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WORLD  About the AuthorOther Stories by this Author 2nd Open Letter To The GBC 1999 BY SWAMI B.A. PARAMADVAITI  USA, Apr 18 (VNN) — Emergency In Europe and the reasons for it. The greatest calamity the GBC overlooked.It is noticeable that the mission of Srila Prabhupada in Europe after the departure of the previous strong man is in great calamity. What is the situation? 1. Many temples lost the power to pay their bills due to the lack of collecting and contributing members who have lost their desire to help. 2. Local leaders are not given trust to save what is left. 3.International impractical bureaucracy brings communication with local devotees to a partial breakdown. 4. Several big real estate temples and farms are already in danger to be lost to the banks or to be sold. 5. Local Sannyasys and leaders deny responsibility. GBC and Temple president posts are "renounced". Gurus prefer to go to college. Instead of local leadership they put a big group of devotees "in charge," a good part of them not even living in Europe. 6. Devotees do not believe in this blunder and increasingly withdraw support. 7. Previous mistakes are not rectified such as the mistake to offend other Vaisnavas outside of Iskcon. 8. Those devotees who discover on their own that offenses to other Vaisnavas was one of the major mistakes and who want to change that mentality are persecuted. 9. Iskcon leaders who still maintain the same offensive mentality against other Vaisnavas are incapable of saving the situation. But rather then recognizing their mistakes and calling all Vaisnavas together to try to save what is left they prefer to lose a temple, another devotee, additional friends, etc. All this becomes clear in the following writing of Jayapataka Swami which was recently circulated on the Internet in a public forum: When the GBC met in 1978 and discussed what was to be done it was advised that you had expressed we could go to your godbrother HH B.R. Sridhar Maharaj for any technical questions. There was some confusion about how to implement the instructions on spiritual master so it was decided to ask your Godbrother. He certainly had good intentions, but his vision wasn't your vision. He advised that each spiritual master should have his own private area which he termed "private room" where he could be alone with his disciples. Somehow this created the "Zonal Acarya" concept where everyone in a particular zone was more or less compelled to accept initiation from the local Zonal Guru. This created more problems and offenses. *See comment A. Also the idea that by Your Divine Grace recommending us to be spiritual masters and initiate we were by definition "uttam adhikary" or something created false impressions and enhanced the false ego. I was a participant in these situations and knowingly or unknowingly I committed many offenses to my godbrothers and godsisters other devotees. * See comment B. And Harikesh spoke: So I went to the Mayapur meeting and when they asked what should we do I said, "Well, I've talked with Pradyumna and we came up with this very nice idea that would probably solve the situation". Everybody immediately rejected it. They were talking what to do, what to do, when Guru-kripa said we should go to Sridhar Maharaja, because that's what Prabhupad said. And then Guru-kripa said "Isn't that right, Tamal?" Tamal Krishna Maharaj didn't say anything, but he just shook his head and said "Yeah." I was freaked out immediately because I knew what this would mean, because I knew this would be the end. *See Comment C So then they had a vote. Jayatirtha said "OK, everybody in favor?" so people raised their hands. I tried to speak against it, but nobody listened to me. Then Jayatirtha said: "It was unanimous". I said "It's not unanimous, take the "no" votes". And he said: "Why should I do that?" I said: "Because I want to go down in history as being the only person against this insane resolution." So then he said "O.K. go down in history. All those against?", then I raised my hand. Then they went to Sridhar Maharaj and Sridhar Maharaj said: "Oh when you are a guru it's like being married. Right? You have your wife and wife means home or children, family. You have to have your own home, your own place, right? And guru, you know, you should have vyasasana which is just a little bit below Srila Prabhupad's vyasasana", and so many things. And he destroyed everything by saying that. *SEE Comment D INTRODUCTION Here you may get a first hand look at the systematic contamination which was distributed against Srila Sridhar Maharaj totally unjust and against the rest of the Gaudiya Math Vaisnavas for the last twenty-one years all over Iskcon. The amount of wrong propaganda made like this is impossible to fully comprehend. Bhagavan, Hansadutta, Bhavananda, Jagadish, Kirtanandana, Ramesvara, Bhakti Caru Maharaj etc. were just a few leaders in this campaign, but Jayapataka Swami and Harikesh had all the other local leaders wired up to do anything they could to get any Iskcon member to think that Srila