Guru lust or Prabhupada’s vani?

by Harinam Das (4/12/98)

It is clear that the ISKCON vapu-vadis (worshipers of the physical body as opposed to transcendental knowledge) do not have the mercy of Lord Caitanya and the holy name. Krishna’s holy name alone is sufficient to deliver all the fallen souls and bestow the highest perfection of life – Krishna prema; but the rubber stamped diksa vapuvadis do not accept this basic fact of Lord Caitanya’s sankirtan movement and insist on their own worship as “diksa-guru”.

Beware, they simply want to enjoy the status of being adored asgods” without realizing the essential meaning of the vani of Lord Caitanya and His pure servants. They only know the rigid formality of “guru worship” stated in the Vedas. They do not know that Krishna Himself has come to again transcend the Vedas in the form of Lord Caitanya and His sankirtan movement. There is no longer the absolute need of a “living diksa-guru” to give transcendental knowledge to the disciple in the presence of the book Bhagavata and sufficient purports by the mahabhagavata (Srila Prabhupada), as well as the sankirtan movement.

With the mercy of the holy name alone all purports of the Vedas are revealed (ecstatic Krishna prema). The holy name does not even wait for formal diksa initiation, then what to speak of with the presence of the book Bhagavata, the siksa-guru/officiating acarya (ritvik) who simply officiates the formality of the diksa fire sacrifice and spiritual name to the sincere disciple on behalf of Prabhupada???

“By chanting the holy name of the Lord, one dissolves his entanglement in material activities. After this, one becomes very attracted to Krsna, and thus dormant love for Krsna is awakened. ‘The holy name of Lord Krsna is an attractive feature for many saintly, liberal people. It is the annihilator of all sinful reactions and is so powerful that save for the dumb who cannot chant it, it is readily available to everyone, including the lowest type of man, the candala. The holy name of Krsna is the controller of the opulence of liberation, and it is identical with Krsna. Simply by touching the holy name with one’s tongue, immediate effects are produced. Chanting the holy name does not depend on initiation, pious activities or the purascarya regulative principles generally observed before initiation. The holy name does not wait for all these activities. It is self-sufficient.’ “(Caitanya CaritamrtaMadhya 15.110; Padyavali 29 by Srila Rupa Gosvami)

Whether a Vaisnava is properly initiated or not is not a subject for consideration. One may be initiated and yet contaminated by the mayavada philosophy, but a person who chants the holy name of the Lord offenselessly will not be so contaminated. A properly initiated Vaisnava may be imperfect, but one who chants the holy name of the Lord offenselessly is all-perfect. (Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya 15:111 purport)

Therefore Prabhupada stressed the sankirtan pastimes of Lord Caitanya as the all perfect platform of spiritual existence as well as the ritvik officiating acarya initiation system. Clearly, there is no absolute need for worshiping a “living diksa-guru” when there is the book bhagavata and the holy names. The vapuvadis only go for the formality of Vedic tradition and not the substance as given by Lord Caitanya as His pure servants.

What they have created instead is a bogus “rubber stamped diksa-gurusystem instead of following the founder acarya’s orders for an officiating acarya initiating system in ISKCON with him the founder acarya at the center. The heretics mistake his (Prabhupada’s) books to be more important than his direct personal instructions and example to his GBC and temple president managers for post samadhi ISKCON initiations. Absolute successor diksa-gurus, if any, can simply branch out from ISKCON to start a new mission and branch of disciples as is the Vedic tradition.

Is this guru lust or just the desire to become like god ???

RITVIK OFFICIATING ACARYA

Being in place and functioning in ISKCON for several years since 1973, Prabhupada’s ritvik representative or officiating acarya initiation system is nothing new. It is basically officiating preists of the diksa-guru Srila Prabhupada performing the formal initiation ceremony and fire sacrifice in his absence. This allows new devotees to be trained as Prabhupada’s disciples through his senior disciples acting as siksa-gurus, his books as diksa instructions, and the Deity worship and sankirtan program as sadhana devotional service.

This is the best guru arrangement for fulfilling Prabhupada’s mission and spreading Lord Caitanya’s sankirtan movement because it has the continuity of one diksa-guru to last indefinitely as opposed to the short lifetime of the “appointed living-gurus”. This continuity unites all the followers of Prabhupada’s teachings past, present, and future as disciples of Krishna’s empowered pure devotee, jagat diksa-guru, and founder acarya of ISKCON, thus ever increasing their numbers. However, the present appointed “living guru” system simply divides Prabhupada’s followers into “guru factions” and when the living gurus leave their body, their disciples are then alienated from the society’s shelter, which successively decreases ISKCON’s size and transcendental potency.

Furthermore, the ritvik officiating acarya initiation system is the best way to safeguard the integrity of ISKCON from “neophyte absolute successor diksa-gurus” by having them branch out to form their own new branch of disciples/institution as is the timeless Vedic tradition. Everyone is welcomed to represent the diksa-guru Srila Prabhupada as vartma-pradarsaka-gurus and siksa-gurus in his ISKCON mission thereby continuing the training of new disciples in the parampara.

Srila Prabhupada set up the ritvik system in ISKCON to initiate his disciples in his absence, which he ordered to be continued after his disappearance. With his massive international book distribution of Vedic classical scriptures Bhagavad-gita, Srimad Bhagavatam, and Caitanya Caritamrta and his thousands of disciples and 108 temples worldwide, Srila Prabhupada has done what no acarya has done heretofore i.e. the establishment of Lord Caitanya’s sankirtan movement on a self-perpetuating and truly global scale.

By Krishna’s will, Srila Prabhupada has created and established one sastra, one sadhu community, and one diksa-guru for the entire world until hell freezes over. We simply must continue his plan and the highest success is guaranteed.

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