BY: ROCANA DASA
Dec 4, CANADA (SUN) — A weekly response to Dandavats editorials.
Each week I peruse the Dandavats site to see if anything strikes my interest and offers the opportunity to make some analytical comment. While some readers may think I'm just looking for the proverbial 'dirt', that's really not my mentality. In fact, I'm having some difficulty finding articles on Dandavats that are philosophical enough in nature to merit commentary. This may come as a surprise given the amount of content Praghosa dasa produces each week, but it's true nonetheless.
I have always been surprised at how little philosophical writing is being done by my friends and Godbrothers within the institution. Considering how many gurus and sannyasis are all under the ISKCON umbrella, one would think many scholarly and philosophical articles would be published each week. In fact, ISKCON has been notoriously cavalier about applying the philosophy and given the number of tsunami-like philosophical deviations they've undertaken, I suppose it's not surprising that the free flow of intellectual thought has become constrained.
That said, there is one category of written work you can find in the movement, and that genre has become prolific - almost epidemic. I am referring to the autobiographies, memoirs and diaries in relation to Srila Prabhupada written by the devotees. Quite likely, such writings are yet another symptom of the Lilamrta syndrome.
It seems that many devotees are only inspired to write about their own pastimes. I realize that the 'early days' phenomenon in ISKCON was rare, and those devotees who had more direct association with Srila Prabhupada than others are the repository of many interesting stories. These devotees belong to a special group that they want everyone to know about. Of course, if they're talking about Srila Prabhupada, then everybody wants to hear. At the same time, because the writer is telling about what they personally experienced, it gives them a bit of celebrity status in ISKCON. While some may feel I'm callous for saying so, I find that I'm somewhat suspicious about what motivates the devotees to write about their pastimes in this way. Not only does it result in their gaining notoriety, but in some cases it gives them a steady cash flow as well.
As I've mentioned innumerable times, the tendency I see exhibited by many newer devotees is to gobble up this content. In their minds, it's as though they're hearing the equivalent of sastra. They seem to give little consideration to who the personalities actually are that write these books, how long ago the events depicted in the book actually took place, and how many times the stories have been told, retold and often embellished over that extended period of time. I recently heard one 'old-timer' of celebrity status state that when they read a certain memoir book a friend of theirs wrote, they were surprised that the stories were not at all how they remembered the events taking place. This well-known dynamic is called "the grapevine", and it takes a great deal of attention, skill and determination to not slightly modify a message as it's passed along the chain. The accurate message is not only lost in the re-telling, it's lost to the memory of the original storyteller, as well. Krsna is Forgetfulness, and we are all affected by it.
The conditioned soul not only has a poor memory, which is one of the symptoms of Kali Yuga, but they also have a tendency to over-glorify themselves. While it's hard to over-glorify Srila Prabhupada, how one tells a story is essentially tied to how they see themselves, who their friends are, etc. While all this has to be taken into account by the reader, it is seldom clarified by the writer, who doesn't generally like to remind us that the contents of his memoir are only true to the best of his memory. In the case of devotee authors writing about the early days, most were very young while Srila Prabhupada enjoyed his manifest ISKCON lila. We can assume that their impressions from that time would have been very much different than if they were having the experiences now, considering the fact that we're supposed to have been making advancement over the last 30 years. Yet many memoirs are written like gospel, and we must assume that either the writer presents the stories through the filter of memory, adjusting them according to his or her current realizations, or they tell the stories exactly as they remember them, in which case realization and recollection will stand between the actual event and how it is told today on the page of a memoir.
Just the other day I was at the local temple, and an eager, bright-faced young woman approached me, pulling out a very expensive looking, slick memoir book she wanted me to buy. She had been given a case to distribute during her travels and she was super-enthusiastic, almost pushy, for me to pay the rather exhorbitent selling price. I didn't inform her that unfortunately, she was talking to someone well known for not indulging in these books. In fact, I don't recommend that anyone partake of them. I admit that to a certain degree this is due to my strong abhorrence of the Lilamrta, which was the first of a seemingly endless series of such books. Having been conditioned by ISKCON's promotion of the Lilamrta, which they read and accept as being sastra-like, many devotees now buy today's memoir books and without thinking, accept them in much the same way.
