Part One of a Four-Part Series
A Critical Review of SPFAI
By Kailäsa Candra däsa
“Çré Jéva Gosvämé advises that one not accept a spiritual master in terms of hereditary or customary social and ecclesiastical conventions. One should simply try to find a genuinely qualified spiritual master for actual advancement in spiritual understanding.”
–Caitanya-caritämåta,
Ädi, 1.35, purport
“The spiritual master is not God. Only God is God.”
–Quest for Enlightenment, An Introduction
“One may make a show of devotional service like the präkåta-sahajiyäs, or one may try to support his philosophy by joining some caste or identifying himself with a certain dynasty, claiming a monopoly on spiritual advancement.”
–Caitanya-caritämåta, Madhya, 19.160, purport
This review is of the latest G.B.C.-sanctioned literary composition, penned by, arguably, its leading member. The title of the book in question is Srila Prabhupäda Founder-Äcärya of ISKCON (hereinafter referred to as SPFAI or SPFAI by RSA). As the saying goes, you can’t always judge a book by its cover–or, for that matter, by the title on that cover. The gist of the treatise is that the honorific “Founder-Äcärya” (in general) and the short and similar phrase “Founder-Äcärya of ISKCON” (in particular) connotes something far more extensive than has been considered for the last forty-five years, since the corporate organization came to be known as ISKCON.
The ACRONYM (“ISKCON”) is already a stand alone complex, i.e., it is a tightly buffered schism that eats new chelas up like a mini-gun chews through brass. Its inner core representatives, however, seem to remain untouched when losing so many valence electron chelas to the outer orbits. If one of the electrons isn’t as soulless as the complex wants it to be, then it gets ejected as ionized radiation, like in a piece of U-238. The outer orbits of “ISKCON” are very large, but the inner orbits are extremely packed together, magnetically locked: A wannabe-elite, always gyrating into an ever-descending arc.
Concerning mass liberation, it seems that they now tighten the reins on their psychic slaves by promulgating this new creed, which is dependent upon loyalty to the institution–as if their institution is non-different from shuddha sattva and the Founder-Acarya. The slaves might superficially enjoy their automatically guaranteed moksha (since they are not in touch with themselves). It’s a tactical move granting the leaders even more power over their psychophants by sheer ACRONYM-triumphalism, although it’s not very triumphant at all now.
The new dogma will increase the momentum of the “ISKCON” stand alone complex; it seems as if they doubt Lord Caitanya’s prediction coming true without them. As such, they need more automated mechanisms inside their pressure cooker in order to make it more broadly acceptable. In this way, they hope to rival Christianity with their jata-gosani sect, supposedly demonstrating their own group as more loyal to conglomerate society at large. After all, “ISKCON” hopes to cooperate with secular political entities in order to eventually usurp those powers. Agreed, at this time they are nowhere near their ultimate goal, and this fact is thanks to your determined opposition.
Part One of your series has spectacularly exposed the “mass liberation” pie-in-the-sky scheme hatched by the “ISKCON” mis-leaders. This concoction is the latest deviation approved by the Commission, which has mastered innumerable fix-it-as-you-go efforts over the decades that it has managed to still survive.
This book by RSA, one of its top guns (perhaps, its actual leader), the architect of the current version of the “ISKCON” deviated matrix, is supposedly glorifying Srila Prabhupada. Instead, however, it is covertly pushing apa-siddhanta. Formerly, the Commission gave its rubber stamp of approval to another literature that offensively “glorified” the Acarya—the so-called “Lilamrita,” and this was followed by the G.B.C.’s creation of a new “retired renunciate asrama” for that author, who was supposedly a sannyasi already. That and many other deviations of the Commission have been elaborately exposed in your article GBC: The Gods Who Failed.
It isn’t at all surprising that history is repeating itself here, for those who don’t learn from the history are condemned to repeat it. Now, the same Commission is approving this nonsense book by RSA. Genuine leaders are meant to set high personal standards of transcendental knowledge and its applications (pramanam kurute). For lack of developing such personal qualifications through authorized tapasya, they’ve instead hatched but another useless, speculative plan to mislead blind followers. You have brilliantly pointed out that it’s easy (sahaj) for them to do so. As per the famous verse of Srimad Bhagavatam, these misleaders are leading their blind flock not towards liberation but to its opposite pole (patatam tamasi hy adhah; andha yathandhair).
These leaders should have known — had they properly studied and followed Srila Prabhupada’s books, that is — that liberation is only possible by pleasing Lord Sri Krishna, Who alone is the deliverer of liberation to everyone (mukti-pradata sarvesam visnur eva na samsayah). Real liberation is not achieved by blind dedication to some institution or loyalty to its governing body. An institution such as daivi-varnasrama can facilitate a practitioner by providing a conducive environment for spiritual progress, but it is nevertheless in the individual hands, by his own free will, to personally please the Lord. The idea that membership in “ISKCON,” (with its blind acceptance of mis-leaders and their fix-it-as-you-go cheating schemes) is leading to “mass liberation” is yet another major deviation. Where is the evidence from higher authorities to back up this outrageous claim?
As you’ve shown in Part One, there is not a single reference from Srila Prabhupada’s teachings to this alleged “mass liberation.” It is not at all supported by guru, sadhu, and sastra. Real liberation is personal and individual; it is available for all his followers under the potent guidance of his teachings (bhakti-vedanta), not this institutionalized concoction pushed by the book and then rubber-stamped by the vitiated G.B.C. You’ve explained this in your previously posted article The Positive Alternative. There is a timely quote found in it: ” . . . read and study my books deeply, and, in this way, be enthusiastic about going back to Godhead in this life.” Letter (75-5-50/May 22, 1975). Based on your analysis, it would do good for all intelligent devotees to totally reject the nescience of RSA’s book and instead focus on the standard devotional progress (viddhi-sadhana bhakti) spelled out in Prabhupada’s purports.
Thank you for your detailed analysis and timely confrontation of RSA’s book. I am eagerly looking forward to reading further, in your upcoming instalments of the four-part series, about the deviation being pushed by him in his book, as well.
Bhakta Srihari Vijayaraghavan