Text 893903 (162 lines)
From:     Ananda (das) ACBSP (Victoria - CAN)
Date:     11-Nov-97 13:23 -0800
Cc:       Premarnava (das) HKS (GBC Corr. Secretary) (NE-BBT) [18453]
            (received: 12-Nov-97 13:10 +0100)
            (sender: Mukhya (dd) HKS (NE-BBT Bulgarian)),
          Global Free Forum [3160]
            (sender: Raktambara (das) HKS (SysOp) (NE-BBT))
Subject:  Pick up the baton and carry on the race
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Recently one of the sincere followers of Lord Krishna living in a town 
some distance from any temple sent me an extremely heartfelt letter. I 
would like to respond to a few of the points he made therein and, because 
I think the points are of sufficiently general interest, I am 
distributing this message rather widely. 

Following is the text of my reply to him:

=================================================

Dear --

I am sorry you are unable to find good qualities in present-day ISKCON 
gurus. Among those of us who knew Srila Prabhupad, it is impossible to 
compare any other person to him. But people who are sincerely attempting 
to guide disciples to Krishna should be encouraged in every way. Theirs 
is a thankless task which they have assumed not for personal glory or 
aggrandisement, but out of a sense of duty. After all, now that Prabhupad 
has disappeared from the scene, what is the alternative? People are still 
attracted to Krishna Consciousness; the philosophy is timeless and 
unalterable; people need guidance on the path. The imperative of the 
Bhagavad-gita is clear: one MUST approach a spiritual master. And the 
Svetasvatara Upanishad similarly states that ONLY to one who has 
simultaneous faith in both Krishna and the spiritual master are all the 
purports of Vedic knowledge revealed.

The difficulty arises, I understand, because several people who have at 
one point been willing to assume the mantle of guruship have 
unfortunately fallen from their strength of sannyas, lost their gravity, 
or left Krishna Consciousness altogether. This is extremely unfortunate; 
I am sure it pains Srila Prabhupad; but again what was the alternative? 
Srila Prabhupad, I am sure, knew past, present and future; he was in a 
position to foresee that many of the disciples to whom he would give 
initiation or high position would have difficulties later. In the 
meantime they were able to offer good service to the movement which was 
so dear to his heart.

Like a swan who can separate milk from water, Srila Prabhupad accepted 
the good service these devotees were able to execute, and tried 
assiduously to give them the strength to avoid their falldown. No one 
could have tried harder than Srila Prabhupad to preach continuously to 
all his disciples about the urgency for Krishna Consciousness. The 
downfall of people whom he placed in positions of authority should not be 
a cause for us to reject the institutions he established, or to lose 
faith in his mission. Prabhupad used to say that when we enter Krishna 
Consciousness it is tantamount to declaring war upon Maya Devi. And Maya 
Devi does not easily dismiss such a challenge. In a war there will be 
casualties. We can only pray for the fallen down ones and hope for their 
rectification. We note that Krishna never forgets even the slightest 
service performed on His behalf.

If we were on a journey and started out with a guide who had promised to 
take us all the way to our destination, but the guide were to tumble from 
the steep path, then we would need to accept another guide in his place; 
we would not arbitrarily give up the journey. The spiritual master gives 
us guidance, but ultimately we have to fly our own plane. We have the 
responsibility to seek out a guru, and the guru takes the responsibility 
to guide us, but if he fails his responsibility, we still have our own 
responsibility.

If we were all seated together in a lifeboat on storm-tossed seas, and 
far away from any sight of land, which approach would be more helpful -- 
to cry, 'The captain's gone and we are doomed; the boat must surely sink; 
we'll soon be out of provisions; no one will come to help us!' or to say, 
'Hold on. Trust in Krishna. I'm sure that help is on its way. Be strong 
and of good courage, and we'll all survive together.'?

Initiating guru and siksha guru need not always be the same person. Many 
have taken advice from several gurus, including great personalities like 
Narada Muni and Rishabha Deva. We can always accept guidance from anyone 
who possesses a little developed wisdom, even if the person is not wholly 
perfect. Every saint has a past; every sinner has a future. Be assured 
that if the spiritual aspirant be sincere, he or she will surely find a 
spiritual master at the appropriate time. Krishna never leaves His 
devotee bereft.

