SUMMER 2005
| “BTP is not a transcendental magazine.
It is political. In a nut shell, it is about devotees who have
fallen down, and I am not sure they will rise up again to the
transcendental platform. So to criticize or condemn them is not
correct. Srila Prabhupada would never do this sort of thing that
you are doing in your magazine. All these things could have been
sorted in private and not publicly. It is doing more harm than
good. You should teach people about the absolute truth instead
of what you are now filling their heads with. May Krsna forgive
you and guide you aright. Haribol. Priya |
Editor replies: Thank you for your comments. Politics, in the sense that you have used the word “political" means:
“Intrigue or manoeuvring within a political unit or group in order to gain control or power."
I would be interested to hear how you think
BTP's presentation of truth and facts is “political," given that the
intrigue and manoeuvring has all been on the part of the GBC, and has
been well documented in BTP.
As far as your comment that BTP is not a transcendental magazine, please
note that transcendental knowledge must be understood side by side with
that which is opposed to the truth, as described in Sri Isopanisad:
“Only one who can learn the process of nescience and that of transcendental knowledge side by side can transcend the influence of repeated birth and death and enjoy the full blessings of immortality.
(Sri Isopanisad, Mantra 11)
The aim of BTP is to help people distinguish the nescience from the truth, the false Gurus from the bona fide Guru (Srila Prabhupada). Otherwise, people will continue to be cheated in spiritual life. Srila Prabhupada many times stated that cheating Gurus must be exposed for the benefit of the general populace:
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Please note how Srila Prabhupada refers to so
called SWAMIS and GURUS who must be “defeated." We are not pointing out
the weaknesses of ordinary devotees, but rather the cheating programme
being conducted by those who claim they are as good as God-Guru
successors to Srila Prabhupada and are consequently cheating the
ordinary devotees, there is a huge difference.
With regard to sorting this issue out "in private" after 28 years of intimidation, oppression, suppression, expulsion, lies and violence against Srila Prabhupada's devotees, we feel that the wider public deserves the truth. So, apparently, does one of the GBC's own appointed Gurus.
| “As the GBC cannot be expected to take
needed action to stop deviations before they become disasters,
it seems the only recourse for responsible members of ISKCON is
to take the matter to gutter level, i.e. the internet. Painful
and undignified as such public laundry washing may be, it might
at least create an awareness of deviations and warn devotees not
to get sidelined into weird cults going on in the name of
ISKCON. (Bhakti Vikash Swami, 23/03/03, PAMHO Text: 7160561) |
Quite a lot of people in our Letters pages seem to agree.
Hare Krishna and best wishes.