What is exclusivism?

We can understand from these definitions that exclusivism is a mode of thought, a material conception much favored by the denizens of Kali-yuga, who consider it very desirable to be counted among an exclusive coterie. In Vaisnava circles, exclusivism manifests as the misconception that only certain people are, or can become, fully Krsna-conscious, or conversely, that certain categories of people are excluded from Krsna consciousness. This misconception is very prevalent among neophyte devotees (kanistha-adhikaris); among pure devotees (uttama-adhikaris) exclusivism is conspicuous by its complete absence.

Practically, exclusivism means rejecting the association of individual devotees and groups meeting (or failing to meet) some arbitrary criteria determined by one’s personal bias. Elitism, prejudice, doubt, rejection, unwarranted criticism, blasphemy of devotees, sectarianism, schisms, power politics and many other ills in devotional society, as described below, are just symptoms of a more fundamental cause: exclusivist contamination and distortion of Vedic philosophy. A dynamic way to describe exclusivism is that exclusivists artificially limit their loving propensity withdrawing it from those who do not meet some arbitrary self-selected measure. This, of course, is the essence of materialistic consciousness and the antithesis of universal Krsna consciousness.

Krsna consciousness or sanatana-dharma is universally inclusive—not exclusive—by definition. Even a cursory reading of Srila Prabhupada’s books clearly reveals that exclusivism is completely alien to his philosophical outlook:

There are hundreds of specific quotes in Srila Prabhupada’s books similar to the above, which is but a tiny sampling. The same inclusive theme occurs even more frequently in Srila Prabhupada’s lectures and conversations. We will leave researching them to the reader, since presenting an exhaustive list would make this essay into a book in itself.

Srila Prabhupada fought against exclusivism even in his management instructions. Srila Prabhupada’s original charter for ISKCON’s GBC included provisions that GBC members would be elected from among the assembled temple presidents for terms of three years; and that a temple president could not be removed from office without a majority vote of the temple’s congregation [Direction of Management, 1969]. He had seen the preaching of the Gaudiya Math weaken from the gradual onset of exclusivist tendencies in its management. In fact, he and a few other insightful devotees, such as Srila Sridhar Maharaja and Srila Kesava Maharaja, left the Gaudiya Math precisely because they foresaw the inevitable negative results of such exclusivist tendencies.

Some readers may wonder what is wrong with exclusivism. Didn’t Srila Prabhupada want to create a spiritual aristocracy? His books reveal clearly that he did not: he wanted Krsna consciousness to remain wide open to everyone. There are very good reasons for this inclusive policy. In the next section we present a few of the undesirable consequences of exclusivism in devotional society. But philosophically speaking, the deficiency of exclusivism is that sanatana-dharma is meaningless unless it is open to everyone. If Krsna consciousness is the property or province only of an exclusive elite, it cannot be the yuga-dharma, which by definition is a universal spiritual process that can be practiced by anyone and everyone in a particular historical age. Therefore, any religious association or process containing exclusivist elements is against the fundamental universality, or inclusive principle of sanatana-dharma.

In the Mahabharata, Yudhisthira Maharaja approaches Bhismadeva, lying on his bed of arrows after the Battle of Kuruksetra, and asks:

Bhismadeva replies:

Here, Emperor Yudhisthira is inquiring not for himself—he is already a pure devotee and eternal associate of the Lord—but for the welfare of the populace under his charge, and ultimately for the welfare of all living beings. He does not limit his inquiry only to a certain class or section of the people. Since he is the emperor of the Vedic Empire, he seeks the highest benefit for all the people of the world, inclusive of both citizens who follow Vedic principles and those who do not. Bhismadeva’s answer foreshadows the incipient Kali-yuga, revealing the ascendancy of chanting the Holy Names of Lord Krsna as the emergent yuga-dharma. He then goes on to recite the Thousand Names of the Lord (Sri Visnu-sahasranama), one of the most important stotras in the entire Vedic literature.

Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu emphatically taught, both by precept and example, that the process of nama-sankirtana is inclusive and open to anyone and everyone. To deny any person access to the pure chanting of the Holy Names would be to rob this best of all religious practices of its universality, dethrone it from its exalted position as the yuga-dharma, and recast it as an ordinary material sectarian religion. Yet this is precisely the effect of exclusivism, which when seen in this light, clearly is a terrible blasphemy against the eternal Absolute Truth.

