“I can freely and without any discretion or inhibition dismiss the entire career of a devotee with the flourish of a phrase such as pathological liar or gun-toting boozer.”
“I cannot figure our why I have very few friends.”
Faultfinder Disease
from Pancha Tattva dasa
I wrote the following piece a few years ago in response to the outrageous and offensive posts of a few devotees on WWW.COM, the World Wide Web mirror site for COM. Every once in a while it shows up again, having been copied by a devotee and passed around. Much has happened in those two years, including the fact that COM has cleaned up alot of the more serious faultfinding. Still, there are some of us who, overwhelmed by a self-righteous sense of outrage, persist in taking personal criticism to newer and newer lows, whether we're finding fault via the Internet, the phone, or outside the temple during Bhagavatam class.
I don't suggest that criticism has no place in ISKCON, but it must be undertaken by the proper persons with a desire to benefit rather than destroy. Otherwise, it will be the source of one's own degradation. Ravindra Svarupa prabhu described the effect to be like that of a brahmastra being thrown, only to boomerang back upon the thrower ( Wissshhhhh - BOOM!).
In the interest of describing this disease of the heart with which I am all too familiar, I submit this letter.
MAD FAULTFINDER DISEASE
These are the symptoms of what I refer to as Mad Faultfinder Disease. I can cite the symptoms because I suffer from them as well.
1) I am always right.
2) I can freely and without any discretion or inhibition dismiss the entire career of a devotee with the flourish of a phrase, such as "pathological liar" or "gun-toting boozer." Such cruelties are justified because I am calling a spade a spade.
3) I think I am doing the highest service to Srila Prabhupada and defending his movement if I criticize devotees and point out their failures. After all, it is for their own good, and I am the perfect person to understand what their own good is.
4) If I am criticized for my opinions, I become more vehemently vocal, I accuse my accuser of low and malicious faultfinding, and I resort to name-calling and insults.
5) If someone actually finds a mistake in what I am saying, I won't acknowledge that he is correct. Instead, I avoid the issue by complaining about something else.
6) If someone who I've been lambasting doesn't respond, I criticize him for not responding and announce that he must be guilty of all charges.
7) I never give anyone the benefit of the doubt—except for myself, of course.
8) Occasionally I will make a gratuitous statement of humility. I call myself "your fallen servant" or something like that. If I follow the right protocols at the beginning and end of my diatribes, then everything in between must be Krishna conscious, right?
9) I will say that I am not revealing anyone by name and I go on in such detail that no one will have any doubt about who it is.
10) Rumors and anecdotes are my most treasured evidence. If someone deals with me in kind, I consider him the greatest offender.
11) Even though my devotional practices and my personal relationships with others may be full of faults, some of them very grievous, I still feel perfectly qualified to comment on the faults of others.
12) Anyone who objects to my criticisms is guilty of sentimentalism and coddling criminals.
13) I take quotes from the shastra and Srila Prabhupada entirely out of context to validate my statements.
14) The fact that the people I criticize don't want to enter into any sort of discussion with me I find truly astonishing.
15) When I present some provocative story or rumor about a devotee, I make sweeping generalizations to suggest that this is just the tip of the iceberg.
16) I cannot figure out why I have very few friends, or why no one in his right mind would reveal something confidential about himself to me. I do, however, have a circle of acquaintances who give me the dirt on everyone else.
17) I have no respect for authority. I am suspicious of everyone. While I will say that I accept the authority of Srila Prabhupada, I cannot accept his proposition that I submit to my immediate spiritual authorities, such as the temple president or the GBC.
I am on intimate terms with this fault-finding disease. It is present in every cell of my body. I hope against hope that I will become free from it in the association of the Vaisnavas.
Your servant,
Pancha Tattva dasa
© CHAKRA 24-Dec-98
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