03/12/98 - 1686

GBC To Try Again

USA (VNN) - by Krishnakant

CHAKRA recently posted news regarding the GBC meetings that have just concluded in Mayapura. Of particular interest was the following item:

“The GBC body issued a statement about the paper entitled THE FINAL ORDER, which is promoted by adherents of the so-called ritvik philosophy. The statement says: “Due to the numerous discrepancies and misrepresentations contained in the anonymous paper titled THE FINAL ORDER, the GBC body is requesting certain devotees to prepare several responses to be released as soon as possible.”

1) One wonders why these “numerous discrepancies and misrepresentations” were not exposed the last time the GBC tried to respond to the FINAL ORDER, when they released ‘Disciple of My Disciple’, which was co-authored by new GBC Executive Committee member His Grace Badrinarayana Prabhu. They must feel that ‘Disciple of My Disciple’ did not adequately answer the ‘Final Order’ since they now feel the need to prepare a further not one but ‘several responses’. (Anyone who reads ‘The Final Order Still Stands’, an analysis of ‘Disciple of My Disciple’, will agree that the GBC have yet still to answer ‘The Final Order’. ‘The Final Order Still Stands’ can be found on http:// www.webcom.com.btp).

2) One also wonders what new mechanisms they are going to employ to ensure that this time they will indeed spot all the “numerous discrepancies and misrepresentations” that eluded the combined might of His Grace Badrinarayana Prabhu, His Holiness Giridhari Maharaja and His Holiness Umapati Maharaja when they wrote ‘Disciple of My Disciple’.

3) We also wonder why they will not name these “certain devotees” that have been given this task, or set a specific date for when these “several responses” are supposed to be due. We have been eagerly awaiting a definite position on the ‘guru issue’ from the GBC for quite a while now. As early as 1996, they announced that a book on Guru Tattva would be ready by the following Gaura Purnima festival. Last year the GBC resolutions also passed a similar resolution. Yet the only output produced to date so far has been the 12 page ‘Disciple of My Disciple, and that only because we produced the ‘FINAL ORDER’, and which even the GBC have recognised through the above statement was nowhere near adequate. Considering their track record so far, I think the vaisnava community would feel more confident if they actually named those who are responsible for the above task, and set a date by which we will expect to see these “several responses”.

4) We also wonder if these “several responses” will for once not contradict all the previous GBC position papers on this subject, none of which have been withdrawn. One would hope these new “several responses” will be in line with:

‘Under My Order’, His Grace Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu, 1985
‘ISKCON JOURNAL’, GBC, 1990
‘Continuing the Parampara’, His Holiness Siva Rama Swami, 1994
‘Gurus and Initiation in ISKCON’, GBC, 1995
‘Where the Ritviks Are Wrong’, His Holiness Jayadwaita Swami,1996
‘Srila Prabhupada Defeats Ritvik’, His Holiness Bhakti Caru Swami, 1996
‘Disciple of My Disciple’, GBC Sub-committe, (His Grace Badrinarayana Prabhu, His Holiness Giridhari Maharaja and His Holiness Umapati Maharaja), 1996
‘Timeless Order’, His Grace V. Pai, Approved by Umapati Maharaja, 1996
(For rebuttals to most of these papers please go to http:// www.webcom.com/btp)

This of course will be impossible since most of the above papers actually contradict each other!

Thus it will be interesting to observe on this occasion which particular ‘siddhanta’ and interpretation of the evidence these new “several responses” will use. Or they may of course come up with a completely new interpretation. This creative ability of the GBC should not be doubted. For instance they have managed to come up with at least 4 different interpretations of the so-called May 28th ‘Appointment Tape’.

Whatever version of events they choose, we hope that these “several responses” will at least not contradict each other!

5) One would also hope that in trying to answer the ‘Final Order’ the GBC will this time actually take the trouble to READ the paper they are supposed to be answering and understand what the ritvik position is. Anyone who has read ‘Disciple of My Disciple’ (50% of which was taken up answering arguments we never raised), and all the recent ‘ritvik’ papers that were on CHAKRA, and rebutted here on VNN, will know that this has not been the case so far. Thus could the ‘certain devotees’ who are supposed to prepare these ‘several responses’ please actually READ the Final Order before they try and answer. It can be found at http:// www.webcom.com/btp.

We await with bated breath, and hope that finally the GBC will indeed produce a POINT FOR POINT rebutall of ‘THE FINAL ORDER’, a paper that was submitted to them at their request as long ago as OCTOBER 1996.

The whole world is watching now.