Jagat

Saraswatipada continues to describe a hierarchy of good fortune, finally arriving at the superlative "one who is most fortunate of the fortunate" ( dhanya-dhanyaḥ ). It is not easy to renounce, and often it seems unnecessary, especially when one has a wife or husband who is decorated with all the virtues beginning with devotion. But Prabodhananda gives so much importance to the Dham that he would even sacrifice a devotional life outside of Vrindavan for one there, even if it were to be in the company of those speaking mundane subject matters. 

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...