{"id":3665,"date":"2006-10-16T03:55:38","date_gmt":"2006-10-16T03:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/?p=3665"},"modified":"2023-04-22T19:42:44","modified_gmt":"2023-04-22T14:12:44","slug":"society-consciousness-vs-krsna-consciousness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rupanugabhajanashram.com\/writings\/krishna-talk-articles\/srila-bhakti-gaurava-narasingha-maharaja\/society-consciousness-vs-krsna-consciousness\/","title":{"rendered":"Society Consciousness vs. K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a Consciousness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Question: <\/strong>I read a recent article on the internet by a leading ISKCON sanny\u0101s\u012b<\/em>\/GBC\/guru wherein he says,<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot even extend this family (ISKCON) to \u015ar\u012bla Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta. We cannot even take one step forward because the problem is if we put too much emphasis on \u015ar\u012bla Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta, then we will miss out on our focus. We will lose the focus on ISKCON.<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n

So my question is: Is there really a conflict between the interests (focus) of ISKCON and \u015ar\u012bla Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta?<\/p>\n

Answer: <\/strong>This is a \u2018yes\u2019 and \u2018no\u2019 answer to your question. And at a particular point one wonders who the \u2018our\u2019 in \u2018our focus\u2019 is that he is speaking of? Is it Prabhup\u0101da or is it the present leadership?<\/p>\n

No, there is no conflict of interest or losing of focus if ISKCON gives emphasis to Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta, because in the opinion of ISKCON\u2019s founder \u015ar\u012bla A.C. Bhaktived\u0101nta Swami Prabhup\u0101da, ISKCON is the movement of Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta.<\/p>\n

On the other hand \u2013 yes, there will be a conflict of interest and a loss of focus if ISKCON gives emphasis to Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta because much of the present day ISKCON is a deviation from the original ISKCON in numerous ways. The fact that thousands of devotees have left ISKCON and joined other bona-fide branches of the Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Ma\u1e6dha, alone should bear testimony to this.<\/p>\n

In the formative years of ISKCON, \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da wrote as follows:<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the Disappearance Day of my Guru Maharaja, you may hold a meeting to discuss his activities and offer respect to his memory. Practically, this movement is his because it is under his order that I have come to your country.\u201d (Letter to Upendra, December 2nd 1968)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis movement was started by Bhaktivinoda \u1e6ch\u0101kura, and then it was entrusted to Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta Sarasvat\u012b \u1e6ch\u0101kura. Then we are trying to serve his word, and many of my godbrothers, they are also\u2026\u201d (Lecture, Los Angeles Jan 13th 1969)<\/p>\n

\u201cPractically there is no credit for me, if there is any credit it goes to my Spiritual Master, Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta Sarasvat\u012b Gosv\u0101m\u012b Prabhup\u0101da, who is helping me by sending so many good souls like you in this movement. Whatever is being done, it is due to His Divine Grace only. So my business is just to carry out His order.\u201d (Letter to Day\u0101nanda, 26th March 1969)<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I am pet dog of my Guru Maharaja, and you have helped him so nicely to push on the message of Lord K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a or K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a Consciousness Movement, and I am very much pleased by your serious and sincere attitude, so you will get all the full blessings of my Guru Maharaja, that you may know for certain.\u201d (Letter to George Harrison, Jan 4th 1973)<\/p>\n

The above quotes from \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da clearly demonstrate a connection and a non-difference between \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s movement and the movement of Bhaktivinoda and Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta. They are in harmony, not in contrast.<\/p>\n

The person you have quoted, however, didn\u2019t join ISKCON until a few months before Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s disappearance and therefore had no real experience of what Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s mood was in establishing ISKCON. It should also be remembered that this is the same person that made a movie about \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da in which a lightning flash is seen to emanate from Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s forehead, which repelled the personality of Kali-yuga. Such portrayals of \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da (as a Bollywood s\u0101dhu<\/em>) by a senior disciple, does cause one to wonder.<\/p>\n

In those early years (into the 1970\u2019s) it was also an established daily practice to recite or sing the pra\u1e47\u0101ma-mantras<\/em> to Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta in all ISKCON temples. Although we were not permitted at that time to read the books of Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta, still it was quite clear in everyone\u2019s mind that Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta was our parama-guru<\/em> and that what \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da was doing, was carrying out Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta\u2019s orders and fulfilling his desires. Thus there should be no misunderstanding in anyone\u2019s mind that the interests of Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta and those of ISKCON are different. They are synonymous.<\/p>\n

