Back To Prabhupada, Issue 74, Vol. 3, 2022
In the previous article, we saw a GBC guru debunk his own explanation for why a "living", as in physically present, guru is required, thus eliminating the need to accept a physically present GBC guru rather than Srila Prabhupada as one's diksa guru. Below, we will see yet another GBC voted-in guru debunk his own explanation for why a physically present guru, rather than Srila Prabhupada, is required.
All quotes in shaded boxes are taken from a lecture titled "Guru Issues, Part 22", published on 16/8/22 by GBC voted-in guru HH Bhakti Vikasa Swami ("BVKS"). All emphases added.
"It's important to have a physical spiritual master, because he can guide you, answer questions that you ask him [...] which can't be done in the same way to Srila Prabhupada now as was done previously [...] that's one thing that they ["rtviks"] are missing, the important process of inquiring and getting answers."
BVKS claims that a GBC guru such as himself is required because he can answer the questions of a disciple, whereas Srila Prabhupada cannot. Hence, he claims that the "rtviks" – BVKS's label for those who accept Srila Prabhupada instead of a GBC guru – are supposedly missing out on this "benefit" that only the GBC guru can provide.
But this argument is self-defeating because it means that before offering himself as a physical guru, BVKS would first need to get himself such a physically present guru, because he also has not had such a "physically present" guru to answer his questions for 45 years! And BVKS realised his argument is stupid because he then proceeded to defeat it himself!
"he [Srila Prabhupada] expected the others to inquire from his senior disciples [...] after some time he started writing, ‘you ask my representative, GBC member, temple president, ask them', and he also emphasised, ‘read the books, because all the answers to your questions are in the books.'"
BVKS correctly defeats his stupid argument – that you need a GBC guru rather than Srila Prabhupada because the latter cannot answer any questions from the disciple – by pointing out two salient facts:
1) Srila Prabhupada stated that all the answers to a disciple's questions are in his books.
2) Srila Prabhupada also delegated some queries to other disciples.
Therefore, BVKS accepts that Srila Prabhupada taught that one does not require his physical presence in order to have one's questions answered. Hence, one does not need to replace Srila Prabhupada with a physically present GBC guru like BVKS.
BVKS admits that he also does not, in any case, generally practise the supposedly essential function of the physical diksa guru answering questions from his disciples:
"there's so many questions that it's hard to answer them all, or even ask, answer them in detail. [...] and mostly I don't answer them because I have several disciples [...] who are competent to answer various questions."
Thus, BVKS has again defeated his own argument that a physically present guru is required to answer questions because he admits that he mostly delegates answering to other disciples. Hence, BVKS shows that Srila Prabhupada's system of his books and other disciples answering questions can still continue, and BVKS's reasons for why Srila Prabhupada must be replaced with a physically present GBC guru such as himself are fully defeated by himself!
BVKS then claims regarding his earlier explanation that Srila Prabhupada's books answer all questions:
"the ‘all the answers are in Srila Prabhupada's books' doesn't necessarily mean that we understand that the, what the answers are by reading them. [...] one should approach an acarya, if we want to know things as they are."
BVKS had given this earlier explanation specifically in the context of why he does not need to answer questions from his disciples. He now claims that we won't understand the answers in Srila Prabhupada's books just by reading them. Rather, he says we still need to approach a physically present acarya such as himself who can explain these answers which are stated in Srila Prabhupada's books. Thus, BVKS contradicts his earlier answer that due to Srila Prabhupada's books having all the answers, he was not required to personally answer all his disciples' questions. However, this desperate flip-flop actually makes matters worse for BVKS because Srila Prabhupada does state that we can understand all the answers in his books just by reading them alone:
"In my books the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness is explained fully so if there is anything which you do not understand, then you simply have to read again and again. By reading daily the knowledge will be revealed to you and by this process your spiritual life will develop."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, 22/11/74)
"Every one of you must regularly read our books at least twice – in the morning and evening, and automatically all questions will be answered."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, 24/1/70)
"make a thorough study of my books. Then all your questions will be answered."
(Srila Prabhupada Letter, 7/1/76)
Which means that either:
1) BVKS does not even have any knowledge of what Srila Prabhupada teaches.
2) Or he does know and is lying, or he has no faith in Srila Prabhupada's books to automatically answer all questions.
Either way, it also means that BVKS is the last person one should consult for answers about Srila Prabhupada's books!
Another GBC guru has tried to desperately justify his own existence by claiming he is needed to answer questions, because Srila Prabhupada cannot. But this argument is defeated by both himself and Srila Prabhupada. This proves that a GBC guru is not required as a diksa guru replacement for Srila Prabhupada, but we can instead continue to follow the same system that Srila Prabhupada instituted himself for ISKCON. Which is that everyone accepts Srila Prabhupada as their diksa guru and gets all their answers from his books, with other devotees also able to help out in regard to questions over practical matters.
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