BY: ROCANA DASA
Jan 02, CANADA (SUN) — A weekly response to Dandavats editorials.
Today's Obeisances is in response to the recent article by Praghosa dasa entitled, "From Credit Crunches to Prasadam Lunches". I fail to understand Praghosa's choice of title for this article, given that he only briefly mentions prasadam lunches at the end. The article primarily deals with the current state of global economic affairs, known by the media phrase as "the credit crunch."
Praghosa dasa begins by equating the "credit crunch" sound bite with karma, carpe deim, and so forth. He states that it has vaulted into everyone's lexicon because of the exceptional economic circumstances that have dominated the media, awakening everyone to the stark reality of how the global economy is run, and the false principles that have been contributing to what the materialists have been touting as "economic development."
Praghosa does not define the term "credit crunch" with any clarify whatsoever, but rather makes the mistake of saying that the experts consider this crisis to be the direct result of the U.S. economy falling apart. That, however, is a simplistic and inaccurate assessment, and it's really not what the experts are saying. Rather, they are acknowledging what is a very complex global phenomenon comprised of rampant greed and dishonesty (if not outright criminal behaviour) on the part of the international financial professions, failing fiat currencies, broken carry trades, the effects of globalization and ever-shrinking commodities on developing nations' GDP (gross domestic product), and the now-debunked myth of "decoupling" which pandits once believed would save the U.S. from a global recession. So this is about far more than just the U.S. economy falling apart. In fact, many indicators show that the UK is going to be in far worse shape than the U.S. till it's all said and done.
Praghosa dasa states that "everyone and their pet dog" can see that the financial pandits don't have a clue what's coming down the road from here, and I tend to agree. But from my standpoint, I would also like to point out to the reader how interestingly similar this characterization is to Praghosa's own situation. As the reader knows, Praghosa has assumed the responsibility of a GBC, and in that capacity he is directly responsible to manage a very large zone, namely all of Ireland and the UK, which includes England, Wales and Scotland. The primary facility in the zone is the Bhaktivedanta Manor, situated in the suburbs of one of the biggest cities on the planet, namely London.
Now to my knowledge, within Praghosa dasa's zone there is no concerted effort whatsoever to implement some of the truths and recommendations he has outlined in his article, which have been exhaustively stated by the Vedas and commented upon by Srila Prabhupada. Praghosa even included a quote from the famous U.S. President, Thomas Jefferson, on the subject of the benefits of a rural lifestyle compared to an urban lifestyle. One is heaven, and one is basically hell; one is God-centered, and the other is created, controlled and run by the demoniac forces.
As Praghosa clarifies, Thomas Jefferson was a non-devotee. By definition that means he was under the control of the modes of nature. At the same time, he was alive during a very crucial period in American history, during the creation of the United States of America and their formulation of a Constitution and Bill of Rights, which he helped to compose.
The Vedas tell us the truth, which Praghosa dasa doesn't share with us here, and that is that all civilizations are on a great wheel, equivalent to samsara. At the time of Jefferson, the U.S. was transitioning from religion, which was the founding principle the pilgrims brought with them, further into religiosity. The pilgrims came west not only to escape religious persecution, but also to develop the agricultural potential of America. Once that was established, then economic development could take root. And the reason it could take root is that the religion was not pure. It was contaminated by material motivations, i.e., the desire to enjoy the material world. So Jefferson obviously observed this phenomenon, and although he didn't have access to Vedic knowledge, he was very intelligent and he observed this transition taking place. He disliked how the mode of passion was eclipsing the mode of goodness, to the degree it could manifest within the context of Christian religiosity and rural living.
Among Thomas Jefferson's main claims to fame is not the statement that Praghosa dasa has included in his article, but rather this statement:
"A bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular; and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference."
Now if we look at this statement by Jefferson and we reflect on how ISKCON is managed, we can see some very interesting parallels. Of course, Praghosa dasa is a direct manager on the highest platform of ISKCON, being a GBC. We have observed that more than 30 years after Srila Prabhupada's manifest departure, the GBC have not come up with a constitution, what to speak of a bill of rights that protects principles such as those alluded to by Jefferson in the above quote. As we know, the U.S. Bill of Rights enshrines the power of the individual over the power of government, but no such rights exist in ISKCON.
