Beggar

In mid-'73 Gurukripa and Yasodanandana Swamis showed up in LA. They led super Bengali style kirtans and ended them with a series of 'jaya Prabhupada', 'Nitai Gaura Hari bol', and 'jaya gurudeva's'. The LA devotees had never heard, 'Nitai Gaura Hari bol' and were perplexed since Srila Prabhupada never chanted it during kirtan. To this very Nara Narayana won't chant it and thinks that it is a Gaudiya Math conspiracy. One day I was working at Spiritual Sky Incense Co. and Karandhar brought the boys over to see the operation and meet with Jayatirtha. Later Jayatirtha told me to take them shoping in LA and then back to the temple. The boys were chanting japa in the back seat with a look on their faces so grave which kind of said, "talk to me and I'll rip your head off and drink your blood". But since I suffer from a chronic case of diareah of the mouth I couldn't control my urge to speak. Me: How long are you Maharaja's staying in LA. Gurukrpa: You talk'in to me? wait a minute, you talkin to me? Me: Nice kirtana this morning, I've never heard that style, is it Bengali? Gurukrpa: Yeah, wait a minute who are you to have an opinion about a sanyassi's kirtan?.... that it was good or bad? Me: Maharaja? Gurukrpa: Just shut up and keep driving. Yasodanandana: Yeah. It was like they were "made men" and I wasn't, it was the beginning of '70s Mafia style Iskcon. In the mid-eighties I knew the krpa, in CA. He lived in Santa Cruz then Sacramento. He was married and a big 49ers fan. In fact he started the 49ers sampradaya amongst the householders up here, of course that was during their real glory years. But he always chanted and read and was interested in Krsna Consciousness. And he certainly wasn't silent about the Magnificent 11; he detested them. I hadn't seen him in twenty years, then I ran into him in India about two years ago. Now he seems to be developing some kind of Guru-complex, like maybe he's running out of time to become a guru. Guru or bust.

I beleive that one of the factors that also fueled the push for the Zonal Acarya program of the big 11 was the fear that Kirtanananda was going make propaganda that he was the real successor. Tamal was deathly afraid of K's potential success. Tamal had a bad reputation amongst many householders in North America by 1977 due to what went on with the Radha Damodara bus program. But at the same time many householders and "fringies" were actually wondering if K would become Srila Prabhupada's successor. In Europe Bhagavan was big but he wasn't even a sanyassi. Hamsadutta had a small fanatic following in W. Germany and some even wanted to take initiation from him during '76-'77 but H had a bad reputation, worldwide, because of the problems that he had created with the West German government. Some thought Satsvarupa M. could also be a successor guru but he had a reputation of being pushed around by other GBCs. Also Hrdayananda M. was big in S. America but in N. America most viewed him as learned but anything but humble. There were also rumors that he was a cruel manager in Latin America. Jayapataka was also a "big gun" but he was practically an unknown outside Bengal. The remainder of the 11 were not even a footnote. By early '77 there were rumors flying around that Gurukrpa was addicted to heroin. In those days I don't remember anyone conceiving of anything like a rtvik program. No one even thought that there would be a moratorium on initiations after Srila Prabhupada departed although in retrospect that seems reasonable. But in those days amongst Prabhupada's disciples who at the time were in there 20's and early 30's (95%) reason was a rare commodity and this was especially true of those whose ambition had gone out of control.

No, this was a latter incident. This guy wasn't so familiar with Eastern Religious concepts. There was also the famous incident where Swami Sat Chit Ananda came to the LA temple maybe in early '78, and H just creamed the Swami and seemed to really get off on it.

One time in LA (maybe late '76), when Srila Prabhupada was not there, Dharmadhyaksa had invited some big professor that he was "cultivating". This gentleman liked devotees and although not a 'true believer' found the philosophy interesting. At the time Hrdayananda Maharaja was visiting so it was natural that Maharaja should head up the meeting. Straightaway after they were introduced Hrdayananda M. began to lay into the professor, "our spiritual master has told us that Phd means plow department." The professor although miffed tried to remain pleasant. The young sanyassi then said, "Phds are simply useless and the educational system they headup is simply a slaughter house." This was the tone of the meeting. You think maybe he was over the edge, like a little over 32 years ago? This is current events? And of course a little over 20 years later Hrdayananda got his --Phd. Wow! He became what he hated; beware for it can happen to anyone. Now I'll go and pray that it doesn't happen to me!

Left is Gurukrpa three years before the interview, center is Gurukrpa eighteen months before the interview, on the right is Gurukrpa six months ago. But Beware: Never mock a monkey !!!!!

Even the Rolling Stones knew: Just as every cop is a criminal. And all the sinners saints. jagai madhai hoite muni sei pasistha. Fortunately so does Nityananda Prabhu, with the deliverance of Jagai and Madhai.

High level madhyama adhikaris can transfer Divya Jnana. But at that time Srila Prabhupada's most trusted servitors were only in the upper stages of kannistha (some were just plain kannisthas) or the very beginning of madhyama. In 1977 the big temples were bringing in a large amount of money and leaders were already living like elitists, and this was before Nov. 14. They justified their coup by believing that the money would dry up if new devotees weren't initiated. They had been driven mad by the combination of their earlier false renunciation and their new found access to money and power.

Origins: Lemming suicide is fiction. Contrary to popular belief, lemmings do not periodically hurl themselvs off of cliffs and into the sea. Cyclical explosions in population do occasionally induce lemmings to attempt to migrate to areas of lesser population density. When such a migration occurs, some lemmings die by falling over cliffs or drowning in lakes or rivers. These deaths are not deliberate "suicide" attempts, however, but accidental deaths resulting from the lemmings' venturing into unfamiliar territories and being crowded and pushed over dangerous ledges. In fact, when the competition for food, space, or mates becomes too intense, lemmings are much more likely to kill each other than to kill themselves.

