02/25/98 - 1642

Letter To A Godbrother

USA (VNN) - by Agrahya das

Dandavat pranams. All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

> By the way, I see some postings by your good self on VNN. Akrura
> had no intention, and apparently no consciousness that he was involved
> in Vaisnava aparadha with the gopis, later, a good while later, he
> became involved in the sinful arrangement of Satrijit's killing.

I don't recall where this is described.

> Kindly be careful my dear Godbrother, Lord Sri Krishna is more than
> capable of changing anything He feels important enough to change quicker
> than we could dream possible. To associate with, or place one's
> personage amongst any individual or individuals crossing the line into
> Vaisnava blasphemy and slander is tacit approval and complicity with
> those actions, and you know as well as I do, that just isn't worth
> sacrificing the gem of devotional love for.Please be careful, you have
> come so far.

I think this argument could be used both ways. We should certainly not associate with those who do not respect Hari, Guru and Vaishnava, regardless of institutional affiliation or lack thereof. But no Iskcon forum will accept my postings, so what should I do? By popular demand SRV is open to any and all, including sahajiyas and whatnot. I am not even considered fit to give class in any Iskcon temple. So if I have something to say, where can I say it? I may be like Kali personified, but even Kali was granted a place. Where will my place be? VNN may be despised by some devotees who consider themselves loyal to Iskcon, but I think it is also read from within the "saffron curtain."

I think VNN is not a bad effort, the problem is how to sort the BS from the truth. There are so many people who wish to have a voice, and they are not all purely Krishna conscious voices. I think it is very easy to condemn VNN but that is also possibly throwing out the baby with the bathwater. I look on Chakra and see "Puranjana is a Jew-hater" and "Nara-Narayana is a liar" and "It's not enough to argue against these demons, let's have some action" and the latest accusations of misinformation by VNN. I would like to be convinced that they are truly guardians of the truth but so far I am not at all convinced. I think they are only interested in "favorable" truths. I look at it favorably though: if not for VNN there would be no dialog with Iskcon leaders by those outside the institution. The "dialog" is more like two rows of billboards on either side of the DMZ screaming things at each other but it's more than has existed before.

Also you may remember the article I did on Iskcon UK threatening legal action against the publication Radha-Krishna Prema. Do you think that article would have been accepted for publication had Chakra existed at that time? Or would some reason have been found to not run it? What about Tripurari Maharaja's statements about the actions of Prithu das? Would we have seen "Prithu is a Jew-hater" on Chakra? Is that what we saw on VNN? Honestly, I think considering all the elements the VNN folks have to deal with they've done surprisingly well. I've pointed out there is no paid staff to check all the items that are submitted. I also sense that you've gotten some pressure not to contribute to VNN because they are "too unfavorable." I think that is too bad. If you would like to see examples of blasphemy and Vaishnava aparadha within Iskcon and on the Chakra website I think it is possible to come up with those as well. But what would be the point? Ultimately everyone will act according to their own conviction.

It is unfortunate that so many unpleasant things have to come out, but many if not all are true. We should not focus on negative and unpleasant things, but I do not think that blanket denial and coverup are healthy for our Krishna consciousness. I think that goes against sada dambham hitva.

Anyway, I have some service given me and I have bhajan and preaching, and if I have to write something it should be promoting the philosophy in a positive way. If there is some place to publish it I will do so. I have found that on forums that are primarily pro-Iskcon anything that deviates from the party line is subject to attack, for example saying that varnasrama is NOT the ultimate goal of life. So I do tend to seek a path of lesser resistance, not wishing to disturb the minds of others with my so-called preaching. But mostly I don't have time to get so embroiled in controversy.

Vaishnava dasanudas, Agrahya das
http://hgsoft.com/~agrahya/