On His Order (Well, Almost) (Classic)
BY RADHA KRISHNA DASA
EDITORIAL, Mar 29 (VNN) — More evidence? This will blow your mis-matched socks off, Prabhus, so stay tuned! Can you imagine asking a bhakta (now days) to take diksa from an Iskcon guru whom he has never seen? Laughable? Preposterous, you say? This is like asking a person to marry a blind date. After all, your guru is for eternity, so isn’t it at least as important as marriage?
Verily, incredible as it may seem, this very thing happened in 1978, in Berkeley CA. At that temple, the GBC created a situation which almost followed Srila Prabhupada’s final July 9th directive, well, almost. In fact, the mass initiation in 78 at Berkeley did not resemble a diska guru intitation, rather, it very much resembled the “officiating acarya” initiation of which Srila Prabhupada described in his July 9th directive. I will explain.
I talked to another prior disciple of HG Hamsadutta das, and he told me this story. In the spring of 78, right after Mayapura meetings, 3 GBC’s came to Berkeley, Bhagavan, Jayatirtha, and Ramesvara. Berkeley was a unique situation, because they had to import a zonal guru into Berkeley, a man unknown and unseen by many devotees there. Therefore, they had to do a quick- sell package for the devotees there. They told the candidates that it “didn’t matter that they never saw Hamsadutta before, because he is the same as the others, he is just initiating on Srila Prabhupada’s behalf, and you just take from the man in your zone, no difference.”
Well, this devotee had some doubts and so he went to HH Satsvarupa M., who arrived there shortly. Maharaja told him, “that it didn’t matter who you took from, they were all initiating on behalf of Srila Prabhupada, and just take from your zonal man, no difference.”
This scenario looks like the “officiating acarya” plan of July 9th, doesn’t it? This could NOT possibly be a classical “diksa” initiation, because that requires a period of 6 months to a year of mutual examination. The guru examines the disciple and visa versa. The Guru gives siksa and divya jnan to the disciple. But in this case, there was no possibility of any of this. How can you expect anybody to surrender to an “eternal guru” whom they’ve never seen? Absurd. But they pulled this off because they presented the package according to what Srila Prabhupada actually said, viz the July 9th directive.
Well, almost. They said like Srila Prabhupada said, except for 2 factors.
1. They subtracted one essential element from the July 9th directive. That was, “they are my disciples.” This was stated 3 times to make it very clear.
The GBC mislead this devotee, making him think that “it was on Srila Prabhupada’s behalf” and sort of making him feel like he was still connected to Srila Prabhupada, just to get him in the net. It worked, for he did feel like he was connected to Srila Prabhupada, and went ahead and got the initiation from someone he had no feelings for, and still feels Srila Prabhupada’s mercy to this day.
2. They slipped in another element, that Hamsadutta was somehow his guru too.
Yet very vague. And Hamsadutta later said, “This guru thing is a joke, Srila Prabhupada never wanted me to be guru, he only wanted me to be an officiating priest, I am very sorry I did this to you.” This revelation was nothing new to this devotee, because he always felt that way. He always felt cheated by GBC trickery.
Big point here. If they were so together and authorized by Srila Prabhupada with their guru program, then why this RUSE? Why resort to trickery if they were ordered to be gurus? Why foist some “eternal guru” on innocent people?
Besides this ruse that resembled ritvik initiation, TKG actually did THE FULL ritvik initiation, after Srila Prabhupada’s departure. That’s right folks. He gave 2nd ritvik initiation to one brahmacari who was on his bus party, and to an Indian lady, who insisted that she get 2nd from Srila Prabhupada. If these two got it, why not others? What is their special privilege? If TKG actually did it twice, and he did folks, then how do they have the gall and right to prosecute the devotees who only speak Srila Prabhupada’s words on the subject?
I just heard that Kirtanananda also made a similar confession, that they were “only ritviks.” We will know more on this when we investigate it more, and more witnesses come forth. Also, devotees heard Ramesvara say they “were ritviks,” in the LA temple room, before they came out with the full guru claim. Perhaps more witnesses of this can come forward. How many now? There is TKG Topanga confession, and the 3 just mentioned, that’s 4 of the originals who made similar confessions of “only ritviks.” Tends to ring wake-up bells in the head, yes?
