© 1998 VNN
|
EDITORIAL December 31, 1998 VNN2764 See Related VNN Stories The Argument Of Practicality BY SADHUSANGA DAS EDITORIAL, Dec 31 (VNN) — Dear Jayantakrid dasa, please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. I would like to comment on your letter on ritvik initiations. I'm not going to jump into some long drawn out philosophical defense, nor can I write some fancy 15 page letter and persuade everyone through the power of my written oratory about my position. Rather, I simply want to suggest that I think Srila Prabhupada wanted the ritvik system, because it is practical. Prabhupada always 'stretched' the vedic rules when necessary. For example, Chanting of Hare Krsna was reduced from 64 rounds to 32, and then to 16… all because his disciples couldn't keep up with the standard. Prabhupada would make adjustments for women too, giving them 2nd initiation and letting them do pujari activity. Prabhupada's godbrothers frowned on this. He gave sanyasa to individuals who he knew lacked qualification, but for the purpose of management and preaching, he did it anyway, knowing they would probably fall into maya at some later date. Srila Prabhupada tolerated SO much, simply for the sake of this sankirtana movement. I remember the 'bag' offerings in the traveling sankirtana vans. Prabhupada authorized this type of thing because it was the practical thing to do for the situation. Many rules of vaisnava etiquette was placed on 'the back burner', all because it was the practical thing to do. Srila Prabhupada could do this, because he is the pure devotee, Acharya. So, to the ritvik issue. Let's just put all the Vedic etiquette in the back seat for a moment and consider Srila Prabhupada's desire: He wanted ISKCON to grow and be healthy. He wanted more and more devotees to come, and stay. He wanted his books to be the 'lawbooks for the next 10 thousand years', and he didn't want to see his disciples fighting among themselves. With the establishment of the ritvik system, these fundamental desires of Srila Prabhupada would be much easier to maintain. Why? Because the ritvik system is simple, and practical! When analyzing a problem, the simplest solution is most always the correct one. What would we have if the ritvik system was the official standard? 1) Rivalry amongst ALL disciples (old and new) would be minimized or totally eliminated. Because EVERYONE is EVERYONE'S godbrother and godsister in the truest sense, with Srila Prabhupada ALWAYS in exact center. There would be no more 'their camp, our camp'… 'their guru, our guru'… 'their zone, our zone', 'my guru's program, your guru's program'. This whole diksa guru issue has created a tremendous splitting of devotees. I have seen personally with this whole mentality: "Oh, he used to be a disciple of Kirtanananda, he's in maya. He shouldn't even be on the alter…" With the ritvik system, ISKCON would again become ONE HOUSE, under Srila Prabhupada. 2) The ritvik system would prevent any one individual of accumulating too much money, power and opulence. This is common place with many so called diksa gurus we have presently. So many disciples means sense gratification. "Oh, now that I have so many disciples, I don't have to worry about money, security, old age, travel expenses, lap top computers…" The list goes on and on. Srila Prabhupada wouldn't have wanted that. If the GBC managed properly under the ritvik system, abuse of power would certainly be minimized. I don't think it will ever be eliminated, but it will be minimized because sanyasis will have to act like real renounced sanyasis for a change. This whole abuse of power and opulence issue, by so many leaders in ISKCON, is the direct result of the present system of initiation. Again, it's not that no one can be a diksa guru, it's just that there aren't many (very few indeed) who are actually qualified to be a bonafide diksa guru. So let's protect ourselves against these unqualified 'gurus', instate the ritvik system. 3) Old and New devotees alike, would be far more inclined to stay within ISKCON with the ritvik system. We all know that there is preferential treatment because of 'guru affiliation'. So called Prabhupada disciples get the best opportunities and treatment within ISKCON, then, someone who has a powerful guru in big circles, like this. The whole thing is thug politics. With the ritvik system, young and old devotees will all be treated on a more equal level… because Srila Prabhupada is everyone's guru. It's not like the real senior prabhus aren't respected, they are. Just like before Prabhupada left the planet. But with the ritvik system, prejudices and preferential treatment is minimized. The overall effect of this is devotees will not bloop. They'll stay in ISKCON because they feel comfortable with themselves, and with their godbrothers and godsisters. They'll know that we're all on the "same boat" to the spiritual world, and that older devotees won't exploit them for personal gain. 4) With the ritvik system, Srila Prabhupada's books WILL be the lawbooks for the next 10 thousand years, as he predicted. Why? Because there won't be so many 'gurus' hyping their disciples up to distribute their literature, and their money making trinkets. It should be the original books by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and nothing else! We don't need anything else, Prabhupada said so himself! The present guru system has 'watered down' and polluted book distribution, because everyone want's to be big, big author / artist / poet. Actually, ALL we need is Prabhupada's original books, then everything will be adjusted. Srila Prabhupada ki jaya! 5) With the ritvik system, ISKCON will have a fighting chance for survival. Without ritvik, ISKCON will become more and more fragmented, and the ultimate destruction of ISKCON is guaranteed, because it is designed into the system. Just like computers, when the hard drive reaches a certain percent of fragmentation, it slows and will eventually crash. It's the flaw in the design. Unqualified diksa guru's are design flaws that will crash ISKCON. Ritvik is the cure, because Srila Prabhupada is flawless. SUMMARY: As I said at the start of this letter, I'm not 'qualified' to judge ritvik or diksa. But, I do think the argument of practicality is very, very strong for the support of ritvik. Srila Prabhupada is always practical about everything, and that's why I think he wanted the ritvik system. The beneficial effects of the ritvik system outlined above are only a few that I thought of, there are more I'm sure. Actually, the present system in ISKCON is partially ritvik anyway! Just consider, if your guru bloops (which isn't supposed to happen via definition of a bonafide guru), then what? According to official ISKCON law, your still hooked up to the parampara through Srila Prabhupada… so don't worry. Hey wait a minute! Isn't that ritvik philosophy? Your servant in the service of Srila Prabhupada, Sadhusanga das See Related VNN Stories | Comment on this Story This story URL: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9812/ET31-2764.html
NEWS DESK | EDITORIALS | TOP |
