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    100 Contradictions: The Life & Teachings of His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami
    100 Contradictions: The Life & Teachings of His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami
    100 Contradictions: The Life & Teachings of His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami
    Ebook95 pages58 minutes

    100 Contradictions: The Life & Teachings of His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami

    By ISKCON Revival Movement

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    About this ebook

    HH Bhakti Charu Swami - In his own words

    There are currently some 70 persons claiming to be gurus in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON, or the Hare Krishna Movement) - successors to the original guru and founder, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

    Out of all of these, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami is considered one of the most successful, respected and scholarly.  Given this, and the fact that all ISKCON gurus were authorised via the same GBC* system, a detailed examination of the life and teachings of Bhakti Charu Swami as an ISKCON GBC-elected guru will simultaneously provide an evaluation of the whole ISKCON guru system. 

    This examination will be undertaken solely by studying the words and actions of Bhakti Charu Swami, and simply letting them speak for themselves. In this way, what follows cannot be disputed as simply being someone’s subjective opinion about Bhakti Charu Swami. Rather, this will simply be Bhakti Charu Swami’s opinion of himself, thus rendering it beyond argument.  

    Since this book is Bhakti Charu Swami himself presenting his own life and teachings in his own words, it can thus be considered as an “autobiography” of  this ISKCON guru.

    * Governing Body Commission

    “Yes, devotees need a qualified spiritual master and I will say in ISKCON we have the most qualified spiritual master who is Srila Prabhupada. [...] In ISKCON who is the ultimate spiritual master? You need a spiritual master, but who is that spiritual master? It is Srila Prabhupada.”
    - HH Bhakti Charu Swami

    “You are all my disciples and I am your spiritual master and if we don’t make it a point to develop that relationship it won’t happen. I am your spiritual master and we have a very important relationship. As your spiritual master I am like your father, I am like your friend.”
    - HH Bhakti Charu Swami

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherISKCON Revival Movement
    Release dateAug 26, 2015
    ISBN9781519920119
    100 Contradictions: The Life & Teachings of His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami

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      Book preview

      100 Contradictions - ISKCON Revival Movement

      Introduction

      There are some 70 persons claiming to be gurus in ISKCON¹ currently. Out of all of these, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami (BCS) is considered one of the most successful, respected and scholarly. Given this, and the fact that all ISKCON gurus were authorised via the same GBC² system, a detailed examination of the life and teachings of BCS as a GBC-elected ISKCON guru will simultaneously provide an evaluation of the whole ISKCON guru system. We would essentially be applying Srila Prabhupada’s maxim that one can check the quality of a whole pot of rice by just examining one grain (Srila Prabhupada Lecture, 12/5/1974). This examination will be undertaken solely by studying the words and actions of BCS, and simply letting them speak for themselves. In this way, what follows cannot be disputed as simply being someone’s subjective opinion about BCS. Rather, this will simply be BCS’s opinion of himself, thus rendering it beyond argument. Additionally, as the following examination is based on BCS’s own words, it will reveal the true nature of his character, since Srila Prabhupada states:

      Most important is how the man in Krsna consciousness speaks, for speech is the most important quality of any man. It is said that a fool is undiscovered as long as he does not speak, and certainly a well-dressed fool cannot be identified unless he speaks, but as soon as he speaks, he reveals himself at once.

      (Bhagavad-gita As It Is, 2:54, purport)

      In the following pages we present many dozens of statements and actions from BCS, all reproduced from his own official sources, such as his website and Istagosthi forum. They are compared with other statements and actions from BCS, Srila Prabhupada, and other ISKCON authorities. Odd notes of clarification provided by us will appear in italics, otherwise it will simply be BCS himself presenting his own life and teachings in his own words. All emphases in the quotations have been added by us via underlining.

      ¹ International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or Hare Krishna Movement

      ² Governing Body Commission (ISKCON’s managerial authority)

      CHAPTER ONE

      I Should Not Be Guru

      His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami became an ISKCON diksha, or initiating, guru in 1987 due to the GBC’s majority voting approval system, as documented by the following GBC resolution:

      "19. The GBC approves of the following devotees to begin the responsibility of initiating spiritual master after 1 year period and final deliberation.

      a. Kavichandra Swami

      b. Jagad Guru Swami

      c. Prahaladananda Swami

      d. Trivrikram Swami

      e. Jayadwaita Swami

      f. Bhakticaru Swami"

      (GBC Resolution No. 19, 1986)

      Ever since then, for almost the last 25 years, BCS has acted as a diksha guru, and continues to do so today. In contradiction to this ongoing behaviour, below BCS confesses that the guru system by which he became an ISKCON diksha guru was a mistake, incorrect, and formed on the basis of trial and error:

      Contradiction 1: Becoming guru was mistake

      "The follower takes care of his guru’s property and that was a big misconception that was entered into our Society and that misconception, I will say, is still continuing. Like in 1987, although we had a reform, after so many gurus fell down, there was a fifty man committee was formed and there was reform; it was not actually, at least my perception is that it was not actually a reform. It was kind of watering down the same misconception and continuing. Like what we did was we appointed some more gurus and opened up the world for anybody to initiate wherever he wanted. Whereas previous to that it was a kind of zonal acharya. So that I think is the main mistake where we started, that took place after Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance that has never been properly rectified."

      (BCS, Toronto Meeting, 20/7/2003)

      Contradiction 2: Becoming guru was incorrect

      Thinking that Srila Prabhupada had appointed 11 successors we also plunged in to the same syndrome of appointing spiritual heads of the institution presuming that after Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance they inherited ISKCON. In 1987, about 10 years after Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance, this mistake was addressed by concerned leading devotees of ISKCON, but was not fully corrected. Just by adding more gurus and allowing them to initiate wherever they could attract disciples, that mistake was only diluted to some extent but was not really corrected.

      (BCS, Dandavats.com, 12/7/2009)

      Contradiction 3: ISKCON guru system is made up

      "I feel that through many trials and errors, the right standard will be established in ISKCON in due course of time. But one thing is clear in my mind: the traditional system of guru-disciple relationship will be greatly modified in order to properly establish the institution. […] In order to have a unified ISKCON, all the gurus and leaders must become transparent via-mediums and everybody should be focused on Srila Prabhupada. How that will be established I do not know […] Many mistakes will be made, and as

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