© 1999 VNN
|
EDITORIAL January 24, 2000 VNN5330 Comment on this story What The GBC Should Be Doing BY LOCANANANDA DAS EDITORIAL, Jan 24 (VNN) — From Anonymous: This is a submission that I found on one of the VNN forums. I felt that it should be posted on the VNN News page. Your inquiry goes to the very heart of the issue. The GBC members were meant to function as representatives of the acharya to handle everything from arranging to publish Srila Prabhupada's books to arranging for Deity installations. They were supposed to inspect the accounting records of each temple and verify that the funds were being spent judiciously. They were to see that the devotees were properly understanding the philosophy and were engaged in preaching and sankirtana activities. Basically, they were responsible to see that spiritual standards were being maintained throughout the society and that devotees were nicely engaged according to their desire to serve Krishna. Although the GBC body was considered to be the final managerial authority, they were never to be considered an absolute authority. Their resolutions were supposed to be reviewed by the temple presidents and modified according to their suggestions. And then there were the sannyasis who were to also meet and offer their advice to the GBC. Srila Prabhupada was counting on the sannyasis to remain independent so that they could judge a situation without prejudice. The final decisions made by the GBC body were to be implemented, but if they proved to be impractical, they could be changed at their next annual meeting. If any devotee was having a problem with the local GBC in his area, he could ask that GBC men in adjacent zones intervene, so no individual GBC secretary was an absolute authority either, even in his own zone. It is interesting that with the advent of the personal computer, devotees can now address their problems to any GBC man anywhere in the world, or to all of them at once. Srila Prabhupada felt burdened when he would have to reply to a dozen letters in a day, so he asked devotees to write to their local GBC representative to solve their problems or have their questions answered. If they still did not understand, they could address their question to Srila Prabhupada. Today, GBC men say they receive one hundred or more e-mail messages daily. (It is likely that they will cite this as an excuse to not go on sankirtana.) The GBC should probably try to reestablish the position of the local GBC man as a leader that devotees in that area are happy to work with. The local devotees should therefore have a say in who their GBC man will be. Each GBC man should be required to organize an advisory board of "independent brahmanas", as you have suggested, so he won't be functioning in a vacuum, especially since his godbrothers may even be more experienced that he is. I have not had the opportunity to study how these three groups interact today -- the GBC body, temple presidents and sannyasis -- but one thing we do know is that the sannyasis can no longer offer an independent opinion because of the emphasis on initiating which requires GBC approval. The emphasis should be on preaching and distributing the chanting of the Holy Name, not on who gets the green light to initiate. Srila Prabhupada said: "Preaching means to make Jagai-Madhai a devotee." but today's sannyasis are rarely engaged in preaching to Jagai and Madhai. They prefer to preach where there is little challenge -- to the choir, to life members, and to their own disciples -- to collect some money so they can travel to all of the festivals and eat voraciously and then sleep. Not all, but many. Now here are a couple of points that the GBC should be aware of. One is that they are responsible to preserve all that Srila Prabhupada left as his legacy. This includes the books he wrote and the magazine he founded, Back to Godhead. It is the duty of the GBC to oppose the changing of Srila Prabhupada's books and to reestablish the BTG as a monthly magazine for mass distribution. His Divine Grace had said: "Back to Godhead is my life and soul." "Back to Godhead is the backbone of our movement." And in a letter to Rupanuga, he clearly indicated that Back to Godhead magazine was not outside of the jurisdiction of the GBC: "BTG Board can be changed by GBC" (Letter to Rupanuga 9-23-76) In a discussion, Srila Prabhupada similarly confirmed that the BBT was to be managed by the GBC, just as it had been a GBC decision to move the press work from New York to Los Angeles. GBC member: "The BBT is separate from ISKCON for legal purposes, but the management of it is done by the GBC." SP: "Yes. That's nice." This is a major part of the legacy His Divine Grace entrusted to the GBC -- his books and publications -- and they have totally neglected their responsibility to preserve and protect his life's work. Another major deviation concerns GBC men, sannyasis and gurus having their own fund-raising, bank accounts, investment accounts, money lending businesses, etc. Here is the verdict given by His Divine Grace in this regard: SP: "He's not holding money, GBC. GBC practically does not hold any money. GBC is not supposed to deal directly. He has to inspect, that's all. GBC should inspect book, account, that it is done very nicely." While temples are in dire straits to meet their financial obligations, GBC's, gurus and sannyasis are "hitting up" their congregation members for donations to subsidize their independent programs. This is all a bogus arrangement never approved by Srila Prabhupada. What's more, there is no reporting of how the funds are spent or how much has been collected. All nonsense. Many devotees feel that it is a waste of time to try to reform the current GBC. My point of view is that an institution is required to propagate the Krishna consciousness movement, whether ISKCON or some other organization. Either way, we must proceed according to Srila Prabhupada's instructions. So there is never any loss in repeating the words of our Guru Maharaja. Just see how an earlier post concerning the World Sankirtana Party has enlivened senior men like Mahabuddhi Prabhu who was encouraged by His Divine Grace personally to organize such a program. Mahabuddhi Prabhu, you will not need to bring a cane for walking because I am ready to carry you on my shoulder, if need be, just to have your association. Your servant, Locanananda Das Comment on this story  Contact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
NEWS DESK | EDITORIALS | TOP |
