Deviation from the track of The Prabhupada: The Membership Program to Financially Support ISKCON
- The Symbol of Faith
- 4 days ago
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Deviation from the Track of the Prabhupāda: The Membership Program to Financially Support ISKCON
Please read the statements below by Śrīla Svāmī Mahārāja to understand the meaning of this membership (a kind of business):
“So we have so much literature. And in India we've introduced a program, our membership program, so that we can go on distributing these literatures. And that membership program, there are four memberships, types of membership. One is Life Membership. Life Membership means the member is entitled to all the books that we have printed, plus all the books we will print in the future, plus a lifetime subscription to our magazine, Back to Godhead. And the member is entitled to stay at any one of our branches throughout the world free, and if he happens to travel abroad. Or in India we will have our branches. So that Life Membership fee is 1,111 rupees.
And then we have Donor Membership. The Donor Member is entitled to all the books that have been printed, a lifetime subscription to our magazine, but he does not get the books in the future. That is 555 rupees. And Subscriber Membership, lifetime subscription to our magazine, which is 222 rupees. And ordinary membership, yearly subscription to our magazine. In this way we're trying to recruit members that support our movement. This movement is being supported just by literature.
And in this way we can flood the whole world with Kṛṣṇa consciousness, and then there'll be a change. If we want to see a change in the world, then we have to distribute knowledge of Kṛṣṇa in this way. You are welcome to become a member. And also your friends. Tell them about our membership programs.”
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“Yes, I have no objection if you build a waterproof storage shed for books. But one thing is, you owe the Building Fund a total of Rs. 29,000 and the Book Fund Rs. 70,000, so how you will repay? Are the collections from Life Memberships and books stopped? Life Membership collection in one month is only Rs. 17,773, so that is only one member in two days. And book sales collection is only Rs. 3,839, but Giriraj told me once they are collecting average Rs. 500 daily. If so many books are coming, how you will sell them? Now you cooperatively make program how to increase the sales of books and Life Members, and all of the money from book sales may be used for the building work, as the cost of the books is being paid for from the Mayapur Fund so they will be free to you.”
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“I am so pleased to learn of the successful preaching; now go on in this way. If possible in Kanpur there is one man ready to receive you. You can open correspondence. In this way you visit all the important cities and you will get thousands and thousands of life members.”
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“So far maintenance, we should make some monthly subscribers of cash or goods. Just like Goenka is giving foodstuffs, so many others can do the same. A little pocket expenditure can be collected by holding meetings. All the Gaudiya math people collect rice from house to house. Actually the temple should be provided by the local contribution of cash and kind.”
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Our comment
And now proceed to the siddhānta of Bhakti Siddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda and Bhakti Vinoda Ṭhākura, as well as the relevant ślokas from the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.
Excerpt from a lecture delivered by Śrīla Sarasvatī Gosvāmī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda, first published in The Gauḍīya, Volume 11, No. 22, January 1933:
“In Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha, the brahmacārīs, sannyāsīs etc. are all bhikṣus. I ask them to go out and beg. I alone have accepted the responsibility for this activity and in this work, I will not bypass any house. Therefore, I constantly send our men from door to door everywhere for bhikṣā. For our preaching of the Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa, for the sake of benefiting this world, we will approach everyone and accept something from them to use in Kṛṣṇa’s service. Simply to collect money and convert it into stool and urine is the occupation of monkeys, not of Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha. It is necessary to engage billions of Vaiṣṇavas — such a service is assigned to me.”
Here we present a passage from Jaiva-Dharma by Śrīla Bhakti Vinoda Ṭhākura:
Yādava dāsa: Is it proper to construct a monastery and establish the worship of a Deity after one has entered the renounced order?
Ananta dāsa: No. A qualified disciple who has entered the renounced order should maintain his existence by begging every day. He should not involve himself in constructing a monastery or in other grand enterprises. He can live anywhere, either in a secluded hut or in the temple of a householder. He should remain aloof from all affairs that require money, and he should constantly chant śrī-hari-nāma without offense.
Yādava dāsa: What do you call renunciants who set up a monastery and then live like householders?
Ananta dāsa: They may be called vāntāśī (those who eat their own vomit).
Yādava dāsa: Then are they no longer to be considered Vaiṣṇavas?
Ananta dāsa: What benefit is there in their association when their behavior is contrary to śāstra and vaiṣṇava-dharma? They have given up pure bhakti, and have adopted a hypocritical lifestyle. What relationship could a Vaiṣṇava have with such people?
Yādava dāsa: How can one say that they have given up Vaiṣṇavism, as long as they don’t give up the chanting of hari-nāma?
Ananta dāsa: Hari-nāma and nāma-aparādha are two different things. Pure hari-nāma is quite distinct from offensive chanting that only has the external appearance of hari-nāma. It is an offense to commit sins on the strength of chanting śrī-nāma. If one chants śrī-nāma and at the same time commits sinful activities, thinking that the power of śrī-nāma will exempt him from sinful reactions, he is committing nāma-aparādha. This is not śuddha-hari-nāma, and one should flee far away from such offensive chanting.
Yādava dāsa: Then is the domestic life of such people not to be considered Kṛṣṇa-centered?