We also read in bhakti-sastras such as Harinama-cintamani that anyone can become free of offenses to the Holy Name by taking complete shelter of the Holy Name. Therefore it is possible for any sincere person to reach the stage of pure chanting of the Holy Name simply by taking full shelter of the yuga-dharma. This open and inclusive philosophical foundation, firmly based on the teachings of Mahaprabhu, is the bulwark upon which Srila Prabhupada’s expansive preaching mission was built. He created an all-inclusive platform for performing nama-sankirtana, the yuga-dharma for the age. How else could he have brought Westerners to the platform of Vedic brahmanas?

Nevertheless, we have experienced that the dark side of human nature leads materially-motivated people to misconstrue even inclusive transcendental religion as a field of competition. Such neophyte devotees, illusioned by the influence of Kali-yuga, create the fiction of exclusivism to confuse other devotees, whom they misapprehend as competitors. Because we are still influenced by materially conditioned consciousness in the beginning of devotional service, we mistakenly accept these warped constructions as actual Vaisnava philosophy. Eventually the exclusivists fall under the spell of their own deception, and lose the thread of universal Krsna consciousness. Then the blind lead the blind into the ditch.

However, anyone who has actually realized Krsna consciousness can easily see through the illusion of exclusivism and conclude that an altered version of the original universally inclusive Vaisnava philosophy is being propagated. Unfortunately, the same mechanisms that let us accept the counterfeit philosophy as real also induce us to disregard the warnings of realized souls who clearly perceive the exclusivist fraud. Some consequences of this tragic circumstance are described below.

Manifestations of exclusivism

This section lists the symptoms of exclusivism in devotional society, along with brief analyses. These symptoms should be familiar and obvious to anyone who has observed or participated in the Vaisnava movement in the West.

Elitism, class struggle and disharmony among devotees

We see that all contemporary devotional organizations tend to separate into rank-and-file and management, with a sharp division between the two. Management tends to keep its decision-making process secretive, allowing little or no input or oversight from the membership at large. This inevitably leads to abuses of power as described below. Here is the root of the exclusivist phenomenon: the devotees with leadership skills desire to solidify and consolidate their positions, so they propagate exclusivism as a political device. Unfortunately, the social context of a hierarchical traditionalist religious organization allows them to do so with little interference. As devotees, the leaders are no better, and often less advanced, than many of the people under their charge. Yet they use their positions to justify portraying themselves as unquestionably advanced devotees, and demand uncritical acceptance as such. Their motivation is to benefit themselves, rather than their constituency. Therefore they are afraid of participatory management styles where their excesses could be corrected by the will of the congregation. The leaders strive to limit debate, quench dissidence, discourage asking searching questions, and use any means to eliminate anyone who threatens their fragile hegemony. This goes against the trends of the times, strongly limiting the appeal of current devotional organizations to intelligent and resourceful people. Consequently, devotional organizations increasingly become populated by unintelligent, uncreative people who are content to be part of a herd and do not even realize that they are being exploited. It also creates a negative emotional atmosphere of artificial controversy and political tension.

Secret inner circles, hidden agendas and criminal activities

In an exclusivist regime, organizational power tends to become consolidated among the most highly motivated and least principled players. In an organizational environment where there is no penalty for political maneuvering, the most morally corrupt, deceptive and secretive manipulators have an unfair advantage over the open-hearted, sincere and truthful devotees. This inevitably leads to criminal activities as competition among leaders increases. Anxious to fund their expanding empires and already having lost any commitment to truthfulness and fair play, the leadership fragments into secretly warring, Machiavellian factions. Willing to go to any lengths to achieve dominance in a limited domain, they eventually drop all pretenses of subtlety, turn to accepting funding from tainted sources and even engaging the services of hit men to eliminate perceived competitors.

Prominence and position depend upon personal charisma and political acumen, rather than actual spiritual advancement

Corollary with the exclusivist leaders’ descent into corruption and deception, honest and sincere devotees remove themselves from the contaminated association of the leaders, humbly renouncing any leadership position they may have. Intelligent and actually advanced devotees are often the first to leave or be driven out of the organization. This leads to a downward spiral of progressively increasing untruthfulness, until no one is sure what is truth and what is falsehood. In such a confused atmosphere, devotees cannot discriminate between actual spiritual advancement and the empty show put forth by materially motivated, ambitious leaders.

Politicization of devotional activities and viewpoints

In a highly competitive political environment, devotees are expected to clearly declare their political alignment. Anyone who refuses to do so may find themselves without association, distrusted by all sides. Group members are expected to accept group leaders and other group members unconditionally, rejecting non-members regardless of their devotional advancement or seniority. Strict social censure awaits those who try to cross institutional political boundaries. Anyone who attempts to express individual opinions outside the party line of their group finds themselves immediately cut off from association and support. The threat of ostracism, backed up with highly visible examples of those who stray from the fold, is used to keep members in line.

