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| 21st Century Mleccha Sahajiya Groups |
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Second
of a Three-Part Series Roots of
Sahajiya siddhanta-alasa jana
anartha to’ chade na “One
who is lazy in properly understanding the Vaishnava philosophical conclusions
can never become free from anarthas, the unwanted bad habits and philosophical
misconceptions that impede devotional service.” “It is not so easy. That is
called sahajiya. Why you want such exalted things so easily?” Like anything, cognitive dissonance is not,
in and of itself, completely opposed to For the devotee who follows the real path of
yoga, cognitive dissonance is always engaged (and eventually eradicated) in the
service of the Absolute Truth. When the genuine bhakti-yogi understands that he
or she holds some position contrary to the Absolute Truth, he or she gives it
up. It is the neophyte, whose insincerity led him to accept wrong conceptions,
who becomes devastated by cognitive dissonance. This was the case for those who
had been convinced to follow and surrender to the zonal acaryas. Even previous to the departure of Srila
Prabhupada, the leading “pet disciples” were engaged in the creation of their own
separate cults; it is not that they only began diverting the devotees away from
Srila Prabhupada after his departure. It is very easy to make the argument that
it was their successful relegation of Srila Prabhupada to figurehead status
that caused his departure. According to the method in which most of these “pets”
engaged their godbrothers, how they controlled them, it was not really possible
for those on the lower rungs to have much of a manifest individual relationship
with His Divine Grace—at least, not independent of the pet just above them. Those who refused to accede to seeing the pets
as spiritual or even psychic intermediaries, who instead saw them as devotees
who conducted the order (from the real guru), were branded as renegades in due
course of time. They did not get any of the special favors granted to the
amenable ones who gave in psychologically to the local leader. This is, of
course and most unfortunately, a naturally occurring phenomenon in almost any
religious institution. It is the essence of how ladder-climbing replaces yoga,
and it is how real According to the pet-disciple model, the
movement was a big family, a social arrangement backed by God to take over the
world. Sure, philosophy played a part, but those who “over-emphasized” it were
“too attached to jnana.” Interestingly enough, there was a certain overlap of
these wrongly characterized “mishra-jnana” devotees
with the renegades. However, what was of paramount importance in the pet
disciple’s or bad leader’s conception of “ This was the essence of how the pet disciples
indoctrinated or mis-trained some of their original
godbrothers. There should be no surprise
that later they did the same damn thing in relation to their so-called
initiated disciples. They had no real interest in elevating anyone philosophically,
in the principles of yoga, or in becoming an independent and realized brahmana.
It actually served their mundane and utilitarian purposes far more if these inmates
remained ignorant about all of these things. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Prabhupada
refers to these types of misleaders rather unkindly: “Those are, therefore, greatly mistaken who
are disposed to look forward to the amelioration of the worldly state--in any
worldly sense--from the worldly success of any really spiritual movement. It is
these worldly expectants who become the patrons of the mischievous race of the
pseudo-teachers of religion, the Putanas, whose
congenial function is to stifle the theistic disposition at the very moment
of its suspected appearance. But the real theistic disposition can never be
stifled by the efforts of those Putanas.” Organized Religion by His
Divine Grace Sri Srimad Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