Sometimes it may be helpful to think of each of one's gurus as helping 
one a little further along the way. At one point, before she came to 
Krishna Consciousness, my wife took shelter of a guru not in our Gaudiya 
lineage who was nevertheless a sincere soul and servant of Krishna. This 
guru loved to chant the Holy Name, taught his followers to accept 
vegetarian prashadam, and engaged them in various types of seva and 
sadhana. She knows other people who were formerly his disciples who have 
now become ISKCON devotees. We think of the spiritual master as the 
captain of the ship who enables us to cross the treacherous ocean of 
birth and death. Before coming to see the full expanse of this ocean, a 
person may have had to cross many streams and rivers; we should not 
reject the help previously afforded us by the creek-fording gurus when we 
finally meet the seagoing Captain.

It is very sad when devotees work hard to earn lakshmi to support a 
project, only to see the project lost or sold at a loss because of poor 
management. Srila Prabhupad did not specifically recruit graduates of 
Business Administration programs; he looked for serious inquirers after 
the Absolute Truth. But when we consider whether to purchase a piece of 
land or a building, we need the expertise of good managers. In too many 
cases devotees innocent of worldly realities have been cheated by 
materialistic persons; in too many cases such devotees have accepted 
mortgage deals that included impossible balloon payments at the end 
because the devotees could not have met the normal monthly payments; and 
in too many cases individual devotees have fallen victim to 
acquisitiveness and desire to have a larger project than that of a 
godbrother. Slow and steady has always won the race; and it is very 
hurtful when the get-rich-quick or the get-big-quick mentality overtakes 
common sense. Some have bitten off more than they could chew because they 
have been greedy to serve Krishna, and have not had the financial acumen 
to manage Krishna's money properly. Still, we should attempt to be 
forgiving, as we assume the people involved to have learnt their costly 
lesson. Now we must train the second and third and fourth generation 
ISKCON devotees to be skillful in many areas; just as the Bible has it: 
"As innocent as doves and as wise as serpents."

If the GBC be imperfect, that is unfortunate. It does not follow that the 
GBC has no function altogether. As far as the usefulness for Canada is 
concerned, HH Bir Krsna Maharaj and other GBC members have been quite 
helpful in similar situations where sannyasis have left, both in 
counselling and guiding the devastated devotees. It is important that 
devotees have someone to go to if temple authorities are not managing 
well and it is important for the managers to know that someone is not 
only looking over their shoulders to maintain the standards, but is 
available to provide expertise and assistance where guidance is needed.

Sometimes it must seem that devotees are continually sniping at each 
other, particularly if you only read the e-mail. E-mail seems to 
encourage instant snappy comebacks among some people, which they later 
regret when they see them rebounding all over the electronic ether, but 
by that time the words cannot be recalled. We should consider e-mail in 
the same light as the printed word, and consider our messages carefully. 
Having written something, it is always a good idea to save the message 
and hold it for at least a day to reread and reconsider. Of course, the 
same applies to speech, but at least speech does not travel so far, so 
quickly. If we say something intemperate in our youth and later regret 
those words, we can avoid saying them in future. Lord Buddha used to say 
that we had three opportunities not to say something: We should ask 
ourselves, "Is it true? Is it good? Is it kind?" And the Bhagavad-gita 
mentions austerity of speech. Still, if harsh or intemperate words are 
uttered or e-mailed, the people involved can always apologise and 
forgive. Forgiveness is such a nice feeling; it means that one no longer 
carries the burning stone of anger in his stomach; he literally gives it 
up.

I know how difficult it is to be in the Interior, and isolated from any 
nearby temple. I have lived in Castlegar, Salmo, Cranbrook, Kelowna and 
Campbell River. Having found no temple in any of those towns, and having 
moved to Victoria only to find the devotees managing the temple programs 
unable to continue, my wife and I have decided to take the bull by the 
horns and establish our own small preaching centre here in Victoria. This 
can be done by serious householders anywhere; it is how Srila Prabhupad 
started many of the early temples; what worked then can work today. And 
while telephone charges are prohibitively high to permit regular contact, 
now there is the advantage of e-mail; it can facilitate contact amongst 
devotees which was previously impossible and unheard of.

In conclusion, the best advice that I can in all humility offer you is to 
remain steady in your Krishna Consciousness, and to set a good example of 
devotion and faith in Krishna for your family; if you become despairing, 
then what hope do your dependents have?

All glories to Sri Guru and Lord Gauranga!

Best wishes,
Ananda das
(Text 893903) ----------------------------------------------