THE TRUTH ABOUT THE SPIRITUAL MASTER
"The first thing, I warn Acyutananda, do not try to initiate. You are not in a proper position now to initiate anyone... Don't be allured by such Maya. I am training you all to become future Spiritual Masters, but do not be in a hurry... You don't be attracted by such cheap disciples immediately. One has to rise gradually by service... These services are most important. Don't be allured by cheap disciples. Go on steadfastly to render service first. If you immediately become Guru, then the service activities will be stopped; and as there are many cheap gurus and cheap disciples, without any substantial knowledge, and manufacturing new sampradayas, and with service activities stopped, and all spiritual progress stopped up. You have already mentioned one such non-bonafide sampradaya, Jaya Sri Sampradaya. So let me know immediately what you are going to do, in respect to my above three important businesses entrusted to you..." (Acyutananda, 8/21/68)
Note: Of course ISKCON's "gurus" say: "We were not in a hurry; we waited until six months after Prabhupada's departure to officially declare ourselves worshipable spiritual masters." It takes eight years to earn a license to pug teeth or practice medicine-but getting a throne in ISKCON less than that. Maybe that could be advertised. It could attract a huge following, which is the verification of a bona fide movement. Right?
"As for your next question: 'Can only a few pure devotees deliver others?' Anyone, if he is pure devotee he can deliver others, he can become spiritual master. But unless he is on that platform he should not attempt it. Then both of them will go to hell, like blind men leading the blind." (Tusta Krishna, 12/14/72)
Note: Pure devotees of Krsna are not a dime-a-dozen as in ISKCON today. Even the madhyama status of devotee is difficult to attain. The topmost platform of pure devotee generally takes a lifetime of sincere, humble, and serious hard work, and only one among thousands achieves it. (BG, 7.3) Prabhupada was a pure devoteefrombirthbuthesettheexampleforusbywaitingelevenyearsbeforetakingfonnalinitiation. Why today this impatience? Initiation is a serious matter and not something one does whimsically. No sane person rushes into such a commitment. Chant, study, and serve Prabhupada through his books with a competent, humble devotee. Then you are safe. Krsna will personally send a pure devotee when the sincere seeker is ready. Getting a bona fide guru is not a process of seeking outside oneself. It is an internal process of purifying one's motive. Then the guru will appear just as Narada appeared to Dhruva in the forest. The only endeavor required is trying to become sincere.
In the broad sense, very little changed when Prabhupada left the planet. He had long since placed the fate of his movement in the hands of his books. More and more he saw that his leaders were not following them or even reading them. The GBC was out of hand."What can I do?" Some of them could hardly wait to divide up the pie and start being worshipped.
"Yes, I am so glad that your center is doing so well and all the devotees are now appreciating the presence of their Spiritual Master by following His instructions although He is no longer physically present; this is the right spirit." (Karandhara, 9/13/70)
Note: Adherence to the guru's instructions is the most important measure of the legitimacy of the devotees.
"Regarding the action of Bon Maharaja: We shall discuss the matter when we meet. For the present, you may know that this gentleman is very much materially ambitious. He wants to utilize Krsna consciousness for his material name and fame. Sometimes he greatly offended our Guru Maharaja, and it so happened that at the last stage, practically Guru Maharaja rejected him. And the result, we can find that instead of becoming a great preacher of Krsna consciousness this gentleman has become artificially a head of a mundane institution. To become a very important man in the mundane estimation is not success in Krsna consciousness... On the whole, you may know that he is not a liberated person, and therefore, he cannot initiate any person to Krsna consciousness. It requires special spiritual benediction from higher authorities.
"The statements of Thakura Bhaktivinode are as good as scripture because he is liberated person. Generally the spiritual master comes from the group of such eternal associates of the Lord; but anyone who follows the principles of such ever-liberated persons is as good as one in the above mentioned group... A person who is liberated acharya and guru cannot commit any mistake, but there are persons who are less qualified or not liberated, but still can act as guru and acharya by strictly following the disciplic succession..." (Janardana, 4/26/68)
Note: This is one main basis of the ISKCON "gurus.. claim to acarya-ship. It is an undeniable truth that if someone is strictly following his guru, then he may act as guru himself. But here Prabhupada uses the word I/act." It clearly implies that, in the absence of a liberated acarya, a devotee on the neophyte platform, who, by definition, is strictly following the principles of the ever-liberated acarya, can "act" as the via medium of the parampara. He may be considered a pure devotee, but not a liberated pure devotee. He is on the level mentioned above. Such an "acting" guru is not beyond falling down and so must be very careful to strictly follow the real pure devotees instructions, not try and imitate him. He must not concoct anything. He must five very humbly and not allow pompous worship of himself, for that is reserved for those who are actually in complete touch with the Supreme. His followers must clearly understand that their "acting"-guru is a completely pure devotee, and that he can only advance so far under such limited guidance. (NOI, 6) Prabhupada recommends that if one is serious, he should not take initiation from anyone but the topmost pure devotee. And, solidifying that instruction, he recommends that unless one is such a topmost devotee, he should remain simple and humble and preach to friends and relatives at home (Cc. Mad, 7.130). So, in light of these instructions, a sincere devotee "acting" as guru is really a siksa-guru and should be respected as such. Not a diksa-guru. The purpose of this book is to make it clear that ISKCON's "appointed gurus," who are being worshipped as though they were uttama-adhikaris, are not strictly following Prabhupada's instructions and so they are not qualified to "act" as acarya or siksa-guru or any such thing. They constantly commit serious mistakes and offenses because they are neither liberated nor humble.
