Rtvik Illusion Case Study


IRM

Back To Prabhupada, Issue 49, Autumn 2015

We present a case study of the rtvik illusion of a rtvik pretending to be a diksa guru. Quotes in the shaded boxes below are from a "Special Initiation Class" given by GBC-elected guru hoaxer, Kripamoya Dasa ("KMD") on 19/7/15, during an initiation ceremony over which he was presiding at ISKCON UK Headquarters, Bhaktivedanta Manor. All emphases added.

Rtvik admission

"Are you a rtvik? I see. Today he's my rtvik."

KMD is presiding over an initiation ceremony, and here he addresses a devotee who was assisting him with this ceremony as his rtvik (representative).

"Prabhupada, you have come to his lotus feet. On behalf of him I ask you the question: what are the four regulative principles?"

And here, a little later in the ceremony, KMD admits that he is acting on behalf of Srila Prabhupada, which would mean by the statement KMD made just a little earlier, that he was acting as Srila Prabhupada's rtvik. And earlier in the lecture, KMD admitted this:

"So Prabhupada is taking all of us, all of us, all of his followers, because it is a fact that the mantras we give are given by him, the teachings we give are given by him, the discernments on how to live life, the perspective on what's right and what's wrong, have all been given by him".

However, despite these admissions, the net result of the ceremony was that all the initiates were falsely claimed by KMD as being his disciples, rather than disciples of Srila Prabhu­pada.

Disciples only agents

"But in Gangadevi's [an ISKCON devotee] case, the Hare Krishna mantra was given by a group of people who were sent directly from Srila Prabhupada to chant in London. She then gave me the Hare Krishna mantra through the television set, through the BBC channel. So in effect, she becomes the spiritual master. So there's a little confusion here today. Who is actually initiating who? Who gets the spiritual master? Is she the spiritual master because she's already given me the Mahamantra?"

KMD explains the Hare Krishna mantra was given by disciples of Srila Prabhupada to others. KMD then asks the question, who is actually the guru who is initiating others in this case? In all these cases, Srila Prabhupada became the initiating or diksa guru. Thus, even though Srila Prabhupada's disciples may be physically distributing the Hare Krishna mantra, Srila Prabhu­pada still remains the diksa guru, as proven by these examples provided by KMD himself. Srila Prabhupada confirms this:

"My disciples are my agents, my representatives, so by hearing it from them, you are receiving it from me. And because you are a sincere soul, those who are hearing the Mantra from you are receiving it in disciplic succession, from Lord Caitanya and from Lord Krishna."
(Srila Prabhu­pada Letter, 6/3/68)

Rtvik pretender

"Sometimes people have said, "How can you be a guru, if Srila Prabhupada is the guru?", which is a very relevant question. But in 1967, -68, -69, -71, -73 right here in London, -74, -75, -76, and 1977, Srila Prabhupada said that his own disciples would give the Hare Krishna mantra to others."

KMD now directly addresses the hoax he is enacting. Since he steals the initiates from this ceremony as his disciples, how can he be the guru, when actually it is Srila Prabhupada who is the guru? KMD claims that it is because Srila Prabhupada had authorised his disciples to give the Hare Krishna mantra. But we just saw KMD admitting, and Srila Prabhupada explaining, that Srila Prabhupada's disciples giving the mantra to others still leaves Srila Prabhupada as their diksa guru. Thus, KMD assisting in the formal handing over of the Hare Krishna mantra at the initiation he is presiding over, known technically as "first" or "harinama (Holy Name)" initiation, does not make him a diksa guru. It only makes him a rtvik, who then pretends to be a diksa guru!

"But when Prabhupada initiated me in 1975 he wrote a letter to the temple president [...] he said – ‘Your job is to make sure that he rises early in the morning, that he reads my books, that he practices all the disciplines, that he goes on sankirtan.' So Prabhupada was entrusting his representative to teach his disciples."

KMD then offers an example to support his diksa guruship arguments by explaining how it means "Srila Prabhupada was entrusting his representative to teach his disciples". But in this example, Srila Prabhupada still remained the diksa (initiating) guru, with the temple president acting as a siksa (instructing) guru on Srila Prabhupada's behalf!

                                                                 

Diksa guru must be authorised

"How can you possibly be a guru after Srila Prabhu­pada? [...] There was a similar question when Ramanujacarya departed this world. When he departed this world he had to leave his teachings with his followers so that they in turn would have their followers, their followers, like that. So he chose 74. He chose 74."

In desperation, KMD relies on an example from a completely different movement to justify his guru hoax. But this example, even if correct, does not help him since KMD claims 74 "successors" were specifically authorised by their diksa guru by being chosen. But neither KMD nor any of his over 70 guru hoaxer colleagues in ISKCON were chosen by Srila Prabhu­pada to be diksa guru successors.

Indeed, the very fact that the GBC has its own system of authorising diksa guru successors via a majority vote is proof that Srila Prabhu­pada did not authorise any diksa guru successors. Because if he had, the GBC would just rely on that authorisation from Srila Prabhu­pada. Nor did Srila Prabhu­pada authorise the GBC to vote in diksa gurus. Thus, it has to invent its own system of authorisation. KMD himself had been giving the Hare Krishna mantra to others for over 30 years after Srila Prabhu­pada physically departed, and yet he never became a diksa guru until he got authorisation via GBC vote. So his own example proves that diksa gurus are created by the GBC, and not by Srila Prabhu­pada having authorised that those giving the mantra to others automatically became diksa gurus.

Conclusion

Acting as a rtvik at an initiation ceremony and passing on the mantra makes one a rtvik, not a diksa guru! Only the rtvik illusion makes one think otherwise.


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