WVA and Madonna - What Happened

[Guest guest]

First let me offer my thanks to Paramadvaiti Maharaj for speaking up and trying to clarify the situation in terms of the WVA statement on Madonna's performance. I offer my apology for any difficulty and anxiety this has caused him and hope he will please forgive me. And I ask all Vaishnavas to please forgive my many faults. Although I am full of faults, for some reason Krishna has allowed me to continue to try and serve him. This is his unconditional love.

 

Dear Paramadvaiti Maharaj, please do not be heartbroken but rather be happy in the knowledge that although others may not see your anxiety for the welfare of Vaishnavas and your hard work on behalf of all Vaishnavas via the WVA, Krishna does see you. Let your heart rest peacefully in this fact. I would now like to express what transpired from my vantage point. And I apologize if I offend any Vaishnavas in this statement.

 

After seeing a videotape of Madonna's performance on MTV and being contacted by many upset Vaishnavas, I considered issuing a statement on behalf of Chaitanya Mission as well as contacting other Vaishnava missions and Hindu groups around the world to encourage them to make statements of their own. Feeling the matter to be relevant to all Vaishnavas, I decided to see if the WVA would like to issue a statement on the matter. I therefore contacted Paramadvaiti Maharaj in his capacity as WVA secretary and said I felt the Vaishnava community should respond. He agreed with me and authorized me to issue a statement on behalf of the WVA. I told him I would also make contact with some Hindu activist groups who I have worked with successfully in the past on other matters regarding public perception of Vaishnavism and Vedic religion.

 

I then issued a moderately worded statement on behalf of the WVA. In addition, members of Vaishnava and Hindu organizations around the world such as The Chaitanya Mission (Philippines), The Chaitanya Mission (Poland), The Australian School of Meditation, The Meditation Center, VedaVision, Self Sufficiency Association, and the American Hindus Against Defamation issued their own press statements from their own perspective--some more harsh and critical and some much less so. However, it was the WVA's statement that garnered the most publicity though sadly it wasn't printed in its entirety but paraphrased in a manner that changed its mood.

 

Although there was not time to contact every mission in the WVA, as a courtesy to Tripurari Maharaj, who is the official vice president of the WVA, I notified him of my discussion with Paramadvaiti Maharaj and sent him a copy of the press release. He didn't have any input and didn't contact me or the WVA. I was therefore extremely surprised when he released his own statement as WVA vice president five days later essentially claiming that I had dishonestly tried to represent the WVA--that I spoke for just one mission, etc. From that point onward, the situation has continued to be misrepresented by persons for reasons that I cannot understand.

 

Let me repeat, Tripurari Maharaj knew full well that Paramadvaiti Maharaj, who for all practical purposes, runs the WVA, had agreed that I would be the spokesman issuing a statement on Madonna's performance on behalf of the WVA. As stated earlier, my original intent was to speak on behalf of a particular branch of the Chaitanya Mission. I only proceeded to issue a statement on behalf of the WVA after my discussions with Paramadvaiti Maharaj. It was my explicit understanding that I was authorized to speak on the WVA's behalf. It is not surprising therefore that I felt blindsided/stabbed in the back when Tripurari Maharaj made a press statement as the vice president of the WVA that the protest was simply coming from one small conservative mission within the WVA. Because he spoke as vice president of the WVA and was not speaking for his own mission, it appeared that he was actually the representative of the WVA and that I had been deceptive--that I was trying to represent the WVA when I didn't.

 

Paramadvaiti Maharaj has apologized for essentially speaking on behalf of the WVA. Although I appreciate his humility, the fact is that he is the primary mover, shaker and worker in the WVA. In my view, Paramadvaiti Maharaj is qualified to speak on behalf of the WVA in the same way that the president of the U.S. is qualified to speak on behalf of the U.S. though every citizen will not always agree with his statements. Such a dispersed, widespread organization as the WVA, made of so many different missions, each with their own work at hand, cannot possibly function without an individual or a committee of individuals being able to represent the organization as a whole. If Paramadvaiti Maharaj does not speak for the WVA, and if individuals can only speak for their own individual missions, then on a practical level, the WVA cannot exist in regard to the overall relationship that Vaishnavas have with the community and world at large. So it is a serious practical matter that must be considered. Please do not fear, I have no intention of being a part of that--I am just making an objective observation.

 

In a sense I am an outsider in all of this as I am not an officer of the WVA. I have simply worked with Paramadvaiti Maharaj from time to time on a few WVA matters. However, I can say this--if the WVA, or any organization for that matter, wants to have a particular individual make a statement on their behalf, then that organization's officers should not come forward and criticize that spokesman, claiming that he's not really speaking for the organization. Obviously, no one is going to want to be in a position where they are blindsided or stabbed in the back by an officer. I'm not saying this as a criticism of Tripuri Maharaj who is obviously seeing the entire situation from his own point of view. I'm sure his motives are good. I'm simply saying that as a practical matter, this type of thing should not occur.

 

The statement issued on behalf of the WVA was written in a manner so as to make Madonna aware of the fact that her sexually charged performance while wearing tilak had offended Hindus and Vaishnavas--which is a fact. The statement did not demand an apology as incorrectly reported. And it was intended as constructive criticism. It was written so as to give Madonna an opportunity to understand what she had done and correct it.

 

"Madonna either misunderstood the significance of wearing tilak or treated it very cheaply. We sincerely hope it was the former and not the latter. If she is sincere about her newly expressed interest in Vedic teachings and mysticism, we are sure she will recognize her mistake and tender an apology. And of course she will be forgiven. Hindus and Vaishnavas are very tolerant and always open to people sincerely interested in understanding the Vedas and Vaishnava philosophy and religion. And Madonna is also welcome if she is a sincere seeker." (Full text is attached below.)

 

Again, I beg the forgiveness of Paramadvaiti Maharaj, Tripurari Maharaj and any other Vaishnava who feels offended by my imperfect attempts to serve Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga. I wish the WVA and Paramadvaiti Maharaj all success. In all honesty, however, I am not at all inclined towards being involved in such matters in the future.