Goswami Maharaja Prabhupada (emphasis added) Srila Prabhupada certainly wanted to see his
books distributed and devotees made. He created a house in which the whole
world could live so that anyone could have the association of devotees. There
was a little bit of society, friendship, and love in his movement, of course, but
these were all in the family of “You cannot judge a movement simply by the number of
its followers. If one man is genuine, then the movement is successful. It is not
a question of quantity, but quality.” Science of Self Realization, “Ekas candras tamo hanti
na ca tarah sahasrasah. If we can, I mean to say, raise one person to It was only the brahmanas who had spent their
time trying to become learned in the siddhanta--and saw service as an opportunity
to control the mind--who were not devastated by cognitive dissonance when the
movement began to crumble. Since they never accepted the zonal acaryas, they
had expected that, sooner or later, the chickens were going to come home to
roost. Those who were absorbed in society, friendship, and love were stolen
from siddhanta baliya citte
na kara alasa
iha haite krsna lage sudrdha
manasa “You should be always alert in understanding
the sastric conclusions that will help you, otherwise
we can be misled by bogus philosophies." Letter to: Ayodhyapati from Vrindaban, Encouragement
Is Not Verification “The transcendental symptoms of ecstasy
certainly are auspicious, but they are not for advertising to others. One
should not advertise directly or indirectly that one is feeling like this. They
should be checked. Otherwise one will gradually become sahajiya or one who takes spiritual advancement as
something materially manifest.” Letter to Makhanlal from
The zonal acaryas were never very concerned
with the finer points of the philosophy. Although one of them could be called a
scholar of some kind, they did not base their takeover on the strength of any
kind of brahminical consensus within the movement; it was pretty much an act of
raw power: One might say it was “ksatriya-like.” It was also their clumsy
“shoot the moon” appointment of themselves to uttama adhikari, a devotee on the
highest level, that later got them into all kinds of trouble. Philosophical subtleties played a much bigger
role in what came after their horrible reign, however. One of the most
prominent “reforms” of the movement was to bring the “gurus” down from the
level of extreme pretence to something more believable, a little less
pretentious. It is still a common misconception that the “gurus” are (or were) madhyams, devotees on the middle level. Of course, this misconception
allows disciples to still see their previously adored one on the highest level (to
entertain their own fantasies), since it is well-known
that even an uttama devotee must act on the middle level in order to preach to
the general public and the neophytes. vaco vegam manasah
krodha-vegam jihva-vegam udaropastha-vegam etan vegan yo visaheta dhirah sarvam apimam prthivim
sa sisyat “A
sober person who can tolerate the urge to speak, the mind's demands, the
actions of anger and the urges of the tongue, belly and genitals is qualified
to make disciples all over the world.” Nectar
of Instruction, Verse One This verse from Upadesamrita by Srila
Rupa Goswami has been repeatedly cited by corporate ISKCON authorities to
justify their new arrangement. Because the devotee being described in the verse
is in a condition of simply being able to “tolerate” his material desires,
there appears to be no requirement by Srila Rupa Goswami here that the genuine
guru must always be on a realized level. It is quite easy to falsely conclude
that this verse is describing a devotee who is merely following the four rules
and regulations. A more thorough study of the verse, however, will discover
that the word dhira is being used: “Those who are dhira -- dhira means sober, thoughtful
-- they are not bewildered. But those who are not dhira, adhira
. . . There are two classes of men: dhira and adhira.
