There once was a stree who gave diksha . . .
2022-12-16
There once was a stree who gave diksha But wouldn’t give men any shiksha. With shyness she said To the third man she wed, “I’d burn in an agni pariksha.”Continue Reading
IISB Challenges the SAC to a Śāstrārtha and Reply
2022-08-08
From: Krishna Kirti Das <> Date: Sun, Aug 7, 2022 at 9:01 PM Subject: A formal challenge to the SAC for a sastrartha To: Urmila devi dasi/Dr. Edith Best <> Dear Urmila Mata Ji, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. The ISKCON India Scholars Board formally challenges theContinue Reading
“Women Protecting other Women is Totally Made up” – A Letter to GBC
2022-08-08
Dear members of the GBC, Dear members of the GBC, Please accept our humble obeisance’s. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. We have come to know that you intend to go ahead with implementing women diksha gurus, despite repeated objections to your doing so by ISKCON India. This is to inform you that,Continue Reading
ISKCON schisms look like others
2022-07-15
The interesting thing is that we are struggling over the same issues that the Christians are in Western society. That suggests there is a single, secular Western influence that is driving the challenge to traditional morality in both the Christian and Vedic traditions.Continue Reading
Discussion on Female Diksa Gurus between Godbrothers
2021-10-11
https://fb.watch/8xIvR5Rk6s/Continue Reading
Is Manu-samhita bad for us?
2021-09-11
This is from an exchange I had with an ISKCON leader and sannyasi regarding the misunderstandings many devotees seem to have about Manu-samhita. The first message begins with an exchange between Basu Ghosh Prabhu and the ISKCON leader, and the last message gives a short introduction to the application ofContinue Reading
FDG Consciousness During Srila Prabhupada’s Time
2021-05-05
Chicago Tribune story In support of my recent musings on FDG – it’s quite common to hear the narrative of two ISKCONs today. Early ISKCON was liberal and women were encouraged in all possible ways, and then Prabhupada took devotees to India where they learned Indian customs and then theyContinue Reading
Did MMD et.al Insult Sunīti? – Part 1
2021-04-28
In this part we show that, after eighteen pages of a paper that extensively uses mathematics, MMD and his fellow mathematicians say that Sunīti could not initiate Dhruva because she was “afflicted by grief out of affection for her son” as well as by “jealousy and resentment toward Suruci and Uttānapāda” and therefore lacked the qualification to become his dīkṣā-guru. They further insult Sunīti, an elevated personality, by relegating her to mundane platforms, not worthy of becoming a role-model for ISKCON’s devotees.Continue Reading
Biased Survey
2021-04-20
When conducting any survey, one of the most important concerns a researcher has is in eliminating bias. Even if the bias is unintentional, if your survey is biased in any way, the results will be unreliable or misleading. As declared in the first verse of Srimad-Bhagavatam, “The highest truth is reality distinguished from illusion for the welfare of all.” Bias prevents the discovery of truth. Therefore, both researchers and devotees have a common interest in eliminating bias.
My overall assessment of the survey is that while some of the questions are reasonable and interesting and not without some utility for ISKCON policymakers, the survey itself is strongly biased to produce results that reflect the opinion of the survey’s sponsor. In the survey there are various problems of response bias, especially framing bias, and also selection bias. It is also apparent that those who created the survey are unfamiliar with some of the basic principles of survey design. Prior experience and training do matter.
Now, I will present examples of these different biases. After that, I will address some general epistemological issues related to this survey and its purposes.Continue Reading
The King Is Naked! and Sunīti was not vengeful, Dr. Mathematician
2021-03-17
In order to defend H.H. Bhakti Vikāśa Swami’s criticism of the attempt to use mathematics to interpret Śrīla Prabhupāda’s statement about the ineligibility of Sunīti to become her son Dhruva’s dīkṣā-guru, Dāmodara Dāsa (BVKS) replies to Madana Mohana Dāsa (MG). Dāmodara Prabhu shows how the words “complete nonsense”, “foolish” and “supposed devotees,” as used by Mahārāja, are indeed justified. Dāmodara Prabhu also shows how Madana Mohana Prabhu has misunderstood Śrīla Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura’s commentary regarding Sunīti and falsely portrays her has “jealous” and “vengeful,” in opposition to Śrīla Prabhupāda having nothing but the highest praise for Sunīti.Continue Reading