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EDITORIAL October 22, 1999 VNN4985 Related VNN Stories Challenging The GBC BY LOCANANANDA DAS EDITORIAL, Oct 22 (VNN) — In March, 2000 the GBC will have an ideal opportunity to reset the course of ISKCON history by instituting the program for initiations actually recommended by Srila Prabhupada. The instruction he gave the GBC select committee on May 28th, 1977 was that after his disappearance, first and second initiations would be performed by "officiating acharyas". Despite having heard these words directly from the mouth of their Guru Maharaja, the GBC neglected this instruction and, instead, introduced its own concocted system of absolute successor gurus which has continued to the present day. As a result, for the past twenty-two years no one has ever referred to an ISKCON leader as an "officiating acharya". It is inevitable, therefore, that the leaders of ISKCON will be held responsible for the deterioration of Srila Prabhupada's legacy, since they could not place their faith in their guru's instructions by which the Krishna consciousness movement was meant to expand throughout the world. In their attempt to follow in the footsteps of the great acharya, those performing initiations since Srila Prabhupada's departure have always referred to themselves as "ISKCON gurus". Sadly, though, they have mistakenly classified godbrothers who do not initiate disciples of their own as "non-gurus". This is in contradiction with the teachings of His Divine Grace who instructed that all vaisnavas should be seen as spiritual masters, whether they initiate or not. "Anyone who gives spiritual instructions based on the revealed scriptures is accepted as a spiritual master." (Cc. Adi 1.34, purport) By definition, a guru is one who preaches the glories of God. He must be conversant with the science of Krishna and able to inspire others to place their faith in the Personality of Godhead. The term "ISKCON guru" as used to exclusively describe those who perform initiations is therefore a misnomer and we hereby recommend that it be phased out. The only title approved by Srila Prabhupada for those who would initiate in ISKCON after his disappearance was "officiating acharya". We have also heard the term "officiating acharya" equated with the term "diksa guru". This is also incorrect because of the differences in their connotation. When we speak of a "diksa guru", we imply that he who initiates is empowered to deliver the disciple from birth and death, having attained the topmost level of transcendental realization. The term "diksa guru" is not a title. It generally describes the initiating spiritual master on the uttama platform who is a paramahamsa thakura and an infallible absolute authority. A "diksa guru" is also considered to be beyond the restrictions imposed by the regulations of any ecclesiastical body. Because of its connotation, therefore, the term "diksa guru" cannot be properly applied to those who initiate in ISKCON as representatives of the founder/acharya. Today, in ISKCON, a diksa guru is thought of as absolute by his own group of disciples but not necessarily by other ISKCON members. This concept does not agree with Srila Prabhupada's instructions on guru tattva and conflicts with his ISKCON-specific managerial directives meant to preserve the unity and cohesion of our society. Only Srila Prabhupada himself, as the representative of all predecessor acharyas, is to be recognized as an absolute authority by the members of ISKCON. Whoever perfectly follows his teachings may be thought of as Srila Prabhupada's bonafide representative but not as anyone's absolute authority. An officiating acharya must be advanced in Krishna consciousness in order to represent the founder/acharya with potency and transparency. Unlike a "diksa guru", who is usually the head of his own math or institution, an officiating acharya should not expect to be worshiped "as good as God", although he may be highly honored. The past has taught us that to do otherwise inevitably detracts from the worship of the founder/acharya. The role of the senior devotee who thus performs initiations is to encourage new members to take shelter of Srila Prabhupada and to serve within his mission. This is how the aspiring devotee will receive the "bhakti-lata-bija". "Dormant devotional service to Krishna is within everyone. Simply by associating with devotees, hearing their good instructions and chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, dormant love for Krishna is awakened. In this way one acquires the seed of devotional service." (Cc. M. 19.151, purport) The relationship between the founder/acharya, the officiating acharya and the new initiate can perhaps be better understood from the following letter written in 1967 by His Divine Grace to a disciple in Boston: "When I left your country on July 22, I had very little hope of coming back again. But Krishna informed me that I'm not going to die immediately; therefore I have come back again to get inspiration of Krishna Consciousness from you all good souls. "Although officially I am your spiritual master, I consider you all students of my spiritual master because your love for Krishna and service for Krishna teach me how to become a sincere Krishna conscious person." New candidates for initiation are, in fact, students of Srila Prabhupada who have been placed in the care of Srila Prabhupada's disciples by Krishna's arrangement to receive training in Krishna consciousness. Officially, they may be initiated by a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, but they are primarily followers