Dhira means one who is spiritually situated. He is called dhira or brahma-bhutah
prasannatma, dhira.” Lecture on Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-lila 20.101-104 -- Here Srila Prabhupada definitively states
that someone who is dhira is brahma-bhuta. In other words, the dhira devotee
has already realized the brahman conception of the Absolute Truth. The
qualities of the dhira devotee are further elaborated in this verse: brahma-bhutah prasannatma na socati na
kanksati samah sarvesu bhutesu mad-bhaktim labhate param “One who is thus transcendentally situated at
once realizes the Supreme Brahman. He never laments nor desires to have
anything: he is equally disposed to every living entity. In that state he
attains pure devotional service unto Me.” Bhagavad-gita,
18.54 There is another quote from the purport of The
Nectar of Instruction, Verse Five, that is used by corporate ISKCON to
justify its new and improved “initiation” arrangement: “One should not become a spiritual master
unless he has attained the platform of uttama-adhikari. A neophyte Vaishnava or
a Vaishnava situated on the intermediate platform can also accept disciples,
but such disciples must be on the same platform, and it should be understood
that they cannot advance very well toward the ultimate goal of life under his
insufficient guidance. Therefore a disciple should be careful to accept an
uttama-adhikari as a spiritual master.” The
Nectar of Instruction, Text 5, purport Although there is allowance in this quote for
devotees on the lowest and middle levels to accept disciples, Srila Prabhupada
offers no shortage of caution to any prospective disciples even considering
this for themselves. As he said in May of 1977: “But by my order.” The type of
neophyte being described here is clearly one who is on the highest level of
that platform – anartha nivritti. It is at the next level of firm faith, or nistha, wherein one reaches the middle, or madhyama, platform: adau sraddha tatah
sadhu- sango 'tha bhajana-kriya tato 'nartha-nivrttih syat tato nistha rucis
tatah athasaktis tato bhavas tatah premabhyudancati sadhakanam ayam premnah pradurbhave bhavet kramah "In the beginning, one must have a
preliminary desire for self-realization. This will bring one to the stage of
trying to associate with persons who are spiritually elevated. In the next
stage one becomes initiated by an elevated spiritual master, and under his
instruction the neophyte devotee begins the process of devotional service. By
execution of devotional service under the guidance of the spiritual master, one
becomes free from all material attachment, attains steadiness in self-realization,
and acquires a taste for hearing about the Absolute Personality of Godhead, Sri
Krsna. This taste leads one further forward to attachment for Krsna consciousness,
which is matured in bhava, or the preliminary stage of transcendental love of
God. Real love for God is called prema, the highest perfectional stage of
life." Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, 1.4.15-16 (emphasis added) Any neophyte who acts as guru must be an
ideal man; he cannot act badly or require any kind of “reform.” “Actually,
a guru cannot be bad, for if someone is bad, he cannot be a guru.” The
Science of Self Realization, Chapter
Two, Choosing a Spiritual Master
"Saints and Swindlers” Anartha nivritti is translated as
“disappearance of all unwanted contamination.” There are many places where Srila
Prabhupada more or less equates this state with following the four regulations
of no meat eating, intoxication, gambling, or illicit sex. Dealing with Westerners
who were accustomed to these things from an early age, His Divine Grace used
every opportunity to emphasize the need for these restrictions to be followed.
Certainly following the four rules and regs is included in becoming free from
unwanted contamination, but to conclude that this is all that is required to
come to this stage of the platform is neither good logic nor honest. A sincere
person will see that other things must be necessary; there are many of them and
they certainly are necessary. In this regard, we see in the above translation
to Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu (1.4.15-16) that Srila Prabhupada has used the
phrase “one becomes free from all material attachment.” (emphasis
added) We also find this verse by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Prabhupada: siddhanta-alasa jana
anartha to’ chade na “One who is lazy in properly
understanding the Vaishnava philosophical conclusions can never become free
from anarthas, the unwanted bad habits and philosophical misconceptions that
impede devotional service.” “The Lord was very pleased with those who
could cleanse the temple by taking out undesirable things accumulated within.
This is called anartha-nivrtti, cleansing the heart of all unwanted things.”
Purport to Sri Caitanya-caritamrta,
Madhya 12.135 (emphasis added) “As
one cultivates and acquires knowledge about the goal of bhakti, the various
stages of bhava and love of Krsna, problems may arise. The process of becoming
free of these problems is known as anartha-nivrtti (the removal of unwanted
elements).” Introduction to Prakrta-rasa Sata-dusini
by Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saravati Prabhupada Here a much more exalted requirement is being
described. This devotee is no longer under philosophical misconceptions and certainly
does not speak or act upon material emotions. He does not offend other Vaishnavas.
