Kṛṣṇacandra Dāsa – Śrī Vṛndāvan Dham: Śrīla Prabhupāda established ISKCON in order to offer the world of mankind direct access to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa and to teach us how to surrender our lives and engage in pure devotional service to the Lord.
Śrīla Prabhupāda is very pragmatic in his approach as he knows that we need to be grounded in practical truth and not flowery words of the sophistic sentimentalists who offer truths based on the relativity of mundane pseudo philosophic speculation. He is very forthright and there is no pretence, no subtly, no trickery, no sweetening of the truth. He gives us Kṛṣṇa directly for he has manifest for us to hear the truth directly from one who knows the truth.
He knows that in our heart we are extremely selfish and independent and although we want and need to hear the unmitigated truth, we fear it as well.
The pure devotee knows the truth and does not try to induce people to believe him or follow him by putting on a sentimental display and by seemingly being personal with a show of sincerity and affection. The pure devotee knows that the truth, when heard from someone with factual realized knowledge, purifies ones perception, thus freeing one from the manifold ideas and intellectual constructs of the materially embodied. For this there is no need of pretence or subterfuge. All that is needed is honesty and truthfulness which is based on realized truth.
We on the other hand fear the truth because we do not really want to relinquish our ‘perceived’ control of our lives, our hearts and our intelligence to a relatively unknown God or to His true representative. He knows this and that is why he has presented us this knowledge unadulterated and teaches us how to understand and accept the direct meaning of a word or a term or an instruction so that when we make the decision to accept him as our spiritual master we do so with sincerity, honesty and with an open heart.
He also knows very well that we prefer to ‘interpret’ meaning in our own terms, terms that suit our world view and life experience, our own understanding. He knows full well that we want to do things our way that we want to change things and meaning to suit ourselves that is why he gave us clear and precise instructions on both God and how to live our lives in His service.
However, despite all his best efforts to teach us, many of us have failed to grasp these fundamental truths and have allowed unscrupulous people in the guise of devotees to convert His Divine Grace’s ISKCON society into a cheating religion upon his entrance into Samādhi.
The disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda who seized control of his Society after his absence; converted his Society into FISKCON or fraudulent ISKCON and changed the preaching style from the ‘direct meaning’ system of knowledge acquisition to the ‘interpretive’ model, which is born out of the minds and crooked intelligence of very cunning people who lack spiritual adhikāra.
The preaching style changed to that of the ‘New Age” impersonalist in order to attract the mind and sentimentality of people who are in search of the truth. These innocent people are attracted to the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement but they are unaware that the leaders or gurus do not actually represent the Lord’s Ambassador Śrīla Prabhupāda but instead represent their own personal ambition and level of realization.
These poor unfortunates do not see that their impostor gurus expect them to blindly accept their teaching and interpretations without interpretation yet they have interpreted the words, instructions and principles established by His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda themselves. Do as I say not as I do!
The only reason that their followers and disciples believe them is because these leaders occupy a position in the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness movement and dress in the renounced order of life and so they are naturally taken as bona fide representatives of His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda.
Yet should their disciples or followers actually read Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books with an open mind, clear intelligence and open heart, they will very quickly see through the deception of their so called gurus. They will see their guru’s abject betrayal of His Divine Grace by the open rejection of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s role and function in human society as a Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Ācārya who boldly preaches the glories of the Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa. They will then discern that their so called guru has been cheating them and masquerading as a Vaiṣṇava Sannyāsi.
What we see is that these bogus gurus are not acting out of their past material contamination and what they are doing is a deliberate and intentional deviation at a philosophical level which purposefully denies the validity of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s role and function within the material world and replaces it with the New Age Liberalist ideological reference. The agenda of the New Age FISKCON Preacher is impersonalist homogenization through religious syncretisation of religious thought and practice.
How can someone who is so offensive to the ambassador to the Supreme Personality of Godhead be allowed to promote their impersonal / brahmavadi doctrine while representing our founder Ācārya His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda inside his very own ISKCON???
There will come a time when the whole ISKCON society will realize that these New Age Spiritualist Gurus of FISKCON are not teaching Kṛṣṇa consciousness but are teaching the New Age impersonalist doctrine in the guise of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. New Age doctrine teaches homogenization of religious thought based on the eclectic ideological theorem that sees the truth as being non rigid and interpretative. These FISKCON gurus simply seek ways in which to blend many differing ideologies from the East and the West to patch together a program which is basically Theistic in orientation, but under closer examination it views God as an abstract idea, not a person as preached by Śrīla Prabhupāda. If you note their preaching never seeks to describe God in personal terms but preaches that God is to be understood in manifold ways and hints that their understanding of God is a modern way, which more or less supersedes the need of, what they see as the ‘naive’ old world man, who tends to ‘anthropomorphize’ or to make God or the Deity have human attributes.
