Such persons, possessed by their passionate strivings, are the worst association. Their striving is their idol—not Krishna, not prema, not Srila Prabhupada’s service, not raganuga-bhakti, not any of the virtues by which they rationalize their irrational passions. As Srila Bhaktisiddhanta said:
“Worldly people possess a double nature. They express one kind of sentiment but internally cherish a different purpose. How will our purpose be served with the help of persons who possess a double nature? There is no correspondence between what they say and do. The tidings that the sweet and healthy words of our Sri Gurudeva have brought us, will not be listened to by persons who have a double tongue. To him others are tools, things, and means to an end. We will cultivate the society only of those who are straightforward. We will not keep company with any person who is not so. We must, by all means, avoid bad company. We are advised to keep at a distance of a hundred cubits from animals of the horned species. We should preserve the same caution concerning all insincere persons.”
One aspect of this lust for power that the insincere embody, is that having impoverished themselves by the alienation process, in order to get back some sense of self-worth, they may try to “possess” others. The alienated fall into different categories. Some are simply using the institution. Others are possessed by some person or the institution, or both. They in turn try to possess things and people (who are also things to them). Virtual disciplic chains of alienated persons are formed and the real parampara is lost. Maya is such serious business.
The person bent on possessing others in the name of Krishna consciousness is obviously “the mundane person in the dress of a Vaishnava.” What a great misfortune, when such an alienated person passes for an advanced devotee, and rises to the pinnacle of power in an institution in which position is equated with spiritual advancement. Worse still, in order to achieve the perfection of life, to be freed from the horrors of repeated birth and death; one is called upon to obey this prisoner of his irrational passions. One is asked to show one’s love for our founder-acharya by cooperating with the servant, not of the Lord, but of his own irrational strivings, his anarthas (unwanted things).
For such persons, pitifully lost to themselves, God brothers, disciples, the institution, guru, and even Krishna Himself are but means to an end, mere rungs of the ladder, stepping-stones. Moreover, because we have completely neglected Prabhupada’s instructions regarding such persons, there are several of them in key positions in the ISKCON society.
It is the responsibility of the leaders of the institution to recognize and weed out such self-estranged persons from our midst. They must be completely neglected. That is the instruction of our Founder-Acharya in Chaitanya-caritamrita, Madya. 2.218 purport:
“A mundane person in the dress of a Vaishnava should not be respected but rejected.
This is enjoined in the shastras (upeksha). The word upeksha means neglect. One should neglect an envious person. A preacher’s duty is to love the Supreme Personality of Godhead, make friendships with Vaishnavas, show mercy to the innocent and reject or neglect those who are envious or jealous. There are many jealous people in the dress of Vaishnavas in this Krishna consciousness movement, and they should be completely neglected.
There is no need to serve a jealous person who is in the dress of a Vaishnava. When Narottama dasa Thakura says chadiya vaishnava seva nistara peche keba, he is indicating an actual Vaishnava, not an envious or jealous person in the dress of a Vaishnava. A preacher’s duty is to love the Supreme Personality of Godhead, make friendships with Vaishnavas, show mercy to the innocent and reject or neglect those who are envious or jealous.”
Here Prabhupada describes the madhyama-adhikari according to the Eleventh Canto of Bhagavatam. The preacher’s duty is to discriminate on the basis of these four functions. Neglecting to do so does not vault us into the next class of devotee, uttama-adhikari; rather we remain on the third-class platform, kanistha. The verse defining the intermediate devotee makes it plain that the instruction to neglect the envious and jealous should not be neglected. Following this instruction is as important as loving the Supreme Lord, making friends with devotees, and preaching to the innocent.
After the above-quoted letter was sent to the GBC body, the writer took a leave of absence from his GBC duties, and took up the pursuit of so called “higher education.” This was a cover up to the fact that the GBC banned TKG from India and not allowed to make new disciples for a period of two years. For those who do not know, it was punishment by the GBC, because TKG was the leader of a group of Srila Prabhupada disciples’, who involved in what was coined, “The Gopi Bhava Club, or the other GBC. After completing his college education while ignoring his GBC duties, this year he returned to the GBC meetings. After departing Sri Mayapura dhama in a vehicle, on a morning on March 15, 2002, received a reply from Krishna and Prabhupada in regards to his personal ambition, and his pursuit of his irrational strivings and desires when he stated:
“I am not resigning! Due to the influence of raganuga bhakti, I am now twice as competitive, manipulative, nasty, and political as I was before. And it’s now on the spontaneous platform! This is my 25th year on the GBC. If Krishna wills, I will serve another 25 years and then retire gracefully. Allow me that dignity. I am sure Prabhupada would.”
In other words, it was not Krishna’s “Will”, nor did Prabhupada “Allow him that dignity.”