Part 1:  What is Sadhu and What is Truth   

 Part 2:  It is irrational to damn the source of an utterance rather than judge a thing on its merit   

 Part 3:  When advancement of knowledge is applied in the service of the Lord, the whole process becomes absolute   

Part 4:  This book is for people concerned with groups and with what can go wrong with organizations and groups    

The following letter was received from one of the persons who read the manuscript of this book. Author’s name withheld for fear of political backlash:

“Dear Prabhu:

For your records: It was in 1989 at the Vyaspuja of my spiritual master that I found myself deeply pondering my life, my 12 years in the movement. It struck me that I was not going anywhere. I felt annoyed and uncertain about what to do. At that time, I thought of myself in these terms: “I am going nowhere. I feel like a dog chasing its own tail. I have not moved an inch in many years.” I was feeling frustrated, as if a lot of time had been wasted, as if a significant portion of my life had not been properly utilized.

I wondered. But, of course, I consoled myself, that this frustration was itself the price I had to pay to advance in spiritual life, that this frustration of not achieving anything would mature into complete detachment from the material world, and that my feelings that I was not moving at all in Krishna consciousness was only apparent, for by not achieving anything in this life, I would have nothing to be attached to, and therefore at the end, surely, I will go to the spiritual world.

This is my example of the illusion of progressing out of illusion. I kept pushing myself for another couple of years, until I decided to take my life in my hands, to make my own decisions about what was the best service for me and where I should stay according to my capacity and resources. I think I did this move barely in time, before the panorama became completely dark. I thought: “Fourteen years have passed; I have changed the body twice. I have given my authorities plenty of time to train me, and look where I am. I better train myself.”  I made this my only guiding principle: To be sure (or at least try to ascertain) that whatever I do is for the service of Krishna.

I think many, many devotees have had similar experiences, but unlike myself, they are now completely disassociated from ISKCON, and from the practices of Krishna-consciousness, because although they were able to feel as deeply, they may have lacked a good philosophical basis, or as you would say, the courage to move out of the herd.

I want to offer you my most humble obeisances for producing this book, which gives our members the tools, the knowledge and the language to identify clearly the situation, and the courage to move ahead. Thank you. I say thank you many times, and this only after reading the first ten pages.”r

Part 1:  I have come to appreciate that the situation in our society is far worse than I thought when I wrote Our Mission (Raising our Spiritual Standards)  ,

Part 2:  I reject, categorically, all manifestations and permutations of bullying and intimidation

Part 1:  Neurosis is always a substitute for legitimate suffering   

Part 2:  My purpose is not to make ISKCON more pain free, but to assist the individual and thus the group organism to be healthier, happier, and more vitally alive 

Part 1:  Studies prove that our childhood experiences influence us throughout life and Krishna consciousness supports this finding 

Part 2:  Authoritarianism makes our society unattractive and unlivable for member who realize that they are getting mentally hobbled by the dynamics 

Part 3:  Enlightened leadership welcomes observations or suggestions from senior members of the society by soberly and empathetically hearing, considering, then investigating if necessary 

Part 1:  Our society has already proven itself prone to many forms of human flaws, from abuse of authority, to child abuse, to embezzling money, to highly placed leaders getting side-tracked, to murder and more 

Part 2:  Philip Zimbardo interest in determining the cause of the dehumanization that is so prevalent in prisons. 

Part 3:  The happenings within the mock prison were so unpleasant and potentially so dangerous that the entire experiment had to be brought to a premature end after six days rather than the scheduled fourteen 

Part 4:  We have had in our society men who blatantly display virtually no Vaisnava symptoms in that they were impersonal, ruthless, political, duplicitous, and crazy-making to associate with and to serve

Part 1:  Turning to the numbered points in the previous chapter we shall see how they have parallels within our everyday ISKCON

Part 2:  We use the philosophy to opiate our intelligence 

Part 3:  The Peter Principle states that in any organization the tendency is for people to get promoted to the level of their incompetence 

Part 4:  The sad truth is that now the GBC hat is confused with the guru hat and the leaders think themselves absolute 

Part 5:  Unfortunately, our leaders are not in touch enough to pick up on the signs of depression on the faces of the devotees 

Part 6:  It only takes a few rotten people to create a rotten experience for scores of others 