Loss of ecstatic loving mood, certainty and faith in Krsna consciousness

The first casualty of exclusivism, after the truth, is the ecstatic loving mood of pure devotion. As soon as a religious organization deviates from the universal principles of sanatana-dharma, bhakti-devi flees far away. The atmosphere becomes strident and turbulent instead of peaceful and loving. Devotees become distrustful of one another, losing their certainty in the effectiveness of Krsna consciousness as a means to spiritual advancement. All this contributes to a catastrophic loss of faith and trust among the adherents of any group afflicted with exclusivism.

Group political dynamics overshadow sadhana and unbiased philosophical inquiry into the Absolute Truth

Exclusivist group leaders gradually emphasize loyalty to the organization over faithfulness to the broadly inclusive spirit of the guru-parampara. Classes become political diatribes instead of carefully guided open discussions and sober reflections on the profound truths of the sastra. Devotees of a contemplative nature are accused of being lazy because they would rather chant, read and think about their spiritual master’s books than engage in fund-raising to support the materialistic excesses of the leaders. Intelligent discussion outside of polemical doctrinal debate becomes impossible. Deep questioning is actively discouraged.

Repeated, unauthorized changes to philosophy and books

Political issues begin to outweigh the importance of careful understanding, analysis and preservation of siddhanta. Long before this, biased classes have so minimized the original teachings, and indoctrinated devotees in exclusivist propaganda, that most have never clearly heard the actual philosophy. Such ill-trained devotees cannot distinguish the actual siddhanta of Krsna consciousness from the deceptive, warped misinterpretations they have received from the leaders, whose actual goal is not to help others become Krsna conscious, but simply to cement their own leadership positions. This attitude naturally leads to changing the organization’s books and other materials to reflect the leaders’ exclusivist bias.

Deception and manipulation

Because exclusivist leaders have no regard or respect for the people under their charge, they freely use deception in dealing with them. No one outside of a small trusted, unquestionably loyal circle of management personnel knows what is actually going on or why certain decisions are made. Important decisions that may significantly affect devotees’ lives are made without consulting the persons in question, or allowing them to voice their concerns. There is no justice or recourse from harmful management decisions, which are based on political considerations rather than the spiritual benefit of those concerned. The fact that this is both patently unfair and bad management policy seems to matter not at all to exclusivist leaders intent on maintaining their false positions.

Manufactured ‘offenses,’ character assassination

Exclusivist leaders frequently manufacture false ‘offenses’ as a device to keep others under control. Instead of accepting legitimate constructive criticism and improving their management skills to benefit the group members, they twist any questioning or criticism into an ‘offense,’ and then seek to marginalize the ‘offender.’ This technique goes hand-in-hand with character assassination. Anyone who brings up issues viewed as inconvenient by the leadership risks having their personal issues and all gossip about them, factual or not, made public knowledge. That this is a considerable breach of trust on the part of the leaders who engage in it is never questioned by loyal group members. Perhaps they fail to realize that the same technique being used against others could be used against them at any time.

Sexism, feminism, fundamentalism, power politics and other strident, passionate materialistic viewpoints and endeavors

The atmosphere of fanatical exclusivism permeating most devotional organizations and propagated by the leaders makes it easy for members to get caught up in the same mood. Fundamentalism inevitably leads to blanket rejection of minorities, fanatical adherence to ideologies justifying hostility, unwarranted criticism and wholesale denunciation of differing individuals and groups. Sexism and feminism are merely mirror images of the same prejudice. That all these positions are completely materialistic and against the inclusive spirit of sanatana-dharma never seems to occur to those who so stridently propagate them.

Feeling of entitlement, lack of contrition even when exposed

Deep down, the exclusivist leaders feel that they are somehow inexplicably better than others, and therefore are entitled to manipulate and exploit others, do not have to observe the norms of morality and ethics, and can get away with anything. Even when these false leaders are caught in nefarious activities and exposed, they do not express repentance, shame or remorse. Even if they make some shallow confession, as soon as circumstances permit, they immediately resume their exclusivist attitudes and activities. We should be extremely wary of such individuals, and build safeguards into the structure of our devotional organizations to eliminate them from influential positions, such as Srila Prabhupada did by including democratic mechanisms in his original Direction of Management.

Schismatic formation of splinter groups

Exclusivism inevitably leads to religious schisms, as devotees attempt to find safe venues for devotional advancement. Unfortunately, such schisms usually preclude the same scenarios playing out all over again in the new group, because devotees bring their exclusivist conditioning with them. We will continue to make the same mistakes over and over again, until and unless the primary misunderstanding is isolated and completely uprooted from our consciousness.

