CHAKRA  - 17-August, 1999: 

Dear Ajamila Prabhu,

Firstly I want to make clear I'm not a follower of the Rtvik theory. Basically I couldn't care more or less what anyone beliefs in. I've seen too much around me I guess. So I'm just doing what I think is right and keep to myself (call me naive if you want - I just see it as avoiding stuff which I don't need in my life).

I've never given any thoughts on if the ritviks are wrong or right, simply because of the offensive attitude I've seen in them (speaking of some around me). I don't want to over-generalize, maybe a lot of them sincerely want to be devotees and just follow what they believe is right. Who knows? Just like anyone else who doesn't follow or accept the ritvik theory thinks they're right. But back to my point, I never considered it because of the attitude. So it's quite a big disappointment to read your letter to Adridharana. To call people nutters and question where their votes come from is just a bit too much to take. You never know why people started following this theory. Maybe they protect themselves from the hurt they felt when their umpteenth guru left. It's a pretty safe bet to stick with Prabhupada if you want to continue being a devotee once you have felt like that. Maybe that's some devotees reasoning, rather then them having some mental deficiency? So to gather my feelings on your letter, when I read it, I kind of felt sorry for the vote I've given. Not because I think you're wrong, but just because I felt embarrassed by your representation(?) of the devotees who are on 'your side'.

A bit more listening and caring for devotees might bring a lot more people back to follow the present guru system, if that's what you want. To call them a bunch of nutters won't.

Hope this doesn't create any bad feelings with you or anyone else.

Your servant, 
Subhadra-mayi dd

© CHAKRA 17-Aug-1999

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