Back To Prabhupada, Issue 27, Spring 2010, Editorial
Welcome to Issue 27 of Back To Prabhupada (BTP).
A devotee had complained to us that the IRM are just kshatriyas (warriors) looking for a fight. This was meant as an insult, as it would mean that we were not behaving as “real” devotees who are always peaceful and “brahminical”. Since we have never claimed to be anything other than lowly aspiring servants of Srila Prabhupada, we took it as a compliment! However, this accusation does reveal another common misunderstanding regarding the path of Krishna consciousness, for the mood of a devotee is that he is always in a war:
“Our Movement is a declaration of war against Maya, that you can understand very well, so we have to recruit many fighting soldiers – so do it vigorously.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, 3/5/1970)
“The temple is a place not for eating and sleeping, but as a base from which we send out our soldiers to fight with maya.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, 3/8/1973)
“Because you are very sincere and enthusiastic boy, and very intelligent also, Krishna has given you this position of leadership in His army, to win the war with Maya and establish Krishna Consciousness as the perfect way of life for every living entity.”
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, 15/11/1971)
Notice the use of the words: “army”, “war”, “soldiers” and “fighting”.
Srila Prabhupada stated that one major fight was against nonsense philosophers who say that “God is dead”:
Syamasundara: “And by putting out this book, The Origin of Species, they at once did away with God to be able to… After that Nietzsche, another philospher who said, “God is dead,” he made that statement first, right after after Darwin’s book came out: “God is dead.” ”
Srila Prabhupada: “So we have to fight against all these nonsense philosophers.”
(Discussions with Syamasundara Das)
Well today the biggest nonsense philosophers are those who have declared that Srila Prabhupada is dead. As Jayapataka Swami has basically said, “how can a dead man give diksha?” (please see BTP 13). And we have to fight them. We cannot stay silent in the name of “peace” or “co-existence”. For Krishna consciousness is not meant to be an easy-going life of all sweetness and light, even though many persons from “hippie” or “new-age” backgrounds may think that this is the essence of spiritual life:
Srila Prabhupada: “So we have to fight against all this nonsense. Nonsense scientists, nonsense religionists. What do you think? It is not easy-going, sleeping business. We have to fight with so many demons. […] As all our Godbrothers are doing. They have got a little temple, and a few devotees go and beg rice and cook it and eat and sleep, that’s all.”
Pusta Krsna: “Like being dead almost.”
Srila Prabhupada: “No fighting spirit.”
(Room Conversation, 2/7/1976)
Srila Prabhupada, however, states that we must be full of “fighting spirit.” But, instead of this, some devotees want that their lives should be like “peaceful” sweet proclamations of “Hare Krishna” and “Haribol”:
Srila Prabhupada: “Yes. That is preaching. Therefore we are writing so many books. Unless we take care of the books and preach and read ourself, understand the philosophy, this Hare Krsna will be finished within few years. Because there will be no life. How long one can artificially go on, “Hare Krsna! Haribol!” That will be artificial, no life.”
Yasomatinandana: “That’s right Prabhupada. We are so foolish, we never realize anything unless you tell us like that. Without preaching...”
Srila Prabhupada: “Without preaching, without understanding philosophy, you cannot keep your strength.”
(Morning Walk, 12/12/1973)
Srila Prabhupada bluntly states the outcome of such an attitude: “this Hare Krsna will be finished”. And, as we have copiously documented in BTP, commercialism, secularism and Hinduization have now taken over ISKCON due to its desire to be “mainstream”. Those deviations were added on top of the monstrous guru hoax, and together those deviations have rendered the movement which Srila Prabhupada founded to be unrecognisable today. In addition to the need for the “fighting spirit”, the other essential requirement which Srila Prabhupada states above, is the need to “understand the philosophy”. Here again, BTP has repeatedly documented the complete lack of understanding of philosophy from the leaders of ISKCON. Almost every time one of them opens his mouth in an attempt to explain Srila Prabhupada’s position, we hear nothing but contradictory gibberish, which we need to continually correct by repeating Srila Prabhupada’s words.
A fighting spirit, a willingness to fight against nonsense philosophy, and a correct understanding of the philosophy – this is the need of the hour, and the IRM are endeavouring to provide this – no matter what criticism we face!
Please feel free to write to me at the following email address: irm@iskconirm.com.
Thank you and Hare Krishna.
Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada,
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