Dark Days of ISKCON at Bhaktivedanta Manor
BY: A CONCERNED DEVOTEE
Dec 12, 2011 — UK (SUN) —
Just today I received my regular e-invitation from the College of Vedic Studies. The invitations never say where this mythical "college" is located. If you are not part of the in-crowd, you have to perform a web search. Naturally the invitation in my mailbox for the latest course does not mention Hare Krishna or any affiliation whatsoever with ISKCON. A web search found that the "college" is "based" at Bhaktivedanta Manor. Their website also claims that Bhaktivedanta Manor is the "home of the Hare Krishna Movement." That's a stretch in itself. But in many places, ISKCON has given up preaching the Absolute Truth because either they have forgotten it, or never knew it in the first place. They have substituted euphemistic stretches and the wholesaling of "Vedic culture" in exchange for pure devotional service. Especially at Bhaktivedanta Manor.
If you are not on their mailing list, here is a sample of what the "College of Vedic Studies" offers.
Ayurveda and Living Ahimsa
with Maya Tiwari
In this up-close and inspirational weekend workshop, we learn to apply the profound intent of ahimsa and to live a life enriched by joy, humour, love and wellness. This program is designed with the following inter-active components:
Ayurveda Workshop—Women's Power to Heal
* Living Ahimsa in thoughts, speech and action
Practicing Living Ahimsa
* Developing Ahimsa Awareness in everyday life
Learn Ayurveda's ancient lunar practices for women of all ages, and backgrounds and how it can transform disease and despair into health and inner harmony. You will learn to care for your reproductive health, reclaim your natural cycles in accord with lunar rhythms, and restore your feminine beauty.
Women's Power to Heal through Inner Medicine
Saturday, November 26th, 2011
9:30am-12pm/1:30pm–4:30pm
Course Fee: £85 (includes Vegetarian lunch and refreshments)
Living Ahimsa
Sunday, November 27th, 2011
9:30am–12:00 pm
Course Fee: £35 (includes refreshments)
There's more, Prabhus. Here is one of the many Mayavadi books sold at the College of Vedic Studies. It is listed on their site, right above Radhanath Swami's book, Nectar Drops:
Read it and weep: Is this why Srila Prabhupada left Vrindavana and came to the West,
so we could become Mayavadis?
Really, if they want to teach Vedic studies, they should build a sacred fire and burn all their Mayavadi books. That would be a real yagna. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada left everything and lived very austerely in Delhi and later in New York in order to found the Hare Krishna Movement. But he was successful by the grace of Sri Guru and Gauranga, and many of his early devotees caught his missionary spirit of spreading Krishna consciousness. Following in the footsteps of their Guru Maharaja, they gave up everything so that the world could rejoice in the genuine world yagna of Hari Nama Sankirtana.
Many men and women devotees laid down their lives in the process. They died preaching the glories of the sankirtan movement. There were many serious accidents wherein devotees were killed. Who remembers these devotees? Or in the early days in India, likewise many devotees became ill with diseases and died. Was their sacrifice in vain? Do you know someone who gave his life for the sake of spreading Srila Prabhupada's message of Krishna consciousness? Those who weren't killed in the war on Maya sacrificed the best years of their lives so that the world could become reborn into a new age of Bhagavata Dharma, wherein the principles of Bhagavad-gita As It Is will become a part and parcel of human civilization.
If you could ask those devotees who gave up their lives on the streets and highways of the world if they made the ultimate sacrifice for "restoring feminine beauty" -- as the Mayavadi flyer presented above states -- do you think they would agree to it? Seriously, did those noble Prabhus die so that others could pay a hefty fee, eat refreshments and enjoy "a life enriched by wellness"?
And what about Srila Prabhupada? Do you think that His Divine Grace would approve of his work, his very life mission, being watered down to this, to augment "woman's power to heal"? Is that why the World Acharya sat alone under a tree in Thomkins Square Park? Is nothing sacred to the ISKCON mis-leaders who will sell out the bold message of Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu for the Buddhist principle of ahimsa?
Let's face it, Prabhus. The dark days of ISKCON and the Eleven Hijackers are still with us. There is a shadow of evil hovering over ISKCON, a toxic cloud with an enchanting smile. So enchanting, that the leaders who should be speaking up are dumbfounded into silence. Many of the elder devotees have long ago simply marched away in disgust. They have taken to isolated living, praying for the advent of an acharya who can turn the tide on a corrupt GBC that sells out Krishna consciousness for imitation joy, humor and love--and practicing ahimsa, non-violence like a coterie of peace-loving Buddhists.
They do not know that their ahimsa is the worst type of violence because they are stealing from the pure devotee. The plain truth right in front of their noses is that the GBC will be punished for these offenses against Srila Prabhupada. They have hijacked Bhaktivedanta Manor, the greatest Vedic center in all of Europe, in exchange for a few pounds sterling.
Our voices should be raised against this outrage. Where are the great Editors like Jayadvaita Swami now? He was brilliant enough to know what Srila Prabhupada meant, as shown by his license to go on editing perpetually. Where is he now that the movement itself needs editing? Where is Sivarama Swami, who was GBC there at the Manor for many years? Does he approve of the Manor being turned into a Vedic Mickey Mouse Club? What about Bhakti Charu Swami? Are his disciples at the Manor too busy doing business to raise their voices of protest? Or is Bhakti Charu the very one who sponsors such indignations?
Hey, Prabha Vishnu, where are you? You were a brahmachary at the Manor and you are now a GBC. Are you only speaking pithy proverbs to sound wise and to impress your disciples, or are you going to stand up and do the right thing in the face of this demonic tyranny? Jananananda and Maha Vishnu, you have been active preachers in England for decades. Or have you now become part of the "I'm OK, you're OK" crowd, too? Get your feet out of the foot shampoo and do the right thing!
Well then, since the cat has the tongue of all the swamis and leaders, why can't you speak up, Parasuram? You live there. The fact is that they need you more than you can imagine, and your voice has more weight than you realize. Why won't you tell them? I know that your local GBC is mad beyond reason, but if you think real hard, you might find a way to make him realize his position.
Is there no voice of conscience left on the GBC? Apparently not. While the GBC bows down before the Samadhi of Kirtanananda, the graves of the devotees who sacrificed their lives are treated as little more than garbage heaps.
GBC Members Gopal Krishna Goswami and Radhanath Swami, along with ISKCON President Panchagauda das bow before the tomb of Kirtanananda. It seems that the GBC is more interested in tombs than in the living state of ISKCON, which is rapidly turning Mayavada.