Only one who is very strictly practicing himself can be considered as good as the ever-liberated devotees. But if he stops strictly following the basic principles of austerity and humility, then he falls down immediately. Then all one's service to him is in vain. This is common sense and can be illustrated from the following example.
If one is going to law school, it is understood that he is going to be a lawyer in due course of time. Young women tend to loiter around the law school campuses to attract such a potentially rich husband. He is not rich yet, but they know it is just a matter of time before he will be rich. In the absolute sense, if he is strictly on the path, he is already rich. It is only a small matter of time that separates, and time is relative. But, if in the meantime, the young girls distract him by their feminine, alluring behavior, and he consequently gets absorbed in such pleasures, thereby neglecting his studies, then he is not going to be a lawyer or a rich man. The foolish girl who marries him will be poor for her whole life.
So, in this exact same way, if one finds a devotee who is very serious about Krsna consciousness, then such a seeker may assume that that devotee is going to be a topmost pure devotee in due course of time. In this way, he may be considered "as good as the ever-liberated group." You should offer him obeisances and take guidance from him. But, because he is not fully liberated, he cannot be pompously worshipped, or he will get carried away. He has to be very humble so that he can make further advancement. Srila Prabhupada says: "One should not imitate the behavior of an advanced devotee or mahabhagavata without being self-realized, for by such imitation he will eventually become degraded." (NOD, 6)
In other words, if he imitates the position of a completely liberated soul immediately by accepting the service and worship which is reserved for the uttama-adhikari, he deviates. A deviator is guaranteed to fall down. Some of these ISKCON "gurus" may have been strictly following at one point; some of them never followed strictly. Some of them may have possessed some humility; some never did. But now all these men have changed their face and are heading straight downhill. Some have gone completely insane, as the recent Harikesh scandal has revealed.
So, for the aspiring devotee, it is better to continue to study and follow Prabhupada's teachings sincerely. Then, later, when Krsna sends him to you, take initiation from a liberated devotee. There is no rush. This rush consciousness was created by the "GBC". Nowhere in Vedic literature is such a concept preached. Guru, sastra, sadhu, is the formula. Guru is only one of the three. We have sastra-Prabhupada's books. We have sadhu-the sincere humble devotees. All we don't have at present is guru. So we must wait some tune. Krsna will not neglect any sincere seeker."Guru Krsna Prasad." Krsna is prepared to bestow His mercy upon all living entities, and as soon as a living entity desires the Lord's mercy, the Lord immediately gives him an opportunity to meet a bona fide Spiritual Master" (Mad, 19.151). That is the essence of this very important letter. If anyone disagrees, then let them state their position. We shall debate it.
"To answer your last point, one who teaches can be treated as Spiritual Master. It is not that after we become initiated we become perfect. No. It requires teaching. So if we take instruction from them, all senior Godbrothers may be treated as guru, there is no harm. Actually you have only one Spiritual Master who initiates you, just as you have only one father. But every Vaishnava should be treated as prabhu, master, higher than me, and in this sense, if I learn from him, he may be regarded as guru. It is not that I disobey my real Spiritual Master and call someone else as Spiritual Master. That is wrong. It is only that I can call Spiritual Master someone who is teaching me purely what my initiating Spiritual Master has taught. Do you get the sense?" (Sri Galim, 11/30/71)
Note: Here again Prabhupada is making the clear distinction between the "real Spiritual Master" and one who "may be regarded as guru." There is only one guru and that is the uttama-adhikari. That is still Srila Prabhupada. Anyone else, appointed or not, if he is strictly following Srila Prabhupada, he may be "regarded as guru" but not worshipped as though he were an uttama-adhikari unless he actually has been benedicted in that way. We have been told specifically by Sriman Rohini Kumar Swami that Srila Prabhupada informed his movement that there would be no more uttama-adhikari acaryas in the immediate aftermath of his disappearance (Conversation, NY, 1968). From practical experience, we have all good reason to believe that this remains so.
