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devadasi
Initiate,
Thank you for sharing and being brave enough to speak your mind. I remember the pipe incident with Vaishnava dasi, it was a simple accident. But Siddha was so angry he said it was a conspiracy and the result would be she would have to die 10 years early!!!! This is so outrageous I kick my self in the butt for not leaving immediately after this incident!!! Then he said because she would die 10 years early that meant he would die 10 years early because they would both be going back to Krishna together. In other words because she got a little bump on the head we were all condemned for causing them both to leave the world 10 years early!!!!
Concerning Siddha becoming dependent on his followers. I remember an incident when everyone was condemned, I can't remember the exact reason, he got a hair in his soup or something like that, anyway he cut everyone off and would not accept anyone's service. He even tried washing his own cloths. This lasted about two days. He was not capable of doing anything for himself and so he had to forgive everyone to get his house cleaned, clothes washed and meals served.
Concerning offenses and scripture. Many things are exaggerated in the Veda, it says so within the Veda itself. The fear of offense was way overused in Chris's cult in order to keep people under control. Just a fear tactic, the same thing is used in Christianity, the fear of going to hell. But also one will find in the Vedic scripture that nothing is more powerful than service to God, so offenses are overridden by service and in a healthy situation in Krishna Con. it is love not fear that motivates the practitioners. That is why the association of sadhus is recommended. But Siddha never really had any association of sadhus because he already imagined he was one. He was as alienated away from his guru as he was his material father. Prabhupada tried to get him to have more of his association but Siddha refused thinking himself a great sadhu already.
We were told Srila Prabhupada was happy that Siddha did not need his association. Siddha told the story many times that Srila Prabhupada wanted him to come to India with him. Siddha said Prabhupada was very pleased that he did not feel it necessary to go to India with him. In fact Prabhpada said later, 'what kind of a sanyasi does not want to go to India with their guru?' He was very dismayed that Siddha did not want more of his association.
The picture that was painted concerning his guru recognizing him as a pure devotee and blessing his own outside movement was completely concocted by Sidhha and his top men. Maybe his top men really believed it. But all one has to do is go to the Prabhupada Folio (practically every word Prabhupada said is recorded) one will find that in fact Prabhupada denied the idea that Siddha was a pure devotee, Prabhupada says himself, 'I never said that, (that Siddha is a pure devotee), that is a concoction.' He says in another letter, 'Siddha has his own philosophy.' In a room converstation Srila Prabhpada is trying to convince one of his diciples NOT to be part of Siddhas group and he succeeds. The devotee was asking if she could join with Siddha and Prabhupada tells her emphatically NO.
Everyone knows it was practically a sin to use the word 'Prabhu' (master) Tusta himself would not allow anyone to call him that even his godbrother and people outside of Siddhas cult were asked not to call him that. That was a direct insult to Srila Prabhupada as Prabhupada himself told Tusta everyone should be referred to as Prabhu, (master).
72-12-14
Ahmedabad
14th December, 1972
Byron's Bay, Australia
My dear Tusta Krishna,
…You speak of pure devotee, that he is saktyavesa avatara, that we should obey him only--these things are the wrong idea. If anyone thinks like that, that a pure devotee should be obeyed and no one else, that means he is a nonsense. We advise everyone to address one another as Prabhu. Prabhu means master, so how the master should be disobeyed? Others, they are also pure devotees. All of my disciples are pure devotees. Anyone sincerely serving the spiritual master is a pure devotee, it may be Siddhasvarupa or others, a-Siddhasvarupa. This must be very clearly stated. It is not only that your Siddhasvarupa is a pure devotee and not others. Do not try to make a faction. ….. But others should not be misled. Anyone who is surrendered to the spiritual master is a pure devotee, it doesn't matter if Siddhasvarupa or non-Siddhasvarupa. Amongst ourselves one should respect others as Prabhu, master, one another. As soon as we distinguish here is a pure devotee, here is a non-pure devotee, that means I am a nonsense. Why you only want to be in the spiritual sky with Siddhasvarupa? Why not all?….
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
I shortened the letter, Tusta asks many questions, all the questions are completely neophyte questions. But even at that time Tusta was regarded as a 'pure devotee', while all others were demoted to being eternally neophytes. Just the big three were the pure ones, Tusta, Katyayani and Sudama. Everyone else the eternal neophyte.
Concerning others being demons, the Veda is clear that every soul will eventually go back home to God, demons, atheists, impersonalist even Siddha are all actually not seen as demons by the very advanced Vaishnava. And all the so-called demons in the Krishna pastimes are actually devotees just playing the role.
Siddha mixed up Christianity with Vaishnavism, not a good mix at all when employing the fear tactics. He just made it up as he went, and he is still making it up as he continues to go on his own way misleading so many.
Well spoken Devadasi,
That was not the first time he “quit” his followers. He had a long history of doing that. Sometimes he’d disappear for weeks or months and visit Tusta or Sudama (New Zealand or the Phillipines) or ? When devotees started taking him for granted and get too familiar or slack in their service, he’d get pissed off. When he would return after such an absence, everyone would fawn and be so grateful at his return and work extra hard to please him again. He really didn’t like having followers. He liked the benefits. He has managed his life in a way that he gets the percs with the least amount of contact with his servants.
I remember one incident when I didn't attend a kirtan. I had heard that he got angry at everybody and left early for some small offence and threatened to leave the islands. I thought that since I had not attended that I could intervene. He was living upstairs in the same house I lived in. I snuck past two of his devotee guards and knocked on his door. He let me in and we talked. I'm embarrassed that I cried and begged him to stay. He called one more person in the room and vented a little. The offender apologised and took a raking over the coals. He was very kind to me and by the end of the evening had calmed down and decided to forgive everyone. It took me a few years to realize how weird this was.
We didn’t use the word “Prahbu” because to us it was just phoney ISKCON lingo. Any custom or lexicon similar to ISKCON was rejected by us all. I also lived in an ISKCON temple prior to my involvement with Siddha. I’m not here to talk about that experience, but I’d take the Siddha years over my temple time. Saying the word “Prahbu” was not a sin, it was just uncool.
What you say about Bhaktivedanta’s letters may or may not be true. The editors have plenty of reason and ability to delete or concoct information. But your point that he is basically a fraud to Vaishnavism is true.