Last month I argued that if one examines the empirical evidence, there is no support for the contention that ISKCON and its mother organizations, the Gaudiya Math and its sisters, are empowered as one would expect them to be if they truly possessed a genuine line of initiation. I used three criteria: material wealth and followers, production of advanced followers, and influence on the consciousness of the time. One needs only to look at the beginnings of the Caitanya movement to see what empowerment looks like. Vast numbers of people became followers, temples were built to house the movement's many deities, numerous followers showed signs of advancement on the path of bhakti, and consciousness was profoundly transformed. As an example of the last criterion, one need only recall the huge numbers of songs and poems written in Sanskrit, Bengali, and Braj-bhasha about the love of Radha and Krsna. So profound and lasting was this transformation of consciousness that centuries later it influenced the great Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore who, using (maybe the words adopting, adapting, or stealing would be better) the figures and moods of the bhakti poetry in his Gitanjali, won recognition from the world as India's first and only Nobel prize winner. Perhaps that prize really belongs to Mahaprabhu and his poet followers.
Since the "big bang" of those beginnings, however, not much of that magnitude has happened. The universe has continued to expand at a steady rate, but the only major milestone in the last five centuries seems to have been the expansion of the movement beyond the boundaries of India to the rest of the world. Credit for that seems to lie clearly at the feet of Prabhupada. Other representatives of the Caitanya tradition came West before him, learned and charismatic devotees like Premananda Bharati and Mahanamabrata Brahmacari preceded him by over a half a century. Yet, they appear to have had little success at spreading the faith. Even the Gaudiya Math sent representatives like Swami Bon to try to establish the movement in Europe and again with very moderate success. Prabhupada succeeded where they apparently failed. How can one account for this?
For a long while I held the idea that perhaps over the centuries the movement became too complacent, too self-satisfied with the rich inner world it had access to. Having been given the keys to the inner door in initiation, it became very hard to resist using those keys to enter into the eternal inner world of lila. Why indeed would one want to resist such a thing? Therefore, perhaps Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati and Bhaktivedanta Swami are to be seen as instruments in the hands of Mahaprabhu, instruments capable of doing things for the spread of the movement that duly initiated members would find very difficult to do. If the inner door is closed and locked, one is forced to live and work among the externals, amidst the money, the followers, the public relations, the publications, the land deals, the lawsuits and the temples. Thus, ISKCON and its parent organizations are something like loud noise makers, attracting the attention of the people of the world and drawing them nearer to the world of Caitanya Vaisnavism. Once those people are in orbit around Mahaprabhu it would be easy for some small percentage of them to make the transition into association with Mahaprabhu's authentic followers. If this thesis is correct, then making this transition, though important for some, is not for everybody. Some must remain locked out in the outer realm, at least for a few more lifetimes, in order that the process may go on, the siren may continue. This seems to be what has happened and is continuing to happen.
Maybe something like the understanding outlined above was in Dr. Kapoor's mind when he shattered my safe little ISKCON world by informing me of the absence of initiation in ISKCON and the Gaudiya Math. He himself had taken re-initiation already from Gauranga Das Baba and I recall quite clearly his emotional description of the day on which he met his initiating guru (Baba). He and his wife were overwhelmed by tears of joy. They were literally drenched by their own tears. They recognized him immediately as their guru at their first meeting and he them. Dr. Kapoor's suggestion for me was that I take initiation secretly and remain within ISKCON. This was apparently what he had done, since he had kept up his relationships with his old Gaudiya Math god-brothers. He even recommended Tinkudi Baba as the most advanced of the bhaktas in Braj at the time and as the most likely candidate for my initiating guru. (He also spoke highly of Krsnacarana Das Baba) That was when I began to visit Tinkudi Baba, meeting him for the first time at Manasasarovar in Govardhan. But that story is for another installment. Somehow Dr. Kapoor's advice didn't sit very well with me, however. I had just had my head chewed off a month before by Prabhupada in Mayapur over a plan I had devised to create an accredited guru-kula and that in front of most if not all of the GBC. I can still see the smirks on their greasy, self-indulgent faces, so many swine swaddled in saffron. His words still ring in my ears, too: "Do you think the world needs more scholars?! No! It needs more devotees!" I never could accept the idea that one could not be both a scholar and a devotee and, quite frankly, I still don't. I felt, therefore, out of place in ISKCON and I considered it somewhat hypocritical to take initiation secretly from someone else and then pretend still to be Prabhupada's disciple. I began from that time to plan my departure, looking for an opportunity to slip away quietly and unnoticed into the mists of Braj. But that too is a story for another time.
Looking back at that time from the present I am convinced I did the right thing. Sure, I could have secretly corrected ISKCON's impotence by bringing in an authentic initiation line. My own disciples, if ever I had any, would have been benefitted no doubt and perhaps the worship of that heart-guru ( caitya-guru ) accomplished in the first mantra and first gayatri given in a genuine initiation would have helped me guide ISKCON on more wholesome paths. Still, there is a horrible flaw and obstacle at work in ISKCON and its parents that nothing short of complete separation can correct and this is also why I doubt that the Gaudiya Math and ISKCON are parts of Mahaprabhu's plan. It is to that flaw that we must now turn.
