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Anti-TKG Tirade Was ‘Grave Theological Error’ by Krishnabhishek das Posted June 16, 2009 In response to Mukunda prabhu’s recent attack (posted elsewhere) on HH Tamal Krishna Goswami, I am writing as a student/scholar of Gaudiya Vaisnavism presenting our siddhanta both within the Vaishnava community and to secular academia, as well as a disciple of Tamal Krishna Maharaja, who engaged me directly in these services. Mukunda das posted Chapter 24 from a 2004 book edited by Dr. Edwin Bryant, and has mistaken this for Maharaja’s doctoral dissertation, an entirely separate work. Along with Garuda prabhu (Graham Schweig, PhD, Harvard), I am assisting in reviewing his thesis for publication. I also know Prof. Julius Lipner from Cambridge, Maharaja’s thesis adviser (not "handler", as Mukunda das terms it), who initially helped prepare it for publication. It is presently undergoing review at Columbia University Press and should be published in a year or two if everything goes right. I have legal access to his actual dissertation and have read it several times. What Mukunda das presents is from Dr. Bryant's book, not from Maharaja’s thesis, and he has therefore begun his whole tirade on a wrong track. Alluding as he does to the ethnic roots of Tamal Krishna Maharaja and Krishna Kshetra prabhu is simply a grave theological error called vaishnave jati buddhi and is offensive to all Vaishnavas. If the author doesn’t understand what I am saying, I humbly request him to search the term in the Vedabase. Maharaja’s idea behind getting into academia was to represent Gaudiya Vaisnavism, especially coming from the line of Srila Prabhupada, to worldly scholars. From reading Srila Prabhupada’s books and biographies quite thoroughly over the last 17 years, I gather that he himself valued this kind of preaching. If the author is not convinced about introducing Krishna consciousness "in their own language" to worldly scholars, philosophers and scientists, there is nothing much one can do about it. Each area of studies will have its own technical jargon, and presenting Krishna consciousness to secular academia "in their own language" would mean setting aside some common ISKCON jargon. For example, if one mentions to some worldly scholar that "XYZ prabhu left the planet in 2009," he might easily imagine an Apollo 13 mission with a devotee in an astronaut suit leaving planet Earth. I hope the author can comprehend this simple example. The word "charismatic" is commonly used in religious studies. The sociologist Max Weber coined the term in this context, explaining that it is "a certain quality of an individual personality, by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman, or at least specifically exceptional powers or qualities." After all don’t we say that Srila Prabhupada has the sakti of Lord Nityananda or that he is exceptional and is set apart from us? That’s another example of presenting our siddhanta in "their own language". Before letting out all the vitriol, the author should understand that to effectively spread Krishna Consciousness in the academic world requires time, energy and resources, as well as the patience and intelligence to deal with intellectuals who influence the way the world thinks and who may be unfavorably indisposed towards our movement. If, however, the author thinks that the devoted, scholarly preaching led by Tamal Krishna Maharaja has not been satisfactory, I challenge him to explain our philosophy effectively "in their own language" by writing on the teachings of Srila Prabhupada from a world-class university, getting it published from a reputed scholarly press and be taken seriously by major intellectuals. Only then can I — or perhaps any scholar or devotee — take his accusations seriously.
Finally, I humbly request the author and all other Vaishnavas questioning the motives of Tamal Krishna Maharaja in academia to seek the essence of his words and actions; a careful, unbiased analysis will clearly reveal Maharaja’s true intentions if one is honestly open to it. If the author is interested in reading Maharaja’s real thesis, it should be hopefully out from Columbia sometime soon. I urge him to be a bit more patient; it cannot be given out at this moment, like any other manuscript about to be published.
