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EDITORIAL   Danishta Dasi Belongs In The Gurukula BY GOVINDA DASI  EDITORIAL, Feb 24 (VNN) — As Per the Mercy of Srila PrabhupadaDear readers, The subject of this article is brought to you compliments of an Internet discussion group. On that site a long discussion on the subject "Is Iskcon Breaking the Law?" was conducted, apparently to reach an answer to whether or not Iskcon is doing something illegal by not allowing in [its temples] visitors who have some form of connection with Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja and/or other non Iskcon spiritual mentors. Seeing that the discussion was dismissed without reaching a satisfactory conclusion for all participants, I was inspired to bring it here, to a wider forum. One devotee opines that current Iskcon gurus are doing their best to conduct the mission of Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, but I disagree. I believe at least one Iskcon guru is being negligent in that claim and I am presenting my experience of that here. I think the topic relevant enough for the benefit of dozens if not hundreds aspirants of the mercy of Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Many sincere followers of Srila Prabhupada do not accept that the GBC is infallible, as the GBC has proven in the past such fallibility by denying the association of Srila Sridhara maharaja to the society's members for years. By barring from visiting its temples and other facilities those who might hold opposing views to the GBC's, Iskcon is tangibly denying Srila Prabhupada's mercy to innocent people. Children are not exception, the case of my eleven year old daughter related here being in point. On a little booklet presenting its rules, Padma Academy (former Iskcon School) of Hillsborough, North Carolina, on page 3, in the section entitled The Spiritual Master, the Academy states: "Until a student establishes, with the guidance of his parents, a relationship with a spiritual master, he directly worships Srila Prabhupada. Students are welcome to keep a small photo of their guru on their desk, and to develop their relationship with their spiritual master. We request the school community to respect the individual choices of the students and parents in this regard. No student or parent should feel pressured to fully surrender to a particular guru by any member of the school community. The school desires its students to have frequent association with saintly, advanced devotees. The gurukula would therefore like to encourage and sponsor visits from such persons." On consulting an attorney recently I found that, if the treatment of an individual at Iskcon temples is discriminatory due to the individual's religious orientation, because it is open to the public, Iskcon could indeed be in violation of federal law. But this is not what I went to an attorney to consult about. My consultation was about whether or not a particular Iskcon school was in violation of a student's right. No, I am not talking about the old cases of child abuse in Iskcon schools but the recent case of my daughter being barred from attending Padma Academy, an Iskcon school in North Carolina run by Urmila dasi under the guidance of Bir Krsna Goswami. My daughter was barred due to mine (the mother's) religious orientation. Here is the story: Like many, I have long lost substantial faith in my former Iskcon guru. I have been grateful for what he did for me, but the guru-disciple status wasn't there anymore and I just decided to be honest about it. My husband is a disciple of Srila Prabhupada and my two daughters are initiatiated disiciples of Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana maharaja. Prior to my daughters being initiated by Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaja, they were admitted at Padma Academy. At the time the Academy was called ISKCON SCHOOL. The name was changed to Padma Academy to avoid that it would be possibly involved in the child abuse lawsuit against Iskcon. My daughters attended Urmila's school for about one year as initiated disciples of Srila Narayana Maharaja. Because my husband and I were never approached and told by the school that the children's initiation wasn't acceptable by the school, we assumed that there was a gracious unspoken tolerance of it, and we gratefully reciprocated by always instructing our daughters to be first class students. And so they were, according to Urmila dasi's statements to the parents in more than one occasion. Then we held a gathering at our home with a disciple of Gour Govinda Swami and sannyasi disciple of Srila Narayana maharaja. Urmila dasi contacted me by phone from Porto Rico with a message from Bir Krsna Goswami: "Let us have mutual respect." I agreed. I pointed out to her that our family, knowing the rudeness of Iskcon towards Srila Narayana mahraja, was willing to remain to ourselves, but we reserved the right to, within our home, encourage our daughters' faith. We trusted that Urmila dasi and the school board (of which Bir Krsna Goswami is member) would, in return, respect the children's faith in their spiritual master. Days after her telephone call to us to request "mutual respect" Urmila dasi wrote a paper to be printed and distributed to Iskcon devotees in Mexico, presenting her point of view on Srila Narayana Maharaja's character. This paper was also broadcast on the Internet on the old Chakra web site. In my family's view and many other devotees' view, the paper was defamatory without grounds, insulting, irresponsible, and offensive; a desperate attempt from an individual in Iskcon to independently discredit Srila Narayana