So in both cases, whether it's the emphasis on rural living or the emphasis on the importance of the individual over the institution, Praghosa dasa and his cohorts on the GBC have failed miserably to attain for the ISKCON society what Thomas Jefferson pursued on behalf of the American people.
The GBC have failed to create rural programs that are based on the principle of self-sufficiency. In fact, their entire economic circumstances are intertwined like a Gordian knot with the overall economic climate in the countries where our temples exist. This is especially true in Ireland, a country whose economy has been severely impacted by the credit crunch, what to speak of the UK.
Whether it's a restaurant where you count on clients coming in with their disposable income, or a temple depending on their congregation being affluent enough to willingly give part of their discretionary income to the temple in the form of a donation, in both cases, everyone and his dog can see that ISKCON is going to be in serious trouble if this downward spiraling of the world economy moves into a depressionary state. Unfortunately, all indications are that we're headed in just that direction. And what preparations have the GBC made to help protect Srila Prabhupada's temples and preaching projects?
The solution, as Praghosa dasa himself says in this article, is to grow our own food and live a simple life, weaning ourselves from dependency on the false economy. What Srila Prabhupada states in the quote inserted in Praghosa's article (EK 2) is, of course, absolutely true. In his purport to Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.17.39, Srila Prabhupada addresses the fact that the economy is not based upon the gold standard, in the true sense of the word. In other words, they're printing more money (fiat currency) than they have gold to cover. In 1971, when the economy was struggling, the U.S. gave up the gold standard altogether and created an even more artificial monetary standard, which is now collapsing entirely.
As always, I like to equate Srila Prabhupada's comments not so much to overall world circumstances, which we have little or no control over and limited interest in, but rather to the circumstances found within his own institution. And the fact that these comments of Srila Prabhupada's are purports means that they are meant for us as devotees to learn from, in our creation and maintenance of what he has created - the International Society for Krishna Consciousness - with the emphasis on 'society'.
If you look honestly at ISKCON's history, especially after Srila Prabhupada's departure, it's not hard to see that ISKCON has also developed on an artificial standard. The collecting of money by selling paraphernalia and implementing cheating techniques for collection of donations were essentially dishonest, artificial methods of funding our preaching activities. And as a result, there have been severe reactions. As Srila Prabhupada says in his purport, there are huge costs - the costs of many lives, in addition to the money.
As I've pointed out in other articles, numerous court cases have plagued ISKCON and have drained a great deal of its resources. So you can easily draw a parallel between these reactions for a false economy experienced by ISKCON, and what the global economies are experiencing today. This false economy has caused many devotees their spiritual lives, and that's a very high price indeed.
We often point to the Zonal Acarya system, or the current mega-gurus within ISKCON today, and how rich and powerful they are. That's why they like to call themselves "Maharaja" rather than "Swami" -- they have essentially created a false economy, in the sense that a lot of the income coming into the movement goes directly to them. They personally control it. Consequently, we find many of the temples are poor, while the gurus are rich. And that is an economic phenomenon -- an economic system that is false. It's not based on Srila Prabhupada's plan, nor is it based on the mode of goodness. Their money is essentially spoiled, and consequently many of them have been cheated out of this money. I could give a great many historical references on that point, but I'll leave it up to the readers to do their own investigation. Suffice to say, it's just a true fact.
So because the gurus have control over the money and ISKCON, and the GBC have control over a vast amount of money, we can see how relevant to ISKCON are the statements made by Praghosa dasa in his article. He refers to 'those who have money and enjoy separately from the Lord.' Now, I would say this is non-different from enjoying the assets of ISKCON, separate from ISKCON. The money is being given to them to use for Srila Prabhupada but because of their lack of advancement, they see it as their own money, and no institution is going to tell them what to do with it. So they're really enjoying the money separate from Krsna. They like to present ISKCON as non-different from Srila Prabhupada, and always say that it's Srila Prabhupada's creation, so if they're enjoying money that is given to Srila Prabhupada via ISKCON, then they're sense gratifiers. It's as simple as that.
