Mon May 18, 2009 11:48 am (PDT): As usual the article below has been first published in the IRMs official magazine Back To Prabhupada. BTP is being distributed for free to ISKCON devotees and people interested in Srila Prabhupadas teachings worldwide. If you would like to receive BTP as well, simply send us your full name and street address via yahoo or the following email address: irm@iskconirm.com.
Also, we welcome all correspondence, so if you have any questions, comments or criticisms, please write to us via one of the two methods mentioned above
Thank you & Hare Krishna!
Readers’ questions and challenges
“While I was coming out of the Soho temple, I was being handed over this magazine called Back to Prabhupada [...] You are wasting so much energy criticizing the Gurus and wasting all of your valuable time. I believe that by whatever means one can attain Krishna that’s fair [...] Srila Prabhupada will be very sad to see your low consciousness.”
- Bhaktin Barsha Kalita, London, England
Editor replies: You obviously believe it is correct to spend time criticising others and finding fault in them, since you have written to us and criticized us and found fault in us for having “low consciousness” etc. Therefore by your own conduct you are demonstrating that we must speak the truth for the benefit of others. What matters is if what we are speaking is true or not. You will find in our magazine that everything presented is not only true, but referenced by the words of Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada teaches that he is the sole diksa Guru for ISKCON, and those who try and usurp his position must be checked. Do you believe in Srila Prabhupada’s words or not? And if you do, why object to them when we present them? Indeed, how can us presenting facts, truth and Srila Prabhupada’s words be “wasting time”?
In ISKCON, only Srila Prabhupada can take us back to Krishna -a fact even ISKCON’s “gurus” like Bhakti Charu Swami now freely admit (please see BTP Special Issue 2). You have said that by whatever means one attains Krishna is “fair”. But there is only one means to attain Krishna, which is taught by Krishna Himself, and that is by surrendering to and serving His representative, the bona fide spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada – not by disobeying him!
“My commentary about the magazine is to suggest for a change of mood in your preaching [...] Just forget about ISKCON’s mafia existence. Take into account the unlimited amount of new people at your disposal and give to them Prabhupada’s mercy deprived of political tinge.”
- Abhimanyu Suta Das, Lima, Peru
Editor replies: There are currently very large numbers of devotees who are having their spiritual lives destroyed by ISKCON’s guru hoaxers who have taken control of the movement Srila Prabhupada actually started. ISKCON, after all, is still distributing over 3 million books a year and has some 200-300 centres worldwide -but are taking people away from Srila Prabhupada. On the planet right now, there is no other group which is making any attempt to help these poor souls except the IRM. There are already many devotees preaching to the public, but we are the only ones preaching to the devotees the real secret of spiritual life: that only Srila Prabhupada can take you back to Godhead. This preaching to the devotees is our unflinching mood:
“TRANSLATION: For one who explains the supreme secret to the devotees, devotional service is guaranteed, and at the end he will come back to Me.
PURPORT: [...] Bhagavad-gita should be explained to persons who are ready to accept Krsna as the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is a subject matter for the devotees only [...]”
(Bhagavad-gita As It Is, 18.68)
So we will continue until we have rescued them from the guru hoaxers. Since all the IRM members were themselves rescued by such preaching efforts, they obviously now do not want to deprive everyone else of the same benefit they have received.
“Why do you unnecessarily blaspheme all ISKCON gurus? Let Srila Prabhupada and Krishna decide and you simply preach. People cry on reading such articles which are sometimes full of direct blasphemy.”
- Surendra Agarwal, West Bengal, India
Editor replies: We do not unnecessarily blaspheme the ISKCON gurus Firstly, since we only speak the truth, it is impossible to commit blasphemy, otherwise then truth or dharma itself would be guilty of blasphemy. Secondly, it is very much necessary to speak the truth so that people know who the bona fide Guru is, without which one cannot even begin the process of Krishna consciousness. You say we should let Srila Prabhupada and Krishna decide, and we should just preach. But we are in agreement with you:
a) Srila Prabhupada has already decided by issuing directives which make it clear that he remains the sole diksa Guru of ISKCON, such as the July 9th, 1977 directive to all GBCs and Temple Presidents, and we are simply repeating these instructions.
b) Srila Prabhupada and Krishna have already decided by inspiring the creation of BTP. And through BTP we are simply preaching, just as you advise.
Of course, if we state the fact that the current ISKCON gurus were not authorised by Srila Prabhupada, and therefore are not acting correctly, this may offend those who have faith in them. But we cannot avoid stating this truth just because someone make take offense at hearing it. Rather, the greatest offense would be to not speak the truth.
And it is interesting that you feel the message of our magazine is so powerful that it can immediately reduce someone to tears. Such is the power of truth!
“No doubt IRM’s stand is absolutely right. But since your site was not so serious towards the varnasrama mission, I have decided to take initiation from an ISKCON Guru Maharaja. I have found in last one year, service with my guru maharaja for that mission, that certainly there are some serious drawbacks with all dealing of varnasrama mission, and I do not know what is exactly the problem, why our activities are not taking shape, even though we are working very hard.”
- Bhaktavatsal Das, Jaisalmer, India
Editor replies: Srila Prabhupada never stated that varnasrama can be instituted by:
a) Disobeying him.
b) Kicking him out as the Guru of ISKCON.
c) Accepting initiation from the bogus gurus who have kicked him out.
So obviously varnasrama will never get established by following the above process, as proven by the fact that in the last 30 years ISKCON has not even come close to establishing varnasrama. By taking part in the guru hoax deviation, which is a huge offense to Srila Prabhupada, you also will similarly fail in your attempts to get varnasrama insitituted. And you have admitted that this is exactly what has happened!
Nothing happens due to material formulas and power, but only due to the MERCY and GRACE of Srila Prabhupada. Clearly, this is never going to come as long as we keep offending him by spreading the guru hoax. Varnasrama and all other things will follow after we have first re-established Srila Prabhupada’s true position, and driven out all the offences being perpetrated in his name.
