Back To Prabhupada, Issue 80, 2024
We just noted in the Editorial the fact that ISKCON leaders continually contradict themselves. Here we will examine why such nonsensical rascaldom contradiction even occurs in the first place.
We have noted how a common argument against Srila Prabhupada being ISKCON's diksa guru is that such an act would violate "tradition". For example, GBC resolution 301, 1999, states that having Srila Prabhupada as the diksa guru would be against the "living tradition". And GBC voted-in guru HH Sivarama Swami states:
"Nowhere in Gaudiya vaisnavism, or any vaisnava tradition is rtvik philosophy practised or believed."
(Sivarama Swami, Continuing the Parampara, 5.4)
Similarly, those opposed to female diksa gurus ("FDG") have claimed that this must also be rejected due to it being against tradition:
"even if we say that having female diksa gurus is good for preaching in America, it is against sastra and tradition."
(Bhakti Vikasa Swami ("BVKS"), Talk, 8/9/20)
However, in his statement of support for FDG, which we mentioned in the Editorial, HH Gopala Krsna Goswami ("GKG") specifically counters this "tradition" argument against FDG by stating that:
"ISKCON is not in my opinion a traditional movement."
(GKG, ISKCON News video, posted 13/6/20)
a) Thus, FDG supporters and GKG accept that one cannot oppose FDG on the basis of "tradition" because ISKCON is not a traditional movement.
b) And we just noted in the Editorial that those who are opposed to FDG have also glorified GKG's "transcendental instructions", and thus must accept GKG's instructions regarding "tradition." Hence, they cannot then oppose Srila Prabhupada being the diksa guru on the basis of "tradition" as they must accept that ISKCON is not even a traditional movement!
Thus, by the "power of contradiction", the "tradition" arguments given by all of ISKCON against Srila Prabhupada being the diksa guru – whether from the FDG camp, who already accept GKG's argument that ‘ISKCON is not traditional', or from the anti-FDG camp, who must accept GKG's "transcendental instructions" against tradition – can be defeated by using their own statements against them.
If we examine why this "tradition" contradiction occurs, we find that:
a) ISKCON leaders oppose Srila Prabhupada being diksa guru because he is a threat to ISKCON's current diksa guru system. Thus, they simply invoke "tradition" as it gives them an excuse to oppose Srila Prabhupada.
b) But those ISKCON leaders who also want FDG see "tradition" as an obstacle to their aims, and so now will ditch "tradition".
c) Those who are against FDG and thus supposedly supporters of "tradition" are also, like the FDG camp, supporters in general of the GBC gurus. Thus, they will blindly glorify ISKCON gurus such as GKG and their "transcendental" instructions, even when such gurus are supporters of FDG and opposed to "tradition".
Hence, a) and c) are due to having a personal agenda of supporting the GBC guru status quo. b) is due to having a personal agenda of supporting FDG. Hence, driven purely by motivated personal agendas rather than Srila Prabhupada's orders, it leads to one's position being contradictory and self-defeating. However, such contradiction would not arise if one was driven instead only by the need to follow Srila Prabhupada's instructions, as the IRM is, and thus the IRM's philosophical position is free from contradiction.
Therefore, the fact that we are able to show continual mass contradiction from ISKCON leaders, is another proof of their disobedience of Srila Prabhupada's orders.
Thus, "tradition" has become the latest "contradiction casualty" like the other arguments given below, which are used to oppose Srila Prabhupada being ISKCON's diksa guru.
Sastra
That it is "against sastra" is another common argument used by ISKCON's leaders to claim that Srila Prabhupada cannot be ISKCON's diksa guru. However, in the BTP 78 article "The Necessity of a Specific Sastric Prohibition", we showed that:
a) Those on the FDG side claim that FDG cannot be prohibited, because such a prohibition is not stated in sastra as a specific "law of bhakti-yoga".
b) Those on the anti-FDG side claim that FDG is prohibited because there exists a sastric injunction prohibiting FDG.
But there also does not exist either a "law of bhakti-yoga" or sastric injunction against Srila Prabhupada remaining ISKCON's diksa guru. Thus, the "sastric" objections to Srila Prabhupada being the diksa guru are contradicted and defeated by the "sastric" arguments used in regard to FDG.
Guru Orders
It had been claimed by anti-FDG leaders that Srila Prabhupada's many orders for everyone to "become guru" were orders to become diksa guru:
"the common understanding of the word ‘guru' is one who initiates."
(BVKS, 19/2/13)
However, we documented in BTP 64 article "Guru Proponent Accepts IRM Arguments" that the anti-FDG camp has also had to admit that such orders do not refer to becoming diksa gurus", but "vartma-pradarsaka" or preacher gurus – in order to eliminate such previously supposed "diksa guru" orders for everyone also applying to females. Thus, in diksa 71 article "Bewildered by Guru Lust", we were able to defeat every quote claimed by the anti-FDG camp to be evidence of diksa guru orders. We did this simply by pointing out that the quotes referred to both men and women, and as this contradicts their stance that women cannot be diksa guru, they must accept the quotes are not orders to become diksa guru.
In this way, the anti-FDG camp's claim that there exist orders from Srila Prabhupada for diksa guru successors can be defeated through the power of contradiction.
Srila Prabhupada states:
"There cannot be two types of truth. [...] I say there is only one truth."
(Srila Prabhupada, Philosophy Discussions)
Hence, contradiction means one is not following the truth and thus is disobeying Srila Prabhupada. And such contradiction occurs due to having a personal agenda rather than just following Srila Prabhupada's orders.
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