"I understand that one devotee is engaged as Taittireya's personal servant. No devotee can be engaged as personal servant in this way. Otherwise everyone will do this.
"From Madhavananda I have heard that there is some worship of yourself by the other devotees. Of course, it is proper to offer obeisances to a Vaishnava, but not in the presence of the spiritual master, it will come to that state, but now wait. Otherwise, it will create factions." (Hamsadutta, 10/1/74)
Note: Prabhupada is not saying here that after his departure anyone and everyone should be worshipped no matter how bogus they are. He is indicating that his disciples will no doubt start their own temples, etc. This is not only expected by Prabhupada, but it is Prabhupada's order. The sons naturally become fathers. Inevitably some devotees will not follow so strictly and will form factions. Others will more purely represent Srila Prabhupada. The GBC's job was not to control the different disciples' preaching projects but to make sure the ones not representing Prabhupada purely are not called ISKCON. But before the GBC can do their job, they themselves must know what it means to represent Prabhupada. Semen-drinking "gurus" do not represent Srila Prabhupada, and ff anyone says that they do...
"I am enclosing herewith a letter from Krishna devi which speaks for itself. Please reply her that she cannot take charge of one of our centers because she has violated the regulations of our society. In spite of having her duly married husband, she indulged in illicit sex life, so this is willful violation of our rules and regulations. So far her Krsna conscious activities are concerned, she can execute nicely wherever she lives, and I have all blessings for her, because the door of Krsna consciousness is open for everyone, but when one has to take charge of a center, he has to become completely above suspicion." (Brahmananda, 3/12/68)
Note: From this letter it is clear that none of the current "gurus" are qualified to be a temple president, what to speak of being a GBC or "Guru," because they are not in any way, shape, or form above suspicion. The misbehavior has been blatant and the suspicion is intractable because of it.
"In your letter you have made it clear that you are finding some difficulty with sex desire and have asked guidance from me to instruct you how to handle this problem of the material body.
"First of all I think you should know that such problems are not very unnatural because in the body the conditioned soul is very prone to failure. But also we must remember that such failure will not discourage us from executing the most important mission of our life, to become fully in Krsna consciousness. So whatever falldown has been, you should be regretful about it, but it is not so serious nor is it a permanent disqualification. But you must try to check yourself from such artificial things and take full shelter of the lotus feet of Krishna..." (Upendra, 12/9/68)
Note: Many of today's "gurus" use concessions like this one to justify their debauched behavior. They say that even though they commit the most abominable actions, they are saintly because they are rightly situated. Were they humble, and not posing as uttama-adhikaris, that may well be true. But a guru cannot use such verses as an excuse. A guru must be exemplary. What they are really doing is called committing offenses on the strength of chanting the Holy Name. In many places Prabhupada refers to ones weaknesses and minor falldowns as "a child kicking in the womb." He never really condemned such failure-prone children, but he never said that such pups could pose as pure devotees, either uttama or madhyama.(See Appendix 22, Part Two, for an in-depth analysis of this syndrome.)
"Simply because there is no stock of books, we can do anything whimsically??? Is this logic? Gita is not spoken in Vrindavana, it is spoken on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, but this is Vrindavana picture. That chariot driven by 4 horses, that is the real Kurukshetra picture. It is not that because there is no stock we can do whimsically as we like and lose the idea, that is rasa bhasa. Because there is no bread so you will take stone??? The front picture is most important thing and you have changed it." (Bhargava, 5/29/76)
Note: This analogy is very appropriate to the "guru-issue" in ISKCON. So they now think that simply because there are no pure devotees around we can do anything whimsically??? Is this logic? Pure devotees are not appointed, they are self-manifesting, but these men have appointed them. Pure devotees are seen by their having no material desire, they have all good qualities, and they never deviate from the authority of Guru, sastra, sadhu; that is the way to recognize a pure devotee. It is not that because there are no devotees around with these qualities that we can do whimsically as we like and lose the idea of what a guru is. That will pollute everything. Because there is no bread, you will take stone to eat??? There are no pure devotees, so everyone is worshipping any Tom, Dick, or Harry who's up on an opulent seat??? The qualifications for being a guru are the most important thing. But they have changed them.
