Jagat

My FB friend PamHo wrote a highly critical article of Bhakti Vikas Swami which he posted to Facebook: Martyr or Mother? I have been thinking a little about the issues raised by Bhakti Vikas Swami in his book about women and the role of women in ISKCON, though not having read the book I haven't gone into any great depth. I do know him by reputation and from some articles I have read. I see him as the conservative pole of current ISKCON and Hridayananda Maharaj being at the other extreme, with the GBC navigating the middle. I am not particularly supportive of either of those individuals nor their course, nor do I have any skin in the game of ISKCON's future direction. I find the issue of women's roles, etc., really something that cannot be subjected to a purely traditional scriptural rule of law. My position is that in the larger society, in the current context, women should be free to develop as individuals without being hampered by limitations imposed by male masters. ...

One of ISKCON's senior acharyas, Hridayananda Dasa Goswami, who has been teaching at the prestigious Berkeley Theological Union for many years, is  promoting a movement within the movement called " Krishna West ." His proposal has met with controversy, especially since the GBC at its annual Mayapur meetings effectively " quarantined " him. Rank and file members of the movement have been commenting copiously on the meaning of Hridayananda's proposals, which primarily center around issues of the distinctive Hare Krishna dress, showing that he has definitely struck a nerve. Hridayananda vehemently protests that he remains true to the teachings of Srila Prabhupada without compromise and that he is using the issue of dress to make Krishna consciousness more palatable to a wider range of people whose prejudices are awakened by strange appearances. In other words, he claims that he is using the dress issue as a kind of subterfuge to bypass people's bias in...

My friend Satyaraj Das, the founder and editor of the Journal of Vaishnava Studies , a successful, prolific and popular writer on subjects related to Vaishnavism, is writing a book on vegetarianism and Vaishnavism. He has already written successful books on the subject and is revisiting the subject from a deeper and broader perspective. He asked me my opinion on Krishna's recommending the killing of animals for the Govardhana Puja, as in the Vishnu Purana (5.10.38) and Harivamsa (2.16.21). Why not just take it as a historical development? We don't have to anchor ourselves to the past. This is a big problem with the way that Prabhupada presented Krishna consciousness to us, as something fixed in the past and unchangeable to which we must return. This is impossible, is it not? You never put your toes into the same flowing stream twice. But that is a big piece for most devotees to swallow. How can Krishna not have been perfect, if he was indeed a historical reality, etc.? And...