They assumed that ritviks automatically became diksa gurus upon the disappearance of their guru. However, when we examine the guru tattva left by Srila Prabhupada, he never makes this assumption. If he does say this somewhere, then would someone show us where? A statement to uninitiated persons and letters to overly ambitious disciples do not rate with an official directive to the whole society. In fact, he spoke very clearly about the same situation with his own Guru Maharaja, with the following words;
“They did not even consider common sense – that if guru maharaja had wanted to APPOINT somebody as acharya, why he did not say? He said so many things and this point he missed? The main point? And they insisted on it. They declared, ‘Come on unfit persons to become acharya,’ then another man comes, then another, then another·. ” (CONV 8/15/76)
This DEFINITELY NEGATES the assumption that the ritviks became automatic diksa gurus! Where is the authorization? If this situation fits with the Gaudiya Math and Srila Prabhupada makes this strong point, isn’t Srila Prabhupada making the same point in our situation? Does anyone think that Srila Prabhupada makes these points whimsically for sake of conversation? If the Gaudiya disciples were “unfit persons” then what makes Iskcon people “fit persons?” Pray tell? No, he wanted us to not make the same mistake, (“He said so many things and this point he missed? The main point?”) But what did the GBC do? “They insisted on it, Come on unfit persons · become acharya.” Who can argue?
So, why is it?, that when devotees (in Bangalore, etc) say THE EXACT SAME THING that Srila Prabhupada said, that they ARE BANNED! I beg all sober minded devotees to think about this very hard, and ask why this is happening? Are we to sit by, and watch this travesty? Is there no kind of legal rights to protect a person’s god-given right to follow his spiritual master and the founder acarya, in the way that he speaks? Good God, brothers, where is the justice?
Other points, the GBC recently said- “·that Srila Prabhupada · did not desire any of his disciples to give diksha in succession after him, is a dangerous philosophical deviation.”
1. We estimate there are near 10,000 broken hearts and ruined spiritual lives of grand-disciples due to the fallen gurus, (conservative estimate, due to 7,000 in last year.) Is anyone and everyone is free to ruin a disciple’s spiritual life, just by labeling himself diksa guru? That is exactly what happens when the “good as god” guru falls down. The disciple totally loses his faith, which was originally fixed on Srila Prabhupada. Most of the 10,000 have left for good. This increases with the 5,000 or more Prabhupada disciples who were forced to leave, or stay away by the fallen gurus.
2. Does this mean that anyone and everyone are free to initiate after his Guru’s departure?, their feet fit to be worshipped, though unqualified? Doesn’t Cc state that one MUST be Mahabhagavata to be worshipped good as God? Doesn’t Cc state that one MUST be AUTHORIZED by his Guru to initiate? Where is their authorization? How does “WHEN I order” sound like they were ordered? Were the 7 original fallen gurus authorized? Nobody is crazy enough to believe that. No, they weren’t ordered by Srila Prabhupada, and therefore they imitated a Mahabhavata and became insane and degraded, like Prabhupada’s books warned us.
3. Who is actually dangerous? They have the gall to call Srila Prabhupada’s July 9th directive dangerous, when they have ruined the spiritual lives of more than 15,000 people? They themselves are the greatest danger to Srila Prabhupada’s movement. Temples operate on skeleton crews due to their “absolute authority.” Time to wake up folks.
They say, “the principle of parampara · established by Krishna ·. is accepted by all followers of Vedic culture.” Did they ever read the reports of Sri Bannanje Govindacharya, and HH Rangapriya Swami, and Lakshmi Tatachar, who all support Srila Prabhupada’s decision for ritvik representatives?
They say, ” It is utterly erroneous to espouse it, deluding and misguiding to teach it, and blasphemous to attribute it to Srila Prabhupada.”
Erroneous? Its never been defeated in fair debate. Blasphemous? How dare they say that. Who are they to judge when they insult Prabhupada, saying the directive was composed by a secretary, how dare they! Reform devotees try to restore his teachings, and they say blasphemous? How dare they question the reformer’s integrity, when they bury 150 tapes of vital evidence, how dare they! They are the ones who commit blasphemy, causing their subordinates to blaspheme the reformers. Do they ever think about the darkest regions they are liable to go? “Woe unto anyone who even looks with an evil eye at a devotee,” says Canakya pandit, yet they teach others to hate and blaspheme ritviks and Srila Prabhupada’s final directive (order, same thing), how long can such insufferable nonsense go on before Krishna smashes it?
All Srila Prabhupada talked about in 77 was deputies and ritviks, and never who was next acarya (“He said so many things and this point he missed?). All he said was “when I order” (withstanding the dubious context due to falsification), which was only FUTURE TENSE, with no evidence that he made such order later, (especially when he later said 3 times, “continue to be ritvik.”) This is their only flimsy evidence, and they dare to blaspheme the final directive of Prabhupada. All we can say is, dear Lord, please have mercy on their souls, and dear Lord, please have mercy on the fate of Srila Prabhupada’s movement.
Your servant, Radha Krishna dasa
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