of guru" in the first place? The eleven originally said that some GBC had been "appointed as gurus." Later, they said that this was and is a lie. Then they said, guru by appointment is bogus? So, if they were not appointed or certified as gurus, and since gurus are not appointed in our lineage anyway, how did they "become guru" from square one? They do not explain? nor has the Gaudiya Matha backers of the GBC ever explained how these eleven became gurus either?]

Danavir: Their guru was previously a dynamic, conquering hero who shone like fire through preaching, making disciples, and leading the sankirtan movement.

[PADA: No, when their guru was a regualar rank and file devotee he was preaching nicely, and when he artificially became guru he failed. Notice that Danavir will now tell us that these "gurus" have to revert back to ACTING and indeed ACTUALLY being -- rank and file devotees (sadhakas) in order to not have such miserable failings? To sum, he agrees with us, his gurus are not actual (parisad) gurus but sadhakas. And if they are not gurus, but rather (sadhaka) regulated preachers or aspiring practicioners, then why are they "given the post" of guru?]

Danavir: Yet, those weeping Vaisnavas sitting in my office would have traded all the joy they shared with him during the victories just to have him remain their own spiritually - healthy guru. These devotees had surrendered their young and capable lives to Lord Krishna, but now they grieved because their guru was careless in following his own guru's instructions.

[PADA: This proves that Danavir realizes that his cheating and misrepresenting that impure souls are pure is causing a lot of pain and grief, and indeed it is causing weeping and crying. That means he is creating a wave of (potentially violent as we have seen) fanatics who are worshipping false gurus. Next, he says that his alleged gurus are not even following the orders of their predecessor guru. This is another contradiction, how can a guru be a person who is not following his own guru?]

Danavir: This paper suggests one major safeguard which will definitely help to avert future calamities.

WHAT SHOULD A GURU DO IN THE MORNING? It is my contention that an ISKCON guru must fully participate in the temple morning program each day lest he disqualifies himself to be a guru.

[PADA: A guru is a person who is in the temple chanting his rounds in the morning? And if he is not in the temple chanting his rounds, he is no longer a guru? This means that he is saying a guru is a sadhaka, a person who performs basic levels of devotional practice? And as soon as his practic slips, he is no longer a guru? Well, this is the problem, the sadhaka is not a guru, he may slip even if he is performing the practices because he has not realized the subject matter. Many "big devotees" chanted 16 rounds for 10 years or more and they have now "blooped" and some of them have even come to blaspheming Krishna. That means that external practice does not qualify one as realized. In any event, the standard for acharya is now that Bhakta Bob, the temple pot washer, is to be worshipped as the shakshat hari prabhu, the nikunja yuno gopi assistant, the sum total of the demigods, because, ...he was in the temple room chanting his rounds? Huh what?]

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5) LOCANANDA WRITES

These are good points, Visoka Prabhu. At this juncture, we all have to do whatever will help us become stronger in Krishna consciousness. After all of our discussions on the VC, we know what is wrong with Iskcon. We also know the source of the problem: the unauthorized worship of Iskcon gurus. The worship of fallible gurus who cannot even rise from bed in the morning to chant their rounds has undermined the entire management structure established by Srila Prabhupada.

There are very powerful incontestable arguments to prove the guru worship program in Iskcon is a deviation from Srila Prabhupada's teachings. Srila Prabhupada instructed that initiations would be performed by officiating acaryas but he never said they would be worshipped. The GBC responds that whoever initiates disciples has always been worshipped in our sampradaya; it is our tradition. But Srila Prabhupada never aurthorized the GBC to make changes in Iskcon based on what they understood to be vaisnava tradition. These arguments are sufficient to defeat any member of the GBC on this point.

There were so many gurus who were worshipped in Iskcon, and many of them have fallen from the path. This is proof that the approval to perform initiations is no guarantee of infallibility. To worship a guru who may fall down from Krishna consciousness at any moment is never recommended. In fact, such a person is not a guru at all. When an unqualified person receives worship, that adoration itself becomes a contributing factor to his downfall.