On April 16, 2009, Mother Shyama Priya passed away, lovingly surrounded by family and friends. She was a simple, genuine devotee of the Lord and, for the last 20 years, the backbone of Vaisnava Outreach, Inc, also known as ISKCON Prison Ministry (IPM). Shyama Priya not only left me the most valuable inheritance I could ever dream of in the form of her service, but she taught me very important life lessons while she was alive, as she was dying, and even after she died. Although pancreatic cancer is most painful, Shyama Priya never complained; it was easy to forget she was sick at all. One day I was at her house looking for 2 books she had kept for a prisoner. I could only find one of them. Shyama Priya then got up and started looking herself. I urged her to go back to bed, but only when her physical strength gave way did she finally lie back down. That was 10 days before she passed away. She taught me how to serve till the end. In the last week, Shyama Priya, by then very weak, would greet her visitors by taking their hands for a long time, smiling at them with much love. She taught me that when you die, the only thing you have is your love for others and others' love for you. Helping with the fundraiser to help Shyama Priya's family, I witnessed with awe donations pouring from all over the world, in a spontaneous demonstration of the devotees' love and appreciation for this saintly devotee. Even after her death, she taught me that when you devote your life to Lord Caitanya's service, Lord Caitanya will always take care of you. Would she have done anything differently if she had known she would die so soon? That is exactly the question she was asking herself one month before she left. After reflection, Shyama Priya concluded, "I would continue my service; what else would I do?" She taught me that service to Krsna is the essence of one's life, and by allowing me to assist her in her service, she has filled my life to the brim with ecstatic preaching. In the words of Candramauli Swami, "Congratulations for a life well spent."
Tribhuvanatha Prabhu ki jaya!
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The Passing of a Friend of Krishna by Bhaktin Sara Posted July 2, 2009 Although not so many people reading Chakra may know of this devotee, I wanted to honor her by writing about her after her recent passing on. Any prayers and good thoughts sent her way would be appreciated. Her name was Sara, and she was my neighbor about five years ago. We met in our parking lot, and became friends right away. From that day forward we shared meals, laughs, and neighborly talks. When she found out I was practicing Krishna Consciousness, she laughingly told me her stories about taking books and then feeling obligated to give donations at the airport to some sankirtana devotees. When her health was good, she used to come to the Sunday Feast occasionally, and we'd share spiritual talks at home. When Sara found out about the Sastra Dana and book distribution programs she was eager to get involved, and I still remember when she excitedly told me about the first book she distributed on the bus to a lady who had been wanting to learn about reincarnation. Sara was a really giving person and friend. Sometimes when she cooked something vegetarian she would leave some by my door, and also sometimes left me flowers and little gifts by my door. Every time I would visit her she would give a compliment and some jokes. Even though she went through tough times, her mood was lighthearted and jovial. She was also adventurous. One year, I had booked a field trip to visit the cow protection farm near New Vrindavana, but ended up with an extra ticket. Sara decided to come along even though it was last minute, and we spent Krishna Janmastami out in New Vrindavana and went to the Harvest Workshop at Balabhadra's farm. For years to come Sara spoke fondly of this trip. Seeing the cows face to face and learning about gardening was life changing for the both of us. When we returned to Los Angeles she worked to get us both involved in a garden project that her friend had been working on up north. She really loved that trip and was so grateful to Mother Chayadevi, Laxmi, and Balabhadra Prabhu for their warm hospitality. I moved away from our apartment complex a few years ago, and upon my return two years later I found out that Sara's health had taken a turn for the worse. For the past 2-3 years Sara experienced one health crisis after another. Despite the fears and suffering she went through she always had a smile to share and an open door for me at her home. During the past year, a devotee from the LA temple was hired by her apartment manager to do gardening work at her apartment courtyard. He was there to give her lots of friendly spiritual support and she really appreciated his company. It seems that Krishna somehow or other kept her in touch with Him. I did not get to the hospital in time to say good bye, but pray she is ok and that she left her body without too much suffering. Her passing reminded me that our time here with each other is short. Recently I had not visited her because when I would be driving by her apartment building I would think - I have other things to do, and there is always tomorrow. But tomorrow never came and now it's too late to say good bye. Sara kept a small picture of Lord Jagannatha on her mantlepiece in the living room. She had colored it in herself, and she always called Him "Smiley" affectionately. May Lord Jaganatha (Smiley) always be the object of her vision. Although most people reading this do not know her personally, any prayers or good thoughts sent out to her spirit would be greatly appreciated. She was (is) a sweet soul, and despite her struggles in this life, I pray her destination is a happy one.
