David Shapiro

When Bhavananda was "on," he preached the gospel very convincingly though, even here, his arrogance is showing. He already was permitting the moniker of "His Divine Grace" to describe himself. Before Prabhupada took mahasamadhi, Bhavananda was just His Holiness Bhavananda Swami. Not long after, he accept the title of a divine master. Obviously, he was fooling himself and others around him allowed themselves to be fooled. If we can somehow separate the message from the messenger, he still expounded the philosophy correctly. But how many of us can disregard the tone of the message? Not I. The example reveals that the vibration of the sabdha, the transcendental words, effects how they are heard (sruti). As Prabhupada said in the context of speaking to his godbrothers, "I can say. You cannot say. (laughter) A father can chastise his friend, 'You are rascal.' But if the child says to his father's friend, 'You rascal,' that will not be tolerated. He must be respectful." Bhavananda was speaking "down" to the interviewer. Aural reception is mostly shut down in that case. As is often said, "It is not what you say; it's how you say it."