Ravindra Svarupa Steps on a Land Mine
BY: JANAKANATHA DASA
Aug 14, 2013 — INDIA (SUN) — In Nanda-tanuja's article, "Blasphemy of Srila Prabhupada", he quotes the following from Burke Rochford's book:
"One GBC member hinted at the reasons why the leadership failed to respond when he declared, "I hereby confess I came to find these reactions, 'in defense of Srila Prabhupada,' equally—no, even more so—troubling and upsetting than that which occasioned them." As this statement implies, ISKCON's leaders found themselves in an uncomfortable position, as pursuing a vigorous and public defense of Prabhupada meant aligning themselves with GHQ and its controversial agenda. One GBC member decided, "They are like the John Birch Society, and we didn't want to raise their visibility and status. Plus it was politically safe just to ignore them, and we did". (Rochford, p 157)
And:
"Such a cultural turn is significant because it signals the ways in which traditionalism [the parampara] no longer serves as the foundation of ISKCON's religious culture. In embracing gender equality, ISKCON's leaders aligned the organization with a defining feature of modern liberal culture. … The debate about women's roles and place in ISKCON led to critical questioning of Prabhupada's scriptural commentaries, as well as to his overall authority as Krishna's pure representative. The fact that the leadership failed to act decisively on Prabhupada's behalf was an acknowledgment that his authority no longer was absolute. … Yet as these teachings become reframed as guides for thought and action, in place of being "absolute truths," traditionalism [the parampara] will continue its march to the margins of ISKCON. As it does, the goal of creating a viable cultural alternative to mainstream American culture will cease to exist." (Rochford, pg. 158-9)
So the question is, who is the anonymous GBC man who is more disturbed by the protest against the offence to Srila Prabhupada than the blasphemy of Prabhupada? Who is the GBC whose policy of not acting on Srila Prabhupada's behalf has undermined the authority of Srila Prabhupada and thwarted ISKCON's mission?
I think this old article from VNN, that is no longer online, answers the question.
The text highlighted in red is a direct quote from Ravindra Swarupa Prabhu, as will be seen when you read his email below. One thing we note from his email is that he tells the GBC that he also wants to do something and is frustrated, but to Burke Rochford as quoted above, his real intention was to do nothing and ignore the issue, which he did. We also learned from Nanda-tanuja's article that in 2004, Ravindra Swarupa also thwarted the GBC's efforts to censure the culprits – something is definitely not right.
Another thing that we note from Ravindra Swarupa's email is that it is filled with typical feminist apologetics removing any doubt as to where his loyalties are. Praghosa Prabhu (ACBSP) sweeps them aside to reveal what the real issues are.
yhs
Janakanath dasa
Ravindra Svarupa Steps on a Land Mine
The following is a recent text by His Grace Sriman Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu and a eye-opening, jaw-dropping, rebuttal by the legendary book distributor and dear devotee His Grace Sriman Praghosha Prabhu.
Reference: http://www.vnn.org/world/WD0002/WD04-5407.html
Text COM:2992371 (143 lines)
From: Ravindra Svarupa (das) ACBSP (Philad. - USA)
Date: 07-Feb-00 02:09 +0530
To: GBC Discussions [9482]
Reference: Text COM:2973283 by Bhakti Caru Swami
Comment: Text COM:2993009 by Kavicandra Swami (GBC Japan)
Comment: Text COM:2993037 by Trivikrama Swami
Comment: Text 362 by Hari Sauri (das) ACBSP
Subject: My resignation from the GBC
------------------------------------------------------------
Bhakti Caru Swami wrote:
> I don't know Ameyatma Prabhu personally. nevertheless, I hear his voice as
> the echo of the helpless cry of many sincere followers of Srila
> Prabhupada. I feel extremely regretful about my inability to do anything
> to defend Srila Prabhupada's honor and protect his ISKCON. Therefore, I
> hearby submit my resignation from the GBC as one of its members.
I hope by now the many responses posted here have helped persuade him to withdraw this precipitous submission. He should not resign over this "vendetta," as it has been described.
On the other hand, I can sympathize deeply with his feelings of helpless, "my inability to do anything to defend Srila Prabhupada's honor and protect
his ISKCON." I also feel frustrated.
I was naturally quite distressed and angry when I read the comments attributed to Madhusudhini Radha dasi, Dhyanakund dasi, and others.
