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WORLD August 22, 1999 VNN4567 Comment on this story Open Letter To Mahavegavati Prabhu BY LOCANANANDA DAS USA, Aug 22 (VNN) — To my dear godsister Mahavegavati Prabhu, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Thank you so much for your concern for my well-being. I think that by your sincere prayers alone I will recover fully. As you have suggested, for spiritual strength, I am taking shelter of the Holy Name and remembering the words and pastimes of His Divine Grace. In your recent post on VNN you mentioned that I was forced by the local GBC to move out of the Brooklyn temple last year. Because of your compassionate nature and concern for fellow vaisnavas I can understand why you found this most disturbing. Let me reassure you that what took place in Brooklyn was just Krishna's way of arranging for my protection. I am sure it was a reaction to my own offenses as well. For you to see the total picture, I am presenting below all of the facts to the best of my recollection concerning what was actually my self-imposed exile from the Brooklyn temple. Please keep in mind that despite our differences, I continue to be the well-wisher of the temple devotees. My intention is not to defame them or pull them down out of envy or attachment. All of the parties mentioned have performed service to Sri Sri Radha Govinda for many, many years and this is much more important than any offense they could have committed to someone as insignificant as myself. What Really Happened in Brooklyn I had been going out on Harinam sankirtana several times a week in the summer of 1997 when my first heart attack occurred in Bryant Park near Fifth Avenue. While I was in the hospital, the membership director of the Brooklyn temple, Narada Rsi, proposed that I come to live in the temple to recover. He said someone would take care of my needs, cook special foods, etc. I thanked him but declined because I would not feel right accepting personal service from devotees. I would also not be able to return obeisances to devotees who would want to offer their respect, nor would I be able to follow the morning program and set a proper example. After I got some strength back, I spoke to the TP on Srila Prabhupada's disappearance day about moving into the temple. I agreed to share a room and give $200.00 per month to the temple. I would continue to take the devotees out on Harinam on Saturdays and give class and lead kirtan in the temple. He agreed and I gave notice to my landlord that I would be out of my apartment by December 15th. I had arranged with Yajna Purusa to move my things into the temple, but the day before I was supposed to move in, I was informed that the GBC and TP had met and decided it was not a good idea for me to live in the temple, after all. The call had come from Adideva das, the local henchman and chairman of the defunct board of directors. I said I wanted to talk to them personally about this decision and a meeting was set up. At the meeting, they proposed that it would be better for me to move back to Europe and work with Indradyumna Swami if I wanted to live in a temple. They said the devotees there liked me and suggested that perhaps I could take sannyasa after a few years and eventually take disciples. I might even be offered a big managerial position in France. They said that the two of them were not going anywhere and would remain in New York for a long time, so it might be better for me to leave. I assured them again and again that my interest was to increase my hearing and chanting and to strengthen my preaching propensity, not to get involved in management. Thy simply could not believe it. They mentioned the names of a few devotees who had caused problems in the past and expressed that my situation might similarly turn sour. If I was simply going to hear and chant, they explained, my profile would be very spiritual and would conflict with the TP's profile which was more managerial. If the two of us disagreed on something, the devotees would then naturally side with me. That would disrupt the whole temple and devotee community which they had worked so hard to build over the years. They had therefore decided to withdraw the invitation for me to live in the temple. They said that if, as a result of our meeting, they decided I could stay for a short period of time, I would have to sign a document stating that I would immediately move out if the TP and I had a disagreement. My proposal was this: In New York there is a good field for preaching and there is no reason why we should not be able to work together. Their reply: Sure, we can work together, but you just can't live here. My reply: I do not want you to make your decision based on the fact that I now have no place to stay. I'm Krishna's devotee, and He will always provide me with a place to stay somewhere. You should make your decision based on the importance of cooperation amongst godbrothers for the purpose of spreading Krishna consciousness. My opinion is that if you decide I should not stay in the temple, I will follow your decision, even though I do not agree with it. I think that would be the wrong decision, but I will abide by it anyway. Their concern was then: If we don't allow you to stay, will you incite other devotees to protest on your behalf? Reply: No, I will take it as Krishna's arrangement, but if others are disturbed, I will not be able to stop them from complaining. The meeting ended and I went to give a class to the new devotees in Srila Prabhupada's museum. Decision: A call came from Adideva, who had attended the meeting. He said that because I had no other place to stay, they had agreed to let me live in the temple for two months only, rent-free, during which time I should look for another apartment. I shared a room with Bhakta Suneel. During the time I was there, I rose at 3:30 