12/06/97 - 1327

Independent Vaishnava Council Invitation

USA (VNN) - Letter from Rocana das 12/06/97:

Dear Vaishnavas/Vaishnavis,

Please accept my most humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Thank you for your willingness to assist...OR...I am writing to ask for your support of..... the Independent Vaisnava Council, which is coming together in order to direct an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding Srila Prabhupada's final days. I have been asked by Isa dasa and the staff at the VNN to take a leading role in helping to formally establish the Council.

On behalf of the Independent Vaisnava Council, I would like to extend an invitation to you to participate as Council member. If you have not already done so, please see our reporting of the details of the allegations of poisoning at:

http://www.harekrsna.com/vada/poison/poison.htm

A great deal of work lies before us. Not only have significant suspicions about poisoning been raised, but it is clear that a great many questions must be addressed as to the circumstances surrounding Srila Prabhupada's last manifest days, and His departure from this world.

The organization of the Council must be accomplished before we can even begin to undertake the investigation itself. Having established various facilities for the harekrsna.com website, Jahnava dasi and I are able to assist with the formation of the Council in a number of ways:

• by creating a virtual space within which Council communications and organizational building can take place, at the least expense and with maximum speed;
  
  
• by posting a number of working documents which may serve as a starting point for the Council's constitution and administrative policies; and
  
  
• by acting as a point of contact for devotees around the world who are concerned with recent allegations and tape evidences, and by supporting the concept of freedom of press and expression.

Please know that my involvement in this effort, and my purpose in writing this letter, is to facilitate formation of this Council -- not to take over the role of its leadership. If we can agree to a constitution or mandate for the Council, along with a process for its governance and administration, we can then arrange to either vote or appoint by consensus those who will chair or share in the facilitation of the Council in its first term of activity. Following are my personal thoughts about the nature of the group, and a few suggestions on how we might proceed.

We can assume that the Council will grow to become an effective vehicle for independent study and investigation. Our immediate focus must obviously be on the recent allegations of poisoning and general issues surrounding Srila Prabhupada's final days. However, I think the constitution and mandate should also allow that the Council may choose to expand its role in the future, and deal with other contentious issues, possibly including the initiation issue, changes to the books, gurukula abuses, and implications of the implementation of the zonal acarya system.

I believe that this Council will be most effective if it represents the widest possible constituency of Srila Prabhupada's disciples. We cannot deny that the devotees are now fragmented into a diverse number of "camps". Therefore, I feel we should seek a core membership that includes representation of the following majority and minority groups: ISKCON leadership, senior disciples within ISKCON, senior disciples who are outside the shelter of the society, supporters of the Rttvik position, life members and the Indian community, women, and young adults. It is also foreseeable that the Council may wish to include, at some point in the future, representation from academia, the media, disciples of Srila Prabhupada's Godbrothers and the larger Vaisnava community.

Prior to the establishment of a treasury and budget to cover our working expenses, and because the Council will benefit from the inclusion of devotees living in various parts of the world, I feel that the Internet provides the only means of effective and affordable communications available to us. Therefore, I think Council members must have or must immediately establish daily Internet access. While this will undoubtedly be supplemented by telephone conferencing and eventually personal meetings, it seems clear that virtual communication is imperative at this stage.

By Monday morning, we will have posted to the harekrsna.com website a series of working documents as mentioned above, which may serve as a beginning draft for the Council's constitution and administrative policies. Included there will be basic information about two primary forms of governance, parliamentary (majority rule) and consensus process. Once we settle on an appropriate form of governance, we can establish an executive structure or decision-making system that will allow us to formalize our administrative procedures. At that point, I feel we'll be ready to go to work.

We are now also developing the technological facilities that will give the Council a reasonable electronic meetings system. This will include full document archival systems, threaded forum and chat room facilities, password protected spaces, on-line voting and surveying facility, etc. Details will be provided on-line.

As I was requested to do, I am now making contact with a number of devotees who I believe would be valuable contributing members to the Council. Attached is a list which includes their names, along with the names of those who have expressed an interest in participating, those who have been suggested by other devotees, and those the VNN reported to have been initially interested in forming the Council. I encourage the Council to seek the support of those devotees who have, in the past, shown a willingness to listen to and engage with others who hold divergent viewpoints. In other words, I'd like to invite those who exemplify the willingness and ability to work cooperatively, as Srila Prabhupada requested we do.

I encourage you to submit the names of other devotees you feel we should contact, along with a brief note about what you feel qualifies them for the position. Once the constitution is formed, the Council may decide to limit the number of devotees participating at various levels, for the sake of efficiency. Therefore, it is possible that some members who were initially invited to participate will become "executive", and others will form a "general" membership. That is for the group to decide in due course.

I will hope to receive your personal commitment to continue to assist the Council, and regardless of your ability or willingness to join us, I welcome your thoughts, criticisms, feedback and suggestions on how we might proceed. The Council's web pages, which will be constantly updated, currently reside at:

http://www.harekrsna.com/vada/poison/council/council.htm

As we receive firm commitments from various devotees, their names will be posted on the Council site.

Thank you for your consideration.

yours in Srila Prabhupada's service,

Rocana dasa (rocana@harekrsna.com)

Isa dasa - Has decided not to join the Council at this time. He prefers to remain completely independent and focused on his work with the tapes. He has, however, stated is willingness to communicate with and support the work of the Council in their investigation.

VNN Staff - The VNN has declined an offer to participate as a Council member. Having fulfilled their role of seeing to the establishment of an independent council, they now prefer to maintain their independence as a reporting body. They too have expressed a willingness to communicate and cooperate with the Council.

Balavanta dasa - As the independent investigator appointed by the GBC, Balavanta dasa has stated that he is not in a position to join in the activities of the IVC.

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