These stricter, more scientific understandings of our philosophy get in the way
of the ambitions and managerial schemes of the current leaders, such as those
of corporate ISKCON. These men are misleading their followers when they dumb down
such key philosophical terms as anartha nivritti to supposedly the mere following
of four rules and regulations. This is
one of the ways in which they are falsely able to give the impression that they
are “gurus” or even emergent madhyam-adhikaris. The genuine madhyam-adhikari
is one who has surpassed the level of anartha-nivritti and has come to the
level of nistha or firm faith. As described above, he
is brahma-bhuta, self-realized in brahman: “The devotee in the second stage, the
madhyama-adhikari, is completely aware of the sastric conclusion and
has firm
faith in his guru and the Lord.” Purport to Sri Caitanya-caritamrta,
Adi 7.51 (emphases added) The genuine madhyam
is also included in a key verse from Bhagavad-gita: He is at least brahma
bhuta, self-realized in brahman: tad viddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya upadeksyanti te jnanam jnaninas tattva-darsinah “Just try to learn the truth by approaching a
spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him.
The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the
truth.” Bhagavad-gita 4.34 Here the words tattva-darsinah
refers to “one who has seen the truth.” That truth (tattva)
is elaborated in Srimad Bhagavatam: vadanti tat tattva-vidas tattvam yaj jnanam
advayam brahmeti paramatmeti bhagavan iti sabdyate “Learned transcendentalists who know the Absolute
Truth call this non-dual substance Brahman, Paramatma
or Bhagavan.” Srimad Bhagavatam, 1.2.11 This confirms that the genuine madhyam-adhikari is a realized soul; he is not an ordinary
man. As the next verse describes, he is brahma-nistham,
fixed in brahman: tad-vijnanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet samit-panih srotriyam brahma-nistham Mundaka Upanisad, 1.2.12 "’The genuine guru is well
versed in the scriptures and Vedic knowledge, and he is completely
dependent on Brahman.’ He should know what brahman is and how to become
situated in brahman.” The Science of
Self Realization, 2a: What Is a Guru? Misconception is due to misunderstanding. Another
key misconception held by most of those who have been indoctrinated by the
leaders of corporate ISKCON is that a siksa guru is merely someone who repeats
the philosophy. Corporate ISKCON has utilized this false idea to create the
impression that its society is authorized. Kailasa Candra dasa has written
several articles on the exalted qualities of the siksa guru and has supplied
numerous quotes where such an instructing spiritual master is described as
being on the same platform as the diksa guru. (See A Closer Look At
Siksa-Guru and Divine Mercy,
Sacred Tradition, And Imitation) “The initiating and instructing spiritual masters
are equal
and identical manifestations of Krsna,
although they have different dealings.” “Therefore, there is no difference between siksa-guru and diksa-guru
. . .” Room
conversation in Bhubanesva
on “According to sastric
injunctions, there is no difference between siksa-guru and diksa-guru,
and generally the siksa-guru later on becomes the diksa-guru.” Srimad-bhagavatam, 4.12.32,
purport (emphasis added). There are also a number of places in room
conversations and lectures where Srila Prabhupada made statements that were
clearly meant to encourage his neophyte disciples. Sometimes, he would describe
how a devotee’s performance of a vidhi-marga service,
such as making garlands every day, was like asakti or
the advanced stage of attachment. The serious student of bhakti will try to understand
such encouraging statements within the overall context of the philosophy and
the full presentation of it made by His Divine Grace. There certainly are
quotes (that can be singled out) which apparently give support to the cheap
idea of a siksa guru (or diksa guru) being anyone who repeats the philosophy to
some extent. Similarly, there are a number of quotes leading one to think that
anartha-nivritti means just following the four rules and regs. Statements by
the guru meant to provide encouragement or to make an
illustration do not necessarily define conclusive truth. We should make a more
thorough study before drawing any cheap conclusions. It is a great mistake to
assume that the easiest interpretation is always the correct one: “Sahajiya . . . Sahaj means
easy, easy-going.” Conversation on “. . . . actually, we do not
want to create a group of prakrta-sahajiya, or
devotees who do not know the science of “A
Very Human Story” In enumerating the background misconceptions that have
provided fertile soil for what is now taking place, it would be completely
remiss to not mention the so-called “Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita.”
