
Chapter Ten

CHALLENGE


The Challenge of Management

In a letter of 22 December 1972, Srila Prabhupada brilliantly marked out a
plan of management, outlined below, to protect ISKCON from deviation from the
sampradaya.

I. To avoid the creation of "mad false devotees or pretenders:"

A. Recognize that bad habits are difficult to overcome.

B. New devotees should therefore be carefully educated,

1. first by getting them to chant the holy name, 2. and then by getting them
to follow the regulative principles. 3. Unless one is prepared to follow the
principles, he cannot live in the temple. 4. Attention should be paid to train
a class of men, not a mass of men.

II. To avoid the defection of older devotees from the ISKCON camp:

A. The leaders must strictly set the example, and be vigilant to insure that
everyone is 1. chanting 16 rounds daily, 2. rising by 4:00 AM daily, 3. and
attending mangala arotika.

B. The "art of management" is to draw out the spontaneous loving spirit of
sacrifice for Krsna. 1. Leaders should be careful not to kill the spirit of
enthusiastic service, which is: a. individual, b. spontaneous, c. voluntary.
2. Leaders should always try to generate an atmosphere of fresh challenge to
the devotees so that they will agree to enthusiastically rise and meet it.

C. As long as the regulative principles are followed by one and all, the
future of the Krishna Consciousness Movement is very bright, 1. "Otherwise
their enthusiasm dwindles and they again think of sex and become rascals and
so many problems are there." 2. In order to maintain their enthusiasm to
follow the principles, the devotees must be engaged in satisfying occupations.
3. They should understand the principles to be part of the occupation; they
will thus follow them automatically, realizing the "happier side of regulative
principles."

D. The mood of tapasya is vital to the health of ISKCON. "We should not be
very much after comforts and become complacent and self-contented."


The Challenge of Faith

Individually, every member of ISKCON must be prepared to meet the challenge of
surrendering fully to Krsna. "Therefore faith is the first thing. Adau
sraddha. If he has got intelligence, he'll see: 'So many big, big... Lord
Brahma accepts. Lord Siva accepts. Vyasadeva accepts. Narada accepts. The
acaryas accept. So am I more than them? No. I will accept." (SP conversation,
May 2, 1976)

Faith is defined by Lord Caitanya (C.C. Madhya 22.62) as the conviction that
all needs are fulfilled and all desires satisfied simply by serving Krsna.
This conviction is born from the full acceptance of Krsna's supremacy.
Material lust attacks one who thinks that there is something desirable outside
of Krishna consciousness. But desire arises from the soul; because it is
originally spiritual, desire can only be satisfied on the spiritual platform
in service to Krsna. Devotional service is compared to watering the root of a
tree: since we are Krsna's spiritual parts and parcels, if we satisfy Him we
are naturally likewise satisfied, just as the leaves of a tree are satisfied
when the root is watered. Pouring water on the leaves is just like sense
gratification - though in illusion we may think, "Now the leaves will also
enjoy," they suffer for want of nourishment, which comes only from the root.
Acceptance of Krsna alone as the root of happiness in all affairs is the proof
of real faith.

Sensual, mental, intellectual and even spiritual affairs that have no
connection to Krsna are called anartha, "valueless." At every moment, each
devotee is faced with the challenge of discriminating between things favorable
for Krsna consciousness and things that are illusion. Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.7.6
informs us that most people lack this power of discrimination (lokasyajanato).
Therefore we must take help of the satvata-samhitam, the Vedic literature. "If
you go to school and if you don't read books," Srila Prabhupada once said,
"you'll fail in the examination."


The Challenge of Pride

As the Kathopanisad declares, "Like a sharpened razor, the path of spiritual
life is difficult to traverse, for it is said to be strewn with thorns." And
of all difficulties on the path, pratisthasa (pride associated with spiritual
life) is one of the most formidable. For instance, one who considers himself
spiritually advanced may think that a simple devotee's unquestioning
dependence upon Krsna for everything is impractical. But Srila Prabhupada
said, "Practical means it will be done by Krsna. Your only business is to
surrender to Krsna. You cannot do anything. And as soon as you think that 'I
shall be able to do it,' then you are a rascal. Immediately you are a rascal."

