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EDITORIAL January 27, 2000 VNN5347 Related VNN Stories Response To LA Temple Board Decision BY GAURIDASA PANDITA DASA  EDITORIAL, Jan 27 (VNN) — Response To LA Temple Board Decision To keep Heresy Paper & Deny DebateDear LA Temple Board Members and all Prabhus, Please accept my respectful obeisance's. All glories to Jagat Guru Srila Prabhupada! Thank you for your well written response to my open letter to Svavasa Prabhu. And thank you for your invitation to meet with you soon. I am looking forward to it and am coming to you as your friend and Godbrother, not your enemy! We may have different opinions on certain details of devotional service but we have the same goals. We are in this together. We all want to be Krsna conscious and see it spread throughout the world. I spoke with Bhakta Charu Swami recently here in LA. We went into Srila Prabhupada's garden because that's where we both have fond memories of serving Srila Prabhupada back in 1977 in his garden in Vrindavan. I told my memories of what I heard Srila Prabhupada say about wanting devotees to initiate on his behalf after he left the planet. Bhakta Charu agreed that there are problems that need to be worked out and he said that he even recommended to the whole GBC body that they stop initiating until something satisfactory can be worked out. Bhakta Charu said that he told his initiates that Srila Prabhupada is their 'delivering guru'. That is the same as the ritvik system! Srila Prabhupada is the delivering guru for all of us! Srila Prabhupada and Lord Christ are both Saktavesa avatars sent by Krsna to do this preaching work. They can both deliver their disciples now and in the future. We should act as preachers also and spread the good news of the Sankirtan mission. The world needs the mercy of Sri Sri Guru and Gouranga and we are still embroiled in this initiation debate. Srila Prabhupada told Tamal in SF 68 that the following and chanting are the 'real initiation' and that he may do a official sacrifice or he may not! (That's another side point of which there are many.) Bhakta Charu Swami was a gentleman and that is always appreciated. If we could follow this example the fruits of our devotion would be ripe sooner. When I talk to most of my 'guru' godbrothers I get different opinions from them. I have a friendly relationship with all of them. H.H.Radhanatha Maharaja was an inspiration to me with his nice kirtan and classes. He inspires me like Visnujana Swami did and I can't let politics take that away. We can be inspired by others and take full shelter of Srila Prabhupada at the same time. That's what Visnujana Swami did and that's what we should do. We should preach to others that Srila Prabhupada is the 'Delivering Guru' and we are the helpers. Let's turn the tide from politics to preaching. I appreciate this opportunity and look forward to meeting you. We need to cooperate together; not conspire against each other. Srila Prabhupada is our common denominator. We all agree he is still the ultimate authority for ISKCON and it's GBC. We agree that the GBC should be the managing authority and Srila Prabhupada wanted this system to continue without change. Originally it was set up to be on a voting system. I think this would be better. To vote for the GBC members and temple leaders regularly. This would curb corruption and make the leading devotees more responsive to the devotees needs. That's a whole other issue though and that's why I hope istagosthis can return as a regular temple function as Srila Prabhupada set it up. All of these issues need to be discussed along with regular practical temple and devotee concerns and the istagosthis is a good forum for this. Another advantage of having istagosthis is that it has a positive effect on the devotees and friends and congregational members. They feel more involved and many devotees would like to do more service if they knew they could. I'm sorry to hear that you will not remove your Heresy Pamphlet from the alter of Sri Sri Rukmini and Dwarkadisha for public distribution. As you may know the official GBC position on the guru in ISKCON is redefined almost yearly. Last year the GBC admitted it was a big mistake to follow the zonal acharya system for so many years. So at least we can agree that the GBC are not perfect and there are room for adjustments. My goal is to work to convince the GBC members especially and that is why I composed a report with all of the important information called On My Behalf for the GBC members to consider. I don't give it to innocent guests. I hope to work it out at the top and look forward to any cooperation we can get. If you would like the facts without fault-finding please read my report available on my website or by request. You have made up a new word, 'rtvikism' which we or Srila Prabhupada never used. You have tried to degrade the ritvik word and initiation system established in ISKCON by Srila Prabhupada. Your conclusions in your Heresy paper contradict Srila Prabhupada's direct instructions. The pamphlet may reflect the current GBC opinions on ISKCON initiations today but since that may change tomorrow or next year it is not very sound. Your 'Ritvik Heresy' pamplet is not based on guru sastra and sadhu and it should therefore be removed from the temple room. One of the devotees on the temple board told me that they put that ritvik paper in the temple room just to get in my face in hopes that I would just leave. Then after a year of no response to my first private letter to Svavasa I decided to go public on VNN and hope to get at least some kind of response. I wasn't thinking I would be threathened to be kicked out if I expressed a different opinion on VNN! Afterall, it makes us think of Srila Prabhupada so it's all good. We should try to understand his supreme position in ISKCON and work together to make him happy. That devotee also asked me twice why I don't just go 'go and start my own temple'. I've done that. I've worked hard day and night to make devotees only to have them told by others that Srila Prabhupada couldn't be their guru anymore. A few of them are initiated and still attending our Prabhupada center in Seattle. Preaching centers are great and must be done but