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Our world is in desperate need of being saved from ever-increasing godlessness and moral degradation. We need, now more than ever, brave people to step forward to dedicate their lives for helping us to raise the consciousness level of the human population by introducing the science of Krishna consciousness as much as possible to everyone that they meet. The Krishna consciousness movement has been started to save the world, and it is indeed the only hope that relief can be brought to the suffering humanity. Therefore we are requesting everyone to join this Krishna consciousness and assist in this most urgent mission of awakening the whole world to Krishna consciousness as soon as possible.

Srila Prabhupada Distributes His Books

Video For the Day: From Vrindavana Parikrama

Answers by Citing the Vedic Version

Question: Are ISKCON Teachers Using Scare Tactics?

My Dearest Srila Gurudeva,
Please accept my humble obeisances.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

In my quest to advance my spiritual knowledge and understanding I have been looking at some other websites online. I have found some which claim to be transcribing the truths as seen by the most enlightened sages and yogis on India. Their information is almost identical to that of ISKCON except on one most important point. These saints and sages which lived in the late 1800's and early 1900's all seem to gloss over what happens at the time of death, i.e. they claim there is a brief period of sleep, followed by a period of atonement ( which they gloss over) and then on to the next advanced incarnation. They also claim that there are no such places as heaven and hell, but that these are merely states of mind.

Even in Bhagavad-gita as written by Paramahamsa Yogananda which I read before coming to ISKCON, there is little or no mention of suffering after death or being forced down into the animal kingdom. As a matter of fact he said that he could see all of the departed souls in the spiritual sky.

This is vastly different from what ISKCON teaches where the atonement is actually great suffering and 98% of the population is forced back down into the animal kingdom. My mind wonders if the ISKCON teachers are trying to scare us in order to keep us controlled? Or is it that in the 1800's people were so much more God conscious that the atonement were far less and they were much more likely to go on to higher incarnations and states of consciousness?

Please advise me!! I am quite fearful of this not only for myself but for family members and friends and all of humanity. There can only be one truth! I want to know the truth.
Your humble, unworthy servant,

Answer: No. They are Presenting Bhagavad-gita Precisely As It Is.

Rest assured that Srila Prabhupada and the ISKCON preachers are not using some hyped-up tactics to scare people into surrendering to Krishna. Rather we are precisely presenting Krishna's teachings exactly as He gives them in the Bhagavad-gita. Such a pure presentation is the only thing that can actually help people to get out of the cycle of birth and death. Other types of presentations may seem more mellow and pleasing, but they actually do more harm than good because they keep people in ignorance and thus keep them bound up in perpetual cycle of repeated birth and death.

Krishna clearly states in Bhagavad-gita 14.15 that those who die in the mode of ignorance take birth in the animal kingdom. Below I am giving you the original Sanskrit, the word for word meanings, and the English translation:

rajasi pralayaṁ gatvā
karma-saṅgiṣu jāyate
tathā pralīnas tamasi
mūḍha-yoniṣu jāyate

rajasi—in passion; pralayam—dissolution; gatvā—attaining;
karma-saṅgiṣu—in the association of those engaged in fruitive
activities; jāyate—takes birth; tathā—similarly; pralīnaḥ—being
dissolved; tamasi—in ignorance; mūḍha-yoniṣu—in animal species;
jāyate—takes birth.

"When one dies in the mode of passion, he takes birth among those engaged in fruitive activities; and when one dies in the mode of ignorance, he takes birth in the animal kingdom."

Srila Prabhupada is unique in that he does not water down the teachings of Krishna to attract masses of cheap followers. He simply presents the teachings of Krishna exactly how Krishna has given them. We are most fortunate that Srila Prabhupada has not cheated us. Those who are more interested in getting followers than they are in purely presenting the actual teachings of God are notorious for twisting and bending the scriptures in so many ways to suit their purpose of attracting followers. Such persons who pose as spiritual masters and do not teach Bhagavad-gita as it actually is, are the greatest cheaters. The scriptures tell us that they go to darkest region of ignorance and that their followers go with them.

The internet is full of so many such bogus so-called spiritual teachings. Therefore we always say, "Surfer, beware!" I can show you point by point with proof from the scriptures how much these so-called gurus, even the most famous and popular ones, are cheating and misleading the people. I know very well of what I speak because I was formally a student of such so-called gurus. For enhancing your spiritual knowledge you need to carefully read all of Srila Prabhupada's books cover to cover and avoid this nonsense on the internet. If you don't have a full set of Srila Prabhupada's books, we can arrange for you to get the full set as soon as possible.

For these so-called teachers to state that there is no such thing as heaven and hell means that they are completely ignorant of the reality which is clearly revealed in the Vedic wisdom. How such ignorant fools and rascals can be accepted as spiritual masters shows us how much uninformed and gullible the general population is. This reminds me of a Hindi verse by a devotee in which he states, "The Kali-yuga is so abominable that if you speak truth, people will come with some rod to beat you, but if you cheat them, bluff them, they'll like it.

So take heed and do the needful for becoming properly situated in transcendental knowledge.

Sankarshan Das Adhikari