Back To Prabhupada, Issue 12, Summer 2006
ince the launch of BTP in October 2003, the IRM's academic stature has been firmly established with the publication of scholarly papers and presentations at major international conferences. We can now report on another significant development in this field: the publication of a paperback book where both sides of the IRM-GBC dispute present their cases side-by-side. The book was commissioned and edited by Prof. Dr. Rahul Peter Das of the Institute for Indology and South Asian Studies at the Martin-Luther-Universitat Halle-Wittenberg in Germany. The impetus for the book is described by Prof. Das in his Introduction as follows:
"I was thus intrigued when I came across an article which appeared to be referring to the possibility of being appointed a guru within ISKCON by a process which could be described as consensual or democratic, since this seemed not to be in keeping with what I had come across so far. [...] Curious to know more, I began researching into the matter, and soon came across the controversy, between the ISKCON Revival Movement (IRM) and the Governing Body Commission (GBC), on authority within ISKCON."
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The title of the book is The Rival Positions in the IRM-GBC Controversy within ISKCON, and is split into two sections, presenting first the position of the IRM followed by that of the GBC. The IRM has prepared a comprehensive response to the GBC chapter (although many of the arguments therein were already anticipated and rebutted in the IRM chapter), and this will be presented in the next issue of BTP. What is particularly interesting to note, however, is that the author whom the GBC have chosen to represent their viewpoint, Krishna Kirti Das (Christopher Shannon), does not himself have complete faith in the gurus produced by the GBC system, for he writes of his OWN GBC-guru, HH Hridyanananda Das Goswami, that he:
"gives a decidedly different definition of illicit sex than what can reasonably be considered Srila Prabhupada's view of illicit sex. His understanding also markedly differs from the GBC resolution in 2001"; and therefore he (Krishna Kirti) is "opposed to some of the ideas as he expresses in his essay referred to herein."
(Krishna Kirti Das, Hare Krishna Cultural Journal, June 16, 2006)
How then can the author expect the reader to have faith in the GBC guru system, when he himself does not even agree with the output of this system - which just happens to be his own GBC guru?! A guru who is supposed to faithfully represent Srila Prabhupada, not have a "decidedly different view" on a fundamental spiritual principle. In this regard, Srila Prabhupada states:
"Any opinion different from the opinion of the spiritual master is useless. One cannot infiltrate materially concocted ideas into spiritual advancement. That is deviation."
(Sri Caitanya-caritamrta, Adi-lila, 12.8-10, purport).
Thus according to the GBC's representative, his own GBC-guru is "useless" and a "deviant". Which is also an apt description for his own paper defending the GBC guru system, as will be seen in the next issue. Which is only to be expected from someone who is himself losing faith in his own GBC-guru.
Anyone wishing to obtain a copy of this book may contact us.
A new book published by the highly renowned international publishing house Continuum Books has dedicated 9 pages to the IRM. A Reader in New Religious Movements reproduces verbatim extracts from both Back To Prabhupada magazine and the whole of the first section of The Final Order. The book is a major academic volume designed for scholars researching into a variety of religious movements in the world today. It is recommended on the jacket cover by Professor Eileen Barker, head of the organisation Information Network Focus on Religious Movements, as "an invaluable resource". The Introduction to the book has this to say regarding the situation in ISKCON following Srila Prabhupada's physical departure:
"A Governing Body commission was appointed to exercise wide oversight, while initiations would be performed by 11 initiating gurus, known as ritviks, or representatives of Prabhupada. As will be apparent from the readings, this change of leadership has proved problematic, partly because of a number of scandals involving several ritviks, and partly because of controversy regarding whether subsequent candidates for initiation were to be construed as Prabhupada's own disciples or those of the particular ritvik who performed the initiation. Different factions have emerged within ISKCON and, at the time of writing, the dispute remains unresolved."
(Introduction, A Reader in New Religious Movements, Continuum International Publishing, 2006)
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