Aside from these dangers, we should consider all the resources that have gone into writing these books. When you consider the investment of human effort - the time it's taken an individual to write the book, have it typed, edited, typeset, printed, and distributed - it's an amazing amount of input. But for what results, in comparison to putting all that energy and resource into Srila Prabhupada's books? The fact of the matter is that you can't even order some of Srila Prabhupada's books anymore, let alone put your hands on a case to distribute. These transcendental resources are not being properly attended to by ISKCON. Meanwhile, groups of devotees are promoting their guru's books and individual devotees are promoting their own memoirs, thinking this is devotional service and is somehow the equivalent of printing and distributing Srila Prabhupada's books, which of course it isn't. Some of the authors would probably admit this, while others believe they're performing a great service to Srila Prabhupada by distributing their remembrances of him. Whether or not that's true is very subjective. When I read excerpts from these books, it doesn't take me long to find statements that appear to be unbonafide, whether it's the writer's personal glorification of themselves, their sentimental and un-philosophical presentation of the pure devotee, or other unbonafide content or literary mechanics.
To get back to my search for a Dandavats item of interest, I'd like to offer a few comments on the recent article written by Mahatma dasa called the Unknown History of Big Book Distribution.
Mahatma prabhu begins by saying that this article is part of a book that he's writing. Unfortunately he didn't have enough direct association with Srila Prabhupada to justify writing a memoir. Instead, his literary efforts might be characterized as "phase two" -- devotees are talking about their own personal pastimes within the context of ISKCON during Srila Prabhupada's lila period. Of course, they don't describe Prabhupada or ISKCON in those terms, but more in terms of themselves and the part they played in his lila.
Mahatma dasa was my first Temple President in Vancouver, British Columbia, which is where I was born and joined the movement. I not only know the story he's telling, but know well the whole incidence and the main pastime player he refers to in his article, Thakura Haridas.
The reason that few devotees have heard about Thakura Haridas's role in "big book distribution" is because he was something of a proverbial 'shooting star'. That's not to say that he didn't get a lot of spiritual benefit from doing what he did at the time. I'm sure it was all part of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's desire that he played a part in sparking the phenomenon of big book distribution. But the way in which the story's apparently being told, as indicated by this Dandavats article, not only begs some philosophical input, I could easily say that the author has painted an overly rosy picture of exactly what transpired.
Thakura Haridas might best be described as a super-passionate extrovert. This in itself helps to make one inclined towards book distribution a likely candidate for success. Of course, when you place that type of personality in the circumstances existing at that time in the movement, you've got the result that is being described by Mahatma dasa. At the same time, many of the local devotees were suspicious that Thakura Haridas made up a lot of his own stories in terms of who he distributed the books to, how much money he got, and so on. This was especially true after the spotlight began to turn on him. The very fact that he soon gave up big book distribution, and went back to being a karmi is, of course, not mentioned in this article. In all fairness, perhaps Mahatma plans to make that part of the larger book.
Personally, when it comes to the phenomenon of the Krsna Book taking off in a big, big way, I would venture to say that in the context of Vancouver, Bahudak das had a lot more to do with it than Mahatma dasa or Thakura Haridas. In the long run, Bahudak was the key player in terms of getting traveling sankirtana parties going and meeting the challenges of book distribution on the road. He's not mentioned in the article, but perhaps the book itself will tell his story. Talking about book distribution in ISKCON today is just one notch down from talking about Srila Prabhupada, so maybe this will start the next wave of memoir books about to hit the marketplace.