Bad news rather than good news

When do we hear glowing reports of devotees becoming fully Krsna conscious? We often hear of devotees falling down, because it supports the exclusivist theory: “Just see, we always knew he was in maya.” If any devotee would claim to have realized Krsna, no one would believe him or her, simply because we have been taught by the exclusivists to believe that it is ‘impossible.’ In truth, we should be very concerned that we do not hear of devotees realizing pure Krsna consciousness. The possibility that in the 35 years since Srila Prabhupada came to the West, none of his thousands of disciples has understood his teaching well enough to realize Krsna consciousness or the pure Holy Name for themselves, is extremely unlikely. If we have not heard of anyone who has, this means that our devotional communication system has become biased against good news, which is being filtered out by our uncharitable, exclusivism-contaminated attitudes.

Lack of recognition and harassment of advanced devotees

Due to the above, actually spiritually-advanced devotees remain unrecognized, because exclusivist leaders have conditioned us to confuse spiritual advancement with political ability and motivation. The symptoms of spiritual advancement are very subtle, and properly can be ascertained only by another similarly advanced soul. This leads to rejection and harassment of any devotees who may actually realize Krsna consciousness or the pure Holy Name, and attempt to spread their attitudes and realizations to others.

Sincere devotees become discouraged, fall down and leave the association of devotees

The sum total of the symptoms of exclusivism discussed above are that sincere souls who really want to realize Krsna consciousness feel that their efforts are in vain, that no one truly wants to help them, and no one will recognize them even if they are successful. They may lose their enthusiasm and determination to become Krsna conscious, and fall down from the strict devotional path, simply because it ceases to be supportive and rewarding enough to sustain an intelligent person’s interest.

The science of Krsna consciousness

We can understand both the cause and cure of this condition by investigating Krsna consciousness in an unbiased and scientific manner. Srila Prabhupada often refers to Krsna consciousness as a science:

There are hundreds of similar quotes. In the experience of those of us who had the privilege of assisting in the editing and publication of Srila Prabhupada’s books, his use of language is extraordinarily precise. Therefore, when Srila Prabhupada uses the word science, it is perfectly natural to assume that he uses the term not in some special limited or esoteric sense, but in its strict dictionary definition:

In his books, Srila Prabhupada portrays Krsna consciousness as a scientific process. There is absolutely no doubt that when Srila Prabhupada characterizes Krsna consciousness as a science, he has a precise concept of science in mind. As a highly competent and successful pharmacist, Srila Prabhupada has extensive experience with scientific formulas. Naturally, he would also have direct experience with scientific method. So it is not too far off our topic to examine further the universal methodology of standard scientific procedure.

Scientific method is a rigorous procedural formula for the empirical investigation of natural phenomena and law. In its most general formulation, attributed to 14^th-century philosopher Francis Bacon, it consists of four main steps:

If the experiments confirm the hypothesis, it may come to be regarded as a reliable theory. If the experiments do not bear out the hypothesis, it must be rejected or modified. The key to the power of scientific method is the predictive ability of the hypothesis or theory, as tested by experiment. It is often said in science that theories can never be proven, only disproved. There is every possibility that a new observation or experiment will conflict with a long-standing theory. This is called falsification of the theory. It is essential that every theory contain provisions that define its falsification; otherwise it is not, strictly speaking, a scientific theory. This methodology is the mechanism by which science advances.

Now, with the understanding that Srila Prabhupada intended his work to be scientific in the full meaning of the term, let us apply scientific method to Krsna consciousness. This will be a convenient summary, rather than a rigorous application of scientific method to Krsna consciousness, to keep this essay from becoming too voluminous. Recapitulating the steps above:

Repeating the original experiment

According to this scientific analysis, anyone who performs the original experiment according to the authorized process will receive the same result. It should be possible to learn the process and apply it properly within a single ordinary human lifetime. Although the process of Krsna consciousness is subtle, it is not overly complex; anyone can learn the essential principles and practices in an afternoon. If devotees are not experiencing symptoms of success in self-realization or attaining bhakti-rasa, either there is a mistake in their practice or an error in the theory. However, the theory of Krsna consciousness states that it is absolute and eternal knowledge, therefore any lack of success must be attributed to improper understanding and application on our part.

