What did Bon Maharaj say?

Uttamasloka : Professor Joseph O'Connell had done his Ph.D. dissertation on Chaitanya Vaishnavism and was teaching in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Toronto. Professor O'Connell was favorably disposed to us, and I became friends with him. One time Professor O'Connell sponsored Prabhupada's God-brother, Bon Maharaj, to come to Canada, and we met Bon Maharaj at the professor's house. We invited Bon Maharaj to the temple and he came for a kirtan and gave an erudite and articulate lecture. Then Professor O'Connell arranged for Bon Maharaj to meet with the Toronto ecumenical council, including leaders from the Jewish community, the Baptists, the Christians, and the Catholics. Bon Maharaj had written a translation and commentary on Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, The Nectar of Devotion and he gave an elevated talk about Radha and Krishna and how Radharani is the pleasure potency of Krishna. But he spoke in a language similar to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur. It was difficult to understand his points, and if one didn't know the basic principles, one wouldn't really get it. After he spoke, each council member took a turn to say something, trying to be nice. Then it came to me. I said, "We've heard Bon Maharaj speak about God, but I don't hear anyone else speaking about God. If that's what we have in common, why is it that we can't talk about that? Why can't we explore one another's realizations or concepts or understandings of what and who God is?" I agitated everybody. Later on Prabhupada heard about this and asked me, "What did Bon Maharaj say?" I told him what I remembered. One of the things that Bon Maharaj said after I spoke was, "Lord Chaitanya never preached. He chanted and loved God, but He didn't really preach any philosophy." I had told Bon Maharaj, "That's not what my spiritual master says," but out of respect I didn't want to get too uppity with him, because he was Prabhupada's God-brother. When I related this exchange to Prabhupada, he gave many references from the Caitanya-caritamrta proving that Lord Chaitanya did preach the philosophy of Krishna consciousness and did explain who Krishna is, how we should understand Him, and how that fits into our devotional realization and progress. Prabhupada was happy that I had created a disturbance with the ecumenical council and had challenged Bon Maharaj.