The New Age Movement are impersonalists who lack true spiritual insight as their ideological reference is based in impersonalistic doctrines which are impractical for the Kali-yuga and their acolytes will be doomed to material bondage by following such fools and rascals. This is why our FISKCON gurus are attracted to this doctrine. They have no true spiritual realization to base their presentations on and so they act from the materialistic platform as they fabricate a system to gain followers, fame, prestige, money and worship.
What these fools and rascals along with their acolytes think is that their ‘way’ is refreshingly new. However they have very little idea that this way of thinking was present in a very big way [The Hippie Era] in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s time. These present day impostor gurus were young puppies in these times and so they have no experience that Śrīla Prabhupāda was preaching to people who were more in tune with the New Age Movement than people are in modern times. These impostor gurus, now in their old age, after not being able to achieve any spiritual realization, are beginning to establish themselves as self-styled New Age Gurus and reject Śrīla Prabhupāda’s preaching style as obsolete.
They present themselves as being on a spiritual journey their whole life, a journey where His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda is incidental to their journey and not foundational, he is just one of their teachers or mentors or gurus. They present themselves as being self sufficient and independent of any descending authority from God Himself and that their realization has been achieved independently and so they are now truly ‘self’ realized souls.
Below is a website of the FISKCON Guru Sacinandana Swami’s. Here is yet another pathetic attempt to catch the sentimental neophyte by use of the interpretive terminology and sentimental drivel of the New Ager. He too is imitating Radhanatha Swami with his spiritual journey, his old friend and his many teachers and no mention of Śrīla Prabhupāda or Kṛṣṇa…
http://vedicway.org/en/node/18
While reading the below “cut n paste” from his Home page please see how many times Swami has mentioned Kṛṣṇa and his alleged guru His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda. Please make careful note of the terminology used to ascertain how this relates to his grounding in ‘The Vedic Way” as taught by Śrīla Prabhupāda.
The Vedic Way – The Art of Spiritual Transformation
The Vedic Way is a school of life for the complete progression and elevation of the whole human being. It takes all of you into account as you begin your spiritual development – the physical, mental, emotional, and interpersonal parts of yourself that support the uplifting of spirit.
The Vedic Way is supra-denominational – relevant for everyone no matter what his or her religious or spiritual orientation – and teaches five steps to a spiritual lifestyle based on universal principles:
Sounds like the same old psycho blabber of the other New Ager Radhanatha Swami?
1. Satva – Living in Balance
Balance the factors that influence your physical, emotional, and mental well-being, and create the foundation for a healthy spiritual life.2. Dharma – Living Your Purpose
Find out what you are meant to be and do, and experience the universal force of dharma.3. Atma – Living in the Self
Become aware of yourself as an eternal spiritual soul, and confront both your mortality and eternity.4. Paramatma – Living with a Higher Connection
Connect with the Supersoul, and become fearless as you contact your intuition and guide.5. Bhakti – Living in Love
Embark on the path of devotion in a mood of service, and feel the pleasure of spiritual relationship with God and all His creatures.Never heard Śrīla Prabhupāda describing these Vedic premises in these terms? It sounds like New Age Impersonalist psycho blabber to me.
The dynamic lifestyle of the Vedic Way rejuvenates and then spiritualizes body, mind, and soul. Our curriculum draws on the most effective techniques from the Vedic laboratory: knowledge from the yoga tradition, information about health and well-being from Ayurveda, insights from spiritual psychology, instruction in the art of working with mantras and the vast wisdom of the bhakti tradition.
The Vedic Way??? What is this all about? Rejuvenates and Spiritualizes the body mind and soul…??? Oh how mayavadi is that? How new age is that? The Vedic Laboratory? The art of working with mantras??? I feel nauseated…
The Vedic Way is a work in progress. Please visit this website from time to time to view our latest developments, read newly posted articles, and discover how you can benefit from the wisdom of the Vedas.
The Swami sounds like a work in progress…
A (brief) History of the Origins of the Vedic Way
Intense Spiritual Search
I’ve always been a seeker, it seems. My best friend told me thirty-five years ago “Send me a message by carrier pigeon when you finally find what you’re looking for.”