It is my policy, formed from personal experience, to avoid writing or talking to someone when I am angry. While I was waiting to calm down, and while I was trying to think of productive ways to respond to the doubts and misconceptions about Prabhupada, the e-mail did not hesitate to unload on me barrages of virulently angry, hostile reactions, mostly consisting of irate, righteous demands that these women immediately be silenced. I hereby confess I came to find these reactions, "in defense of Srila Prabhupada," equally--no, even more--troubling and upsetting than that which occasioned them.
I am sure it is an artifact of e-mail communication to amplify the strident, virulent tone of some of these responses; even so, it was dismaying to see, especially in this company, the raising of something that appeared too close to the ancient, atavistic mob-cry, "Burn the witches!"
And when the witches were not immediately lead to the piazza and torched, the attackers turned their righteous wrath on the negligent authorities.
Let me explain why I find this sort of "defense" of Prabhupada and ISKCON even worse than the attacks. This kind of defense actually helps to strengthen and reinforce the doubts and misunderstandings.
It is a fact that we have now entered into a period (a time that was bound to come) that I'll call "Prabhupada on Trial." We have one manifestation in the matter that concerns us here. Another manifestation is the court case being prepared by the lawyer Wendel Turley. And there are others current, and sill others just emerging.
In this case, the doubts about Prabhupada focus on certain statements--attested to in the written record--he made about women. Such statements are, under currently established norms of business, government, and academics, labeled "sexist," and regarded as on the same moral level as anti-semitic or racist utterances.
Now, it is a fact that anyone who had any personal experience of Srila Prabhupada came to understand quite vividly that he was not "sexist." He was a liberated soul. No woman in ISKCON who knew Prabhupada personally, however ill-at-ease his statements may have made her--or however much trouble they cause her in her life--none of these women thought Srila Prabhupada was an ordinary conditioned soul, an ordinarily conditioned male. He was the farthest thing from a "male chauvinist."
How, in that case, are we to reconcile these statements with the person who
made them? This is the problem.
The problem has become an urgent problem because by now only a very small
minority of women in our movement have had personal experience of Srila
Prabhupada. All the women, however, have read his statement about women.
What is more the majority of women in this movement have also
suffered--sometimes greatly--from an institution that has been
overwhelmingly and systematically sexist in its dealings. Unfortunately,
those men in position of power, who by taking such positions as GBC, guru,
sannyasi, temple president, make themselves Prabhupada's representatives,
have, in their dealings, largely represented Srila Prabhupada as sexist.
Prabhupada has noted that people will judge him by his disciples.
Unfortunately, this has now come to pass. Because of the sexist nature of
our movement, and the widespread support of that sexism by "quotes," many
women within our movement, as well as outside observers, now tend to
conclude that Prabhupada himself was "sexist," and thus implicitly, a
conditioned soul. (Or, alternatively, he was not personally sexist but was
upholding, out of a conservative faith, a sexist tradition.)
Thus, I can understand very well why people--including many women in
ISKCON-- have reached this false conclusion, or at least have unresolved
doubts.
People are judging Prabhupada by his disciples. This judgment, I believe, is
the real source of doubts about Prabhupada. That is why the response, which
appeared to be a variant of the witch-hunting, witch-burning genre, seemed
so particularly terrible to me. In trying to protect Prabhupada honor in
this way, one merely undermines it.
Is our movement, as I claim, actually sexist? I am sure many leaders in the
movement will dismiss this claim as "feminist" propaganda. I think that now
we are as reluctant to acknowledge and rectify our mistreatment and
denigration of women as we have been to acknowledge and rectify our
mistreatment of children.
I remember in the late 80s how frustrating it became--and I think Sri Rama
and Badrinarayana can attest to this--to get the then custodians of the old
order on the GBC to acknowledge the problems of child abuse in the past and
present of ISKCON. Changes were made quite grudgingly and--partly because of
that--now the whole business has blown up in our faces.
I fear the same thing could happen in this case. We should acknowledge what
happened. To refresh your memory: remember Jiva's women's sankirtan party?
Dharmatmata's SKP? And several more? Remember Aja and other polygamous
leaders? Remember the protection these leaders enjoyed on the highest
levels? Does anybody remember the proposal discussed at one time among
sannyasi leaders in America to send all the women to Australia?
("Transportation," it's called.)
I remember a number of temples which were perfect illustration of the
colonial/plantation style of management; they seemed eerily straight out of
the pages of Frantz Fanon's "The Wretched of the Earth." Only in these
cases, the sannyasi and brahmachari leaders were the white guys; the women,
the n-----s.
