GBC Resolutions -
What to do when your Iskcon guru becomes a demon!
by Hanuman das ACBS
What to do when your Iskcon guru becomes a demon!
Resolutions from the Governing Body Commission of Iskcon
65. That if a guru is engaged in sense gratification violating either one or more of the regulative principles but there is hope that he can be rectified, then his disciples should allow time for such rectification to take place and they should take shelter of Srila Prabhupad and senior Vaisnavas as siksha gurus.
66. That if a guru has become hopelessly entangled in sense gratification and it has been shown either by observation or from his own admissions that he has been regularly violating the regulative principles of Krishna Consciousness and that there is virtually no hope for his rectification, then the disciple should reject him and may accept re-initiation.
67. That if the Spiritual Master takes on demoniac qualities and becomes inimical to ISKCON he should be rejected and the disciple may take re- initiation.
68. That if it is ascertained either by the admission of the guru or through irrefutably reliable witness(es) that the guru was fallen at the time of giving initiation, then the disciple has a legitimate reason to reject him and take re-initiation.
69. That there should not be any public worship of a guru who is suspended.
70. That disciples of a suspended guru while performing arotik to the Deities should offer the various articles through Srila Prabhupada to the disciples succession.
71. That while offering obeisances in a public place the disciples of a suspended guru should recite Srila Prabhupada's pranama mantra aloud and should chant the mantras to the suspended gurus silently or not at all.
The above listed GBC resolutions prove that the GBC have completely deviated from Srila Prabhupada's teachings regarding the position of the spiritual master.
Srila Prabhupada informs us: " A guru... One cannot become guru who has no control over these things: vāco vegam, the urge of speaking nonsense. Vāco vegam. Krodha-vegam, the urge of anger. Mānasa-vegam, urge of mind. Udara-vegam, urge of the belly. Upastha-vegam, urge of the genital. In this way, all the six vegas, one who can control, he is fit for becoming guru." (Conversation - January 5, 1977, Bombay)
In his purport to Bhagavad-gita 7:14, Srila Prabhupada writes: "Another meaning of guṇa is rope; it is to be understood that the conditioned soul is tightly tied by the ropes of illusion. A man bound by the hands and feet cannot free himself-he must be helped by a person who is unbound. Because the bound cannot help the bound, the rescuer must be liberated. Therefore, only Lord Kṛṣṇa, or His bona fide representative the spiritual master, can release the conditioned soul. Without such superior help, one cannot be freed from the bondage of material nature."
In The Nectar of Instruction Srila Prabhupada writes: "In this verse Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī advises the devotee to be intelligent enough to distinguish between the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, madhyama-adhikārī and uttama-adhikārī. The devotee should also know his own position and should not try to imitate a devotee situated on a higher platform. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has given some practical hints to the effect that an uttama-adhikārī Vaiṣṇava can be recognized by his ability to convert many fallen souls to Vaiṣṇavism. One should not become a spiritual master unless he has attained the platform of uttama-adhikārī. A neophyte Vaiṣṇava or a Vaiṣṇava situated on the intermediate platform can also accept disciples, but such disciples must be on the same platform, and it should be understood that they cannot advance very well toward the ultimate goal of life under his insufficient guidance. Therefore a disciple should be careful to accept an uttama-adhikārī as a spiritual master."
In these and numerous other quotes Srila Prabhupada states that the spiritual master must be a liberated soul, above the influence of the modes of nature and the pushing of the senses. Whereas Srila Prabhupada states that the guru must have controlled his senses and is therefore not subject to fall down, the GBC state that the guru may become "engaged in sense gratification violating either one or more of the regulative principles." In fact the GBC further state that the guru may fall down and be "regularly violating the regulative principles of Krishna Consciousness and that there is virtually no hope for his rectification"!
Srila Prabhupada states that the "bound cannot help the bound", but if the spiritual master can become "hopelessly entangled in sense gratification", then how is he unbound? Srila Prabhupada states that:"One cannot become guru who has no control over these things: vāco vegam, the urge of speaking nonsense. Vāco vegam. Krodha-vegam, the urge of anger. Mānasa-vegam, urge of mind. Udara-vegam, urge of the belly. Upastha-vegam, urge of the genital "
Yet the GBC are here advising devotees what they should do if their spiritual master shows that he cannot control his senses. The GBC have been forced to write such resolutions because so many of their so-called spiritual masters have fallen down, appearing like conditioned souls bound up by their uncontrolled senses.
