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| EDITORIAL December 15, 1998 VNN2688 See Related VNN Stories The Oracle Speakes BY ANONYMOUS EDITORIAL, Dec 15 (VNN) — Re: "White Listing" - A letter from a very dear elder God brother who wishes to remain anonymous. In keeping with polite etiquette all personal references removed: Dear Brahma Muhurta Prabhu, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. Very, very nice article, Prabhuji. Your suggestions will be appreciated by those devotees who are peacemakers. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." However, the in-charge devotees, although they have the caring nature deep down inside themselves, are more concerned with keeping the enemy out of their midst. It is a mental platform, no doubt, to see friends and enemies in this way, but it is a phenomenon that has been with us since the earliest days in our movement. So far, I do not see the leaders as honestly committed to getting ISKCON back on the right track. They talk about reform as if it had to do with removing little pictures and giving up big titles. What reform is really about is vaisnava relationships. The men who need to be relieved of their leadership responsibilities are those who cannot deal honestly with their godbrothers, who have no conception of proper etiquette, and who show no friendly concern for the general welfare of the devotees. Whoever is more concerned with his own welfare than that of others cannot be a leader of vaisnavas; he can only be a leader in a political arena. This blacklisting, as you have pointed out, is so antithetical to the cause of devotional service that anyone with the slightest degree of intelligence can see that it is a political maneuver and nothing more. Why can't these men find the common ground for agreement on such an obvious issue as initiations? It's as if they never heard Srila Prabhupada's instruction about how he wanted things to go on after his disappearance. If what they are doing is correct, why do so many object? Could so many devotees be so wrong? There must be a defect in the current system, and that defect can be adjusted by intelligent reasoning and by accepting the order of the guru. You can see where this is headed. The division between camps will be increased and devotees will be forced to choose which boat they want to float. There will be defections, and then even fewer men to do all of the service in ISKCON. We will probably see some temples close, a lowering of the standard of Deity worship, even less sankirtan activity, lower morale amongst temple devotees, all because of this weak self-serving style of leadership that hovers on the mental platform, discriminating between good and bad devotees. Here is another idea: Instead of separate but equal facilities for ritviks, the ISKCON devotees should invite and render service to ritvik devotees by cooking a simple feast and serving them prasadam, offering a nice sitting place, words of praise and other gestures of friendship. Then everyone goes out together on Harinam Sankirtan and devotees are asked to lead the chanting without giving any thought to their particular ideology. The next time, it is the ritviks' turn to do the cooking and serving. Such a program would create unity based on loving exchanges amongst devotee godbrothers. But who is humble enough to set in motion such a conciliatory undertaking? That is why I say that these men at the helm of ISKCON are not true reformers. They are set in their ways and have too much at stake to risk changing the system. Predictions for 1999: More senior devotees enter the fray on the initiation issue. Some minor reforms are agreed upon at Mayapur, and more studies are ordered to appease the dissidents. Big propaganda against the "heretical" views of ritvikism by the GBC. Ritviks chew away at the Indian community's support of ISKCON, especially in India. More sannyasi falldowns are disclosed. ........... Prabhu remains a non-entity in ISKCON ........... Swami threatens to split to keep his "pad" name and daily guru puja. Some temple presidents are kicked out for supporting ritvik ideas More bad press Women unite against misogyny Several GBC men resign in Mayapur Devotees learn more about Srila Prabhupada's Gaudiya Math affiliations Predictions for 2000: Tremendous upheaval outside of ISKCON forces devotees to unite Officiating Acharya Initiation System adopted by GBC Huge growth in Sankirtan and prasadam distribution programs Varnashrama communities begin to spring up Devotees recognized as spiritual leaders by society at large Mark my words! The oracle of ............. has spoken! It is just a matter of time! The end of the world as we know it is coming! Y2K is upon us! But Krishna promises that His devotee will not perish! Do not fear! The present situation cannot continue much longer. The Krishna consciousness movement is meant to spread the teachings of Caitanya Mahaprabhu all over the world and inform humanity about our spiritual connection with Krishna, the father of all living entities who are His parts and parcels. That can only happen when there is an atmosphere of harmony, love and trust in ISKCON. Devotees seem to have lost sight of what it is that binds us as a family and are focusing on the differences between us. No good can come from this type of confrontation on the battlefield of egos because it will simply create a house divided against itself that will soon crumble into dust. Srila Prabhupada preached "unity with diversity" but ISKCON is not allowing for diversity. ISKCON seems to only want unity. If ISKCON can get rid of its dogmatic attitude problem, it can have both. Then only will Srila Prabhupada be pleased with what is happening to his ISKCON. Hoping this finds you well and blissfully serving the Lord of the Heart. See Related VNN Stories | Comment on this Story This story URL: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9812/ET15-2688.html
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