The following is a response to the above Podcast from His Holiness Sivarama Maharaja (SRS) and as usual statements from SRS shall be enclosed in speech marks “ “ thus, with our comments following:
“So in ISKCON doesn't constitute uh, getting a membership, uh, dressing in a certain way or even doing the same things that they do, the person next to you does. Uh, it means uh, really having a very, very clear and deep understanding of who Srila Prabhupada is and living with Srila Prabhupada, of course, that shouldn't be exaggerated by like for instance ritviks do, that Prabhupada is my only guru. Prabhupada is my diksa guru. No, he's your siksa guru and uh he's the founder acarya of the Krishna Consciousness movement […] And uh, therefore living, being alive or dead doesn't depend on this body. Someone who thinks that when someone is living just because their physical body happens to be here hasn't really understood Krishna's first teaching in the Bhagavad-gita. […] Uh, and uh, therefore, therefore the real question is on Prabhupada's Disappearance Day is not Prabhupada's Disappearance but whether we've actually appeared yet on the spiritual platform and made a connection with him […] And of course, uh, making that type of connection with Srila Prabhupada isn't some kind of, it's mystical but it doesn't require that you have to do something extraordinary uh, like standing on your head, doing those things. It requires that I, I'm reading and studying and understanding, making an effort to understand Srila Prabhupada's teachings on a regular basis and I understand what Srila Prabhupada's mission is. What did he want from the members of this Krishna Consciousness movement?” |
Here SRS states:
a) Everyone in ISKCON lives with Srila Prabhupada.
b) That Srila Prabhupada is living.
c) That making a connection with Srila Prabhupada simply requires understanding Srila Prabhupada’s teachings.
d) That he is everyone’s Siksa guru and the acarya of ISKCON.
Given all the above, and given that Srila Prabhupada established himself as ISKCON’s sole Diksa Guru when he founded ISKCON in 1966, why does SRS conclude that as soon as Srila Prabhupada disappeared, he suddenly lost the ability to give Diksa, but not Siksa? Diksa means:
 |
“In other words, the spiritual master awakens the sleeping living entity to his original consciousness so that he can worship Lord Visnu. This is the purpose of diksa, or initiation. Initiation means receiving the pure knowledge of spiritual consciousness." (C.C. Madhya, 9.61, purport) |
So Srila Prabhupada was doing this – transmitting the pure knowledge of spiritual consciousness to those who joined ISKCON in 1977.
- So why was he unable to do this in 1978?
We know that his ability to transmit pure knowledge remains unchanged because SRS insists that Srila Prabhupada remains everyone’s Siksa guru even today. We know we can still make a connection with Srila Prabhupada since SRS says this continues today simply by understanding Srila Prabhupada’s teachings. Indeed if Srila Prabhupada continues to live, and we live with him, then nothing would have changed spiritually between Srila Prabhupada and anyone who joins ISKCON, and therefore there is actually nothing that Srila Prabhupada would suddenly be disabled from doing simply due to the loss of his physical body. Hence by the admissions SRS has made above, he has unwittingly proven that Srila Prabhupada also continues to remain everyone’s Diksa Guru in ISKCON as well!
| “And uh,that's a very important realization because we are, we are still very very small uh, until actually our lives become one with that of Krishna. Just like we sing in the morning , guru muka padma vakya cittete koriya aikya. So when so when this statement becomes reality then you become like fire. Guru mukha padma vakya The instructions that we are receiving and technically speaking when we sing this we're singing this to Srila Prabhupada.” |
Unwittingly, SRS is again here proving that Srila Prabhupada is everyone’s Diksa Guru. Because in the same Guru-Puja that SRS says we sing to Srila Prabhupada as the guru, we also sing:
“cakhu-dan dilo jei, janme janme prabhu sei, Divya-jnana hrde prokasito."
which is translated in the ISKCON song book as:
"He opens my darkened eyes and fills my heart with transcendental knowledge. He is my Lord birth after birth."
And in an explanation of this verse, Srila Prabhupada categorically states that it means he is giving diksa, or initiation:
"Divya-jnana hrde prokasito. What is that divya-jnana? […] This is divya-jnana. Diksa. Diksa means from this divya-jnana."
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, 11/7/1976)
Thus the Guru-Puja which SRS states we must perform for Srila Prabhupada every morning, explicitly acknowledges that Srila Prabhupada is our Diksa Guru.
| “Varsana devi dasi: just outside Soho Street there was a devotee, I think he was ritvik, and he was distributing books. All day he was distributing Prabhupada's books (unclear)... Um, I was just wondering ... his consciousness and purpose and keeping Prabhupada alive, he seemed very determined in the service he was doing, and he was putting the effort and the time in. I was just wondering what, what um, how does how is that service received when his kind of understanding isn't quite... he's following this ritvik philosophy
SRS: "Anyway, for the people who get the books they get benefit and uh, when they read it they'll obviously come to the conclusion that they need a guru. 'Cause that's all found in the books. Uh, as far as the person's concerned, he'll, he'll get benefit. Uh, it's because he's not doing something with a proper understanding then uh, there's going to have to be some kind of adjustment down the road. Neither does he get the full benefit of that activity uh and, what, what he will get is that sooner or later, he'll come to the proper understanding. In other words, if he actually wants to meet up with Krishna and Prabhupada he has to do it in Their way, not his way.” |
This exchange refers to Madhusudana Das, a dedicated ISKCON book distributor for 25 years, who is an IRM member in London, England. SRS has already proven that he is distributing books with the proper understanding, since SRS has himself stated above all the points which establish that Srila Prabhupada is actually ISKCON’s Diksa guru. So by SRS’s own words, it is actually all those devotees distributing books who are SRS’s disciples, who do not have the proper understanding and who will not get the full benefit of their activity, since they do not accept Srila Prabhupada as their Diksa Guru. Yes the books state that one needs a guru, just as the same books said this before Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance. And that Guru, then, as now, is Srila Prabhupada, since the books do not state that the Guru they must search for will change if he leaves his physical body. For as SRS reminds us earlier, our ability to live and connect with Srila Prabhupada is not at all affected by Srila Prabhupada’s physical disappearance.
Conclusion:
SRS has clearly established with his own words that we can receive transcendental knowledge from, and connect and live with, Srila Prabhupada, just as devotees were able to do before he disappeared, since his physical absence is irrelevant, and thus Srila Prabhupada continues to act as ISKCON’s Diksa Guru just as he did before he disappeared, and everyone in ISKCON sings this fact to Srila Prabhupada every morning during Guru-Puja.