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EDITORIAL June 29, 1999 VNN4192 Comment on this story Gandhi, King & Gaur-Govinda Maharaja BY TARUN KRSNA DAS EDITORIAL, Jun 29 (VNN) — In 1991, upon returning from Vrndavan to New York, I was very happy to see that after a long gestation period, not unlike Sukadev Gosvami's, in some cases upwards of 20 years, our Afro-American and Gujarati brothers and sisters, namely Arthur, Alexis, Woody, Ananta, April, Subhadra, Aravinda, Bhikhubhai, Nikhil, Saila, Chaitanya Priya a.k.a. Sudhanidhi and others had definitely decided to take shelter of and receive initiation from the only guru within ISKCON who could truly inspire them: Bhuvanesvar's very own treasure, Srila Gaur-Govinda Swami. The revolutionary spirit of Gujarat and Afro-America is not something new. Mohandas K. Gandhi was born Oct 2, 1869 in Porbandar, Gujarat. Martin Luther King was born Jan 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. Each served as a catalyst to spring his followers forward into a higher state of awareness. Each practiced and preached a nonviolent combination of politics and religion. Each stood up for what they wholeheartedly believed in. Each was violently gunned down by the opposition party. Each did his share to promote world spirituality, peace and freedom. There are many levels of spirituality, peace and freedom. Its not all one; its one and different. Inconceivably, simultaneously one and different. Achintya bhedabheda tattva, the most comprehensive understanding of reality given by Sriman Mahaprabhu Himself. King got his ideas from Gandhi who in turn got his ideas from Mahaprabhu. A kind of partially disjoint parampara, if you will. And so it was that these paisanos of Gandhiji and Dr. King were destined and fortunate enough to meet up with and become disciples of a genuine sadhu, a pure devotee of Sri Guru, Gauranga, Gandharvika and Giridhari. Patience is a virtue. Patience pays off. Good things come to those who wait. These brothers and sisters are living proof of this. Patience is listed in verse 3 of Upadesamrta as one of 6 qualities favorable for cultivating devotional service. Gaur-Govinda Svami was unique amongst Prabhupad's sisyas. A cut above the rest. A few cuts. He was our seniormost godbrother in so many ways. He was 20 years older than most of us, so we should have seen him almost like a father figure. Instead, he has one more noteworthy distinction: he may very well have been the most frequently offended devotee (although he took no offense himself) in ISKCON history. We are very sorry he left this world at such a young age, only 67, but that must be at least partially due to offenses we committed against him. Although a GBC member himself, that committee often made concerted efforts to keep GG Svami out of certain zones, out of certain temples and even out of certain festivals including Ratha-yatras. If and when you get a chance to read his book EMBANKMENT of SEPARATION, you'll begin to get a feel for what level of crime THAT was. If we had had any sense of the meaning of Ratha-yatra, we would have felt it our duty not only to invite him to every Ratha-yatra worldwide, but to step aside and have him give the main lecture also. Many of us don't know how to treat those senior to us, our parents included. Many of us would sooner put our parents in a nursing home amid strangers rather than reciprocate the personal care and attention they gave us during our own dependent toddler time. Yet another kaliyuga symptom: neglect amid kin. Then, is it any wonder how we mistreated our spiritual kin, such as Srila Gaur Govinda Svami? Amazing? Amazing you say? Yes we should be amazed at our very own dearth of culture. How our lack of respect extended (and continues to extend) to many senior vaisnavas should not surprise us. In 1996, on that fatal February day, we were staying in Amsterdam. According to our Vedic Vaisnav Lunar Calendar, GG Svami disappeared the same day Srila Sarasvati Thakur appeared. We being his godbrothers, his disciples in the Hague, 50 miles south, invited us to speak something on behalf of both Srila Sarasvati Thakur and Srila Gaur-Govinda Gosai. I spoke something of what I had heard about guru-tattva with specific examples. Then I opened the floor for questions and comments. A contraversy arose as to in which direction GG Svami's sisyas should go next. Holland's Hayesvar Prabhu explained that the word 'sanga' means to go with. 