Apart from ISKCON's impotence due to lack of initiation, the flaw that it suffers from is that of serious offense to the holy name. Repeating the holy name requires no initiation and has no limits in terms of proper place, time, or practitioner. Anyone can utter or repeat the holy name and reap the benefit of being in the presence of the holy named, Krsna. The only obstacle that can interrupt this positive influence is an offense to the holy name. That is precisely what has infected the Gaudiya Math and its offshoots (ISKCON). This offense began with Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati himself and is inherited by everyone who counts himself a follower of his. There is, of course, the obvious offense to the holy name, the first on the traditional list of ten, that arises from blasphemy of the saintly (sadhu-ninda). This began in the Gaudiya Math after Bhaktisiddhanta was severely criticized by Pandita RamKrishna Das Baba for not actually being initiated by Gaurakishor Das Baba (see the my first essay). Saraswati's egotistic response was to blast the Babas one and all and why not throw in the caste Goswamis, too. This practice became part of the very institution of the Gaudiya Math and its offshoots. We heard it often enough from Prabhupada in person and in his writings. It became the basis of the instruction to avoid anyone claiming to be a Vaisnava outside of ISKCON, even Prabhupada's own god-brothers. I understand that Prabhupada realized the seriousness of this offense on his death bed, for I heard that he called leading members of the Vrindaban Vaisnava community together, his god-brothers and caste Goswamis alike, and asked for their forgiveness. If only it were so easy.
The really serious offense to the holy name, however, comes from neglect of the guru ( gurv-avajna ), the third offense. Not to take proper initiation is to commit the offense of neglecting the guru and that is a powerful obstacle to the holy name. The great commentator Visvanatha Cakravartin gave an interesting characterization of the way this offense works in his commentary on the Bhagavata Purana 6.2.9-10. He says: "Some people are always engaging their senses in the sense objects like cows and asses and don't know, even in their dreams, 'who is God, what is devotion, who is the guru.' Such inoffensive persons are saved even without a guru by repeating the holy name in the manner of 'semblance of holy name' (namabhasa) like Ajamila and others. Others, however, have the discriminating knowledge: 'Hari is to be worshipped, worship is the way to attain him, the guru is the instructor of that, people of the past have attained Hari by means of the devotion taught by the guru,' and yet, on the basis of claims that 'initiation, good practice, and expiation are not needed; the mere touch of this mantra, composed of the name of Krsna, on the tongue brings the results' and on the basis of the example of Ajamila and others, think 'why should I go to the trouble of finding a guru? By kirtana of the holy name alone I will get the lord.' They, because of this great offense of neglecting the guru, will not attain the lord. In that lifetime itself, or in another lifetime when that offense becomes eliminated, they too will find shelter at the feet of a guru and reach the lord." From this it appears that it is better not to know about the importance of the guru than it is to know about the guru and not to take shelter of one. I conjecture that this is exactly what Bhaktisiddhanta did. It is also exactly the same offense that those now who believe he was not properly initiated, or at least honestly doubt that he was properly initiated, and who yet are reluctant to get themselves properly initiated suffer from. The result is the same: one doesn't get Krsna until after the offense is destroyed and until after one has found shelter with an authentic guru.
In concluding where do we find ourselves? Two results have been arrived at concerning the Gaudiya Math and ISKCON: first, they are cut off from the powerhouse by the neglect of proper initiation and second that neglect is offensive to the holy name impeding even the holy name from acting to purify and perfect their followers. I noticed this second phenomenon quite dramatically toward the end of my stay in ISKCON. During my last days in ISKCON I was given the position of head pujari of the Krsna Balarama Temple in Vrindaban. I decided it would be a good opportunity to do more rounds of japa. I specifically wanted to try to chant three lacs a day as the scriptures often recommend. I never made it to three lacs a day, but I did break the one lac barrier. The result was surprisingly unimpressive, however. I still had high hopes, but I didn't feel that power and that presence. Later, after I took shelter of Tinkudi Baba, far away from anything ISKCON, and he made it my sole responsibility to chant three lacs a day, extraordinary things began to happen. The holy name became effective again. I had not received initiation from Baba yet, but the holy name was having an overpowering effect on me. That effect or change of heart was indeed what Baba was waiting for before giving me initiation. Previously, when I was in ISKCON I guess I was guilty by association and the holy name refused to approach me. Only after I left did I begin to feel its great power. I will describe this in more detail in the one of the next installments.
Before signing off this month, I have to raise the question once more of whether ISKCON and the Gaudiya Math are instruments of Mahaprabhu. There are a number of reasons for answering this question in the affirmative. On the other hand there are many good reasons to think that if they are instruments they are profoundly flawed, flawed almost the the degree of being useless to Mahaprabhu. It appears that if anything good is to come from the situation those of us who have left those organizations and found genuine initiation elsewhere must be ready to offer our support to those still in them or still influenced by them in their search for the dimly etched way to the inner bower. Somehow out of all the more highly qualified, more gifted, more intelligent, more motivated devotees, we few have found the way successfully. We owe it to those who showed us great compassion when we needed it and in no way deserved it and to those who sincerely wish to follow to mark the path clearly and offer assistance along the way. Contact those of us listed on this web site and we will do our best to guide you home.
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