Gaurahari Zodda and his conversion to Christianity

I don't know much about Gaurahari Das. I met him personally once in Mayapur a few years ago. I was told at the time that he was making disciples and trying to build a following. He had a nice face, a good smile, was generally polite and curious in conversation. If I formed any opinion then, it was that it was a little early for him to be acting as guru, but then that is so typical that I did not make much of it. Later on, I followed his career a little since I had had some personal contact with him. I noticed him go through a phase of supporting the ritvik philosophy. He was constantly making videos and trying so hard to reach a state of emotional bhakti, or bhava. Then he started watching videos of Christian preachers, televangelists of the Southern Baptist variety, miracle workers and Pentecostals. His sudden conversion to Christianity took us all by surprise, however. After all, most devotees recoil before a religion that condones meat-eating, what to speak of the crass commercialism and demigoguery of these slick preachers.

It seems to me that Gaurahari was attracted by the glitter and figures he can break into those circles and do the Elmer Gantry thing himself. At any rate, we exchanged some correspondence. Here is his announcement and my response.

I just want to let you know I have had a huge change of heart and what path I want to devote myself exclusively too. Recently I realized what it means practically to serve two masters. I was doing this and did not know it. One master was Krishna Consciousness and the other one was Jesus. I was thinking that they actually were the same Master involved. I thought the Vedas and the Bible were also teaching the same principals. The Love of God of the Christians and love of Krishna was also the same. Looking deeper into this I see they are most certainly not. They just appear to be related. I could not see this clearly and know one else has the light to see that one is actually serving two different masters. Rededicating my life to Jesus as my personal exclusive savior, reading the bible, and hearing those preachers who are genuinely empowered with the Holy Spirit is revealing this truth to me setting me free of some subtle illusions. There is more discussion on this in the videos I have been making if one is interested in testing the spirits and looking at the results of following both spirits and Krishna and his followers claiming they are the same and those who are truly filled with the light of the Holy Spirit see the subtle sham that is enslaving so many in very subtle deceitful ways. The new videos look deeply into all this.Sorry eman and others for all the work you put into serving but don't worry God is leading us all to know what is the real truth to set us free. 
By serving what is actually two masters in opposition to each other I could not see this. If anyone is interested, as part of my own clearing, deepening process I am still making videos and sharing my insights. I know this change appears to be abrupt and has happened before, still I have to follow what I believe is true. Each time on my particular path and what I have to encounter due to my own destiny is making everything more clear. My roots in the truth are going a little more deeper in the right soil. If you considered me like a teacher to you and don't like new direction of exclusive dedication to Jesus without mixing it with KC ( which I can understand) please feel free to proceed the way you are personally inspired to develop your spiritual life. Any questions feel free to call or write me. I am sorry if this is causing confusion for anyone but this just goes to show that that if one is serving the real father and Son of God and the holy spirit, then there will be no confusion or darkness in them. One distinction of how I see the KC path is no one gets the real spirit of God to dwell in them one becomes dependent o some charismatic human being who disappears and one is deflated again. Those who are true servants of Jesus who are filled with the Holy Spirit are not like this and work to impart that Holy Spirit to those who listen to the true doctrine of Jesus which saved them and only they themselves know by following the right way and getting the gift of the holy spirit to dwell within them.

This is my aim and goal and if I am called by the lead of the Holy Spirit to be some kind of teacher my goal will be to lead those who comes to a relationship with Jesus as their savior and pray that the Holy Spirit enters them and abides, teaches and comforts them forever. That's Gods real program! This is the real gift and truth that God wants to give everyone. Not when the Guru or teacher, who are actually just men, goes somewhere else or dies one is confused and has to run to another living man Guru who does not have the true spirit of Christ in them.. Those who have the true Holy Spirit pray for those who come to them to hear the real doctrine of the Savior to receive the Holy Spirit which guides, comforts, leads and teaches them all things. They never take the worship and give all credit to the real savior in Jesus name. KC teaches to worship and depend on a man to save them who cannot impart the Holy Spirit, and history of the gaudiya matha and SP movement everything falls apart when they leave. KC teaches others to chant for 50 years to free one from ones sins, when just by faith in Jesus that he paid the price on the cross blotting out all the sins of all who believe on him. The videos expose more of this in detail by testing and comparing the spirits fruits of KC and Jesus, anyone who is eager and wants to be really free and know about this watch my new videos. 
So this is the next step and final teaching that I will involve myself for the rest of my life and anyone who comes around, my intention will be for them to receive the true holy spirit to keep them safe from the clutches of the evil one forever.

