We review here the different claims given by the guru hoaxers historically to justify why they are entitled to replace Srila Prabhupada as the diksha guru of ISKCON, noting that over the years they have invented at least 5 types of different “orders” to try and justify their guru hoax.
1. The ritvik order
As we have documented extensively in previous issues, initially, following Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance in 1977, it was claimed that Srila Prabhupada had given a “ritvik-guru” order, where 11 persons would become successor gurus, due to being appointed as ritviks. Subsequently, it was admitted by the GBC that the guru system which resulted from this “ritvik-guru” order was a hoax, which we call “The Great Guru Hoax, Part 1.”
2. The general order
The GBC then switched tack, and launched “The Great Guru Hoax, Part 2”, by claiming that rather than an order given only for 11 persons to be successor gurus, Srila Prabhupada had actually authorised every single one of his disciples to become guru, simply by repeating Lord Chaitanya’s order to “become guru” from Caitanya-caritamrta, Madhya-Lila, 7:128 (“amara ajanya guru hana"). However, the guru hoaxers themselves have accepted the IRM’s position that this order does not actually authorise diksha guru successors:
“Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Krishna as they are given in Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam. In this way, become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.” (Madhya Lila, 7:128). These statements by Srila Prabhupada and Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu certainly cannot be applied to the first meaning of acharya as given above. NEITHER CAN IT BE APPLIED TO THE THIRD MEANING (one who INITIATES), since Srila Prabhupada did in fact directly appoint 11 acharyas as will clearly be shown.”
(HH Tamal Krishna Goswami, late guru and GBC, Letter to Upananda Das, 13/12/1978)
“Thus the “four cases” you mentioned (involving the “become guru” order) would not apply to such a primary gurudisciple relationship, on the level of siksha or diksha.”
(HH Hridayananda Das Goswami, guru and GBC Emeritus, August 13th, 1997. The full exchange can be viewed at: www.iskconirm.com/hrdayananda_master_of_evasion.htm)
“Srila Prabhupada writes, “It is best not to accept any disciples.” (Cc. Madhya 7.130, purport). Based on this warning it could be assumed that the words “guru hana” means become a siksa-guru. In the first line of Cc. Madhya 7.128, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu says whomever you meet; tell them about Krishna... this also refers to siksha.”
(His Holiness Partha Sarathi Das Goswami, ISKCON GBC voted-in guru, www.psdgoswami.com/joss56.htm, archived February 23rd, 2010)
3. The "waiting" order
With the failure of the “general order” approach, some guru hoaxers have taken shelter in certain quotes, wherein they claim Srila Prabhupada is clearly speaking of authorising some diksha guru successors in the future. Below are some examples of these quotes:
“Don’t become premature acharya. First of all follow the orders of acharya, and you become mature. Then it is better to become acharya. Because we are interested in preparing acharya, but the etiquette is at least for the period the guru is present, one should not become acharya.”
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, April 6th, 1975)
“I shall choose some guru. I shall say, “Now you become acharya. You become authorized.” I am waiting for that. You become all acharya. I retire completely. But the training must be complete.”
(Srila Prabhupada Room Conversation, April 22nd, 1977)
“When I order you become guru he becomes regular guru. That’s all. He becomes disciple of my disciple.”
(Srila Prabhupada Room Conversation, May 28th, 1977)
1) This approach completely contradicts the “general order” approach, for having told us that Srila Prabhupada had already authorised everyone to be diksha guru successor, we are told that actually Srila Prabhupada still needed to
personally authorise such gurus.
2) More importantly, it can easily be tested if the above quotes are actually evidence of Srila Prabhupada stating he will be authorising diksha guru successors, by simply seeing if Srila Prabhupada actually did this! Yet, 33 years on, no one to date has presented the subsequent action of Srila Prabhupada authorising these diksha gurus, which he had supposedly announced earlier. As noted, initially, it was falsely claimed that the “ritvik-guru” order was this subsequent diksha guru authorisation.
4. The secret order
With the failure of 3 previous approaches to justify guru succession, and with no “guru order” appearing out of the woodwork, some guru hoaxers, in desperation, have simply invented their own guru orders. Thus having happily participated with the original “hoax order” in 1978, and seen its failure, some hoaxers have mysteriously “remembered” many years later that Srila Prabhupada had actually personally ordered them to be diksha guru successors! And further, this order was given in “secret” or “whispered”, and this is why no one else in ISKCON knew of the existence of these orders. Indeed, so secret were these orders, that as stated, even the recipients did not know of the existence of these orders until they were magically “unlocked” in their memories many years later!
5. The assumed order
Given the abject failure over 33 years to try to drum up a guru succession order from Srila Prabhupada, the GBC’s latest approach is to simply throw in the towel, and finally accept that such an explicit order does not actually exist. Rather, in lieu of such an order from Srila Prabhupada, as we documented in the BTP 17 article “GBC guru bombshell”, the GBC now simply assumes that Srila Prabhupada must have somehow “implicitly intended” diksha guru successors!
Conclusion
In addition to ISKCON’s current guru system not having any order from Srila Prabhupada to justify its existence, the GBC’s official “brain”, the “Sastric Advisory Council” (SAC), has said that the process by which it does authorise gurus, via voting them in, is not based on “guru, sadhu and sastra”:
“Our present system has institutionalized a process of senior devotees voting or offering no-objection to prospective gurus. But we do not find that this institutionalized blessingseeking process is mentioned by guru, sadhu or sastra as the way that one is authorized to become a guru.”
(Balancing the roles of the GBC and the disciple in Guru selection, SAC)
So from every angle, ISKCON’s current guru system is basically a big unauthorised hoax!