I do understand how tempting it is to get into telling the stories of our past exploits as devotees in the early days. Whenever I go to a gathering outside of my home community and people discover that I joined when I did, back in 1970, they want to hear all my stories about meeting Srila Prabhupada and the different circumstances we experienced. Like all the 'old timers', I have a Rolodex of stories that are somewhat along the lines of what Mahatma dasa is putting out here. This is a natural dynamic; when the older devotees get together with 'younger' ones, we tend to tell stories and entertain people. It's difficult for the conditioned soul not to want to be the cynosure of everyone's eyes, to look better than we actually are. Even though Srila Prabhupada is mentioned during these storytelling sessions and his books are put on a pedestal, it's often true that the message coming across is that the teller is a 'special' devotee. Considering the trinad api sunicena principle of being humbler than a blade of grass, this goes against our philosophy.
I tried my best in the Sampradaya Acarya paper to clearly state my vision that in the days during Srila Prabhupada's ISKCON lila period, we relatively poor actors stepped up for the audition and were instantly and automatically put on stage. So long as we followed the program, chanted and so on, it took very little pre-qualification to be included. We suddenly found ourselves almost surcharged with an energy we couldn't even identify, and which in many cases seemed foreign to our own natures. Being neophytes, we didn't recognize where that energy was coming from, and it was ultimately coming from Krsna, due to the fact that Srila Prabhupada, as a Sampradaya Acarya, was sent by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu to do what he did. As such, Krsna empowered anybody who was willing to help and participate in this phenomenon. Just like when Krsna arrives to have his pastimes, the demigods are sent and the sages and everyone are waiting in line to take part in the pastime. In Srila Prabhupada's circumstance I'm not trying to suggest that we were demigods, by I am saying that one of the principles Sri Caitanya wanted to exhibit was that Krsna consciousness would not only be distributed around the world, but would be given indiscriminately to anyone, without any consideration for their material circumstances. In other words, He opened the floodgates of love of God and we westerners became examples of this principle.
Srila Prabhupada himself used this phenomenon as a preaching tool or a way of demonstrating how the Hare Krsna maha-mantra and the process of Krsna consciousness that he was distributing was so extraordinarily potent. He would point to the hippies who had turned into happies, all the bright-faced boys and girls, and in a sense we were his proof that the process is what he says it is, and what Lord Caitanya says it is. One of the aspects of this transcendental scenario that needs to be seriously re-thought is the fact that we didn't have a clue at the time that this was actually what was going on. Consequently, the natural tendency was for us to think that we were the doers. In other words, many of us came away thinking that there was something intrinsically glorious about ourselves, that we were capable of accomplishing almost inconceivable tasks. Proof in point, Mahatma dasa gives us the perfect example by the over-glorifications contained in his article. Without any attempt to put the circumstance into the sort of philosophical framework described above, the author conveys a story about the spiritual potency of personalities who, due to their good fortune, were at the right place at the right time.
We hear so much from the big book distributors these days that reminds me of Mahatma's approach in his article. I admittedly was not among that group, nor was Mahatma, if memory serves me. The only devotee that I personally know of who seems to have been constantly been doing big book distribution for his entire devotional career is Vaisesika dasa. I'm referring here to those from the 'lila days'. I'm sure there are others I don't know of who also fit this category. Considering the statements made by Mahatma dasa and the statements I hear so often by those who have been empowered, or have learned the technique of big book distribution, they make it sound like they're dancing with the gopis. Of course, Rameswar used to say these things in his early sankirtan newsletters, which cast the book distributors into movie star status. But really, in all honestly, we have to consider the fact that if it was as ecstatic as they're trying to make it out to be, then you'd think these individuals would have stuck with their service in the same way Vaisesika did.
Once Srila Prabhupada's lila wound up, the whole dynamic changed dramatically in ISKCON. Even during Krsna's pastimes, personalities like Arjuna didn't have the same fighting prowess as he did when acting on behalf of Krsna, fulfilling his desire on the battlefield of Kuruksetra. So why wouldn't the same principle apply now at a relative level in terms of Srila Prabhupada and his lila? I find it strange that devotees don't want to accept this to be true.