This contaminated, sometimes extremely mundane, depiction of the Sampradaya Acarya
only served to make the zonal acaryas look better than they were, supposedly by
comparison to Prabhupada. Since every effort was made to make them appear as
elevated as possible, the only other means that could be utilized was to depict
Srila Prabhupada as just like them. Let us consider this verse from the Padma Purana: arcye visnau sila-dhir
gurusu nara-matir vaisnave jati-buddhir "One who thinks the Deity in the temple to be
made of wood or stone, who thinks of the
spiritual master in the disciplic succession as an ordinary man, who thinks
the Vaisnava in the Acyuta-gotra
to belong to a certain caste or creed or who thinks of caranamrta
or Ganges water as ordinary water is taken to be a resident of hell." (emphases added) Now let us consider this passage from “Lilamrita,” where Srila Prabhupada is described as
lower than a homeless person: "Suddenly, he was as homeless as any derelict on
the street. In fact, many of them, with their long-time berths in flophouses,
were more secure than he. They were ruined, but settled . . . If he couldn't go
to the loft, he had no place." Srila
Prabhupada Lilamrita Vol. 2, It is no wonder that the author of this book is now a
bewildered person who has recently written (Sanitorium)
a book depicting illicit sex. Neither is it any kind of accident that
practically every devotee who populated the three deviant cults had previously
read the “Lilamrita” and thought it to be “nectar.”
As the quote from Padma Purana
makes clear, that “nectar” was laced with the poison of gurv-aparadha. “The most grievous type of vaisnava-aparadha
is called gurv-aparadha, which refers to offenses at
the lotus feet of the spiritual master. In the chanting of the holy name of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, this gurv-aparadha is
considered the most grievous offense. Guror avajna sruti-sastra-nindanam (Padma Purana).” Purport
to Srimad Bhagavatam, 4.21.37 Continuing
the Wrong Tradition “We will establish hundreds of temples, and
they will all be very opulent. But if we do not follow the instruction of the
Spiritual Master, they will just be show-bottle. Do you know what show-bottle
means? It means colored water in a bottle which looks just like medicine, but
which, when you take it, does not work.” Room
conversation, NY, July, 1970 It is not difficult to look at the current
state of the fabricated so-called “ISKCON” and conclude that it is practicing a
form of sahajiyism. Many temples are run by skeleton
crews and some others by are run by Hindu non-devotees. The practices of even
the relatively prosperous ones, in regard to catering to the local Hindu
communities, can be shown to contradict a number of Srila Prabhupada’s
instructions: "Uninitiated couples cannot be married by us. We shall not take
the responsibility of an ordinary marriage-maker. Our practice is to help
devotees for advancing in Krsna consciousness." Letter
to Jaya Gopal, January 11, 1970 "As a matter of fact, we should not allow anyone to hold any
function in our temple other than Vaisnava
principle" Letter to Hansadutta, October 10, 1968 When we study how cognitive dissonance
affected the followers of Srila Prabhupada after his disappearance, it is easy
to see that the fabricated so-called “ISKCON” was decimated in order to populate
the other two factions, the Neo-Gaudiya matha and the rittviks. The strength of
corporate ISKCON has always been its control over the temples and the many
devotees who mistakenly believe that the institution is automatically and intrinsically
connected to Srila Prabhupada. The GBC will do practically anything to maintain
this political advantage, and that has clearly included watering down so many
strictures given by His Divine Grace. All in all, the thing is now run just
like a mundane Western church. “If you remain on the spiritual platform, if
you try, then it will increase. Anandambudhi-vardhanam.
