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EDITORIAL December 22, 1998 VNN2722 Neti, Neti Organization? BY PAVANI DEVI DASI USA, Dec 22 (VNN) — Dear VNN, I would like to commend you for printing what is current in ISKCON regardless of which "side" the news is coming from. If only ISKCON in general were as liberal. But it seems, alas, that Srila Prabhupada's beloved ISKCON has become simply a censoring, neti, neti organization wherein the witch hunters of heresy find shelter and veneration. Recently, the BBT has been forced to start selling books to everyone at wholesale prices and to give up their power and control motivated modus operandi of selling to anyone other than ISKCON temples at prices so high that most devotees who wanted to maintain their families by book distribution could not do so. Certainly, the new policy that has recently been forced on the BBT will expand the preaching movement more than curtail it. Then there is ISKCON policy to towards women; another neti, neti censoring program. Why not just open up ISKCON equally to men and women on all levels? Wouldn't women and honest men be a lot more encouraged and enlivened than they are now? Only the ones who have an inclination to perform specific functions would come forward to do so or to be trained to do so would come forward. In fact it would be a boom too good to be true that all the women would suddenly come forward to do management services and preach more. What would be so bad about that anyway? Wouldn't that make for a more expanding preaching movement? What about the initiation issue? Why not let whoever would like to initiate as a ritvik or officiating acharya on behalf of Srila Prabhupada do so and whoever would like to initiate as a Bonafide Spiritual Master do so and whoever would like to take shelter of either do so? After all, the point is to make devotees and in the end every one is chanting Hare Krishna and studying Srila Prabhupada's books anyway? It seems to me the most prominent result of ISKCON's policy to date is to drive away thousands of sincere and honest devotees who don't happen to support all this power, control and fear motivated management. Here in Los Angeles this is very visible. The programs are becoming smaller and smaller. Very few American householder devotees attend the programs here. In fact, the Govardhana Puja Festival feast was supposed to be served upstairs in the small prasadam room where the Temple devotees eat breakfast and lunch. They had a few guests show up so it was served outside where they had a very short line up of devotees in the prasadam line. So the results are there. Hey, devotees know where they're not welcomed. Small minds try to control and censor and lose touch with Srila Prabhupada's heart, his compassion & his desire that the whole planet become Krishna conscious. Have you read the ISKCON law book lately? It's pretty pathetic isn't it? How many more laws will the GBC pass? When will ISKCON management and the GBC realize that all their laws are for nil as the only way to really manage is through love and purity extended to everyone. Comment on this Story This story URL: http://www.vnn.org/editorials/ET9812/ET22-2722.html
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