Title Carriers and Other Anomalies

There are those who, being by the mercy of a pure devotee spiritually refreshed and attracted to devotees of the Lord, after a period of seemingly humbly performed devotional service, return to their ways to use and cultivate their material conditioning in the name of a movement Srila Prabhupada started as an “organised attempt” to save conditioned souls from the very same illusions they insist to maintain once being established as his followers. As they say, “opportunity makes a thief.”

In the presence of such a pure devotee, a powerful acharya as Srila Prabhupada was and is, such materialistic mentality is impossible to maintain.

In his absence, such elements start to flourish, feeding on the piety, innocence, and ignorance of others.

One doesn't have to be even a devotee to understand the illusions created by those who took shelter in a totaly bureaucratic system arranged by those who imitate God to seek ultimate control.

As Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) says:

“Titles distinguish the mediocre, embarrass the superior, and are disgraced by the inferior.”

Missing the original purpose of the Srila Prabhupadas movement, such materialistic persons are fascinated with high-sounding titles and designations. Not being satisfied with designations Srila Prabhupada gave (temple president, vice temple president, treasurer, and GBC), they invent even more bureaucratic posts, occasionally rewarded by good monetary reward as recognition of blind followership such a title carrier can offer.

Entierly separated from the preaching field, such institutional hyenas feast on the remnants of what was created by others, and they often block the path of those who sacrificed their lives to introduce any conditioned soul to the ocean of bliss Srila Prabhupada showed us.

Such kanistha adhikaris at best and demons at worst are hijacking a movement that Srila Prabhupada established originally for one single purpose: to lead us back home back to Godhead. Their aim is different. Srila Prabhupada preached on behalf of the Lord; they preach on behalf of themselves.

This is not uncommon and can be seen in other spiritual-orientated movements as well, where the leaders live in a world on their own, totally separated from the lives of their followers, “preaching water and drinking wine.”

And then there are those in service of such demons for whom titles and designations are everything. Disappearing normal in a mass of conditioned souls, living meaningless lives, in the name of the Srila Prabhupada's movement, they gain suddenly importance by being given illusory titles and designations that carry no meaning at all for those who are absorbed in the form of active preaching, book distribution, and public hari-nama, trying to be safe from the grip of Maya anybody they can.

As a matter of fact, such title carriers are never to be seen in public except at grand arranged festivals, where they appear in similar fashion as the pope on the balcony of his Vatikan residence in order to bless the crowds. Like actors on a stage, they appear to mesmerise the crowd and possibly increase their income in the form of donations the conditioned soul offers in hope to eliminate the reactions for their sinful lives. The anonymity of such title carriers and their totally non-transparent way of living provides for them a cover to hide away their entirely materialistic nature.

Even their falldowns and often criminal activities are covered by a “code of silence,” which such persons maintain amongst themselves as they gather in virtual or physical form, only to reconfirm their institutional status.

The only way to protect oneself from such materialists in garbs of spiritualists is to clinch to the lotus feet of the Founder Acharya A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in the form of his instructions to be found in his books, letters, and recordings. After all, Srila Prabhupada defined exactly the meaning and purpose of each single institutional post he established.

In this way, not being illusioned by titles only, one can cultivate their original constitutional nature of being servant of the servant of the servant of the Lord. In this way, one can become a happy devotee and not a fearful, paranoid, and misserable title carrier.

Srila Prabhupadas message to such obsolete petrified title carriers:

“...Do not centralize anything. Each temple must remain independent and self-sufficient. That was my plan from the very beginning, why you are thinking otherwise? Once before you wanted to do something centralising with your GBC meeting, and if I did not interfere the whole thing would have been killed. Do not think in this way of big corporation, big credits, centralisation—these are all nonsense proposals...

...our leaders shall be careful not to kill the spirit of enthusiastic service, which is individual and spontaneous and voluntary. That is the art of management: to draw out spontaneous loving spirit of sacrificing some energy for Krishna.

Letter to Karandhara, Dec. 22, 1972, Bombay

There are many jealous people in the dress of Vaiṣṇavas in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, and they should be completely neglected. There is no need to serve a jealous person who is in the dress of a Vaiṣṇava. When Narottama dāsa Ṭhākura says chāḍiyā vaiṣṇava sevā nistāra peyeche kebā, he is indicating an actual Vaiṣṇava, not an envious or jealous person in the dress of a Vaiṣṇava.

Purport, C.C.Madhya-lila Chapter 1, Text 218

There are two verses in the Canakya Sloka how a family or an institution can be glorified or burned into ashes by one person. The Canakya Pandit says that if there is one tree in the forest producing nice aromatic flower, that one tree can glorify the whole forest by the flavor of its flower. Similarly if there is one tree in whose cavity there is a little fire, that one tree can burn into ashes the whole forest. So this simile is applicable anywhere. In a family if there is one good boy, he can glorify the whole family and similarly if there is bad boy he can turn the whole family into ashes. Similarly in this institution if there is a bad disciple he can burn the whole institution into ashes. The Governing Body Commission's duty is therefore to see that every member is following the rules and regulations and chanting sixteen round regularly on the beads. I hope the GBC in cooperation with the Sannyasis in their touring program will be able to keep vigilance systematically in order to keep the Society as pure as possible.

Letter to Bali-mardana, Aug. 25, 1970, Tokyo

Karandhar das Adhikari writes 22.4.1972 to all temple presidents:

His Divine Grace has instructed me to inform you all of the following:

...The zonal secretaries duty is to see that the spiritual principles are being upheld very nicely in all the Temples of his zone. Otherwise each Temple shall be independent and self-supporting. Let every Temple President work according to his own capacity to improve the Krishna Consciousness of his center. So far the practical management is concerned, that is required, but not that we should become too much absorbed in fancy organization. Our business is spiritual life, so whatever organization needs to be done, the Presidents may handle and take advice and assistance from their GBC representative. In this way let the Societies work go on and everyone increase their service at their own creative rate....

P.S.

When on the road, visiting various devotee communities where the real jewels of the Srila Prabhupada's movement reside, honest, hard-working, and introspective devotees, I am often asked, “What to do with the arogant title carriers who, mostly invisible, in times of financial need or simply desire to be seen, often invade the homes of those they decided to “bless.”

Srila Prabhupada gave practical advice on how to get rid of an unwanted guest: “Don't give him anything to eat; he will leave on his own.” But title carriers are professionals; they know where name, fame, and glory can be found. In today's context, it's more in the East and India where most invasive title carriers can be found, as in the West after more than fifty years of ISKCON generations of sobered-up devotees came alive, who, if not professional cynics and lovers of conspirational theories, simply cannot offer the blind faith title carriers demand so much.

What to do about an unwanted title carrier? This breed of parazites seems to be very durable after all. There are only two ways to treat such invading species:

1. Ignore them
2. Don't give them any money!

As all title carriers are of the narcistic kind, when being treated in this way, they lose interest and move on to places where they can still find innocent souls to exploit.

As my best friend, a dear godbrother, seeing my anger towards those who so shamelessly exploit others, tried to calm me down: “We both know that these people will never change. They simply have to die.”

Indeed, arrogant title carriers cannot be changed. Their titles are the only identity they have. But when leaving their bodies, with their titles vanishing, they get a chance to return to this world and pay back the huge debt they accumulated by exploiting others in the name of devotional service. Everything is exactly accounted for, and we will all face the inventory of our lives when leaving our bodies.

All glories to those who spent or are still spending their lives by being not the servants of their titles but servants of His Divine Grace, A.C. Bhaktidanta Prabhupada.