© 1999 VNN
|
EDITORIAL May 19, 1999 VNN3899 See Related VNN Stories 80 Year Old Men Should Take Sannyasa BY VISOKA DASA EDITORIAL, May 19 (VNN) — Haribol, before this subject matter of old geaser's dalliance with a young virgin maiden, I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about something of the utmost importance. Everyone should read mother Dhanista's book! I did, and I highly recommend everyone to get a copy and read it. Its a wonderful reading experience, and lots about the early days of ISKCON. Read it and be touched, read it and some of you will weep, weep in anguish, weep in joy, you WILL be touched. You must read her book! You must read her book! You must read her book! There, that's 3 times, so its confirmed! Its a must! Besides getting a great read, you are helping a "woman's protection" project, your laxsmi will help build a "small sandstone temple and set up a healing ashrama for Vaisnava women in a rural setting." This reminds me of that one big day I had on sankirtan, (if that's the right word for it.) It was the fisherman's wharf in San Francisco, and for some reason or another, I was on really on fire. I was running from couple to couple, with this corny line that Hridaya-Govinda taught me that day. Everybody was laughing, and I didn't ASK them for a donation, I TOLD them to give a donation! And they gave, and they were laughing their heads off as they did it. Then I ran to the next persons, all day long. That was the first time I did over a hundred, and I think it was around the last. Anyway, in the same mood, I'm not asking you, I'm telling you, to purchase her book and read it. Of course, you don't have to, just because I said so, but do it because it will make you feel really good that you done something really worthwhile. So many people are talking. They're talking about protection of women. Well, we can talk till the cows come home, but reality is much better. Talk is cheap. Better to DO something! Here's the real thing! Here is your chance to really do something about it! We show our Vedic civilization to the extent of how we protect women and kids and cows and old men and old women. We talk a lot about that in ISKCON, so instead of just talking, let's put the money where the mouth is. 20 bucks is nothing! All you out there all have fancy computers, so 20 bucks is nothing to you! So get your checkbook out right now, don't wait till later, do it now!, and write a check for 20 bucks to Deborah Yarber (plus 4 for shipping) and send it to Dhanistha dasi, Rt.1 Box 267, Stonefort Illinois 62987 - ph 618 672-4689 Dhanista dasi did colossal service for Srila Prabhupada, she distributed thousands of his books to the conditioned souls, and so this project is a very worthy project. Do it and feel good about doing a really right and TANGIBLE act of kindness, and get a marvelous reading experience in the return. Its a win/win situation, don't hesitate. So thank you Guru Krishna dasa prabhu, from the bottom of my heart, I fall at your feet, because you've given me this opportunity to talk about REAL women's protection, and the practical application of it! Now to the other matter. Well prabhu, I guess you forced my hand. I didn't ask for this, but I guess I must reply to an open letter, because a lot others haven't, and it doesn't look good for them. So here's my 2 cents. I don't believe I'm talking about this thing, it's so - I don't even know how to describe it. Just imagine, what if - what if somebody was surfing the net, and went into VNN, and saw this headline, Old 80 year old man .. marries 16 year old virgin daughter! They would think the Hare Krishnas are a bunch of wackos! Think prabhus!, before you say these things! We are in a really bad stage here in ISKCON, we are just trying to get "normal" and we are just trying to make our kids feel "normal," and we really don't need this kind of - what-you-call-it, I don't know what to call it. I mean, would anybody out there, in their right mind, give their daughter to an 80 year old man! Haribol! We are talking about the confusion with our Godbrother, and yes we all need to be more compassionate and deal with each other with more love and trust in this movement. We are all here to help each other in many different ways. We are here to learn from each other. The rumor mill is really not all that evil. Actually rumors are a necessary means of communication in society. This is how we communicate unpleasant things. Like if a man is having an affair in our community, we don't get in front of everybody at arotik and make a public announcement, "Oh so-and-so is cheating on his wife." No, we learn these things by the grapevine. And when it comes around, we don't always say, "sorry prabhu, I don't listen to prajalpa." No, if we did that, then we wouldn't learn of cheaters and perverts and the like. So you can't blame all the people in the middle of the rumor. But with devotees, nobody is the loser in the end, we all learn from each other. The rumor goes around, and one of two things will happen. The accused finally admits he made a mistake and confesses, or, he pleads innocent. Either way its a win/win situation. If he pleads guilty, then he stands corrected, and Krishna says he is still saintly. Api cet sudaracarah. He is always a devotee of Krishna and therefore, despite some accidental falldown, he is still considered saintly by Sri Bhagavad-gita. Since we all make mistakes, all Vaisnavas will forgive and forget. And if he pleads innocent, then (maybe) he's exonerated. He wins either way. So, this was the case with my wife and I, we were just in the middle of a whole bunch of rumors already going around. We didn't instigate them. The source was from a parent who got it from an Iskcon authority. My wife did NOT post her newletter on VNN, somebody else did! Her newsletter is sent only to select names. But like I said, in the end, nobody is the loser, if we all just try to be Krishna Consciousness. I myself was caught in a quagmire of nasty rumor for the last 5 years. Some Gurukuli and Prabhupada disciple defrauded me (long story) and this Gurukuli's been telling people I was liar and thief for last 5 years, for things I never did. I asked Iskcon authorities for a fair trial for 5 years, and finally the result is coming out. Somehow we all had something to learn from the whole thing, I had something to learn, the Gurukuli had something to learn. Maybe the ISKCON authorities learned something? We are all here on this earth to teach and learn from each other. Judge a tree by its fruits, and as far as I've seen from the polygamy experiments we've had in the movement, (this includes the Jiva and Dharmatma polygamy facsimiles) I've not seen hardly any success stories, to the contrary, a lot of horror stories. Srila Prabhupada said to obey the law of the land, and polygamy is against the law. So the discussion is over. Its against the law. If maybe you move to a country where its legal, then maybe you can discuss whether its good or not, otherwise, stop wasting our time. Well, I guess this is all about me controlling my wife, right? Showing who's boss, the old male-ego-put-your-woman-in-her-place? No, I don't think so. Its really about protection without abuse of control. Its about Srila Prabhupada's teachings of we're not male or female, but we're all spirit soul. Its not my ahankara ownership, I don't own her, Krishna does, and I'm not her editor-in-chief. The guidelines are there already, which we all know, and this was an attempt to create disharmony in our household, which I won't fall for. I opt for love and trust in all dealings with godbrothers and godsisters, husbands and wifes, that's all. I've talked about Jayananda and how he never used control tactics. He controlled us, to be sure, but he did it with love. And he got a lot more done, with long lasting affects. Much more than so many (my way or highway) control freaks. They've only produced a very bad lasting effect. We need to take the forced control element out of this movement and replace it with love and trust. I like to use the example of Jayananda in understanding these things. Jayananda would never engage in this debate, because he was never absorbed in arguments about wives and sex, rather he was absorbed in the propagation of Krishna Consciousness. Your servant, Visoka dasa See Related VNN Stories | Comment on this story | Contact VNN about this story | Send this story to a friend
NEWS DESK | EDITORIALS | TOP |