of His Divine Grace. That one may receive formal initiation from one vaisnava and take shelter of another is supported by sastra. The Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, for example, mentions the role of the "official initiator spiritual master" in relation to the pastimes of Yadunandana Acharya. He was officially initiated by Advaita Acharya but considered Vasudeva Datta to be his actual spiritual master. Yadunandana Acharya himself was the official initiator of Raghunath Das who later took shelter of Caitanya Mahaprabhu in Puri. The concept of the officiating acharya thus has its basis in scripture and it can be applied today to provide the formal link with the great acharya, Srila Prabhupada. The more it is understood that the initiation ceremony is a formality, the sooner the GBC will also abolish the unauthorized practice of re-initiation. There is no basis for re-initiation given in Srila Prabhupada's teachings, nor is there any term in Sanskrit, Hindi or Bengali that can be translated as "re-initiation". Once an aspiring devotee has been initiated by an officiating acharya, there is no need to reapply for admission into the disciplic succession because the required formal connection has already been established. It is interesting to note that in its 1999 resolutions, the GBC has relied heavily on the words of Narahari Sakara Thakura to explain how one should react when his guru becomes fallen. They also mention that whatever siksa one receives from other sources must be acknowledged and confirmed by one's diksa guru. The discrepancy in their resolution is that the founder/acharya of ISKCON never proposed the concept of a fallen guru and certainly never approved that such guidelines be incorporated as a part of ISKCON law. Rather than follow the direct and specific order of their own spiritual master recommending officiating acharyas, the GBC has preferred to validate its current imperfect system by drawing from general guidelines given by another vaisnava in our line who lived five hundred years ago. This is called "jumping over" one's guru. What is always recommended in Srila Prabhupada's teachings is to take shelter of the association of more advanced devotees who inspire surrender to Krishna. Re-initiation is not part of the formula and its enforcement in ISKCON has created an unending disturbance in the lives of thousands of nice devotees. sruti smrti puranadi pancaratra vidhim vina aikantiki harer bhaktir utpatayaiva kalpate "Devotional service of the Lord that ignores the authorized Vedic literatures like the Upanisads, Puranas, Narada pancaratra, etc., is simply an unnecessary disturbance in society." (B.r.s. 1.2.101) Another discrepancy concerns Deity service. Although regular public worship of initiator gurus was disallowed by resolution of the GBC, pujaris are still told they must worship pictures of Srila Prabhupada's disciples on the altar before offering artik to the guru parampara and the arca-murti. Many senior devotees feel that this also constitutes public worship and should be discontinued. Since they do not guarantee that ISKCON's initiating gurus are liberated residents of the spiritual world, the GBC should not insist that they be worshipped as though they were on the absolute plane. Furthermore, according to the new rules, a pujari may choose to worship either a picture of his siksa guru or diksa guru. Although the GBC proclaims Srila Prabhupada to be everyone's primary siksa guru and allows any of Srila Prabhupada's followers to perform guru puja to him on the vyasasana without an intermediary, they prohibit devotees from worshiping him directly on the altar. Many such anomalies have appeared recently in resolutions enacted by the GBC, but they will all be adjusted automatically once the correct procedure is implemented, namely, initiation by officiating acharyas as representatives of the founder/acharya. In pursuance of the above, we hereby offer the following recommendations to the GBC which we hope they will place on their agenda for discussion at their next series of meetings: 1) To create the post of the officiating acharya as per Srila Prabhupada's instructions given on May 28th, 1977 2) To abolish the term "ISKCON guru" as used to exclusively describe those who perform initiations in ISKCON 3) To no longer use the term "diksa guru" as a title for those who perform initiations in ISKCON 4) To abolish entirely the practice of re-initiation within ISKCON 5) To remove from its earlier resolutions any references to "non-guru" godbrothers 6) To discontinue the practice of worshiping on the altar pictures of disciples of Srila Prabhupada who have performed initiations on his behalf The active principle in spiritual life is faith in the order of the spiritual master. To introduce concepts that do not correlate with his instructions is like adding sand to sweet rice. Reform is the process by which the sand is removed and the original sweet taste restored. Our purpose in making these suggestions to our GBC godbrothers is to revive the original spirit of loving interaction amongst all of the followers of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and to guarantee that His Divine Grace will forever remain the acharya most glorified by all future generations of ISKCON devotees. Throwing myself at the feet of the assembled vaisnavas, I humbly thank you for considering this appeal to recreate a society based on love and trust. Your servant, Locanananda Das Related VNN Stories  Comment on this storyContact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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