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USA March 3, 1999 VNN3223 See Related VNN Stories Book Distributor Leaves LA Temple BY GAURIDASA PANDITA DASA L.A., USA, Mar 3 (VNN) — I had a talk with Bhakta Ian Prabhu a few days ago. Not the Bhakta Ian that went ritvik and got punched and kicked out last year. This is another Bhakta Ian. He is a blissful book distributor and was doing the LA Christmas Marathon with full enthusiasm. He just moved out of the LA Brahmachari ashram. I asked him why and this is what he told me: He said that he had not heard anything about the ritvik issue until a couple of months ago. He was walking with one of the brahmacharies when the brahmachari said, "Oh no, there's another ritvik, they are everywhere." What is a ritvik, Bhakta Ian asked. The brahmachari said that the ritviks are devotees who have concocted a bogus philosophy. They made up a word that doesn't really exist for a philosophy that doesn't really exist, explained the brahmachari. Bhakta Ian was then curious about why and what ritvik was all about. He said he inquired from a few devotees about it but they all discouraged him from even talking about it lest he make offenses to the 'gurus'. Ian's interest could not be checked though and he got hold of a Final Order. He started to read it in the Brahmachari ashram to the discouragement of the others. He said he just wanted to hear both sides of the story. He had the temple's anti-ritvik materials also. After reading both he accepted the fact that Srila Prabhupada did indeed want the ritvik initiation system to continue for the future of ISKCON. Well news got around that Ian was too open minded and they began to treat him poorly and call him a ritvik too! That's a dirty word in ISKCON! He came to me at this point and I preached to him to try to tolerate it and stay in the temple. A few days later he left anyway; saying he couldn't take it any longer. Bhakta Ian said that the devotees in the temple are not allowed to read the Final Order or anything but anti-ritvik propaganda. He said if the devotees were allowed to hear both sides the smart ones would all accept the ritvik system is what Srila Prabhupada wants and only a few of the sentimentalists would stick to the current ISKCON less than pure guru system. Bhakta Ian went to Alachua to distribute books in that area. We hope this issue can be rectified soon so nice devotees like Ian, both of them, can stay in the house where the whole world can live again. The LA temple used to make so many devotees that they shipped them out to help other centers. Now they can hardly make any and even less actually stay due to the impersonal and political atmosphere. We need istagosthis' to correct our problems but they also are becoming extinct. Love and trust is lacking. Thus new devotees are taught to disrespect the senior Prabhupada disciples. This is stunting their spiritual growth. They are taught that the ritviks are 'demons bent on destroying ISKCON' and told to avoid them/us at all costs. This is an offensive attitude. The same attitude that is propagated by some of the ISKCON leadership against the women. Instead of cooperating to work together they are conspiring to divide and conquer the ritviks. Thus the movements' natural growth is also being stunted. This is temporary though as there is light at the end of the tunnel. The knowledge about Srila Prabhupada's Final Order is being spread far and wide and many more devotees are taking full shelter of His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada, the Jagat Guru of our age. Let us pray that Bhakta Ian and the other new devotees will be able to take full shelter of Sri Sri Guru and Gouranga without being discouraged by ISKCON. The GBC can only keep their heads in the sand so long before they suffocate. If they really want to help the mission they should get off their high horses and cooperate to resolve this most important matter, instead of stonewalling year after year. Hoping this meets you well, Gauridasa Pandita Dasa About the Author | Other Stories by this Author See Related VNN Stories | Comment on this Story This story URL: http://vaishnava-news-network.org/usa/US9903/US03-3223.html
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