Thus the GBC have changed Srila Prabhupada's definition of a spiritual master from a person who "has attained the platform of uttama-adhikārī', to a "akaniṣṭha-adhikārī, or neophyte Vaiṣṇava". Actually the above symptoms would best describe the disciple rather than the guru. In resolution 67, the GBC state that the spiritual master may "take on demoniac qualities and become inimical to ISKCON."
What sort of spiritual master are they referring to? Again the GBC have been forced to make such statements because some of their spiritual masters have "taken on demoniac qualities and become inimical to ISKCON"! How can such so-called spiritual masters deliver their disciples if they cannot even deliver themselves?
But if this is not bad enough, the GBC then advise a devotee what to do if his/her spiritual master was actually fallen at the time he gave them initiation!! "That if it is ascertained either by the admission of the guru or through irrefutably reliable witness(es) that the guru was fallen at the time of giving initiation." Again the GBC have been forced to make such resolutions because it has be ascertained either by the admission of the guru or through irrefutably reliable witness(es) that some Iskcon gurus were fallen at the time of giving initiation!
These are obviously not the symptoms or characteristics of a bonafide spiritual master as taught by Srila Prabhupada. In fact they are hardly the characteristics of a bonafide devotee. Here also the GBC inform us how to deal with the "suspended guru" and the "hopelessly fallen guru." They state that: "If the guru become hopelessly entangled in sense gratification and it has been shown either by observation or from his own admissions that he has been regularly violating the regulative principles of Krishna Consciousness and that there is virtually no hope for his rectification, then the disciple should reject him and may accept re-initiation."
So what is "re-initiation"? And where does Srila Prabhupada explain the process of "re-initiation"? Thus to compensate for their speculating on the position of the spiritual master, the GBC have been forced to further speculate and create the process of re-initiation. But the instruction for the disciples with the "suspended guru", are beyond speculation, they are laughable. "That while offering obeisances in a public place the disciples of a suspended guru should recite Srila Prabhupada's pranama mantra aloud and should chant the mantras to the suspended gurus silently or not at all."
So when the disciples bows down he should "chant the mantras to the suspended gurus silently or not at all"
Why should the disciple chant the name of his/her suspended guru silently? Maybe so others can't hear his unholy name? What scripture are the GBC getting this from? "Re-initiation", "suspended guru", "hopelessly fallen guru", "chanting the pranam mantra silently"?? Finally the GBC instruct the poor disciples that if they want to perform arotika, in other words, if they want to worship Lord Krishna, they should do that through Srila Prabhupada!
"That disciples of a suspended guru while performing arotik to the Deities should offer the various articles through Srila Prabhupada to the disciples succession." Now why didn't they just tell us that in the first place?
Why? Because according to them, you cannot accept Srila Prabhupada as your bonafide spiritual master, that would be a dangerous speculation. Instead you have to accept one of his neophyte disciples that are being presented by the GBC that may become: A. engaged in sense gratification violating either one or more of the regulative principles but there is hope that he can be rectified, B. hopelessly entangled in sense gratification and it has been shown either by observation or from his own admissions that he has been regularly violating the regulative principles of Krishna Consciousness and that there is virtually no hope for his rectification, C.takes on demoniac qualities and becomes inimical to ISKCON, D. that the guru was fallen at the time of giving initiation.
So we can understand the GBC have deviated from Srila Prabhupada's by redefining the qualification of the spiritual master. This is very dangerous, as the worship of the bonafide spiritual master is paramount for the devotees humble offering to reach the Supreme Lord. In others words, Srila Prabhupada has given us the bonafide method for worshiping Lord Krishna, through the transparent via media of the bonafide spiritual master or acarya. If this system is breached then it may be questionable if the devotion manifest by the disciple is actually reaching the Supreme.
We cannot concoct a process for offering Bhakti to Lord Krishna, we have to follow the process given by Lord Krishna Himself. It's not that you can just stick a picture of any old Joe on the altar and worship the Lord through him, the spiritual master must be authorized and qualified coming in the chain of disciplic succession.
Therefore the devotees should understand the gravity of this deviation. This is not a political presentation, nor are we just having a go at the GBC. This is a factual deviation and the ramifications are serious and wide reaching.
What to do when your Iskcon guru becomes a demon!
Resolutions from the Governing Body Commission of Iskcon
65. That if a guru is engaged in sense gratification violating either one or more of the regulative principles but there is hope that he can be rectified, then his disciples should allow time for such rectification to take place and they should take shelter of Srila Prabhupad and senior Vaisnavas as siksha gurus.
