Renunciates on Holiday
BY: ROCANA DASA
May 17, 2011 — CANADA (SUN) — Today, Parasuram das has presented his article, "Joy Riding for Krishna", in response to my recent article, "Joyriding", and I'm obliged to make a response. I'd like to thank him for taking the time and giving us more information about what the Yamuna river rafting venture is all about.
Of course, my article did not address Parasuram das. My article primarily addressed the issue of sannyasis who are going about their lives, acting on the principle that they're representing HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, that they are part of the institution presenting itself as his official society. As such, these individuals have taken on a great deal of responsibility, on many different levels. First and foremost, they are expected to uphold the principles of sannyasa that are stated in sastra and clearly enunciated by Srila Prabhupada, who spoke extensively on the subject of varnasrama. He himself exhibited the ideal principles of someone who has taken sannyasa and who represents the Sampradaya.
When someone in the position of HH Mahavishnu Swami, or any other swami within ISKCON for that matter, does not live up to their proscribed duties, then we have a duty to point this out. And in doing so, I believe I'm speaking on behalf of many others who are not sannyasis, and who are not representing ISKCON in an official position as GBC or Guru, but who are nonetheless very concerned about Srila Prabhupada's spiritual mission.
Now, whether or not someone in what one might categorize as a private position, like Parasuram das, decides to take a holiday in the Himalayas and go river rafting with their friends down the Yamuna, that's not really noteworthy. If something disastrous were to happen during the course of such activity, it would be the individuals themselves who would have to take responsibility. But things are different when they introduce to the mix an official Swami, and they feature him in their video -- a video in which the Mahavishnu Maharaja made his own position clear -- that he likes going on these adventures, joining the householders in their holiday fun, and he does this often, and looks forward to more of this type of activity.
In the video, the Swami clearly acknowledges that this is dangerous activity and sure enough, in the video we can see how dangerous it is, both in the capacity of running whitewater rapids in a flimsy craft, and swimming in the polluted waters of the Yamuna. Parasuram das admits that the river contains very little actual Yamuna water by the time it gets to Vrindavan. But still, one of the "Salty Dogs" (not the Swami himself) is seen in the video (at the 11:35 mark), swimming in this filthy water. The swimmer takes a dive as Mahavishnu Swami narrates, obviously giving the whole enterprise his blessing. A caption on the screen say, "Even Kaliya Snake would die here". Who in their right mind would even paddle through this froth and sewage, let alone swim in it for fun? But the Swami doesn't mind, and that's the business of Parasuram das, who by his own admission is kind of an eccentric risk-taker. That's his prerogative, and it's a private affair. If he has decided that this is an aspect of his contribution to the Sankirtan movement, that's well and good. But his standards do not apply to devotees in the renounced order of sannyasa, nor do they dictate what swamis should be demonstrating as proper Vaisnava behaviour.
We also have to reject Parasuram prabhu's poor logic in suggesting that the weight of the danger factor should be minimized because "hey, everything's dangerous". For a preacher to casually risk his own, or another devotee's life and limb for the sake of fun, and suggest that it's equivalent to the dangers of walking in the city to distribute books, is a ridiculous notion.
In my article, I focused on the principle that ISKCON sannyasis gain notoriety and all the benefits that come with it by being 'in good standing' in ISKCON. The GBC, and therefore the temples, officially present these sannyasis to the congregation. The devotees, in turn, treat these swamis very well. The swamis are permitted to initiate disciples and to accept monies in their institutional roles. In other words, they have a public responsibility. They are like public servants, because they've decided to take advantage of this scenario – the institutional paradigm that has been set-up by the GBC. As such, they are open to scrutiny and criticism.
While Parasuram das takes pains to explain his personal finances, and how it didn't cost him much of anything to go rafting on the Yamuna, we are more concerned with the Swami's activities. He is the one being supported by the contributions of the congregants who donate money to facilitate his activities. What has the Swami spent, going five times on his Himalayan adventures? We would also remind the reader that in the context of this discussion, the issue of "cost" is not simply about Laxmi. When preaching resources are diverted, or even poorly used, there is a cost associated with that – the cost is the loss of more fruitful activities that would give benefit of Krsna consciousness to the greatest possible number of suffering living entities. That is our business – not selectively preaching to a handful, because we can dovetail it with other mundane activities we find pleasing. No matter how or why it happens, when preaching is constrained, there is a cost, and the cost is measured in human suffering. These are the metrics Srila Prabhupada was most concerned with, not how many rupees, or how many mangoes got eaten for lunch.
