© 1998 VNN
| EUROPE November 12, 1998 VNN2493 On My Behalf (1) - An Open Letter to the GBC BY ARISTANASANA DASA NEW MAYAPUR, FRANCE, Nov 12 (VNN) — On My Behalf (1) - 29/10/98 An open letter to the GBC and the leaders of ISKCON. At the invitation of the GBC of ISKCON to give our opinion on reform of gurus and initiations, I would like to humbly propose my opinion in the following letter. Dear Maharajas, Dear Prabhus, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. The very shameful and painful situation in which Srila Prabhupada's ISKCON and its sincere servants are at present, due to the misbehavior of certain individuals in our movement, has pushed us to come to our leaders, the GBCs, and the preachers with the following questions which are fundamental. We are asking you to consider them very seriously and to reply to them urgently to restore purity and happiness in Srila Prabhupada's movement. Question # 1: Why, when a devotee joins ISKCON, after being told to worship Srila Prabhupada, to chant His pranama mantra, to repose his faith in Srila Prabhupada, etc,etc,......, is he (or she) instructed to stop after a while and worship a new person as his absolute diksa guru, as his personal savior and as his only possible link with Srila Prabhupada, and when that person falls from his spiritual absolute status, is he (or she) told to reject him and go back to Srila Prabhupada, practice again what he was doing at first, then stop again after a while, to be reinitiated by a new absolute pure diksa guru and stop again if the guru falls down, and on and on as long as this system is maintained? Question # 2: Why a devotee initiated in ISKCON must be told that, when the person who initiated him in ISKCON has fallen from his spiritual absolute pure platform, he (or she) is no more connected to Srila Prabhupada and must be reinitiated by a new absolute diksa guru? Question # 3: Why do we have to publicly expose all the dirt of the fall of a diksa guru (like recently in the case of Harikesa dasa) to destroy the absolute pure image of that person in the eyes of his followers to turn them away from him after we find out that he is no more the pure, absolute, diksa guru ISKCON has declared he was before? Those questions above shows that we are finding ourselves in ISKCON in a situation totally ridiculous, absurd, miserable, painful, shameful and totally against the principles of Bhakti . Trying to answer those above questions ourselves, we understand that in ISKCON we have artificially rubber stamped some of our preachers to act as pure absolute diksa gurus on the same level as Srila Prabhupada misunderstanding what it means to be a diksa guru. To understand the reason of how, when and why this policy of initiation has been implemented in ISKCON we wish to present the following second series of questions to our leaders in ISKCON who are upholding presently this system of initiation in ISKCON. Question # 4: Why a person is declared an absolute pure diksa guru by ISKCON if he falls after some time? Question # 5: Why a person is declared an absolute diksa guru if there is a chance to see him fall from his absolute status in the future? Question # 6 : How, where and when has Srila Prabhupada given the authorization to the GBC to look for individuals to be appointed pure, absolute diksa guru in ISKCON on their own rights? Question # 7 : How, when and where Srila Prabhupada has Himself given the order to any individuals in ISKCON or outside ISKCON to become absolute diksa guru in ISKCON, after his departure? In trying to answer those fundamental questions by researching all the instructions and orders of Srila Prabhupada, we find that no where and at no time did Srila Prabhupada give the order to the GBC or any individual in ISKCON or outside to be or appoint absolute diksa guru in ISKCON. On the contrary we find that Srila Prabhupada gave a very specific order in his letter dated 9 of July 1977. In this letter He appointed 11 devotees to act as rittviks, representative of the acarya to function on His behalf. He declared to His secretary GBC Tamal Krishna Maharaja that more persons can be added to the list. So we understand that the act by the eleven rittviks to declare themselves pure absolute diksa guru after Srila Prabhupada's departure, and to have the GBC endorse this declaration, was the big error and the root of all problems in ISKCON today. We have witnessed that, after the fall of many of these self appointed diksa guru, the GBC has not rectified this error but instead has increased these absolute diska gurus. We are shocked to learn this now. I want to repeat here that, in my opinion, this big mistake is the origin of all disfunctioning in ISKCON. Not discrediting or minimizing the status of our pure devotees in ISKCON, I feel that Srila Prabhupada has asked us to follow "the rittvik, representative of the Acaryas" system as the standard system for initiation in ISKCON for the sake of keeping this institution united, pure and free from artificial racing for guruship. The system, Srila Prabhupada has given, leaves all of us as eternal servants, preachers of Srila Prabhupada and Himself as our eternal diksa guru and siksa guru, all working under the GBC leadership. Srila Prabhupada is giving divya jnana, Gauranga seva and Radha Krishna prema to all generations of devotees to come in His ISKCON as long as His movement will be manifested in this universe or as long as He gives a different order. We do not see why Srila Prabhupada could not be such a transcendental living personality since He has declared Himself that: - He is eternally present in His ISKCON and in His instruction - His teachings are more important than His physical presence - His books are enough - His physical presence is not necessary - To follow his instruction not His body - He has given a system for initiation for the future - He does not need successors We understand that Srila Prabhupada has empowered some elder devotees to act as rittviks representative of the acarya to work on this behalf for initiation. We understand that these individuals have deviated from this order of Srila Prabhupada by declaring themselves pure absolute diksa guru without being ordered to do so by Srila Prabhupada. We humbly ask the GBC of ISKCON and our elder preachers to rectify this terrible mistake and come back to the original instruction of Srila Prabhupada about initiations in ISKCON and declare Srila Prabhupada our eternal diksa guru and siksa guru in ISKCON. To conclude this letter, I would like to mention that it is not with disregard to the importance of the nature of guidance from our elders and to the authority of the GBC and leaders of ISKCON, we must respect and serve, that we are making this appeal, but it is with the profound desire to see Srila Prabhupada's instruction back as our only line of conduct in ISKCON. I have faith that the process of bhakti and the parampara are safe in that last instruction of Srila Prabhupada although it is new in our known Gaudiya tradition. I have great trust, dear Maharajas, dear Prabhus, that you will rectify the mistake made by some of our members at a certain point in history. I wish that you will kindly consider the questions, the appeal, reply to them and that you will make everybody happy in ISKCON and outside, for now and the future. Your humble servant in the mission of Srila Prabhupada Aristanasana dasa - New Mayapura - France |