maharaja. My family and I were shocked at Urmila's lack of consideration for her students. She had given the impression to us, the parents, that she was a trustworthy Vaisnavi, and a responsible educator, but without giving us a warning, she attacked the character of the children's spiritual master in a public forum. To be consistent with the principle of respect for the spiritual master, we had no choice but take the children out of the school. It is relevant to this history the account of Urmila dasi's son's mother-in-law who has told my husband and other devotees in Srila Narayna maharaja's sanga that, on confronting Urmila dasi, the later confessed to feeling "bad" about writing the paper and that, if given a chance, would not do it again. Astonishingly, Urmila dasi also confessed that she wrote the paper on request of Bir Krsna Goswami who, she explained, promised that if she did so, would unrestrictedly help her to be appointed first female guru in Iskcon. Shortly after writing and broadcasting her paper, Urmila dasi was officially appointed for guruship in Iskcon. Whether she felt regretful of writing the paper or not, my family still doesn't know from her; we never heard an apology. Urmila dasi did come to our home later, however, to a second gathering we held with disciples of Srila Narayana maharaja as guests. Uninvited, she came to pose challenging questions of siddhanta to Aranya maharaja, a prominent sannyasi disciple of Srila Narayana Maharaja. Hurt by her explicit attack on the character of our daughters' spiritual master and lack of consideration for our position as parents, we did not invite her, but my husband, surprised by her showing up at our door, offered her a seat. Many of the guests were disciples of Srila Narayana maharaja, were aware of her position in relation to their spiritual master, but maintained that she was to be treated with respect. She returned two more times for discussions with Aranya maharaja and at some point declared to Aranya Swami, "you are superior to me in every respect, you should be the one giving lectures there (at the local Iskcon temple), not me." There are video tape recordings of these meetings. Copies can be obtained upon request* free of charge. I then home schooled my daughters; the younger one was going into sixth grade and had been begging me to go back to the gurukula. Her understanding was, in her words, "mother (Urmila dasi) made a mistake but was willing to learn". My daughter's conclusion was that she just wanted to be with her devotee friends at school. My family and I decided that Urmila dasi was indeed to be given a second chance. I then contacted the school seeking a more defined understanding with Urmila dasi so to re-enroll my daughter in the school. Urmila dasi wasn't in town at the time and I then presented my request to her son-in-law and headmaster of the school. He directed me to make my request to Bir Krsna Goswami personally. I contacted Bir Krsna Goswami who then told me that my daughter would not be accepted back in school. Period. He informed me that this was his sole decision, made on the spot. I then pleaded the case with my former guru in Iskcon who is also a GBC. He told me that to his knowledge there is no official policy from the GBC as to Iskcon affiliated schools not allowing enrollment of children disciples of non-Iskcon gurus. I brought his words back to Bir Krsna Goswami who replied that my daughter's initiation wasn't the impediment for her acceptance in the school - my relationship with my former guru in Iskcon was. And on the spot again, Bir Krsna Goswami made another decision: that my daughter might be accepted back in school if my family would never, ever hold gatherings at my house with disciples or followers of Srila Narayana maharaja present and if I, the mother, would take my former spiritual name and spiritual master back. He also added that I must "repent." With this he left the conversation. Bir Krsna Goswami does not know, however, the facts about my relationship with my former Iskcon guru. He assumes that I was reinitiated by Srila Narayana Maharaja, but the case is more complex than just such; he just never asked about my case, never cared to find out. I left my former guru in Iskcon on the advice of a disciple of Srila Prabhupada who had taken the siksa of Srila Sridhara maharaja. Previous from receiving this advice, however, I had already noticed the disregard my previous guru in Iskcon had showed for Srila Sridhara Maharaja and other exalted Vaisnavas such as Bhakti Promode Puri Maharaja. An additional reason I could not accept my relationship with him is the fact that, even though he denies such, he has not been in "good standing" for quite some time. Bir Krsna Goswami himself is aware of this lack of "good standing" and he too in public denies the fact. In the Mayapur meeting of 2002 the GBC formed a committee aimed at "improving vaisnava relations." Bir Krsna Goswami is a member of this committee. Prior to the second gathering I had at my home where Urmila dasi came uninvited, Bir Krsna Goswami personally came to our house to make an agreement with my husband and I on how his agenda of "mutual respect" would be accomplished. On his visit to our home, he asked of my family to never hold gatherings where disciples or followers of Srila Narayana maharaja would be present. My husband reasoned with him that this would impair our plans of helping our daughters in their spiritual lives. My husband offered that we would "respect" the local Iskcon temple by not mentioning Srila Narayana maharaja while visiting there, but would reserve the right to invite whomever we decided to gatherings at our