Summer 2007
The annual GBC Resolutions have this year been deliberately restricted:
| "You will find there
are much fewer resolutions this year than in the past. There are
only fourteen, and even some of those are routine decisions,
such as when the next meeting will be in Mayapura. Devotees
(including GBC members) have been telling us for years that
rather than coming out with numerous resolutions that many don't
even read, better to concentrate on key areas to best serve
Srila Prabhupada's society." (Statement of GBC Chairman, HH Bhanu Swami, April 14th, 2007) |
Though the reason given is because devotees do
not read the resolutions, we suspect the real reason is because the IRM
do read them, and subsequently demonstrate every year how they are full
of hilarity and contradiction. However, restricting the resolutions will
not deter us, since we still have the detailed daily GBC meetings
reports to go on!
| One dimensional movement |
| "Just one-third of the
temples distribute books; two-thirds don't do much. […] This year at the Gaura Purnima festival in Mayapur, two thirds of the registered guests are from Russia." (GBC, Monday February 5th, 2007) |
The situation is actually worse, since according
to the World Sankirtan Newsletter, over 50% of the books are distributed
in just one country, India.
And we can see that the international gathering of devotees which Srila
Prabhupada envisioned every year at Mayapura is now really just a
gathering of Russians and local Indians.
| Still figuring it out |
| "During the morning
session, eight proposals were discussed and voted on: 1) Correcting a Misspelling in the Gayatri Mantra Sheet […] 4) Clarifying Standards for Srila Prabhupada's Worship […] 7) Kirtan Standards in ISKCON" (GBC, Tuesday February 6th, 2007) |
So after 30 years, they still ain't figured out
the exact Gayatri Mantra, how to worship Srila Prabhupada or how
to have a proper kirtan, yet they expect us to believe that the
whole guru thing they have got completely right!
| Giving Srila Prabhupada yet another meaningless position |
| "He defended a phrase
describing Srila Prabhupada as "the soul of ISKCON" because it
says something that is hard to say in other language. It does
not go off into heresy, he said. Prabhupada should be
all-pervading within ISKCON like the indwelling Supersoul." (GBC, Wednesday February 7th, 2007) |
So Srila Prabhupada is now like the "holy
ghost", incommunicado, inaccessible and unobtainable, but always
theoretically present. This allows the "gurus" to continue demanding
that they are accepted as "living physical" substitutes for Srila
Prabhupada with the cushion of letting everyone feel that Srila
Prabhupada is still in the picture. How convenient!
| We work very fast |
| "Praghosa Dasa Prabhu
introduced the presentation by saying that last year the GBC
left off with the Sri Mayapur Project Development Committee (SMPDC)
doing a feasibility study on building the temple where the park
is now. Today the GBC received its report." (GBC, Saturday February 10th, 2007) |
Over 30 years after Srila Prabhupada laid the
foundation stone for the Mayapur temple, they are still spending 1 year
just to "study" where the temple should be!
| Origami yoga |
| "We were given a piece of paper and asked by the group leader to close our eyes and keep them closed until told we could open them. Then, we were told to follow instructions, keeping our eyes closed. The instructions involved folding the paper and tearing different corners. Then, we were told to open our eyes and open our pieces of paper and observe any differences in the results." (GBC, Sunday February 11th, 2007) |
Maybe the tearing of the paper by the GBC
members symbolized how they are tearing up Srila Prabhupada's beloved
ISKCON?
| The bravery of the GBC in a time of crisis |
| "Ajit Prabhu, the
temple president in Imphal, said that the bombing last fall had
killed six people and injured fifty, some of whom are still
hospitalized. He commented that because no ISKCON leaders
traveled to Imphal to directly help at that time, the devotees
in Manipur felt abandoned. Several GBC members said that they
were told that the terrorists were targeting ISKCON leaders and
it was dangerous to visit Manipur after the bombing. Moreover,
they thought it was difficult to get a visa [...] he called an Executive Committee meeting to discuss sending leading preachers there, but the Indian RGB said that it was too dangerous." (GBC, Monday February 12th, 2007) |
That's right, following this one bomb blast,
martial law and a curfew must have been imposed on the whole state of
Manipur, with a state of emergency declared, and therefore not a single
ISKCON leader could have possibly gone there. Obviously, the GBC knew
something everyone else did not.
| He was a great soul all along |
| "Sesa Prabhu said that
it is difficult to understand how Krsna works. The recent
Bhaktivedanta Institute dispute led him to associate more with
Bhakti Swarupa Damodara Swami. Maharaja used to call in Sesa
Prabhu to talk about the Bhaktivedanta Institute. After meetings
in Alachua and Mayapur about the direction of the Bhaktivedanta
Institute, Bhakti Swarupa Damodara Swami's mood became adamant
about adhering to the instructions that Srila Prabhupada had
given him." (GBC, Monday February 12th, 2007) |
That's right, even though we had just ruled
against his understanding of scientific preaching at the previous GBC meetings (see BTP
11), now he has died we realize he was actually right all along and a
great preacher who uniquely understood Srila Prabhupada's vision for
scientific preaching.
| GBC get leadership help from tennis coach |
| "The GBC members
received a copy of the new small Indian paperback edition of
Peter Burwash's "The Key to Great Leadership" [...]" (GBC, Wednesday February 14th, 2007) |
Judging by the havoc they have wreaked on Srila Prabhupada's movement over the past 30 years, we welcome the GBC taking any leadership help.