Get the Picture:
Has The Journey Home Caused Mass Hysteria in ISKCON?
Lord Shri Gopala Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead in Vrindavana
It is not even necessary to actually read one word of Radhanatha Swami’s The Journey Home to see what is tantamount to one of the greatest direct offenses imaginable to Lord Shri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Between pages 110 and 111 there is a series of full color pictures. One of these pictures is a popular mid-20th century Brijabasi print of Shri Gopala Krishna with a cow. It is similar to the one shown below. And just facing this picture of our Lord is a photograph of the catacomb tombs in Rome replete with hundreds of ghastly human skulls and skeletons. This means when this book is closed—a book that is widely promoted by ISKCON leaders, GBC’s and swamis—Lord Shri Krishna’s picture is flush and facing a pile of skulls. This shameful display is not an ordinary offense; it is nothing less than maha-aparadha at the maximum level.
We do not wish to place an offensive photograph of the catacombs of Rome in this article. If you are fortunate enough not to own a copy of The Journey Home, and you are curious, then you can see that disgusting photo here (https://www.viator.com/tours/Rome/Exclusive-Catacombs-After-Closing-and-Bone-Chapel-Tour/d511-15693P35). Anyone who does not cry bitter tears at bearing witness to our Lord Shri Krishna becoming offended by this bizarre mixture of impersonal sahajiyaism and dark tantric practices cannot be called a Vaishnava. Regrettably, the only purpose of such an offensive display is to destroy the devotional sentiment of the unfortunate reader; and that appears to be the set purpose of The Journey Home—to undermine ISKCON.
The members of the GBC who are perched high and mighty in their bountiful lifestyles with obsequious servants, luxurious dwellings and global jet-setting have become callous to the courage of the genuine devotees who built up the Hare Krishna Movement from the beginning. By promoting The Journey Home, this grinning band of tyros, neophytes and wannabes has proven that they have lost their roots. They have become deluded into thinking that simply by speaking a few pithy-sounding instructions to obedient disciples they can rationalize their lavish livelihood. Yet they have forgotten where Shrila Prabhupada’s movement has come from. They are a ship adrift—a luxury liner sailing to nowhere.
The very ISKCON movement has grown out of pictures of Krishna because in the beginning the sum and substance of worship was directed to sacred portraits. Shrila Prabhupada instructed his artists that the pictures of the Supreme Lord are “windows to the spiritual world.” He instructed devotees to bow down before these pictures, to worship them, to offer food that became prasadam unto them and pray before them. This is the faith and these are the seeds from which the worldwide Krishna consciousness movement has grown. Early in the movement devotees ventured into cities and towns that had never been exposed to Krishna consciousness.
These brave pioneers were armed with only a few pictures of Shri Guru and Krishna, some sticks of incense and an indomitable faith in the teachings of Shrila Prabhupada. Has that pioneering spirit been forgotten? With the advent of the offensive book The Journey Home it evidentially has not only been forgotten by the leaders, but has been buried somewhere in the catacombs of Rome.
ISKCON’s grinning GBC: Where is their “Journey Home” leading the Society?
In a letter to Bhurijana Prabhu dated 25 February 1969 Shrila Prabhupada wrote:
“I beg to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated February 22, 1969, and I was so much engladdened to note the contents. I am so pleased with your sincere efforts to succeed in this Chapel Hill center program. I think that by now Tosana Krishna has already joined you there and I am sending him a set of beads by separate post …
“Regarding Lord Chaitanya's birth date, it is March 4, and you may celebrate it as elaborately as is possible for you. Immediately you should contact Brahmananda in New York, and ask him to send you a few chapters of Teachings of Lord Chaitanya which you will return afterwards. So on this day you may read from these chapters. To celebrate you should have a picture of Lord Chaitanya on the altar and decorate Him with flowers very nicely. Chanting and lecturing may go on. In these lectures you should explain very carefully Lord Chaitanya's teachings that we are eternal servitors of Krishna, and it is not that we are ourselves the Supreme Lord.”