A.M. and chanted 20 rounds daily, gave class regularly, and took out the Harinam party all through the winter. Two months passed quickly and I had not spent much time looking for an apartment. Before leaving for India, the TP had started to drop hints that my time was up. The implication was that he wanted me out of the temple before his return. I had seen a letter he had written to his first wife years earlier threatening her that she better not be there when he got back from his trip to India, so I was not surprised by his hateful attitude towards me. I sent him a letter while he was still in India proposing that I be permitted to remain in the temple for six months on a trial basis, but he never replied. I also wrote to Prahladananda Swami who was in charge of the Dept. of Devotee Welfare asking him to speak on my behalf to the TP, but I never received a reply from him either. Both of these letters were hand delivered at the Mayapur festival by Yajna Purusa. When the TP came back from India, he took me off the kirtan and class schedule. In fact, he never spoke another word to me. He just coldly ignored me as though I didn't exist. Before leaving for India, he told those he was leaving in charge to make sure I did not make announcements at the Sunday feast program. He also told them that I should not be put in charge of the new devotees because I would want to initiate them. He threatened Narada Rsi, "You can either be his friend or my friend." After that, Narada was never able to look me in the eye again even though we had been friends for years. I could tell by the way his henchmen were dealing with me that there was a conspiracy to force me to leave. I doubled my efforts to find a place, especially when I started getting chest pains from the contaminated atmosphere the TP had created. When I was moving my things, the TP came up to the ashrama, apparently to make sure I was not stealing any temple property. He reminded me of Hitler trying to get the Jews to leave Germany. His behavior had been incited by the recommendations of the local GBC man who was well aware of the TP's tendency to become paranoid delusional when his authority is threatened. The TP recently claimed that while he was in India in 1998, I was trying to mount a coup to have him thrown out. Nothing could be further from the truth. The only managerial suggestion I made during the fifteen weeks I was there was that they should not be throwing away Radha Govinda's maha-prasad that was left over at the end of the day. After moving out I came back once or twice for a Sunday feast program and spent time in the museum with Puru Prabhu and other godbrothers. I felt so uncomfortable that I decided I would not return until drastic changes occurred in the Brooklyn temple. I handed over my service with the Sunday School to Syamasundara Prabhu who had been working with me for years, and I was gone. Interestingly enough, no one has since called me from the temple to try to resolve the differences that arose between myself and the GBC and TP, nor has any other GBC member become involved in the conflict. I recently submitted a letter of resignation as a member of the Board of Directors to which I also received no reply. The Board of Directors of the Brooklyn temple had not met in years, not even to hold its required annual meetings and election of officers, and I did not want to be a part of this hypocrisy. To add insult to injury, the temple president stated that I would never lead another kirtan in the Brooklyn temple when he saw me associating with Puru Prabhu at his book table across the street from the temple. A meeting of temple management was held on May 19th, 1999 at the Brooklyn temple to discuss the situation of Puru Prabhu and myself. I was never informed of the results of the meeting although I sent a letter to the GBC, TP and Chairman of the Board stating that I would abide by whatever they had decided concerning my participation in temple functions. I just wanted to know whether or not I was welcome at the temple. Now, three months later, I have still received no reply despite repeated requests for official notification. I am accepting all of this as Krishna's mercy. I was trained beginning from 1970 to perform my service on the street, for the welfare of the common man - to chant, dance and preach Krishna consciousness. Now that I have no temple involvement, my only service is street sankirtana. Even though I am taking risks to do my service because of a heart condition, I consider it Lord Caitanya's mercy that I am engaged in performing the yuga dharma. I pray that Krishna will give me the strength to continue in my service. I am not prepared to deal with the Brooklyn temple managers on their terms. They must relate to me in the appropriate vaisnava manner if they want to get my attention. Harshness, threats, intimidation and insults are not characteristic of vaisnava behavior. Neither are heartless impersonal dealings and the absence of genuine concern for others. When the imbalance of spiritual values and the self-serving mentality of local managers is corrected, I will consider returning to the Brooklyn temple. Otherwise, if someone is seeking my association (and I don't know why they would), they will have to meet me for outdoor kirtan. Our motto is "Sankirtana must go on!" because congregational chanting is the solution to all of the anomalies of Kali yuga. In this age, there is no other way recommended for self-realization. Taking shelter of the Holy Name means that the perfection of love of God becomes attainable, even if one was previously the most sinful of sinners. Praying for the blessings of the vaisnavas, taking their footdust upon my head, I beg to remain Your servant, Locanananda Das Comment on this story  Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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