My experience with ISKCON GBC leaders is that they say to the devotees not to ask questions because that is Vaisnava aparadha. This is their tactic to control the devotees so that they can exploit them, collect their valuable time, money and energy so that these leaders can enjoy a life of sense gratification.
The soul in a human body must ask questions, because asking questions can only be done in the human form of life. Why do ISKCON GBC leaders do this? Because when they are being asked questions, they must answer, and guess what? They cannot answer it! THAT is the reason why they say: Do not ask any questions!
Now who can answer questions from devotees and non-devotees? That's right! A genuine follower of the Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya Vaisnava Sampradaya. The only person, currently, who can answer all your questions is Srila Prabhupada.
In ISKCON in every service, there is Guru-puja. There the bhajan: Sri Guru Carana Padma is sung. What I noticed is that alot of these "senior" devotees do not come on time, and just after Guru-puja is finished, they arrive in the temple. This proves that these people are not devotees but pseudo-devotees. Perhaps these people should listen to the founder acarya of ISKCON (which they have usurped for their own sense gratification) who explains and answers. A part of the verse says: "Although he knows these things, the sadhu enquires for the sake of strictness." So, eventhough devotees know, they still ask questions for the sake of strictness! We all must be conversant with the sastra's (Srila Prabhupada's unmodified books) and talk about it, ask questions to eachother! This way you'll remain fixed in the Vedic philosophy and you will never forget it. This is the power of Vaisnava devotee association! If you have pseudo devotee association, then indeed, no questions asked, and serve the cheater who poses as a devotee.
Underneath you'll find a lecture in which Srila Prabhupada explains the bhajan: Sri Guru Carana Padma. Taken from Prabhupadavani dot org. There is also an audio file which contains Srila Prabhupada's voice. So you can listen to him giving this lecture as well besides reading it!
Type: Caitanya-caritamrta
Date: July 11, 1976
Location: New York
Prabhupāda: [prema-dhvani] Thank you very much. [chants = Jaya Rādhā-Mādhava] [prema-dhvani] Thank you very much.
Pradyumna: Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. Oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya. [Prabhupāda and devotees repeat] [leads chanting, etc.]
kṛṣṇa-śakti dhara tumi, jāna tattva-bhāva
jāni' dārḍhya lāgi' puche---sādhura svabhāva
[Cc. Madhya 20.105]
[10:45]
Translation = "Since you possess Lord Kṛṣṇa's potency, you certainly know these things. However, it is the nature of a sadhu to enquire. Although he knows these things, the sadhu enquires for the sake of strictness."
Prabhupāda:
kṛṣṇa-śakti dhara tumi, jāna tattva-bhāva
jāni' dārḍhya lāgi' puche---sādhura svabhāva
So Sanātana Gosvāmī is guru. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is authorizing him to become guru. This is paramparā system. Nobody can become guru all of a sudden. Self-made guru, that is not guru. Here Caitanya, er, Sanātana Gosvāmī is presented as the disciple, ideal disciple. He is asking, ke āmi kene āmāya jāre tāpa-traya, process how to approach guru, how to ask him question. Tad viddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena [Bg. 4.34]. Paripraśna means question. That is also required. But Caitanya Mahāprabhu is authorizing him. Therefore He says, kṛṣṇa-śakti dhara tumi. Here Kṛṣṇa, Caitanya Mahāprabhu, He is authorizing Sanātana Gosvāmī. Unless he has got the power to receive the instruction, Caitanya Mahāprabhu is not going to waste His time. He has the power. He is empowered. Kṛṣṇa..., Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission is that to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness all over the world. So He is empowering Sanātana Gosvāmī to take this task and spread Kṛṣṇa consciousness. That is Caitanya Mahāprabhu's mission. There is... You'll find in the Caitanya-caritāmṛta the verse, kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe nāma pracāraṇa [Cc. Antya 7.11]. Without being empowered by Kṛṣṇa, nobody can preach the holy name of the Lord. Kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe nāma pracāraṇa. So without getting the power of attorney... Just like even one is qualified lawyer, he must get the power of attorney from the client, and then he can speak. That is the law. Similarly, without being endowed with the power of attorney from Kṛṣṇa, it is not possible to preach.