It will increase. As soon as there is any contemplation of sense gratification,
then the spirit will be lost. Then instead of Christianity, it will be ‘Churchianity,’ officially going to the church, doing
nothing, and gradually nobody will go.” Morning Walk in April 7, 1975 at Mayapur “For the sake of attracting
larger numbers of followers, true devotees never abandon the correct systematic
practices of devotional service.” The GBC is now primarily concerned with
generating money and attracting members. For all practical purposes, the heavy-handed,
“my way or the highway” management is now more or less a thing of the past; it
just cost too many members. Pujaris, managers, and
others are now often paid salaries. Sometimes they are brought in from As many devotees have left corporate ISKCON,
those that have remained have only become more deeply immersed in the
previously described “test” mentality. They sometimes even see themselves
“going down with the ship” in order to prove their dedication to what they only
imagine is Srila Prabhupada’s movement. At this late stage, however, the additional
contradictions and complications have only made the GBC juggling act more
difficult. Currently, only one of the original eleven zonal acaryas
is regarded as “a bona fide guru” by most of the bewildered congregation. The
others, who have fallen in the public and devotee eye, naturally still claim
and exploit many disciples nevertheless; some of these disciples have become
GBC’s in their own right. To demand that such big managers should now be forced
to accept re-initiation (according to the former standard) would mean loss of
face--and a certain decline in their managerial effectiveness; they may even
leave the congregation for another cult. The previous “re-initiation” mandate
is clearly still in the way of today’s “Churchianity”
public relations model. There is sometimes a feeble comparison of these
senior managers to Sri Ramanujacarya, in terms of how
he (Ramanuja) was more advanced than his guru; these
new people can rationalize anything. Such rationalizations, however, will not receive
general acceptance beyond the institution; almost everyone else recognizes that
the emperor is actually naked. The objective devotee can easily see that not
forcing non-Prabhupada “initiates” with
influence to accept re-initiation
just creates another covert form of rittvik. The formal rittvik
faction is de-jure rittvik, where Srila Prabhupada is
legislated as the “diksa guru” for everyone. The
current GBC standard, however, creates a de-facto rittvik
system, where either the GBC or Srila Prabhupada functions as the default authority
for those whose so-called gurus have fallen in the public eye. Unscrupulous
types who want to break free from the GBC but work their way up the corporate
ladder, by adopting de-jure rittvik, are quick to
point this out. Of the thirteen classic varieties of sahajiyism originally described by Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura, the one
that bears the greatest resemblance to corporate ISKCON is jati-goswami. Opponents may argue that in corporate
ISKCON there are no hereditary goswamis. However, the
word “jata” also means group. An explanation of this has
been nicely presented by Kailasa Candra dasa in this YouTube audio/video: Getting
Back To Our Roots: Part 4 In the case of corporate ISKCON, the “group” is the GBC. It
is the GBC that is the real (de-facto) authority of the institution. They are
above the so-called gurus in that they approve of who will, and who will cease
to, occupy the post. This should be clear proof to any objective person that
the so-called gurus are just that, so-called. A truly realized madhyam guru, what to speak of the fully empowered Vaishnava mahabhagavat, has
absolutely no need to submit himself to a group of power-obsessed conditioned
souls like the GBC. To do so would constitute, in and of itself, immediate falldown. Publicly, there has always been a kind of murkiness on the
issue of whether the GBC is the authority over the individual “gurus.” To state
in resolutions that the GBC is the highest spiritual authority is not parampara philosophy - it creates the type of sahajiya deviation described here. It should be clear to
anyone familiar with GBC standard operating procedures, however, its movement
is a new kind of sahajiyism: Neo jata-gosani. One of the worst abuses of the zonal acaryas
was their “might makes right” Machiavellian dominance. When they first took
