10/01/1998 - 2293

The Witch Hunt Must Stop

Philippines (VNN) - by Sattvic Dasa Adikari

Recently I read a letter sent to Jitarati prabhu by the Manila templepresident in which he was ordered not to visit the temple because he wasfound "guilty" of being a ritvik. The witch hunting goes on.I'm not surprised at the ruthless behavior of Tamal Krishna Goswami andGiridhari Swami who have allowed this to happen. Of all the devotees theyreally had to pick Jitarati prabhu who has been a faithful servant ofSrila Prabhupada in that part of the world by donating over a milliondollars over the years for the maintenance and propagation of thepreaching mission of Srila Prabhupada in the Philippines, Hong Kong, Chinaetc. He was also banned from entering the Cebu temple that was purchasedwith his money.

I lived in the Philippines as a temple president of Manilatemple for few months back in '85 and had plenty of opportunities towitness the many vaisnava qualities exhibited by Jitarati prabhu. Now,after years of sincere service he is presented with a letter banning himfrom coming to the temple. How foolish. How low class a move by theauthorities in that area. Jasomati Suta Prabhu, one of the first Chinesedevotees was told that he could not offer puja to the Hong Kong deitiesand also to the murti of Srila Prabhupada because he is a ritvik.

A question comes to my mind. Does the GBC really think that by slapping abanning order across the face of devotees who have dedicated their livesto the service of Srila Prabhupada really solve their problems with theritvik issue?

If this is what they are thinking than they are living the grossestillusion. Those days are over when you could ban someone from the templesimply because they don't agree with the party line. The days of witchhunting must come to an end if the GBC wants to avoid a conflict that willdivide the Movement thus weakening it. This is not a threat; it's theharsh reality that we must face especially the GBC and their staunchsupporters. WE WILL NOT LEAVE THE HOUSE BUILT BY SRILA PRABHUPADA FOR OURBENEFIT JUST BECAUSE YOU TELL US SO. My humble prayer to all of you isthis:

Please stop this witch hunting and thus spare yourself from theembarrassment of an all out conflict between brothers. I don't want to go into details as regarding the fallacies of the Gurusiddhanta within our institution. Given the track record we can see thatafter 21 years there is still more darkness than light in this area asoffered by our leaders. Yet the most alarming thing witnessed over thelast few years is that despite the raw and open proof that our leaders areunable to convince serious devotees about their constant changes in thematter of the most fundamental essence of Vaisnava philosophy, namelyGuru-disciple relationship they are so blatantly and arrogantly going onwitch hunting, tracking down those who do not follow their insane attemptto bring down to the mundane platform the most sacred post in the Vaisnavahierarchy.

How pitiable a condition do we find ourselves in. The very same people who forced us to accept the 11 mahabhagavata affair,the very same people who forced us to believe that Guru can fall againsteverything Srila Prabhupada taught us on the subject, the very same peoplewho forced and coerced thousands of devotees to take re-initiation some ofthem 3-4 times (and are now telling that it's not really needed) areacting as the police and take upon themselves the righteous duty of"cleaning up" the house of unwanted presence's (the ritviks).

Dear Prabhus, from the bottom of my heart let me tell you something forour benefit and the benefit of future generations of devotees who willstudy the history of ISKCON. Don't cheat yourself; don't lower yourself tothe point where you humiliate yourself in order to maintain your insaneambition to be initiating guru.

Reputation is what we take along after the demise of this rotten body; ourdharma is what we take along. And the greatest Dharma Is to follow thedirect instructions of the Acarya Srila Prabhupada. Dharma is what willnourish us after we depart from this mortal spoil. If becoming diksa guruwas so clear to all of us (after all it's written on every page of SrilaPrabhupada's books) why then, when the GBC went to Srila Prabhupada heinstructed them to be 'Officiating acarya'? (ritvik). If everyone was toturn diksa guru in his own right why Srila Prabhupada declared that "Ishall recommend some of you. After this is settled up. I shall recommendsome of you to act as officiating acarya." If the general instruction wasso clear, is Srila Prabhupada contradicting himself? Certainly not. Hesimply states his desire of how he wanted future initiations to go on(particularly at that time when you are no longer with us). It is us whoout of ambition, reject this direct instruction and imagined that we weregiven the instruction to become diksa guru, because Srila Prabhupada didnot confirm that all of us should be diksa guru rather that we shouldremain and act as ritvik. I can see that for many of our leaders theirtemporary glory of diksa guru position is more important than Dharma. Manyof them are already suffering from the anguish of embarrassment (for onewho is honored dishonor is worst than death). Many more will follow ifthey don't give up their suicidal mentality of wanting to be initiatingguru. This position is given by the acarya to devotees highly qualified.What mockery we have made of this supreme position. How humiliating itmust be for those ambitious devotees to have to go around and beg votes toenter the echelon of "profound service" to Srila Prabhupada. Shame on youbrother. Your predicament makes me cry. Give up your false pride and bowto the will of the Acarya Srila Prabhupada.

Probably for thinking like this I will surely receive a ban order by ourintelligent and sagacious leaders. Who cares. We have learned to speak thetruth and this is our supreme Dharma. Those who remain silent because ofmaterial considerations of safety and profit don't deserve to be calledVaisnavas. It's our risk and Krsna will protect us. This is what welearned from Srila Prabhupada and our predecessors acaryas.

My appeal to you dear devotees is that you must stop acting demonically,hunting for witches and recognize that we are loyal servants of SrilaPrabhupada. If you refuse and carry on your foolish agenda it will end ina catastrophe.

You must apologize to Jitarati prabhu and the countless other devotees whohave suffered from your misjudgment. You must take responsibility formisleading this Movement for the last 21 years. You must recognize thatwe don't have a GBC but a board of acaryas who have conflict of interestwith their position as GBC. You are therefore unable to function for thebenefit of the society at large but have to use and misuse your positionto maintain the illusion that Srila Prabhupada has authorized you to beinitiating guru.

It is our utmost desire to work cooperatively with the GBC to pushforward this wonderful mission of Lord Caitanya under the expert guidanceof our Acarya Srila Prabhupada. The present situation does not allow forsuch a cooperating spirit to manifest. The GBC body have to recognizethat ritvik is not a philosophy but a simple way to manage initiation bySrila Prabhupada. It was working before his departure and it must bere-instituted if we are to remain together in a spirit of cooperation.What we have now is a confederation of gurus each with their owninstitution, each acting independently under the guise of so-calledcooperation, each manning man and money without any supervisionresulting in factionalism and fanaticism. The recent stealing of money byHarikesha could have been averted if the the GBC body was functioning forthe interest of Srila Prabhupada. Why have the GBC allowed (and are stillallowing) these men whom they sanctify as next link in the parampara tokeep money as if they own it? We have to stop being an embarrassment forSrila Prabhupada. This kind of irresponsible leadership is causing peopleto lose faith in Srila Prabhupada and his mission. We have to stopcheating devotees in the name of religion. It is the duty of the GBC toshelter devotees in this great house built by Srila Prabhupada.

I'm appealing to the GBC to reflect and conclude that what is going on nowthrough this witch hunting is highly detrimental for their spiritual lifeand it will lead to rebellion and war. I'm appealing to devotees ingeneral not to bow to pressure when asked to leave temples because theywant to follow the order of Srila Prabhupada.

I'm appealing to all of you dear devotees to understand that the only wayto remain together and cooperate is if we keep the acarya in the centerby reestablishing the process of initiation given by Srila Prabhupada. Speculations, so-called reforms, cosmetic changes will only perpetuate theagony already suffered by all of us throughout these years.Your servant

Sattvic dasa