Vice president Radharamn Das of the Kolkata division of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness or ISKCON has recently banned their own Bharamachari monk from their Dwarka Division — Amogh Lila Das for making a derogatory comment on Swami Vivekanand.
What has happened?
They said that Amogh Lila Das made a very inappropriate comment on the teachings of two highly revered saintly figures in Indian history and spirituality — Ramakrishna Paramahansa and Swami Vivekananda.
They asked for forgiveness from the people and affirmed that the Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organisation does not agree with the inappropriate and unacceptable comments and his lack of understanding about the great teachings of these two personalities.
“Taking a 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 forgiveness for his comments, and he is realizing that what a great disservice he has done. 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,” the statement said.
His video got viral on social media where he made the remarks at Panihati nera Kolkata a week ago. The engineer-turned-spiritual guru criticised Swami Vivekananda for eating fish and questioned whether we should follow Swami ji or not and also questioned Ramakrishna Paramhansa’s teaching “‘Joto mot toto poth. ‘ As many faiths, so many paths“. In immediate action, ISKCON banned its monk and bannished him for atonement
But who is this engineer-turned-monk who left his corporate job in America to embark on the spiritual journey and how did he end up in ISKON?
Amogh Lila Das is a spiritual-motivational speaker and social worker who has served as the Vice President of the Dwarka chapter of ISKCON. He was born in a Punjabi family in Lucknow and was named Ashish Arora at the time of his birth, now known as Amogh Lila Das.
Amogh Lila Das’ career
The 43 years old monk was not on the path of celibacy in his early days. He holds a software engineering degree from Delhi College of Engineering. He claims that despite his professional background, Amogh Lila Das felt a deep connection to spirituality from a young age. He was drawn to the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, which he studied diligently during his school years.
He held the position of project manager before taking the decision to quit the corporate world in 2010. At the age of 29, he became a dedicated Hare Krishna Brahmachari (celibate) by joining Iskcon. He left his full-time job and yearned for spiritual training at the ISKCON centre in Dwarka.
His spiritual journey began in 2000 when he left his house in search of God. However, drawn to the materialistic world, he returned back to pursue a degree in software engineering. He started working in a US-based multinational corporation after graduating in 2004.
Amogh Lila Das is a popular motivational strategist, spiritual activist, and preacher. His videos and teachings have gained views and a following on social media.