So our business is... Because we are preparing ourselves to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness, we must be qualified to get the power of attorney. Sometimes we speak that "I'll preach." What you will preach? First of all get the power of attorney; then preach. Preaching is not so easy that everyone and anyone can preach without... Kṛṣṇa-śakti vinā nahe nāma pracāraṇa. So to get that power of attorney one has to qualify himself, not that the power of attorney is hanging in the tree and you can take it. No. So how this power of attorney can be achieved? That is stated in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. You are singing daily day, daily guru. Now, today is guru-pūrṇimā. Especially we should understand what is the power of attorney. Anyone can recite this verse, śrī-guru-caraṇa?
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Śrī-guru-caraṇa-padma, kevala-bhakti-sadma, vando mui sāvadhāna mate.
Prabhupāda: Sāvadhāna mate. So this is the beginning, that if you want to be devotee, then you must approach the spiritual master who has got the power. Śrī-guru-caraṇa-padma, kevala-bhakti-sadma, vando mui sāvadhāna mate. Sāvadhāna means very carefully, not whimsically. Then?
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Yāṅhāra prasāde bhāi...
Prabhupāda: Yāṅhāra prasāde bhai, ei bhava toriyā yāi. Huh? Kṛṣṇa-prāpti hoy yāhā hoite. So why one should go to spiritual master? Because yāṅhāra prasāde bhāi: "My dear brother, if you get the benediction from the spiritual master...," yāṅhāra prasāde bhāi, ei bhava toriyā yāi. What is that benediction? The benediction is not that "Cure my disease." They do not know, generally; therefore they are cheated. The other day in Washington, one lady came with backache. So she came for curing the leg trouble. [laughter] That is going on. "Why you should approach a spiritual master? There is so many doctors, hospital. You go there." "No. Here you show me your miracles." And people are also cheating like that---some miracles, and he becomes God. This is going on. But the miracle of spiritual master is yāṅhāra prasāde bhāi, ei bhava toriyā yāi. This is miracle = no more material existence. Then ei bhava toriyā yāi. So real life means one can cross over the ocean of nescience. That is real gain. That is the real favor of spiritual master, not that cure your leg and again walk here and again become, break your leg, and again come. Not like that. Ei bhava toriyā yāi. Then?
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Kṛṣṇa-prāpti hoy yāhā...
Prabhupāda: Kṛṣṇa-prāpti hoy yāhā haite. That is spiritual master = one who can give you Kṛṣṇa. Kṛṣṇa se tomāre, kṛṣṇa dite pāra, dhāi tava pāche pāche---Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. "Kṛṣṇa... I am seeking after Kṛṣṇa, Vaiṣṇava Ṭhākura, my spiritual master. So Kṛṣṇa is your property." Kṛṣṇa is not independent. He is the property of the devotee. Kṛṣṇa se tomāra, kṛṣṇa dite pāra, dhāi tava pāche pāche: "I am just following you, sir. Because Kṛṣṇa is your property, if you like, you can deliver = 'Take it immediately.' " So it is not flattering; it is in the śāstra. Vedeṣu durlabha adurlabha ātmā-bhaktau [Bs. 5.33]. You cannot get Kṛṣṇa by studying all the Vedas. Vedeṣu durlabha. Durlabha means it is not possible. Athāpi te deva padāmbuja-dvaya-prasāda-leśānugṛhīta eva hi jānāti tattvam [SB 10.14.29]. Prasāda-leśa. Prasāda-leśa, one who has got little favor of Kṛṣṇa, he knows Kṛṣṇa-tattva. Yat-kāruṇya-kaṭākṣa-vaibhavavatāṁ gauram eva stumaḥ [Caitanya-candrāmṛta 5].
