I'll be completely off the grid until the evening of Guru-purnima. Caturmasya begins tomorrow with a set of new vratas upcoming. To ensure a smooth beginning, I'll be staying away from civilization until the evening of Guru-purnima. (Not the least due to the pandal they set up 300 meters away with loud akhanda-kirtan for four days...) Good wishes to everyone, I'll get back to whatever is pending as I return.

A recent visit to the Dandavats news site — the first since many moons — got me reading an article by Bir Krishna Goswami of ISKCON on the emotional dysfunctions that have followed the ISKCON paradigm. I'm duplicating my comments here. As a short word of introduction for the unfamiliar, Maharaja is well-read on psychology and has heaps of valuable field experience in its practical application in the context of a religious movement, insights I've found valuable on a number of occasions. We know each other since a decade, give or take a year.

For those of you who wonder why I'm posting this here, as I am myself not a member of ISKCON nor are many of this journal's readers — let's face it, the vast majority of us are still to a great extent, much greater than we'd like to credit ourselves, influenced by the ISKCON paradigms we once imbibed. Growth out of that and into "native" Gaudiya Vaisnava culture happens in the course of living for extended periods of time with native (or naturalized) Gaudiyas — not by a mere tweak or two to the same old thing.

I should add that not undergoing this process is going to leave people living in either a positive or a negated ISKCON paradigm, ISKCON one way or another as its defining conceptual axis, with a bit of babaji masala scattered atop. Regardless of their willingness or lack thereof to acknowledge this. That would certainly merit more elaboration, though I'm uncertain over the presence of an interested audience. Some topics are sensitive. Anyhow, onto the article.


Thank you, Maharaja Ji, for a well-written and very informative article. A voice direly missed. The understanding or lack thereof of the contents of this article has grand repercussions both on individual and collective level. The individual level has been amply covered in the article, even if the ramifications of this dysfunction in terms of evolving bhakti could no doubt be further explored.

In the broad scope of expanding Sri Caitanya's mission, if there is a movement full of dysfunctional people, or even worse, an atmosphere forcing people into such a paradigm, it will both serve to attract more birds of the same feather, namely emotionally unbalanced individuals, as well as to alienate the more balanced section of people.

This in turn will effectively marginalize Krishna Consciousness and inflate its position as a religion to be taken seriously, not for its philosophy but for its people. And I should not say that in a future tense — time for change, people, for a thousand reasons, if you haven't started yet.

The Puranas, literally "ancient texts", form one of the main genres of Hindu scripture. They feature elaborate narrations on the teachings of the great sages, on the adventures of the great warriors, on the fierce battles of the gods and the demons, along with hosts of other phenomenal tales that defy even the greatest modern works of fantasy and fiction. Such a genre would not be perfect without magnificent afterworlds.

• A Glance at Hinduism and Abrahamic Religions
• The Universe of the Puranas
• The Worlds of Heaven
• The Earthly Plane
• The Underworlds
• Down Below — Entering Hell
• The 28 Primary Hells
• The World Beyond

This year's Guru-purnima will fall on July 30th. I'm putting out this article in good time instead of on the last moment — may you celebrate well.

Guru Purnima is the day when Hindus gather to celebrate and to honor Vyasa, the original guru and traditional author of the Vedas, along with their own gurus, spiritual guides. The festival takes place on the full moon day of the Indian month of Ashad, corresponding to July-August of the Western calendar. The word purnima means "full-moon", hence the name Guru Purnima, "the full-moon day of the guru". For its connection with Vyasa, the event is also called Vyasa Purnima.

Guru Purnima marks the occasion of sage Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa's birth. The contemporary guru is seen as a representative of Vyasa's, for it is Vyasa, the ancient sage, who is at the root of all the wisdom at the root of Hindu traditions. . . .