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EDITORIAL January 14, 1999 VNN2847 Please, Join Again The Sampradaya And I Shall Be With You! BY SWAMI BV PARIVRAJAK  EDITORIAL, Jan 14 (VNN) — Some may say that it is not my business to point out the problems which affect institutions outside of the one to which I belong. This argument is however inconsistent with our fundamental choice. We believe the universal eternal religion started by Sri Caitanya is meant for the spiritual welfare of everyone. It is with this spirit that AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founded ISKCON, till now still the major sanga which claims affiliation with the Gaudiya Vaisnava sampradaya. Unfortunately, somehow or other, that universal spirit went away with the demise of that great spiritual master.It is sad to notice how ISKCON members are not familiar with the true siddhanta about jiva tattva, guru tattva, shiva tattva, gaura tattva and so forth. Yes, it is very unfortunate. Apasiddhanta is spreading quickly everywhere with so many variations, and things have gone too far by now. After the disappearance of its founder-acarya, ISKCON has developed so many misconceptions that have severed this young branch from the main tree of the sampradaya which was started by Srila Rupa Goswami on the direct order of Sri Caitanya. I am not interested to offend anyone. I am simply pointing out facts. Internal divisions The number of factions in ISKCON is numerous and increases day by day. Those in the formal institution who support the GBC are the major group even if many former gurus carefully distanced themselves from the ISKCON micro-cosmos. Then there are 1) the hard-line ritviks of Krsna kanta 2) the soft-line ritviks of Madhudvisa 3) the "only my guru is uttama" conception of Bhubaneshwar 4) the followers of many Gaudiya Math gurus who are inside the Society but antagonistic to it; 5) the advocates of the Indian pedigree or brahminical samskaras 6) those who go outside of the Gaudiya sampradaya to take shelter among the Nimbarkis or other sects where Sri Caitanya is not recognized 7) the philosophers of the appointed gurus 8) those who canvass insistently their guru because he can give siddha-pranali 9) those who go to hear some other 'socalled' relishable krsna-katha which would never attract the true devotees 10) those who catch up ghosts from the devotees and put them in a bottle 11) the new age people who are into astrology, ayurveda, macrobiotic, urine therapy, reiki, and what not and now the Y2K which announces some major disaster from the crazy world of the nondevotees is adding to this apocaliptic scenario. Orphans For how long will the "orphans" of Srila Prabhupada go on weeping that only their "father" was, is and will be the only chance for the misguided fallen souls of this age to find spiritual relief? For how long are children unable to walk, always in need of a support from a father or a mother? The fact is that there is no limit to the satisfaction of a loving parent when his/her own little son begins to walk with his own legs. We are meant to progress in Krsna consciousness. Our guru will be happy when we will be able to explain his divine teachings with our own words. We are not meant to remain children all life. Qualified students Srila Prabhupada really wanted his spiritual children to grow and take over the world with Krsna consciousness for the spiritual regeneration of human society. He never thought proudly, "After I shall pass away, nobody must ever occupy the seat of acarya for the next ten thousand years." He was humble and generous. He thought, "By the grace of Sri Nityananda Prabhu and my beloved guru, my mission is now complete. Hopefully, in the future some of my disciples will take my legacy and continue in the saintly missionary work of acarya." Indeed, many of his students became qualified and are at present blessing many fortunate souls with Krsna bhakti but their godbrothers are not ready to accept this. These are historical facts. Many of the Vaisnavas who left the formal ISKCON Society are still unkown to the general masses of devotees and are sometimes labelled as prakrita sahajiyas or enemies of the Society. But it should not be seen in that way. If we can keep a philosophical eye, we shall be able to evaluate everything in light of the historical developments of the Vaisnava community. Some respected Vaisnavas from the West like for instance Swami BV Tripurari, Swami BA Paramadvaiti, Jagat Guru Siddhasvarupananda, Swami BG Narasingha, Turiya Das and Swami BA Narayan (who departed recently), just to mention a few, started their own respective missions when they received the spiritual inspiration and strength from their own original and personal context. These devotees are still inspiring their own disciples and the public in general. It is a fact that initially they became objects of criticism from the uninformed section of Vaisnavas. Also, due to the extraordinary stature of Srila Prabhupada, many began to think that in the future not a single Vaisnava would have ever been fit for the post of acarya. This faulty mentality should be given up. The sampradaya of Srila Rupa Goswami The line of Srila Rupa Goswami is so rich with various exalted personalities that it is impossible to enumerate them all. None of them should be considered lower or higher. The tenth chapter of the Adi lila, Sri Caitanya-caritamrita describes the different branches of the Caitanya-tree and it is understood that all of them gave transcendental pleasure to the Lord. One must be respectful to all the real followers of Sri Caitanya. Due to envy and immature discrimination, one may consider a devotee to be very great and another to be on a lower platform. This material distinction has no place on the platform of spiritual exchanges. The sectarian mentality has to be given up if we are to make progress in spiritual life. We have to abandon the party spirit which, in the words of Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakur, is the sworn enemy of the truth. Party spirit preachers discourage that sincere Vaisnavas may accept the noble attempt to continue and spread the mission of their guru as acaryas. On the contrary, my beloved guru Srila Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Maharaj accepted that young Western born Vaisnavas could continue the mission of their guru and further encouraged other Western Vaisnavas to open new missions and to initiate disciples. Let us be part of His plan! Let us put aside the party spirit. Let us hope that the orphans of the ISKCON founder- acarya may walk with their own legs, realize the deep siddhanta that His Divine Grace came to give. Let us give up politics and join together in the great festival of the sankirtan movement. Let us enter the grand assembly of the surrendered devotees that Srila Jiva Goswami Prabhupada envisioned as the Vishva Vaisnava Raja Sabha and that is currently known as the World Vaisnava Association under the most auspicious guidance of Parama Pujapada Srila Bhakti Promode Puri Goswami Maharaja, who is kindly supporting the international Vaisnava community without any interest for personal aggrandizement. Let us all be part of Sri Caitanya's plan. Never forget that the sankirtan movement was introduced all around the world by Srila Rupa Goswami in order to fulfil the transcendental desire of Sri Caitanya. Now this is my request to all the dear devotees of ISKCON. Please join again the sampradaya and I shall be with you! We are indeed very fortunate to be part of this glorious tradition and humbly pray at the feet of our sampradaya acarya Srila Rupa Goswami Prabhupada that he may bless our insignificant attempt in this path so that we may to receive even only a shadow of the service of his lotus feet. May he and all the other acaryas who walked in his footsteps bestow their blessings to all of us. Object of mercy, Swami BV Parivrajak Co-ordinator of the WVA Symposium and Unification Committee http://www.wva-vvrs.org Comment on this Story This story URL: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9901/ET14-2847.html
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