Prabhupada Katha#2

October 21, 2001

Dear Vrajeswari, Das, et al -

There are two levels of experience of the Krsna Consciousness movement: the

one prior to Prabhupada's departure in 1977, and the one after his

departure. You are familiar with, and were affected by the latter

one. That is unfortunate, and I can understand that your experiences were

contributive to the present views that you hold. Much fewer of us, were

here in the intense, Prabhupada period of ISKCON. And I can tell you, that

as western "Mlecchas" come Vaishnava, there was some misbehavior,

certainly, and that is admitted. But the tone and energy of that period,

was like none ever seen before. Thousands rallied around the great

Acharya, and loved him to the extent of giving their entire lives, wealth,

careers, etc. over to his mission. What did we have to lose? Perhaps a

few more births in the material world, and in its place, got the

opportunity to attain the highest spiritual destination. What was

gained? The chance for unlimited souls everywhere, to come to the altar of

Radha and Krsna, and they got this opportunity through Prabhupada's

books. *Before* Prabhupada, that was never possible anywhere outside of

India. So, apart from the "latter day gurus" and their mistakes, the

efforts of those early disciples and the ensuing movement, were noteworthy

and praiseworthy beyond compare.

Prabhupada used to call book distribution, "the Big Mridanga". He said,

that if you play your Mridanga drum, chanting Hare Krsna, you can be heard

around the corner, or at best down the block. But book distribution, was

the Big Mridanga which meant that through books, the Holy Names of Krsna

can be heard around the world. Why settle for a very limited audience,

when an unlimited one could be achieved adopting a different paradigm? His

guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta, thus encouraged book distribution, and because

of that, so did Prabhupada. The "true" early disciples followed this

blindly, and did to the best of our limited, sorry ability. That is why

you, dear Vrajeswari, got to become a devotee as a native of

Switzerland. That is why even people in Arab countries got to read

Bhagavad-gita As It Is, for the first time ever, as Prabhupada had asked

that it be translated into Arabic. Unheard of before! And probably will

never be heard of again.

So this is why I speak passionately on this. We love to hear of the

peaceful, loving bhajans and tranquil words of saints, and love to bask in

the vibrations of their presence. Prabhupada did not emphasize this, I

must tell you. He sought a war against Maya, and if you go deep into the

meaning of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, especially with the advent of Prabhupada's

guru Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, you will find that he was a

relentless, outspoken, and dangerous enemy of Mayic philosophies, such as

impersonalism, voidism, and atheism.

Being a veteran of the early ISKCON movement, nowadays, is like being a

Viet Nam vet, or something similar. Soldiers in Viet Nam fought for their

country, yet even though war heroes, were scorned and abused when they

returned back home to their country. Although those early devotees

rendered the highest service possible, now successive generations of

Vaishnavas only see the mistakes, or the abuses, or the egos that

invariably were part of, to a certain extent, the executive levels of the

movement. I know devotees who died on the front lines, i.e. in the field

of preaching Krsna Consciousness. Their service was by far greater and

exalted, then any saint who was content to enjoy his bhajan, somewhere

alone in India, and not care for the horrific suffering of people around

the world. I cried for those fallen devotee heroes years ago, and still

hold them deep in my heart, yet when I now look at my wakeful life, and

still see myself grappling with samskaras and the terrible, onslaughts of

illusion all around, I can see that they are having Kirtan in the spiritual

world and wouldn't I just love to be there. That is why I pray every day,

that Krsna remembers even one stroke of sincere service that I did, so that

I can go back to Godhead and join those very sincere, dedicated godbrothers

and predecessor gurus who came before me.

Finally, from here on, I will not have anything further to say on

Prabhupada's lagna or horoscope. Why? Because the issue will never be

resolved, as it is clear, that Prabhupada really wants all people to pay

attention to his teachings and instructions, which are clear in his books,

rather than his horoscope. Why else would one astrologer, cast a Prashna

chart on Prabhupada's lagna and get Capricorn on the ascendant; and then,

another cast a similar Prashna chart asking for the lagna, and get

Sagittarius on the ascendant? It appears, thus, that all arguments are

futile, as even the intelligence to analyze, or the words to speak, do not

pay proper homage to the great saint being analyzed. Whenever the topic

comes up again, just chant the Hare Krsna mantra, the essence of

Prabhupada's teachings, and you will enter into who he really

is. Otherwise, it is like "Chandra Shakha Nyaya", or the logic of seeing

the Moon through the branches of a tree. You see it, or a portion thereof,

but then again, you really do not.

That's it, I'm out of words -

Love,

Robert

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

Robert A. Koch, Vedic Astrologer

Faculty member SJVC and ACVA

Phone: 541-318-0248

visit <http://www.robertkoch.com> or e-mail

rk. rk

October 21, 2001

It ended just after the skinny lady sang.

October 21, 2001

An interesting detail also , that I forgot to mention:

Those main Ex-bookdistributors I mentionned, now do the same thing in a

"mundane" way for a living. They sell certain items door to door. It seems it

was an easy thing for them to do, even as devotees, or, at least easier for

them, the best ones, the leaders of sankirtan, than for many others who were

"forced" to do it in order to even be recognised as devotees at all. For these

people it was much harder. They had to jack themselves up constantly. I

remember when I went on Sankirtan the few times I did, I can not describe in

words how much I hated it. I did it anyways, inorder to not feel like "a

demon". I hated myself for hating it. This along with alot of other stuff led

to serious depressions, a tendency I admit I have had all my life to some

degree. It got way worse in the movement. But I am not blaming anybody. It is

all in my chart and it is Karma. And I learned a great deal from it. But, it

does not not show, in my opinion, that I have lot of "Sukriti" from previous

live, as it was mainly painful. And many things that were going on in the

movement, were absolutely "unelevated" in my opinion, to say the least. But I

was part of this, even though not a big part, I was part of it. This is why I

dare speaking out a little more these days. I feel I have to, for my own sake.

I have held in so very much back then. I should have spoken out more. The few

times I did, you can only imagine what I got in return.

But I am still here, I go to still go to the temple and I always believed in

the philosophy. The movement is a different topic for me alltogether.

--

Vrajesvari

jyotish

Bernadette Kuhn

c/o Ayurvedic Rasayanas

P.O. Box 5966

Eugene, OR 97405

USA

Home: 541-349-8680

Work:

October 21, 2001

<<Finally, from here on, I will not have anything further to say on