Oh no not the old friend routine again. I had enough when I heard all about Richie and his old friend Gary…
In my search I have journeyed to ashrams in India and monasteries in the Himalayas. My bookshelves are filled with valuable books from both Eastern and Western traditions, recommended by the teachers I met.
My bookshelves? Western and Eastern traditions? Who is this guy? I thought he was a travelling Sannayas? Now he has bookshelves? He is using the present tense but perhaps he is talking about his past when he had bookshelves.
When I discovered that spiritual life means spiritual practice, I began to try a variety of techniques, each of which awarded me with their individual insights and benefits.
During my studies, I couldn’t help but notice similarities between one school of thought and another. It was clear that much of the wisdom and many of the techniques I was learning were not so different from one another, though teachers of the various traditions gave them different names. This seemed especially true when I compared the spiritual experiences of yogis, monks, and simple practitioners. Experience always seems to speak a common language.
The similarities exist at a superficial or practical level but there is no similarity at a philosophical level for the Mayavadi or Brahmavadi or Sunyavadi or Nirvasesa paths are all mutually exclusive to the path of Vaisnvaism or pure bhakti. We are after pure devotional service to Lord Kṛṣṇa aren’t we? So what are you really talking about here Swami?
For example, many traditions deal with themes like dissolving limitations and negative constructs, becoming free of illusion and ego, and attaining self- and/or God realization. Time and again the teachers I met emphasized how both specific spiritual practices and the assistance of a master were essential to success.
So I suppose you are talking about yourself now Swami? You are the master? The self realized soul? The closet mayavadi?
Many also pointed to the need for divine mercy, which lies beyond human grasp. I started these journeys in the ’70s, and I could have filled pages with the discoveries I made…
Sounds like a book of self discovery is coming…
– discoveries meant to invoke joy, even ecstasy. Yet I became more and more discontent.
It appears that the Swami from the 70’s onwards was not able to discover what it took to experience joy and ecstasy? Even after he met Śrīla Prabhupāda? I think the timeline is severely problematic with this man?
The Core of Discontentment
Why, I had to ask myself, was there no path to enlightenment that taught universal principles free of cultural baggage and human fabrication? To attain enlightenment in any of these paths, it seemed I had to deny who I was, adopt a different culture, and turn myself into a mountain sage.
Again was this before you met Śrīla Prabhupāda? Sounds like human fabrication to me… For if you met Śrīla Prabhupāda in the 70’s then you would have known that the destination for your life would not be in a mountain cave?
While that path may be accessible to a small number of seekers, most cannot follow it. Where was the path for the common person – the path that would produce more encouraging results than an occasional enlightened saint in some far-off cave? I knew I was not alone with this question; seekers around the world need a practical and holistic way to live a spiritual life.
Yet I was reluctant to simply invent a practice of my own.
But he ended up doing that after all didn’t you! Yes indeed you did.
Wherever I traveled I repeatedly heard about the Vedas, the ancient wisdom teachings written in Sanskrit. All the masters I met referred to the “primeval knowledge” found in theUpanishads, the Bhagavad-gita, the Vedanta-sutra, and especially the four original Vedas. Intrigued, I began an intensive study of the Vedic literature. However, I soon found myself overwhelmed by the complexity and diversity of Vedic thought because the knowledge and realization were often expressed cryptically (for good reason, I later discovered).
I knew then that I needed a teacher in the Vedic tradition – one who was both fully realized and willing to teach me. Only when, after a great search, I found a genuine Vedic teacher and began to study under him, following a correlating spiritual practice (sadhana) did the doors of Vedic knowledge slowly begin to open for me. I then began to see a bigger picture of the world as we know it and a clear path to spiritual elevation.
So now we are seeing that the Swami can see the path to spiritual elevation but what is that path and who is this mysterious teacher under whom he studied? The Swami has found the genuine teacher of Vedic knowledge that he so desperately wanted to find, the one who could teach him especially about the four original Vedas.
This is obviously not Śrīla Prabhupāda for he taught us the Vaiṣṇava siddhānta not so much the original Vedas… So then are we to understand that the Swami is a mayavadi? Where is the Vaiṣṇava siddhānta that Śrīla Prabhupāda taught us and established ISKCON so we could do rāgānugā saddhana bhakti?
