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USA March 14, 1999 VNN3325 See Related VNN Stories GBC Meeting Report BY GAURIDASA PANDITA DASA  USA, Mar 14 (VNN) — Badrinarayana Prabhu gave the report on the GBC meetings in Mayapur today in LA. He said for the last few years they have been writing a summary of the meetings and he read that to the assembled devotees.The main topic this year for the GBC he said was guru reform. Badri started speaking with the GBC's apology for supporting the zonal acharya system. He read part of Pradyumna Prabhus letter warning against it back in 1978. Some of the reforms are that all of the devotees should offer their obeisances to Srila Prabhupada when bowing down. That no more gurupuja's or footbaths for the ISKCON gurus can take place on ISKCON property, except for once a year on their appearance day. That all ISKCON gurus make annual financial reports and any 'guru dakshin' is the property of ISKCON. He said that the gurus' would be attending retreats to get trained up better on how to deal with the devotees. It was agreed that all future sanyasi's and gurus must pass the Bhakti sastra tests. Badri even said that the ISKCON gurus are not the sole deliverers of the new disciples. He said that it is a combination of the diksa guru and the senior devotees and ultimately Srila Prabhupada. He gave the analogy of the disciple in a well, saying it takes all three of these pulling on the rope to get him/her out. He said that it is recommended that ISKCON gurus and sanyasi's should not be on the GBC, in the future. Hridayananda Maharaja, Mukunda Maharaja and Sridhara Swami all left as official GBC's but will be consulted for help at times. He said that Hridayananda Swami was like an old fire truck in the garage that would come out to put out the ritvik fires when necessary. He said he's going to Bangalore soon. When Badrinarayana Prabhu started to read the anti-ritvik resolutions he choked up and couldn't even say the words. His body language became nervous. He mentioned that they only did half of the job on guru reform and said he would skip reading that part. My thought was that he knows Srila Prabhupada ordered the ritvik initiation system in his heart and he couldn't read the strong words against it in front of the Deities, Srila Prabhupada and the devotees. He asked if all of the devotees in LA were aware of the ritvik issue and some responded by frowning and some by even laughing. When Badri finished and asked for questions I was the only one to raise my hand. I said that although I disagreed with the anti-ritvik resolutions I was pleased with the other guru reforms they made and it actually brought both sides a lot closer. He said thank you. I asked if the process of offering prasadam was discussed at the meetings and he replied that it was and it should still be offered to the gurus but the pictures would be removed right away. I wasn't satisfied with this answer but didn't want to argue that point at that time. Badri told of a letter one of the gurus showed him from a disciple saying that he couldn't do what he told him to do but he still wanted his blessings. Badri said these things are common. He said ISKCON wasn't supposed to be a bunch of groups everywhere but a united movement for Srila Prabhupada. Then Yadubara Prabhu asked if the report would be available for the devotees who have left the movement. Badri replied that it would be but asked how they could get it. I replied that I could E-mail it to my list of 1,200 devotees and he said to give him my E-mail address so he could E-mail the report to me. I said it could be sent to VNN and Badri said he doesn't read VNN, and I could send it in if I liked. Then he said maybe in the spirit of the spiritual general of the GBC he would send it in himself. Either way the official GBC report and the resolutions should be available soon. Badri said that the report and resolutions were not available now because Kalakantha Prabhus computer that contained them crashed. Could that be an omen? Overall, I see this years meetings, despite its anti-ritvik resolutions, as a giant step forward. The ISKCON gurus are now really more at the status of a ritvik representative of the acharya, Srila Prabhupada. So we must take one step at a time and keep working diligently for reforms as we go. I'm confident that Krsna will rectify everything in time and keep His word to always protect His devotees. 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/US14-3325.html
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