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WORLD February 12, 1999 VNN3028 See Related VNN Stories Who Says The GBC Has Authority? BY VIPRAMUKHYA SWAMI INDIA, Feb 12 (VNN) — Mayapur, India - February 8, 1999: The main discussion of the day with the GBCs was guru-tattva. It was felt there was a need to examine the mistakes of the past to address the current situation. In the big picture, GBCs and Deputies continued to work separately on key issues affecting the whole of ISKCON today. While the Deputies divided into subcommittees, the GBC subcommittees came together and met in a plenary session. *** Cow Protection and Japa *** In the Lotus Conference Room, the Deputies decided to break into subcommittees in order to "digest" some of the things that have been giving them "indigestion." Yesterday the Deputies approved of Balabhadra's cow protection ministry proposal as a draft. They rejected a proposal that men and women should chant japa in the same temple room no matter how small is the size the temple room. Today they wanted to concentrate more on Sivarama Swami's siksa-guru paper. *** GBCs Discuss Subcommittees' Work *** Meanwhile, the GBC subcommittees wound up their work, and then met in a plenary session to discuss the conclusion of the different groups. The plenary session was hosted again by Braja Bihari Dasa from the VIHE. Not everyone on the GBC subcommittees was a GBC member. All of the groups had other non-GBC members participating. Non-GBC members chaired some groups. The work of the subcommittees is not finalized. These are working ideas only and will not necessarily reflect final conclusions of the GBC Body. The committees only discussed their preliminary conclusions which must later be voted on by the full GBC Body. The chairs of the different committees then took the microphone and addressed the body. *** Poor Public Relations *** Anuttama dasa, speaking for his subcommittee, said they felt the GBC should have a broader representation on the constituent level. There needs to be more visible sadhana by GBC members. We need to see the management role in a more spiritual view. There needs to be a GBC central office. The GBC has poor public relations, and there should be better communication. There needs to be a justice and grievance system. There needs to be job descriptions for the GBC members that should emphasize pastoral functions and care for the devotees. GBC members should be required to visit other zones. GBCs should ensure properties are maintained. They discussed the concept of non-GBC zonal secretaries and the possibility of rotating zones among GBC members. After each chairman presented the results of their subcommittee discussions, there were some questions and answers, before the next chairman would take the microphone. *** Authority of the GBC *** Sesa dasa, speaking for his group, said they tried to look at where the authority of the GBC comes in. Many people say they have no faith in the GBC. Despite the fact that Prabhupada created the GBC system, many devotees feel the GBC is irrelevant. They identified that the authority of the GBC arises from the spiritual practices of the individual GBC member, and the satisfaction of the devotees. "We tried to define what the role of the individual GBC is," said Sesa dasa. "It's hard to define the GBC members into a box." Their authority stems from their individual ability to deal with different situations. They also get their authority from the GBC body. The individuals make up the body. Where does the Body get its authority? We say the GBC represents Prabhupada, but what does that mean? It means things like giving up selfishness to the group benefit. It means no backroom dealing to manipulate decisions. There should be no individual interests in politics in the work of the GBC. It really means changing our consciousness. It boils down to purity, and in that way Srila Prabhupada's presence becomes manifest. We should place our faith more in oneness in the Body as a whole than in political alliance to achieve something. Sesa's group discussed how this relates to the Constitution. We've had an order from Prabhupada to make a Constitution but it hasn't been done yet. The Constitution should be an ideal document that creates a vision how people can lead their whole lives in Krsna consciousness. It also has to be cut from the cloth of Srila Prabhupada and that's where it derives its authority. It should be a document that is continually reviewed and updated. "To accomplish this we felt a committee of three people should be created who are visionaries, dedicated to Prabhupada's mission, who are able to organize a task and utilize consultants and meet for at least two months in the year. Some funding may be required and they should come up with a draft by next year." Sesa said that the GBC Body should have practical consistency and communication and relevance in the lives of the devotees, maintaining Prabhupada's mood in work and decisions. It should promote selflessness. The territorial confederation of gurus and disciples should be de-emphasized for the greater good of the Society. *** Standards and Job Descriptions *** Ravindra Svarupa explained that in his group three members left to go on other subcommittees working on the guru issue, but three guests (Pancaratna, Adikarta and Basu Ghosh) filled in the gaps. This subcommittee concerned itself with the structure of the GBC and it's ability to act competently. It also discussed integrity and character of GBC members. "What we managed to come up with toward