In short, there was widespread exploitation and abuse of women--physical
abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse--and also neglect. I am afraid that if
we do not acknowledge this and seriously take steps to rectify matters, this
will also blow up in our faces, beginning with a hair-raising collections of
horrifying testimonial by victimized women, and we will again see so many
guardians of the old order stand up and say, "I didn't know this was
happening."
I am truly sorry that now so many women--so many devotees of both
sexes--have doubts about Prabhupada. I think it is mostly our own fault that
they do. ("Our" means leaders, senior Prabhupada disciples, and any others
who are obliged to represent Prabhupada.) And I think we should make a
sincere and serious effort to understand what happened in this regard, why
it happened, and what we can to rectify matters and make amends. If we act
in this way, I think the doubts about Prabhupada will begin to go away.
In this way we have to protect the honor of Prabhupada. And I hope Bhakti
Caru Swami will work with us on the GBC to do it.
I have also been giving much thought as to explaining Prabhupada's
controversial statements in context, so that we can begin to understand what
he was trying to communicate from his transcendental position. But this
won't be effective if we don't make a better effort to come to that platform
ourselves.
(Text COM:2992371) -----------------------------------------
------- End of Forwarded Message ------
Letter COM:2997461 (554 lines)
From: Internet: Patrick Hedemark praghosa@datastar.net
Date: 08-Feb-00 16:16
Dear Trivikram Maharaja
Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Here are some of my thoughts on the letter you forwarded to me.
Rabindra prabhu states a number of things here which fittingly expose the
heart of the problem. This matter and all such matters are initially philosophical issues that become managerial issues. When left unattended, they become managerial crises. The fact that some untrained, pompous and independent woman would be the source of so much discussion, acrimony, resignation and confusion is the proof of this point! So I will first try to address the managerial aspect of this problem - which I see as the most important.
First off - right out of the box - Rabindra prabhu wants to have it both
ways. He wants the readers to know that he shares their concern for the
possibility that Srila Prabhupada was offended and/or misrepresented, but then he weighs in on the side of ignorance, urging the Maharaja not to resign "over this
vendetta as it has been described." I will submit that the noise being made
about this has at this point almost NOTHING to do with the "ignorance" and
"arrogance" of these women or any woman for that matter. The Maharaja is not
resigning over a "vendetta" directed towards these or any other women. He
clearly states that he is enormously disheartened over his apparent
inability to "DO" anything about it. He is honestly admitting that he has
not found a way to motivate himself or any other member of the GBC body to
act judiciously, decisively, and most importantly, SWIFTLY on this matter in
direct response to the very legitimate concerns of many senior men as
regards this issue!
Rabindra Swarup sympathizes "deeply" with the Maharaja's "feelings" of
"helpless inability to do anything" tangible to defend the position and
teachings of His Divine Grace! "Like all of you I was distressed by all the comments of these ladies".
He then states "I FEEL FRUSTRATED"! Frustration is a result of unrealized aspiration after making a great effort! So, without making the effort to "DO" anything about this situation, his use of this word "frustrated" is nothing less than a conceited cliche. An attempt to establish rapport with the audience but not representative of a Herculean effort to correct this nonsense! So, it is all IMAGE and no SUBSTANCE. Rabindra is a member of the GBC - as is HH Bhakti Caru Swami -as is HH Siva Rama Swami - as is HH Jayapataka Swami - etc, etc, etc. It is
their specific assigned task to indeed DO! Not to FEEL! That Rabindra would
express his "feelings", frustrated or otherwise, is irrelevant and frankly
that he would publicly do so after admitting his inability to DO anything
about this simple matter without expressing at least an equal amount of
"embarrassment" to match his "frustration" is telling!
[We note that Ravidra Swarupa says he is frustrated that he could do nothing, but tells Rochford that he purposely ignored the complaints. Janakanatha dasa]
Next, he proudly distances himself from the various " angry and virulent "
hotheads who filled up his e-mail, calling for the "witch burning" as he so
cleverly painted their protest, and tells the readers that unlike these
individuals who obviously gave little rational thought to the deeper
significance of the matter, he always likes to "sit down quietly, think
about it and never ever writes in anger". So unlike Bir Krsna Goswami who directly insulted his godbrothers like Trivikrama Swami and Ameyatma prabhu and Mahananda prabhu, in his comments to a very unqualified woman "WHAT'S WRONG WITH THEM? ARE THEY PSYCHOLOGICALLY WELL?" Rabindra prabhu is a little more subtle and indirect but no less insulting, but his critical and demeaning manner succeeds only in once again exposing his true underbelly of sentimentality and incapacity to DO anything, "I hearby confess that I came to find these reactions - In defense of Srila Prabhupada - equally - NO - even MORE troubling and upsetting that than that which occasioned them!".
