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EDITORIAL January 10, 1999 VNN2821 See Related VNN Stories Proposal For A Parallel Guru System Within Iskcon BY JANARDANA DAS EDITORIAL, Jan 10 (VNN) — Introduction: Due to the recent upsurge in support for the return of the guru system in ISKCON which was personally instituted by Srila Prabhupada (also known as the ritvik system), this parallel system is proposed. Parallel system means two systems operating side by side, i.e. devotees within ISKCON, whether presently initiated or not, can decide for themselves which guru they will accept, Srila Prabhupada, under his ritvik system, or a guru who is physically present on the planet. ISKCON will make it official policy to respect the wishes of all devotees so involved. In order to establish such a policy the following proposal is made: 1) The Board of Acaryas, being never authorized by Srila Prabhupada, is to be immediately disbanded. 2) All current GBC are to resign and a Brahminical Counsel is to be formed with the sole purpose of replacing the current GBC with upstanding members of ISKCON who will then take a pledge to end the rampant speculation and deviations which have become institutionalized in ISKCON and return ISKCON to the parameters set out by Srila Prabhupada. 3) Those former members of the Board of Acaryas and GBC are to turn over all assets and paraphernalia which they have accumulated whilst in their positions as Acarya Board members and/or Governing Body Commissioners. 4) The new GBC, under the purview of the Brahminical Counsel, is to review the performance of all temple officers within ISKCON including Temple Presidents, Temple Secretaries, Temple Treasurers, Temple Commanders, Sankirtan Leaders, Membership Directors, Head Pujaris, etc., to replace such if necessary, and to insure that ONLY Srila Prabhupada's standards are maintained and that all other standards are discarded. 5) A board of eleven (11) Officiating Acaryas shall be appointed by the new GBC composed solely of persons who have never previously held a position as a Zonal Acarya, GBC, or Board of Acarya member. 6) New candidates for initiation have two options: a) They can request initiation from Srila Prabhupada through their Temple President who will then seek approval from the Officiating Acarya who is closest to their temple, exactly as was done when Srila Prabhupada was physically present, or b) They can request initiation directly from the guru from whom they wish to receive initiation. 7) All pujas, fire sacrifices, and offerings of dakshin, paraphernalia, etc. which are done for gurus OTHER than Srila Prabhupada must NOT be conducted on ISKCON property. 8) The status of all devotees, as to their qualifications as pujaris, temple officers, etc., whether initiated by Srila Prabhupada or by others is to be determined solely by the Temple Presidents and GBC men who have authority in the temple in which said devotees reside. 9) All devotees in ISKCON pledge to serve His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, the Jagat Guru, in a cooperative spirit and to solve all differences through open discussion and Vaisnava etiquette. 10) This proposal submitted to the GBC this date, January 1, 1999 by Janardana das Adhikari, at Ududpi India. See Related VNN Stories | Comment on this Story This story URL: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9901/ET10-2821.html
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