Winning a Battle Only to Lose a War
By; Rohith Kaushik
Jun 02, 2011 — UK (SUN) —
It’s time to realize that we as ‘ISKCON’ — The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, meaning every single one of us wherever in the world we may be — as a whole, are now being looked down upon as a bunch of people that ultimately get as low as anyone else when it comes to money and land. The so-called ‘spiritualists’ who once advised people to be materially detached are themselves fighting over a mere 7 acres of mortal land! What do you think the reaction of the next person we preach to in Bangalore is going to be?
There is a new episode in the Bangalore drama unfolding every day, ever since the High Court has pronounced its verdict. Local news channels are relishing every bit of the sensationalism ISKCON has managed to create. Everyone from beggars to politicians are talking about ISKCON and its “scandals”. People are obviously making a mockery of everything we’ve stood for.
Before anyone starts to feel happy or sad about the Bangalore situation, we must all take a step backwards and see for ourselves if this whole endeavor was worth anything all. Did ‘we’ – meaning Srila Prabhupada’s followers – ultimately in the process of professing the highest knowledge available – win over our enemies, namely Kali, the Mayavadis and the likes? I think not! It’s quite the contrary.
We have taken our disagreements from a spiritual platform right down to the street in front of the common man, where the point of our disagreement is well beyond their capability to even comprehend. The general public in this age of Kaliyuga are not intelligent enough to figure out how passionate the two parties are about their beliefs and devotion to Krishna and their respective Gurus. The public is probably happy deep down somewhere to know that even such exalted spiritualists are ultimately no different from themselves – they’re also after what everyone else is – Money! How comforting… And of course, who doesn’t like to talk about some new sensational gossip.
The Hare Krishna Movement 