Observing the defects of the sahajiyas, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura has sung:

ami ta vaisnava e-buddhi ha-ile
amani na haba ami pratisthasa asi
hrdaya dusibe, hai-ba niraya-gami

"If I think 'I am a Vaisnava,' I shall look forward to receiving respect from
others. And if the desire for fame and reputation pollute my heart, certainly
I shall go to hell."

What amounts to a purport by Srila Prabhupada to these lines is found in a
letter of 31 December 1972. "You have got some desire to become a famous
preacher and famous Vaisnava singer and also jagad-guru. This is a spiritual
desire, so it is not like any material desire and it is all right for Krsna in
this way, but great Vaisnava or famous Vaisnava means that you have no sex
desire. Whether you can be like that? First of all you be like that, without
any sex desire, then you think famous Vaisnava. Vaisnava means he has no
material desire, what to speak of sex desire. All material desires become
zero, even he has no desire for jnana, karma, like that."

And from where does one get the strength to rise above material desire? "That
is not your business, that is Krsna's business. You follow Krsna. If you cheat
Krsna, then you'll be cheated. That's all. Krsna does not cheat you, but you
create a situation to cheat yourself, and maya will make an arrangement so
that you are cheated. This is maya's business." (SP conversation, June 3,
1976)


The Challenge of Vaidhi-Sadhana Bhakti

One who is subject to material desire must surrender to Krsna as a
vaidhi-sadhana-bhakta and not presume to enter the confidential moods of the
perfect devotees.

"Regarding the songs by Jayadeva, 'Srita Kamala' is not approved. Sometimes
our Krsnadas Babaji sings, but it is not approved by Prabhupad. Those songs
are for siddha-bhaktas, not for us who are sadha-bhaktas or learning bhaktas.
Lord Caitanya never divulged in public, he enjoyed them in the company of his
selected three or four devotees. There is one song by Jayadeva, 'Worshipping
the Ten Incarnations', that song is all right." (Letter of 15 July 1972)

Similarly, vaidhi-bhakti-sadhakas should avoid literatures not approved by the
spiritual master. "...regarding the students there reading other books. I
request you to stop this practice. Our students have no time to read our own
books, but they have time to read other's books, and the money to purchase
them? Why this mentality is there? You are a serious student, therefore you
have correctly found out the defect in these books. We don't want babaji
class. We want active preachers." (Letter of 13 October 1973)

Those who transgress the above directives and pry into subject matters not
meant for them court certain spiritual disaster.

"So far your question about the gopis, in the beginning there is no such
question. In the beginning we have to follow the principles of devotional
service rigidly, like chanting 16 rounds, regularly following the instructions
of the Spiritual Master, which includes study, temple worship, sankirtan, like
that. ... Going to girls and making them pregnant, then talking of gopis, that
is going on, that is nonsense. Without coming to the perfectional stage, if
anyone tries to understand the gopis he becomes a sahajiya." (Letter of 14
December 1972)

To meet all these challenges successfully and traverse the path back home,
back to Godhead, one must ultimately have love for the spiritual master;
honoring the principles he has laid down is the proof of the disciple's love.

"I have built the skyscraper skeleton, now you all intelligent American and
European boys and girls fill in the spaces nicely in good taste. Do not
deviate from our high standard. That will mean great dishonor to me." (Letter
of 22 December 1971)

The greatest offense a devotee can commit against the spiritual master is the
hati mata or "mad elephant" vaisnava-aparadha; whether one is in danger of
committing this offense is essentially a question of association, as explained
by Srila Prabhupada in his purport to C.C. Madhya 19.157.

"The first business of a Vaisnava is to give up the company of nondevotees. A
so-called mature devotee, however, commits a great offense by giving up the
company of pure devotees. The living entity is a social animal, and if one
gives up the society of pure devotees, he must associate with nondevotees
(asat-sanga). By contacting nondevotees and engaging in nondevotional
activities, a so-called mature devotee will fall victim to the mad elephant
offense. Whatever growth has taken place is quickly uprooted by such an
offense. One should therefore be very careful to defend the creeper by fencing
it in - that is, by following the regulative principles and associating with
pure devotees."