“Never,” Ananta dāsa firmly said. “There is no room for hypocrisy in a Kṛṣṇa-centered domestic life. There can only be complete honesty and simplicity, with no trace of offense.”
Yādava dāsa: Is such a person inferior to a gṛhastha-bhakta?
Ananta dāsa: He is not even a devotee, so there is no question of comparing him with any bhakta.
Please also consult the following śloka from Śrīmad Bhāgavatam:
eka eva cared bhikṣur
ātmārāmo ’napāśrayaḥ
sarva-bhūta-suhṛc-chānto
nārāyaṇa-parāyaṇaḥ
(ŚB 7.13.3)
“The sannyāsī, completely satisfied in the self, should live on alms begged from door to door. Not being dependent on any person or any place, he should always be a friendly well-wisher to all living beings and be a peaceful, unalloyed devotee of Nārāyaṇa. In this way he should move from one place to another.”
Here we present a passage from Volcanic Energy by Śrīla Bhakti Vijñāna Bhāratī Gosvāmī Mahārāja, where Śrīla Bhakti Dayita Mādhava Gosvāmī Mahārāja speaks on temple life and explains the instructions of Śrīla Bhakti Vinoda Ṭhākura:
“WE MAKE MENDICANTS, NOT BUSINESS MEN”
Guru Mahārāja acquired land in Śrīdhāma Māyāpura for the purpose of establishing a branch of Śrī Caitanya Gauḍīya Maṭha. In those times, land was very inexpensive. One man, Śrī Rāma Nārāyaṇa of Bhojanagar, was greatly devoted to Guru Mahārāja and had rendered immense service for Śrī Caitanya Gauḍīya Maṭha in Kolkata.
When he saw the land Guru Mahārāja had acquired in Māyāpura, he told Guru Mahārāja, “If you were to kindly allow me, I could enroll a few persons as members of your maṭha and charge them a reasonable membership fee. In this way, we would raise funds for the construction and maintenance of the maṭha. Additionally, the soil of this land is highly suitable for making bricks. Moreover, regardless of how much soil you use, the soil will always be replenished when the Gaṅgā floods during the rainy season. If you allow me to establish a brick factory here once you lay the foundation stone, I could arrange for the workforce and whatever else would be required. You would only have to appoint one person to sit at the cash counter and manage the accounting. Profits made from the brick factory could be used to initially construct the boundary walls. Later, the deity room, temple hall and the devotees’ residences could all be very easily constructed without the need to seek out any donations.”
In response to Śrī Rāma Nārāyaṇa-jī’s suggestion, Guru Mahārāja said, “While your proposal is certainly excellent for making a poor man rich, it will not be possible for me to accept it. Our mission is to turn rich persons into mendicants and to provide all spiritual seekers who have taken shelter in the maṭha with an opportunity to become completely dependent on Śrī Kṛṣṇa, and thereby become akiñcana. Though akiñcana is generally taken to mean ‘without possessions,’ here, a means ‘Kṛṣṇa,’ and kiñcana means ‘wealth.’ In other words, we aim to enable such persons to accept Śrī Kṛṣṇa as their only wealth and to strengthen their character most appropriately by instilling in them the inclination to perform nirguṇa-bhikṣā, or begging alms not as an act of enjoyment performed under the influence of the three modes of material nature, but for the sole purpose of keeping the body connected with the soul, so that one may continue performing service to Bhagavān and His devotees. It is not our objective to lead them to the endless journey of material karma by making them dependent on some property, guesthouse or any other business, thus nourishing their false pride of being the doer.
“Currently, we are directly witnessing and experiencing the reason Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has given the instruction that Vaiṣṇavas should not construct maṭhas and temples. The opulence of such institutions will always attract persons who join with the intention of enjoying sense gratification. Instead of diminishing, their sense enjoyment only strengthens more and more as time passes. Despite this, Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura Prabhupāda established many maṭhas, because he fully understood the true, innermost desire of Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura. Śrīla Prabhupāda said, ‘We will build maṭhas and temples in order to provide all those who desire to engage in bhakti with an opportunity to serve and hear the pure message of Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu. Even if only a couple such persons are inclined to join, our mission will be successful.’ Following these words of Śrīla Prabhupāda we, too, have begun constructing maṭhas.
“Śrīla Prabhupāda forewarned, ‘A storm is approaching in Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha. Although an empty husk externally appears similar to paddy, it is devoid of grain, and shall therefore always be useless. However, the actual paddy—that is, the true followers of the maṭha—shall reach far and wide and lead to the growth and expansion of Śrī Gauḍīya Maṭha, thus resulting in the topmost welfare of all people. Never, under any circumstance, become unenthusiastic or fearful in your performance of hari-bhajana and your chanting of hari-nāma. Although disturbances may come and sense enjoyers may remain attached to the objects of their senses, those who sincerely desire to perform bhajana shall make use of the opportunity provided by the maṭha to associate with sādhus, and thus progress on the path of bhakti.’
“Therefore, to the extent feasible, we should refrain from the hostile act of providing others with easy access to sense gratification.”
Gaura Hari Haribol!
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