Page 38 - M&M - Eng
P. 38

256                           Comments on Previous Editions

          Women: Masters or Mothers? offers powerful solutions to the
          problems we face as a spiritual institution. It is a must-read
          for every member of our ISKCON Society. If we simply ignore
          this book as irrelevant or fanatical, our tendency as a religious
          movement will no doubt be to adopt the spirit of modernism,
          thus inviting calamity upon our spiritual progress, both
          individually and collectively. If we thus loosen our standards
          and degrade from being the powerful, pure and dynamic force
          that Śrīla Prabhupāda groomed us to be, how can  ISKCON
          survive?

          Purity is the force that keeps our movement thriving and
          growing. Impurity, which can be traced to deeply rooted
          attachment and adherence to Western social behaviors, is an
          opposing force that can lead us to degradation.

          Śrīla Prabhupāda warned that we should keep ourselves free
          from the impurities of materialistic culture. If we give in to
          the cultural norms of a degraded, failing society, what will be
          ISKCON’s destiny?  William Ralph  Inge’s chilling  admonition
          can  be  taken  a  step  further  to  read,  “That  religion  which
          marries the spirit of today will be a widow tomorrow.”



                     Mālyahārī-kuṇḍa Devī Dāsī (KRKS)
                   Almviks Gard (Rural community), Sweden

          Despite Śrīla Prabhupāda and our previous ācāryas explaining
          clearly why daiva-varṇāśrama-dharma is of great importance
          for devotees and ISKCON as a preaching movement, there is still
          sometimes some confusion as to how it should be introduced,
          what aspects are of more or less importance, the speed at which
          we should endeavor to establish it and so on. The dharma of
          women, strī-dharma, is unfortunately often brushed aside as
          something of lesser importance — or even totally neglected
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