I first learned about Varsana Swami in 1995. Somehow or another I found a tape of one of his classes on Lord Nityananda.

The tape wasn’t labeled except for “V. Swami”. I was listening to it with a bunch of Philly devotees on the way to do books at Lalapaluza. When it got to the end, he said “Nityananda ki jaya! Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! Bhaktipada ki jaya!” It being 1995 and Philadelphia, the devotees kind of freaked out on me. They knew I was living in Columbus, which was already questionable it being a Bhaktipada temple not two years prior.

“Prabhu! This is NOT bonafide! He said ‘Bhaktipada ki jaya!’”

“But… yeah, he says ‘Jaya Bhaktipada,’ but this is probably from the 80’s or something. Listen to the nectar!” Or some such thing, said I.

They would have none of it. I, though not at all a fan of this Mr. Bhaktipada fellow, was a bit more open-minded.

These devotees, though wonderful devotees in every respect, were making a philosophically impotent argument. It’s called “ad hominem.”

An ad hominem argument is when you say, for example, “Bhaktipada said it, it must be bogus!” It very well may be bogus, but it’s not bogus simply because Bhaktipada said it. It’s bogus for philosophical or spiritual reasons.

Bhakta Dick
So let me introduce you to a devotee I know. His name is Bhakta Dick. Bhakta Dick can be a real fired up devotee sometimes! He goes to mangal, he can quote scripture like it’s nobody’s business. But sometimes Bhakta Dick can be a real jerk.

While Bhakta Dick has a lot of good qualities, he’s also got some negative ones. In fact, he’s got some of the same negative qualities that many of us have. Specifically, Bhakta Dick uses ad hominem arguments.

We came into Krishna consciousness by having mind open enough to join a “cult.” Before we joined up most of us were familiar with those wacky dudes at airports. But our minds were open, our hearts were open and we gave it a shot.

And as soon as we shaved up, suddenly we’re all uptight and Bhakta Dickish? That’s not our philosophy, prabhu.

We should be deeper than silly ad hominem attacks. Sure, we’re all guilty of it. But we need to be really vigilant against using them. While it’s much easier to discount something someone says simply because we don’t like the person who’s saying it, that is a horrible and worthless reason. It makes you look foolish. You and that rascal mind of yours! (heh heh)

[There is a seminar by Jayadvaita Swami about diction and debate. In it he warns against using ad hominem arguments. This is a good seminar - seek it out. It's from 1993 or 94 and was given at Gita Nagari.]

I’ve seen this happen often in and out of Krishna consciousness, but we should be smarter than that. We actually HAVE a philosophy to back up what we think! We believe in stuff! We have stances on things! C’mon, dear vaisnavas! Srila Prabhupada gave us all the knowledge we need and still we say drivel like, “The Ritviks are using the ‘72 Gita, therefore it’s wrong to use it.”

Do you have any idea how philosophically daft that statement is? It’s got more holes than the Pennsylvania turnpike!

On the other side of the coin, there are devotees who say that everything ISKCON does is wrong. I’ve heard “It’s GONE!” (instead of ISKCON) and ISHCON (International Society for HINDU Consciousness [which, I have to say, is the mood in a lot of temples]). But everything ISKCON does is not wrong! To say so is, once again, an ad hominem argument. It’s philosophically based on nothing. Again, Turkpike-sized holes!

See, both sides have their own Bhakta Dicks.

See, Bhakta Dick is too damn lazy to actually figure out why he believes in what he believes. He’s too lazy to spell it out for someone. We’re all pretty guilty of this. Maybe we’re all just too lazy.

Our Bhakta Dick also makes these ad hominem arguments because he’s too insecure of his own spirituality.

Here’s a story: I grew up in an evangelical church. The older I got, the more obvious it was to me that many of these people really didn’t believe in what they were saying. They badly wanted to believe it, but they, for some reason, just didn’t. And so they’d force their opinions on others, they’d demand that their way is the only way, they’d instill fear in others so that these other people wouldn’t leave them alone to question whether or not they really did believe in what they thought they believed in.

And devotees do this too. We’ve all seen it. Pure Devotee Syndrome, it’s often called. Where a real fired up devotee is a real fired up jerk. And what usually happens to Bhakta Dick? Bhakta Dick bloops. Why? Because even though he wanted to believe in vedanta philsophy, he didn’t.

That’s the end result of ad hominem arguments. If we’re too lazy to figure out why it is that we don’t agree with someone, we’re probably too lazy to do a lot of other stuff as well. Laziness and Krishna consciousness don’t exactly go hand-in-hand.

So let’s stop attacking other devotees based on which group they affiliate themselves with. We’re better than that, aren’t we? Philosophically, we’re deeper than that.

Of course… there is always the option to simply “not go there.” And perhaps, if Bhakta Dick can’t stop making ad hominem arguments, he should choose to simply “not go there.” Enact the 26th quality, prabhu. Your spiritual life with thank you for it!

Related posts:

1. All I Do Now Is Dick Around
2. 1976 Bhakta Program Handbook
3. Despite Sweater Vest, Bhakta Alec Not Aspiring for Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu
4. Dear Bhakta, what color is the sweet rice on your planet?
5. Bhakta Corey and unsubscribing from equality