The author happens to have some background both in scientific theory and method, and semantic analysis of natural and synthetic languages, such as languages used in computer programming and artificial-intelligence applications. Applying this expertise to the problem of why few devotees seem to be attaining success in Krsna consciousness yields the conclusion that the deluding influence of various semantic factors, principally a lack of rigor in the study of the scriptures of Krsna consciousness, compounded by the symptoms of exclusivism discussed broadly above, renders devotees incapable of attaining full Krsna consciousness by distorting their understanding and damaging their faith. The same factors also tend to filter out any news of devotees achieving extraordinary attainments in Krsna consciousness. So under current conditions, even if some devotees were successful in attaining bhakti-rasa, we very likely would not hear about it.

Srila Prabhupada defines faith as “unflinching trust in something sublime” [Bg. 2.41 P]. To accomplish anything, we must both desire it and believe that we can accomplish it. For example, if someone does not believe that he can learn French, no one can teach it to him with any amount of effort. Faith is a necessary ingredient in any undertaking, especially in the spiritual realm. The pernicious influence of exclusivism is to undermine devotees’ faith that they or others indeed can attain full Krsna consciousness. It makes the unflinching trust described by Srila Prabhupada impossible. The net result of the influence of exclusivism is that devotees cannot duplicate the psychological conditions required to perform the experiment of bhakti-yoga according to the original authorized procedure. Lacking this faith or unflinching trust in their own ability to attain Krsna consciousness, naturally they cannot reach success, no matter how hard or long they may try. Ultimately, they wrongly conclude that the process of Krsna consciousness itself is flawed; this is the tragic result of exclusivism.

Conclusions

Exclusivism is a materialistic contamination that obscures the original pure form and substance of Krsna consciousness, making accurate performance of the original scientific procedure very difficult. Given the present state of the Vaisnava community, it is hard to understand how anyone could attain complete realization of Krsna consciousness without the ability to use careful semantic analysis to separate the influence of politically-motivated exclusivist misinterpretations from the actual message of sastra.

We have seen over the years how exclusivists keep changing the rules, moving the goal posts and creating artificial issues to distract devotees from deep, concentrated sadhana and clear understanding of sastra. According to Srila Prabhupada’s books, esoteric knowledge of the theory of rasa and extensive familiarity with obscure pastimes are not required for Krsna-conscious realization. The same goes for elaborate puja and complex mental exercises of scheduled meditation, such as asta-kaliya-lila-smaranam. According to sastra, all that is required is for a sincere disciple to take complete shelter of the Holy Name, and chant with love and devotion. And the sectarian division, political agitation and endemic schismatic controversy over every little issue autochthonic to contemporary Vaisnava society is completely unnecessary and useless.

It is our belief that organizational leaders have a vested interest in fomenting a high ‘noise level’ of exclusivist discussion to confuse and distract their followers, and to secure and defend their advantageous positions. Even if some devotees were to attain complete success in Krsna-conscious realization, exclusivist leaders predictably would invalidate their attainment, even when the procedure is performed correctly and the result is demonstrably exactly as described by the scriptures.

Currently, Vaisnava society is deeply contaminated with exclusivism. This influence is largely unconscious, even in those who devote a large percentage of their time and energy to propagating it. Nevertheless, exclusivism effectively sabotages preaching. No intelligent person with experience of healthy democratic social institutions or successful, well-managed businesses will agree to participate in a group saturated with exclusivist attitudes and run by unqualified dictatorial leaders. No conscientious person will want to encourage others to participate in such a group, especially when they may hold him accountable after having negative experiences with the group.

Pure sannyasa is also impossible under the current exclusivist regime. Sannyasa has become a political position, contaminated with requirements for political correctness, strong leadership and managerial ability. Sannyasis from one political group or organization are not recognized in other groups. These material considerations go against the very spirit of sannyasa. Under the circumstances, no intelligent, discriminating devotee will desire to accept a position tantamount to becoming a political football.

Preaching will not expand until the misconception of exclusivism is effectively addressed, broadly understood, and thoroughly uprooted from Vaisnava society. In fact, until a sizable minority of intelligent devotees make strenuous efforts to counteract the influence of exclusivism, we can expect that the current trends of diminishing authority and increasing marginalization of Vaisnavism in the West will continue.

A reformation is necessary, in the sense that our understanding of the actual philosophy and method of Krsna consciousness needs to become much clearer, and our institutions need to be overhauled to meet contemporary standards of openness, accessibility and fair play. Until that happens, it will remain difficult or impossible for most devotees—what to speak of the general public—to identify the original clear, wholesome, scientific message of Krsna consciousness. The door to the future of Vaisnavism stands open; it is up to us to pass through it and taste spiritual life free from the poison of the distorting, discouraging exclusivist misinterpretation.