Daiva Sangam Introduction & Overview

Introduction to the Daiva Sangam

Daiva Sangam is the society established by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, true to his vision. Every organization is susceptible to losing its original focus and intended purpose for a number of reasons, and this is no less true of ISKCON. This challenge has been made by many others over the years, even while Srila Prabhupada was with us, even he himself, at one point, threatened to abandon the society to his wayward disciples. The charges have been repeated over the years as deviations continued.

Now in the early 21st century, although the very egregious deviations have subsided, there are other subtle, but nonetheless extremely serious deviations. Moreover, it has been thoroughly established by this point in time that the leadership is taking the institution in a direction which many feel is antithetical to its originally intended direction, with the result that the very purpose is lost and unrecoverable. The whys and wherefores are numerous and are given some detail on this website and elsewhere online.

Hence the need to refocus the intention and give birth to an alternative that will more faithfully serve both the vision of His Divine Grace and the needs of the modern day. That is the intention of the Daiva Sangam--to follow Srila Prabhupada's vision to establish a culture dedicated to transcendence, and to elevate all participants to the spiritual platform. The Daiva Sangam is not another Math, nor followers of another guru. It is Srila Prabhupada's mission.

Spiritual realization is not subject to normal material circumstances. Every person born into human society brings with him/her the spiritual assets acquired over previous lives. Their realizations are not limited by any material consideration such as ashrama, varna, gender, or years of seniority. Who is that spiritually advanced person? The one who can clearly see through the eyes of shastra and determine what should be done and should not be done. Such persons should not be thwarted and restricted by an entrenched bureaucracy, but should be respected and followed. Unfortunately we have too often observed that such persons are rejected by the institution of ISKCON in favor of the bureaucratic that favors the institutional submissiveness over individual initiative.

We note that all institutions are a fiction. In one sense there is no ISKCON. You can't walk up to ISKCON and shake his hand or speak to him. The same with the concepts of the United States, or General Motors, World Bank, Toyota, Germany, or Monsanto. These are all mental constructs, fictions actually, created to gather people to a particular way of thinking. Inherently institutions divert the focus of power. People may protest the actions of "Monsanto" or the "World Bank", but Monsanto and the World Bank can do nothing. It is only the people who act in the name of Monsanto and the World Bank who are doing things, and they are hidden behind the label of the organization. Devotees complain about the actions of ISKCON but ISKCON cannot do anything. It is individual devotees acting in that name who do things. As we have mentioned elsewhere ISKCON is an ideal, a set of principles to which all people can subscribe and follow. The Daiva Sangam ascribes to the ideals of ISKCON as stated by its founder Srila Prabhupada, and not to those who have co-opted the name of ISKCON, who act in the name of ISKCON but then deviate from Srila Prabhupada's teachings. Therefore the Daiva Sangam rejects all such fictions and institutions,and functions in the world of God, people, the earth, animals, and so on, which constitute actual reality.

Institutions place authority and power in a seat or position and allow anybody to sit there, regardless of the qualification. Their actual qualification is only to dutifully follow instructions from above. This system has been created by the asuras to allow them to very easily control the actions of many through bribery and threat of the person sitting in the seat of power. They supply such people with money and sense gratification and threaten to remove these if they do not follow directions. In some cases threats must be made. In these circumstances many (most?) people are unqualified for the posts that they have which has resulted in the disturbed world we now live in. Generally the decisions of institutions are based on what benefits the small percentage of people (those at the top).

Proper Vedic/varnashrama culture places authority and power in a qualified individual, who, having been properly trained, acts according to dharma, serving the interests of God, the people, the earth, animals, and so on. In the Vedic scheme dharma takes the place that money has in modern society, that is, decisions are made on the basis of dharma and not what prevents the greatest loss, or what gives a person the greatest gain. What is done is the right thing to do according to the principles of religion, that which will please the Lord, the devotees, and the cows.

The Daiva Sangam places authority in qualified individuals, not in institutional seats. Everything rests upon the individual members rising to the occasion and becoming qualified Vaishnavas. There is no shortcut and there is no substitute. Everyone must become qualified. After all, that is what the Movement is all about, isn't it?

Please take special note that the Daiva Sangam is not intended to be a forum for ISKCON-bashing, or complaining about ISKCON. As a society, the devotees of ISKCON are doing great good at various levels. The vast majority of devotees are innocent and properly motivated. We support and encourage their efforts to preach and spread Krishna consciousness. The main point of contention is at the organizational and doctrinal levels of ISKCON, that is, at the level of the GBC, and the upper echelon, who we feel are misdirecting the efforts of the followers. While we choose to focus on the positive and not the negative, many will want to know our justification for separating from ISKCON. That can be found on other sections of this website.

Please follow the links at the right and in the menus above to learn more about the Daiva Sangam, its purposes, methods of organization, etc.

Introduction to the Daiva Sangam

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