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EDITORIAL April 15, 1999 VNN3604 See Related VNN Stories A Gurukuli Responds To Pratyatosa BY VRINDAVAN PARKER EDITORIAL, Apr 15 (VNN) — Hello, My name is Vrindavan Parker. I was the 3rd gurukul student in Dallas Tx and spent a total of 10 years in iskcon gurukulas. Since you seem to be championing our cause I hope you will be open to hear my points. I do not know you personally, so I don't want to start a disruptive tit for tat correspondence. You contacted me and I am replying in a sincere mood and hope we can achieve a constructive communication. First and foremost, I found your statement that Srila Prabhupada would be in tears if we accepted a Gaudiya Math Guru, to be very strange. Prabhupada was not sectarian and was more concerned about an individuals development of devotion. If a person was an honest follower of Jesus or Mohammed, Srila Prabhupada considered them to be on a bonafide God conscious path, so what to speak of being initiated into a Gaudiya Vaisnava path? Please don't take offense but I feel your statement is invalid and smacks of sectarianism. In fact when Hanuman Das directly asked Srila Prabhupada, "Who can we turn to once you have left us?" Prabhupada replied,"Follow a Sannyasi who appeals to your heart." I say, that if Srila Prabhupada was not a Maha Bhagavat, he would be in tears to see how so many devotees are impeding their devotional lives with mundane sectarianism and offensive attitudes and statements about other Vaishnavas and Vaisnava societies. Krishna comes to each accordingly, so if a seeker accepts a Gaudiya Math guru, that is auspicious. If one connects to Krishna through a rtvik guru or an Iskcon Guru, that is also auspicious. The point is connecting to Krishna. I am convinced that many devotees, that joined as adults, are very tainted by the psuedo-judeo-christian dogmatic "One Way=My Way" mentality. Thus we have one group shooting down the validity of the other, instead of respecting the validity of each individual seeker's path. Instead of focusing on the unity of purpose, i.e.. Love of God, many devotees are engaging in the destructive work of Kali Personified by focusing on the differences. Yes there is constructive criticism, but it must really be done constructively. You also mentioned that Krishna told Arjuna,"Stand up and Fight!" Yes this is true. However many devotees are forgetting that we are devotees of Lord Caitanya and are to practice in His mood. The very purpose of the Golden Avatar is to teach us how to be devotees in the current era. The devotees of the MahaBharat period are virtually impossible to emulate and many a crime committed in Iskcon(esp. in Gurukula) stems from this lack of following Vaishnavism as taught in Caitanya Caritamrta and a macho attempt at trying to imitate the mood of the great heroes and vaisnavas of another yuga. The fact is the order to stand up and fight is to be now directed at the demons and impurities within our own hearts. Of course we have our various battles with the outside world but there is no doubt that the primary campaign is the battle within. Even in Islam, Mohammed says about Jihad,"The real Jihad is the battle against the infidel within." (Both Lord Caitanya and Srila Prabhupada have vouched for the purity of Mohammed.)Once we have conquered the demon within, the outward demons have no power and only then can we effect a positive change in the world at large. About your point about Gurukulis having a guru that has eaten beef in this lifetime; This is also incorrect from a spiritual viewpoint. First it is an individual's right to accept a guru who cultivates their devotion to God. You should respect that decision. Second, have you forgotten that Haridas Thakura was born in a beef eating family? We cannot judge anyone by their past familial connections or life styles. The scriptures are full of cases of people addicted to abominable acts and changing into Divine worshipable beings. Mrigari became a direct disciple of Narada Muni and a great pure devotee. Jagai and Madai were not just drunkards and beef eaters, they were rapists, brahmin-killers, and they even went so far as to physically attack Lord Nitai. Later on they were accepted as pure devotees. Ajamila, Chand Kazi etc. Yeah, you can say those are pastimes, but one of the primary goals of a pastime is to teach the future generations about how to understand and deal with the various unique situations we find ourselves in. Thus you are wrong to make judgments about a devotee based on their past activities. I was fortunate to have been initiated by Srila Prabhupada, 3 weeks before he left the planet, so I am not saying this to defend my allegiance to any present day Iskcon Guru. Rather, I am responding to you because you have announced your position in a public arena and and sent your messages to me directly. I am therefore justified in my response and am not seeking some recognition nor to challenge you personally. So please do not take offense and think I am interested in some ego clashing debate. And finally I am curious as to why you have become so keen about this court case at such a late date. Do you have a guaranteed game plan that will positively impact the victims of gurukula abuse? Is this plan also guaranteed to have a positive impact on Iskcon as a society? And most important will there be a positive effect in the overall goal of spreading God Consciousness by a successful conclusion of this court case? Do you even have an endgame? What is your motivation? If it is to help people like me, I needed the help years ago and have since moved on. I have realized that for all of Iskcon's position as a spiritual movement, it is in reality a small organization that is not very relevant to my everyday needs and struggles in life. If I put the same energy that I use to preach Prabhupada's message and diverted it to political battles with Iskcon, I would be squandering my precious time and be that much further away from pleasing Our Gurudeva,Shrila Prabhupada. The fact is there are many worthy battles and campaigns out there, that we, as Vaisnavas, should be focusing on. Instead of worrying about people who used to eat beef, we should be educating those who are still eating beef. We got abortion being accepted as a positive righteous act, and those against it are portrayed as culturally retrophied neanderthals. There is worthy battle. We have the modern scientists polluting our education system with outright lies and forcing them on the youth as valid facts. They ridicule anyone of faith. Meanwhile we have devotees attacking and devalidating each others faith. I SAY TO YOU AND ALL THE DEVOTEES; IF YOU LOVE FIGHTING SO MUCH, FIGHT THE REAL ENEMIES; ATHEISM, ABORTIONISM, PSUEDO- SCIENCE, COW-KILLING AND CONSUMPTION, AND THE MEDIA'S DISCREDITING OF PRABHUPADA AND RELIGION IN GENERAL. Sincerely, Vrindavan Parker See Related VNN Stories | Comment on this Story | Contact VNN regarding this Story
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