Unity in Diversity (Arya dasi)

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Thank you for creating this valuable medium by which devotees through out the planet can encourage one another to remember Srila Prabhupada.

Some thoughts on striving towards 'Unity in Diversity'. While reading through recent ISKCON literature such as 'The Prabhupada-anuga Newsletter' and 'Srila Prabhupada's Centennial Celebration literature', one cannot help but to notice the emphasis which is placed on unity, in particular the most recent "Unity in Diversity". This concept is very appealing but is it a realistic proposal? Needless to say, there are a number of obstacles blocking our path towards true unity, and I wish to appeal to the finer sentiments of the assembled devotees regarding one of them, which be very easily resolved.

As we all know, Srila Prabhupada devoted his very life force to establishing and maintaining ISKCON temples as sanctuaries for his followers for all times. During those early days of ISKCON many devotees underwent great sacrifices and austerities in order to assist the mission of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, and were even instrumental in establishing some aspects of deity worship. When Malati dasi presented a small deity of Lord Jagannath, Srila Prabhupada joyfully announced that Lord Jagannath had come to ISKCON. In our daily temple kirtans we chant, "O Lord of the Universe, kindly reveal Yourself unto me." In Jagannath Puri the Hindu priests have callously banned any non-Hindus from entering the Jagannath Mandir. If an obvious non-Hindu merely steps forward to get the dust from the threshold of the Jagannath Temple entrance, he is warded off by an aggressive choki dhara. Srila Prabhupada displayed such a strong unwavering allegiance to his followers, that while on pilgrimage to Jagannath Puri he refused to enter the Jagannath Puri temple for that very reason. How is it then, that some present ISKCON administrators have actually banned a number of senior, and pioneer, devotees from entering Srila Prabhupada's ISKCON temples? I ask the assembled devotees if such an action appears to coincide with the desire of Srila Prabhupada, or may some ISKCON hierarchy be unknowingly following the path of the Puri priests?

We find the following relevant writings in 'The Path of Perfection', which is a series of lectures on the Bhagavad gita, delivered by Srila Prabhupada, "A person is considered still further advanced when he regards honest well-wishers, affectionate benefactors, the neutral, mediators, the envious, friends and enemies, the pious and the sinners all with an equal mind." (BG 6.9) This is a sign of real spiritual advancement. In this material world we are considering people friends and enemies on the bodily platform - that is on the basis of sense gratification, if one gratifies our senses, he is our friend, and if he doesn't, he is our enemy. However, once we have realised God, or the Absolute Truth, there are no such material considerations... "A transcendentalist should always engage his body, mind and self in relationship with the Supreme; he should live alone in a secluded place and should always carefully control his mind. He should be free from desires and feelings of possessiveness." (BG 6.10). Regarding the importance of receiving darshan of the deity, I wish to refer to the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, where we find the following writings by Srila Rupa Goswami, "My dear friend, if you still have any desire to enjoy the company of your friends within this material world, then don't look upon the form of Krishna, who is standing on the bank of Kesi-ghata. He is known as Govinda, and His eyes are very enchanting. He is playing upon His flute, and on His head there is a peacock feather. And His whole body is illuminated by the moonlight in the sky. ...The actual import of the verse is that one must see the form of Govinda if one at all wants to forget the nonsense of material friendship, love and society." NOD Ch13. Such an eloquent description of the Lord's divine form is most applicable to ISKCON deities including Sri Sri Radha Gokulananda Ji and Sri Sri Radha London Isvara Ji, who make all other so-called earthly beauty pale into comparison.

I wish to humbly suggest that, in keeping with Srila Prabhupada's allegiance to his dear disciples, combined with the present thrust within ISKCON towards 'Uniting Srila Prabhupada's family', the advisory committee on 'Unity', which includes Mukunda Goswami, Sivarama Swami, Lokanath Swami, Madhudvisa dasa, Bhakti Caitanya Swami, Jnanadas, and perhaps more, follow the instructions of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhus Sri Sri Siksastaka verse, 'tranad api sunicena- taror api sahinsnuna- amanina manadena- kirtaniyah sada harih' and endorse the lifting of any ban which may deny prabhus of any calibre access to ISKCON mandirs and temple grounds. In return for such a gesture of good will, those who have been banned must vow to abstain from political conversation of any kind while visiting the temple premises. Would such an exchange of sentiment not display true Vaisnava ethics from both sides? Those ethics and their resultant effects are so nicely observed by sociologist Elwin H. Powell, who offered the following comment, "This transcendental mysticism from the East is now taking root in the 'countercultures' of the West and providing for many a way out of the wilderness of a disintegrating civilisation ... if truth is what works, there must be a kind of truth in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, since those who follow its teachings display a joyous serenity usually missing in the bleak and strident lives of contemporary people."

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irg@zetnet.co.uk
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!