The next important argument is that the worship of many gurus creates factions. Unless everyone recognizes the guru as a pure devotee, those who worship him within the institution constitute a faction. When a faction develops, it creates a schism. Srila Prabhupada always taught that the GBC must do whatever was necessary to avoid the appearance of factions. What is necessary today to stop the mentality of the faction is to immediately stop the worship of the "new" gurus. What kind of consciousness must one have to introduce his own worship within his spiritual master's institution and thus place himself above his "non-guru" godbrothers?

So we have all of these arguments and we should preach along these lines to clean up the mess created by Iskcon's poor leadership. We don't have to keep criticizing Iskcon for all of its failures. We have to go to the root cause of its failures which is the worship of its voted-in gurus. Getting rid of this unauthorized worship will be like passing a stone or lancing a boil; all of the poison will come pouring out. Most devotees in charge of Iskcon today are not going to go away just because their worship is curtailed. They may stick around for many years, so it is imperative to keep the pressure on them, to vigilantly oversee their activities and to correct their foolishness whenever it occurs.

Your servant, Locanananda dasa

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6) INDIA UPDATE

Dear Harinama Prabhu, Hare Krsna!

Thank you for your comments about Kashmir and for your clear answers. I agree with you. Sankirtana is the only medicine for the ignorance and suffering. But how do you plan to apply the medicine to the specific ailing spot? Going to Kashmir to perform harinama sankirtana is not so feasible. I think we should concentrate more on sankirtana in India. In my knowledge, at present in India we are mostly having legal and property IRM battles (with the only effect of disgusting Life Members), Indians/non Indians fights among devotees etc. May I ask you where you are positioned, geographically? Could it be possible for you to cooperate personally with sankirtana in India?

Regarding the philosophical flaws of violent offensive jihad, I totally agree with you. I think I will use your brilliant analysis by translating it into Italian language and sending it around our sites. However, regarding the Gandhian nonviolence in Indians, I am not really sure. I think Indians are more into cricket and cinema songs and generic ignorance and "we know already, we have the oldest culture in the world". They are not in sattva, they are in tamas, although sometimes to external observators the two things may look similar. They don't wake up until it's too late. It's a country of gurus by birthright. Why Srila Prabhupada had to go to USA to make devotees?

Just yesterday, while coming back to Jagannath Puri dham from Calcutta, on the train we met a mayavadi who was trying to stop us from chanting by lecturing that, better than that, is concentrating "within" and "on the breath prana". Needless to say, we proceeded to philosophically smash him and as a reaction, he started to demonstrate his "sublime technique" of silent meditation on nothingness, while another traveler enthusiastically began talking with us about Krsna. Very soon the "great meditator" feel asleep and his head started to drop. These people think themselves in the greatest sattva, but they're in deep tamas. The same thing applies to "nonviolence". Actually they are not engaging in solving the problems, but when they are offended, they get terribly angry and violent. For example, probably you heard about the Babri masjid in Ayodhya. Instigated by the the VHP and BJP leaders, an angry and violent mob turned over to systematically dismantle the mosque which had been built during the moghul invasion on the site of Sri Rama's birthplace (after destroying the beautiful temple). In the process, these people also "dismantled" some muslim worshippers who happened to come by. After that, BJP went to power -- a demonstration that Indian democracry is indeed for communal violence and Gandhian ideals are completely forgotten. Gandhi himself was killed by a hindu "fundamentalist".

Maybe someone in the Congress party is still offering garlands once a year to some Gandhi statue which was erected during their "reign" (up to the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi), but the vast majority of the population voted BJP, and they're still there to stay.