concrete proposals is that we need to have a permanent and fully functional executive office of non-GBC members." He also said that we should work harder on forming capable regional governing bodies to act within their areas. We need to set standards for GBC responsibilities, especially concerning job descriptions. How much should they spend in their zones and in their regions? There should be a properly funded central office which would have a phone number where people can call and register their concerns. We do need a constitution but it is a big job to do this. You would have to have a committee with full-time capacity to work on the constitution. There should be a way of locating and training future members of the GBC. *** Training and Education *** Badrinarayan made a presentation to the committee that discussed guru-tattva. He said they had a task to amalgamate the points the GBCs and what the devotees around the world wanted to see in terms of guru-tattva and ISKCON reform. They want to broaden the base in terms of understanding who delivers the disciple, karma, etc. They envision a full-time spiritual task force to work on this who will comprise a research team. This team should deal with guru-tattva and issues of financial accountability. Their mission would be to monitor and support our gurus in areas of conduct, philosophical understanding, and finances. There should be training, a bhakta program and VIHE for every devotee in ISKCON, and all devotees should have complete understanding of Prabhupada's position and siksa relationships. The point that gurus should have proper degrees, up to the level of Bhaktivedanta and Bhakti Vaibhava was especially stressed. There should be ongoing training for diksa gurus and leaders. Seminars, retreats and curriculums should be developed. Badrinarayan discussed practical figures in terms of how much it would cost to maintain full-time devotees working on the task force, developing the curriculum, etc. He presented a budget going over $70,000 if in India and over $100,000 if in the West. Badrinarayan fielded questions about finances and said that you need to support a full-time office to get the things done that need to be done. There are 70 or more initiating gurus in ISKCON, more than twice the number of GBCs. This office will be in charge of monitoring and training all of these people every year as well as developing the curriculums, etc. *** Afternoon with the Deputies *** In the afternoon, the GBC Deputies discussed Harikesa dasa's position and relationship with ISKCON in a compassionate way but honestly looking at ISKCON Law and how it should be applied in his case. They also discussed other sannyasis that have had difficulty. Regarding two sannyasis who recently left ISKCON to join the Ritvik movement, they suggested the GBC Body take a hard line in accordance with ISKCON law. The Deputies also discussed some resolutions from America regarding guru reform but had to cut short their discussion to attend the afternoon plenary session of the GBC Body. *** Deputies Meet GBC Body *** Aniruddha dasa addressed the GBC Body, explaining the work of the GBC Deputies. There was some discussion on procedure as to how to handle the Deputies resolutions. Some GBC members haven't paid their dues and if they do not pay they will lose their voting rights and their names will be reported on CHAKRA. The system was that the GBC gave various proposals to the Deputies. The Deputies discussed those proposals and gave their recommendations. Now the GBC Body considers whether to accept the recommendation of the Deputies. There were 26 voting GBC members in attendance. These votes were considered straw votes, or preliminary votes. Later a final vote will be taken on all of these issues. Regarding Italy, the Deputies recommended that whatever resolutions were already on the GBC books concerning Gaudia Math members should be adhered to. A Gaudia Math sannyasi has been going there and initiating disciples, even though he said he would not, and this is creating some problems. There was some discussion on this issue. It seemed to boil down to enforcing already existing ISKCON law or not. After a few minutes, a vote was taken and the recommendation of the Deputies was accepted. This part of the meeting seemed clumsy because the GBC members re-discussed that which the Deputies already discussed in detail. However, after a few votes were taken, it began to move into a quicker pace and move more smoothly. Even though a vote was taken to enforce ISKCON Law in Italy, Madhusevita Prabhu had further points to make. A vote was retaken, and the vote stayed. A Cow Protection proposal by Balabhadra to establish a worldwide minimum cow protection standard in ISKCON, which was supported by the Deputies, was accepted in a straw vote. The Deputies suggested an amendment that the annual service report required of sannyasis not on the GBC should now be required of all sannyasis. This was accepted. It has been alleged that Atma Tattva dasa has had some repeated and questionable dealings with young ladies. When he was questioned about this recently, he reacted by sending a letter to all ISKCON members, saying he was leaving ISKCON and no longer wanted to be considered under ISKCON authority. A statement from the GBC Deputies about this situation was accepted. The meeting adjourned at 6:30 PM on schedule. See Related VNN Stories | Comment on this Story This story URL: http://vaishnava-news-network.org/world/WD9902/WD12-3028.html
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