Back To Prabhupada, Issue 60, Vol 4, 2018
elow we present another public admission by ISKCON that Srila Prabhupada is the diksa guru for ISKCON, just as the IRM has been stating all along. All emphases added.
Srila Prabhupada explains his position:
Devotee: "Will you be our spiritual master for eternity?"
Srila Prabhupada: "I think so. [laughs] Whatever we do here, it is for eternity because it is not on the material stages. It is all on the spiritual platform. There is a song by Narottama dasa Thakura, cakhu-dan dilo yei janme janme pita sei: ‘One who has opened the eyes, he is, birth after birth, he is my father.' [...] Cakhu-dan dilo yei. Cakhu-dan means one who has opened the eyes, that is spiritual master. Janme janme pita sei. Janme janme means birth after birth, he is my father."
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, 15/8/68)
Srila Prabhupada states that he is the eternal spiritual master, "life after life", because he is the one who has "opened the eyes". He does this by quoting a verse from a song by Narottama dasa Thakura (the "Guru-vandana" prayer, sung by every ISKCON devotee every day to Srila Prabhupada in the guru-puja ceremony.)
The very next part of the verse referenced by Srila Prabhupada above then explains how the spiritual master has "opened the eyes":
"cakhu-dan dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei, Divya jnana hrde prokasito."
The translation of this verse is:
"He opens my darkened eyes and fills my heart with transcendental knowledge. He is my Lord birth after birth."
Thus, Srila Prabhupada explains that he is opening the eyes by "divya jnana hrde prokasito", by giving transcendental knowledge, which Srila Prabhupada explains means by giving diksa:
"Divya jnana hrde prokasito. What is that divya-jnana? [...] This is divya-jnana. Diksa. Diksa means from this divya-jnana."
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, 11/7/76)
Thus, Srila Prabhupada is stating here that:
He is the eternal spiritual master, life after life, because -> he opens the eyes, through -> giving transcendental knowledge -> which means diksa.
And diksa is, of course, given by none other than the diksa guru!
Thus, Srila Prabhupada is the eternal spiritual master by being the diksa guru.
In their 2018 Janmastami magazine, which was distributed to tens of thousands of members of the public, ISKCON UK stated about Srila Prabhupada that:
"by giving us Krishna consciousness, he has saved our lives (1). And therefore, devotees are always glorifying him and expressing their gratitude towards him. Despite his physical absence, they have developed a personal relationship with Prabhupada which transcends birth and death (2). Through these loving relationships, he guides, encourages and corrects devotees on their journey back to Krishna. (3) And by developing gratitude for Prabhupada, you can also have the same kind of relationship (4)".
Sentences (1) and (3) state that Srila Prabhupada is the one who has "opened our eyes". Sentence (2) states that this results in a relationship with Srila Prabhupada that does not require Srila Prabhupada's physical presence since it "transcends birth and death". And sentence (4) makes it clear that this same relationship is available to everyone today. The title given to the above description of Srila Prabhupada is:
"His Divine Grace: Our Eternal Spiritual Master".
And, as we have just proven in the last section from Srila Prabhupada's statements, if he is our eternal spiritual master, then it also means he is our diksa guru!
Thus, ISKCON UK has declared that everyone today can accept Srila Prabhupada as their eternal diksa guru.
Thus, ISKCON UK is promoting the IRM's philosophical position on Srila Prabhupada in their official annual magazine. Yet, ISKCON UK has been at the forefront of banning devotees for believing in this same philosophy! For example, in a letter written by the then Temple President of ISKCON UK's headquarters Bhaktivedanta Manor, it is stated:
"IRM is an organisation working to harm ISKCON, thus those who are formally part of or agree with the views and publications are suspended by the Manor Temple Council from visiting Bhaktivedanta Manor."
(Letter from Gauri Dasa, 17/2/05)
But though ISKCON UK is now promoting the same IRM views in its own publication, they have neither "suspended" themselves, nor claimed they are working to "harm" themselves by agreeing with the views of the IRM – nor have they rescinded the above letter, with the ban still remaining in place today. Utter madness!
Nor have they suspended the ISKCON gurus who disagree with their statement that Srila Prabhupada is the diksa guru by virtue of him being everyone's eternal spiritual master. For example, ISKCON guru, HH Jayapataka Swami ("JPS"), insists it is he, rather than Srila Prabhupada, who is the eternal spiritual master and diksa guru, life after life:
"I accept Srila Jayapataka Swami to be my initiating (diksa) and instructing (siksa) spiritual master (Guru) forever, even life after life."
("Initiation Acceptance Oath" for JPS)
This absurd situation, whereby ISKCON is attacking the IRM for agreeing with them, arises due to their pursuit of power. This pursuit of power is facilitated by a technique known as "bait and switch". First ISKCON "baits" the public by promoting Srila Prabhupada, the perfect spiritual master. For they dare not use their less-than-perfect GBC gurus to attract the public! And once having attracted "recruits" using Srila Prabhupada's purity, they are then "switched" by being funnelled toward the GBC gurus instead.
However, in promoting Srila Prabhupada, they are unwittingly forced to state the truth about him – which means they are forced to state the IRM's position, since "the truth about Srila Prabhupada" is what defines the very mission of the IRM! But their stating the truth about Srila Prabhupada only suits their purposes as long as the IRM is attacked and kept from exposing their "bait and switch" scam.
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