Once again telling the readers - that he, Rabindra Prabhu - one of the GBC
Secretaries - one of the individuals who is ultimately responsible to DO something - is "TROUBLED AND UPSET" not nearly as much, by the offensive comments of the women in question or their offensive actions in relation to senior sannyasis and preachers, as he was by the outcry of these men for the GBC to take swift and immediate corrective ACTIONS! The senior men were merely pointing out that these mothers were misusing whatever authority they presumed to have been GRANTED(This is the operative word here as these women do not themselves pay for this facility) , over an open forum, that IS owned and controlled and most importantly PAID FOR by the NE BBT - an ISKCON asset that should be under the full management and direction of the Governing Body Commission! The
old expression is, " HE WHO PAYS THE PIPER - CALLS THE TUNE!" The men simply do not care to hear any more about what he or any GBC man "FEELS"
about this ridiculously childish matter. They are only interested to know if you are indeed aware of precisely what "TUNES" are being played on the ISKCON organ, how they are indeed indicative of some serious problems and precisely WHAT AND WHEN you are going to take responsible and decisive actions to correct the problem!
The senior men are not opposed to legitimate philosophical inquiry and
discussion. Indeed to imply otherwise is itself highly offensive. They did
not raise their voices in unified expressions of concern for the goings on
until their wise and experienced voices were disregarded, criticized and
then BARRED from the very forums which were supposedly designed to foster
very healthy and scripturally saturated exchange! The forum itself is or was
(I am now not certain) a NE BBT asset and that makes it an ISKCON asset.
Such a forum is not the exclusive domain of any individual, Man or Woman,
and places it's management and organization squarely under the GBC Body's
direction. So the NOISE YOU HEAR coming from all the senior men - men who
have made enormous sacrifices and efforts to further the aims of our Acharya
Srila Prabhupada - is not about these individual ladies and their particular
forms of ignorance, insubordination and just plain old Maya. The noise you
hear is a result of the miserable, disconnected, irresponsible, lazy, and
perhaps most pathetic of all - sentimental - lack of any practical and
deliberate ACTION on the part of those who are indeed the only ones
specifically positioned to remedy this type of problem! BAS! THIS RABINDRA
SWARUP PRABHU - IS THE PROBLEM! So spare us the sentimental drivel about
how you FEEL! You are talking to men here. And they want to know EXACTLY
WHAT YOU AND THE REST OF THE GBC ARE GOING TO DO AND
PRONTO!
Rabindra again whines, "It was dismaying to see, especially in this company,
the ancient atavistic mob-cry "Burn the witches". This is really getting to
be too much. Are you really "dismayed" or are you again pandering to
sentiments of the audience. No one was crying for anyone's immolation -
involuntary or otherwise. I will not bother to critique the quality of the
response of the ladies in question to the Krsna Conscious observations,
advice and/or criticism of their very senior Godbrothers, accept to say that
it left much to be desired and reflects very poorly on their training in
Krsna Consciousness and their ability to recognize good association and
counsel when they get it. Taking Canakya as a litmus on this, he says that,
one is considered intelligent when "He can find gold in a filthy place, good
instruction from a fool and nectar in a pot of poison". These mothers did
not demonstrate such intelligence nor the appreciation for those who possess
it. But that is not the real issue. Rabindra is "dismayed" not as much by
the "arrogance" of the women (which is the true root cause of the
unpleasantness) or the "ignorance" associated with all the misunderstanding,
misrepresenting and most importantly the flat out rejecting of some of Srila
Prabhupada's teachings, as by the VOLUME of noise being made by the senior
men over this issue. In other words - PIPE DOWN OUT THERE! YOU GOT SOMEBODY TRYING TO SLEEP HERE! Well I can only say one thing about that, "WAKE UP AND GO TO WORK. DO YOUR JOB. IF YOU CAN'T TAKE THE HEAT - GET THE HELL OUT OF THE KITCHEN!
Jayapataka Swami moans "I am tired of all this e-mail on this subject"
Bhakti Caru Swami waxes frustrated and discouraged, "I just can't DO
anything about this". Siva Rama Swami cries, "I am just taking my bat and
ball and going home! I quit!" Rabindra prabhu expresses his "distress and
hurt feelings" about all these issues and just frets and frets and frets!