"My advice is always chant l6 rounds minimum and follow the fou rregulative principles. All of my disciples must agree on this point, otherwise they are not my disciples. Let one live anywhere,but stick to the principles. Disagreements will continue in this material world. So one may live in a suitable place, but one must follow these five principles. My disciples must follow these five principles living either in heaven or hell." (Raja-Laksmi-dasi, 2/17/76)
Note: It goes without saying that if one who took formal initiation is not following strictly, and is therefore not a disciple, then one who did not take formal initiation, but is following strictly, is a disciple. You can live anywhere, but to be a disciple of Prabhupada, here are the qualifications. There are real disciples of Prabhupada all over the world who may have never been to a temple, but have gotten hold of a book and are following. Prabhupada says here that one may even be living in hell, but, if he is following, he is a disciple. The question of whether or not one needs a physically present guru to go back to Godhead is not the ultra crucial question. Guru is one. This means that if one follows Prabhupada's instructions strictly, then Krsna will send him a bona fide guru in due course of time. That bona fide guru is also non-different from Srila Prabhupada. So in that sense, while following Prabhupada's instructions, one is automatically linked up with Prabhupada and the whole parampara system. That is made clear from letters shortly following.
"You have asked 'How serious would it be for me if I should miss the golden opportunity to become your initiated disciple?' You should know that the value of accepting a bona fide spiritual master is more than we can calculate. It is not a mere formality. Of course everyone is encouraged to chant Hare Krishna, but until one gives up sinful activities and become determined to serve Krishna through His representative, then the firm fixing up of devotional service will not take hold, and there is every chance that one will fall prey to all sorts of material desires and have to come back again in the next life, and one cannot guarantee that he will be born in the form of life he may desire.
"I know you have been attending our temple in Boston sometimes, and that you wish to be a sincere devotee of Krishna. So go on faithfully with your chanting and pray to Krishna to give you strength for advancing in His service. It is a fact, however, that we must become free of all material desire before going back to Godhead, and this can only be achieved by following the instructions of a bona fide spiritual master." (2/12/74)
"It is a basic principle that one must accept a bonafide spiritual master in order to achieve the highest perfection of life, love of God. I thank all of you very much for accepting me as your spiritual master, and I promise that I will take you back to home, back to Godhead. I ask you all to promise me to always chant at least 1 6 rounds. Follow the regulative principles, read our books and try to preach this Krsna consciousness movement all over the world. So far my qualifications are concerned, I am simply trying to carry out the order of my Guru Maharaja." (Nityananda, 11/12/71)
Note: In the above three letters, the real qualifications for being a disciple are spelled out. Prabhupada never stressed in any place, in letter, book, or lecture, the absolute necessity of physical diksa. He stressed the instructions. Otherwise why would he be so concerned with writing his books? He knew he wouldn't be physically around much longer. He certainly knew his disciples were not qualified to become gurus yet. The fact is, Prabhupada is still as much with us as ever, actually more so. Before Prabhupada left the planet, devotees were under the illusion that Prabhupada was present where he was living. How the devotees are able to appreciate Prabhupada the way Prabhupada wanted to be appreciated, in his instructions. He is factually there in his books. Anyone who takes up the books wholeheartedly is a disciple of Prabhupada, whether he ever saw Prabhupada or not. If anyone asks such a person: "Who is your guru?" he can say in all honesty, "My guru is His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada because I have accepted his instructions as my life and soul." This point is clear from the following letters.
If such a devotee meets a more elevated disciple of Srila Prabhupada and develops full confidence that that higher devotee truly represents Srila Prabhupada, such a sincere seeker may elect to move close to Srila Prabhupada through the subjective instructions of such a manifest guru in Srila Prabhupada's line.
"Regarding your question about the disciplic succession coming down from Arjuna, it is just like I have got may disciples, so in the future these many disciples may have many branches of disciplic succession. So in one line of disciples we may not see another name coming from a different line. But this does not mean that person whose name does not appear was not in the disciplic succession... Another point is that disciplic succession does not mean one has to be directly a disciple of a particular person. The conclusions which we have tried to explain in our Bhagavad-gita are the same as those conclusions of Arjuna. Arjuna accepted Krishna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and we also accept the same truth under the disciplic succession of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Things equal to the same thing are equal to one another. This is an axiomatic truth..." (Kirtanananda, 1/25/69)
Note: So if anyone is preaching and following the exact same thing, then he is a bona fide disciple in the disciplic succession from Lord Caitanya and Prabhupada, whether he is a direct disciple or not. This is again stated even more clearly below:
"Regarding the disciplic succession coming from Arjuna, disciplic succession does not always mean that one has to be initiated officially. Disciplic succession means to accept the disciplic conclusion." (Dinesh, 10/31/69)
Note: This is the key letter. It should be memorized by anyone wishing to be a disciple of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Our only warning in this connection is that this liberal opportunity is only applicable if a true disciple is understanding the message properly and acting in accordance with the message, free from any and all motivated rationalizations. This is no easy task. Naturally such a person should be well-versed in scripture to substantiate his position in the parampara.