Thank you.
Originally from El Cajon, San Diego, Shyama Priya was searching for something that made more sense than her conventional life when she found a Back to Godhead magazine in her local Laundromat. She attended a Sunday Feast in 1974, took spiritual initiation from Srila Pra bhupada, and never looked back. A 'real busy-bee' according to her son Nimai, Shyama Priya ran a Samosa and Smoothie bar in Hermosa Beach, California in the 1970s, as well as a small preaching center. In the early 1980s, she managed a similar center in Tallahassee, FL, while in the later eighties she ran the Miami temple's gift shop as well as a tape ministry for Hridayananda Dasa Goswami. Shyama Priya also worked as a baker for the Miami Govinda's restaurant, baking over fifty loaves of bread a day. Throughout all this time, she also doubled as a seamstress, sewing for deities all over the world.
It wasn't until 1990 that Shyama Priya was introduced to ISKCON USA's official Prison Ministry, established by Candrasekhara Dasa two years before. She was immediately gripped by the idea of such a personal service. "Chandrasekhara showed me a photo album of all the inmates he was writing to," she told Friends of the BBT in April 2008. "It was like they were family."
The couple of letters she wrote at first grew to huge stacks, and she had to collect donations to be able to mail them out. By the early 2000s, she was trying to hand-write 200 prisoners a month. It was only when her son Nimai suggested she move to a computer and use the occasional form letter that she relented. It was the same with Prabhupada's books. Although ISKCON Prison Ministry initially sent only a handful to prisons, Shyama Priya began mailing out whole cases when she noticed how often inmates requested them. "Soon they were going so fast that the BBT would send cases of BTGs and whole palettes of books to our house," Nimai says. "I'd hear the San Diego temple book scores, and it used to crack me up because I was the only one who knew that my mother was beating the whole temple single-handedly-of course, she never bragged about it." In response to her obvious care for them, inmates affectionately called Shyama Priya "Mama Shyama" and treated her as such-she once received a card signed by 30 inmates from Oregon state prison, all wishing her a happy Mother's Day. "She really was their mom, their number one support," Nimai says. "Even if they asked for things that would normally never be allowed in a prison, she would treat the request as if it had come from her own child and somehow find a way. She got inmates japa beads and kartalas, and even managed to have brass Gaura Nitai deities installed in the chapel of one prison. She just wanted to give them everything they needed to escape from the real prison-this world." Shyama Priya carried out this service with steadfast determination for almost twenty years, not stopping even when she was homeless and living on a bus, or when as a single mother, she had to work full-time at a store to support herself and her daughter.
When she moved to Alachua, Florida in 2007, help came in the form of Bhakti-lata Dasi. Originally from Montreal, Canada, Bhakti-lata had written prisons from her home town for six years during the 1990s, and had begun again when inmates contacted her after reading her 2006 BTG article "How I Came to Krishna Consciousness." Now she joined forces with Shyama Priya, and the two gradually began to bond over their shared love for their service.
"And when I finally had to sit down with her and tell her what the doctors had told me-that she had only 3 weeks left to live-all she said was 'Oh well.' That's how she was-surrendered to Krishna, and accepting of His plan." Shyama Priya continued to show incredible dedication to her service even at the very end of her life. Once, when Bhakti-lata went to her house to mail some letters for her, Shyama-Priya asked her to look for two books she had kept for an inmate. When Bhakti-lata could not find one of them, Shyama Priya got up from her bed and began searching everywhere, ignoring Bhakti-lata's pleas to go back to bed. Only when her physical strength gave way did she finally lie back down. "I had no idea how sick she was at the time-but looking back, I now know it was only ten days before she passed away," Bhakti-lata says. "I've also since learned that pancreatic cancer is one of the most painful and deadly there is. Shyama Priya was dying, and still she was looking all over her apartment for the Srimad-Bhagavatam because she wanted that inmate to have it. She kept saying, 'They have to have the books, they have to have the books.'" Despite the incredible pain, Shyama Priya never complained. She even refused morphine on the last day of her life because she didn't want to take any intoxication, and chanted her rounds up until three days before she passed away. "Once she was chanting on her beads and stopped after a short time because she no longer had the energy," Bhakti-lata recalls. "But when I checked on her later, although her eyes were closed, her fingers were still moving as if she had beads in her hand. It was an image that struck me very powerfully and will stay with me for a long time." During her last days at the Haven Hospice in Gainesville, many devotees visited Shyama Priya to talk and chant, including old friends Yashoda and Kunti, IPM founder Chandrasekhara Dasa, and Hridayananda Dasa Goswami. Arriving in a happy mood, Hridayananda Maharaja told her, "You lived your life and applied the process of Krishna consciousness perfectly, and this is the natural end of it. You're going back to Krishna. You won, Shyama Priya."