But what about an older initiated householder who lives outside of the temple,
maintains himself with a 'karmi job', and therefore can't fully commit himself
to temple service and association? Isn't the standard different for him? What
if he has had bad experience with certain ISKCON leaders, and finds it
impossible to associate with them?

Srila Prabhupada gave answers to all these doubts; one may refer to his letter
of 29 January 1973 to Ksirodakasayi dasa and to the second paragraph of the
same purport quoted above (C.C. Madhya 19.157). In summary, there is no
difference between the grhastha-asrama and other asramas in terms of
responsibility to the spiritual master, except that the grhastha may live
outside of the temple with his wife. The grhastha must follow the four
regulative principles like any initiated disciple. About the theory that a
grhastha may engage in a kind of "karma-yoga" that has a different spiritual
standard than that of the temple devotees, Srila Prabhupada wrote, "this is
all nonsense." He expected his householder disciples to "remain fully engaged
in the temple activities" and to "assist the other devotees there as much as
possible and cooperate very closely for helping me." This does not preclude
their working outside; in one conversation, Srila Prabhupada cited his own
purva-asrama as an example: he lived and worked outside, but contributed to
his spiritual master's mission in ways that were much appreciated by Srila
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and the Gaudiya Matha devotees. If one mistrusts
certain devotees because of unhappy past encounters, he should "keep direct
company with the spiritual master, and if there is any doubt, one should
consult the spiritual master." One keeps contact with the spiritual master
either through vapuh-seva or vani-seva. Either way, his instructions and the
regulative principles must be followed. "By mental concoction, one falls down.
By associating with nondevotees, one breaks the regulative principles and is
thereby lost."

Is this too demanding? Computer technology is certainly demanding, yet almost
everybody acknowledges its benefit and tries to stay apace with it so as not
to be left behind. Srila Prabhupada, answering a question put to him by the
author in 1975, said, "Vedic technology means guru-parampara." Just as karmi
society depends upon scientific technology for realizing its goals, the
society of devotees must similarly depend up the guru-parampara for
realization of the supreme goal of life, love of Godhead. If we think we can
attain that goal by some "easier" means, we become sahajiyas. In the society
of devotees, some serve as leaders and others serve as followers, but all must
adhere to guru-parampara. If a leader believes himself transcendental to it,
he creates havoc by misusing his influential position. And a follower who
reacts to such misleadership by inventing something new in the name of reform
similarly creates only havoc.

As certain unhappy events in the recent history of ISKCON clearly show,
deviated leaders show symptoms of jati-gosani contamination: they tend to
think of themselves as the unassailable inheritors of their spiritual master's
position and power no matter what faults of character they exhibit, and they
are easily provoked by real or imagined challenges to their authority.
Deviated followers show symptoms of kartabhaja contamination: they decry all
leaders as corrupt on the plea of the misdeeds of a few. Like the followers of
Anukul Chandra, they advise newcomers to take initiation and instruction only
from the founder-acarya, though he is no longer physically present.

Both classes - deviated leaders and deviated followers - are sahajiyas. They
seem quite sure that their mental concoctions are lofty realizations and their
emotional turmoils are states of ecstasy. So sure are they of themselves that
any sudden inspiration is accepted as divine, even if it means that Srila
Prabhupada's clear instructions are ignored or violated. A clear example of
this is seen in modern trends of syncretism: just as the sahajiyas of old
tried to blend Mayavada, Islam and Buddhism with Mahaprabhu's teachings, so
today Christianity is the foreign element of choice; one person formerly
associated with ISKCON (note: Kirtanananda Swami Bhaktipada) even claims he is
reviving the lost parampara that descended from Jesus Christ.

We shall surely be confronted with newer and newer permutations of the
apasampradaya phenomena as time goes on, but the pattern of deviation seen in
the original thirteen remain the frame of reference for all latter-day
perversions of krsna-bhakti. That people continue to fall victim to this
pattern of deviation despite the explicit warnings of the acaryas shows the
tenacity of Maya-devi in her service of weeding out the insincere from the
community of devotees. The lesson is obvious - we must become more tenacious
than she in our service to the lotus feet of the spiritual master, the
Vaisnavas, and Lord Krsna. "Those who fail to learn from history are condemned
to repeat it."