Part 01:  Obedience is a principle integral to military, social, and spiritual discipline. Yet in all cases it happens that conflict arises in the relationship between authority figures and their subordinates 

Part 02:  Here begins the response to the numbered sections above 

Part 3:  One must hear submissively from the spiritual master,  but one must also get a clear understanding from him  . This means blind following is out of the question 

Part 4:  Most hierarchical setups reward personnel for blind obedience--being yes-men--as opposed to open-eyed obedience or competence 

Part 1:  The biggest danger, that of losing oneself, can pass off in the world as quietly as if it were nothing 

Part 2:  When one acts in the jurisdiction of the  institution   (as a  surrendered soul  ), then one tends not to take responsibility for one's actions 

Part3:  If we mistakenly seek to be disempowered, considering it the real thing, then our every act of worship is another step on the path of alienation 

 Part 1:  When we mistakenly think that the genuine experience of Krishna consciousness makes us powerless, we have entered the realm of self-estranged beings 

Part 2:  Alienation also happens in relationship to oneself, when one is subject to irrational passions 

Part 3:  The person bent on possessing others in the name of Krishna consciousness is obviously  the mundane person in the dress of a Vaisnava.   

Part 4:  Another ploy by which we sidestep the responsibility to discriminate is by implying that owing to our advanced Vaisnava consciousness we are above that platform 

Part 1: The primary factor favoring alienation is the “big” organization.

Part 2: In the massive productivity scheme, the manager's role is also one of alienation. He becomes alienated because as a temple president or GBC, for example, he wants to compete with other temple presidents or zones.

Part 3: As one former GBC said, while still a GBC, “ISKCON is not for intelligent people

Part 4: A GBC man, and a guru, in a very sober, unguarded moment, told a temple president and godbrother, “All day long all I do is manipulate people.” In a similar moment of truth, another GBC man, also a guru, told a godbrother, “Sometimes I do things that I know I should feel guilty about, but I do not. What do you think about that?” The godbrother's reply was quick and apt: “I think you should see a psychiatrist.”

 Part 1:  Devotees need to know what Prabhupada's conception of structure, mood, and management was like. Then they can decide for themselves if what ISKCON is currently doing, is in line with his spirit and intent, or a sham 

Part 2:  It is clear that Srila Prabhupada did not favor ‘ksatriya style’ management from his GBC men; their role is clearly Brahminical. But where is such function going on after fifty years?

 Part 1:  Rather than Srila Prabhupada’s mission, the real mission becomes keeping power and the bureaucratic structure intact 

Part 2:  ISKCON is made up of people. For the leaders, the barometer of ISKCON's bodily and mental health is ascertained by the honest feedback they get from the devotees, especially the older more experienced devotees 

Part 3:  The Vedic system is that brahmanas are scholarly and insightful and the administrators consult them 

Part 4:  ISKCON is a society rife with problems of every variety and the rank and file devotee would like to see energy directed to solving them 

Part 5:  How can an ordinary   devotee sift through all this verbiage from a leader in the movement who is fortified with titles such as guru, GBC and sannyasi

Part 1:  We want to know if bureaucratic alienation has taken hold of ISKCON institutions 

Part 2:  Interesting. I wrote a whole book saying that everything is not perfect in ISKCON and it was the GBC executive body itself that gave ultimatums to punish me for speaking up, with no discussion and probably before reading the book 

Part 1:  The author of ‘Aspects of Vaisnava Theory & Practice  , is not alone in his perception of the society, in his analysis that ISKCON is a fully alienated bureaucratic organization, and his concern for its future 

Part 2:  It is not GBC approval that makes a devotee a qualified acarya. It is his sincere desire to please Srila Prabhupada and Krishna, and such an acarya does not have to be approved by anyone, he is self-effulgent 

Part 3:  There are devotees worldwide who care about and love ISKCON, whose resistance to alienation is strong; they are too attached to having a clear conscience, thus they cannot allow themselves to succumb to the crazy-making dysfunctional extremes that ISKCON has come to represent 

Part 4:  GBC officer Atreya Rsi, who got self-estranged and then caught himself, but too late to fit in once he woke up 

Part 1:  We must preach. Our service to the parampara must go on. Free from doubt and delusion, we must perform welfare activities--teach people to distinguish between reality and illusion 