But you are totally wrong. And it is quite unfortunate that you have misunderstood Krishna consciousness due to your exclusively depending on Srila Prabhupada for your knowledge. In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna says he dwells in the heart and gives intelligence. As a matter of fact, the whole Gita can be read as a way of understanding the voice of the Holy Spirit. The Guru is the facilitator.

Moreover saying that you have to chant for fifty years before the Name takes effect whereas just faith in Jesus frees you from sin. I must say, my dear, you really have not learned much about bhakti. I am very sorry to see that your understanding was so shallow.

But there you go. I can understand your frustration with current Gaudiya Vaishnava politics, but my Lord, has Christianity fared much better in its two thousand years? Its record is so bloody that it still drives people to atheism! To find anything comparable in Hinduism, one has to dig considerably. That such external matters have swayed your thinking is just another proof that your understanding was shallow, your sadhana so lacking in true intensity.

I am a little miffed because I complimented you recently. Evidently there was something else going on besides dancing in the street. You should have come to Rishikesh and we could have had a talk. Bhakta-sanga was missing. You set yourself up as a guru before you were ready. And now you want to be a teacher again.

At any rate, your choices are yours and I don't begrudge you the decision to follow your own inspiration. But in general I find it suspicious when people repudiate something that has been the channel of Grace and source of so much spiritual inspiration in their lives. It is always best to truly understand one's path before abandoning it. You will find that though the long and rich Christian tradition has its strengths, it also has the very same challenges as Vaishnavism, and in many cases has weaknesses where Vaishnavism has strengths. Service to one's guru does not mean rote following or blind obedience, but service to the underlying essence of the message.

Ultimately, you will indeed need to go to a level that incorporates ALL religious beliefs. That is the way that each of our religious traditions is benefited, by learning from each other and finding the universal.

You excoriate temple deity worship, calling them idols and images carved by human hands, as though this was not something that has been debated for a thousands of years in Hinduism! I am literally gobsmacked. But anyway, anyone whose faith is so shallowly conceived will not have much success in his new garb either, in my opinion.

What I see here, Gaurahariji, is that you are a zealot, not a philosopher. You lost your faith in Iskcon zealotry, so you tried the Prabhupadanugas for a while, this one and that one, but you could not put your whole heart into that old time Iskcon religion. There were a lot like you; some of them went to Narayan Maharaj and could jump up and down for a while, but you did not go that route, though it would have been far better to associate with him or Sridhar Maharaj to get a little perspective. So now, hungry for your adrenaline fix of fundamentalism, you have been watching some Christian preachers, some televangelist Elmer Gantrys, and you have fallen for them hook line and sinker.

And now you think, these guys have got something. I am going to go for that Bible-thumping message and get me a gig with the Evangelical crowd. Well good luck breaking in, my friend. You will no doubt do better than the handful of followers you got from the dregs of Iskcon.

I can see where this is going. You have now seen the light and you will be the poster boy for the converted back from the godforsaken new age and eastern heresies! What a sham!

Anyway, the Christian message is strong. I just wish that American evangelicals were not so right wing. If you must be a Christian, go for the St-Francis wing of the Church. Or try St John of the Cross, or Theresa of Avila, or Brother Lawrence, or Thomas a Kempis, or Thomas Merton. But modern Protestant evangelicals are certainly not my style.

You say Christianity is simple and Krishna bhakti is not. In many ways it is the exact same message! "Anyone who says just once, "I am yours" to him I give myself forever. This is my eternal promise." That is the bhakti message. Where have you been, Gaurahari?

And what do you think of babes like Dhruva, Prahlad and the four Kumaras? What to speak of Shukadeva and so many others? And what do you think is the message of the gopis, who without knowledge or learning attained the highest perfection, which was hidden to the Upanishads? Where have you been, Gaurahari? What were you doing all these years?