And then Bir Krsna Goswami cuddles up with one of the women in cyber space
and says, "Tsk! Tsk! Are they still after you girls? What's wrong with them?
Is Trivikrama Swami pschologically well?"
It's enough to make a grown man vomit! This is not management gentlemen.
This is MISMANGAGEMENT. The lack of interest in solving this matter that you
all display is ludicrous and shameful.
Now if you can't take my comments then what can be said. I am talking with
men and I am assuming that you can handle the "Unsugar-coated Truth" . Oddly
enough one of the ladies in question recently expressed enormous "dismay" at
my "hurtful" and "insulting" comments wherein I stated that "mundane women"
generally need to have the truth sugar-coated. I also said that "effeminate
men" who are too much needing the approval of women are equally addicted to
"sugar-coated" truth and flattery. I am giving all of you the benefit of
the doubt and saying that due to the fact that I believe none of you need
such a varnished presentation of truth, I am speaking plainly and directly
with every confidence that you will not be "hurt" by my comments you will
welcome them and will do the needful!
Rabindra states, "And when the witches were not immediately lead to the
piazza and torched, the attackers turned their righteous wrath on the negligent authorities".
He objects to the demand of the senior preachers and sannyasis for "swift
and decisive action" yet he says NOTHING about the "swift and decisive" action demonstrated by the ladies in question who after a few letters of disapproval
for the offensive and speculative comments that were made in the open forum,
promptly fired off one of the most ignorant, condescending and impudent letters I have ever personally read -from a man or woman - and then faster than I could wolf down a gulubjammun, they dismissed a senior disciple of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, HG Mahananda prabhu from the open forum, in an effort to control the input of the discussions! IS THE IRONY OF THIS WASTED ON ALL BUT A FEW? The actions of these ladies is tantamount to me showing up at the Philadelphia Temple tomorrow and throwing people out that I have "determined" no longer capable of making a positive contribution to the preaching program there in Philadelphia! How long are you going to tolerate that Rabindra prabhu? If the devotees there in Philly all came to you to lodge their complaints, would you also express your "dismay" not so much with my arrogant, disruptive, intrusive and
most importantly, UNAUTHORIZED actions, as with all the "HOT-HEADED,
IRRATIONAL AND MISPLACED" protest being voiced by the devotees there in the Temple! I think we all know the answer to that rhetorical question.
So as far as the managerial side of this problem and Rabindra's input, all I
can say is, put simply, he claims to understand the original "cause" of the disagreement, but he is still completely in the dark as to the fact that the present
protest from the men is their collective and resounding objection not only
to the offensive comments published about His Divine Grace but also to the fact that an ISKCON resource is being utilized for this purpose (under the guise of open-minded scholastic give and take) and has been put under the control of such obvious neophytes whose understanding of Krsna Consciousness is most questionable and whose dealings with devotees leaves so much to be desired. After three and half months, what could have been resolved, for the benefit of everyone involved , with a couple of strong letters, and some swift and Krsna Conscious management, in the INTEREST Srila Prabhupada and HIS mission, still nothing has been DONE that could even remotely result in a resolution.
As far as the "philosophical side" of the issue - that is another story. Rabindra has written what may appear to some as a very lucid and candid analysis of the need to indeed discuss the "issues" raised by these or any other women. Of course I want to point out to everyone that he does so without actually demonstrating as I pointed out above, that he truly understands what the actual protest or problem is at this point, as well as the fact that he actually offers no "SOLUTION" to the real problem. So Hari Sauri prabhu or anyone else may describe this letter from Rabindra prabhu as "COGENT" but I will submit that it is anything BUT cogent! Incorrectly identifying the "PROBLEM" and then completely neglecting to provide a solution is not COGENT, no matter how you write it.
