Official GBC Statement On Bangalore Issue

ISKCON official statement
from the group represented by Madhu Pandit Prabhu
and a committee of ISKCON’s GBC

ON: MARCH 2, 2020

Dear Vaishnavas,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

What follows is a shared statement from the group represented by Madhu Pandit Prabhu and a committee of ISKCON’s GBC. Our two groups of Vaishnavas, all followers and servants of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada, have met several times over the last few years and twice
in the last several months.

We do so out of a genuine desire to see if our differences can be reconciled and our purposes harmonized. We have understood through our ongoing conversations our similarities and differences, both philosophical and in practice, with more clarity. We recognize that we have much in common, including our desire to serve Sri Krishna and the mission of Lord Caitanya and Srila Prabhupada in spreading Krishna consciousness all over the world.

At the same time, there remain serious and essential differences between us. While we remain hopeful that these differences can be resolved, we also recognize that the court case between us is ongoing.

We have agreed to continue our dialogue and will meet again in a few months. We do so realizing that the more we listen and try to understand the issues that separate us, the better chance we have to find common ground.

In the meantime, we hope that devotees who are members of our two constituencies will minimize any animosity towards each other. Praying for the continued guidance of Lord Sri Krishna and Srila Prabhupada, we remain,

Your servants,

Bhaktivaibhava Swami
Madhu Pandit das
Jayapataka Swami
Stoka Krishna Swami
Gopal Krishna Goswami
Canchalapati das
Bhanu Swami Jay Chaitanya das
Anuttama das
Muralisyam das

[PADA: Right now it seems more and more that the GBC position is splintering and floundering. For example, the official ISKCON GBC is not considered as bona fide by the "India Continental Committee" (ICC) headed by Basu Ghosh and his team of managers in India, for voting to support female diksha gurus. 

How can Madhu Pandit -- or any of us either -- "work under the GBC" when the ICC does not accept the authority of the GBC? If India is operating under the ICC and not the GBC, then how can people surrender to the GBC, which is not recognized as the main authority in India? Meanwhile some ICC folks have threatened to sue the GBC in court for supporting female diksha gurus. 

And the ICC has assembled some "scholars" to claim that the female diksha guru program will not be accepted in India, or by ISKCON. How can anyone work "under the GBC" in India, when the ICC managing committee of Basu Ghosh there has rejected the GBC? To whom will we be surrendering to?

Meanwhile a big guru in ISKCON, the sannyasa disciple of Jayapataka named Bhakti Vikas swami, recently made a video saying he is experiencing great anxiety meeting with the GBC -- because they are not following Srila Prabhupada's standards. And thus BVKS has to constantly chastise them. 

How can anyone surrender to the GBC, when their own gurus are so much fearful of meeting the GBC "they cannot sleep at night worrying about meeting the GBC." We need to surrender to the GBC, when their own gurus cannot, or they have to be forced to meet the GBC by a process of duress?

Various other gurus of the GBC also did not want to meet with the GBC and more or less boycotted their system. If the gurus of the GBC are fearful of meeting the GBC, because they are not following Srila Prabhupada, then how can anyone else work under their authority if -- according to their own gurus -- they are not following Srila Prabhupada? 

We and / or Bangalore have to work under the GBC, but their own gurus are criticizing and challenging what the GBC is saying. How is all this going to work? Some of the members of the Basu Ghosh ICC have said they will sue the GBC for supporting women diksha gurus. At the same time Malati and Urmila, prime candidates for women guru posts, have been fighting their own battles of credibility in and around ISKCON. For example it has been revealed that Malati was a former groupie of Prithu Putra's Satanic process, thus -- how is she qualified to be an acharya? 

Meanwhile, more and more and more people are attacking the GBC for their perhaps open but at least back door collaboration with child abusers like Dhanurdara swami. Why would anyone want to "work with" a group that has evident sympathy for child abusers, and is being criticized left, right and center by former victims for said sympathy. 

And is it even legal to "work with" a group that is direct or de facto empowering or enabling child abusers as big swamis and gurus? And is it legal to say that Krishna's guru successors are often illicit sex with men, women and children deviants, when none of this is found in ISKCON's by-laws? Nor does Krishna ever say His successors are illicit sex with men, women and children deviants. 

How can we surrender to people who are not even able to surrender to Krishna's statements, because He says "acharyam mam vijnaniyam," the acharyas are as pure as Myself. Thus He does not say the acharyas are generally fallen debauchees. Is it even legal to legally surrender to the same people who are defying the statements of Krishna, and sign up for their process, which has no basis in anything Krishna says? To legally work under a body that promotes Krishna, one would have to legally follow what Krishna says? Or what?

Meanwhile a number of their gurus seem to be substantially suffering from fall downs, illness, and sometimes madness, due to absorbing sins. How can we work with a group of people that are getting sick, falling down, and dying prematurely from taking sins without authority. Why would we want to participate in such an odious and self-defeating process? Where does Srila Prabhupada say he wants neophytes to absorb sins as diksha gurus, so they can start falling down left, right and center, and die prematurely?  

Meanwhile, the TOVP building and other important projects are being hampered because the GBC is spending maybe $20,000,000 on their suing the Bangalore program, and this is robbing funds from other projects. And so on and so forth. Aren't these the problems people have had all along, and no resolution has been forthcoming from the GBC, which has apparently lost control to the ICC in India in any case? Anyway yes, the GBC / ICC should start to communicate with others to resolve some of these points, good idea. Lets see if they finally start to do so. First of all, the GBC / ICC has to resolve their own issue, do they want to make former secretaries for Satanic programs their next diksha gurus? ys pd]