By such steady faith that early devotees shared in the divine instructions of Shrila Prabhupada, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Krishna appeared through His pictures. And from these pictures the Lord has manifested in hundreds of beautiful temples all over the world in His archa-vigraha form along with Shrimati Radharani, Lord Shri Gaura-Nitai, and Their devotees. The entire movement has arisen out of these pictures, these divine windows to Vaikuntha—which is why Shrila Prabhupada placed such emphasis upon empowering his artists. In a letter dated 22 March 1968 Shrila Prabhupada wrote to Shrimati Balai dasi:
“I am so pleased to hear of the activities of Jadurani and her artist assistants. We require this service, as we require so many pictures. Pictures, books, etc., all we shall sell on world tour with our Sankirtana party. So we require a lot of pictures in stock; and wherever we open our centers, we must have at least Panca-tattva picture, Visnu picture, Sankirtana painting, and Spiritual Master's picture, and Radha Krishna painting—they are all required. Therefore, Krishna has sent so many devotees to work on the painting department, so we have to utilize them fully, so their service is fully utilized for advancing in Krishna Consciousness.”
And for those complacent personalities who are still not convinced, here is another stunning example. In a letter dated 29 March 1968 to the legendary grihasta couple Nandarani and Dayananda, His Divine Grace wrote:
“I can understand your feeling the absence of devotees. The best thing will be that you practice chanting, both husband and wife together, and Krishna may send some friends, who may also take part in the chanting. We have to create the atmosphere of Krishna Consciousness, and thus create devotees also. I therefore advise you to begin classes as usual, morning and evening, sitting together, husband and wife, in the front of Krishna's picture, and chant Hare Krishna and read Shrimad-Bhagavatam.”
All devotees are familiar with how Krishna consciousness became popular in the UK, in Europe and throughout the world through the contact of the devotees like Shyamasundara, Gurudasa and Yamuna with The Beatles. The Apple hit record “Hare Krishna” reached number one on the charts and the group of exalted personalities called “The Radha-Krishna Temple” appeared on TV shows as celebrities simply by chanting the mahamantra. Much of this was due to the influence of Shriman George Harrison whose great love and support for Shrila Prabhupada can never be underestimated. Have a look at this instruction from 12 April, 1970 to Shyamasundara dasa from the Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness:
George Harrison at his home altar worshiping a picture of Lord Krishna as per the instructions of Shrila Prabhupada
“Regarding how George (Harrison) may continue his meditation, that meditation may be done by keeping one picture of Krishna, keeping his mind concentrated on the picture of Krishna and softly chanting the Hare Krishna Mahamantra as long as he likes. That will complete both his meditation and Krishna Consciousness perfectly according to the last verse of the sixth chapter of Bhagavad-gita which says, ‘And of all yogis, he always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in Yoga, and is the highest of all.’
“… I think George does not require to become my formal disciple because he is already more than my disciple. He has sympathy for my movement and I have all blessings for him.”
In one his last interviews, on French TV, George Harrison said “Sure, it's like Swami Bhaktivedanta, who started the Hare Krishna Movement. He once said that he was the servant of the servant of the servant of God. So I mean what does that make me? I'm the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant of the servant.”
Have ISKCON’s leaders forgotten their roots and the genuine devotees who sacrificed everything for Shrila Prabhupada’s Movement?
Yet George Harrison himself had expressed his disillusionment long back with ISKCON’s leadership in an interview with The Sunday Tribune dated 18 October 1987. Expressing his feelings, he stated unequivocally, “I am always a bit dubious about organisations … It does seem to be chaotic, with all kinds of guys thinking they’re the gurus. To me, it’s not important to be a guru, its more important just to be, to learn humility.”’ When we see the supposed “leaders” of the Hare Krishna Movement allowing Mayavada to infiltrate the movement our opinion is the same..
Bhurijana dasa, ISKCON guru, writes in his book My Glorious Master about how Shrila Prabhupada shed tears for the sacrifices he and his wife were making to spread Krishna consciousness in the Orient. Will the GBC of ISKCON learn such empathy and compassion for those who have sacrificed everything to spread the message of Krishna consciousness all over the world? Or will they continue to ride roughshod over the feelings of the genuine devotees by promoting offensive rubbish like the The Journey Home?
It’s all one, isn’t it? (Rows 1 to 3 above) Some of the Mayavadi “gurus” who Radhanatha met and for whom he is full of praise for in his The Journey Home.
Ahmed the dhobi and Mukesh the pan walla.