The problem arises when we are too literal. "Christ crucified" and the washing away of sins, etc. There is of course no need for any such thing. A powerful God can clear away all the sins of humanity in a moment. But there is a powerful symbol there, the son of God dying for our sins. We can say, "One repetition of God's name can destroy more sins that the greatest sinner could ever commit in a million lifetimes." Why not? Why do we need something so dramatic as well as improbable??

It is just a symbol. That's all. So you like one symbol more than another, that is all it is. But in neither case does it absolve you of the spiritual responsibility of Love. Of becoming a more perfect human being. Salvation is never a magic thing that happens just because you say "I am yours" as our scriptures say. It is true, because of Grace, but Grace is only the empowerment, i.e., the strength or faith to become a worthy servant of God. This is why Luther talks about justification by faith alone. It is not that something external proves your salvation, but without inner faith you will never be transformed, you will not have the energy or power to be transformed. But transformed you must be.

So the transforming Christ then is no longer the "crucified Son of God" but "the son of Man", "the perfect man," or the ideal to be followed. And the saints are also such ideals. And they exist in all traditions.

What Christians are discovering more and more, especially of course in the liberal churches, is that there is a necessity for introducing the divine feminine, and they are having a problem doing so with the limitations of their symbolic vocabulary, because the Judaic tradition eliminated the feminine from the Divine, as has been continued in the Islamic tradition. The evangelical Christians maintain the social model of male-female relations according to the patriarchal tradition.

Now what I say is that the culture of the human heart must be developed in the model of human love, shaped by the form of Radha and Krishna. When our hearts and minds take the shape of Radha and Krishna and we learned to absorb the feminine power into our spirituality and find union in love, then we become more perfect human beings in ways that simple individual salvation and individual grace cannot.

Comments

Anonymous said…

J.D. said: Ultimately, you will indeed need to go to a level that incorporates ALL religious beliefs. That is the way that each of our religious traditions is benefited, by learning from each other and finding the universal.

M.N. replied: This is the true writing from the mind of Jagadananda Das that one knows so well; take heart brother, one hopes you find your way back on to your path (my thoughts are with you brother, truly).

J.D. said: If you must be a Christian, go for the St-Francis wing of the Church. Or try St John of the Cross, or Theresa of Avila, or Brother Lawrence, or Thomas a Kempis, or Thomas Merton.

M.N. replied: St Anthony’s Coptic Orthodox monastery is an even better place, Gaurahari Das should look for the English speaking ascetic, Brother Lazarus Al-Anthony.
Anonymous said…

"Many people are standing at the door, but those who are celibate are the people who will enter the bridal chamber."

"I am the light which is above all things. I am everything. From me everything came forth. And up to me everything reached."

Verses 75 & 77

Source: http://www.gospel-thomas.net/DeConick_ColorCoded.pdf
Anonymous said…
Although in truth dearest Jagadananda Das, the real Jesus is in fact the Egyptian Horus, who as the coming son is named Iu-sa or Iu-su, and, as the prince of peace, Iu-em-hetep.

Quote:

