Fwd: My Reply to Kurma (not the chef)
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Pratyatosa Dasa (ACBSP)
Mar 6, 2010, 4:20:31 AM3/6/10
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From: Pratyatosa Dasa (ACBSP) <praty...@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Mar 6, 2010 at 4:17 AM
Subject: My Reply to Kurma (not the chef)
To: "S...@harekrsna.com" <s...@harekrsna.com>
From: Pratyatosa Dasa (ACBSP) <praty...@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Mar 6, 2010 at 4:17 AM
Subject: My Reply to Kurma (not the chef)
To: "S...@harekrsna.com" <s...@harekrsna.com>
Dear Kurma Prabhu, Hare Krishna! Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Concerning your article entitled "A Contradiction of Etiquette," actually there is no contradiction, because Jayadvaita Swami has given his disciple, Kadamba Kanana Swami, permission to initiate. According to your logic, we should all be chanting 64 rounds a day because Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura instructed his disciples to do that!
It could be said that Jayadvaita Swami is authorized to take on disciples because:
1. Srila Prabhupada said, "Become guru on my order." (paraphrased)
2. Srila Prabhupada also said, "The GBC body is my representative." (paraphrased)
3. Therefore, The GBC is authorized to order members of ISKCON to become diksa (initiating) gurus. Therefore, the only disciples of Srila Prabhupada whose diksa guru status within ISKCON might be questionable are the original 11, because they declared themselves to be diksa gurus without waiting for authorization by the GBC body.
But what about the July 9th letter, you say? Obviously, the GBC chose to ignore it. This is not without precedent. The GBC also chose to ignore parts of Srila Prabhupada's "Direction of Management" (the DOM) ever since 1971. Srila Prabhupada never said, "Because you have disobeyed my direct orders in the DOM, all of your resolutions are now bogus!" Srila Prabhupada had 6 years to say such a thing, and he never said it.
You quote Srila Prabhupada as follows:
"But as a matter of etiquette it is the custom that during the lifetime of your Spiritual Master you bring the prospective disciples to him, and in his absence or disappearance you can accept disciples without any limitation. This is the law of disciplic succession."
However, like the July 9th letter, this quote should, in my humble opinion, be interpreted as forbidding any new diksa gurus within ISKCON, because Srila Prabhupada is never "absent" from ISKCON. To think that Srila Prabhupada is "dead" or "absent" is a hellish, materialistic mentality. So this quote, together with the July 9th letter, are the real reasons why both Jayadvaita Swami and Kadamba Kanana Swami should not be accepting disciples within ISKCON, not the one that you give!
Your servant, Pratyatosa Dasa
Concerning your article entitled "A Contradiction of Etiquette," actually there is no contradiction, because Jayadvaita Swami has given his disciple, Kadamba Kanana Swami, permission to initiate. According to your logic, we should all be chanting 64 rounds a day because Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura instructed his disciples to do that!
It could be said that Jayadvaita Swami is authorized to take on disciples because:
1. Srila Prabhupada said, "Become guru on my order." (paraphrased)
2. Srila Prabhupada also said, "The GBC body is my representative." (paraphrased)
3. Therefore, The GBC is authorized to order members of ISKCON to become diksa (initiating) gurus. Therefore, the only disciples of Srila Prabhupada whose diksa guru status within ISKCON might be questionable are the original 11, because they declared themselves to be diksa gurus without waiting for authorization by the GBC body.
But what about the July 9th letter, you say? Obviously, the GBC chose to ignore it. This is not without precedent. The GBC also chose to ignore parts of Srila Prabhupada's "Direction of Management" (the DOM) ever since 1971. Srila Prabhupada never said, "Because you have disobeyed my direct orders in the DOM, all of your resolutions are now bogus!" Srila Prabhupada had 6 years to say such a thing, and he never said it.
You quote Srila Prabhupada as follows:
"But as a matter of etiquette it is the custom that during the lifetime of your Spiritual Master you bring the prospective disciples to him, and in his absence or disappearance you can accept disciples without any limitation. This is the law of disciplic succession."
However, like the July 9th letter, this quote should, in my humble opinion, be interpreted as forbidding any new diksa gurus within ISKCON, because Srila Prabhupada is never "absent" from ISKCON. To think that Srila Prabhupada is "dead" or "absent" is a hellish, materialistic mentality. So this quote, together with the July 9th letter, are the real reasons why both Jayadvaita Swami and Kadamba Kanana Swami should not be accepting disciples within ISKCON, not the one that you give!
Your servant, Pratyatosa Dasa
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