In my article, I mentioned only a few sannyasis I know who I believe are deviating from what Srila Prabhupada's vision, desire and authorization for sannyasis is. Of all the sannyasis in ISKCON, I knew relatively few, and I generally limit my comments to things I have direct personal experience with. But I do feel free to comment on the swamis I know, like Bhaktimarg Swami and his walking across Canada. I've already stated that I disapprove of his pastimes, although there's a lot more than can and probably eventually will be said about that. Bhaktimarg has gone on his long walking treks three times, which represents about 12,000 miles. As I understand it, he generally walks on these treks for 8 hours a day, covering about four miles an hour, on average. 12,000 miles represents a tremendous amount of time and endeavor… even for someone who enjoys walking.
The swami doesn't hesitate to use his time in this way, even though he also enjoys the benefits of being a Guru, a Sannyasi and a GBC member in ISKCON. Each one of these roles carries a great deal of responsibility all on its own, but… walking is the Swami's pastime, his hobby. Of course, this is not something that Srila Prabhupada, or even the GBC for that matter, have authorized or promoted as being a good activity for spreading Krsna Consciousness. It may be good for the swami's health, in the same way that Hatha Yoga may be good in the mind of Prahladananda Swami.
Prahladananda, the Minister of Sannyasa and Minister of Health & Welfare in ISKCON, is personally recommending Hatha Yoga and is promoting it inside and outside of ISKCON, even though from practically the earliest days, Srila Prabhupada made it clear that he does not want his students to practice Hatha. as I said in my previous article, this was a well known fact during Srila Prabhupada's lila period, and Prahladananda Swami knew it well. Prahladananda enjoys the notoriety of being one of the oldest sannyasis, one of the survivor sannyasis from the early days, when he joined in Buffalo, New York, where he was recruited by Rupanuga das. Rupanuga remembers him as someone who was very attached to practicing Hatha Yoga before becoming a devotee. And all these years later, the swami hasn't given up this attachment, regardless of the fact that it was known since the early days that Srila Prabhupada disapproved of it. Prahladananda did not conceal the fact that he was attached to Hatha Yoga, even when Srila Prabhupada was present, although Prabhupada clearly preached against it:
Srila Prabhupada's Class on Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.10.13
Mayapur, June 26, 1973:
--
"If we associate with these Mayavadi, atheist class, karmi, jnani, yogi, then we'll infect their quality. So if we infect the Mayavadi quality, karmi quality, jnani quality, yogi quality... I see some of the students, still they practice some yoga asana. That quality is not yet... He's not yet free. But this is nonsense. This is nonsense. We should, by promise; we should not associate with any of their qualities.
That is...
Asat. Asat means bad element, bad association. So asat-sanga. We have to give up asat."
There are many other examples of Srila Prabhupada's instructions against Hatha Yoga:
Srila Prabhupada's Room Conversation, April 30, 1969, Boston:
"Yes. You have to select a secluded place. Hatha-yoga is not practiced in assembly of so many men. Just you go to a hatha-yoga class. There are hundreds of members practicing, and he is collecting money, five dollars per seat. And you are thinking, "I am practicing." That is useless waste of time and money. Hatha-yoga is not practiced in that way. You have to practice in a secluded place, alone. Do you do that?"
And from the last paragraph of Srila Prabhupada's purport to Bhagavad-gita 13:25:
"Similarly, there are others who also try to understand the Supreme Soul by
cultivation of knowledge, and there are others who cultivate the hatha-yoga
system and who try to satisfy the Supreme Personality of Godhead by childish
activities."
There's also a big philosophical problem that Srila Prabhupada introduced in many of his classes and lectures regarding the fact that Arjuna wanted to practice Hatha Yoga, and Krsna told him that you can't do this, it's too difficult. Instead He told Arjuna, you should practice the highest form of yoga, Bhakti Yoga, which is practical, and you're already on the path of Bhakti, because you love Me. Clearly, on philosophical principle, practicing and promoting Hatha Yoga is not something a public figure in ISKCON -- a Minister, Guru, Sannyasi or GBC should be doing. Now if some householder wants to make a living by teaching Hatha Yoga classes, that's their business. They're not representing anyone but themselves. Perhaps a grihasta finds that it's easier to support his household doing this than by doing other things. This is not unlike a householder deciding to go on holidays whitewater rafting, and an ISKCON sannyasi doing the same thing and promoting it as fitting activity for the devotees to engage themselves in.
Even for the householders, it is problematic if they try to integrate preaching Krsna conscious philosophy with these other activities. In the example of teaching Hatha Yoga, if you're representing Srila Prabhupada by preaching Krsna Consciousness in a Hatha class, then you're obliged to bring up the fact that Srila Prabhupada does not approve of this, and you must make clear to the students why he does not approve.
As I stated in my last article, it was the authorities on the local level, at the temple level, who really had to struggle with people like Prahladananda Swami, wanting to take time out of their day to practice Hatha Yoga. Especially during Srila Prabhupada's lila period, we were fully engaged from the time we woke up till the time we laid our heads down at night in serving Srila Prabhupada and engaging in his program, which left no time for doing anything else. Yet these swamis today have time on their hands to go on vacation with householders, to walk across Canada three times, to practice Hatha Yoga each day, and so many other frivolous activities. Meanwhile, they seem to be oblivious to the fact that their statements and rationalizations that what they're doing is fine, and approved and authorized, are actually bogus, and many devotees know it.
And that's the real issue here. Just because they're sannyasis doesn't mean they're perfect. They can still make mistakes. And when someone like myself says to a godbrother sannyasi, 'Well I think this is a mistake, I think you're deviating… I've heard from Guru and Sastra that what you're doing is wrong…', then we should be able to speak up. And that's just what we're doing. Now, the swamis can ignore us, which I'm sure they will. So will many of their supporters, who have bought into the rationalizations, and it's their decision to be convinced by such things. But Krsna consciousness is like a razor's edge. You have to be very careful. And today, we have to be very careful about following people who are purporting to be representing the Guru and the Sastra and the Sampradaya, but who are actually deviating. There is no institutional power over these sannyasis, no oversight, because the GBC just totally ignore everything that goes on. They have a built-in filter, a common agreement that, 'I'll do whatever I want to do, you do whatever you want to do, and we agree – just don't criticize me, and I won't criticize you.'
Sometime back, Prahladananda Swami wrote an article entitled, "Duties of GBC and Guru in ISKCON", which caused a great stir. It was very straightforward, and touched on all sorts of problems in ISKCON. It got the approval of many devotees who felt this was a long-awaited statement and realization for ISKCON leaders to arrive at. So on one hand, Prahladananda Swami is presenting himself to the world as an honest, straightforward sannyasi who's been strict for 27 some years, but at the same time he's practicing and promoting this Hatha Yoga, and it undermines everything he claims to stand for. We're just making him aware of the fact that this is how many of his godbrothers are witnessing his activities, and suggesting that he should give it up and admit that he's harboring this attachment.
Similarly, going back to Parasuram's article, I don't think that Mahavishnu Swami should be doing what he's doing, in terms of joining the householders on their rafting holidays. Neither do I think Bhaktimarg Swami should waste his time walking across Canada over and over, achieving virtually nothing. Yes, it's their free will to engage in such activities, but if they want the benefits that the sannyasa order provides, and they want to be an official representative of Srila Prabhupada's ISKCON and take so much responsibility, they should be far more careful in choosing their activities.
One would expect that all these swamis would have some very legitimate preaching programs that they want to protect, that they would not want to put them at risk by attracting public attention to their less than staunch activities. Yet they choose to risk their reputation and undermine what they've dedicated a great deal of time and effort to do, and for what? The adrenalin rush of hurtling down the river rapids? I know that Mahavishnu Swami has been preaching in Africa, and has achieved a great deal in this regard, and I'm sure that's very pleasing to Srila Prabhupada. But now he's undermining it by making these foolish videos of going on vacation, taking all sorts of unnecessary risks while he's at it, and encouraging other devotees to put themselves at risk. I think it's very foolish of him to do this… no matter how much the grihastas enjoy thrill riding the Yamuna. And that's what prompted me to write the article yesterday. So no, Parasuram prabhu, it is not you who I should be addressing – it is Mahavishnu Swami, and I would like to hear his comments in response. I think we all would.
I'm sure that many devotees have observed other activities of the ISKCON Swamis, Gurus and GBC's that are blatantly opposed to what we know to be Srila Prabhupada's desire, plan, and vision for spreading Krsna consciousness. I'm not here to analyze every individual. The local people who have to engage directly with them are the ones that are going to get the direct result of their association with these persons. This is the circumstance we all find ourselves in when there's not an Acarya physically present who can oversee the activities of the Sankirtana movement. In their physical absence, we have to rely on their statements, and Srila Prabhupada has left us a great wealth of information. The devotees have to be held up to these standards and the positions that Srila Prabhupada has taken. That's what surrender means.
If you want to be known as a surrendered devotee going around in saffron, and being treated very nicely, you'd better be prepared to live up to your duties. These swamis are being given facility in many cases by householders who have to go to work everyday, and don't have the luxury of screening themselves away from all the nonsense. But the sannyasis walk on air, so to speak. They have the facility and freedom to surround themselves with spiritual activity if they choose, but still, some are intent on finding their pleasures in the mundane.
