This course is part of Sastra-Caksus, Year 3 and consists of 25 lectures, available on:

Apasampradāyas

Given in Bhaktivedanta Academy, Sridham Mayapur

The following are lecture notes briefly delineating its contents.

• Incorrigible offender places great emphasis on their own mundane knowledge, techniques, achievements, but due to their offenses they separate themselves from the Sampradaya. Even though they base their activities on some quotes from scriptures, they accept only those parts that seem to support their point of view.

• There is difference between having difficulties, but endeavoring to continue the proper process, and thinking that those difficulties are actually qualifications.
• It's not uncommon that after leaving true devotional service one invents one's own process and is able to maintain that. That's how apasampradayas arise. One does not come back, since one believes that one's wrongs are actually qualifications.
• Greatness of volume of people is not necessarily a success. It's a matter of how many people have actually taken up pure devotional service.
• Those who are not actually spiritualists, but want to present themselves as such are very attracted to the apasampradayas.
• In creating an apasampradaya one goes from bona fide neophyte to a bogus madhyama - one becomes fixed in improperness.
• Neophytes with material desires may easily become distracted by the apasampradayas, since they present material desires in the guise of devotion.
• The leaders of apasampradayas usually attract people by their material qualifications.
• Some are innocent, but due to sins in their heart they cannot firmly take shelter of a genuine sadhu-sanga.
• In apasampradayas one can immediately feel taste, because that taste is material. One can immediately think one is advanced.
• Apasampradayas have interest in the concept of Krishna consciousness, but not in how it is actually practiced, so they create their own process.
• In apasampradayas, the growing anarthas are accepted as the bhakti-lata-bija, so the process appears very easy.
• Sincere person comes in contact with a bonafide spiritual master. Insincere - with the acikitsa-namaparadhi.
• Unless one endeavors to satisfy the spiritual master, one may receive the seed or karma, jnana or yoga instead of the seed of devotional service.
• One may read the Vedic literature on one's own, but unless there are purports of a Paramahamsa Vaishnava and association of other Vaishnavas to help us understand, we will not be able to interpret the Vedic verses properly.
• Sanga is devotee association, Sangha is the institution for devotee association.
• Institution is there to create association of devotees. If there is some difficulty, we should still try to be Krishna conscious on our own, maintaining that interest of association with devotees, but Krishna consciousness is always much stronger in the association of devotees.
• The 13 apasampradayas are archetypical of deviant mentalities that might come up.
• Even in those who are properly practicing these tendencies might come up.
• 51:20 Jata-gosani
• Even the slightest disreputable activity destroys a great quantity of virtue. Vast learning by the slightest wrong understanding. Bhakti is destroyed by the slightest dependence on the demigods.
• One must be able to deliver the dependents from the cycle of birth and death. Simple birth in a caste goswami family does not guarantee this ability. However, they consider that it is automatic.
• One should not become a spiritual master as an occupation. Brahmana is not an occupation in the sense that if people do not give so much money, brahmana still continues his activities.