Reacting to Vaishnava guru Chris Butler (aka Jagad Guru Siddhaswarupananda Paramahamsa). He is a former member of ISKCON (during the lifetime of Swami Prabhupada) who started his own group of Krishna devotees in Hawaii, today called the Science of Identity Foundation, and said to be Krishna or "akin to god" by ex-devotees. He is famous for his negative teachings of Muslims, LGBTQ, and being Tulsi Gabbard's former spiritual guru. This video is not about Tulsi, her family, her recent nomination as Director of National Intelligence, nor the cult accusations surrounding Jagad Guru, but just looking at what he says in the moment (which is my approach to all guru reaction videos). Live 8.22.2025.
Science of Identity Foundation official website
A website of his writings here
Criticism of Tulsi's involvement here
Negative description of Chris' background here
0:00 – Intro to 3rd reaction video in series on Jagad Guru (Chris Butler)
3:22 – Reaction to talk: Recognizing a bonafide spiritual guru | not contradicting scripture | lineage | feelings
16:22 – Reaction con't: Legitimacy of teacher not based on number of followers
17:16 – Reaction con't: God gives to devotees what they need to see | seeing God's representative
25:43 – Reaction con't: Serving devotee's concept of guru | guru's playing a part
32:07 – Reaction con't: Having blind faith | having spiritual doubts | purging personal beliefs
40:00 – Debunking fake gurus | reading from "Taking Refuge In Dharma" by Sri Dharma Pravatarka Acharya on traits of an authentic guru
48:42 – Closing thoughts
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I’m Aaron Joy in Portland, Maine, USA (also known in spiritual circles as Premanand Das Bhagat). I'm a writer, musician, ultra-runner, and former thespian. Visit my website for my books. I'm also trained as an Integral Vedic Counselor, Certified Spiritual Life Coach and Ayurveda Specialist. I'm follow the spiritual path of Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma) of the Ramanuja lineage.
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