I Am Not a Pluralist (08/25/12)
Dear ______,
There is nothing holy about Goa other than I used to do saṅkīrtana there. A Church simple means ‘bar-BQ” beef and anti Hindu and anti Kṛṣṇa propaganda.
I was wondering what devotee groups you have been affiliated with over these past years? I know things have not been easy for many second generation devotees because of gurus falling down, sannyāsīs falling down, leaders falling down, Iskcon slowly going downhill and simultaneously some groups from Gauḍīya Maṭha becoming popular in the west. These days even sahajiyā groups from Govardhana, Rādhā-Kuṇḍa and Navadvīpa have become popular in the west.
As you may remember, I was never the man to follow the party-line, unless the party-line was in accord with the philosophy of our previous ācāryas and actions matched ideals. I took shelter of Śrīla Śrīdhara Mahārāja in late 1986 and soon found myself out of Iskcon. I started with nothing and built my mission from the ground up. In the 90’s when various Gauḍīya Maṭhas came to the west, I kept my distance and even had conflicts with some of them, especially with the followers of _______ Mahārāja. They badly wanted to see me surrender to him, but it never happened because i was already serving Prabhupāda, Śrīdhara Mahārāja and Bhakti Pramoda Purī Mahārāja.
I seem to remember hearing that you had ‘joined’ the ______ Mahārāja group. If that is true then I can tell you plainly that your friends in the ______ Mahārāja camp will not look on you kindly for visiting my āśramas. I do not blame them, because I cannot provide any spiritual nourishment for members of that group.
I am also not very closely associated with _____ because he waters down Kṛṣṇa consciousness so much that it appears like a poorly made soup rather than a representation of the pure nectar given by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu and His eternal associates.
I hate to use “I” so much but I am just letting you know that I am not a pluralist in accepting everything that comes in the name of Kṛṣṇa as being actually Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Hoping you are well.
Gaura Haribol,
Swami Narasingha
