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EDITORIAL April 25, 1999 VNN3691 Zonal Acharya System BY ANONYMOUS DAS EDITORIAL, Apr 25 (VNN) — After reading what Paramadvaiti Maharaj said regarding Srila Sridhar Maharaj being used as a scapegoat for all the problems confronting Iskcon after the demise of the Founder-Acharya I would like to add a few thoughts on the matter in the hopes of churning the pool of Vaishnav speculations in the hopes that we can eventually reach the realm of absolute tattva. Why do I say Ôspeculation'? Because although we may all be able to recite different shastric evidences and different events from the past, we being still Ôunrealized souls' still bound by the three modes of nature a unable to see the Truth,As It Is. That is why the tendency to refer matters to the person who is amongst us and fully realized is the real solution to this rather precarious situation we are in at the moment. Still for the sake of discussion I would like to make it obvious that the person who set of the ÔZonal Acharya System' was His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. No, you say! Well, just listen to the appointment tapes and see for yourself. Srila Prabhupada named in 1977 at the request of the GBC representatives eleven men who were to conduct initiations in different parts of the world or zones. When asked who would initiate in India, Srila Prabhupada said "I am here." So, those who were in India would be able to take initiation from Srila Prabhupada directly and those who were outside of India would take from other disciples of Srila Prabhupada, but still be considered his disciples. And yet, it was understood that when he passed away as he suggested, that his disciples would then become Ôregular gurus'. But at that time when the system was first initiated, anyone who lived in a particular zone had to more or less take initiation from the resident guru, who initiated on behalf of the Founder-Acharya. With the demise of the Founder-Acharya, the system was carried over intact. The initial gurus function remained the same and their turf more or less remained the same. At that point we should have realized that zones could no longer be restricted as long as an aspiring disciple wished to accept diksha from a particular guru who may not have been initiating in his Ôzone' before. It is a matter of the heart. Whoever inspires one the most in one's devotional service and is in the disciplic succession of Mahaprabhu Sri Chaitanya. Unfortunately, the real disease of the zonal acharya system which Srila Prabhupada set up came when disciples of His Divine Grace made claims to their turf and restricted others from coming in and inspiring devotees to the point of initiating them. It was a clear case of lording it over the aspiring devotees and abusing the actual gurus and the zonal system. One of the first things we were Ôsupposed' to learn out of all the years of intense hearing and serving Srila Prabhupada is that we cannot claim anyone or anything as belonging to us, since we are not the creators of the material energy or the soul. It all belongs to the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Krishna. The tendency to lord it over matter or spirit for that matter(spirit) is what got us into the material world in the first place. To add another covering of ignorance while dressed in saffron or totting a danda is akin to disobeying your spiritual masters instructions, which is one of the ten offenses to the Holy Name, and which inhibits the natural maturation of Krishna Consciousness. Thus many Ôgurus' became entangled in Maya and spoiled the society founded by their spiritual master, although many may not admit it. The essential point, in regards to advancing in Krishna Consciousness is hearing from the realized soul and of course living in the society of devotees who do not fall prey to Maya and are not lording it over the material energy or the spiritual aspirants. Although many disciples of Srila Prabhupada's disciples are initiated by them and serving them, still for the most part they may be studying the words of the Founder-Acharya for absolute understanding which of course leads to absolute perfection of the human form of life. There may be an even clear understanding on the part of the devotee that his guru is really just a little less covered over than himself, but since the books of His Divine Grace are taught and referred to constantly there is no fear or doubt of deliverance since the words of a pure devotee are non-different from him, AS LONG AS THOSE WORDS ARE NOT CHANGED AFTER HIS DEPARTURE (or before his departure if he is unaware of any changes.) If we know that the words of Bhaktisiddhanta are free from tampering, we can also take instruction from him, although we should know that after 1932 his disciples did in fact edit his books and thereby render the benefit from reading them faulty or askewed. This was also confirmed by the former sannyasi, Rebatinandana das on an ITV tape interview. The same could be said of the books of any of the realized souls in our disciplic succession. It would be very hard to know, really, if the translations of such books of antiquity are actual renderings. However, if such books or knowledge of the past acharyas is rendered into any language by a realized soul, then there is absolute perfection available to us. The real necessity is to hear from the realized soul or at least read