1) GBC 1998: Srila Prabhupada is NOT the current link
Below, while attempting to refute the IRM’s The Final Order position paper, the GBC claim that Srila Prabhupada stating we must accept the “immediate next acharya” means that Srila Prabhupada is a previous acharya (guru), and we must accept a successor GBC-elected guru:
“[…] surrendering to a living bona-fide spiritual master, is imperative to the proper understanding of Vedic knowledge. This point is made clear in the following quote:
“[...] You cannot imagine what my spiritual master said. Or even if you read some books, you cannot understand unless you understand it from me. This is called parampara system. You cannot jump over to the superior guru, neglecting the next acharya, immediate next acharya.”
(Srila Prabhupada Lecture, December 8th, 1973)
[…] He clearly explains the principal of parampara, and even explicitly states that simply to read books is not enough (a corner stone of ritvik-theory), but rather the disciple must understand everything through his own spiritual master, and not attempt to independantly understand the previous acharyas.”
(Prabhupada’s Order, Ministry for the Protection of ISKCON, GBC 1998)
2) GBC 2000: Srila Prabhupada IS the current link
However, just 2 years later, the GBC claimed (correctly) that Srila Prabhupada stating we must accept the “immediate next acharya” means that Srila Prabhupada is the current acharya, not a previous acharya:
“Srila Prabhupada said in a Srimad-Bhagavatam lecture given in Los Angeles on December 8, 1973:
“You cannot imagine what my spiritual master said. Or even if you read some books, you cannot understand unless you understand it from me. This is called parampara system. You cannot jump over to the superior guru, neglecting the next acarya, immediate next acarya.”
This would mean that in answering any difficult question, where there are apparent contradictions that cannot be easily resolved, our primary resource should be the words of Srila Prabhupada — our “immediate next acarya.” [...] . If we were capable of independently absorbing sastra, why did Srila Prabhupada write purports to all of his translations? So the first resource should be Srila Prabhupada’s words.”
(Drutakarma Das, GBC Sastric Advisory Council member, The Origin of the Jiva, 2000)
Thus, depending on their agenda, and which conclusion they seek to prove, the GBC have no problem in shamelessly turning Srila Prabhupada’s teachings on their head - claiming he is not the “next immediate acarya” when it comes to preserving their own illegal status as self-appointed successor hoaxer gurus, but claiming the exact opposite when arguing a different issue.
