ISKON bans Amogh Lila Das for critisicing Vivekananda for ‘eating fish’. All you need to know about controversial monk
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has announced a ban on monk Amogh Lila Das due to his controversial remarks about Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramahansa. In a viral video clip, Das criticised Swami Vivekananda for eating fish, asserting that a virtuous person would never harm a living being. He also made sarcastic comments about Ramakrishna's teaching of "Jato Mat Tato Path" (as many opinions, as many paths), implying that not all paths lead to the same destination.
These comments sparked a storm of controversy on social media. Following ISKCON's decision to ban him, monk will go for atonement to the hills and seclude himself In a statement, ISKCON said the views expressed by Das are not representative of its values and teachings. "We condemn any form of disrespect and intolerance towards other religious beliefs and practices," it said.
It also said the "derogatory remarks" shows a lack of awareness in Das about the diversity of spiritual paths and personal choices. "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. Amogh Lila Das is a spiritual-motivational speaker and social worker, currently serving as the Vice President of the Dwarka chapter of ISKCON.
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