Not at all a devotee

By claiming to be a Vaishnava rasika guru, absorbed in the higher thing, rasa tattva, as opposed to the basic sadhana bhakti--hearing, chanting, remembering, etc.--one immediately becomes impudent and disqualified. This whole affair of gopi bhava, rasa tattvais a blatant exhibition of pride and arrogance. Such boastful, sahajiya types should be rejected and avoided at all costs. Lord Chaitanya's prayer is: "Although You make Yourself available easily by chanting Your Holy Name, I have no attraction for this chanting."

An advanced devotee never claims or boasts of his advancement. In fact, it is the symptom of the most elevatedmaha-bhagavata to think himself the most wretched of all. In fact, he claims that he is in fact not at all a devotee, but sees everyone else nicely engaged in the service of the Lord.

The attempt to teach rasa tattva by systematic discussion and practice is like trying to teach the child within the womb to walk and talk. It is simply not possible. But soon after coming out of the womb, the child naturally will walk and talk by regular association of walking and talking brothers, sisters, father, mother, relatives, etc. What is the use of discussing rasatattva with neophyte devotees who have not yet advanced to the stage of staying awake at Bhagavatam class or fail to attend it altogether and have not developed a taste or steadiness or attachment for the vibration of the chanting of the Holy Name of Krishna?

The fact that the "rasika bhava" devotees allow themselves to be embroiled in squabbles and controversies over the validity or invalidity of their position and their pursuit of rasatattva and their loyalty and affection and obsession with Narayana Maharaja and co-operation with Gaudiya Math is in itself testimony of their mundane, mediocre, sahajiya mentality. What more can be said about them?

When we first heard of the Gopi Bhava Club, we dismissed it as the activities of some foolish neophyte devotees in Vrindavan, thinking that they would fade away as quickly as they came into being. When we were further informed that the Gopi Bhava Club was headed up by some staunch disciples and one-time vigorous preachers of Srila Prabhupada's ISKCON, namely Tamal Krishna Goswami and Giriraja Swami, we thought someone must be joking or making up malicious rumours. When the rumours were repeatedly confirmed as fact from numerous reliable sources, along with actual transcripts and lectures of Tamal Krishna Goswami and Narayana Maharaja and Giriraja Swami, we were stunned with disbelief and disappointment.

When we read the transcript of Tamal Krishna Goswami, Giriraja Swami and Bhurijana and others pushing their "Vaishnava gopi bhava, rasika guru" Narayana Maharaja and their propaganda to have ISKCON co-operate with Gaudiya Math without any shame, fear or remorse, we became angry, frustrated and depressed. In 1992, on the occasion of Srila Prabhupada's disappearance day at the Krishna Balarama Mandir, Narayana Maharaja said the same thing he said recently at Prabhupada's sannyasa initiation day: "Swami Maharaja had only a little time, and he could not give it all. He gave the basic thing (The higher thing you can get now from us)." At that time, Tamal Krishna Goswami was already thick and thin with Narayana Maharaja. When we challenged Tamal Krishna Goswami on this obviously offensive statement, he tried to brush it aside as a misunderstanding on our part, but now we hear the same thing again from Narayana Maharaja, and this time Tamal Krishna Goswami, Giriraja Swami, Bhurijana Prabhu and others are in full support without any shame. They not only sit idly by, allowing such offensive talk, but they adore the person as their new-found, "rasika bhava guru," disregarding Srila Prabhupada and all his sincere devotees. In ordinary language we would call this sort of behaviour treason, betrayal or prostitution.