In 1976 \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da instructed that the logo of the Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Ma\u1e6dha (originally designed by Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta) be painted on either side of the gate at ISKCON\u2019s world headquarters in M\u0101y\u0101pura. That logo remains there to this day although hardly anyone pays attention to its significance or meaning \u2013 both of which seem quite clear \u2013 ISKCON is non-different from the movement established by Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta under the name of Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Ma\u1e6dha.<\/p>\n

In his final days before his departure \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da called for his godbrothers and sent a message to all that \u201cthe war is over\u201d and he compelled everyone to work together and in harmony to spread K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness.<\/p>\n

\u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da also established the Bhaktived\u0101nta Charitable Trust in 1977 for the purpose of working in harmony with the Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Ma\u1e6dha institutions of his godbrothers. \u015ar\u012bp\u0101da Bhakti Dayita M\u0101dhava Mah\u0101r\u0101ja of \u015ar\u012b Caitanya Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Ma\u1e6dha was made the first president of the trust and among the first duties of the trust was the work of financing the completion (construction) of \u015ar\u012bla \u015ar\u012bdhara Mah\u0101r\u0101ja\u2019s ma\u1e6dha<\/em> in Navadvipa.<\/p>\n

The problem lies not in how to accommodate Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta in ISKCON but in how to keep ISKCON focused on K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness and not on Society consciousness. These issues (Society consciousness vs K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a consciousness), have a tendency to come into sharp contrast with one another.<\/p>\n

K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a Consciousness means the absolute consideration and society consciousness means the relative consideration. The society is established for the purpose of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a Consciousness (the absolute consideration) and not the other way around.<\/p>\n

When the society ceases to perform its function as a representative of the Absolute and functions only for its own well-being, then such a society is no longer transcendental. It simply becomes another mundane society. Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta has summed it up in this way as follows:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of an organized church in an intelligible form, indeed, marks the close of the living spiritual movement. The great ecclesiastical establishments are the dikes and the dams to retain the current that cannot be held by any such contrivances. They, indeed, indicate a desire on the part of the masses to exploit a spiritual movement for their own purpose. They also unmistakably indicate the end of the absolute and unconventional guidance of the bona-fide spiritual teacher.\u201d (Excerpted from the essay P\u016btan\u0101<\/em> printed in the January 1932 edition of The Harmonist<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Could the above quote apply to ISKCON? If one pays careful attention to what is happening, then one easily comes to the conclusion that many ISKCON leaders do not want to give any quarter to the words of Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta, because if they do then the hoax is exposed and the evidence suggests that the movement established by \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da has been hoodwinked by pseudo-spiritualists and led astray.<\/p>\n

In the opinion of some of the editors of K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a Talk, the title of this article, \u2018Society Consciousness vs. K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a Consciousness\u2019 is antiquated because in their opinion the battle for ISKCON is already lost \u2013 it has become a society for itself and by itself i.e. an international society for society conscious (ISSCON).<\/p>\n

The path of society consciousness vs. God consciousness that ISKCON has taken, wherein society consciousness prevails, smacks of that of the Christian church after the Council of Nicea. Therein the church developed not along the lines of spiritual wisdom but along the lines of dollars, diplomacy and despotism. One will be hard pressed to show us the difference between what the church became and what ISKCON is becoming.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, if one reflects on ISKCON and listens closely to \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da one will discover that in Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s own words the only addition that he made to the movement of Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta was that he (Prabhup\u0101da) as a sanny\u0101s\u012b<\/em> preformed the marriage ceremony for his young disciples.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da said that all other aspects of his movement were already established by Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta. That means that the Deity worship, the formation of a GBC, the establishment of the temple president as a lifetime commitment, decentralisation, preaching in foreign countries, printing and distributing books, hari-n\u0101ma sa\u1e45k\u012brtana<\/em>, diorama exhibitions, film projects, pras\u0101dam<\/em> distribution, printing and distributing journals, the establishment of daivi-var\u1e47\u0101\u015brama<\/em>, the acceptance of sanny\u0101sa<\/em> as a Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava a\u1e45ga<\/em> \u2014literally everything ISKCON does or has, was established by Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta and given to \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da to form ISKCON. So how could anyone in their right mind think that the mood of Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta could be a negative influence in a progressive ISKCON?<\/p>\n

