Back To Prabhupada, Issue 18, Winter 2007/8
he IRM's position is that ISKCON should continue to run today with "no change" from when Srila Prabhupada was on the planet (please read our position paper The No Change in ISKCON Paradigm, which can be viewed on our website). At that time, everyone in the movement - sankirtana devotees, temple presidents, GBC, etc. - simply facilitated new recruits surrendering to, and becoming disciples of, Srila Prabhupada, with Srila Prabhupada taking them back to Godhead. The initiation ceremony itself was devolved to "ritvik" representatives who would serve their local temples by simply accepting the new recruit as a disciple who belonged directly to Srila Prabhupada, with the ritvik priest having little contact with the initiate. In contrast, the GBC today claims that Srila Prabhupada "intended" for these ritvik representatives to succeed him as diksa gurus, taking over this function from Srila Prabhupada for new recruits. Hence, today in ISKCON we have "Srila Prabhupada disciples" who were initiated pre-1977, whose Guru is Srila Prabhupada, and "granddisciples" whose gurus are allegedly the successor diksa gurus to Srila Prabhupada.
Below we see that in the years following the IRM's formal launch in 1999, one of ISKCON's most prominent gurus, His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami, has advocated that the relationship between Srila Prabhupada and those joining ISKCON should mirror that which existed when Srila Prabhupada was on the planet - i.e. the IRM's "no change" position:
"... our main problem was introducing a defective initiation system. And that defective system may have been watered down to some extent but it's still prevailing. After Harikesa fell down in 1998, in 1999 I proposed that it's obvious that we are going in the wrong direction. Now, when you go wrong, when you know you're going in the wrong direction, what do you do? You stop to find the right way. So for the time-being, let's stop giving initiation and find out what is actually the problem and what is the solution to this problem, whether we can find a solution and until then, let us stop."
(Bhakti Charu Swami, Toronto meeting, July 20th, 2003)
"Your diksa guru is giving you diksa because the institution of ISKCON decided that he should give diksa."
(Bhakti Charu Swami, Text PAMHO6829041, May 19th, 2003)
"I give initiation because I have been asked to do so. If ISKCON tells me, "initiate," I initiate. And if the GBC tells me, "don't initiate," I don't initiate."
(Bhakti Charu Swami Istagosthi, March 28th, 2006)
[Note: a real diksa guru in ISKCON would have to be authorised by Srila Prabhupada himself:
"One should take initiation from a bona fide spiritual master coming in the disciplic succession, who is authorised by his predecessor spiritual master. This is called diksa-vidhana."
(Srimad-Bhagavatam, 4.8.54, purport) ].
"... Bhakti Marg Maharaja, he is kind of, even, he was telling me yesterday when he gives initiation he tells his disciples that you are actually Prabhupada's disciple and I am taking care of you, trying to help you to become engaged in Srila Prabhupada's mission. Now that's actually the crux of the whole thing, that if everybody understands and makes that point clear to their disciples then I think that a lot of our problems will be solved."
(Bhakti Charu Swami, Toronto meeting, July 20th, 2003)
"I make it very clear to them that disciples in ISKCON do not belong to their gurus; they belong to Srila Prabhupada."
(Bhakti Charu Swami Istagosthi, April 22nd, 2006)
"A devotee joins the movement and is trained and cultivated by ISKCON in the form of the local temple devotees. He is doing fine and being trained up nicely. But then he gets initiated by somebody who comes to that place once in a blue moon, but because he has been initiated by him he begins to think that he is his authority and the local devotees don't mean anything to him anymore."
(Bhakti Charu Swami, Disciples Meeting, August 1st, 2007)
"We must recognize that our first loyalty is to the local temple and the temple authority. And as a spiritual master what should I do? I think as a spiritual master it is my responsibility to reconfirm and re-establish that relationship with the local temple and temple authority."
(Bhakti Charu Swami, Disciples Meeting, August 1st, 2007)
"Diksa is the process through which one actually surrenders to Krsna through the agency and via medium of the representative of Krsna, the spiritual master."
(Bhakti Charu Swami, Disciples Meeting, August 1st, 2007)
"Why do we hesitate to tell a new comer who is searching for a guru that Srila Prabhupada, the best guru the world has ever seen, is still here, and one can surrender unto him and go back to Godhead very easily?"
(Bhakti Charu Swami Offering on Srila Prabhupada's Disappearance Day, October 2000)
"Initiation has two objectives. One is to receive the mantra and the other is to formalize surrender. In today's context the important consideration is the surrender. [...] If you are surrendering to me, formalizing your surrender, then what kind of responsibility do I have to you? It is to transmit your surrender to the institution of ISKCON. Generally the guru transmits this to Krsna, but here I am not directly representing Krsna. I am representing Krsna through the via medium of Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON."
(Bhakti Charu Swami, Disciples Meeting, August 1st, 2007)
[Note: Bhakti Charu Swami accepts that unlike a diksa Guru, he does not transmit the surrender of a disciple to Krishna, but rather he is supposed to help one surrender to Srila Prabhupada, thus acting in a manner no different to how every single devotee acted in ISKCON pre-'77: namely, as siksa gurus who helped everyone who joined ISKCON surrender to the diksa Guru, Srila Prabhupada].
"Generally, a guru establishes a link between Krsna and his disciple. [...] Srila Prabhupada, as the pre-eminent acarya, takes you to Krsna and engages you in His service."