I find the style of preaching that is imbued with remembering 'the good old days' to be unnecessarily sentimental. I don't think this preaching style achieves the kind of motivational potency those who recite the stories think they're actually generating for the rank and file. In the same way, without the solid philosophical content, I don't think the memoir books serve the kind of purpose their authors think they do, making people more Krsna conscious, loving Srila Prabhupada and Krsna more, motivating people to surrender, etc. I fact, I think the exact opposite is often true. These stories are great entertainment, and they distract the minds of the devotees from our Krsna conscious philosophy. These stories are easier to read than sastra, but when you compare reading the truth found in sastra, as given by a Sampradaya Acarya, with the content found in these memoir books, there's just no comparison in terms of the spiritual benefit you get from reading. And if memoirs are so potent, then why didn't Srila Prabhupada spend a lot more time reminiscing about his early life or his pastimes with Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur? When asked to tell such stories he said that such reminiscences were unimportant, and launched right back into preaching straight philosophy.
One has to consider that the Sampradaya Acarya first wrote the Teachings of Lord Caitanya, which contains the philosophical essence of the Caitanya-caritamrta. Another Sampradaya Acarya, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, chose the Caitanya-caritamrta over the Caitanya Bhagavat because it contained philosophy more than pastimes. So in the same way, I think we should stick with that tradition and talk about philosophy. Personal stories should only be told in the context of philosophy. By doing so, the storytellers will likely be much more careful about over-glorifying themselves and their early exploits, and will keep the focus where it belongs - on Lord Krsna and his pure representative. Considering that no one has yet accurately and philosophically described Srila Prabhupada and his eternal position as a nitya-siddha, it seems to me to be somewhat foolish to just tell more and more stories and avoid talking about who the transparent via media actually is.
We should understand the tendency to tell stories - particularly from the asana - to be what it is, and we should see it for what it is not. It's obviously easier for the many untrained devotees in ISKCON to listen to stories than to grapple with understanding our erudite philosophy. While they may be happier to hear their guru preach about his early day pastimes, it will do little to train them in the science of self-realization.
For the gurus, sannyasis and other senior devotees who put a lot of focus on stories in their classes and lectures, we find that their storytelling ability actually transforms into becoming their bona fides in the eyes of their neophyte followers. In fact, it should be their spiritual potency that recommends them, and that potency is exemplified in classes and lectures that illuminate Gaudiya Vaisnava philosophy as handed down by the Sampradaya Acaryas.
I once gave a class at the Portland (Hillsboro) temple, one of Hari Vilasa dasa's temple properties. After the class, one of the prominent community members came up to me and said he found that my class made him sad, because it made him realize that he's not chanting very good rounds. He said he preferred Hari Vilasa's lectures, because they were very entertaining and made him laugh. This attitude now pervades the culture of ISKCON, and it is not what Srila Prabhupada wanted for us.
For his part, Hari Vilasa seems to believe that he is giving the people what they want. While holding a meeting with a small group of the Hillsboro temple devotees, trying to stabilize the congregation and Sunday programs there, Hari Vilasa's advice to us was that we should not worry about Sunday Feast lectures - classes were just an excuse for people to snooze, and nobody was interested in the classes. If we wanted to succeed in building the congregation, we should just focus on "teaching them how to make chapattis". This advice stunned me, and left others in the small group bewildered and ill at ease. Hari Vilasa, not surprisingly, is very fond of storytelling during his lectures. Perhaps one day he will give us the story of when he learned to make chapattis at Srila Prabhupada's knee. In the meantime, there are many books available for those who wish to consume memoirs and diaries instead of diving ever deeper into the nectar ocean of Srila Prabhupada's vani.
Obeisances to Dandavats and to HG Mahatma dasa.