Part 2:  Returning now to the subject of  B  Swami, here was his account of incidents leading up to his case being made a global issue in the society back in 1985   

Part 3:  Fanaticism as a disguise is easy to see through 

Part 1:  My aim is not to defend myself, for I have nothing to defend. I am practicing to live my life in the open and whoever wants to denigrate me is most welcome to have a go 

Part 2:  We are meant to distinguish reality from illusion for the benefit of all, as mandated in our scriptures, and the preacher is supposed to find the ways and means to communicate that 

Part 3:  One GBC man, no doubt fearing the repulsion of the majority of the body, said privately that ‘Every word of Kundali's book is true’ 

Part 1: Considering the gravity of the revelation in this chapter, I want to preface it by briefly discussing the distinction between rational and irrational faith in authority

Part 2: If you cannot imagine the speaker submitting to an authority very much like himself, as in the case of the lecturer featured in this chapter, then most likely you are facing an irrational authority

Part 3: You should ask, to your guru, what is it that you want. Please tell me, what is the standard, and I will accept it. Whatever you say, I accept. Blindly. This is what Prabhupada was expecting of us.

Part 4: If you blaspheme, the only way from that is described. Because you used your tongue to blaspheme, you have to use your tongue to beg forgiveness. Otherwise, if they do not do that, according to scripture, the tongue is supposed to be cut out, and then the person is supposed to be killed

Part 1: Just as the quiescence of the little man leads to tyranny, so in ISKCON the quiescence of our Little Prabhus caused our society to malfunction by accepting the unacceptable--irrationality and authoritarian dealings

Part 2: Little Prabhus have it all backwards. They think surrender means to become zero and be led by the nose to the spiritual world

Part 3: Tell a Little Man anything, but do not tell him the truth. And yet the truth and the truth alone shall set the Little Man free. And so, it is with the Little Prabhu

Part 4: This is the crucial point that Little Prabhus must understand: We produce our masters and we elevate them to such imaginary great heights that they lose the common touch  

Guru-mukha-padma-vakya, cittete aikya. That is the process. Wherever you live, if you follow strictly the instruction of guru, then you remain perfect. But if we create, concoct ideas against the instruction of guru, then we are doomed, hell. Yasya prasadat na gatih kuto ‘pi. There is no more shelter, finished. Yasya

prasadat. If guru thinks that “This person, I wanted to take him back to home, back to Godhead. Now he is going against me. He is not following,” aprasadat he is displeased, then everything is finished.

Bali Mardana: Vaisnava-aparadha.

Prabhupada: Yes.

Devotee (1): Srila Prabhupada, where does someone derive his authority. . .

Prabhupada: The guru is authority.

Devotee (1): No, I know, but for his actions other than just following the four regulative principles and chanting sixteen rounds. He does so many other things during the day. Where does he derive his authority if he’s not, let’s say, living in the temple?

Prabhupada: I do not follow. The authority is guru. You have accepted.

Bali Mardana: For everything.

Jayatirtha: Say I have some outside job, I am living outside, but I am not giving 50% of my income. So then that work that I am doing, is it actually under the authority of the guru? Prabhupada: Then you are not following the instruction of guru. That is plain fact.

Jayatirtha: So that means that whole activity during the day, working, that means I am not following the instruction of the guru. it is unauthorized activity.

Prabhupada: Yes. If you do not follow the instruction of guru, then you are fallen down immediately. That is the way. Otherwise, why you sing, yasya prasadad bhagavat-prasado. It is my duty to satisfy guru. Otherwise, I am nowhere. So, if you prefer to be nowhere, then you disobey as you like. But if you want to be steady in your position, then you have to follow strictly the instruction of guru.

Devotee (1): We can understand all of your instructions simply by reading your books.

Prabhupada: Yes. Anyway, follow the instruction. That is required. Follow the instruction. Wherever you remain, it doesn’t matter. You are secure. Follow the instruction. Then you are secure anywhere. It doesn’t matter. Just like I told you that I saw my Guru Maharaja not more than ten days in my life, but I followed his instruction. I was a grhastha, I never lived with the Matha, in the temple. It is practical. So many Godbrothers recommended that “He should be in charge in this Bombay temple, this, that, that...” Guru Maharaja said, “Yes, better he lives outside. That is good, and he will do what is needed in due course of time.”

