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EDITORIAL February 1, 1999 VNN2943 See Related VNN Stories Survey The Damages & Count The Dead BY JAGAT CANDRA DAS EDITORIAL, Feb 1 (VNN) — Dear Prabhus & Maharajas on both sides of the Ritvik issue, please accept my humble obeisances. All Glories to Srila Prabhupada! With friends on both sides of the issue, whose intelligence & sincerity I respect, I have been open to both approaches & have lent unbiased ears to both sides. I am able to do this also because I have been out of ISKCON for a while (since when did being out of ISKCON be a qualification !!?) & also probably because I have no position to loose. If at all there is anything to gain from reading this, it is probably an insignificantly new angle to the issue, a new perspective (however subtly different) from which all of you would certainly see far more I do. I wish to add that when we become Vaisnavas we are to change our ways: from eating habits, sleeping, thinking, attitudes etc., down to even cleaning up after we pass. As Vaisnavas, there are also prescribed ways to disagree & to debate within the Vaisnava community. But many devotees are bordering on Vaisnava aparadha on both sides while making their points. This is something that can be avoided for everyone's benefit. After all, there is so much both sides agree on ! Since by now both sides must have displayed their best arguments & points - its time we all paused to survey the damages & count the dead. Hard facts are as follows. 1. Neither the Ritviks propagators nor the others seem to have an EXPLICIT, DIRECT order which specifically deals with the issue of initiations in ISKCON after the departure of Srila Prabhupada. The 9 July letter ( from HH TKG ) is however about a system that did work in a similar situation. While the Ritviks Propagators cling to this letter for want of anything better, the other camp has nothing nice & official to substantiate the automatic transition the Officiating Acharyas made to Initiating Guru on Srila Prabhuapa's disappearance. 2. Hardly anyone joins ISKCON having read anything else or having been inspired by anyone else other than Srila Prabhupada's books. While there seems to be great enthusiasm & a system to develop a relationship between present Initiators & the new disciples, there is no system to even accommodate a deep & wonderful relationship every grand disciple already has with Srila Prabhupada ö as the one who changed his heart! There is NO defined relationship apart from the Guru pooja in the morning ö in the life of the grand disciples. Who exactly is Srila Prabhupada for a Grand Disciple? What exactly are the positions of the initiating Gurus & Srila Prabhuapada for a grand disciple? AS of now, there is just a kind of substitution ö the new Guru in place of Srila Prabhupada just as He was to the present Gurus. This is what devastates a grand disciple when a present Guru falls. It is only the presence of Srila Prabhupada again that cushions the crash disciples of fallen gurus go through. Yet a grand disciple has no defined relationship with Srila Prabupada other than that of just the impersonal position of the "FounderAcharya"? Here is where the crux of the whole issue lies. Lets Define relationships & give them an order of importance if possible. 3. On the other extreme, since in the Vaisnava Philosophy every thing has a personal roleö the role of a Ritvik initiator as defined by Ritvik vadis leaves no room for a relationship to develop between the initiated devotee & the officiating Acharya ö which is saying in advance that no one is going to be inspiring enough from now on . There is no room for anyone to be as good as Srila Prabhupada. No more Mahabhagavatha ! It is quite impersonal ö that a Ritvik just does his duty to initiate some one who has met all the requirements for initiation. In such a relationship, there are no obligations from either sides Impersonalistic relationship or a proxy relationship Î you are not the real guy but just do it on his behalf '. Not very Vaisnava in principle ö too official & cold. The point made above cannot be the basis of an anti Ritvik stance however by the new Gurus because how much can a Guru personally influence disciples today when all that most disciple get is an hour or so to see him with a crowd once in a year as he flies by? Or is a planetary presence all that important ? ( lets not get into that as then it will reduce all our Srila Prabhupada murthis into idols) 4. The new disciples do need some senior vaisnava's personal commitment to grow : apart from the Books of Srila Prabhupada, new disciples will need coaching & will also need a figure in flesh who is committed to guiding them & who is someone they can look up to for an interactive feed back, for chastisement & encouragement regarding their spiritual life. The Temple President being on the managerial side of ISKCON cannot do that. The Books & Tapes of Srila Prabhupada alone will be NOT yield a advancement as much as the same books & tapes along with a personal commitment by a mature Devotee of Srila Prabhupada to cultivate the new disciple for Srila Prabhupada's sake ö just as He did. Bound by promises made to Srila Prabhupada during the giving of initiation, a sincere disciple of Srila Prabhupada who will take on this responsibility will be as concerned about the spiritual quality of the grand disciple as he is of his own advancement. This will come only if the Initiating Guru clearly sees how Srila Prabhupada is the one who continually brings souls to ISKCON. The grand disciples are indeed in a sense already initiated into the process by Srila Prabhupada & in many ways are already Srila Prabhuapa's disciples. Without THIS kind of PERSONAL commitment & a PERSONAL involvement there is no meaning to the Vaisnava Parampara. The Ritvik attitude has no scope for such PERSONAL commitments. It is cold & impersonal as said in 4 above. And probably dangerously open to interpretations of Srila Prabhupadas books in the future along with a lack of humility & service attitude that can also develop. On the other hand the present Gurus are treating new disciples as their property rather than Srila Prabhupada's. 5. None of the sensible grand disciples equate the new Gurus with Srila Prabhupada. Even the new Gurus do not think so. But there is unhealthy competition on a petty level to get more disciples, push pet projects over that of ISKCON's common agenda. This is one of the real dangers of ISKCON today that the Ritviks vadis are worried about. It is a splintering of ISKCON in terms of resources, aims & unity without a shadow of doubt what ever anybody says. This is another glaring FACT. Somewhere in the above lies the key knot that if untied can do us all a lot of good. Perhaps a clear recognition of the facts mentioned above coupled with the need to grasp it by the horns, face it down is the best solution. A clear & short definition ( not a sunday lecture) of the position of Srila Prabhupada & the undeniable relationship He has with his many new grand-disciples ( now & in future) will go a long way to resolving this. The new Gurus CANNOT be a cut-off point from Srila Prabhuopada for the grand disciple & neither can we do away with the personal commitment new Gurus must have with Srila Prabhupada & the new disciples. It probably calls for a well defined & exacting Hierarchy of GURUs - something like the Madhva Mutta has (Moola Guru, etc.) or even like the Catholic Church. This must also automatically tone down the New Guru profiles & roles enough to 1. Not bring down whole sections of the Movement each time some Guru takes a break. 2. Please the devotees on the Ritvik side of the issue. 3. Bolster up ISKCON's common aims & focus. 4. Reinstate Srila Prabhupada's role in the personal lives of grand disciples - now & those to come. Thank you for having read so much. Lets not forget the amount of time & money all of you all are spending , away from real preaching , on this issue. Time to sit, swallow prides, be ready to concede here & there a little & sort things out for Srila Prabhupada's sake. Hare Krishna! Your servant Jagat Candra Das mmw@vsnl.com About the Author: Jagad Candra Das was initiated on the Gaur Poornima of 1982 at Sri Mayaur Dham by HH Jayapataka Swami. He was a full time devotee first at Bangalore & later at Sri Mayapur Dham where he worked on the EXPO. Later he worked with the Bangalore Temple as their Conceptual Architect. He meets devotees often doing a little Architecture & Multimedia for ISKCON. He was there with the Bangalore devotees during a few meetings with HH JPS. See Related VNN Stories | Comment on this Story This story URL: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9902/ET01-2943.html
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