Better a Kick Ass Than…..(05/23/06)
Dear Śrīpāda V____ Mahārāja,
Daṇḍavats. All glories to Śrī Śrī Guru and Gaurāṅga.
I read your email below with appreciation. I also have many appreciations of your holiness, but we lament seeing that your good nature does not allow you to see things as we do.
There are no doubt some learned persons in your camp, but when it comes to Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja there is no one that I have met yet from your camp who actually understands the conception and standards expected by Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja. Its a plain and simple fact.
I am certainly not alone in my opinions either. There are many who are in dismay about the deviations in X_____ Mahārāja’s camp while at the same time they persist that hearing higher topics by the unqualified is acceptable the path to perfection. As a godbrother recently wrote:
“They sent me a link to their refutation/appreciation of Universal Teacher. Sounds just fine until you look at the actual result. Judge by the fruit, and when the fruit includes sannyāsī/guru successors who are considered to be “in the kuñja with gurudeva” but are found to be in bed with many of gurudeva’s disciples and gurudeva covers it up repeatedly–you have to wonder? Or maybe you don’t have to wonder at all. You just know, especially when the story does not stop there.”
You have mentioned in your email ‘common ground’ but the fact is that X_____ Mahārāja has never wanted common ground between the Vaiṣṇavas. His campaigning has been one-pointed from the start – to stand out as the ‘rasika guru’, better than everyone else. His campaigning has been one of fighting and disturbing every group of Vaiṣṇavas on this planet. Claiming to be the śikṣā disciple of Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja and Śrīla Purī Mahārāja, snatching their disciples, etc when in fact, X_____ Mahārāja does not represent their conception at all. This to me is not what it means to find common ground. Common ground necessitates appreciation of the work that other Vaiṣṇavas are doing and X_____ Mahārāja has never shown appreciation of others, except superficially if he thought he might gain their confidence to join him or take away some of their disciples. He seems to be in the mood of eating everything in his path and not in finding the common ground as you have mentioned. And I might add that this is especially true when it come to G___ Mahārāja. X____ Mahārāja for years has made nothing but demeaning and nasty statements about G____ Mahārāja. Not good. So where is the common ground?
Another important point is that years ago X____ Mahārāja spoke very poorly of Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja in a lecture. X___ Mahārāja said that Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārājahad criticized Keśava Mahārāja. X___ Mahārāja then said that he defeated Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja and caused a great disturbance in Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja’s maṭha. He spoke very proudly of this. X___ Mahārāja said he did this in the name of ‘guru-manobhiṣṭha-sevā’. But why is it that no other Vaiṣṇava can do ‘guru-manobhiṣṭha-sevā’ except X___ Mahārāja? If we do or say anything that differs from X____ Mahārāja while supporting the conception of our guru (as we did in the video ‘The Universal Teacher’) then we are labeled as envious and offenders. But is that what is really happening? You are not as ‘blind as a bat’ but you might want to pay closer attention to what has been going on, and what is still going on around you.
It is sure that I can be straightforward to the point of sometimes being caustic, and some of my disciples have the same quality, but at least we are not two-faced. We do not have a facade of appearing one way but acting another. You see what you get. At least you can be sure of that. As one godbrother once complimented me by saying, “Better a kick ass than a kiss ass!”
Hoping this meets you well.
Swami B.G. Narasingha
