'The Order of the Spiritual Master'

Caitanya-Caritamrta Adi 12.9
'Some of the disciples strictly accepted the orders of the acarya, and others deviated, independently concocting their own opinions under the spell of daivi-maya.'

Purport
"This verse describes the beginning of a schism. When disciples do not stick to the principle of accepting the order of their spiritual master, immediately there are two opinions. Any opinion different from the opinion of the spiritual master is useless. One cannot infiltrate materially concocted ideas into spiritual advancement. That is deviation. There is no scope for adjusting spiritual advancement to material ideas."

"The order of the spiritual master is the active principle in spiritual life. Anyone who disobeys the order of the spiritual master immediately becomes useless."
(Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 12.8-10)

"The instructions received from the spiritual master must be followed immediately. One should not deviate from or surpass the instructions of the spiritual master."
(Srimad-Bhagavatam 5.5.14, purport)

"Brahma praises Kardama because he carried out the orders of the spiritual master in toto and without cheating [....] To honor the spiritual master means to carry out his instructions word for word." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.24.12, purport)

"Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti also advises that if we want to be successful in our attempt to go back to Godhead, we must very seriously act according to the instruction of the spiritual master. That is the way of perfection. There need be no anxiety over attaining perfection because if one follows the instruction given by the spiritual master he is sure to attain perfection. Our only concern should be how to execute the order of the spiritual master." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 4.8.71, purport)

"We have to render service to a guru and surrender ourselves. It is not that one should accept just any person as a guru. The guru must be the representative of Krsna; then one can surrender oneself. Surrender means that one will accept whatever the guru says. It is not that one thinks, "I do not care for my guru's order. Still I am a disciple." That is not actually accepting a guru. Of course, it has become a fashion to accept a guru in this way, but this will not help anyone." (Teachings of Lord Kapila)

"There should be no instance in which the disciple or the son says, "This is not correct. I cannot carry it out." When he says that, he is fallen […] the order of the spiritual master is the life and soul of the disciples." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.24.13, purport)

"This acceptance of the words of the spiritual master is called srauta-vakya, which indicates that the disciple must carry out the spiritual master's instructions without deviation. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura remarks in this connection that a disciple must accept the words of his spiritual master as his life and soul." (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila 7.72, 77, purport)

"The disciple must stick to whatever the spiritual master orders. Simply by following on that line, one sees the Supreme Personality of Godhead […] Instead of being eager to see the Lord in some bush in Vrndavana while at the same time engaging in sense gratification, if one instead sticks to the principle of following the words of the spiritual master, he will see the Supreme Lord without difficulty." (Bhagavatam 4.28.51, purport)

"As soon as the disciple thinks independently, not caring for the instructions of the spiritual master, he is a failure ." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.17.1, purport)

ISKCON Bangalore's "New Form of Sankirtan"

"Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, 500 years back, introduced the sankirtan movement. Sankirtan means large number of people come together and chant the holy names of the Lord together. Srila Prabhupada, when he went to the West, he introduced this nama-sankirtan in the streets of New York, in the streets of Western cities. It was a common sight and everyone knew that Hare Krishna people chanting the holy names of God.

With the rising of so many malls all over the country we were thinking of some innovative way by which the people in the mall could actually witness such sankirtana and that is how we got the idea to fuse the flash mob concept with the sankirtan.

We feel that it's really divinely inspired modern way. It's really historic that a new form of sankirtan has emerged, wherein people very happy to actually watch and participate in chanting the holy names of the Lord. And this is going to set the trend for future sankirtan movement"

(Madhu Pandit Dasa - 'The Making of Hare Krishna Flash Mob' YouTube video - published 12/11/2015)




"I never thought about the audience. I was prepared to chant even if there were no men present to hear me. The principle of chanting is to glorify the Lord and not to attract a crowd. If Krishna hears nicely then he will ask some sincere devotees to gather in such place." (Prabhupada Letter 67-11-12)

"As soon as the disciple thinks independently, not caring for the instructions of the spiritual master, he is a  failure." (Srimad-Bhagavatam 8.17.1, purport)

Please see: Srila Prabhupada - Kirtan Standards

 

Akshaya Patra's Padma Sri Award

How can Madhu Pandit dedicate the recognition for this mundane karmi award to Srila Prabhupada? Feeding the hungry and "leading the cause of education among the government school children" is not Prabhupada's (or Lord Chaitanya's) mission. Prabhupada and Bhaktisiddhanta spoke strongly against Vaisnava devotees getting involved with these social "welfare" programs and Prabhupada described government schools as "slaughterhouses". And why is Madhu Pandit presenting Prabhupada as "a true visionary who wanted to see a hunger free world"? This is totally mis-representing Prabhupada to the public as a mundane social-worker. This is bogus and offensive. Prabhupada actually says that a hunger free world is not possible.:

“Fifty years ago, when I first came to Bombay, at that time I was grhastha. I saw there were persons lying down care of footpath, and fifty years after, we are seeing the same thing is going on. No change. There is a class of men who must lie down care of footpath. There are so many institutions, daridra-narayana-seva. But why there are daridras still? That means you cannot change. It is not possible. It is not possible. Just like a man who has done something criminal and he is in prison. Can you take him out? It will be another criminal action. If you try to take him away from the prison house by some means, then you’ll be punished and he’ll be punished, both. This is the law state. Similarly, how you can surpass the stringent laws of nature and the laws of God? That is not possible.” (Bhagavad Gita 13.21 lecture)

"In the Bhagavad-gītā we don't find anywhere a single line that "You raise funds for," I mean to say, "giving relief to the poor" or "to the suffering." Is there any instruction in Bhagavad-gītā? You have read. Can you find out? But these people, they have become more learned than Kṛṣṇa." (SB 2.9.4 lecture. 22 April 1972)

Akshaya Patra do not distrubute prasadam. Secular goverment regulations do not allow them to. Neither are they allowed to have kirtan or preach at their (GMO?) bhoga distribution programs. They are simply assisting the government to get village children to abandon their vedic culture and attend "slaughterhouse schools". Some may get menial jobs such as working in call centres, the others will be at the mercy of the government, used like slaves just so they can eat. They cannot go back to village vedic life because the government schools do not teach cow-protection or self-sufficient farming. Why do Akshaya Patra facilitate these anti-varnashram activities and serve the cause of Kali in the name of Srila Prabhupada?

“Akshay Patra trustees want the organization to be secular. It cannot associate publicly with religious mission." (Madhu Pandit Das)

Akshaya Patra - Vision and Mission
Akshaya Patra's Philanthropy

Servants of Kali such as Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, President Obama and Monsanto (who have a partnership with Akshaya Patra) approve of their activities, but does Srila Prabhupada approve? Whose cause are they serving?