over in 1978, there was no question in anyone’s mind that each “acarya” was absolute authority for his disciples and
followers. However, when disciplinary actions became necessary, contradictions became
immediately apparent. During one such incident, I asked the scholar of the zonals, “Who is the authority for the individual disciple
here: His ‘guru’ or the GBC?” The scholar unequivocally answered “the GBC.” Later, the chastised but determined zonals fought back, armed with a weapon from Swami B.R. Sridhara that, in essence, claimed that the disciplinary
action the GBC had taken against them was “a death blow to the disciples.” I
again asked this “scholar” the same question. His new answer was: “I don’t
know.” One can easily make a persuasive presentation that the whole
zonal acarya charade of 1978 was the result of all the
other GBCs bowing to the Machiavellian audacity of
their most powerful member at that time, Kirtanananda. He started acting like an uttama
adhikari and “initiating” less than two weeks after
Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance. This element of raw
power still remains very prominent in the GBC, in the sense that those “gurus”
with the most disciples and temples have a lot more “authority” than those who
don’t. Kirtanananda’s excommunication and eventual
exile (by the “reform movement”) irrevocably established that remaining in good
graces with the GBC, especially as an “initiating guru,” was absolutely
dependent upon not doing anything which caused it to roll over you. Although the current political situation in the GBC still
carries a bit of the old zonal acarya odor, the
“reform movement” has today left its indelible mark. As described previously,
this transformation was made necessary in order to retain the faith of as many
as possible after the murder of Sulocana prabhu. Certainly there are many differences in detail between
classic jati-gosani sahajiyism
and corporate ISKCON. However, it is in the acceptance of a certain group of
conditioned souls--as allegedly being automatically and intrinsically linked to
God--that we find the common principle. What corporate ISKCON practices,
therefore, might best be termed “neo jata-gosani” sahajiyism. Ecclesiastical arrangements were intrinsic to
the classic model and are intrinsic to this new one; this has been rejected by
both Srila Prabhupada and Srila Jiva Goswami: “It is
imperative that a serious person accept a bona fide spiritual master in terms
of the sastric injunctions. Sri Jiva
Goswami advises that one not accept a spiritual
master in terms of hereditary or customary social and ecclesiastical conventions. One should simply try
to find a genuinely qualified spiritual master for actual advancement in
spiritual understanding.” Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Adi, 1.35,
purport (emphasis added) As described in a previous section, regardless
of what level he is on, the genuine guru is free from all anarthas;
this includes all philosophical misconceptions; this is the sine quo non. He
certainly does not advocate that a group of conditioned souls (such as the GBC)
can be authority is regard to voting, vetoing, or dictating who is guru. The
fact that all corporate ISKCON “gurus” preach this is clear indication that ABSOLUTELY NONE of
them is any kind of bona fide spiritual master. This is the anartha they all share; it is an institutional anartha. There is, therefore, no question of one of them
“falling.” They are already fallen simply by virtue of accepting the vote,
veto, or appointment (in queue) of the GBC. Any talk about sastra,
logic, or siddhanta is meaningless to those who will
never allow themselves to even consider that corporate ISKCON is not automatically
linked with Srila Prabhupada. This is what makes them sahajiyas,
however. No one with such meager discrimination, no one this determined to ignore real facts, can ever be
considered a brahmana--not according to the real
meaning of the term. “Fortunate means everyone has got his
discretion. So one who has the fortune to discriminate, then he can understand Neo-Kartabhaja The rittviks also
practice an ecclesiastical form of so-called The advocates of rittvik
like to say that Srila Prabhupada was the shaktyavesa
avatar, the Sampradaya Acarya,
and that he could, therefore, override all of the previous Vaishnava
traditions and sastra regarding initiation. This is
not, however, confirmed by Srila Prabhupada: "One
should accept a thing as genuine by studying the words of saintly people, the
spiritual master and sastra.