>>Click here to read rest of article friendsofthebbt.org/shyamapriya
Mother Shyama Priya was obviously very devoted to Srila Prabhupada and his great mission of spreading Krishna Consciousness, especially in her chosen service to the ISKCON Prison Ministry. Her heart was full of compassion for the less fortunate and she dedicated much time and effort to helping many souls on their progressive march back home, back to Godhead. Our movement has suffered a great loss by her departure from this world. But her works and example live on for us all to benefit from, and surely she has gone to a better place to continue her service to Srila Prabhupada and the Vaisnavas. My humble prayers go out to Mother Shyama Priya and her loved ones, who must be feeling a great loss at this time. However, due to her staunch dedication to Krishna Consciousness and Prabhupada's service, not only does her legacy live on, but she's guaranteed a higher birth in which she can render even more intimate and valuable service to our beloved spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. There is no loss or diminution in devotional service and Mother Shyama Priya has undoubtedly picked up from where she left off and her spiritual future is very bright and guaranteed. All glories to her devotional service which will live on forever, as will her memory among all those who knew her and loved her -- which is many, I'm sure. Mother Shyama Priya ki jaya! Her eternal lord and master, Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! Mother Shyama Priya sent me the following memories of Srila Prabhupada which I would like to share for the benefit of all.
Srila Prabhupada Memories by Mother Shyama Priya I only saw him four times. I came to the temple in San Diego for the first time in the fall of 1974. I saw Srila Prabhupada in San Diego at the temple there and in Balboa Park. Then I hitchhiked to San Francisco for Ratha Yatra in 1975. And I saw him once in Los Angeles in the temple room and another time we followed him to the airport in Los Angeles. My best memory was the first time I saw him coming to the San Diego Temple. He had just stepped out of the car, I was standing near the curb, and he shot a glance at me and I fell to the ground, reminding me of when Lord Brahma fell like a rod in front of Krsna after stealing the cowherds. Srila Prabhupada's glance pierced my heart. At that moment I could understand he saw me, not the body, but the soul and I knew he knew me for who I am, a spirit soul, not the body of a young woman, as everyone else related to me. It was a most purifying moment, and a confirmation that "a moment's association with a pure devotee" can change your life. We hitchhiked to San Francisco, as we heard that Srila Prabhupada would be there for the 1975 Ratha Yatra. We desperately wanted to see him. We had enough gas to go from San Diego to Santa Barbara, then we parked our VW Bus by someone's house and proceeded to hitchhike to San Francisco. It was me and two friends, Bhakta Bill and Bhakta Alex. It took a couple days to get there and we slept in Golden Gate Park, near the museums, in the woods. You could never do that these days and I wouldn't advise it, but we were in ecstasy in anticipation of seeing Srila Prabhupada. I had never been to Ratha Yatra, so I had no idea what to expect. The next day the devotees brought the carts out to the festival sight and were decorating them. We saw Jayananda Prabhu leading a kirtana around the carts before the festival began. I joined in and then Srila Prabhupada came driving up in his car and got out to sit on the cart. The parade began, going toward the ocean, I walked with my head in the clouds and I thought my feet never touched the ground. Many people came and everyone was dressed in brightly colored clothes. Everyone was dancing and singing, and chanting Hare Krsna. It was the spiritual world, no doubt. When we reached the meadow, where the festival took place, the parade stopped and we sat on the grass to listen to Srila Prabhupada speak. He stood on the stage and there was a big kirtana. So many hundreds of people were there. The devotees had everyone line up in rows and served out what seemed to be an unlimited amount of prasadam. We saved some for our trip home in two BIG plastic bags, one with halava and one full of Gauranga Potatoes. After the festival we