Prabodhānanda Sarasvatī, he has made one poetry, kaivalyaṁ narakāyate [Caitanya-candrāmṛta 5]. Kaivalya means to merge into the Brahman existence---no difference; oneness. That is called kaivalya. So for a Vaiṣṇava this kaivalya is as good as the hell. Prabodānanda Sarasvatī says, kaivalyaṁ narakāyate. This kaivalya... No Vaiṣṇava will say, "Now I am going to merge into the existence," no, because they hate it as hell. Kaivalyam narakāyate. Then? Heavenly planets? Tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate. Tridaśa-pūr means the heaven, where so many millions of demigods live. They consider, Vaiṣṇava consider, as ākāśa-puṣpa, will o' the wisp, phantasmagoria. It has no value. Ākāśa-puṣpāyate. That means karmī, jñānī. Jñānīs, they are after liberation, merging into the existence, Brahman existence, kaivalya. The Vaiṣṇava says, "Oh, this achievement is as good as one who goes to the hell." Then? Heavenly planet? Karmīs, they might have pious activities. They want to go to the heavenly planet. So Vaiṣṇava says that "What is this heavenly planet? It is phantasmagoria only. It has no..." Actually it is so. Then yogī? The yogī's main business is to control the senses. That is real yoga. Yoga indriya-saṁyamaḥ. Controlling the senses so that mind can be in a peaceful condition... Without controlling your senses, mind cannot be. Then you can apply this mind for meditation. If the mind is agitated, what is this nonsense meditation? First of all control the mind; then think of meditation. Dhyānāvasthita-tad-gatena manasā. We have to meditate with the mind. But if the mind is agitated, where is the question of meditation? It is all bogus. So for a yogī the first business is yama-niyama, āsana, prāṇāyāma, dhyāna, dhāraṇā, pratyāhāra-aṣṭa, aṣṭāṅga-yoga. Then one's mind is controlled. Then dhyānāvasthita. Then he can remain in trance, always thinking of Viṣṇu. That is yoga. So first thing is to control the mind, control the senses.
So that is also, I mean to say, declined by the devotee. He says that durdānta indriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī protkhāta-daṁṣṭrāyate [Caitanya-candrāmṛta 5]. The senses are just like venomous serpent, always agitating. And as soon as one sense touches another sense, then finish, spiritual life finished. Just like the serpent, if he touches even little, immediately your life is finished, similarly, our senses are very strong, just like as strong as the serpent, uncontrollable. So why it is so dangerous? Because it has got the fang. He has got fang, poison. But there are physicians, in the Āyurvedic physician, they know. They capture snakes and they take away the fang for making medicine. They are also used as medicine. So if the poison teeth is broken, then it is no more dangerous, no more dangerous. It may have very big hood, but one knows that his poison teeth is taken away, he is not afraid. It may be very fearful to the children, but a grown-up man who knows that his poison teeth is no longer there, he is not afraid. In Bengal he is called viṣṇai kulama cakra[?] = "There is no poison, and you have got a very big hood."
So how it is possible? First thing is kaivalyaṁ narakāyate tridaśa-pūr ākāśa-puṣpāyate, and durdānta indriya-kāla-sarpa-paṭalī protkhāta daṁṣṭrāyate. How it is possible? Now, viśvaṁ sukhāyate. This material is miserable for everyone. For a devotee it is not at all miserable. Sukhāyate. In this New York City there are so many skyscraper building. Bring all of them and compare our happiness. See practically. Here is a skyscraper building, and there are others. And call them and ask them, "Are you happy like us?" So we can turn this whole world like that. Viśvaṁ pūrṇaṁ sukhāyate. It is possible. Everyone is hankering, working so hard day and night, and there is fire brigade, gon-gon-gon-gon it is going on. [laughter] This is that life. But that is not happiness. Here is happiness. Come here, sit down, and you'll find happiness. It is practical. So if you expand this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, you'll find whole world full of happiness. Viṣvaṁ pūrṇaṁ sukhāyate. Now how it is possible? Yat-kāruṇya-kaṭākṣa-vaibhavavatāṁ gauram eva stumaḥ. It is possible simply by the mercy glance of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. If He simply glances over anybody, then the whole thing happens.