"So far personal association with the Guru is concerned, I was only with my Guru Maharaja four or five times, but I have never felt any separation. I have never left his association, not even for a moment, because I am following his instructions. There are some of my Godbrothers here in India who had constant personal association with Guru Maharaja, but who are neglecting his orders. This is just like the bug who is sitting on the lap of the king. He may be very puffed up by his position, but all he can succeed in doing is biting the king. Personal association is not so important as association through service." (Satadhanya, 2/20/72)
Note: We can't think of any more appropriate analogy than this to describe the position of ISKCON's current "gurus." They often say that they are the most advanced devotees, because they had the most personal association with Prabhupada. But here we can see that such a consideration is not only meaningless, but often becomes a disqualification. Chanakya Pandit warns that one should not live too close to a woman, the king, the fire, or the master (guru). Neither should one live too far away, for then he doesn't get the benefit. He recommends one deal with them in the middle way. Similarly, connection with the blazing sun can work in different ways due to different connections. The sun can give us warmth and health as it shines on our head, yet the same sun can bum the soles of our feet as we walk on the beach. Association with the ever-liberated saktyavesha-avatara is a razor's edge. It can give the highest benedictions, but if the personal secretaries, servants, and "big" devotees become familiar with the spiritual master, that close association degrades them.
"Unless there is connection with a bonafide spiritual master, coming in the line of disciplic succession, there is no Possibility of making progress in spiritual life. So I have established ISKCON centers for the purpose of catching up the Lotus Feet of Krishna by intimate connection with the spiritual master. These are my authorized centers for that purpose. You say that whatever I instruct you, you will carry out, so again my instruction is that you abandon this independent scheme and join your good Godbrothers and sisters at some one of our ISKCON centers." (Friends, 5/23/72)
Note: In many letters, including one quoted earlier, Prabhupada says one can live anywhere but just follow the principles. In this letter, however, it appears that living in an ISKCON temple is absolutely necessary. Is this a contradiction? One consideration is that this letter was written in May 1972. That is still a little early. In later years, as the politics increased, and purity decreased, Prabhupada did not stress moving into a temple as much. Instead he emphasized following the instructions wherever one may be. In the Caitanya-caritamrta Prabhupada says: "If one thinks that there are many pseudo-devotees or nondevotees in the Krsna consciousness society, one can keep direct company with the Spiritual Master, if there is any doubt." (Mad 7, p.340). Reading Srila Prabhupada's books, listening to Srila Prabhupada's tapes, serving Srila Prabhupada's desires, meditation on the form of Srila Prabhupada, and following Srila Prabhupada's many instructions are all non-different from direct association with Srila Prabhupada. In many cases, Prabhupada actually asked devotees to come and live with him personally when they were in difficulty with the "leaders." This instruction also means taking shelter of Prabhupada's books independently, since they are non-different. We are never obliged to enter into any so-called temple in which serious deviations are incorporated in either the philosophy or management. Never.
"That there have been no newly initiated devotees from Japan is all right. It doesn't matter whether they are initiated or not. If they are coming in large number, that is the success of our mission. We are not after making initiated members very many but our concern is that people understand this philosophy in wider circles. Initiated members are for managing the temples and preaching work, but our program is to invite people to our feasts, let them hear our philosophy and dance and chant. That is the basic principle of our philosophy in preaching work." (Sudama, 4/11/71)
Note: This letter is very clear and difficult to misinterpret. The important thing is understanding the philosophy and acting on it. All these people who are hearing the philosophy and dancing and chanting have good opportunity to go back to Godhead, not those who took "initiation" but change the instructions. In an old Back to Godhead article Prabhupada says: "Initiation is a formality. If you are serious, that is real initiation. If you have understood this Krsna philosophy and if you have decided that you will take Krsna consciousness seriously and preach the philosophy to others, that is your initiation. My touch is simply a formality. It is your determination. That is initiation."
"The problem that your followers want to accept you as guide in spiritual matters is not objectionable if they are sincere. If they have sincere faith in you, it may not be disturbed, rather it can be fully utilized. My main purpose is to propagate the teachings of Lord Caitanya or Krsna consciousness. I am not after recruiting some disciples; but for preaching work we want some assistants and if somebody offers voluntarily his service it is welcome. So the best thing will be that you become a regular disciple of me and you can teach your followers in the same principles." (Sai Siddha Svarupananda, 1/8/71)
Note: This letter farther qualifies the last one. It is not initiating people that matters but getting people to follow the instructions, whether coming directly from Prabhupada, from his books, or from a disciple who is preaching the exact same thing. Guru, Sastra, Sadhu. Here Prabhupada is recommending that Siddha Svarupa become a fixed-up disciple. As long as he preaches the exact same thing, then his followers will go back to Godhead, if they are sincere. Prabhupada was not interested in owning many temples and controlling millions of disciples in order to enjoy "nice eating and sleeping" like so many of his Godbrothers were doing. His vision was very broad. He wanted to preach to the whole world with everyone chanting Hare Krsna and living like human beings. As explained in Rohini Kumar Swami's paper (consult Appendix 8), Prabhupada was a great acarya, like Ramanujacarya or Madhavacarya. He appeared to set the devotional standards for the entire age, according to time and circumstances. Pure devotees of the caliber of Srila Prabhupada are very rare. We cannot overestimate the gravity of offending Prabhupada as ISKCON is now doing.