Sridhar Maharaj and the Gaudiya Math were enemies out to steal and destroy Iskcon. Their methods included: Book burning. Ousting devotees who had built up projects with their own service. Constant lectures on this offensive topic. Books published with offensive declarations. Isolating Iskcon devotees from the Vaisnava community world wide. Distorting the philosophy in order to distance themselves from Gaudiya Siddhanta as revealed by Srila Sridhar Maharaj. etc. It must also be noted here that Srila Sridhar Maharaj was actually the most humble beautiful and compassioned Vaisnava who very generously appreciated all the genuine effort of devotees regardless of their birth or even offenses. He gave to the world a second installment of grace after Srila Prabhupada which anybody will confirm as he reads his sweet nectarean writings and talks. He tried his best to save the devotees and Iskcon, but others had so many hidden agendas that only now, time has told the real story. But those who still cling to the distorted offensive mentality are decided to go down with the last resources which years of preaching and book distribution in Europe had accumulated and deserted from the innocent devotees. We have to realize that those who are supposed to save the situation in Iskcon are the same persons who committed the same offenses and still have a similar mentality. If not the same mentality they at least do not want to admit their own mistakes. *Comment A This is the offense because Jayapataka Swami takes the advise of Srila Sridhar Maharaj 100% out of context. He blames the one who gives the truth. Yes, a Guru and his disciples need a place of privacy. But Srila Sridhar Maharaj also said in the same conversation: "Do not force anybody." "Every one will know who is his main Guru by who gave him the most help to advance in Krishna Consciousness." "Everybody has to be happily accommodated in the family of Krishna Consciousness." "New Gurus shall open new temples. The old main temples shall be kept neutrally for all the disciples of Srila Prabhupada." Why does Jayapataka Swami withholds the realty to blame the mistakes and pains he and his fellow GBC«s caused to the devotees on the saintly siksa Guru of Srila Prabhupada? Why does he deny that Srila Sridhar Maharaj vigorously denounced the initiation system which obliged anyone to work for a Godbrother Guru or accept a zonal Acarya. Even though entire books, with complete tape transcripts have been published to refute the false claim, the propaganda does not stop. What is he thinking? Considering the gravity of the sufferings caused by the Zonal Guru system this accusation deserves to be settled in court. Can you accuse an innocent for all the killing, stealing and abuse done? This is another and spiritually may be the worst of their crimes. It is called Character Assassination. And all those who took shelter of Srila Sridhar Maharaj had to live with this constant insult and character assassination against their Guru. If we consider the apology done by the GBC to Sripad Pradyumna Prabhu in 1999, we are wondering when, where and how the GBC is going to do justice to the abused Vaisnavas. There is no amount of money in Iskcon able to pay for the pain and lies systematically distributed in the brains of every Iskcon member and ex Iskcon devotee. Today, sadly, ritvik proponents, Iskcon reformers, PADAS, GBC members and ex Gurus all unite together to accuse Srila Sridhar Maharaj for something he did NOT DO. Goebbels would be impressed with the effectiveness of the GBC propaganda machine. Unless the leaders have a real change of heart we have to witness the worst. Hopefully each of the readers of this comment has by then already found a true way of practicing Krishna Consciousness. Iskcon leaders carefully exploited the concept that you CANNOT be a devotee or follower of Srila Prabhupada outside of their control. They thus coerced many people whose dependence on the institution is comfortable to accept many things which were obviously not Krishna Conscious. With quotes such as "I am Iskcon," "Your love will be shown by how you cooperate with each other after I leave," and "It is a hallucination to think one can advance outside of the association of devotees," they scared devotees into accepting the wrong and to reject the truth. Japataka Swami and Harikesh know all this very well and they deliberately only quote a few sentences and then blame their own stupid interpretations on Srila Sridhar Maharaj. He is trying to wash his own hands in the criminal defaming process of his own Gurus Siksa Guru for many years. This process did not work well for Harikesh and others I wonder for how long it will work for Jayapataka Swami? Even in 1999 he published a book called -100 Deviations of Ritvikism-. On page 61 to 64 Jayapataka Swami presents Srila Sridhar Maharaj as a third class devotee. Strange enough, Srila Prabhupada accepted him as a spiritual master and supported his preaching even personally. For more details on the history of all that you may read -Search for Purity-. *Comment B. If I do not