66. That if a guru has become hopelessly entangled in sense gratification and it has been shown either by observation or from his own admissions that he has been regularly violating the regulative principles of Krishna Consciousness and that there is virtually no hope for his rectification, then the disciple should reject him and may accept re-initiation.
67. That if the Spiritual Master takes on demoniac qualities and becomes inimical to ISKCON he should be rejected and the disciple may take re- initiation.
68. That if it is ascertained either by the admission of the guru or through irrefutably reliable witness(es) that the guru was fallen at the time of giving initiation, then the disciple has a legitimate reason to reject him and take re-initiation.
69. That there should not be any public worship of a guru who is suspended.
70. That disciples of a suspended guru while performing arotik to the Deities should offer the various articles through Srila Prabhupada to the disciples succession.
71. That while offering obeisances in a public place the disciples of a suspended guru should recite Srila Prabhupada's pranama mantra aloud and should chant the mantras to the suspended gurus silently or not at all.
The above listed GBC resolutions prove that the GBC have completely deviated from Srila Prabhupada's teachings regarding the position of the spiritual master.
Srila Prabhupada informs us: " A guru... One cannot become guru who has no control over these things: vāco vegam, the urge of speaking nonsense. Vāco vegam. Krodha-vegam, the urge of anger. Mānasa-vegam, urge of mind. Udara-vegam, urge of the belly. Upastha-vegam, urge of the genital. In this way, all the six vegas, one who can control, he is fit for becoming guru." (Conversation - January 5, 1977, Bombay)
In his purport to Bhagavad-gita 7:14, Srila Prabhupada writes: "Another meaning of guṇa is rope; it is to be understood that the conditioned soul is tightly tied by the ropes of illusion. A man bound by the hands and feet cannot free himself-he must be helped by a person who is unbound. Because the bound cannot help the bound, the rescuer must be liberated. Therefore, only Lord Kṛṣṇa, or His bona fide representative the spiritual master, can release the conditioned soul. Without such superior help, one cannot be freed from the bondage of material nature."
In The Nectar of Instruction Srila Prabhupada writes: "In this verse Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī advises the devotee to be intelligent enough to distinguish between the kaniṣṭha-adhikārī, madhyama-adhikārī and uttama-adhikārī. The devotee should also know his own position and should not try to imitate a devotee situated on a higher platform. Śrīla Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura has given some practical hints to the effect that an uttama-adhikārī Vaiṣṇava can be recognized by his ability to convert many fallen souls to Vaiṣṇavism. One should not become a spiritual master unless he has attained the platform of uttama-adhikārī. A neophyte Vaiṣṇava or a Vaiṣṇava situated on the intermediate platform can also accept disciples, but such disciples must be on the same platform, and it should be understood that they cannot advance very well toward the ultimate goal of life under his insufficient guidance. Therefore a disciple should be careful to accept an uttama-adhikārī as a spiritual master."
In these and numerous other quotes Srila Prabhupada states that the spiritual master must be a liberated soul, above the influence of the modes of nature and the pushing of the senses. Whereas Srila Prabhupada states that the guru must have controlled his senses and is therefore not subject to fall down, the GBC state that the guru may become "engaged in sense gratification violating either one or more of the regulative principles." In fact the GBC further state that the guru may fall down and be "regularly violating the regulative principles of Krishna Consciousness and that there is virtually no hope for his rectification"!
Srila Prabhupada states that the "bound cannot help the bound", but if the spiritual master can become "hopelessly entangled in sense gratification", then how is he unbound? Srila Prabhupada states that:"One cannot become guru who has no control over these things: vāco vegam, the urge of speaking nonsense. Vāco vegam. Krodha-vegam, the urge of anger. Mānasa-vegam, urge of mind. Udara-vegam, urge of the belly. Upastha-vegam, urge of the genital "
Yet the GBC are here advising devotees what they should do if their spiritual master shows that he cannot control his senses. The GBC have been forced to write such resolutions because so many of their so-called spiritual masters have fallen down, appearing like conditioned souls bound up by their uncontrolled senses.
Thus the GBC have changed Srila Prabhupada's definition of a spiritual master from a person who "has attained the platform of uttama-adhikārī', to a "akaniṣṭha-adhikārī, or neophyte Vaiṣṇava". Actually the above symptoms would best describe the disciple rather than the guru. In resolution 67, the GBC state that the spiritual master may "take on demoniac qualities and become inimical to ISKCON."
