Back To Prabhupada, Issue 58, Vol 2, 2018
uilding on the conclusions from the previous article, we will show how the need for the IRM is confirmed by ISKCON's leaders. All emphases added.
Though ISKCON –
a) has begun distributing numerous books not by Srila Prabhupada, and has also "edited" Srila Prabhupada's books;
b) does not conduct public harinamas (chanting) with the regularity and reach as was done during Srila Prabhupada's physical presence;
c) distributes "prasadam" that in many cases will not even have been offered via Srila Prabhupada, but instead via some unauthorised "successor" to Srila Prabhupada, and thus is not prasadam;
d) has temples that engage in deviant activities (see previous article);
e) turns off some people from Krishna consciousness due to the behaviour it engages in
– it does still distribute Srila Prabhupada's books, and conduct harinamas and other "preaching" activities. Therefore, it could be argued that through these preaching activities at least some people who know nothing about Krishna consciousness will become interested in practising it seriously. However, this is only the first step.
After a person becomes interested in Krishna consciousness, he must then correctly understand the philosophy and practise it strictly in order to actually become Krishna conscious. Srila Prabhupada calls this the "boiling process":
"Now is the time for us to begin the boiling process. Now you know everything how to be a Vaisnava brahmana, now you must practice these thing or the whole thing will be a show only. Better to develop the small number of devotees we have, make them truly Krishna conscious boys and girls than to go on getting many followers who do not understand and practice the real principles. Better one moon that many stars."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, 9/5/72)
"Now I want that we shall concentrate on making our devotees Krishna conscious and ourselves becoming Krishna conscious, and not be so much concerned with expanding ourselves widely but without any spiritual content."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, 9/5/72)
"Yes, you have got the right idea when you say that your preaching work shall be directed toward the children and the devotees and not so much to the Dallas public. [...] so now we have got enough followers, let us train them up perfectly in the philosophy and activities of Krsna Consciousness way of life."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, 20/6/72)
"Now we have got so many students and so many temples but I am fearful that if we expand too much in this way that we shall become weakened and gradually the whole thing will become lost. [...] So let us concentrate on training our devotees very thoroughly in the knowledge of Krishna Consciousness from our books, from tapes, by discussing always".
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, 22/6/72)
So, Srila Prabhupada warns that unless this boiling process is engaged in, the "whole thing will become lost". Hence, if after getting people interested in Krishna consciousness, ISKCON then simply diverts them away from the path of progress by –
funnelling them into accepting false ‘gurus';
engaging them in deviant activities such as commercialisation, secularisation and Hinduisation;
engaging them in a sahajiya and impersonal path;
– then, rather than making spiritual progress, they will simply engage in deviation.
The previous article showed how a member of the GBC has confirmed what the IRM has been saying for many years, and that much of what we describe above is indeed what is happening once one gets involved with ISKCON.
Another ISKCON leader, GBC-elected guru HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami ("BVKS"), has therefore agreed that –
a) ISKCON itself needs to first be saved by someone:
"We pray daily to Srila Prabhupada who is delivering the Western countries from impersonalism and voidism, and ISKCON is supposed to continue that. But who is going to deliver ISKCON from impersonalism, sahajiyaism, commercialism, corruption, deviation?"
(BVKS Lecture, 14/12/17)
And what he says ISKCON needs to be saved from is exactly what the IRM first pointed out, and which he and the GBC member in the previous article have now belatedly come to realise.
b) That someone needs to be outside the official ISKCON, since neither he nor the GBC will act:
"There are various, serious anomalies in our movement. I'm not going all out because I also feel some kind of hopelessness. [...] you can try and go through the system, but it doesn't work. The leadership at the top has its own ideas of what things should be and they're not listening. [...] They're not going to change. [...] My experience [...] with GBC on various issues, is that they don't really want to discuss with you, they just want to shut you up, that's all. As a body, not very sincere in their dealings".
(BVKS Lecture, 14/12/17)
Thus, the IRM is helping direct ISKCON devotees back on to the right path. The situation is summarised in the diagram above.
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