Back To Prabhupada, Issue 19, Spring 2008
e have continually remarked that because the ISKCON gurus have no potency, they need to wheel out Srila Prabhupada when convenient in order to attract followers and motivate them to get anything done. We gave an example of this in BTP 17, where Srila Prabhupada needing to be a major part of every ISKCON member’s life was suddenly invoked simply to keep ISKCON devotees from defecting to HH Narayana Maharaja of the Gaudiya Matha. Below we see another shameless exploitation of Srila Prabhupada, this time by ISKCON GBC voted-in guru HH Sivarama Swami, when sending this message to his disciples to try and motivate them to sell books:
“30 years ago as temple president of Chicago I went out with the devotees from 6am to 8pm to O’Hare Airport. Our goal was each devotee distributing 100 maha-big books daily, minimum. We knew by distributing books we could be with Prabhupada, our guru, our friend, our best well-wisher, our only key to Krsna, and Lord Caitanya’s foremost preacher. And that was the only way we wanted to live: always with Srila Prabhupada. Today, as then, Srila Prabhupada should be served thus. Today, as then, we should want to be with Prabhupada. Thus let us make today our “Special Prabhupada Day!” […] Keeping Srila Prabhupada’s smile as our meditation, let’s do something wonderful today. Call out “Srila Prabhupada ki jaya!” and he will be by your side. Never think you are alone.” (SMS text from Sivarama Swami to Sankirtana devotees, November 28th, 2007)
1) Because books need to be distributed and money collected, devotees are suddenly urged to focus on Srila Prabhupada, and serve him in an identical fashion to how Srila Prabhupada was served by his disciples 30 years ago.
2) This is done so that devotees today can live always with Srila Prabhupada, exactly as was being done by Srila Prabhupada’s disciples 30 years ago.
3) And in this way, Srila Prabhupada is said to always be at the side of sankirtana devotees (preachers), just as he would have been at the side of his disciples 30 years ago.
So the service being done, the reciprocation one receives from Srila Prabhupada, and the result of the service - remains identical to how a disciple served Srila Prabhupada 30 years ago. The only thing which has to change is that they can’t be his disciples!
Rather, they must be disciples of the person sending them this message, who will gather the fruits of their endeavour for himself, as their actual “guru”. This is an example of using the approach that Srila Prabhupada is practically like one’s guru, but in reality is not, which typifies The Great Guru Hoax, Part 3, which we have highlighted in our editorial as now being the standard cheating device in ISKCON and elsewhere. The hypocrisy and shamelessness in exploiting Srila Prabhupada by ISKCON gurus to try and prop up their little guru empires is breathtaking. They do not even mind allowing “their” disciples to think of themselves acting just like disciples of Srila Prabhupada temporarily, if it helps them maintain their guru program.
Return to "The Great Guru Hoax, Part 3" Index
Return to IRM Homepage