Back To Prabhupada, Issue 39, Spring 2013
perfect example of the "dream" channel -- which we debunked on the previous page -- being used to justify the guru hoax, is the following statement from ISKCON GBC-elected guru hoaxer HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami:
"Believe it or not, a few nights ago Srila Prabhupada very mercifully came to me in a dream and instructed me to write educational and philosophical books. It was the first time His Divine Grace had given me such intimate darsana, yet he did not chastise me, as he would surely have done had he been displeased with my serving as a guru in his service."
(Bhakti Vikasa Swami, 3/10/2004, Text PAMHO:8817886)
Bhakti Vikasa Swami claims that his nonverbal dream communication is evidence that his usurping Srila Prabhupada's position as ISKCON's diksa guru is bona fide, because Srila Prabhupada did not chastise him in the dream! Though he claims such nonverbal communication with Srila Prabhupada which came in his mind is bona fide, he shamelessly berates a devotee who claimed to also have had nonverbal communication with Srila Prabhupada which came in his mind via Srila Prabhupada's murti (sacred effigy); saying it is imagination. Instead, the guru must verbally "tell you" what to do:
"And anyway ... and people, how, they can't get sufficient guidance because this so-called rtvik person, they, says ... then they want guidance, 'What should I do?' 'I don't know.' [...] 'Prabhupada's your guru, ask Prabhupada.' And then they go and pray to Prabhupada and something comes in their mind, some imagination [...] so they went before Prabhupada's murti and prayed to Prabhupada, and Prabhupada told that devotee, who subsequently told me, 'Prabhupada told me to kick you in the face.' [...] So this is what you get when you, this imagination of, 'Prabhupada's my guru.' But that's not what sastra ... you have to have someone tell you, 'This is what you should do.' Personal guidance is required."
(Bhakti Vikasa Swami Lecture, 4/2/2013, emphases added)
Bhakti Vikasa Swami also states that Srila Prabhupada's physical absence has no bearing on whether or not he can be accepted as guru:
"the relationship with the spiritual master is not based on physical presence. [...] There was no question of just walking up to Srila Prabhupada and talking to him, nor even of getting an appointment to see him. [...] We couldn't even write to him, because we were told not to disturb him with letters. We were told simply to serve his mission and that would be our relationship with him. So we did, and I didn't feel anything lacking in my connection with Srila Prabhupada. I worked for him and prayed to him, fully believing in his transcendental ability to accept and respond to my offerings. It appeared that we had never even really met, but we had. Otherwise, how could I offer myself and all my actions to Srila Prabhupada, and how could he accept my offerings? We hardly met on the material platform, but we certainly did on the spiritual platform. Even though I saw very little of Srila Prabhupada, he effected a total change in every aspect of my life. [...] How was all this possible with so little personal contact? [...] Spiritual relationships are not limited by material time and space. Some disciples of Srila Prabhupada never even saw him at all. But their intimate relationship with him continues to sustain their lives in Krsna consciousness."
(Bhakti Vikasa Swami, My Memories of Srila Prabhupada, 2003, emphasis added)
Through his personal example, experiences and teachings, Bhakti Vikasa Swami makes it absolutely clear that Srila Prabhupada's physical presence is not relevant to whether or not Srila Prabhupada can be someone's guru, since one can still receive personal guidance from him without such physical presence. However, he shamelessly berates anyone else who wishes to accept Srila Prabhupada as their guru now, by claiming that this is not possible since Srila Prabhupada must be physically present in order to receive personal guidance from him:
"but then if Prabhupada's your guru, then who's going to train you, who's going to guide you? [...] So gurus are needed for personal guidance, philosophical guidance, because even though the philosophy, the basic philosophy is very simple to understand, by the power of maya we are all very expert at misunderstanding, and doubts arise [...] you have to have someone tell you, 'This is what you should do.' Personal guidance is required."
(Bhakti Vikasa Swami Lecture, 4/2/2013)
In both cases, this shameless double standard is engaged in simply because Bhakti Vikasa Swami wants to oppose the idea that Srila Prabhupada is the guru for anyone else, so that Srila Prabhupada does not compete with Bhakti Vikasa Swami's own program of usurping Srila Prabhupada's position as the diksa guru of ISKCON.
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