'Ga' means go, 'san' means with. Thus sadhu-sanga literally means to go with the sadhu. Some GG Svami sisyas were already leaning toward the lotus feet of Srila Bhaktipramoda Puri Gosai, Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayan Mhrj, Srila Bhaktivallabha Tirtha Mhrj and others. They weren't about to blindly follow a committee filled with persons who had a notorious track record of repeatedly disrespecting their gurudev, Srila Gaur-Govinda Svami. The rest insisted on being loyal to the GBC within the confines of ISKCON. They argued that: "After all, just one year before, the GBC had issued a resolution threatening to excommunicate anyone associating himself with any 'foreign guru' or any 'foreign branch' (of the same Sri Chaitanya Family Tree)". Kaliyuga's degrade is inversely proportional to hypocrisy's augment. Soon we'll see posts for V.F.F.W, Veteran's of Foreign 'Family' Wars. Such posts cannot even be grafted to the Chaitanya Tree unless they give up their innate oxymoron aspect and attitude. The loyalists continued: "Anyway, who wants to be left out in the cold? Not me. Dat is niet voor mij. That Benelux winter is too severe; its not meant for human beings, especially not vegetarians. Brrrrr!" These loyalists were somewhat younger and well acquainted NEITHER with Gaudiya Math, NOR with ISKCON history. Always keep in mind throughout your Vedic Vaisnav career that there are 10 kinds of pramana or useful evidence including pratyaksa - direct perception, paroksa - survey and itihasa - history. Our senses are imperfect but NOT completely useless. If a hider or absconder of the truth tells you your senses are imperfect, tell him: "So are yours." Pin him down. These so-called loyalists did not at all know the history of how over the years, several members of this GBC had literally harassed, made fun of and abused GG Svami almost every chance they got. I don't wish to discuss this herein so as to avoid emitting and evoking a level of anger that would only cause damage to the screen and keyboard before me. Suffice it to say even the normal human qualities of courtesy and kindness were absent in their dealings with GG Svami. On a more positive note, you can see it as still further proof of Dayal Nitai, The Lord's causeless mercy uplifting the most fallen. We are living proof of this, especially in our treatment of senior vaisnavas. Most fallen and most offensive. This classic contraversy turned into a formal split, a new branch. Lo and behold, a new branch was forming just beside the World Court, right before our very eyes. A tree's branching is cause for celebration. Those who have imbibed Chaitanya Charitamrta are happy to see new foliage, blossoming and even offshoots in the Sri Chaitanya Family Tree. All connected, yet individual. Again, achintya bhedabheda-tattva. Will the tree's main root say: "that branch is foreign, that twig is foreign, cut it off!? ignore it!? offend it!? off-end it!?" Maybe in Fantasyland or Alice's Wonderland but not in Gaudiya Vaisnavism. On the contrary, in Krsna Consciousness, on the Sri Chaitanya tree even grafting is tolerated. I mean, of course, legal horticultural grafting. No risk, no gain? That's mundane. All risk, no gain? Why bother? All risk, all gain? That's courageous. No risk, all gain? That is God's offer to us all. Like that Chambers Brother's song: People Get Ready. "All you need is faith to hear the Diesel blowing. Don't need no ticket, you just get on board Don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord." Sounds similar to Dayal Nitai, Sri Nityananda Raya's program which our Gaur-Govinda Svami was so fond of. Fear-free faith is the only price we have to pay for stepping up to the next level of KC. There's sanga at every step and at every level. There is no void. Born into the cultures toting Gandhiji's and Dr. King's examples, why aren't more of Srila Gaur Govinda Svami's sisyas courageous enough to try ALL risk, ALL gain? No excuse? Don't know the history? No problem, go higher still to NO risk, ALL gain. Like the song says, to hear clearly and properly, all you need is faith. Comment on this story | Contact VNN about this story | Send this story to a friend
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