Proof of the weakened position of present day ISKCON for having neglected the instructions and desires of Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta is evident in their inability to defend the parampar\u0101<\/em>, \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da and even ISKCON itself from the attacks of the anti-party, caste-gosv\u0101m\u012bs<\/em>, sahajiy\u0101s<\/em>, Madhva ugrav\u0101d\u012bs<\/em> and some aggressive Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Vai\u1e63\u1e47ava preachers. In all these cases ISKCON leaders have turned to devotees outside of ISKCON for help, guidance and relief. Had they included Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta as at least a member of the ISKCON family, then they might have been able to take care of themselves and not had to call others to the rescue.<\/p>\n

In the view of the ISKCON neo-cons (new-conservatives) they can be comfortable only if all branches of the Gau\u1e0d\u012bya samprad\u0101ya<\/em> (including Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta) come under their control. They see themselves as the trunk of the tree and have even relegated Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta to that of a sub-branch. Such is not a very humble view of one\u2019s self. Of course the jingoism is that ISKCON is Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s movement, he was better than anyone else and nothing has changed. In reality however everything in ISKCON has changed. Practically nothing is the same \u2013 particularly the laws of ISKCON that in Prabhup\u0101da\u2019s time were listed by him on one page as eight (see appendix). Now the ISKCON law book consumes nearly 1,000 pages. What to speak of the laws, the Bhagavad-g\u012bt\u0101 As It Is <\/em>and other books of \u015ar\u012bla Prabhup\u0101da aren\u2019t even the same and controversy in ISKCON continues over that issue.<\/p>\n

ISKCON wants everything under their control, to silence the voices of dissent and crush any opposing views \u2013 everything under the standards of \u2018Prabhup\u0101da,\u2019 that they themselves create. This begins to sound like a draconian cult or worse still, Christianity. And as Bhaktivinoda \u1e6ch\u0101kura has said \u2013 party spirit (society consciousness) is the enemy of truth.<\/p>\n

\u201cParty-spirit \u2013 that great enemy of truth \u2013 will always baffle the attempt of the inquirer who tries to gather truth from religious works of his nation, and will make him believe that absolute truth is nowhere except in his old religious book.\u201d (The Bh\u0101gavata Speech<\/em> by Bhaktivinoda \u1e6ch\u0101kura)<\/p>\n

But if ISKCON is so sincere, then why is there difficulty in coming under Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta, when even Prabhup\u0101da took shelter at his lotus feet? This is not to suggest that ISKCON join Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Ma\u1e6dha or that Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Ma\u1e6dha join ISKCON \u2013 but that the harmony among Gau\u1e0d\u012bya Vai\u1e63\u1e47avas will be drawn from acknowledging the common factor and grandfather of all, \u015ar\u012bla Bhaktisiddh\u0101nta.<\/p>\n

What is actually happening is that step by step, slowly but surely, some of ISKCON\u2019s leaders are pulling ISKCON away from the Gau\u1e0d\u012bya samprad\u0101ya<\/em> to becoming an apa<\/em>\u2013samprad\u0101ya<\/em> \u2013 a shadow of the parampar\u0101<\/em>.<\/p>\n


APPENDIX <\/strong><\/p>\n

1) All initiated devotees must attend morning and evening classes.<\/p>\n

2) Must not be addicted to any kind of intoxicants including coffee, tea and cigarettes.<\/p>\n

3) They are forbidden to have illicit sex connections.<\/p>\n

4) Must be strictly vegetarian.<\/p>\n

5) Should not extensively mix with non-devotees.<\/p>\n

6) Should not eat foodstuff cooked by non-devotees.<\/p>\n

7) Should not waste time in idle talks nor engage himself in frivolous sports.<\/p>\n

8) Should always chant and sing the Lord\u2019s holy names:<\/p>\n

Hare K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a Hare K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a K\u1e5b\u1e63\u1e47a Hare Hare
Hare R\u0101ma Hare R\u0101ma R\u0101ma R\u0101ma Hare Hare<\/p>\n

Thank you,<\/p>\n

A.C. Bhaktived\u0101nta Sv\u0101m\u012b<\/p>\n

\u0100c\u0101rya<\/p>\n

November 25, 1966<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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