Back To Prabhupada, Issue 57, Vol. 1 2018
ver the years, ISKCON's leadership has put forward various arguments to oppose the IRM's position. However, as we shall show, they themselves are now rejecting these arguments.
It has been argued that Srila Prabhupada remaining as ISKCON's diksa guru will somehow end or "stop" the disciplic succession. Yet, the GBC has rejected the idea of there needing to be a disciplic succession altogether! Currently there are at least 3 guru/disciple pairings –
Jayapataka Swami/Caitanya Candra Caran Dasa; Hridayananda Dasa Goswami/Candra Mukha Swami; Jayadvaita Swami/Kadamba Kanana Swami
– where both guru and disciple are initiating side by side in ISKCON as GBC-authorised diksa gurus. Thus, in all of these cases, there has been no "succession" from guru to disciple, as the guru continues to initiate even after his disciple begins to initiate. And the GBC allows such pairings in principle as long as the guru has given permission to his disciple. Interestingly, in the case of Jayadvaita Swami ("JAS"), it should be noted that he had earlier stopped initiating after his disciple began initiating. But Prahladananda Swami ("PAS"), a member of the GBC's "Guru Services Committee", has confirmed about JAS that:
"Yes, he is now accepting disciples."
(PAS, email, 4/1/18)
And hence JAS has now decided that there should not be a "succession" after all!
Rather, disciplic succession has been replaced with disciplic competition as guru and disciple now vie with each other for disciples in ISKCON! And hence there is also no "current link" in the disciplic succession, as both guru and disciple claim to be "current".
Thus, the GBC cannot claim a "disciplic succession" principle they themselves do not follow to reject Srila Prabhupada as the diksa guru. Rather, Srila Prabhupada acting as diksa guru means there is a disciplic succession, since he has succeeded his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura Maharaja, and acts as the Acarya and current link in the disciplic succession for those in ISKCON.
A common argument against the IRM's position is that if Srila Prabhupada is ISKCON's diksa guru, then it must mean that Srila Prabhupada did not, and could not, create even one pure devotee. For example, GBC-elected diksa guru Sankarsana Dasa ("SAD") used this argument when debating the IRM's position (see page 9 for another example):
"do you think that Srila Prabhupada was such an impotent spiritual master that he could not create at least one pure devotee, uttama-adhikari, out of his many thousands and thousand of devotees?"
(SAD, "Thought for the Day", 21/1/09)
This is a false, straw man argument, since we specifically reject such a proposition in The Final Order (the IRM's position paper):
"‘Are you saying that Srila Prabhupada created no pure devotees?'
No, all we are stating is that Srila Prabhupada did set up the ritvik system to allow initiations to continue. Whether or not Srila Prabhupada created pure devotees is not relevant to his clear and unequivocal final order. As disciples, our duty is simply to follow the instructions of the guru."
(The Final Order)
And now, as GBC Chairman, HH Bhakti Charu Swami ("BCS") agrees:
"Srila Prabhupada is the Acarya of ISKCON. Srila Prabhupada is the spiritual master of all the devotees of ISKCON for all time. [...] one question came [...] what if some effulgent personalities come [...] ‘What will happen if such personalities come?' And my answer to that was that no matter how brilliant, [...] many luminaries will come, many, many brilliant personalities will come, but they all will function under the authority of Srila Prabhupada."
(BCS Lecture, 4/1/18)
Thus, BCS accepts that pure devotees will always function under Srila Prabhupada's authority as the Acarya and spiritual master of ISKCON. Similarly, all pure devotees would also remain under
Srila Prabhupada's authority as ISKCON's diksa guru.
BCS himself had attacked the IRM's position by comparing it to Christianity:
"someone came up with the theory that Srila Prabhupada wanted his disciples to give initiation on his behalf as ritvik [...] this was the flaw of Christianity. Christianity does not accept the system of a present Guru. They think Jesus is the only one and no one is coming to give initiation, or no one is coming as Acarya."
(BCS, Spiritual Connections, Vol. 13, Jan-Apr 1996, p.6)
Now, as GBC Chairman, he states the opposite, that actually Srila Prabhupada's position in ISKCON should be the same as that of Jesus in Christianity:
"And I gave the example, just like in Christianity we find some brilliant luminaries – St. Francis of Assisi, St. Aquinas, but they all were functioning under the authority of Jesus Christ. None of them were eclipsing Jesus, but they were actually functioning as a representative of Jesus. And that's how it can happen. They all will function as representatives of Srila Prabhupada."
(BCS Lecture, 4/1/18)
GBC-elected diksa guru HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami ("BVKS") claimed in a lecture devoted specifically to arguing against the IRM's position, that one needs to personally take instructions from the diksa guru:
"what Prabhupada says, that's it for you. And where is the guru actually? [...] And you don't actually submit to anyone. Where is the surrender? Where is the practical surrender? You don't have anyone to take instructions from personally."
("A Reply to Ritvikism", BVKS, 2/9/09)
However, BVKS has now done a dramatic U-turn and states what the IRM has been preaching all along – that there is no need to be guided personally (as in via physical contact) by the diksa guru. But, rather, the system is that one can take instructions from proxies, who represent the diksa guru:
"When I joined, or when I was allowed to join in ISKCON, there was no question of being personally guided by Srila Prabhupada. I was guided by his disciples [...] how many disciples do I have [...] But I don't attempt to individually guide each one of them, or hardly any of them for that matter. It's done through by proxy as Srila Prabhupada did".
(BVKS Lecture, 14/12/17, emphases added)
The arguments offered against the IRM's position are so lame that even those proposing them are not able to support them! Proving once again that opposing Srila Prabhupada's diksa guru position is futile.
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