Back To Prabhupada, Issue 45, Autumn 2014
he website of ISKCON's worldwide headquarters in Mayapur had declared two of its gurus as "great souls":
"'Appearance of two great souls': [...] HH Gaura Govinda Swami Maharaj ["GGS"] and HH Bhakti Charu Swami Maharaj ["BCS"]. Many senior devotees came to share their realizations and glories of these great souls."
(ISKCON Mayapur News, 20/9/12)
One would naturally expect these two "great souls" to be in complete philosophical alignment with each other. However, since this is the wacky world of ISKCON and its gurus, it should come as no surprise that both so-called "gurus" are actually preaching the exact opposite of each other!
On the specific issue of receiving Srila Prabhupada's transcendental sound vibration ("sabda-brahma"), such as the Gayatri mantra, via a tape recording, BCS states:
"You can get the mantra from the tape recorder, Gayatri mantra, from Prabhupada. Yes, one can say that, 'I got the mantra from Prabhupada.'"
(BCS Lecture, 13/2/09)
GGS, on the other hand, states the complete opposite:
"One has to hear. It is not that, 'All right, tapes are there, I'll hear the recorded tapes.' sabda-brahma will never descend. [...] sabda-brahma will never descend through a tape."
(GGS, The Worship of Sri Guru, 'Questions and Answers')
Thus, BCS has in two short sentences cancelled out GGS's philosophy that Srila Prabhupada is a "mute" guru incapable of delivering transcendental sound vibration through a tape recording.
GGS states that it is only possible to have a relationship with a physically present, "living" guru:
"You should be greedy. Physical contact is required. [...] One must hear from a physically present Sri Guru."
(GGS, The Worship of Sri Guru, 'Questions and Answers')
"Unless you get association with a living sadhu, what can you do? Will you put some question to Srila Prabhupada and Srila Prabhupada will answer you? This process is a living thing."
(GGS, The Process of Inquiry, Ch. 6)
Yet, GGS died in 1996. Thus, according to his own philosophy, his books and tapes are useless since one must only hear from a physically present person, and furthermore one cannot have any relationship with him either, since he claims the "process is a living thing." However, BCS insists that not only can one have a relationship with GGS, but that one should have a relationship with him:
"[...] you have deep appreciation for Srila Gaura Govinda Maharaja. Feel free to cultivate that spiritual attachment. [...] it should be cultivated without any reservation. [...] Nevertheless, you can rest assured that spiritual relationships are not limited to material time and space. Although you did not meet Him when he was physically present you can endeavor to cultivate your relationship with him."
(BCS Istagosthi, 10/4/06)
Thus, GGS cancels out BCS's authority by declaring that a "non-living" guru (such as GGS himself), is useless for any sort of spiritual relationship.
The fact that these two supposedly "great souls" are unable to agree on even the most fundamental principles of spiritual life is a sign not of their greatness, but rather, of how "greatly" ISKCON has sadly disintegrated into a philosophical laughing stock.
Return to IRM Homepage