Back To Prabhupada, Issue 72, Vol 1, 2022, Editorial
Welcome to Issue 72 of Back To Prabhupada (BTP).
The latest GBC Resolutions (for 2021, but only issued at the end of January 2022) revealed a massive increase in the GBC's guru franchise:
a) They have now given full reign to all "grand-disciples" to be diksa gurus by sweeping away conditions that previously existed – please see p. 6-7.
b) Even those who do not have gurus can also be diksa gurus – please see p. 6-7.
c) We had reported previously in BTP 64 on the GBC allowing female diksa gurus in principle in the 2019 Resolutions. Later, these were not enacted as the GBC first wanted to discuss them with ISKCON India. But now the GBC has passed a law affirming them – please see page 5 and back page.
It basically means every single person in ISKCON (other than new bhaktas) can now become a diksa guru. Indeed, GBC member Praghosa Dasa ("PD"), speaking specifically about this diksa guru expansion, stated:
"whatever it is, 7.5, 8 billion human beings on the planet, we want every one of them to be a devotee and then every one of them to be a guru. So, we should never be thinking that this should be limited, this should be increased as much as possible."
(PD Talk, 16/2/22)
Thus, they would like everyone on the planet to be a diksa guru, and this opportunity should not be "limited" but instead "increased as much as possible". However, one person who is still not allowed to become a diksa guru in ISKCON is the very Acarya of ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada. So, the GBC is stating that literally anyone can become a diksa guru other than Srila Prabhupada. From the same talk mentioned above, quoted in the shaded boxes below, 2 reasons PD gives to justify this mass diksa guru expansion are (all emphases added):
1) "the fewer you have of anything the more kind of precious they become [...] and it kind of creates a whole, you know, I would say kind of, excessive focus on those few of us serving. So having more diksa gurus will also help to demystify that current dynamic that we have in ISKCON, as it relates to the diksa gurus."
Thus, PD proposes that diminishing the ‘preciousness' of the GBC voted-in gurus by creating more of them will reduce focus on them. However, Srila Prabhupada taught that the bona fide diksa guru is supposed to be "precious" for the disciple, for he is "as good as God": "the guru is as good as God"(The Science of Self-Realization, 2a: ‘What Is a Guru?').
And PD himself admitted earlier that focus on and adoration of the diksa guru is the natural attitude of the disciple (PD Interview, 18/11/20). So, all this "solution" will accomplish is a drastic increase of the problem, with competitors to Srila Prabhupada simply multiplying manifold.
2) PD also refers to Srila Prabhupada stating –
"Generally a spiritual master who constantly instructs a disciple in spiritual science becomes his initiating spiritual master later on."
(Cc., Adi-lila, 1.35, purport)
– and comments that this means:
"whoever is your prominent siksa guru would also become your diksa guru."
However, the GBC accepts that Srila Prabhupada will always be everyone's "pre-eminent siksa guru" in ISKCON (GBC Resolution 614, 2002). And PD previously went even further, stating that the term "pre-eminent siksa guru" is "not strong enough actually", and that "Srila Prabhupada is [...] the full moon, and all other siksa gurus and diksa gurus, they are one of these little stars that are around that moon" (PD Interview, 18/11/20).
Hence, since the GBC and PD have made it abundantly clear that one's prominent siksa guru in ISKCON will always be Srila Prabhupada, PD is actually offering justification for Srila Prabhupada being everyone's diksa guru in ISKCON, rather than the intended justification for the mass diksa guru expansion the GBC has proposed!
Thus, the program to eclipse Srila Prabhupada continues unabated and without justification.
Thank you and Hare Krsna.
In Srila Prabhupada's service,
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