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The Fall of the Jiva: Question
from Mick

There is a recent ongoing discussion about falling from the Spiritual Sky. An excerpt follows. Maybe a learned devotee on Chakra could answer this question and write about it.

"Even though Srila Prabhupada extensively preached the fall theory, certain places in his books show that he also preached the no-fall theory. I hope to show that the former is the main siddhanta that Prabhupada taught and which ISKCON devotees should follow."

Now stop here for a moment. I have a problem with this sort of logic: "Srila Prabhupada preached fall theory and anyone who is not accepting fall theory is not following Srila Prabhupada. And wherever Srila Prabhupada preached no-fall theory, we can somehow assume that really fall-vaada is his actual position."

It is not right, in my mind, to arbitrarily assume that either one or the other is Srila Prabhupada's position, and then proceed to ignore the evidence that substantiates the opposite viewpoint. Why not develop an understanding that synthesizes both teachings? Otherwise, how is it any different from the no-fall vaadi claiming that the no-fall references are literal, and that the fall references are just quaint mythology for our temporary understanding?

Thanks.

Mick.

[See "The Fall of the Jiva: Answer."]

CHAKRA 28 November 2001