They keep building nuclear missiles; they made several underground tests in Rajasthan -- you might remember when last year Krsna gives them a wake call by quaking the earth in Rajasthan (Bhuj) on Independence day while everyone was in the street waving little Indian flags at the military parades. On the Indian national TV on such holidays you see military parades everywhere, they are much more popular than Ratha Yatra. Regarding "freedom fighting", Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose is much more popular than Gandhi, everyone is convinced that India got independence only because of him, especially in Bengal cultural and political area. When I was tutoring some children from a prominent family here and we came to the syllabus where Gandhi is mentioned (quite briefly), the child started lecturing on how this Gandhi worship is totally disgusting -- so and so. The real hero is Bose, and the Calcutta airport is named after him. I can guess the young boy picked up such strong faith from equally or more fervent adults. During the 50th anniversary of Independence celebration, Gandhi was hardly mentioned. We had instead a sweeping wave of interviews and glorifications of very old "freedom fighters" who hid in the hills to fight the British off.

If you ask hindus, they hate muslims. Don't even ask muslims, they will beat you up before you speak. Christians organize terrorism in North East, muslim organize it in Kashmir, and in the rest of the country the politicians are eating up 80% of the grants which are supposed to go to the people for relief work. When we had the cyclone in Orissa, the blankets sent by US govt were sold in Calcutta on the market and Orissa never saw blankets or money. India produces more grains than it can consume, but a lot of it goes spoiled because the "storing facilities" are not good. Everyone is crying out for drinking water, but drinking (i.e. treated) water is spoiled in such a massive scale you can't imagine: the distribution network does not supply taps, so probably over 90% of the outlets (this is the percentage you see around, maybe 10% are managed off view by responsible people, but I doubt that) are simply running into the ground (and from collection tanks into the ground) and there is no way to close them when not used, and purchasing taps is the govt's job, isn't it? Furthermore, "if water does not flow out of the "exhaust" pipe from the tank and into the drain, how will you see when the tank is full?" Thank God we don't have 24 hours supply. Regarding tubewells, they are normally excavated near the sewage drain collection area, because "water is more".

More than 50% of the children are already malnourished at birth because it's no use giving good food to women -- they're just for reproduction anyway (if you give education and jobs to girls, they will not be blackmailed into family and social slavery), and girl children are not even good for that (at least until they get a little bigger, 64.4 MILLIONS girl children every year are REPORTED to be regularly subjected to sexual abuse by their own family members -- just imagine those who can't find the courage to report!!! here being raped is a shameful crime, punished in the most heinous and sick ways by family and society) so very often they are killed at birth or aborted (99% of abortions are female embryos). Should I go on? This is happening mostly in hindu families, where the dowry system is "traditional". For the same dowry system, millions of brides are killed (very often burnt alive with kerosene), sold to brothels, forced to suicide or just go "missing" so that the bridegroom family can get a new bride and a new dowry. I don't think Gandhi advocated anything like that.

George Fernandes became defence minister when the BJP govt went up, and one week later he was on the brink of declaring war against China -- they had to gag him almost, to put him quiet. Then after a few months Pakistan invaded Kargil and before the Indian army realized it, Pakistani army and Taliban guerrilla had taken a large territory. A lot of people died in that war, and the parents of the men kicked out the widowed daughter in laws to get the govt aids.

Now Fernandes and the other top brass there have been swept by a scandal involving a number of minor girl prostitutes forced into "the job" and used by a TV network to expose "govt corruption". I can't see much of Gandhi around here. What can I say? If you read newspapers here you'll tear your hair off (if you have any left after all these years of despair). India is in such a sorry state you won't believe. Sankirtana is urgently needed. Preaching, any kind of good preaching. Please someone show up!

Your anguished servant,
Parama Karuna d.