understand the philosophy then I shall not blame my spiritual master. A disciple sees his Guru as the representative of Krishna. Otherwise why in the world should he consider to accept him as a spiritual master. This is ABC plus common sense. Neither of these Harikesh and Jayapataka Swami seems to understand. Guiding Vaisnavas to lead a spiritual movement after the departure of their Guru is a very sensitive issue. It was requested by Srila Prabhupada that Srila Sridhar Maharaj guides us on Gaudiya Siddhanta Philosophy (Please check with the finally exonerated Sripad Pradyumna Prabhu in New York (telephone available pswami@vrindavan.org)if you do not believe me since he heard it many times and was send personally by Srila Prabhupada to be counseled about translation subjects with Srila Sridhar Maharaj. Do not live with the lie that Srila Sridhar Maharaj was not to be consulted please) Srila Sridhar Maharaj was perfectly able to do so and he did his very best to serve Srila Prabhupada and the well being of EVERY INDIVIDUAL who ever walked over the steps of his ashram. He refused to serve the mischievous plans of some well known individuals because they happened to go against, Vaisnavism, generosity, humility, and the practical needs of the Iskcon mission. Srila Sridhar Maharaj told the GBC representative:" Do not allow any GBC to go home until everyone is happy in Iskcon otherwise you will get only Resolutions, dissolution, no solution." Now this is proven, but still they will not accept and go on offending Srila Sridhar Maharaj and other senior Gaudiya Vaisnavas who preach vigorously in the world and naturally receive many of the devotees who have left Iskcon in disappear and disgust or simply were thrown out. *Comment C. Now look at this. Harikesh played Nostrodamos even then. He always knew it. Srila Sridhar Maharaj is blameless, but this man considered everything is finished if we go to him. "Time has told." Can any neutral, unbiased, impartial, humble or grateful Vaisnava tolerate such an insult to a pure devotee. Everything may be finished, but not due to Srila Sridhar Maharaj. And by Krishna's grace the first experiment to bring Vaisnava culture to the west will go on due to the sincere followers of all the Gaudiya Vaisnavas, despite the GBC performance. But this is the mood the GBC«s have spread all over Iskcon for years. He destroyed every thing. He is guilty for the Zonal Gurus. He is guilty for my tolerating sexual abuses of children. He is guilty for my throwing out Godbrothers and sisters on the street. Jayapataka Swami for example is very expert to ask everyone he meets to forgive his offenses. It has become his mantra almost. But he continues doing the same thing. If he keeps offending Srila Sridhar Maharaj and poisoning the poor brains of the poor devotees in his influence how will anybody forgive him? *Comment D. Yes, Harikesh goes down in history of accusing Srila Sridhar Maharaj to have destroyed everything. And with him all of Iskcon, he and others influenced go down in history. There is no way out of the reactions for these offenses, unless actually every influenced person is clearly informed about the true background of this story. Only if people are actually freed from their misgivings and offenses against Srila Sridhar Maharaj, his books and the Gaudiya Math in general some change will take place. And this has to happen due to an intensive effort of the entire GBC body plus Iskcon's leadership. But it seems more likely that Mr. Milosovitch will personally rebuilt the homes he had burned down in Kosova to happen first. Vaisnava aparadh has a terrible effect. An entire Vaisnava mission can be discredited or??? destroyed. Smoke screening efforts, blaming "strange medicine" or "to much service" or other things should not fool us. Actually all these stalwart devotees went down due to their offenses to great Vaisnavas and due to their misleading all other innocent Vaisnavas into misconceptions about genuine pure devotees. I have seen with my own eyes everything which happened and how the devotees who previously were the best friends became totally indifferent with each other or even much worse. Now I request the devotees who care for the benefit of the real Krishna Consciousness movement to help eradicate the offensive mentality from the mind of the devotees influenced against Gaudiya Math Vaisnavas. I am NOT trying to say that those who went to the Gaudiya Math always behaved well. I also do NOT want to say that no problems exist in the Gaudiya Mathas. But now we are just a few devotees in Europe and confusion and resentment makes things worse every day. I think it is about time to create a real Istagosthi to face the reactions of the past with the power of Siddhanta and the relief of love. I did not want to offend anyone with this letter. But if we do not recognize our disease, how will we cure it? your fallen servant Swami B.A. Paramadvaiti About the Author Other Stories by this AuthorContact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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