| Two Gurukula Grads Address to the GBC Can We Mend the Shattered Fragments of ISKCON? A Dialogue Presented to the GBC By Krsna-devata devi dasi and Shakuntala devi dasi February 13, 1999 KD:In the process of getting here and preparing this speech, Krsna hastaught me many lessons. I came thinking that I would be speaking tothe GBC, but this is actually just a title, a stereotype. This titleis what stands in the way of us understanding one another - you areGBC members and we are gurukulies. They are barriers. I want to speak to you as other members of this society that SrilaPrabhupada established. I want to speak to you as individuals who haveinvested their whole lives in Srila Prabhupada's movement and are nowseeing it crumble. I don't want to make assumptions, but from what Ihave heard, I think that I can safely say that many of you areconfused as to how to move forward, and overwhelmed by the quantityand scale of the difficulties and challenges within the movement. We ask you to please listen to us with the heart that SrilaPrabhupada opened. Srila Prabhupada inspired and loved each and everyone of you. We ask you to listen remembering that you once thought itpossible to take over the world with Lord Caitanya's merciful potency. We know that you are not an idealistic group, but we ask you toremember that Krsna Consciousness is idealistic. We ask you to listenas individuals who are interested in attaining the most deep andsincere love for Krsna and His devotees. We ask you to please putyour personal judgments of us aside and listen to us as we put ourpersonal and political judgements of you aside. I am speaking to you because this ISKCON body is my family. I wantto make sure that it not only survives, but also thrives. We all havegreat love for our spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada, and we mustcarry out our duty. SHA:What is our duty? What is the point of spreading the movement, justfor the sake of spreading something? What is the point of building atemple, just to build a big temple? What is the point of preaching?What are we preaching? What is the point of raising money? To get lotsof money? It's not about absolute truth anymore. Most of us are outof touch with ourselves, and out of touch with everyone else. I am disgusted. We were all once willing to do or give anything forthe pursuit of a higher understanding. We stood for something. Wewere sold out to the Absolute Truth. Now we have just sold out. Wegave our lives, our youth for what? Just to give up again on theAbsolute Truth. What is the point? Do we still seek absolute truth? Why chant 16rounds and follow the four regulations? Why don't we just revel in sensegratification? Why do we put ourselves through this? I thought it wasbecause this process should put us more in touch with ourselves, notalienate us. Isn't that truth? KD:So why are we so alienated? What are we missing in this process? Howdo we move forward? There is no... quick fix. It is not about theissues. This is not a problem of legislation How many resolutionsmust we write before we realize that this is not a structural problem? We are facing alienation, and isolation. We don't know each other. As a movement, we no longer have Srila Prabhupada's living force; hisvision. What happened to that revolutionary spirit? What happened tothat vibrant inspiration that swept people up? We are not going tofind that in bureaucracy, big temples or big titles. Just asindividuals cannot find happiness in cars, houses, family or theirjobs, ISKCON is going to find no solutions in this way. These thingsare temporary. SHA:These things are material. These things are nothing to Krsna, if thesincere desire for self-realization is absent. They are specs ofdirt. Temporary money, fame, and buildings, so what? Krsna is pleasedby the devotion within those things. He is inside our hearts, andknows what we feel and knows when we are not feeling. Have weforgotten the point, and now just go on with the show for the rest ofthe world? What is the point? KD:This is a spiritual movement so we are not going to find materialanswers. So we must start asking spiritual questions again. Who arewe? What are we here for? SHA:Our movement is far from the vision engulfing people off the streetwith waves of transcendental love and devotion. Instead we areobjectifying one another more and more, seeing each other as women,ritviks, gurus, bhaktas, or gurukulies. Instead of coming to therealization that the sadhu, the dog and the dog eater are all withintheir hearts, parts and parcels of Krsna, unfortunately, we arecontent with our superficial perceptions of one another. We are alsoincreasingly satisfied with our superficial perceptions of theAbsolute Truth. We have become the epitome of licking the outside ofthe honey jar. We have been falsely 'jacking each other up' insteadof