Praghosa dasa mentions that when you have all this money, you tend to defend yourself if you're a powerful member of society. This is in direct competition with the vision of the Acaryas, where we are promoting the power of love, namely bhakti and the Sankirtana movement. Love of God is now being transformed by the leaders into love of power. For example, they use the institution through its managerial mechanism, the GBC, to enshrine legislation (Resolutions) which essentially protect them. Nowhere is this more evident then in the way they came down hard on the Rtvik phenomenon. Their disavowal of Rtvik-ism is not really based on the fact that it's a deviation from the philosophy, and none of the GBC's articles defending their philosophical position are very substantial. And that's because their own definition of the guru is as bogus as the Rtvik system. Of course, in their papers they don't address their own deviations, like rubber-stamped gurus, reinitiating disciples, retiring sannyasis and gurus, etc. What it really came down to was that if Rtvik-vada were allowed to flourish, then they would have had to complete with Srila Prabhupada, and under those circumstances they would obviously have lost their power. So those who took over ISKCON when Srila Prabhupada left, i.e., the Zonal Acaryas, they understood full well that the power is in the position of guru, and that stands today as the reality in ISKCON. They grabbed that power and they don't ever want to let go of it.
If you look at Vedic culture, you don't see that the gurus have all the power of the society or the kingdom. You see that the power is evenly distributed, primarily between the kshatriyas and the vaisyas. The brahmans are supposed to be transcendental -- not interested at all in economic power. So this is certainly not the ISKCON reality. Now we're not sure exactly where Praghosa dasa stands in relationship to the power struggle going on within the GBC, but because he's a householder, he seems to favour the GBC being more powerful than the gurus. Of course, this is also a lesson in futility.
Praghosa goes on to offer a strange example of how in Europe, there's a phenomenon where families take their children right up to the North Pole to see if Santa Clause exists. When the children find out that he doesn't exist, they become disturbed. In the same way, we can see the whole guru phenomenon in ISKCON. The concept being promoted of pure devotee diksa gurus is not unlike Santa Clause. The gurus promote themselves as being able to dole out all sorts of benedictions and help to their disciples with any kind of obstacle they face. But when the disciple finds out that the guru is not what he purports to be, what he is promoted to be, then they have a far greater traumatic experience than kids discovering that Santa Clause is simply a "willow-o-the-wisp".
Perhaps Praghosa dasa got the idea of referring to Santa Clause from the ex-GBC for the UK, Sivarama Swami, who is apparently having his disciples dress-up the Deities as Santa and Mrs. Clause, instead of Radha and Krsna. We all know that Krsna is the Cause of all Causes, not the Clause of all causes. So this is unbonafide, untraditional, and unacceptable. I can just imagine Srila Prabhupada seeing those Deities and being aghast!
This, too, is symptomatic of the decline of ISKCON into banal religiosity. The transition that Thomas Jefferson was seeing in America at the beginning of the 1800's is somewhat akin to what we're seeing within ISKCON today. We've gone long past the point where the society was based on simplicity and the mode of goodness, following the word of Guru, Sadhu and Sastra. Today the gurus have gained economic power, and they're introducing all sorts of bogus concoctions, just like Sivarama's Santa Clause Deity outfits. And it all goes unchallenged by the GBC, because they share in the fundamental corruption. In this way they are just like the corrupt men in government and the banking industry, whose actions are now bringing the global economy to its knees.
At the end of his article, Praghosa dasa suggests that the whole economy can be sustained by prasadam lunch. Is he suggesting that everyone should go to his restaurant and have a lunch, and the economy will be corrected? Or is he trying to say that everything that goes into that prasadam lunch was grown on our own land, and we're showing people how they can live simply by depending on what Krsna has given us, namely the earth, the seeds, and the intelligence to reap the benefit of Krsna's arrangements? No, he doesn't say that… he just says "prasadam lunch". Nor do his efforts in his zone reflect on the concept of simple living and relying on what Krsna has given. The only prasadam lunch you can get is at the temple or at one of his restaurants, where most if not all of the bhoga is bought from karmi food wholesalers. I'm sure much of it is flown in from various parts of the world, where the economy is also self-destructing. Just as Praghosa's definition of the "credit crunch" is inadequate and incorrect, so his conclusion on the "prasadam lunch" is lacking in clarity.
Obeisances to Dandavats, and to HG Praghosa dasa.
