Back To Prabhupada, Issue 63, Vol 3, 2019
he following letter was sent by Rukminisa Dasa from Vancouver, Canada, and our response is interspersed in coloured text:
"I thought the Prabhupadanuga website was totally Prabhupada but I see on that page Kadamba Kanana singing and playing. He is one of the bogus gurus so I realize that the Prabhupadanuga site appears to be bogus and may not actually be behind Srila Prabhupada as stated in the write up for that site. Personally, I am behind the ISKCONIRM who I believe are committed to Srila Prabhupada as being the only Acarya for ISKCON."
Yes, one cannot go by claims or labels. One must investigate. We have documented in BTP that deviations such as commercialisation, not accepting only Srila Prabhupada's recorded words ("POP"), and so on, are also exhibited by groups who nominally claim to accept that "Srila Prabhupada is the guru". Please go to our website – www.iskconirm.com – and scroll down to the "Others" section at the bottom of the homepage for more information. Thus, please note that the IRM is not associated with any other websites or groups, regardless of what they may call themselves.
"I let people know that there is a bogus ISKCON in the USA. How can loyal Prabhupada disciples actually visit Mayapur, Vrndavana, etc., when they are seemingly run by the bogus guru people. I will keep turning prospective people in your direction until your position in all this is made clear to me so I can pass it on."
You raise a very important point about whom one should associate with:
1) The BTP article "Documenting the New Sahajiya Movement" (BTP 38) documents how ISKCON's deviations have turned them into a sahajiya movement.
2) The BTP article "Poisonous Effects of Sahajiya Vaisnavas" (BTP 47) documents why association with such sahajiyas is harmful.
3) Indeed, we are actually forbidden from associating with such persons:
"Therefore Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has condemned. There are so many apa-sampradaya going on in the name of Caitanya Mahaprabhu's devotee. [...] sahajiya [...] he says, "I do not associate with these classes of men"."
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, 27/3/75)
"Bangalore is totally the good ISKCON, I have been saying. Am I wrong? Is Bangalore temple associated with the ISKCON organizations in the rest of the world?"
Your previous objection against "loyal Prabhupada disciples" visiting places such as Mayapur which are "run by the bogus guru people" is very relevant here. Bangalore has a project in Vrndavana, which is run by the same people who run the Bangalore temple, with Madhu Pandit Dasa being the Chairman and Chanchalapati Dasa the Temple President of this Vrndavana project. This project:
1) Promotes visits to the ISKCON temple in Mayapur run by the "bogus guru people", calling it a "spiritual destination".
2) In addition, the project also promotes "tours" to many ISKCON temples in Europe and the USA, all run by the "bogus guru people". It promotes the trips to these ISKCON temples by claiming about them that:
"The devoted followers are practising our principles and the Vedic culture. [...] practicing Krishna consciousness [...] practice Bhakti Yoga [...] ancient Indian mantras are chanted with full devotion [...] spiritual community".
And that by visiting them one can:
"experience practical devotional service [...] relish some delectable Prasadam [...] awaken your spirituality".
And that those who have visited these ISKCON temples had a "spiritually rejuvenating experience". Most significantly, they refer to the current ISKCON run by the "bogus guru people" as "Srila Prabhupada's movement":
"ISKCON Los Angeles is the Western World Headquarters for Srila Prabhupada's movement".
3) They also state about these "tours" that:
"The Tirtha Yatra promotes the Krishna temples that Srila Prabhupada established".
But then they list temples which were not established by Srila Prabhupada, such as "Radhadesh (Belgium), Villa Vrndavana (Italy), Goloka Dhama (Germany)," etc. Rather these were established under the "bogus guru people".
Srila Prabhupada defines "tirtha-yatra" as meaning "going to different holy places" (Cc., Madhya-lila, 25.248). Thus, they are stating that temples established after Srila Prabhupada's physical departure by the deviant ISKCON and the bogus gurus, are "holy places".
In summary, they are claiming that the bogus guru ISKCON is completely bona fide, being "Srila Prabhupada's movement", with their followers being situated in "full devotion" and "Krishna consciousness", and with their deviant temples being holy tirthas.
4) They call the tours "parikrama" and include numerous materialistic attractions:
"The Parikrama USA West Coast Yatra is all about a sojourn of visiting the ISKCON temples and in exploring some of the unique attractions like Balboa Park, [...] Hollywood Bowl Amphitheatre, Disneyland Park and Madame Tussauds Hollywood."
In total, they list 31 such "tourist" attractions as part of the "parikramas". But Srila Prabhupada only speaks about "parikrama" in terms of holy or sacred places, such as the holy dhamas. Thus, to consider such blatantly materialistic attractions like "Disneyland Parks"'s Mickey Mouse as worthy of "parikrama" just like the holy dhamas is blasphemous.
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There is a lot of money involved in these tours, which promote both the deviant ISKCON and Mickey Mouse. For example, the cost for the West USA tour "starts" from $3700 per person, and that does not even include the cost of the "flight and other charges"! And this is not the first time ISKCON Bangalore has engaged in promoting deviancy or blasphemy in order to make money. As documented in BTP 30, ISKCON Bangalore produced and sold a cartoon video series wherein Lord Krsna's transcendental pastimes were blasphemed by being called "fables" or fictional. ISKCON Bangalore admitted that this was a "blunder", which made them "shudder". But they still continued to blaspheme Lord Krsna by selling this series, stating only that in "future editions" would they bother to "correct the text". Hence, the sales income from these videos was considered more important to them than stopping the blasphemy of Lord Krsna.
* All quotes above taken from the website promoting these tours.
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