allowing spiritual inspiration to be evoked from within. KD:We are fragmented, disenfranchised, disillusioned and uninspired. Asa movement, we do not have trust in our leaders, nor do we have trustin ourselves. We are slapping each other in the face everyday on ourcomputer screens. And the Bhagavatam classes we sit through are notaddressing our lives; they do not inspire us. You are all overburdenedand don't know the answers any better than the rest of us. As amovement we are no longer moving. So where do we go from here? Howdo we all take responsibility for healing Srila Prabhupada's body? SHA: We are all conditioned. That's a given. This conception is theplatform that we start from. Let us begin to grow beyond this. Let usnot be fooled by the costumes that we temporarily wear in thislifetime, let us not see each other as limited to that. Let us go higher. Let us look within and remember that we are all fallendevotees; we are all blind in different ways. And we all see indifferent ways. It is not our individual vision that is powerful butour combined vision that is unstoppable. KD:We all have some small spiritual vision, but we are also blind in somany ways. Together we must find Srila Prabhupada's vision. SHA:Ista gosthi is an authentic way to figure out how to work together;how to organically synergize. We are all here to be instruments forKrsna. We all have our own stories. We have all heard His calling indifferent ways. In a sense, you might say that we are all married toeach other through our common love for Krsna and Srila Prabhupada. Wemust work it out. Divorce is not an option in the Vedic system. SrilaPrabhupada asked that not one drop of the blood that it took to makeeach devotee be spilled. We are spilling Srila Prabhupada's blood bypushing people away, burning them out, discouraging them, silencingthem, banning them disgracing them. Let us put our energy together. Let us not forget that vision that we all aspire to see. KD:Together let us find the ecstasy of Sri Gaurasundar to melt the heartsof all the conditioned souls, including ourselves. Lord Caitanya'spotency is invoked within gatherings of devotees. Hearing andchanting - together. Let us start now by listening to each other totruly hear. Srila Prabhupada has given us the model of ista gosthi.This is a way of authentic inquiry and spiritual discussion. This isalso our Vaisnava tradition as exemplified by the discussions betweenSukadeva Gosvami and Maharaja Pariksit in the Srimad Bhagavatam; LordCaitanya and His associates in the Caitanya Caritamrita; and Krsna andArjuna in the Bhagavad-gita. Since we are all aspiring devotees, allof our social, political, emotional and philosophical issues can besolved by the Absolute Truth. SHA:For one moment, let us remember, without any material limitations,what is possible for our movement. What we see in front of us is anexternal manifestation of our collective desires. Let us desire tofulfil Srila Prabhupada's vision - not our own. Because we only careabout ourselves, our movement is splintering into smaller and smallerfragments. We are destroying Srila Prabhupada's movement from withinby breaking it apart. If we sincerely desire more than this, Krsnapromises to fulfil our desires. KD: It is through association that we learn love of God. How can we saythat we love Krsna, if we cannot love His devotees? How many of ustruthfully love one another? The challenges that face us are materialblocks, but they are spiritual opportunities. Just as Queen Kuntiprayed to always have material distress so that she could always seekthe shelter of Krsna, this is our opportunity, in this great time ofcrisis, to put our arms up helplessly for guidance and shelter fromthe Lord. At this time of crisis, our titles won't help us; our robeswon't help us. Our status, even in this movement, is merely atemporary costume. We all must admit that we don't have the answersas individuals. When we are in crisis as individuals, we take shelterin Krsna. So as a movement in crisis, we must pay our most heartfeltobeisances to Krsna in the heart of each and every individual in SrilaPrabhupada's movement. SHA:Let us apply this transcendental philosophy to help us transcend thesematerial blocks that prevent us from working together and beingunstoppable. KD:Let us stop mistaking inquiry for criticism.Let us stop shutting people out with fear.Let us stop gathering in the courtroom and start gathering in thetemple room.Let us stop being a movement that specializes in saving face andpolitical clean-ups, and let us start being a movement thatspecializes in sharing love of God. SHA:Let's stop moving forward for the sake of moving forward and moveupward to higher consciousness. Let's stop believing in miracles andstart relying on them. Now let's start by leaving our titles at thedoor and having an Isthagosthi. |