Wait a minute did y'all say Marshall Dillon Law?

Jackie Mason

First, it was a rhetorical question. Second, It appears that Srila Prabhupada is in a picture in the center. But is this the real Prabhupada or is like when Ravana stole Sita?

Folks, we are just telling it like it is... or What we have here is a failure to communicate.

Who was your favorite?

Just don't obsess about...but you do.

Perhaps I jumped to conclusions and you may be right about that. I don't know why I ever learned to talk anyway? Anyway I say its better to be a Prabhupada-only-ite than a stalagmite or a stalactite. BTW to you know the difference? <button class="master-sprite wasinline QLIconImg" title="" onclick="clicked_add_icon(this, this.parentNode.getAttribute('ql'), 0, 'http://i2.ytimg.com/vi/y_PZPpWTRTU/default.jpg?e=thm_100', 'Mr. Ed - Intro (Opening Theme)');return false;" ...........="mouseOverQuickAdd(this)" onmouseout="mouseOutQuickAdd(this)" onmousedown="urchinTracker('/Events/VideoWatch/QuickList+AddTo')"></button>Added 0:42 [TRANSLATED]

Ultimately in American society these things will be decided legally. The only reason Prop 8 passed in CA was the votes of the elderly. Within five years enough of those people will have passed on so that gay marriage will become firmly and legally established. Its all based on expanding the definition of the pursuit of happiness which is all about sensual exploitation. Then the next step will be to mandate that all clergy from all sects perform marriages without discrimination. By then the devotees will have to go underground like in the former Soviet Union. There will be as we are now seeing a shadow Hare Krsna Movement which will be politically correct and probably receive government subsidies. Such a thing sounds unconstitutional but there's always a new way to get around it. Political correctness in the Western countries is an insidious and growing force. Because Western Liberalism (the conservatives are only the conservative branch of Western Liberalism) does not generally use overt force on its domestic populations it must use the subtle propaganda of the media and educational institutions to control. This form of control has been enhanced by cable and satellite TV, the internet and other forms of electronic communication. In educational arenas like comparative religion and soft sciences like psychology, the philosophies has been co-opted for the sake of social control in the Western Liberal state. Much of what is received in undergraduate and advanced graduate training in these fields is merely social indoctrination. Would you expect anyone of such a socio-economic background, who subjected themselves to so much indoctrination to turn out any differently?

But wait a minute, I know of several current and ex-pujaris who are gay. Many of them cook also. And of course we all know Bhavananda and Kirtanananda etc.

Yes, this is an important clarification. But it also shows the political nature of the discussion itself and it illustrates that the GBC in many ways has evolved into a political body. The trick is to keep Krsna in the center. Each one of us must think whether or not we are doing this. Instead going to these 'devotee' internet sites becomes like going to CNN's political page.

What are you praying for?

This is what I have heard from my gurus: The conditioned soul has become envious of the Supreme Lord, Sri Krsna, although his intrinsic nature is as the eternal servant of the Lord. This was Srila Prabhupada's preaching message, as the representative of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. His meditation was not who was envious of his spiritual master. The practitioner will feel in their bhajan that, "it is I who do to envy am the worst servant of my guru". To measure the devotion of others is something that only gurudeva will do as an expert physician for his disciples and it is an act of true compassion and mercy (jiva daya). For the sake of preaching a devotee on the level of true attainment, may seek to assert themselves for the benefit of others. To do so in a lesser stage would be to pose as an imposter guru (formal or not) which will benefit no one.

Since Srila AC Bhaktivedanta Swami was empowered to spread Krsna Conciousness over the oceans and all over the world, then he obviously holds a unique position. Srila Sridhar Maharaja proclaimed him to be a saktyavesa avatara of Lord Nityananda. Really he is in a category by himself, but it doesn't mean that other acaryas do not presently preach and give hari katha in this world. Now some will bring up where he said that none of his godbrothers were qualified to be acarya, but in that instance acarya meant the head of a specific preaching institution. The general meaning of acarya is one who preaches by making their life an example.

The other missions in the Gaudiya line will believe that you are minimizing their acaryas.

Hi, kids, hope you are chanting your rounds. Great news!!! Times have changed and I will now perform Gay Marriages! Prabhupada was out of touch with modern times but I have a Phd so I'm know better. But I'm still loyal and will kick out any of those people contaminated by the Evil Gaudiya Math. Wow. just think about it, I'm one of last Zonal Gurus still kickin. Yep, you gotta change things if you want to survive. And I don't fall for all this hocus pocus mystical stuff and you shouldn't either. Just go back to college and graduate school and you can become like me.

Here's where the old cliches rings true: the path to hell is lined with good intentions. A real preacher of Krsna Conciousness gives the true ideal. Not everyone can follow it due to their level of sukrti, but the ideal does not change. For those that cannot follow the ideal then the preacher gives out some sukrti by engaging those persons in some 'devotional' service. But not everything is black and white and here we see the shades of gray, which are like clouds, covering the intelligence of Hridayananda M. It's clear that Srila Prabhupada critcized the priests who married gay couples, but he engaged those with that tendency in devotional service. Remember Hridayananda M is now a Phd, and its ten years later. He is immersed in the world of academia which is the platform for all the political correctness that we see in modern society. Plus there are the money considerations that Sonic Yogic wrote about. Maharaja is known to make statements about Srila Prabhupada's purports on other subjects that make his godbrothers cringe. The situation is far beyond out of control and has been so for a very long time. (see Sonic's beat a dead horse analogy).

And humor aside, this is actually an honest statement!