"The eternal bond between disciple and spiritual master begins from the first day he hears. just like my Spiritual Master. In 1922 he said in our first meeting, 'You are educated boys, why don't you preach this cult.' That was the beginning, now it is coming to fact. Therefore the relationship began from that day.
"If you think of me and work for me, then I am in your heart. If you love somebody he is in your heart. It is common thing, everyone understands it. If I hate somebody or if I love somebody he is also in my heart..." (Jadurani, 9/4/72)
Note: The spiritual master accepts the sinful reactions of the sincere disciple. If one is not sincere, then he is not a disciple. Sincere disciple means strictly and humbly following the instructions of the spiritual master. As Prabhupada said earlier, "It is not simply a formality." The spiritual master accepts the sincere and humble service of the disciple. Out of compassion, he absorbs the disciple's sinful reactions. This is not a cheap trick or something one can buy, but a natural occurrence when one humbly serves another. Chanakya Pandit says: "The king suffers the sins of the state, the priest suffers the sins of the king, the guru suffers the sins of his wife." So if one humbly serves Prabhupada's instructions, always praying for Krsna's mercy to descend in the form of His bona fide representative, then he is creating a situation whereby Krsna will send the pure devotee to help that sincere soul. It's the intense prayer of the aspiring devotee that forces Krsna to send a bona fide guru. Nothing else. This is the formula.
A neophyte can accept service and bad kanna for awhile. His hmits are very restricted. If he goes beyond them, he will fall down. He simply doesn't have the purity to absorb unlimited sinful reactions. When this "guru" fags down, the disciple is back on his own. AH that time and service becomes wasted and he has to start over again, except that he may be clouded with so many misconceptions and bad experiences picked up during his entanglement in the bogus spiritual master/disciple business. lf we are sincere, but need help, we should best approach a pure devotee who can really help us. In the meantime, we should take instruction from any senior devotee who is strictly following. Krsna will send the spiritual master at just the right moment. Read how He sent Narada Muni to Dhruva Maharaja in the forest.
"Yes, I want that you give me that facility to write my books, but I can attend some meetings of important people and elites. You have taken the right view of the importance of my books. Books will always remain. That was the view of my Guru Maharaja, and I also have taken it. Therefore I started my movement with my books. And we shall be able to maintain everything with the sales of the books. The temples will be maintained by the book sales, and if there are no more temples, then the books shall remain." (Hamsadutta, 11/8/73)
Note: Here also it is clear that whether or not "ISKCON" remains as we know it, or if it takes an unmanifest form for some time, that doesn't matter. As long as the books remain, people will be able to go back to Godhead by reading and following them. But this will not take place if the books are changed in the form of additions, and unauthorized editing. And, alarmingly, this process has also been put into gear by the current conspirators.
Prabhupada has recently said, "I know those that are sane, they will accept. No one is distributing so much quantity of religious books. Therefore I challenge all these fools and rascals...... After eighty years no one can expect to live long. My life is almost ended, it is ended. So you have to carry on. And these books will do everything...... Simply by bluffing words, these bogus gurus and yogis are nothing. But when the people read our books, then they will get good opinion." (2/18/76)
Note: It is the books that will save this movement, not the bluff of the GBC. The fact is that these men have not yet presented an authorized and logical philosophical basis for their "guru" imposition. So the above letter ironically included them.
"Regarding the Sannyasis, they should be independent. Why they should take help from you? They are strong men, so they should manage on their own strength. That is the test of their effective preaching work." (Rupanuga, 11/13/70)
Note: What is the test of one's preaching work? These ISKCON "gurus" have built very little on their own. They simply exploited Srila Prabhupada's legacy and unauthorizedly usurped his properties and temples. They tried, with mixed success, to usurp his devotees too. They didn't establish it all on their own. They had some ability to imitate and cut profile. They should have gone out on their own, independently, and preached. They could have attempted to establish their own centers on the power of their own charisma. If they were actually pure, they would have attracted a following. Not that everyone else sets them up on a throne and says, "Look, there is a pure devotee. Can't you see by his opulence. He must be pure! Right?"