Enough has now been cited to show the method of the Ritual and
the mode in which the eschatology of the Egyptian religion was
founded in the mould of the pre-extant mythology. The Book of
the Dead is the Egyptian book of life. It is the pre-Christian word
of God. This we learn from the account which it gives of itself. It
is attributed to Ra as the inspiring holy spirit. Ra was the
father in heaven, who has the title of Huhi, the eternal, from which
we derive the Hebrew name of Ihuh. The word was given by
God the father to the ever-coming son as manifestor for the father.
This was Horus, who as the coming son is Iu-sa or Iu-su, and, as
the prince of peace, Iu-em-hetep. Horus the son is the Word in
person. Hence the speaker in the character of Horus says, “I utter
his words—the words of Ra—to the men of the present generation,
and I repeat his words to him who is deprived of breath” (ch. 38).
That is, as Horus, the sayer or logos, who utters the words of Ra the
father in heaven to the living on earth, and to the breathless Manes
in Amenta when he descends into Hades or the later hell to preach
to the spirits in prison. The word or the sayings thus originated
with Ra the father in heaven. They were uttered by Horus the son,
and when written down in hieroglyphics by the fingers of Taht-Aan
for human guidance they supplied a basis for the Book of the Dead.
It had been ordained by Ra that his words, such as those that bring
about “the resurrection and the glory” (Rit., ch. 1), should be
written down by the divine scribe Taht-Aan, to make the word truth,
and to effect the triumph of Osiris against his adversaries; and it is
proclaimed in the opening chapter that this mandate has been obeyed
by Taht. The Ritual purports to contain the gnosis of salvation
from the second death, together with the ways and means of attaining
eternal life, as these were acted in the drama of the Osirian mysteries.
Hence the Osiris says that freedom from perdition can be assured by
means of this book, in which he trusts and by which he steadfastly
abides. The object of the words of power, the magical invocations,
the funeral ceremonies, the purgatorial trials, is the resurrection of the
mortal to the life which is everlasting. This opening chapter is de-
scribed as the “words” which bring about the resurrection on the
Mount of Glory, and the closing chapters show the deceased upon the
summit of attainment. He has joined the lords of eternity in
“the circle of Osiris,” and in the likeness of his own human self, the
very “figure which he had on earth,” but changed and glorified
(ch. 178). Therefore the most exact and comprehensive title for the
Book of the Dead now put together in 186 chapters would be “The
Ritual of the Resurrection.” The books of the divine words written
down by Taht are in the keeping of Horus the son, who is addressed
as “him who sees the father.” The Manes comes to him with his
copy of the writings, by means of which he prevails on his journey
through Amenta, like Pilgrim with his roll. He exclaims: “O thou
great seer who beholdest his father! O keeper of the books of
Taht! Here am I glorified and filled with soul and power, and
provided with the writings of Taht,” the secrets of which are divine
for lightening the darkness of the nether earth (Rit., ch. 94).

See Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World (Volume 1) pages 192-193.

Source:

https://archive.org/stream/AncientEgyptTheLightOfTheWorldvolume1/GeraldMassey-AncientEgyptTheLightOfTheWorldVol.I#page/n201/mode/2up
Anonymous said…
History repeats itself. Now Gaurahari Das has new converts from the fringe of the Iskcon dregs. Is this what it will all deteriorate to? It seems when one dreams up the Raganuga approach then yes this is where it all ends up, in a pile of mindless pap!

He is advertising himself as an Acharya, an Avadhoot, a Devine Grace? Specifically empowered and ordered by ACBS? This is insanity like a sad version of the Pentecostal Christians.

Check out his latest videos, its all about touching and feeling up devotees, this has to end in a bad place!

https://www.facebook.com/gaurahari99/videos/10155792151209209/

Who's going to help you Jagata and all who believe you and your friends? There are testimony after testimony of devotees dormant love of God or devotion to Krishna awakening who are associating and believing that Srila Prabhupada appeared to me and ordered the distribution of the rare gift of pure devotion to Krishna even to the unqualified and your over there criticizing such a wonderful rare transcendental truth that is manifesting in reality. You would do yourself good to hear what the witnesses are experiencing and not be one of the casualties faultfinders and critics of such amazing grace of our disciplic succession flowing in this world at the present time. So if your sincere or at least have some fear you made a very big mistake discreding our activities you should check out more thourly what we are doing otherwise you will certainly be after this life one of those who will be crying Lord Lord Gurudeva and cannot be saved due to vaishnava apparada that God can not even do anything about for those will not listen when it is pointed out.I am not worthy of being a vaishnava yet Lord Caitanya's transcendental mercy is flowing though this fool and others here in our sanga.
Oh by the way I could of just kept my mouth shut and not told you the truth but then you would have surely died with your misconceptions and lost your chance to rectify your mistake. Now as least there is a chance for you if you take seriously what I've pointed out
Jagadananda Das said…
I am only too happy to hear that your preaching is successful. I always knew you had it in you. Jai Sri Radhe!
Sticky devotees said…
Waoh I am impressed with your realizations and open heartesness to listen to what Srila Gaurahari Das has been saying and has yet to say. To surprise me a little more to see you actually attend class when Maharaja is live would be the cherry on the cake.

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