the pure unadulterated words of the pure souls. However, the safest and most perfect process is to have the living presence of such a pure soul. The only problem in this situation is that in our covered stage of blooming Krishna consciousness or perhaps budding Krishna consciousness, we may not be able to recognize exactly who is the real realized soul. Such realized souls never make the claim to be such and on the other hand we may have many unrealized souls who do make that claim. What can we do in our position other than pray with all our might that the unlimitedly merciful Lords, Chaitanya and Nityananda be merciful to us and cry for the direct help of Radha and Krishna , Who are everywhere and respond according to our intent as the Lord Himself says in the Bhagavad-gita. This seems to be the best course of action to me as long as we are sincere and to the best of our ability following the rules and regulations set up be the previous acharya. But coming back to the initial point we should not as Paramadvaiti Maharaj says blame Srila Sridhar Maharaj for misguiding Iskcon when it was Srila Prabhupada who really set the Zonal Acharya System in place back in 1977. But out of his perhaps fear of devotees not getting the absolute Truth from the Ôzonies' and fearing perhaps also that the Ôzonies' would overstep their bounds of limited realization, he, our merciful and perfect Founder-Acharya asked Srila Sridhar Maharaj to live in the Mayapur Temple and speak the absolute truth to the inquiring devotees. It would seem to me to be obvious that Srila Prabhupada knew that he would definitely be not around in 1978 and that Srila Sridhar Maharaj would. If he accepted the post of ÔPresident' of Iskcon, which Srila Prabhupada offered to him, then the sincere disciples could have siksha from one of the world's foremost prema-bhaktas which only emphasizes too well the fact that Krishna consciousness is absolutely directed and inspired by Ôsravana', hearing from the realized soul and reading the unedited words (at least after the departure) of such fully realized souls. This we refer to as ÔBhagavat sampradaya' or the channel of full realization through the prema-bhaktas, who as we should well know are for the most recent part all in Ômanjari bhav' or direct assistants to the gopis of Braja in the spiritual world. Now why Srila Sridhar Maharaj did not accept the position of ÔPresident' of Iskcon when he no doubt must have had immense love for our Srila Prabhupada and vice versa. As we should know Srila Prabhupada even vowed to put in an elevator so that Sridhar Maharaj would not have to deal with climbing stairs. Yet, Sridhar Maharaj did not accept, and here we are today with Iskcon now seemingly orphaned by the departure of its father. I can only surmise with my limited intelligence that Srila Sridhar Maharaj knew somehow that if he had entered Iskcon in an official capacity that he would have had to deal with some very envious personalities and who would have no doubt committed some sinister deeds to shut him up or expel him. After all look what happened to the one fully realized soul who actually came out of Iskcon, His Divine Grace Gour Govinda Maharaj. He got "beaten on the head" by so many of the Gang of Bad Company who tried with their utmost to silence him and his disciples that he had to leave the world and go back to Goloka. Krishna must have cried Himself to sleep that night that Maharaj left his body in Shreedham Mayapur and for that Maha-maha-offense Iskcon again is suffering today. Srila Sridhar still got offended staying in his own Math. What would have been the case had he come over and stayed in our Iskcon? An offense to a kanistha bhakta is one thing but an offense to a madhyam-bhakta is elevated to maha-aparadh. The offense to an uttama bhakta, however goes up to the level of Maha-maha-aparadh and we can hardly imagine the consequences. The only recourse left is to beg the persons we have offended for their forgiveness and serve them as they would have wished. We know that even the Lord Himself cannot forgive an offense to His pure devotee, so our predicament can only be relieved if somehow or other we can please such previous acharyas and MOST IMPORTANT, NOT OFFEND ANYMORE ACHARYAS. In fact , if we have really learned our lesson then we should immediately serve such pure devotees (regardless of what their affiliations or non-affiliations are) just as if there were the embodiment of our previous acharya with whom we missed so much of an opportunity to serve and love. Now we have the chance with our few remaining years to do so. Otherwise, even if we contend that it was not us that caused the offense but our Ôleaders', then being their supporters by not doing the needful and openly rejecting them or speaking out our minds to them and others, and being controlled by fear and intimidation doing nothing, we are still culpable. Now is the time to act in real Krishna consciousness. Serve the pure unadulterated words of the previous acharyas and pray for the Lord to give us the association of a realized soul here and now. As much as I would like to sign this letter, I must admit that the heart opens up and speaks more openly when I hide behind an anonymous. I hope you forgive me. I must admit I am still controlled by fear and intimidation. Yours, Anonymous das Comment on this Story | Contact VNN regarding this Story
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