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The Greater Krishna Consciousness Movement Part 4 of 4
by Nitya Krsna dasa Srila Prabhupada’s Non-Sectarian Movement & Apa-Sampradaya? cont. Servant to All Until the zonal acaryas and their abuses, virtually every devotee in the ISKCON institution had a strong service attitude. When the reform movement devotees concluded that they were just as qualified to lead the movement as the zonals, political maneuvering started to displace their service attitude. Similarly, for decades the movement’s women were sidelined and suppressed by the male GBC and apparent gurus. That changed after the child abuse scandals of the 80’s and 90’s, along with their lawsuits. The women then understood that their suppression had failed both the children and the…
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The Greater Krishna Consciousness Movement Part 3 of 4
by Nitya Krsna dasa Apa-Sampradaya? Sahajiya Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura was a great reformer of the Vaishnavism of 150 years ago. At this time, 350 years after Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu inaugurated the movement of chanting the holy name, all sorts of deviations from His teachings had become rampant in India. It was so bad that many respectable people equated Gaudiya Vaishnavism with sexual debauchery, usually because of imitations of Krishna’s pastimes with the gopis (cowherd damsels of Vrindavana). In response, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura listed the thirteen prominent deviations from the teachings of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. These were groups which had strayed from His strict instructions and example.…
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The Greater Krishna Consciousness Movement Part 2 of 4
by Nitya Krsna dasa The Circular Firing Squad Schism, Factions and Sectarianism Initiation in Vaishnavism means, among other things, that one agrees to follow the direction of their spiritual master for the rest of their life. It is by this submission to a pure personality that sincere initiates are delivered from the burden of the past karma of many lifetimes, both sinful and otherwise. Genuine deliverance is, however, dependent on the guru being genuine and the disciple being sincere. Initiated people are commonly called disciples and receive a spiritual Sanskrit name when they take their initiation vows. Uninitiated devotees are called bhakta John or bhaktin Mary, etc.…
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The Greater Krishna Consciousness Movement Part 1 of 4
by Nitya Krsna dasa Sects & How the Swanlike Condemn Pretenders While Remaining Strictly Non-Sectarian The greater Krishna consciousness movement always exists in the spiritual sky, and to the extent that we connect to those pure representatives of Krishna that are fully devoted to Him, we can also participate. This movement was most recently shown to the world by the last widely accepted pure devotee of Krishna, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta swami Prabhupada (Srila Prabhupada). He was acting on behalf of the previous spiritual masters of the Brahma-Madhava-Gaudiya Vaishnava disciplic succession, or sampradaya, going back to Lord Krishna Himself. Those unalloyed servants of Krishna have taught us…
