Back To Prabhupada, Issue 36, Summer 2012, Editorial
Welcome to Issue 36 of Back To Prabhupada (BTP).
We have continuously documented how ISKCON leaders have been forced into repeated climb-downs which align their message to that preached by the IRM. Besides demonstrating the GBC's philosophical defeat, whether such changes are a good thing will depend on the motivation behind them. Ever since the worldwide launch of The Final Order in 1996, the IRM has drastically changed the landscape in the ISKCON world. The situation today compared to then is very different, with many devotees all over the world, to one degree or another, now agreeing that Srila Prabhupada is either the diksa guru, or "main" guru, or the guru who "takes us to Krishna", and so on. It follows, therefore, that like all good salesmen, those seeking to attract and retain recruits have to take note of such "market trends" and adjust their "product" accordingly. Hence, if the motivation behind ISKCON leaders' shift in message is simply due to needing to say what the audience wants to hear, in order to keep their position intact, then nothing has really changed. And we can note that their guru "benefits" never seem to change, even if their message changes!
If one wishes to use Srila Prabhupada's teachings, name and movement for self-aggrandisement, then one will merely adjust the platform necessary to achieve this. You can even subscribe to claiming to agree that Srila Prabhupada is the diksa guru, just in order to have another "bona fide" platform from which to continue generating Profit, Adoration and Distinction (PAD) – the Great Guru Hoax Part 3, please see BTP 19, Editorial.
This describes how one can misuse that which is bona fide to achieve non-bona fide ends, which we explain in detail throughout this issue, with a feature article on pages 4-5, "Combating Kali-chelas Passing as Vaisnavas".
Even if a rich man offered $1 million to anyone who agreed to worship him "as good as God", he still may not get any takers. Claim to "represent" Srila Prabhupada however, and you may achieve the same for free! From this we can understand that those seeking to achieve specific aims in terms of PAD must first have the appropriate platform from which to do so. And the most powerful platform is the absolute platform. Therefore, it should not at all be surprising that those seeking to achieve maximum power and PAD will look to use Krishna consciousness, which is the most absolute platform, by which to achieve this. And this is what has happened throughout history. The sahajiya (pseudo-transcendentalist) movement, which involves being "served" by others in imitation of how the gopis served Krishna, arose from misusing the teachings of Lord Caitanya. Leaders in the Gaudiya Matha enjoyed their senses through "using guru as their instrument" (Srila Prabhupada conversation, 22/4/1977). And now we have persons in the ISKCON world misusing the name, movement and teachings of the most powerful acarya, Srila Prabhupada. And, as the saying goes, if one is not oneself actually situated on the absolute platform, as Srila Prabhupada and the previous acaryas are, then absolute power will corrupt one absolutely. Which we have observed occurring abundantly throughout ISKCON's history. Thus, the potential for deviation is greater if one misuses Krishna consciousness, than if one does not accept Krishna consciousness at all (please see quotes on page 12). It is for this reason that the IRM is specifically concerned with combating those who are cheating devotees in Srila Prabhupada's name.
Thus, what matters is not what one says, or even what one may initially appear to do, but the end result that is being achieved. Has the level of PAD being achieved diminished, or simply been achieved through different means? In BTP we document it all – the words, actions and end results. For that which is good can just as easily be misused to achieve bad, as it can be used to achieve further good.
Please feel free to write to me at the following email address: irm@iskconirm.com.
Thank you and Hare Krishna.
Yours in the service of Srila Prabhupada,
Krishnakant
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