Back To Prabhupada, Issue 81, 2024
The quotes in the shaded boxes are taken from a class given by GBC voted-in guru HH Bhanu Swami ("BS") on 6/8/24, in which he explains the problems ISKCON is currently experiencing and how to solve them. (Emphases added.)
"the problem is that the diksa guru becomes very, very prominent [...] of course, guru should be treated like God, we have to follow scripture, etc. [...] that diksa guru also becomes more prominent than Srila Prabhupada"
Throughout his lecture, BS refers to the GBC voted-in diksa gurus such as himself as the "diksa guru". He states that these GBC voted-in diksa gurus are causing a very serious problem in ISKCON, due to becoming more prominent than Srila Prabhupada. He states that if we accept them as bona fide diksa gurus, then they must be worshipped "as good as God" according to scripture, which leads to their supreme prominence.
"because of the prominence of diksa guru worship, we'll get groups dedicated to different gurus [...] guru groupism [...] it starts dividing up the whole movement and Srila Prabhupada didn't want this. He didn't want a divided movement. He wanted one movement."
BS explains that, due to the "prominence" of the "diksa guru worship" he mentioned earlier, and the fact that there are many GBC voted-in diksa gurus, we have a combination which leads to a divided movement. Which was not what Srila Prabhupada wanted - he wanted one movement.
To try to solve the problem of the GBC diksa gurus being more prominent than Srila Prabhupada, BS proposes:
Giving "more emphasis" to Srila Prabhupada:
"So one way of preserving the movement is to put more emphasis upon Srila Prabhupada as the Founder-Acarya, the main siksa guru, etc. But by the emphasis on the diksa guru, that interrupts that and it starts minimizing his position and also making divisions."
However, he admits that this still will not work as long as the competitor GBC voted-in diksa gurus continue to exist.
2) That all siksa gurus be also worshipped as good as God:
"and, of course, not only you can have one siksa guru, you could have many siksa gurus. So there's actually many people that you treat as God, many gurus - theoretically at least."
However, in ISKCON, there are many persons who will help as siksa gurus in one way or another: bhakta leader, temple commander, temple president, etc. So, BS's solution to the many GBC diksa gurus being worshipped as good as God is to massively increase the number of people other than Srila Prabhupada also being worshipped as good as God! Clearly, that will not solve the problem, even if one is adding equal worship of Srila Prabhupada to the mix, as his worship will still be minimised due to the competing worship of multiple other persons.
From BS's analysis, it can be concluded:
A) The GBC diksa guru has to be worshipped as good as God;
B) This worship leads to them being more prominent than Srila Prabhupada.
But, it is already accepted by everyone in ISKCON that Srila Prabhupada established himself as the Acarya of ISKCON, and thus he could not possibly have wanted others to be more prominent than him in ISKCON.
Hence, Srila Prabhupada could not possibly have ordered successor diksa gurus, as they would have eclipsed his position as the Acarya of ISKCON.
From BS's analysis, it can be concluded:
A) The multiple GBC diksa gurus have to be worshipped as good as God.
B) This worship leads to guru groupism and thus a divided movement.
C) Srila Prabhupada did not want a divided movement.
Hence, Srila Prabhupada could not possibly have ordered successor diksa gurus, as this would lead to a divided movement.
"But if we want to keep a unified ISKCON, we have to do that somehow or another. So we have to think carefully of how to do that, somehow or other. [SLIDESHOW:] "We accept him as our primary shelter: main source of bhakti-sakti.""
BS states that we need to unify ISKCON. And a solution he proposes is given on the slideshow he had prepared to accompany his lecture - that all devotees in ISKCON accept Srila Prabhupada as their primary shelter. But, we are directed to take such primary shelter through initiation:
"Any person who is seriously desirous of achieving real happiness must seek out a bona fide spiritual master and take shelter of him by initiation"
(SB, 11.3.21, cited in SB, 4.29.55 purport)
Which would mean accepting Srila Prabhupada as the diksa guru.
All the problems identified by BS are immediately and automatically solved if we keep Srila Prabhupada as the acarya, diksa guru, and preeminent siksa guru of ISKCON - just as he was when he was physically present. And we have already seen 3 good proofs provided via BS's analysis as to why ISKCON should implement this. We also quoted BS stating earlier that the way to preserve the movement is to put more emphasis on Srila Prabhupada as the Founder-Acarya. And we have proven in our book Srila Prabhupada: The Founder-Acarya of ISKCON - Presenting the Conclusions of the GBC Foundational Document that this would also mean emphasising that Srila Prabhupada is ISKCON's diksa guru, because his position as the Acarya means he is the sole diksa guru.
1) BS correctly explains that the GBC diksa gurus are a serious problem.
2) He explains how this problem cannot be solved as long as they remain diksa gurus.
3) BS therefore ‘unwittingly' proves that the solution to this problem lies in restoring Srila Prabhupada to his correct position as ISKCON's sole diksa guru and thus eliminating the GBC diksa gurus.
We agree!
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