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EDITORIAL December 25, 1999 VNN5149 Comment on this story How Many Really Want To Make Us Krishna Conscious? BY SHADBHUJA GOURA DASA EDITORIAL, Dec 25 (VNN) — RE: With My Heart Broken by Dhananjaya Pandit Prabhu. Dear Dhananjaya Pandit Prabhu and Sridhari devi, and dear Vaishnavas! Dandavat pranams! Sri Guru Gouranga jayatah! My name is Shadbhuj Gour das, I am living in Europe, and have tried to practice Krishna consciousness for the past 15 years. Reading your letter I remembered many things I experienced in Iskcon, together with my wife. We had many beautiful experiences, but unfortunately many bad experiences as well. I want to spare this site with the details,. about what happened with this Iskcon, and the GBC in charge of those days. Srila Prabhupada, who founded Iskcon, founded it out of only one reason, that we may be able to worship Lord Sri Krishna, and that one day, we may be able to develop spontaneous love to Sri Sri Radha and Krishna. I would recommend both of you, to go and read some of the books of Srp. Kundali Prabhu, specially texts describing "destructive group dynamics" and the "Nectar of Discrimination". All his books are recommendable! He can clear your view. Maybe some would say, Kundali is bad... don?t worry, what they say about him, in his books the truth is written! And it is according to guru, sadhu and shastra, and that is what we are interested in. In many societies, where the sense of the group is being lost a negative group dynamic develops, not the individual is important anymore, but the cult of group becomes very strong and from individual then blind believe and following is demanded. There is no space for individual thinking or criticism, one has to swim with the stream - but only a dead fish is swimming with the stream. Words like "demon", and "offender", "speculator", "karmi", "materialist" and other are very much "liked" in such groups. "Don?t think and speculate", or "it is only your mind" are standard slogans... Dogmatism is very much liked, living fishes, swimming against the stream are being banned, "kicked out", because they are enemies of the society Iskcon and offending Srila Prabhupada... But I think all those mistakes we do are born out of misunderstanding of shastra, ignorance and arrogance. It already starts with those small things, like those "meat eating karmis" and does not even stop with the devotees, but maybe with the dear God... Krishna is the only One, His further expansions are ok, BUT... We do not respect the people around us, make "superhumans" of ourselves, because we do not understand that Krishna consciousness has to reflect in interpersonal relationships. How can we speak about love to God, if we are not able to respect the people around us, the bad, bad karmis, or the other Vaishnavas, which exist outside our group or even another sampradaya! We think we are SOOOOO special, because Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu appeared in our sampradaya, and not in another sampradaya, that?s why they are worth less. But fact is, that Sri Krishna Himself says, that he always appears at times and places where the people are most fallen and where religion has been lost. He appeared to give us Krishna consciousness, not to glorify our sampradaya - never forget that! This means we maybe are so special, because we are so fallen, more fallen then other sampradayas... maybe some devotees will feel offended now, but fact is, that we should actually have such attitude or consciousness. Not vice versa, as how many devotees are thinking: "We are a special sampradaya, special devotees"... and so on, and so forth... For dualities there is no space on Goloka Vrindavan, or Vaikuntha. We do not qualify to reach this Holy place by thinking or believing "We belong to a special sampradaya, or group", as I saw in the last years in Iskcon, Iskcon was worshipped, not Sri Krishna, or Srila Prabhupada. Srila Prabhupada was used to develop a wrong mythos. Krishna consciousness is an inner path, not depending on a group or society. It is the path of bhakti, path of consciousness. But often when I read VNN (sorry to the staff!!!) I feel like reading vote campaigns of different Vaishnava groups... very expert in making propaganda for the own group and anti-propaganda for the other groups... their message is: "I want to make you a member of my group, my disciple!" How many of them really want to make us Krishna conscious? So, dear Dhananjaya Pandit Prabhu and dear Sridhari Devi, a warm advice from my side: worry for yourself and your children, care for your inner value, for your (Krishna-) consciousness, let the things around you go. Live your own life, and practice your Krishna consciousness... Sri Krishna then will give you the understanding, so one day, you will be able to see things clearer, and those external things which bother you now, will not anymore agitate you. Another advice: don?t expect anything from the group in which you are practicing, if you don?t expect anything from them you will not be too much disappointed about what you receive back. Also Iskcon, don?t take it too serious. Your spiritual path is more important then the society you belong to! With the time things will change, just wait, Krishna is time, and he speaks the last word! I hope I did not offend anyone, in case I did - forgive me - please! Your servant, Shadbhuj Gour das and family waterpowers@yahoo.com http://shadaether.tripod.com (UNDER CONSTRUCTION!) ICQ#19870744 Comment on this story  Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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