10/02/1998 - 2305

Scarlett"R"and the Manila Banning

Manila (VNN) - by Lala Gopala Devi Dasi

Dear Prabhus;

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I felt a need to write in to give my opinion as to the banning of JitaratiDas from the Manila temple. I feel that to remain silent is to condone thisbanning of a very sincere and devoted servant of our beloved SrilaPrabhupada. I have been part of this movement for a long time and I haveobserved many times that we let atrocities happen to our god brothers andgod sisters because we don't know them personally. A lot of times we asdevotees don't express our feelings of outrage towards injustices becausethese injustices are happening to other people so we may think that itwon't affect us directly.

Why get emotionally involved? Perhaps we don'tdeal with these serious vaisnava aparadhas as a priority in our livesbecause it may be uncomfortable. By thinking about it , we may have to takesome time out of our busy schedule to give emotional support to ourgod brother. I know most of us have been hurt and treated unjustly, thereforewe know firsthand how painful it is, so perhaps this is an opportunity touse our knowledge to help someone else so that they don't have to suffersimilar abuse. We, as a group can stop that from happening right here ,right now! We may have stood idly by for all the other vaisnava aparadhabut today is a new day let us not stand idle for THIS offense. Let's not bepart of this mass craziness any longer, let us each and every one of ustake time to look into our hearts and see that we are all tired of thischaos and make a decision that this all has to stop NOW! What good is ourlives if we can't find the courage to support our god brother who is on thefront line. Remember, Jitarati is taking the bullets for each and every oneof us. Are we such cowards that we are going to let him hang out to dry allby himself? I believe that this is another opportunity for all of us toshow that we really do care about Srila Prabhupada by caring for hisdedicated disciple , Jitarati Prabhu.

For those of you who don't know Jitarati as a person I would like to sharesome personal experiences with you. When I joined the Winnipeg temple in1974, Jitarati was temple commander. Let me assure you, that from him Ilearned that Cleanliness is next to Godliness. In his youth Jitarati wouldhave been considered a very handsome man, tall, broad shouldered, perfectcomplexion, clear blue eyes and a shy smile. His character was one ofsheer determination to serve Srila Prabhupada with his full attention.Although all the single woman were attracted to this beautiful seriousbrahmachari, myself included, not once did he flirt or try to misleadanyone as to where his interests lay. We, as heartbroken women , could havebeen insulted by his lack of interest but in fact we can only admire himfor his strength of character and his honest dealings with us. Jitarati Dashas ever only acted as a gentlemen even when openly invited to act in anunbecoming manner. How many of our present day ISKCON leaders can honestlybe commemorated for possessing these good qualities? I only harborrespect and deep affection for him as my god brother and friend.

 By banning Jitarati from the temple because he adheres to the Rittvikbelief does this not prove that we have not gone beyond the narrow minded,superstitious, fear-centered Quaker years, when the self-appointed socalled religious leaders would place a scarlet,"A", around the neck of anadulteress and have her shunned in the community?Why are we placing a scarlet,"R", around the necks of those individualswho have the courage and the right to express their own opinions , even ifthose opinions are contrary to the opinions that are in vogue at this time,by present day leaders? In closing, I humbly beg each and every devotee toplease don't stand by and let another god brother be insulted, take a stand,make a statement, let your voices be heard, send a fax or even a prayer butplease don't just do nothing, don't let THIS vaisnava aparadha gounchallenged.

 Mother Lala Gopala Devi Dasi