The Vedic Way Emerges
Later, while circumambulating the holy Mount Kailash in Tibet, the threads of my study, experience, and realization came together in one moving spiritual revelation.
He circumambulated Mount Kailash? The abode of Lord Shiva? So we have Radhanatha Swami hailing from the Ganga Mata Sampradaya and now Sacinandana Swami is subtly revealing that his wisdom comes from Lord Shiva? So are we to believe that Radhanath Swami is such a personality that Mother Ganga reveals herself to him and now Sacitananda Swami has Lord Siva reveal knowledge to him?
Radhanatha Swami and Sacinandana Swami… The Jew and the German… Ah this is true syncretism at play… Yes and they are also Spiritual Gurus to boot! Both have realizations given from personalities other than Śrī Kṛṣṇa and Śrīla Prabhupāda, how very quaint indeed!
The Vedic Way lay in front of me in its entirety, as simple, concise, and brilliant as it has been for centuries. Now I would be able to offer something both rich and practical for others. I gathered a team of Vedic practitioners from East and West and began work on creating both a lucid presentation of the path and an easy way to apply it.
“There it is… “He” gathered a team of Vedic practitioners… Mmmm Sound’s like he is a modern day Śrīla Prabhupāda to me…”
Are we witnessing the transition of these New Age Spiritual Gurus out of ISKCON or are we witnessing the total degradation our Gauḍīya Vaisnavaism inside ISKCON???
My challenge was to make the path accessible to people living in the Western world with all its cares and pressures without losing the power of the pure spiritual wisdom.“His challenge was to make the path accessible to the Western World? I thought Śrīla Prabhupāda did that already???
See how he is setting himself up as a self styled self realized Spiritual Guru in his own right without Śrīla Prabhupāda! Right here is where we see his real intention, his raw ambition his greed and his ultimate folly.
Just as love is never invented but only rediscovered, so the universal Vedic principles are simply waiting for you to rediscover them, and with them, your deeper self. In Sanskrit, universal principles are called pura-nava, “ancient, yet ever-fresh.” These ancient practices have the same extraordinary power to uncover the soul that they did in the distant past.
I am delighted by the many sincere seekers who have come forward and found help through this dynamic and spiritually transforming path.
And oh, yes. Perhaps it’s time to send my friend that message by carrier pigeon he has been waiting for.
Perhaps? He has not found what he was looking for yet? I thought he was the self realized soul who has seen the absolute truth? If not in person but in His impersonal feature? Or as paramatma? Or maybe he read it in a book? Or perhaps the pigeon died of boredom…
Let me conclude with a text from the Bhagavad-gita (9.2):
“This knowledge is the king of education, the most secret of all secrets. It is the purest knowledge, and because it gives direct perception of the self by realization, it is the perfection of dharma. It is everlasting, and it is joyfully performed.”
This is the real clincher! After a person has read all the above hogwash they are ready to see where he gets his authority from, yes of course it is the Bhagavad Gita! The Bhagavad Gita without Śrīla Prabhupāda of course and also it seems without the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa Himself…
He quotes this śloka because what he is really saying is that HE has direct perception of the self so now he can give it to us.
Śrīla Prabhupāda played little role in this man’s spiritual journey as is the same with so many of these arrogant self-righteous people. He is presenting himself like he made his own path to enlightenment and now is a little Buddha who can teach his self styled system to Westerners. Just like other great transcendentalists like Maharihisi or Ram Das, Satya Sai Baba, Kripaloo or Radhanatha Swami…
Om Tat Sat
Sacinandana Swami
As we watch these leaders, these senior disciples of Śrīla Prabhupāda are ruining everything that we are supposed to stand for and converting our society into an impersonalist cheating religion right before our very eyes and we are more or less allowing them to get away with it.
One has to wonder what their true intentions are… They know that they are not qualified and that they have no mandate from Śrīla Prabhupāda, they know that everyone but their disciples and followers know that they are intentionally and wilfully ruining our society. Yet they still not only continue but brazenly increase their activities in plain view.
The above website and the ones from Radhanatha Swami are stark testament to how brazen they are. They openly flaunt their disrespect for His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda as they know that the vast majority of the international community of aspiring Vaisnavas will stand by and not say a word in defence of Śrīla Prabhupāda or our society.
They know that we as a society will simply mind our own business and look after our own spiritual lives and look the other way, but how can we do this? How can we let them take away everything that our Spiritual Master His Divine Grace AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Śrīla Prabhupāda has given us?