If we keep splintering off the main branch of Srila Prabhupada we will lose our collective potency. I said that Srila Prabhupada would want us to cooperate not separate. In fact he said not to leave his ISKCON. As his disciple I have an obligation to help his mission in the best way I can. I am trying my best to do this against all odds. Another point here is that we are not actively approaching guests with political papers for or against the ritvik initiation system. Since we are not focusing on the congregation neither should you. Your pamplets are confusing them in the name of preaching. Srila Prabhupada personally used this initiation system especially in the last few years where he mostly accepted disciples through the temple presidents recomendations by letter. Many initiated disciples never even personally saw Srila Prabhupada but are still his disciples. Since you say that Srila Prabhupada is still all of our siksa guru and the siksa guru is most important and the main link in our Sampradaya, we all have that in common also. We all know Srila Prabhupada is a special guru and the founder and acharya of ISKCON. We all know that no one else will take his place. At the same time we should show respect to all devotees from bhaktin Joey to the senior sanyasi's. Even an officiating priest (ritvik) gets the special honors and offerings at times. So for those with big egos there is still some worship of the initiators allowed; but it is minimal and the worship is concentrated on the deliverer acharya, Srila Prabhupada. Lord Visnu appeared at the ceremony of the ritvik priests in the Srimad Bhagavatam. A bonafide ritvik priest is an honorable position. It has been made a bad word but that needs to be rectified as soon as possible. You say that you want to keep the guests from being mislead about 'rtvikism' but that's exactly what you are doing by keeping that paper there. That paper is a 'dis-service' to Srila Prabhupada and it is creating the party spirit in ISKCON today. We have Srila Prabhupada's voice on tape saying to continue the ritvik initiation system after he was no longer with us. It's in the July 9th, 1977 Newsletter to all GBC's and T.P.'s and I personally heard him talk about this to the secretary, Tamal Krsna Maharaja, in the garden. He ordered that his ritvik initiation system continue after his departure, henceforward from July 9th 1977 on in ISKCON. So to preach against it is a dis-service that will be shown in time. I'm sorry you will not debate this matter. I'm used to your reaction. I didn't think I would convince all of you at this point; but I hoped for an honest attempt at understanding the history at least. I wonder how you think you will really resolve this most important matter without discussing it? You said this issue has been debated for many years. There has never been a follow up of the 1990 GBC meeting in San Diego with a resolution calling for another debate. You say this issue has been discussed 'at all levels' but this is also not really true. Not openly with both sides represented. We need istagosthis to resolve these matters. Can you respond to my request for regular istagosthi's also? The Chakra Debate you mentioned was not open to all. And there were reports of possible vote tampering. I sent in a letter but it was not posted as usual. Adhridharan Prabhu won that debate. He is a scholor and a gentleman. He can stand up to anyone on this issue and win; because he is right, He is getting Srila Prabhupada's and Lord Chaitanya's mercy. When you have the Truth behind you you can move mountains, which is the task at hand. You say it has been debated enough, but I am one of the only witnesses to these facts and you certainly have not discussed the matter with me nor has 99% of the GBC members. This matter will always be debated in ISKCON until it is accepted by the GBC. Then ISKCON will flourish again with Srila Prabhupada in the center. We will have good and long kirtan like the good old days, and great healthy prasadam. Then others will be attracted and join. I am looking forward to meeting with you prabhus, the temple board members at your earliest convenience. I would like to clear the air of a few misconceptions against Srila Prabhupada's initiation system. One of the main one's is that we say that only Srila Prabhupada is the guru and the disciplic succession ends with him. I've never said that nor did he. It is natural for one guru to follow another. There is an etiquette to follow that you can be a guru in your own temple but not in your guru's temples. The succession continues through Srila Prabhupada within and without ISKCON and with his disciples, outside of ISKCON officially. I heard Srila Prabhupada say that we should not worship other gurus in ISKCON because it would create enmity among his disciples. I feel your decision to keep your Heresy pamphlet in the temple room and not allow further discussion of it is temporary and not in the mood of cooperation that Srila Prabhupada wants. When it comes down to it we are together. If there is a war or natural disaster we have to stick together. I hope we can learn to respect each other as Vaisnava's should and at least agree to disagree respectfully. Yours in Srila Prabhupada's service, Gauridasa Pandita Dasa PS: If it will make you happy that I don't come to the LA temple functions as much as I do then I will comply with your desire. If however, you try to ban me from the temple officially, I will fight it to the Supreme court based on principle. As far as your statement that I may have preached about this in the temple it is not true. Therefore I have not broken any GBC resolutions. They passed one to ban the use of styrofoam cups etc. and a month later at the San Diego Love feast the GBC himself was passing them out! What's the use of a resolution if it is not taken seriously anyway by the GBC themselves? I will not give up my right to free speech but I'll try to do it in a pleasing way like Srila Prabhupada would. As your friend. I look forward to communicating with you.Haribol ! About the Author  Other Stories by this AuthorRelated VNN Stories Comment on this storyContact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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