Dealing With Blame in ISKCON

Yesterday one devotee was commenting that on each level of ISKCON management we find devotees blaming the persons on the level just above them for their problems. That is if one is a cook in the temple for example, one will blame the temple commander, if one is the temple commander one will blame the vice president, the VP will blame the President, and the president will blame the GBC or guru. The standard way of dealing with this blaming situation (the one which leaders use now) is to say this indicates... Read more »

When Krishna Comes to this World and The Four Sinners-The Four Saints. Impersonalism vs. Personalism

In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna states that He comes to this world whenever there is a rise in religion and a decline in religion. He comes to re-establish religious principles, annihilate the miscreants, and protect the devotees.By the phrase “rise in irreligion,” Krishna indicates that irreligious activities such as meat eating, illicit sex, intoxication, gambling, and Godlessness in general are widespread. In the modern age, we not only find the majority of the populace performing these... Read more »

Why Krishna Consciousness Is Joyfully Performed

Last night we had a interesting discussion about austerities. My understanding is that Krishna consciousness is meant to be “joyfully performed.” In other words, whatever austerities that we may execute should be done joyfully or happily. For many this appears to be a tall order. There are different motivations that people have for performing austerities. Here are some of them that I can think of: Guilt, Fear (of getting smashed for not doing it), material goals (Hiranyakasipu type, desire... Read more »

Experience True Happiness Of The Self

Autonomy is an interesting concept. It is defined as: “independence or freedom, as of the will or one’s actions.” It is a basic need of the soul to be autonomous, which basically means the soul needs to be free to express itself. Outside of Krishna consciousness autonomy is not possible for the soul. Why is this? Krishna das Kaviraja Goswami explains this quite nicely in the Caitanya Caritamrta:”Because a devotee of Lord Krsna is desire less, he is peaceful. Fruitive workers... Read more »