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EDITORIAL March 9, 1999 VNN3275 Dangerous Times BY MADAN MOHAN DASA EDITORIAL, Mar 9 (VNN) — Dear VNN readers, Please accept my dandavat pranams. All glories to Sri Guru and Gauranga! The primary function of any Vaishnava institution is to generate sukrti (spiritual merit) for individual souls by providing opportunities to perform devotional service. The ultimate fruit of sukrti is to attain the sanga of pure Vaishnavas, which is the single only means by which we can hope to attain the supreme perfection of human life, Krishna-prema. To serve guru-tattva or jiva-tattva? That is the most poignant question of our time. Two factions of jiva-tattva philosophy have risen to prominence within the context of Krishna consciousness at this time - both of which actively reject and discourage the sanga of pure Vaishnavas - both of which are thereby equally 'asara', useless. The Supreme Absolute Truth, Sri Krishna, is attained by bhakti alone, not by mundane institutional membership or by any other fashionably concocted political or religious means. All truths relating to bhakti can be ascertained and confirmed perfectly within the divinely illuminated realm of Vaishnava discussion, supported by the infallible guru/sadhu/sastra system of establishing irrefutable absolute truth. Those philosophies, ideas, conceptions or speculations which cannot be conclusively supported by guru/sadhu/sastra must be rejected without hesitation by all true aspirants on the path of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, which is one perfect philosophy as elucidated by our supremely merciful acaryas, whose unequivocal teachings and pure sanga represent the single only means of understanding and attaining suddha-bhakti in Goloka Vraja. The imperfectly contrived pseudo-spiritual jiva-tattva philosophies of both GBC Iskconism and "ritvikism" are to be properly identified - through close scrutiny within the unequivocal truth-test of guru/sadhu/sastra - as anathema to Gaudiya Vaishnavism, as dangerous and offensive concoctions diametrically opposed to the eternal Vaishnava principle of always seeking the direct shelter of guru-tattva in the form of uttama-adhikari Vaishnavas. As aspiring Gaudiya Vaishnava devotees we can respect and even support democracy, but we have no business practicing it within the context of establishing the basic truths of Krishna consciousness. The opinion of anybody and everybody is of no significance in ascertaining the way ahead on the path of suddha-bhakti. We either submissively accept the teachings of our illustrious all-merciful acaryas, or we reject Gaudiya Vaishnavism out of hand to follow some or other concocted nonsense. GBC Iskconism and "ritvikism" do not stand up to even the slightest scrutiny through guru/sadhu/sastra and must be clearly and properly identified and recognized as the concocted nonsense they so evidently represent. Ours is a theocracy, a chain of command headed by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, outside Whose teachings we can support no other viable or credible means of attaining Krishna-bhakti in the mood of the Vrajavasis, that supreme treasure He descended to distribute freely to the fallen souls of this world. Any philosophy that differs one iota from the one perfect system of Gaudiya Vaishnava precepts - taught consistently by all the acaryas in our impeccable rupanuga guru-varga - is to be rejected unhesitatingly simply on that basis alone. It is an insidious tactic of the envious opponents of Gaudiya Vaishnavism to draw unwary aspirants into endless, life-wasting, irrelevant arguments and complicity in outrageous and malicious blasphemy of pure Vaishnavas through distracting and baseless allegations. All Gaudiya Vaishnava literature and teachings uphold direct, pure sadhu-sanga as the primary means of attaining Krishna-prema. Atheistic GBC Iskconism and "ritvikism" reject, blaspheme, vilify, misrepresent and attempt to obstruct the preaching of pure Vaishnavas at every step and their combined influence must be clearly recognized as the foremost misguided antithesis of Krishna consciousness in the world today. The business of any aspiring Gaudiya Vaishnava sadhaka, community or institution is to offer shelter at the lotus feet of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, as the foremost guru and saviour of our time. Honesty requires us to acknowledge that we are jiva-tattva, conditioned souls bound up in Mahamaya's fortress, that the only only real help we can offer to any fellow baddha-jivas is to direct them to the lotus feet of guru-tattva; Sri Guru who is eternally manifest in this world in a variety of forms. The danger of entering into useless debate with the envious opponents of Gaudiya Vaishnavism is that we end up serving their purpose by perpetuating their willful misinterpretation of Gaudiya philosophy. If we are not careful we may simply become unwilling accomplices in covering the real beauty of Krishna consciousness from the eyes of unlimited suffering souls, simply to assist the mundane ambitions of a handful of materialistic men. These are dangerous times. Your servant aspiring for the service of Sri Guru & Gauranga, Madan Mohan dasa. About the Author | Other Stories by this Author Comment on this Story This story URL: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9903/ET09-3275.html
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