A critique of ISKCON’s diksha guru system Posted in: Articles, Blog
Here is a link to an article I wrote for the 2023 ISKCON Communications Journal: ICJ14_05_Krishna_Dharma_ISKCON’s_initiation_system_v4-1
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Here is a link to an article I wrote for the 2023 ISKCON Communications Journal: ICJ14_05_Krishna_Dharma_ISKCON’s_initiation_system_v4-1
Continue readingAn accusation I often hear levelled at religion is that it causes so many conflicts. As the recent tragic events unfolded in the Middle East, some have indeed pointed the finger of blame at religion, as at least a factor in the long-standing dispute. Writing for the ‘Big Think’, Adam Lee observed: “…what I do believe is that that it (the Israel Palestine conflict) is being inflamed and prolonged by religious zealotry on both sides.”…
Continue readingMost of us discover at a fairly young age that the world is not a bed of roses. The carefree joys of childhood were brutally interrupted for me when I was just seven and I lost my mother. Navigating my way through an uncertain world after that, I encountered much more pain in the shape of a less than loving stepmother. It was enough to make me rather circumspect about the prospects of a trouble-free…
Continue readingBack in 1972 I was a 17 year-old sea cadet. My ship had docked in Bombay and I stepped onto that exotic shore in search of reasonably priced souvenirs. Under the intense encouragement of a shopkeeper I came close to purchasing a fine ivory chess set costing most of my week’s wages before I spotted a little figurine of Krishna. He exerted a strange attraction over me and after handing over my hard-earned rupees…
Continue readingIt is interesting that the US and UK style themselves as “liberators” of Iraq. Subtly implied in this euphemistic term is the assumption that we are ourselves already liberated, in a position to bestow our happy state on others. And that is surely a commonly held assumption in the West. We view ourselves as having the most progressive and free societies. But how true is this? A popular newspaper columnist recently wrote a book about…
Continue readingDear Srila Prabhupada, Please accept my humble obeisance. All glories to you. Lately, I have been reflecting on my good fortune in meeting your divine grace. Sastra tells us we have been languishing in material existence for countless millennia. I made a rough calculation for how long we in this present age have been around and found it pretty scary. We learn from the Bhagavatam that we jivas are injected into the creation at the…
Continue readingPerhaps one of the saddest parts about growing up is learning that Father Christmas is not real. I recall a few years ago hearing how a teacher had been hauled across the coals for revealing this terrible truth to his class of six year olds, after outraged parents had bombarded the school with complaints. I was never a big believer in Santa myself. I think it dawned on me at an early age that a…
Continue readingWhat if there was one simple solution for all your problems? Something so easy that even a child could do it? Something which costs nothing, is available to everyone and ultimately ends all suffering? Well, before you decide to follow the standard dictum that if it sounds too good to be true then it most likely is, ask yourself a couple of questions. Firstly, do you know who you really are? I don’t mean a…
Continue readingIt seems many of us do not like the government telling us how we should conduct our lives. The current lockdown has elicited vigorous opposition in certain corners of the media, and indeed on many streets around the world. The suggestions that a vaccine may become mandatory, if and when it is eventually developed, will no doubt create even bigger waves of resistance. Professor Ian Philip, a health expert at Sheffield University and government advisor,…
Continue readingListening today to a lecture by Srila Prabhupada, my esteemed teacher, I was struck by a brilliant analogy he gave. First, he cited a verse from Vedic literature which basically states that the attempt to improve one’s material situation amounts to nothing more than ‘decorating a dead body’. In other words, the material body is destined to die today or tomorrow. It is always dead, in one sense, as it is only animated by the…
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