Podcast transcription:

Hinduism, Sahajiyäism, “ISKCON,” & You

by Kailäsa Candra däsa

HARIÙ OÀ NAMAÙ

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us . . .”1

Many of you recognize this quotation, of course, as it is one of the most famous excerpts from a well-known author from his most famous novel. However, Charles Dickens did not possess a monopoly on the concept of best and worst, although, from the material perspective, it was in effect at his time. You could argue that the same is true today, but I am not very concerned about that; I am concerned about it, but in a different way. I wrote on this dichotomy in my 2009 book (entitled: Beyond Institutional Gurus, Initiations, and Party Men), in both the Introduction as well as on the back cover. Here is one of those excerpts:

Podcast transcription:

Body of Lies

by Kailäsa Candra däsa

HARIÙ OÀ NAMAÙ

Who are the most dangerous elements in human society? How do they escape punishment for their actions from the nation-states in which they function? Are they envious? Are they demoniac? What is their destination after death? What is the essence of their business?

In the material universe, the default is disobedience. The defaults here are all negative, and the Parameçvara has ultimately designed every material universe to be a place of punishment. Tremendous effort must be made in order to transcend its clutches. Rationalism is helpful in the beginning, but mukti is only attained by revelation. You have to strive in order to actuate the Absolute. That is the only real positive alternative, because the Absolute is transcendental to the mahat-tattva.

Podcast transcription:

What Kind of AnswersCan You Ever ExpectFrom “ISKCON”?

by Kailäsa Candra däsa

HARIÙ OÀ NAMAÙ

Since the mid-Seventies, recognizing and realizing the long-running deceptions and pretensions of “ISKCON” is integral to the process of overcoming them within your higher intelligence. Due to a combination of the time factor and human mortality, some of those deviations (still a minority, however) have merged into oblivion, but most are still ongoing. Indeed, in living memory, there is a “ISKCON” narrative that requires our astute analysis, which, in order for it to be effective, must be free from the negative impact of mistaken knowledge.

That will be presented to you in this month’s podcast. There are important facts, ongoing as well as merged into the history, that you need to know. “ISKCON” promotes a simple but wrong narrative, one shot through with mistaken knowledge, but you should be far more interested in the Absolute Truth than anything it has to offer.

Podcast transcription:

Dupes Defend the Indefensible

by Kailäsa Candra däsa

HARIÙ OÀ NAMAÙ

The current manifestation of what only superficially appears to be the Hare Kåñëa movement is a version that exacerbates illusion over transcendental Reality. It covers Reality. This version is supposed to be a conduit to enlightenment, and externally it appears to be so. However, it it not; instead, it brings darkness. It is far darker than do realize the vast majority of people connected to it, formerly connected to it, or even mildly interested in it.

When founded in the Western world for the first time–in the mid-Sixties by a genuine Vaiñëava guru from India–it was originally meant to encourage individual freedom, culminating in liberation from the cycle of saàsära, birth and death. It no longer serves this purpose either on the material or spiritual planes. If you allow yourself to become entangled in it (or, worse yet, invultuated by its astral seeds), in due course, this manifestation produces strife in your life, especially if you have the intestinal fortitude to expose it.

Podcast transcription:

The Poison Tree: Now & Then

by Kailäsa Candra däsa

HARIÙ OÀ NAMAÙ

We find the following excerpt from a letter to Hansadutta, dated 9-2-70:

“Regarding the poisonous effect in our Society, it is a fact, and I know where from this poison tree has sprung up and how it affected practically the whole Society in a very dangerous form. . . I think in the . . . paramparä system that the poison administered to our Society will not act if some of our students are as good as Prahläda Mahäräja. I have therefore given the administrative power to the Governing Body Commission. . . You are also one of the members of the G.B.C., so you can think over very deeply how to save the situation. It is a fact, however, that the great sinister movement is within our Society.”

The context of what was going down at that time was a localized insurrection within the movement by four of its most prominent leaders. The G.B.C. had just been formed by Prabhupäda in order to, as he put it, save the situation. The four insurrectionists were saying that Prabhupäda was God, that he was displeased with his disciples, and they were proposing a centralizedsolution to the problem.