home. I took the opportunity to also inquire from maharaja why the committee for improving vaisnava relations wasn't being used to work on Srila Narayana maharaja's case. He replied that the committee was created solely to lift the ban on Srila Sridhara maharaja. Indeed, months before making this statement, Bir Krsna Goswami had met with Bhakti Gaurava Narasingha maharaja who, in his turn, had been a staunch critic of Iskcon policies towards Srila Sridhara maharaja for years. Being in apparent good terms with Bhakti Gaurava Narasingha maharaja now, Bir Krsna Goswami had no apparent reason to object to my relationship with Bhakti Gaurava Narasinha maharaja as siksa guru. My former Iskcon guru himself was agreeable in helping me with the school issue without demanding from me that I take him back as guru. In fact he graciously discussed with me about the school issue without mentioning once that I was to take him back as guru! And he expressed clearly his position that he believed that it shouldn't be a problem for the school to accommodate the situation if both sides, the school and my family, drew out a compromise. But Bir Krsna Goswami, overstepping the independence of the guru he was recommending for me, made it impossible to reach such compromise! He just simply did not know whom I loved as guru and did not care to know, creating thus an impasse for everyone. Such impasse was only possible because of the unaccountable authority Bir Krsna Goswami exercises unchecked in his community in North Carolina. Thus defeated, my husband and I finally enrolled our daughter in a non-devotee school. The night before her first day at this school, I knew my daughter was feeling defeated too. I felt my heart tight as if squeezed by an iron fist, and I cried. In an ordinary court of justice inconsistency is seeing as lack of conviction and is therefore hardly tolerated. Bir Krsna Goswami is being inconsistent in his actions and his claim of representing Srila Prabhupada when he bars a child of attending an Iskcon school because one of the child's parents was initiated by an Iskcon guru and later "reinitiated" by Srila Narayana maharaja. The inconsistency is evident when he does not oppose a child of ex disciples of the same Iskcon guru [who have taken "reinitiated" by Srila Puri maharaja], to be admitted to the same school. In fact, with Bir Krsna Maharaja's consent disciples of Iskcon gurus "reinitiated" by Srila Sridhara Maharaja, Srila Bhakti Promode Puri maharaja, Bhaktigaurava Narasingha maharaja, and even Sri Ananta das babaji of Radhakunda have received and are receiving an entire different treatment from him personally and Iskcon in general from the treatment disciples of Srila Narayana maharaja are receiving. This is clear inconsistency and thus questionable discrimination. This is especially outrageous in the case of Ananta das baba's followers who claim that Srila Bhaktisidanta Saraswati was never initiated in a proper line and has misrepresented the teachings of the Goswamis. Bir Krsna maharaja is found to have a personal and close relationship with an individual who was once an initiated disciple of an Iskcon guru and who now, being "reinitiated" by Ananta Das babaji of Radhakunda, propagates in public disturbing views on Srila Bhaktisidanta Saraswati. In his only visit ever to our home Bir Krsna Goswami did not deny my husband's point to him that Srila Narayana Maharaja was not a problem for Iskcon in the past, and that the ban was arbitrary. Bir Krsna maharaja in fact stated that Srila Narayana Maharaja was not banned so much because of what he teaches, but because of giving association to Tamal Krsna Maharaja. In that visit he said that the GBC saw that Tamal Krsna maharaja was gaining in knowledge by his association with Srila Narayana Maharaja in the early '90s, and that the GBC was "worried" that Tamal Krsna Goswami would use this knowledge to attempt to become the sole acarya of Iskcon. He then explained that the ban on Srila Narayana maharaja was a "political move" and justified such by saying, "the world is a political place and to preach, sometimes we have to be political." Political indeed, he came to our house unaccompanied. There are no records of his words except for the recollection presented here. Bir Krsna Goswami now states that the situation between Iskcon and Srila Narayana Maharaja is "irreparable". In a recent attempt to again send my daughter to Srila Prabhupada's school, I asked Garuda das to mediate my case with Bir Krsna Goswami. Garuda das failed and entrance in the school was again denied to my daughter, but Garuda das expressed his opinion that my daughter shouldn't be punished for her parents and educators differences in views. He was actually inspired to volunteer as non official mediator from Iskcon at an attempt at reconciliation with the group of Srila Narayana maharaja. Thus he has expressed his intention of personally meeting with Srila Narayana maharaja on the occasion of Srila Narayana maharaja's visit to North Carolina in June of 2004. Other devotees dear to Iskcon followers such as Hrdayananda maharaja, Gopavrndapal das and Mula Prakriti dasi have expressed that reconciliation between Iskcon and Srila Narayana maharaja's followers should be possible and procured by both parties. I know that my daughter's desire is that she will be allowed by Bir Krsna Goswami to return to Srila Prabhupada's gurukula in the fall of 2004. Let us who so wish too, pray that she will be there, as per the mercy of Srila Prabhupada. *Anandacinmaya@yahoo.com Related VNN Stories Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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