We were in Bombay right after the "appointment," and personally noticed how Tamala couldn't attract the Indians to follow him. Yet he managed to spend a lot of Prabhupada's money fixing up a luxury suite for himself in Prabhupada's established temple.
"I am very sorry to inform you that the London management is not going on nicely. I have received so many unfavorable reports and the most astonishing report is that our small van which you had purchased in my presence has been taken away by the proprietor on account of payments not being made properly. So we have lost all the money that we have already paid." (Mukunda, 3/17/71)
Note: This concept has a relevance to today's catastrophe. We are an very sorry to see that the management has not been going on nicely. The most astonishing report is that almost an of Srila Prabhupada's disciples have left in disgust. The nasty managers, the GBC, have appointed "gurus" even after Prabhupada directly told them not to do this (see next letter). So now we have lost practically all of the disciples on account of this offensive behavior.
"I do not wish to discuss about activities of my Godbrothers but it is a fact they have no life for preaching work. All are satisfied with a place for residence in the name of a temple, they engage disciples to get foodstuff by transcendental devices and eat and sleep. They have no idea or brain how to broadcast the cult of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. My Guru Maharaja used to lament many times for this reason and he thought if one man at least had understood the principle of preaching then his mission would achieve success. In the later days of my Guru Maharaja he was very disgusted. Actually he left this world earlier, otherwise he would have continued to live for more years. Still he requested his disciples to form a strong governing body for preaching the cult of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He never recommended anyone to be acarya of the Gaudiya Math. But Sridhar Maharaja is responsible for disobeying this order of Guru Maharaja, and he and two others who are already dead, unnecessarily thought that there must be one acarya. If Guru Maharaja could have seen someone who was qualified at that time to be acarya he would have mentioned. Because on the night before he passed away he talked of so many things, but never mentioned an acarya. His idea was acarya was not to be nominated amongst the governing body. He said openly you make a GBC and conduct the mission. So his idea was amongst the members of GBC, who would come out successful and self-effulgent acarya would be automatically selected. So Sridhar Maharaja and his two associate gentlemen unauthorizedly selected one acarya and later it proved a failure. The result is now everyone is claiming to be acarya even though they may be kanistha-adhikari with no ability to preach. In some of the camps the acarya is being changed three times in a year. Therefore we may not commit the same mistake in our ISKCON camp. Actually amongst my Godbrothers no one is qualified to become acarya. So it is better not to mix with my Godbrothers very intimately because instead of inspiring our students and disciples they may sometimes pollute them. This attempt was made previously by them, especially Madhava Maharaja and Tirtha Maharaja and Bon Maharaja but somehow or other I saved the situation. This is going on. We must be very careful about them and not mix with them. This is my instruction to you all. They cannot help us in our movement, but they are very competent to harm our natural progress. So we must be very careful about them." (Rupanuga, 4/28/74)
Note: The Gaudiya Math deviated by centralizing all the authority on the shoulders of the great scholar named Vasudeva. They appointed one acarya who later fell down badly in Vmdavana. They were utterly embarrassed and exposed. ISKCON claims not to have done this. But actually they did the exact same thing, only in a different, roundabout way. They selected eleven "acaryas" instead of one and gave each of them a sovereign territory to rule over. Actually, the Gaudiya Math's Vasudeva was far more advanced intellectually than all these eleven men put together. ISKCON claims that they have not made the same mistake as the Gaudiya Math. They claim this is so because they have kept everything under the control of the GBC. That is a complete hoax. The only difference between ISKCON and the Gaudiya Math is that these men deviated in eleven ways instead of one. They divided up the whole world into eleven territories and they each exercise absolute control in their zones with an iron fist. The only time the GBC exercises its "authority" over them is when a "guru" gets so far out of hand that his behavior cannot be covered up anymore. Even then the GBC's power to remove him is limited as is clearly evidenced by how long Hamsadutta remained on his throne after his debauchery was exposed.
Today almost all of the "gurus" are blatantly deviating but the GBC does nothing. So there is no difference. They have been given the same rope Vasudeva used: rubber-stamped guru, from the same person, Sridhar Maharaja, and they hung themselves from the same tree: personal ambition. The GBC has no control over them whatsoever. They get together once a year and bicker for a few days and then go back to their "terror-itories" for another year of exploitation. For example: In Fall of 1978, France, a boy raised his hand from the crowd and commented to Bhagavan dasa; "You speak very nicely, but you are not so humble." Upon hearing this, Bhagavan gave a signal to two of his men. They forcefully took the boy from the room, and, upon getting him outside, mercilessly beat him to a pulp. This is not an isolated incident. There are many. The incredible story of Kirtanananda's ordering Jadurani beaten is given in Chapter ten. Tamale's zone is also notorious for such beatings.