Podcast transcription:

Glaring Flaws in the Old Guard Narrative

by Kailäsa Candra däsa

HARIÙ OÀ NAMAÙ

In the early Eighties, just before The Second Transformation went down in the fabricated, so-called “ISKCON” confederation, a popular game was invented. It today serves as an analogy to our theme. This game centered around many four-sided wooden sticks, which we shall call blocks. Those blocks create what is, in the beginning, a solid Jenga tower.

Each participant in the game has to remove a block from below and place it on the top level until the structure eventually collapses due to lack of solid underpinning. When one block is pulled which collapses the tower, that contestant loses the game.

There was a box office hit in 2015 called “The Big Short,” and one scene in it featured a Jenga tower. This scene illustrated how some banks and investment houses were on the verge of collapse due to propping up a faulty derivatives scheme. With but a few valuable bundles or blocks of mortgages, each derivative had hidden within it many worthless and shaky sub-prime mortgages bundled together.

Podcast transcription:

A Kaleidoscope of Cult Corruption

by Kailäsa Candra däsa

HARIÙ OÀ NAMAÙ

Consider this excerpt from a letter to Nathan Baruch, 8-7-68:

“The spiritual master must be bona fide representative of Krishna, by disciplic succession, receiving orders from the superior, and the disciple must agree to abide by the orders of the spiritual master. This is the simple method of spiritual advancement; if you remember this principle it will be very nice.”

This excerpt is from a letter written to a prospective disciple very early in Prabhupäda’s movement, just as it was taking off in the important summer of 1968. In other words, he stated the chief principle right from the beginning: “The spiritual master must be bona fide representative of Krishna, by disciplic succession, receiving orders from the superior . . . ”

Podcast transcription:

The Absurdity of Rittvik Hyper-Reality

by Kailäsa Candra däsa

HARIÙ OÀ NAMAÙ

Post-modernism is represented by hyper-reality, which consists of ever-increasing absurdity and nihilism. Its ultimately goal is completely unfettered sense gratification. In the pseudo-devotional sphere, it also promotes this, but in a somewhat different way from the vikarmic Western culture, as must be the case.

Post-modernism exploits the inventions of the previous modern era for purposes that they were not created for during that era. Its hyper-reality consists of immorality along with nihilism, and it is conducted by the mode of ignorance. Primarily, in the so-called devotional sphere of hyper-reality, it consists of a unique deviation, and this is certainly present in the post-modern concoction known as Rittvik.

Podcast transcription:

Controlled Demolition

(The Dead Bounce and the Long CON)

by Kailäsa Candra däsa

HARIÙ OÀ NAMAÙ

We need to understand Prabhupäda’s movement in terms of the applicable time and scale perspective. We need to understand its superficial–and, hopefully, temporary degradation (its current deplorable state)—in terms of a time-scale which differs from that of the human experience. The time-scale of any branch of the Hare Kåñëa movement—whether it remains bona fide or becomes a deviated institution–is of greater length, since a human’s lifespan is much shorter.

When the plug of a fan is pulled out of the socket in a Kåñëa movement, the blades do not immediately stop spinning. Indeed, in the first few seconds after being unplugged, they are still going as fast as they were while the fan was still plugged in. A few seconds in fan time for an occult movement is measured in years. A genuine spiritual movement is an occult entity, and it remains so when and after it deviates.

Podcast transcription:

A Thin Veneer Covering a Cult-ure Beneath It

by Kailäsa Candra däsa

HARIÙ OÀ NAMAÙ

There are unexpected influences which enter the astral body of an individual seeking the Absolute Truth, influences which could result in such a transcendentalist coming to Kåñëa consciousness. Whatever path or cult one chooses will be produced by different influences. When selected, all these will entail an atmosphere of a distinct attitude, one which is different from that of the mundane. Those competing cult attitudes will be infused with the exclusivity of being the only way.

Obviously, we focus upon the influences and attitudes contacted by transcendentalists who approach and/or enter bona fide (or bogus) manifestations of bhakti-yoga. Everyone’s path of approach to the Absolute is individual and thus different—at least, to some extent. Nevertheless, there are some common threads for personal transcendentalists, since they have a different attitude from the impersonalists.