Letters from Srila Prabhupada Vol.1 1947-1969

OCTOBER, 1967 229BTG stationary & envelopes. I have receiveda letter from Damodar (dated Oct.9) in which he writes to say:"Swami Kirtananda has returned tothe United States and is causing quite astir among the devotees. Following hissuggestions, we have stopped wearingrobes and have cut off our flags. He saidthese appurtanences are too strangelookingto outsiders and only make itmore difficult for them to consider chantingHare Krishna. Swami Kirtananda hassaid we must avoid appearing to be Orientalistsif we are to have 108 centers in theUs."This is very much disturbing to me &has caused me much pain. Please thereforestop Kirtanda from making his mentalconcoctions. Do not be misled by him.I have never adviced him to act like that. Ifhe is causing such disturbances he shouldnot be allowed to indulge in such nonsensicalactivities. I have already writtenyou to inform you that somehow or otherhe has become crazy; otherwise he wouldnot have disobeyed me to go directly toN.Y. For the time being he has cut all linkwith me, therefore any instruction givenby him is unauthorized & should at oncebe rejected. He has no right to dictate ashe has without my sanction. Whatever isto be done will be executed when I return.He is too much puffed-up non-sensicallytherefore you should copy this letter &forward to all centers that Kirtananda hasno right to dictate anything to the Societyin this way. I am very sorry that he is exploitinghis present position as a sanyasi. Ihave no objection if members of the Societydress like nice American gentlemen;but in all circumstances a devotee cannotavoid telok, flag on head, & beads onneck. These are essential features of aVaishnav. Hope you are well.Your ever well-wisherA.C. Bhaktivedanta, Swami67-10-1216th October, 1967My dear Brarnhananda,Please accept my blessings. I am indue receipt of your letter (dated Oct. 10)& I've also received Kirtananda's letter.From Different centers of our society thenews ofthe activities of Kertananda is givingme too much pain. From Rayarama'sletter it is clear that Kirtananda has notrightly understood Krishna Consciousnessphilosophy & it appears that he doesnot know the difference between inpersonal& personal features of Krishna. Thebest thing will be to prohibit him to speakin any of our functions or meetings. It isclear that he has become crazy & heshould once more be sent to Bellevu. Hewas in Bellevu before & with great difficulty& with the help of Mr. Ginsberg wegot him out. But it appeares that he has developedhis madness again, therefore if heis not sent to Bellevu then at least heshould be stopped from speaking suchnonsense. It is clear from his activitiesthat he has been attacked by maya; he is avictim. We shall pray to Krishna for hisrecovery but we cannot allow him to speakon my behalf. I am trying to return as soonas possible & when I return everythingwill be all right. Hope you are well.Your ever well-wisherA. C. Bhaktivedanta SwamiMy dear Rayarama,Please accept my blessings. I am indue receipt of your letter (Oct. 12). I'vereceived copy of #14 BTG & it is verynice. I do not wish to disturb you in yourresponsibilities with BTG & you can go toLondon at your convenience. I am gladthat you have started correspondence withMrs. D.C. Bowtell, & that will settle mattersmore directly. One of our girl devotees,Srimati Annapurna devi, who is inSan Francisco has also facilities to visit