It is said that the list of thirteen apasampradayas - aula, baula, kartabhaja,
neda, daravesa, sain, sahajiya, sakhi bekhi, smarta, jati-gosani, ativadi,
cudadhari and gauranga-nagari - was first spoken by a great devotee named Tota
Ram dasa Babaji, who lived before the time of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. He
predicted that these groups would arise like weeds from the same earth from
which grows the plant of pure devotion (that is, Lord Caitanya's movement). In
Sri Harinama Cintamani, Lord Caitanya Himself declared to Haridasa Thakura
that in the future many pretenders would darken the world by perverting the
pure teachings of the holy name. Bhaktivinoda Thakura comments that the Lord
foresaw the rise of these apasampradayas when he made this statement.


Mantra Modernizers and the Mother-in-law Guru

The apasampradayas have steadily multiplied down to the present day. More than
a hundred years ago, a researcher named Akoyakumar Datta compiled a list of
fifty-six deviant Gaudiya Vaisnava sects. Among them are: guru-prasadi (gurus
who are offered the brides of their disciples for sex enjoyment, and who
return them to the disciples as guru-prasada), sisya-vilasi (gurus who keep
female disciples for sex life), and even a group that believes one must accept
one's mother-in-law as guru. Akoyakumar Datta admitted that his list of
fifty-six was far from complete. A widespread fashion among the apasampradayas
is the introduction of new "maha-mantras" to fit modern times. Caran Das
Babaji lived at the same time as Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura; he popularized
the chanting of bhaja nitai-gaura radhe-syama, japa hare krsna hare rama.
Bhaktivinoda Thakura had a lengthy debate with him and forced Caran Das to
admit that his mantra was a concoction and he had been wrong to preach it. Six
months after this discussion Caran Das died, having lost his mind. His chief
follower, Ram Das Babaji, continued to spread this bogus maha-mantra all over
Orissa, West Bengal, Bangladesh and Vrndavana. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
called this group's chanting 'chuh-chuh kirtana,' after a kind of rodent that
emits a bad smell when disturbed. In Puri, whenever a nagara-kirtana party of
these people came down the road, he had his disciples stand at the gate of the
Gaudiya Matha temple and beat gongs to drown it out so that he would not have
to hear it. Such bogus mantras continue to be popular because the common
people are uneducated and easily mislead, and because the propagators of the
nonsense are often so enthusiastic and well organized. Both Caran Das and Ram
Das travelled widely, preached, got land donated at holy places, built new
temples, fixed up broken old temples, standardized Deity worship, established
vegetarianism and organized nice festivals.

But their mantra is rasabhasa, for it equates Nityananda and Caitanya with
Radha and Krsna. By preaching this concoction, they committed a great offense
to the lotus feet of Lord Caitanya and His followers by telling people that
Lord Caitanya didn't give the world the real maha-mantra for the deliverance
of the fallen souls of Kali Yuga.

One very active sahajiya preacher holds a Ph.D. from an American university;
he is therefore considered a great sage by the simple people of Bengal. He
makes publicity for one Jagatbandhu Shorkar, now dead, whom he claims to be
the reincarnation of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabu. This "avatara" used to walk naked
and practice mauna (the vow of not speaking). His representative, the sahajiya
preacher, claims Jagatbandhu was on the highest platform of God consciousness,
higher than that of Lord Caitanya. He has invented a name for this exalted
state: sisubhava (child-like ecstasy). He has also introduced a new
maha-mantra: hari-purusa jagatbandhu maha-uddharana. When challenged by an
ISKCON devotee to explain how he could advertise Jagatbandhu Shorkar as an
incarnation of God, the preacher replied, "The name jagatbandhu is listed as
one of the thousand names of Lord Visnu." By this logic, any person in India
who happen to be named Gopal or Ram could claim to be an incarnation.

The Haribol movement was started about one hundred years ago in the jungles of
East Bengal by a person called Haricand. His followers are known by their
keeping of very long hair, hookah smoking, and their shouting of haribol over
and over while beating on big drums. They hope to attain a state they call
matual, or "drunken madness." Then there is the sect of Kaivalyanath Ram
Thakur, who told his followers to chant the Hare Krsna Maha-mantra and nothing
else. He never discussed philosophy - his reply to questions was inevitably,
"Just chant Hare Krsna." While he certainly cannot be accused of having
invented a new mantra, Kaivalyanath Ram promoted a very wrong understanding of
the genuine mantra. His followers chant to him in their kirtana, not to Krsna,
because they think he is God.

