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Rittviks Follow Guru Whimsically (and Blindly)
by bhakta Eric Johanson Krishna consciousness is also known as sanatana dharma – eternal religion. It is the eternal activity of the soul, service to the supreme absolute truth, bhagavan Sri Krishna. “Sanātana-dharma means devotional service. The word sanātana refers to that which is eternal, which does not change but continues in all circumstances. We have several times explained what the eternal occupational duty of the living being is. Indeed, it has been explained by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Jīvera ‘svarūpa’ haya-kṛṣṇera ‘nitya-dāsa’: the real occupational duty of the living entity is to serve the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” Purport, Srimad Bhagavatam 7.11.2, Therefore, the siddhanta or spiritual…
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The First Requirement
by bhakta Eric Johanson To become a disciple in a genuine devotional school and to understand and accept its teachings is both praiseworthy and rare. Such a lucky individual can only be a sincere seeker of spiritual life, but that transcendentalist must initially be able to complete the first requirement. Spiritual life is not only difficult; it’s a razor’s edge. Bona fide choices produce enlightenment, while misguided decisions create chaos. The first requirement necessitates that someone new to this consciousness becomes educated about these choices. People who take to a spiritual path desire a higher state of consciousness. Sometimes, however, they wind up in a forlorn state of…
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Review of Srila Prabhupada’s Hidden Glories: His Inconceivable Tolerance and Mercy
by bhakta Eric Johanson yāre dekha, tāre kaha ‘kṛṣṇa’-upadeśa āmāra ājñāya guru hañā tāra’ ei deśa “Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa as they are given in the Bhagavad-gītā and Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.” Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, Śrī Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya 7.128 This two book set definitively presents the evidence that A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement, was poisoned in 1977, most probably by his disciple/caretakers. Nothing is spared to make the convincing case, including extensive refutations of any possible objections. Having established this, the books present some…
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Rittvik is a New (Apa) Sampradaya
by bhakta Eric Johanson In recent years the rittvik advocates have come up with a new philosophical term for those who disagree with them. They call them “living guru” devotees. Take for example this characterization of Kailasa Candra dasa, a longtime opponent of rittvik, as found on p576 of book 1 of Srila Prabhupada’s Hidden Glories: “By 1989 he had become a living guru radical who had become an apologist for the living guru argument. He remains antagonistic to the rittvik order of Srila Prabhupada.” The thing is, and this also spotlights a big dishonesty of most rittvik advocates, in 1989 most devotees had never heard of rittvik,…
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Perfect Discretion Part 3 of 3
by Nitya Krishna dasa Srila Prabhupada, Can a Sudra Be Guru? The GBC’s journey from being the 1978 rubber stamp for the autocratic zonal acaryas acting in the tradition of guru’s supreme authority to being the ecclesiastical and absolute masters of all affairs “ISKCON” is now largely complete. In recent years the ISKCON Law Book has even contained a number of mandatory vows that their apparent gurus have to agree to and sign. In keeping with the body’s priority of maintaining political control of the assets and personnel of the movement, these vows are quite specific to the institution governed by them, as opposed to Krishna consciousness…
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Perfect Discretion Part 2 of 3
by Nitya Krishna dasa On the Killing of Brahminical Culture Having apparent gurus serve at the pleasure of the GBC puts them in a dependent, employee-like relationship with the body. In real Vedic culture a bona fide spiritual master is in the highest social position. Such a Vaishnava is above even the intellectual brahmanas. This is because he has all those qualifications but has advanced still further to performing devotional service to Krishna. The genuine spiritual master thus never has to serve any institution of the material world, such as the GBC, because he is freely distributing love of Krishna to everyone. “And servant, when one becomes…
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Perfect Discretion Part 1 of 3
(On Accepting the GBC as Spiritual Authority) by Nitya Krishna dasa “Devotees may be divided into three classes. The devotee in the first or uppermost class is described as follows: one is very expert in the study of relevant scriptures, and he is also expert in putting forward arguments in terms of those scriptures. He can very nicely present conclusions with perfect discretion and can consider the ways of devotional service in a decisive way. . . . . . The first-class devotee never deviates from the principles of higher authority, and he attains firm faith in the scriptures by understanding with all reason and arguments. When we…
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Review of Peacock TV’s Krishnas: Gurus, Karma, Murder
by bhakta Eric Johanson Journalism? This three part documentary series depicts perhaps the most sordid events in the history of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s Hare Krishna movement, the murders of Chakradari dasa and Sulocana dasa at the hands of New Vrindavana enforcer Tirtha dasa. Unfortunately, and like so many other attempts by academia and journalists to depict the movement, this also suffers from undue influence by the leadership of the ISKCON institution (International Society for Krishna Consciousness, the corporate representation of the movement). As such, it is much like allowing a criminal to write their own news story. In short, the three part series, despite its professionalism, is more…
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“When Our Men Will Be Sahajiyas” Part 4 of 4
by bhakta Eric Johanson Return to As-It-Is “Sacrifice means nothing to be sacrificed. But sacrifice the sense of ‘I am the Lord,’ that’s all. What you have got you can sacrifice? This is simply a bluff, sacrifice. We cannot sacrifice. What we have got we can sacrifice? There is no question of sacrifice, but sacrifice means this doggish mentality that ‘I am Lord, I am God, I am enjoyer.’” Lecture on Srimad-Bhagavatam, 2.3.20-21 in Los Angeles on June 17, 1972 The bona fide spiritual master is the personification of the sastras; he is the person bhagavat: “The word guru means ‘heavy,’ heavy with knowledge. And what…
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“When Our Men Will Be Sahajiyas” Part 3 of 4
by bhakta Eric Johanson Continuing the Wrong Tradition “We will establish hundreds of temples, and they will all be very opulent. But if we do not follow the instruction of the Spiritual Master, they will just be show-bottle. Do you know what show-bottle means? It means colored water in a bottle which looks just like medicine, but which, when you take it, does not work.” Room conversation, NY, July, 1970 It is not difficult to look at the current state of the ISKCON institution and conclude that it is practicing a form of sahajiyism. Some temples are run by skeleton crews and many others by are run…
