Back To Prabhupada, Issue 35, Spring 2012
In a previous article we exposed the ridiculous attempt by ISKCON guru HG Kripamoya Das to blame Srila Prabhupada for any deviant philosophy one may espouse, wherein Kripamoya Das claims that one can get a statement from Srila Prabhupada to support "whatever you want to believe". It can be easily seen that such a theory is false, as we have produced whole books where the statements of ISKCON gurus are shown to be contradicted, rather than supported, by the teachings of Srila Prabhupada. For example, there is no statement from Srila Prabhupada stating that the worship of Lord Siva and other demigods should be introduced in ISKCON temples. One of the leaders in spouting nonsense, which is not at all supported by Srila Prabhupada's teachings, is HH Bhakti Charu Swami. It seems as though every time he opens his mouth he makes some statement not supported by Srila Prabhupada. Now, worried that devotees may directly start taking shelter of Srila Prabhupada's books without joining the ISKCON guru hoax cult, he has claimed:
"By reading scriptures only without devotee association, one becomes an impersonalist."
(Bhakti Charu Swami Istagosthi, 16/3/2012, Bhakti Charu Swami speaking in Jessore, Bangladesh)
Yes, one should associate with genuine devotees, and Srila Prabhupada does recommend this:
"everyone in the human form of life should be induced to associate with devotees."
(Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Antya-lila,1.32, purport)
But nowhere does Srila Prabhupada teach that just the very act of reading scriptures alone, such as Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, will result in one becoming an impersonalist. On the contrary, Srila Prabhupada states that doing such an activity is very beneficial:
"In my books the philosophy of Krsna Consciousness is explained fully so if there is anything you do not understand, then you simply have to read again and again. By reading daily the knowledge will be revealed to you and by this process your spiritual life will develop."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, 22/11/1974)
If simply by reading the scriptures as presented by Srila Prabhupada leads to one's spiritual life developing, then clearly such an activity cannot also lead to one turning into an impersonalist!
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