SITES TO CHECK OUT:

* NEW SRILA PRABHUPADA MP3's: http://pratyatosa.com/
Dear Puranjana Prabhu, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Prabhu, please check out my latest 5 postings, Your servant, Pratyatosa Dasa

* NEW PRABHUPADA PHOTO SITE:
http://photos.groups.yahoo.com/group/vaisnava_synod/lst

* NEW Czech update: http://www.krsna.wz.cz/ http://www.sweb.cz/

* NEW: Bhaktivedanta Ashram: http://www.indiadivine.com


CALCUTTA POLICE: calpol@calcuttapolice.com, jaihindu@hinduweb.org
pada's artwork website: http://hometown.aol.com/angels1008b/index.html

* pada's alternative email: angel108b@yahoo.com
* pada's new pager number is 707-973-0372
* press in your number then press pound, and pray that it works.
* Book For Sale "Someone Has Poisoned Me," You can get it from: New Jaipur Press/ POB 208/ Mayodan NC 27027 $10.00 requested donation
* Seattle, Wa (Dhamaghosa dasa 360-856-5411 or 206-729-0111) dasdasdas@aol.com
* MONTREAL, Canada, Hasti Gopala Dasa (for details write to: hasti90@hotmail.com)
* BERKELEY California. Hare Krishna Youth, 510-389-3346 conducts regular harinam parties, arotikes, cooking classes, college preaching, Prabhupada video nights, and so on.
* NEW YORK "Prabhupada Sankirtana Society" Headquarters 48 Ave. B NY, NY 10009 (212) 674-0680, PSS108@juno.com

01) http://members.tripod.com/gurupoison (Tamal indictment)
02) http://mitglied.lycos.de/pada/ pada newsletter archive

03) http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Parliament/3933 Poison tape
04) Poison tape transcript:
04) http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Parliament/3933/19990519.htm
05) http://www.winink.com/tkg/ Poison whispers
06) http://www.islandnet.com/krsna/vada/poison/poison.htm Poison issue
07) http://www.egroups.com/group/Vaisnavacouncil (Visoka cyber istagosthi)
08) http://www.krsna.tv (underground Hare Krishna web site)
09) www.prabhupada.cc Prabhupada samkirtana site
10) http://tsa.ppp.ripco.net/padaweb/puranjan.html Puranjana's Site
11) http://mitglied.lycos.de/gbc GBC expose
12) http://pages.infinit.net/pragosh/home.html French site
13) http://members.aol.com/gauridas Gauridasa's site
14) http://www.islandnet.com/krsna/ Rocana's site
15) www.harekrsna.de "Hare Krsna Homepage" (German)
16) http://members.nbci.com/prabhupada/ ISKCON Reform (German)
17) German translation of Final Order (pdf)
17) http://members.nbci.com/prabhupada/final.htm
18) http://members.xoom.com/prabhupada/ (German Expose)
19) http://www.equalsouls.org/tkg Srila Prabhupada wanted to be poisoned?
20) http://www.surrealist.org/gurukula/ Nandini's history site
21) http://www.krishnabooks.org Guptas KBI Books (he is a cheat)
22) http://mitglied.lycos.de/gbc/ GBC
23) "illicit sex guru" rationalizations:
23) http://www.islandnet.com/krsna/vada/iskcon/right.htm
24) http://www.artnet.net/~yasoda/index.htm Appointment tape fraud
25) http://www.asitis.com Original Bhagavad-gita As It Is
26) http://krsnabook.com Original Krsna Book
27) http://www.krishna.org Prabhupada Hare Krishna News Network
28) http://folio.bhaktivedanta.org S.P. Folio Infobase CD-ROM
29) http://realaudio.bhaktivedanta.org Prabhupada RealAudio Archive
30) http://mp3.bhaktivedanta.org Prabhupada MP3 Bhajans, 2 CD set
31) www.domgbc.org (Direction Of Management)
32) www.acbspn.com/ Prabhupada Network
33) www.ROOPA.org (Raghunatha dasa's world economics proposal)
34) http://www.prabhupada.com/ BBT archives site
35) http://www.govinda.net (first editions of S.P. books)
36) www.oversoul.co.uk Devotional music

37) http://www.JitendriyaBooks.com Trading original SP. books
38) http://krsna.kgb.cz/hlavni.htm Prague Czech-devotees (english site)
39) http://tsa.ppp.ripco.net/das/articles.htm (DAS)
40) http://www.com.org/hb/ptd/cyber_gurukula.htm (Cyber gurukula)