What sort of spiritual master are they referring to? Again the GBC have been forced to make such statements because some of their spiritual masters have "taken on demoniac qualities and become inimical to ISKCON"! How can such so-called spiritual masters deliver their disciples if they cannot even deliver themselves?
But if this is not bad enough, the GBC then advise a devotee what to do if his/her spiritual master was actually fallen at the time he gave them initiation!! "That if it is ascertained either by the admission of the guru or through irrefutably reliable witness(es) that the guru was fallen at the time of giving initiation." Again the GBC have been forced to make such resolutions because it has be ascertained either by the admission of the guru or through irrefutably reliable witness(es) that some Iskcon gurus were fallen at the time of giving initiation!
These are obviously not the symptoms or characteristics of a bonafide spiritual master as taught by Srila Prabhupada. In fact they are hardly the characteristics of a bonafide devotee. Here also the GBC inform us how to deal with the "suspended guru" and the "hopelessly fallen guru." They state that: "If the guru become hopelessly entangled in sense gratification and it has been shown either by observation or from his own admissions that he has been regularly violating the regulative principles of Krishna Consciousness and that there is virtually no hope for his rectification, then the disciple should reject him and may accept re-initiation."
So what is "re-initiation"? And where does Srila Prabhupada explain the process of "re-initiation"? Thus to compensate for their speculating on the position of the spiritual master, the GBC have been forced to further speculate and create the process of re-initiation. But the instruction for the disciples with the "suspended guru", are beyond speculation, they are laughable. "That while offering obeisances in a public place the disciples of a suspended guru should recite Srila Prabhupada's pranama mantra aloud and should chant the mantras to the suspended gurus silently or not at all."
So when the disciples bows down he should "chant the mantras to the suspended gurus silently or not at all"
Why should the disciple chant the name of his/her suspended guru silently? Maybe so others can't hear his unholy name? What scripture are the GBC getting this from? "Re-initiation", "suspended guru", "hopelessly fallen guru", "chanting the pranam mantra silently"?? Finally the GBC instruct the poor disciples that if they want to perform arotika, in other words, if they want to worship Lord Krishna, they should do that through Srila Prabhupada!
"That disciples of a suspended guru while performing arotik to the Deities should offer the various articles through Srila Prabhupada to the disciples succession." Now why didn't they just tell us that in the first place?
Why? Because according to them, you cannot accept Srila Prabhupada as your bonafide spiritual master, that would be a dangerous speculation. Instead you have to accept one of his neophyte disciples that are being presented by the GBC that may become: A. engaged in sense gratification violating either one or more of the regulative principles but there is hope that he can be rectified, B. hopelessly entangled in sense gratification and it has been shown either by observation or from his own admissions that he has been regularly violating the regulative principles of Krishna Consciousness and that there is virtually no hope for his rectification, C.takes on demoniac qualities and becomes inimical to ISKCON, D. that the guru was fallen at the time of giving initiation.
So we can understand the GBC have deviated from Srila Prabhupada's by redefining the qualification of the spiritual master. This is very dangerous, as the worship of the bonafide spiritual master is paramount for the devotees humble offering to reach the Supreme Lord. In others words, Srila Prabhupada has given us the bonafide method for worshiping Lord Krishna, through the transparent via media of the bonafide spiritual master or acarya. If this system is breached then it may be questionable if the devotion manifest by the disciple is actually reaching the Supreme.
We cannot concoct a process for offering Bhakti to Lord Krishna, we have to follow the process given by Lord Krishna Himself. It's not that you can just stick a picture of any old Joe on the altar and worship the Lord through him, the spiritual master must be authorized and qualified coming in the chain of disciplic succession.
Therefore the devotees should understand the gravity of this deviation. This is not a political presentation, nor are we just having a go at the GBC. This is a factual deviation and the ramifications are serious and wide reaching.
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ReplyDeleteYes, but at least most devotees are not frightened little five years old children who wet their pants when they might have to give their names. You are a worse coward than a five year old little girl. Quit wetting your pants like a little baby and tell us your name, oh I forgot, you have to go and change your pants, you cannot do that. What a cry baby you are, you have less fighting spirit than the hundreds of women who are fighting with us, you have no courage at all, you are a giant coward cry baby. Go hug your teddy bear and grab your momma's skirt, little coward cry baby. ys pd
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