Devotees: Jaya! Haribol!

Prabhupada: He said like that. I could not understand at that time what does he expect. Of course, I knew that he wanted me to preach.

Yasodanandana: I think you have done this in grand style. Devotees: Jaya, Prabhupada! Haribol!

Prabhupada: Yes, done grand style because I strictly follow the instruction of my Guru Maharaja, that’s all. Otherwise, I have no strength. I have not played any magic. Did I? Any gold manufacturing? (laughter) Still, I have got better disciples than the gold-manufacturing guru.

Yasodanandana: Before you came, many gurus came, but they did not make any pure devotee of Krishna.

Prabhupada: How they can? He is not pure devotee of Krishna. How he can do? Krishna-sakti vina nahe nama pracara: “Without being empowered by Krishna nobody can turn a person to become devotee of Krishna.” Artificially, you cannot make. He may make show of gold manufacturing, but he cannot make a devotee of Krishna. That is not possible.

Jayatirtha: So, the purpose of having the Society is to show the devotees how they can always be twenty-four hours engaged according to your instruction.

Prabhupada: Yes, that is helping one another. If I am deficient, by seeing your example I shall correct myself. This is the idea, not that a fool’s paradise: all fools and join together. Not like that. There should be ideal life, at least the leaders, the president, the GBC. They will show the example, and they (the mass of devotees) will follow. Then it is beneficial. And all of them are fools? Then it is fool’s paradise. At least, in the blind association, at least if one man has got eyes, then he can lead all the blind men. But if all of them are blind, then it is fool’s paradise. So somehow or other, we have got now a position.

 People likes us. So, we should not spoil by personal sense gratification. That is my request. If we can maintain this institution rigidly according to the order, then many people will be ben benefited. By seeing our behavior, by character, they will become. Apani acari prabhu jivera siksaya The leader should be ideal. Just see how Prabhupada’s answer to Jayatirtha’s last question supports the central theme of this book—that with the wrong dynamics we are wasting our time, and keeping the right dynamics falls primarily on the leaders’ shoulders. Prabhupada says: “If I am deficient, by seeing your example I shall correct myself. This is the idea, not that a fool’s paradise: all fools and join together. Not like that. There should be ideal life, at least the leaders, the president, the GBC. They will show the example, and they will follow. Then it is beneficial.”

If the example is unbeneficial, then we are living in a fool’s paradise, using Prabhupada’s name and that of Lord Caitanya as currency for wasting everybody’s time in the illusion of progress out of illusion.

The purpose of the society is to properly utilize the talents and gifts of the devotees for the service of the mission of Lord Caitanya. The role of association is to help each other realize the fullness of each person’s potential. Otherwise, “fool’s paradise.” Those awake to this danger must either address the problem or individuate from the herd and go on growing in Krishna consciousness, as the author of the message under discussion has done.

Another point discussed above is that if one does not follow the instruction of the guru, Prabhupada says, “fallen down immediately.” We have a limited concept of falldown, as meaning the breaking of the regulative principles, but in reality there are many kinds of falldown. Some of them can be more heinous than breaking the principles in that hundreds or thousands of lives may be negatively affected by our fall down. Considering that, where do our dynamics leave us, especially the leaders?

The message concludes:

I want to offer you my most humble obeisances for producing this book, which gives our members the tools, the knowledge and the language to identify clearly the situation, and the courage to move ahead. Thank you. I say thank you many times, and this only after reading the first ten pages.

We should understand Srila Prabhupada’s heart well enough to know that when all is said and done, what pleases him the most is to see us become asammoha, free from doubt and delusion, and develop our attitude of loving service to Krishna—an attitude that cannot be checked by any circumstance. Of course, all this understanding leads us to serve his desire. He had an elaborate vision for spreading Krishna consciousness, hence many aspects to that vision, hence many desires; but his dearest desire is that we train devotees to be independent thinkers in the understanding of Krishna consciousness, and then let them preach according to their realization and conviction.

If this book is able to help the reader achieve such independent thinking, I consider my small attempt to serve Prabhupada a success. Naturally, it is encouraging when a devotee reacts like this after only ten pages. One feels a great surge of hope that the book will be successful, that somehow we will rout the Little Prabhu in all of us and then cooperate for Srila Prabhupada