Leaving aside the discussion of what the problem is and how to fix it, Rabindra
now changes the direction of our attention. " OK Everybody lets not dwell
too seriously on this issue - which I cannot - or do not - want to deal with now
-no matter the amount of hot-headed protest y'all dish out. I would like
to draw your attention to the need to discuss these matters of sexism in ISKCON
as I see it!" What follows is a litany of this and that about that subject - some
of it acceptable - and some of it purely NONSENSE! Now as I see it, the forum where this type of back and forth was going on was precisely the one that Mahananda got himself kicked off of. For example there are two or three statements within Rabindra's comments that I take great issue with. I
will mention one in a moment. But supposing I did and then he got all huffy
and fussy and decided that," Praghosa prabhu, despite your years of service and
responsibility, we just can't accept your input any longer, and we have to
kick you off the conference because you have a tendency to disagree with me, and
constantly try to support your disagreements exclusively with quotes from
Srila Prabhupada! Could you imagine? How would that serve anyone's best
interest. Especially since he may indeed be shoveling horseshit and not even
realize it! Later after my input he may come to his senses and say, "Wow
prabhu, thanks a million! You were right - It looked like it! Smelled like
it! Boy! I'm glad I didn't step in it!" You get my drift? So the issue is a
question of eagerness to fulfill the obligation that comes with being a
responsible GBC Manager. ISKCON's mandate is to ORGANIZE and no ORGANIZATION can function if the managers are too busy "FEELING" to actually DO THE NEEDFUL when it is called for.
Without going in to all the points being raised by Rabindra prabhu in the
second part of his "cogent" letter, since that would be nothing less than
acceding to his demand that we disregard the real issue, as he has, and
move on to "more important matters" I will address only one important point. He has stated:
>What is more the majority of women in this movement have also
>suffered--sometimes greatly--from an institution that has been
>overwhelmingly and systematically sexist in its dealings. Unfortunately,
>those men in position of power, who by taking such positions as GBC, guru,
>sannyasi, temple president, make themselves Prabhupada's representatives,
>have, in their dealings, largely represented Srila Prabhupada as sexist.
>
>Prabhupada has noted that people will judge him by his disciples.
>Unfortunately, this has now come to pass. Because of the sexist nature of
>our movement, and the widespread support of that sexism by "quotes," many
>women within our movement, as well as outside observers, now tend to
>conclude that Prabhupada himself was "sexist," and thus implicitly, a
>conditioned soul. (Or, alternatively, he was not personally sexist but was
>upholding, out of a conservative faith, a sexist tradition.)
There you have it! Unbiased and authoritative affirmation from Rabindra prabhu that this ISKCON institution has been "overwhelmingly and systematically sexist in it's dealings!" Later on in the letter he tries to support this "TRIPE" by citing some rather unpleasant historical characters and incidents.
I offer to publicly debate this apparent "fact" with Rabindraji, if he so desires, in the presence of anyone. This sort of statement is pandering to the ladies, misrepresentative of the actual facts and completely disregards the enormous efforts of countless leaders and devotees who have strained and strained, literally bending over backwards, to facilitate the sincere devotee women who have taken shelter of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada and his loyal servants. It also does
not take into account the preponderance of real evidence of Srila Prabhupada's vision for both men and as regards this discussion, most importantly women - and what is actually needed to realize it! It is certainly a legitimate discussion but one that is better served without the beginning premise as stated by Rabindraji "ISKCON has been overwhelmingly and systematically SEXIST in it's dealings!"
That we have failed to generate a perfectly harmonious environment, wherein
all devotees - women, men, children, married, unmarried, sannyasi and
brahmacari are all flourishing and thriving and most importantly eager to give that
"Happiness" to the rest of the world, is obvious to everyone. This is the
"SAMKIRTAN" party of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Everyone is invited and
everyone has his or her own genius to contribute to the party. And, most importantly, to the discussion as to how to increase the number of invited guests! So no one's participation in that discussion should be ignored or stifled - least of all seasoned senior devotees whose input is tempered, like good steel, by
experience, dedication and ABSOLUTE FAITH in the teachings of our Acarya
Srila Prabhupada and his sacred Mission - The International Society for Krsna
Consciousness.
So in closing all I can say is if the GBC body has had such an incredibly
difficult problem dealing with this almost adolescent problem, is it any
wonder then, that you are having such a difficult time dealing with the truly
enormous problems, that have arisen as a direct result of your failure to do your job correctly. I could address some of the more serious self-inflicted wounds
you are going to have to address in the near future, but if your stalling and
waffling on this insignificant matter is any indication of the future, then
I am afraid it's going to be a bumpy ride! ONE GRAIN OF RICE TAKEN FROM THE POT IS ALL THAT IS NEEDED TO TELL IF THE ENTIRE POT IS COOKED.
These are some of my thoughts Maharaja. I know that I speak rather directly. I do not mean to offend but I feel pressed to speak what I feel is the
truth, if anyone is offended by my statements I am sorry.
Ever your loving brother and servant
Praghosa Das