ISKCON should not have fallen prey to this same abomination. We are technologically very advanced and have the means to quickly communicate Prabhupada's words, such as the above letter, all over the world. Had all the disciples known of just this one letter, the whole conspiracy could easily have been avoided. So once all the teachings are categorized and filed into a computer, everything can be known instantly wherever it is needed. The Gaudiya Math had none of this facility.
This is a key letter. It exposes a similar conspiracy to the one that's frying us now. It's been around for years, but who has paid much attention to it? Those who had, like Giriraja Swami, Kailasa Chandra, Yashodanandan Swami, Jadurani, etc. generally met with apathy or worse. This one letter alone should have been sufficient to activate any sincere disciple against the ISKCON "appointment" conspiracy.
"So, all Vaishnavas are authorities to preach Krsna consciousness, but still, there are degrees of authorities. On the whole, if his motive is to suppress me and that is why he has come here, how we can receive him? He has already given one Professor a wrong impression. He may be treated as a guest, if he comes to our center, give him prasadam, honor him as an elder Vaishnava, but he cannot speak or lecture. If he wants to lecture, you can tell him at there is already another speaker scheduled. That's all." (Satsvarupa, 6/4/75)
Note: This letter concerns Bon Maharaja. At first he appeared cooperative with Srila Prabhupada. For example he magnanimously offered full facilities in Vmdavana to any Western disciples Srila Prabhupada wanted to send to India for training. But later he turned on Srila Prabhupada. Then Prabhupada dealt with him very stringently. Bon Maharaja poisoned the mind of one disciple of Prabhupada and almost poisoned Acyutananda Swami. He tried to make Srila Prabhupada's disciples in India take a relative viewpoint of Srila Prabhupada. The Gaudiya Math's leading sannyasis mostly had that kind of viewpoint of Srila Prabhupada. But Bon Maharaja made offense by trying to inject it into the minds of Prabhupada's disciples. He was somewhat successful in doing that.
Srila Prabhupada had to minimize the influence of Bon Maharaja because he had proven envious. He had to employ some techniques that appear to somewhat transgress Vaishnava etiquette. These techniques are being imitated today by the ISKCON "gurus." They are claiming to have big results and so anyone separate from their combined conspiracy is declared to be a bogus disciple because he has no big results. Actually, it is a very illogical presentation on their part for the simple reason that they have none of Prabhupada's divine qualifications but are simply riding on the legacy of Srila Prabhupada. The ISKCON "gurus" like to imitate this mood to snuff out their Godbrothers, but they have absolutely no right to do so.
Conclusion: This seer-appointed acarya idea is nothing new. In the Caitanya-caritamrta we have the example of the Advaita Acarya branch of the Caitanya tree. It split into two: one branch deviating, and the other not. Then there is the case of the Gaudiya Math. Just as Prabhupada gave instructions on how to recognize Karmis, Mayavadis, Sahajiyas, hippies, Politicians, Demons, etc., so he also gave many instructions on how to recognize Seer-appointed Acaryas. -Sometimes it may be a little difficult to recognize, but in the case of ISKCON's sell-appointed acaryas, it is blatant. Their offenses have contaminated the atmosphere of the entire planet. In the Caitanya-caritamrta we find: "Wherever an advanced devotee is insulted, for one man's fault, the entire town or place is afflicted." In this story, because Ramachandra Khan offended Lord Nityananda, not only was Ramachandra Khan persecuted by Muslims, but the entire town had to suffer a similar fate. Similarly, there may appear to be some preaching activities going on within ISKCON at present, but they are all ruined by the presence of gurvaparada. Not only the devotees within ISKCON are suffering, but even the devotees who have fled ISKCON are suffering, because they are tolerating this terrible offense. Such tolerance allows it to continue. Until this poison is removed, all the devotees, no matter how far away they try to run and hide, will be affected. Prabhupada is jagat-Guru, the spiritual master of the whole planet, and as such there is no place for devotees to go where they can preach without being affected by the gurvaparada. This book may seem to be a little drastic, but the deviation is far more drastic.
Balavanta dasa adhikari, this year's chairman of the GBC, in confronting a devotee distressed by ISKCON politics, revealed the underlying conception which is the foundation of the whole betrayal. He said, "This movement is run Machiavellian. Tamala Krsna introduced it, and Srila Prabhupada approved it." The bona fide spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, could never have ordered or approved that his movement be run Machiavellian manner. His leading secretaries wanted to project that, and he gave them the rope to hang themselves. In this case, in the perfect arrangement to deceive those deceptive disciples who wanted to deceive him, we find the truth about the spiritual master.