The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has banned one of its monks named Amogh Lila Das for making objectionable comments on Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramhans.
The ISKCON banned the monk over the monk’s statement where he talked about Swami Vivekananda eating a fish saying that a virtuous person can never harm a living being.
Lila Das made sarcastic remarks about Ramakrishna’s teaching of “Jato Mat Tato Path” (as many opinion, as many paths), saying that not every path leads to the same destination.
A video clip of Das’s comment went viral on social media, triggering a storm.
Sharing the clip, TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh, tweeted, “We revere ISKCON. But they should stop him now. Insulting Ramakrishna and Vivekananda will not be tolerated. Immediate action should be taken against this so-called monk.”
Who is monk Amogh Lila Das?
Amogh Lila Das is a spiritual speaker and is very popular on social media for his motivational talks.
Slamming the monk, ISKCON in a statement said that Lila Das’ comments were not representative of its values and teachings.
“We condemn any form of disrespect and intolerance towards other religious beliefs and practices,” it said.
“Derogatory remarks” shows a lack of awareness in Das about the diversity of spiritual paths and personal choices, ISKCON further said.
“Taking view of this serious mistake committed by him, ISKCON has decided to ban him for 1 month. We have communicated our decision to him. Amogh Lila Das has begged for the forgiveness for his comments, and he is realizing that what a great disservice he has done,” the statement said.
“He has taken a vow to go on ‘prayaschit’ (atonement) for 1 month in the hills of Govardhan and will completely seclude himself from the public life with immediate effect,” it added.
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