So Caitanya Mahāprabhu is giving, empowering Sanātana Gosvāmī. So we should follow. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says, ei chai gosāi yār, tāro mui dās: "I am servant of that person who has followed the six Gosvāmīs."
ei chai gosāi yār, tāro mui dās
tān sabāra pada-reṇu, mora pañca-grās
Narottama dāsa says, "By... Their dust of lotus feet is my subsistence." So today Sanātana Gosvāmī's birthday? Disappearance. Disappearance and appearance the same. His disappearance here, appearance somewhere. Just like sunset, sunrise, immediately. Sunset and sunrise, simultaneously. So for a Vaiṣṇava, because he is under the order of Kṛṣṇa, he appears somewhere and disappears somewhere because he is order-carrier. He says, "Now go there. Preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Go there." So appearance here, disappearance there. Therefore the same thing. Then what is the next line?
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Guru-mukha-padma-vākya....
Prabhupāda: Cittete kariyā aikya. Now this is the determination. We must approach the real guru, empowered guru, with power of attorney. Then if we take his word... Guru-mukha-padma-vākya, cittete kariyā, āra nā kariyā mane.... Don't try, don't manufacture ideas. Then if you take up that seriously, then your life is successful. Guru-mukha-padma, cittete, āra nā kariyā mane. Don't spoil yourself by manufacturing ideas. Take word from him. You carry it out. Don't bother whether you'll be spiritually advanced or not, but take the word of the spiritual master and carry it. Then everything guaranteed. Guru-mukha-padma-vākya, cittete koriyā aikya, āra nā koriyā mane āśā. Then?
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Śrī-guru-caraṇe rati...
Prabhupāda: Śrī-guru-carane rati, sei uttama-gati. You want advancement in spiritual consciousness, but it is possible only śrī-guru-caraṇe rati. If you keep your faith only on the lotus feet of your guru, then you'll make advance. There is no doubt about it. Then?
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Ye prasāde pūre sarva āśā.
Prabhupāda: Ye prasāde pūre. We have got so many desires, but if we have got strong faith at the lotus feet of guru, everything will be fulfilled automatically. Ye prasāde pūre sarva āśā. Then?
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Cakhudāna dilo yei...
Prabhupāda: Cakhudāna dilo yei, janme janme prabhu sei. Guru's business is cakhudāna. We are kept in the darkness of this material existence, and guru's business is to open it, bring him to the light. That is guru, not to keep him again in the darkness. Cakhudāna dila yei janma janma prabhu sei. Prabhu means master. Then?
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Divya-jñāna hṛde prokāśito.
Prabhupāda: Divya-jñāna hṛde prokāśito. What is that divya-jñāna? Divya-jñāna is that we are all servant of Kṛṣṇa, and our only business is to serve Kṛṣṇa. Divya-jñāna. This is divya-jñāna. It is not difficult at all. Simply we have... We have become servant of so many things---servant of society, servant of community, servant of country, servant of wife, servant of children, servant of dog and so many. "Now let me become servant of Kṛṣṇa." This is divya-jñāna. Dīkṣā. Dīkṣā means from this divya-jñāna. That is dī. And kṣā means kṣapayati, "expands." Then?
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Prema-bhakti yāhā hoite....
Prabhupāda: Prema bhakti yāhā hoite, avidyā vināśa yāte.
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Vede gāy yāṅhāra...
Prabhupāda: Vede gāy yāṅhāra carito. You should understand this. So by the mercy of guru, by the favor of guru, we get prema-bhakti. There are vidhi-bhakti. In the beginning we have to discharge devotional service according to the rules and regulations of the śāstra, the instruction of guru, śāstra-vidhi. Yaḥ śāstra-vidhim utsṛjya vartate kāma-kārataḥ, na siddhim avāpnoti [Bg. 16.23]. Kṛṣṇa says, "This śāstra-vidhim, the vidhi-mārga, if one gives up the śāstra-vidhi and manufactures his own way," na siddhiṁ sāvāpnoti, "he does not get success," na sukham, "neither happiness," na parāṁ gatim, "and what to speak of going back to home, back to Godhead?" Forget all this. Śāstra-vidhi. So this is vidhi-mārga. So when we are practiced to vidhi-mārga, then we gradually get love of Godhead. That is ultimate. Premā pumartho mahān. Just like in India formerly they... Very small, minor-aged boy and girl are married, especially the girl, ten, twelve years, married. So how she can love her husband? She does not know. But there is vidhi-mārga. Vidhi-mārga, the elderly people of the..., "Now, just to give your husband this refreshment." So she gives. In this way, gradually, when she's grown-up, she does not require any instruction; she knows how to serve her husband. That is prema. That is the bha... But the beginning must be regulative principle. Prema, vidhi prema. Prema-bhakti yāhā hoite, avidyā vināśa yāte. Prema-bhakti, avidyā... Unless we are freed from this nescience of material existence, there is no question of Kṛṣṇa prema. Two things cannot go. Viraktir anyatra syāt. If you actually advance in Kṛṣṇa consciousness, then naturally you'll be averse to this material enjoyment. Viraktir... Bhaktiḥ pareśānubhavo viraktir anyatra syāt [SB 11.2.42]. Just like if you are eating, naturally you are satisfying your appetite. So kṛṣṇa-bhakti means we are satisfying automatically all our desires. That is kṛṣṇa-bhakti. The more we advance in kṛṣṇa-bhakti, you'll have no more material desires. Then?