The actual center is sastra,
the revealed scripture. If a spiritual master does not speak according to
revealed scripture, he is not to be accepted. Similarly, if a saintly person
does not speak according to the sastra,
he is not a saintly person. Sastra
is the center for all." Sri Caitanya-caritamrta,
Madhya 20.352, purport
(emphasis added) The
classic sahajiya group known as kartabhaja actually takes this type of
deification of the spiritual master to its ultimate end by saying that he is
identical with God. Their philosophy has therefore been termed “guruvada.“ One
of the more modern branches of kartabhaja was started in Bangladesh and centered around one Anukul Chandra, who was born 120 years ago. He also
supposedly accepted disciples after his disappearance through “initiations”
performed by “ritwiks.” This has been nicely presented by Kailasa Candra dasa in another YouTube
video: (Guru
and Disciple: Part 3) Although the classic kartabhaja
sect is known for its tantric sex debauchery--something that is not associated
with today’s rittvik faction--the similarity of the
two cults in regard to their “initiations” makes it very easy to know that the
current rittvik faction is “neo-kartabhaja”
sahajiyism. In addition, Swami B.R. Sridhara ordered his followers to institute a kind of rittvik system of “initiation” after his departure: "With this I transfer these beads; from
now he [Govinda Maharaja] will do so on my behalf as ritvik. The ritvik system is
already involved both here and in the foreign land. The ritvik
is the representative, so if you want to take [initiation] from me and you take
from his hand then it will be as well and as good as taking from me. In this quotation—and his final will and
testament contained a similar statement--Swami B.R. Sridhar authorized one of
his own senior men, as well as some refugees from corporate ISKCON, to perform
these “initiations” on his behalf. Swami B.R. Sridhara
was apparently
under the mistaken impression that Srila Prabhupada had instituted a rittvik process in corporate ISKCON. However, please note
that this was not his view when he was advising the zonal acaryas
in 1978. This statement by Swami B.R. Sridhara, just
before his departure in August of 1988, was previous to the manifestation of
the current rittvik faction, which took place in
1989. Some of them like to use this in an attempt to prove that a rittvik system is what is “wise” at the current time--as if
disciplic law is now radically changed. The practice
of this conception—to the degree that they believe in it, preach in this way,
and employ it—could also group the current followers of Swami B.R. Sridhara in the Neo-Kartabhaja sect
of sahajiyism. “Real law means there is no change. Just like
day and night, it is coming. The fortnight, the dark period and the light
period, it is coming for millions and millions and time immemorial. The same
law is going, going on. You cannot change. So as soon as you change, that means
it is imperfect.” Lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam
1.3.15 in “Regular” Sahajiyism Most of Srila Prabhupada’s
statements about sahajiyas concern those who imitate
Lord Krishna’s pastimes with the gopis or who discuss
the intimate pastimes of Sri Sri Radha
Krishna according to their materially contaminated desires and sensual
predilections. There is one leader of the Neo-Gaudiya
matha who regularly describes these intimate pastimes
in assemblies that include neophytes. This practice was condemned by Srila
Prabhupada and has never been part of the strict Gaudiya
tradition coming down from Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. We find these statements in this regard: “An ordinary person cannot
understand the transcendental ecstasies in the mode of Srimati
Radharani. Unfit persons who try to understand them
are perverted into the sahajiya, baula
and other sampradayas. Thus the teachings are
perverted.” Sri Chaitanya Caritamrita,
Madhya 2.83, purport “The
conditioned jiva
who still has anarthas should hear and chant about
the pastimes of Lord Gauranga and the childhood
pastimes of Krsna. If (there is) the unqualified
attempt to hear and speak about the confidential pastimes of Sri Sri Radha-Krsna, it will not
bring auspiciousness to them, rather it will bring misfortune.” Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Goswami Sri Srila Prabhupader
Upadesamrita) “Without coming to the perfectional stage, if anyone tries to understand the Gopis, he becomes a sahajiya.” Letter to Visvambhara
from Ahmedabad on December 14, 1972 End of Part 2 21st Century Mleccha Sahajiya Cults Part 1 21st Century Mleccha Sahajiya Cults Part 3 Quotes from the books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada are copyright by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust |