'Back to Prabhupada' Magazine: Still Whipping the Same Dead Horses
BY: URDHVA KETU DAS
Jul 01, USA (SUN) — Do you find in your mailbox the latest issue of the freebie rittwic quarterly, Back to Prabhupada? Although each issue is presented as though it exposes some grand revelation, we find that the same lifeless horses are whipped and beaten till the putrefaction becomes unbearable. The optimistic editor, Krishnakant, seems to fancy that by some miracle, the dead horses will rise to life and follow his lead in carrying us limping pedestrians “back to Prabhupada.” Who funds the printing and posting of this redundant balderdash?
Back to Prabhupadaeditor Krishnakant, like James Bond with his license to kill, feels he has been issued a license to fault-find. Wherefrom this Krishnakant gets his authority, however, remains in question. Were this so-called Krishnakant a sworn-in devotee of ISKCON, he would be known as Krishnakant “das”. No “das” means “no service attitude.” And no service attitude means that the editor of Back to Prabhupada is not authorized to carry on a tireless campaign against a religious organization of which he is not a part.
As far as I am concerned, sure, constructive criticism is welcomed. State it once, maybe twice, and move on. But overplaying the hot air of senseless censure quickly turns into nagging and fault-finding. If Krishnakant’s magazine was a wife, a wise man would take sannyasa.
The guru mess that BTP laments by and large happened one generation ago. No one is thrilled by the examples of fallen devotees, and neither is there any revelation there. But are the shenanigans of a few washed-up posers worth a quarterly journal? Wouldn’t preaching pure Krishna consciousness be a better idea? Isn’t the distribution of and preaching from Srila Prabhupada’s books the real path back to Prabhupada?
And what of ISKCON today? As George Harrison points out in his Introduction to Srila Prabhupada’s Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.” In fact, ISKCON as an organization has made wonderful strides in recent years due to responsible men arising from the ranks and pushing on this movement in a manner that is exemplary to all initiated members (which I presume does not include Krishnakant). Yes, Krishnakant, ISKCON does have a few gurus rising from within its hollowed ranks, and this is the law of disciplic succession.
The real flaw with the Back to Prabhupada verdict-that only ritvik gurus were authorized after Srila Prabhupada accepted mahasamadhi- is this: by Krishnakant’s telling me how to live my life, he himself is playing his own guru card. He and his band are posing as the gurus who declare “no more gurus.” Therefore, these are the gurus of confusion. If Srila Prabhupada can empower his disciples to become devotees, brahmanas, sannyasis and Rtviks, then why can’t Srila Prabhupada, the Acarya and empowered representative of Lord Chaitanya, create more gurus? From where does Back to Prabhupadaget the authority to limit the unlimited? If Krishnakant’s feeble conclusion is that the deviations of a few equal the future deviations of the entire world, then he should kindly protect us from his own deviations and go find a real job. Back to Prabhupadaknows neither the means nor the path…back to Prabhupada.
In a lecture delivered at NY ISKCON, 61 2nd Ave., on April 10, 1969, Srila Prabhupada stated:
“As soon as I am desiring something, immediately my body is formed. Immediately a particular type of body begins to form, and as soon as I am mature to change, my next body I get according to my desire. Therefore we should always desire Krishna. Then from this life, the Krishna-approaching body or the spiritual body will be formed. The more you become sincere servant of Krishna, the more your body becomes Krishnaized, electrified. Therefore advanced Krishna conscious person is considered to have a spiritual body. The same example, as I have given several times: just like iron rod. You put into the fire, it becomes warmer, warmer. The more it is connected with fire, it becomes warm, warm, warm. And at last it becomes red hot, so that at that time, if that iron is touched to any other thing, it burns. It does not act as iron; it acts as fire. Similarly, by this Krishna consciousness, continuous chanting, you will make your body spiritualized. At that time, wherever you go, wherever you touch, he’ll be spiritualized. Similarly, the iron: Without being spiritualized, without being red hot, if you touch, it will not act.
“So every one of us, those who have come to this Krishna consciousness movement, expected to preach in the future and to become a spiritual master also in the future. But first of all you must spiritualize yourself; otherwise it is useless. So krsna-sakti vina nahe. Without- Just like without being red hot, you cannot burn any other thing. Similarly, without being fully spiritualized, you cannot make others spiritualized. Therefore we have to follow the parampara system. The disciplic succession, as we get the knowledge, as we get the power, as we get the instruction, so we have to follow. That will help me to spiritualize myself. And when you are spiritualized. . . . You’ll have to wait for that time. Then, wherever you will preach, the result will be there.”
Krishnakant, my advice to you and your buddies is to find and accept a bona fide guru within the organization of ISKCON. That alone will put you on the path back to home, back to Prabhupada.