When the general population is constantly exposed to such nonsense, they
gradually become twisted. They come to expect that a popular, successful
preacher will one fine day declare himself to be God. In Bangladesh, there is
a traveling preacher named Vivekananda Brahmacari whose followers have
recently informed him, "It's time for you to become an incarnation." Because
such a preacher completely depends upon the material support of such
followers, he must be obliging. And so in the world of cheaters and cheated,
ordinary men become God overnight. Among sahajiyas, everyone styles himself an
uttama-adhikari or first-class devotee. There is no concern for the
indications given in the sastra of higher and lower ranks of devotees; in
sahajiya eyes, making such differentiations is offensive. Now, it only stands
to reason that if such first-class devotees are moved to flock around a guru,
that guru must be an avatara of God himself. The sahajiya community is thus
dedicated to a program of collective reinforcement of each member's
self-delusions: the guru is proclaimed to be God and is given money and women
by his followers, and the followers get the satisfaction of belonging to some
select group of exalted souls - which in rural Bengali society is usually the
only claim to fame one gets a chance at.


Srila Prabhupada's Humble Request: "Don't Deviate"

Just by considering what the acronym ISKCON stands for, we know clearly the
difference between the sampradaya and the apasampradaya. Krsna is the absolute
center of ISKCON. Even ISKCON's spiritual masters are the paraphernalia of
Krsna, as are the temples, money and all properties. In Hawaii, Srila
Prabhupada was asked, "Are you ISKCON?" He humbly answered, "I am a member of
ISKCON." ISKCON is the society in which the members surrender their identities
to Krsna's service and work together to please Him. The apasampradaya society
is quite different. In it, the guru takes the forefront, and Krsna fades into
a background role - or fades out of any role whatsoever. The guru's disciples
do not think of serving Krsna. They do not even necessarily think they are
devotees of Krsna at all. But they very proudly boast, "I am a disciple of
such and such guru." Thus the guru takes the place of God, if not in
principle, then at least in practice. Since 1978, several modern
apasampradayas have broken off from the main body of ISKCON. Each one exhibits
total lack of faith in and appreciation for the institution that Srila
Prabhupada started. But despite whatever faults these groups exhibit, we
should keep in mind that Srila Prabhupada laid the burden or responsibility
for keeping his movement whole upon the ISKCON leadership - the GBC and the
temple presidents.

"With our GBC and senior men present we should discuss how to make unity in
diversity. But, if we fight on account of diversity, then it is simply the
material platform. Please try to maintain the philosophy of unity in
diversity. That will make our movement successful. One section of men have
already gone out, therefore we must be very careful to maintain unity in
diversity, and remember the story of Aesop's fables of the father of many
children with the bundle of sticks. When the father asked the children to
break the bundle of sticks wrapped in the bag, none of them could do it. But,
when they removed the sticks from the bag, and tried one-by-one, the sticks
were easily broken. So this is the strength of unity. If we are bunched up we
can never be broken, but when divided, then we can become broken very easily."
(Letter of 18 October 1973)

And though ISKCON management may sometimes be perceived as imperfect, we
should always try to satisfy Srila Prabhupada's desire, having faith that he
will rectify any discrepancies.

"Of course, some of my authorities and so-called officers, they sometimes also
order in such a way that everything becomes topsy-turvy. So you may write to
me your grievance. What can I do? But meanwhile you must follow him exactly,
whatever he says. If there is complaint, I can make adjustment later. But
first of all you must without hesitation obey. It is something like the
appealing to the higher court if one is not satisfied by decision of the lower
court." (Letter of 13 December 1972)

Finally, every devotee has a personal responsibility to always serve Krsna
according to the engagements that Srila Prabhupada created for ISKCON.

"And because we are not at the stage where we can chant and do nothing else
all day, there are so many other engagements. So you have sufficient
engagement there? Because if we are not fulltime engaged then the mind is free
to do its fickle business of rejection and acceptance for sense gratification.
Maya will immediately enter - we do not even have to call her - the moment we
are not absorbed in Krsna's devotional service." (Letter of 20 July 1973)