(Bhakti Charu Swami Istaghosti, Text PAMHO: 13658994, June 10th, 2007)
"Srila Prabhupada will take you to Krsna."
(Bhakti Charu Swami, Durban disciples meeting, reported on April 7th, 2006)
"I cannot lead you to Krsna."
(Bhakti Charu Swami Istagosthi, March 28th, 2006)
[Note: Bhakti Charu Swami here confirms that Srila Prabhupada, and not he, is the bona fide spiritual master:
"And if you get a bona fide spiritual master, he will take you to Krsna."
(The Laws of Nature, chapter 1)
"It is illegal to become a spiritual master if one is unable to deliver the disciple."
(Srimad-Bhagavatam, 2.8.7, purport)]
"Usually the guru has an ashram and his disciples come to the ashram and get trained by the guru. [...] ISKCON is Srila Prabhupada's ashram. [...] Generally the guru has an ashram and he hands over the authority of the ashram to one disciple. He appoints a successor. But Srila Prabhupada didn't do that in ISKCON. [..] Rather, Prabhupada wanted us to manage the society collectively through the Governing Body."
(Bhakti Charu Swami, Disciples Meeting, August 1st, 2007)
[Note: The example of the diksa guru who would train disciples in his ashram is used by ISKCON to illustrate how the Vedic tradition regarding diksa would normally function. Bhakti Charu Swami admits that now we simply have a bigger ashram, ISKCON, whose Guru is Srila Prabhupada.]
"Q: In Bhagavad-gita Krsna tells us to surrender to the spiritual master. Although in the temple we receive guidance from many senior devotees, still somehow the relation between the guru and disciple is very unique. We have the relation with the temple president and other temple authorities to guide and correct us as spiritual masters but sometimes we can't connect with them in the same way."
A: "[...] Now let us come to your point. Yes, devotees need a qualified spiritual master and I will say in ISKCON we have the most qualified spiritual master who is Srila Prabhupada. And everyone in ISKCON is meant to represent Srila Prabhupada. In ISKCON who is the ultimate spiritual master? You need a spiritual master, but who is that spiritual master? It is Srila Prabhupada."
(Bhakti Charu Swami, Disciples Meeting, August 1st, 2007)
[Note: This is a reference to verse 4:34 from Bhagavad-gita, traditionally used by the GBC as evidence that we are supposed to surrender to a "living" diksa guru. Bhakti Charu Swami states this verse applies to Srila Prabhupada!]
"What Jesus is to Christianity and what Muhammed is to Islam, Srila Prabhupada should be that to ISKCON."
(Bhakti Charu Swami, Day 3, LA Seminar, "Questions and Answers", June 11th, 2000)
[Note: The above statement from Bhakti Charu Swami is particularly ironic, considering the IRM is criticised for trying to turn ISKCON into Christianity!]
 |
Saying one thing, but doing the opposite:
Bhakti Charu Swami enjoying worship at his 2007 ''Vyasa-puja'' celebration |
"And what is the line of authority structure in ISKCON? The line of authority is that Srila Prabhupada is the Founder-Acarya of ISKCON. Where does our ultimate loyalty lie? It lies with Srila Prabhupada. Then Prabhupada pointed out that the GBC is the ultimate managing authority in ISKCON. In the line of authority, next to Srila Prabhupada is the GBC body, and then there is the GBC member; every zone has a GBC member who is the zonal secretary. So we should be loyal to the GBC body and to the GBC member. And then there is the temple unit and in the temple who is the person in charge of the temple? It is the temple president. [...] In this way we have the line of authority."
(Bhakti Charu Swami, Disciples Meeting, August 1st, 2007)
[Note: Bhakti Charu Swami here lays out a similar authority structure which existed when Srila Prabhupada was on the planet, with no place at all for today's GBC "gurus".]
The IRM's vigorous preaching is having so much influence on ISKCON that the gurus are on the defensive, being forced to accept the principles which the IRM is preaching. We saw other evidence of this in our article in BTP 16 ("ISKCON leader comments further"), where ISKCON leader Kripamoya Das proposed that actually Srila Prabhupada was ISKCON's diksa Guru without realising it. Bhakti Charu Swami is adopting the IRM's position simply to make himself more "Srila Prabhupada-friendly" in order to better attract and retain recruits. In practise, however, these sadly hoodwinked disciples will accept Bhakti Charu Swami himself as their guru, who, despite all his foregoing admissions, will continue to enjoy Vyasa-puja ceremonies, worship, donations, service, facilities and privileges from his adoring disciples – in short, the very position of being the Guru that he is simultaneously saying should be reserved for Srila Prabhupada!
In the previous issue, we were able to demonstrate that the debate was over using the GBC's own admission that Srila Prabhupada gave no order for their guru program. Now Bhakti Charu Swami has gone further, and advocated the IRM's "no change" position. Any GBC supporter can thus potentially be defeated simply by presenting these declarations from Bhakti Charu Swami himself! We therefore have the grotesquely ridiculous situation that IRM members are banned and physically attacked for saying things which are repeated by one of the GBC's leading gurus. Such a state of affairs could only exist in Kali-yuga, the age of hypocrisy.
Yes, the debate is indeed over, but the cheating still continues stronger than ever, with those perpetrating the guru hoax now even admitting that Srila Prabhupada, and not they, should be the Guru!
Return to Bhakti Charu Swami Index
Return to IRM Homepage