03/02/98 - 1657

Transcendental Meticulousness

USA (VNN) - by Gaura Karuna dasi

I appreciated Krishnakant’s VNN editorial “Respecting the Guru’s Order,” which exposed the insubstantial and mistaken beliefs expressed in a recent editorial on Chakra. I would like to comment on an argument suggested in the Chakra editorial that I feel needs more attention. The Chakra editorial mentioned that Srila Prabhupada had not actually composed the July 9th letter, his final order on initiations. This is an argument some devotees use to justify modifications and outright rejection of the Order, as if it were perhaps flawed. I feel this argument is not only absurd but bordering on offensive.

It is well documented and widely understood that Srila Prabhupada had said he would appoint “representatives of the acarya” to initiate devotees on his behalf. Shortly thereafter, on July 9th, 1977, he did that. He dictated a letter to his secretary, as he often did, and told him to type it up. He then reviewed the letter, signed it, and ordered that it be copied and distributed to every leader in ISKCON. Probably not less than 100 copies were sent out worldwide.

In his book “Life With A Perfect Master” H.H.Satsvarupa Maharaja speaks powerfully of Srila Prabhupada’s transcendental meticulousness. Maharaja describes an episode wherein Srila Prabhupada’s secretary had forgotten to include a note in an envelope. The mistake seemed innocent enough--and not of grave consequence. Yet Srila Prabhupada was furious and made his secretary feel intensely the heat of his displeasure. He let his secretary know that it’s offensive to misrepresent the Jagat Guru, His Divine Grace, even accidentally or in some “small” way.

Srila Prabhupada is expert and perfect. He never makes mistakes, and he doesn’t expect his senior disciples to space out and neglect to follow his instructions carefully. Is it logical to suggest Srila Prabhupada mistakenly signed a flawed document and sent it to every leader in the Movement? This idea seems not only absurd but offensive. How foolish would he appear, for instance, if the President of the United States mistakenly sent out an official order to hundreds of high-rank federal officials only later to learn the flawed document misrepresented his intentions? He would be laughed out of office!

We hear strange arguments from those who seem determined to find a way to go around Srila Prabhupada’s final instruction on initiations. I’ve heard some devotees say, “This document is only one letter, one page. How can it be of such grand significance?” One devotee told me, “It was messy and hard to read.” Another said, “It contradicts all of Prabhupada’s books. Prabhupada never got a specific order to become the spiritual master.” Others said things I won’t even repeat.

I neglected to carefully study Srila Prabhupada’s final order for years. Why? Partly because of the messy copies and partly because I used to be a simple brahmacarini who never saw anything but Prabhupada’s books and never questioned authorities. I was never an official or leader in ISKCON. But the main reason I neglected to study it carefully is because it was apparently hidden--it was not presented to the devotees by the leaders to whom the order was entrusted. It’s true that Indian typewriters are junk. Ramesvara’s copy machine was probably substandard. The letter should have come to on more important- and official-looking letterhead. Then we might have taken it seriously. It should have had a hi-tech raised seal and stamp. It should have looked like a letter from the Oval Office, the President of the United States. If ISKCON gets such a letter from a state leader, they want to frame it and put in on the wall in every center. But Srila Prabhupada’s final order? They neglect it.

Is it Srila Prabhupada’s fault that India typewriters are bad? Is it Srila Prabhupada’s fault that his ISKCON letterhead looked childishly simple? Srila Prabhupada was a simple sadhu. His leading secretaries could have seen to all those details of protocol. After all, the Office of Jagat Guru is the most important and powerful position in the universe. It would seem that any document from such an exalted source, particularly a formal order, deserves the utmost attention by all disciples of Srila Prabhupada, all ISKCON devotees.

In any case, the July 9th letter is Srila Prabhupada’s perfect final order on initiations in ISKCON. It’s not a hoax or a trick but pure transcendental bliss. No principle in its literal acceptance goes against anything in Srila Prabhupada’s books. It’s time for the GBC to admit this and come clean -- on all issues. Until they do, I feel devotees should be particularly careful about becoming implicated by offensive misunderstandings regarding Srila Prabhupada. It seems the GBC is allowing such misunderstandings to infiltrate ISKCON.