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Śrī-guru kāruṇa-sindhu...
Prabhupāda: Śrī-guru kāruṇa-sindhu, adhama janāra bandhu. Then?
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Lokanātha lokera jīvana.
Prabhupāda: Lokanātha lokera jīvana. Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura's guru's name was Lokanātha Gosvāmī. You have seen, those who have gone to Vṛndāvana, there is Lokanatha Gosvāmī's tomb. So, then?
Dhṛṣṭadyumna: Hā hā prabhu koro dayā...
Prabhupāda: Hā hā prabhu koro dayā. Hā hā prabhu koro dayā...
Devotees: ...deho more pada-chāyā.
Prabhupāda: So this the our... We should seek the shelter of the lotus feet of guru. Then everything... And vede gāya yāṅhāra carita. It is not that it is sentiment that one has to become very staunch devotee of guru. Therefore Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura, vede gāya yāṅhāra carita. Not that I am talking something nonsense. It is because... Śruti-pramāṇam. Whatever we talk, it must be supported by Vedic injunction. Then it is right. Just like we sometimes challenge these big, big scientists and others, and what is our strength? I am not a scientist, but how I can challenge? The vede gāya: we have got evidence from the Vedas. Just like so many people are thinking that the moon planet is first. We are challenging, "No, moon planet is second." What is the strength? The strength is Vedic knowledge. We cannot accept it. So vede gāya yāṅhāra carita. Vedic knowledge is so perfect that you can challenge so many scientists. If it is not in accordance to the Vedic knowledge, then it is... We do not accept. If it is not to the Kṛṣṇa's instruction, we reject immediately. Na māṁ duṣkṛtino mūḍhāḥ prapadyante narādhamāḥ [Bg. 7.15]. As soon as we see that one man is not Kṛṣṇa conscious, then we immediately group him in four classes = duṣkṛtina, mūḍha, narādhama, māyayāpahṛta-jñānā. Finished, that's all. "No, I am learned, and you are nothing. You have not... You have no degrees of university. I have got degrees." "Yes, that is all right, but your degrees and knowledge have been taken away by māyā. You remain in darkness. Yei timire jeti[?]. You remain in the darkness." That's all.
So Sanātana Gosvāmī is teaching us... Kṛṣṇa-śakti dhara tumi, jāna tattva-bhāva [Cc. Madhya 20.105]. Caitanya Mahāprabhu is affirming that "You are authorized by Kṛṣṇa. Therefore you have come for My help. My mission is to preach Kṛṣṇa consciousness..." So He is Kṛṣṇa Himself, but He posing as a devotee. Therefore He is saying that "By the grace of Kṛṣṇa, you are empowered, so you have come to Me to help Me. You are asking. That is very good on your part because," jāni, "you know everything." Dārḍhya lāgi' puche sādhura svabhāva. A sādhu, a saintly person, although he knows everything, still he remains very humble and tries to confirm from the higher authorities, "I think this is right. Is it not right?" He knows it is all right, but still, he waits for the higher authority to confirm it. So this is the relationship, Sanātana Gosvāmī and Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Study all of them very nicely and be advanced in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Thank you.
Devotees: Jaya Śrīla Prabhupāda!
[43:20]
[Greeting of the Deities, guru-pūjā and kīrtana] [end]