headed out to hitchhike back to our car and go home. While waiting for a ride we started to eat the bags of prasadam, which should have been enough for a few days, it was a very large amount. Many people were also hitchhiking at the same ramp, so it took many hours to get a ride and we were sharing the prasadam with others, so our big bags of prasadam didn't last for long and by the time we got a ride, it all disappeared. When we returned to San Diego, we found out to our delight, that Srila Prabhupada was coming here. Another time we hitchhiked to Los Angeles to see Srila Prabhupada at the temple. When we arrived at the temple hundreds of devotees were going to see Srila Prabhupada off at the airport, as we came to late to hear the class, we jumped into the back of a truck headed to the airport. When arriving at the airport, all the devotees followed Srila Prabhupada with mrdanga and kartalas all the way down the hallways leading to the waiting area, with a really loud kirtana! Then everyone gathered around to try to catch a glimpse or hear a word from Srila Prabhupada. I stood up on the seat inside of a phone booth, without a top on it, to see over the top and down to where Srila Prabhupada was sitting. A man walked by me and asked what was going on. I told him we were all here to see a very special person, a guru, who had come to America to start a spiritual movement. During a festival in Balboa Park, Srila Prabhupada gave a talk and when he was leaving the stage, he was walking past me, I bowed down and his feet were just inches from my head, I could have reached out and touched his feet. I didn't, but the memory is very nice. I got the cloth remnants from the Vyasasana he sat on, it smelled like sandalwood, and I distributed them all over the US when I traveled. I left some in the Prabhupada Museum in St. Louis temple. Who is this wonderful person Srila Prabhupada, who filled our hearts with love and true happiness? He is still with us, but how could we remember without these wonderful pastimes? He lives forever in our hearts. Just as Srila Prabhupada told us to remember the pastimes of Krsna, in our hearts, Srila Prabhupada's pastimes are also going on in our hearts to enliven and encourage us. I say I only saw Srila Prabhupada four times, but could have seen him once more, I missed the opportunity! I always urge everyone to go see their guru as often as possible, as you never know when will be the last time you will be able to do so. In other words don't take it for granted that you will be able to see him whenever you desire to. A moment's association is all it takes, but the more moments the better!
Your humble servant, |
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Tribuvanatha was my best friend. I consider myself very fortunate to have had a lot of personal association with him in the 70's and 80's. I love him dearly and miss him a lot. Every so often I like to post some fond memories of Tribhuvanatha so that the world won't forget his infectious enthusiasm to please Srila Prabhupada and to spread the chanting of the holy names of Krishna far and wide. Please join with me as we honor this most remarkable soul on the pages of The Prabhupada Connection:
Shyama Priya Dasi, the driving force behind ISKCON's Prison Ministry, passed away on April 16, 2009 in Gainesville, Florida, after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer. As her son, daughters, daughter-in-law, and many loving devotee friends sat close by her bed and chanted the names of God, they reflected on her exemplary life.
Although it was a family of outcasts-rejected by society and abandoned by their friends and relatives-Shyama Priya believed Krishna still cared for them; and so she did too.
Sadly, the partnership would be short-lived. In 2008, Shyama Priya was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, news which she accepted with the same calmness she exhibited in any difficult situation. "She hoped that she could outpace it a few more years to see my 14 year-old sister reach 18, but that was the only regret she showed," says Nimai.
It's with great sadness in my heart that I write these words in honor of Mother Shyama Priya. Over the years, she kindly wrote to me a number of times about her appreciation for The Prabhupada Connection website. I was always grateful to receive her encouraging letters.