Indicator of Hridayananda das Goswami's Position
BY: GRAHILA DAS (ACBSP)
Apr 11, USA (SUN) — As Hrdayananda Maharaja tries to defend and explain his statements that many devotees see as blessing a gay couple’s marriage, I see a very simple indicator that will clear up any ambiguity of the issue. (The ambiguity being: Has Maharaja, by making this statement, deviated from the teachings of Srila Prabhupada?) Of course for many it is clearly a deviation, but for those who are not sure…
I highly doubt if any devotee will argue, having heard Srila Prabhupada’s statements on homosexuality, that Prabhupada would have given permission to one of his Temple Presidents to “officiate” the ceremony for a gay wedding, or if he had heard of such a plan, that he would not have prohibited it.
Did Hrdayananda Maharaja know beforehand that his disciple, Sarvatma dasa, who holds the position of an ISKCON Temple President, would officiate the marriage ceremony? (Officiate is the word used by Stan Harris, one of the grooms, in his report. I assume this means that Sarvatma acted as the priest, but I would certainly appreciate clarification if this is not the case.) Since the report was posted on the Internet on February 1, almost three months after the ceremony, the answer is not fully clear.
If Maharaja knew in advance, whether he gave permission to his disciple to officiate or failed to prohibit it, it is clearly a blatant deviation because we all know that Srila Prabhupada would never have allowed such a thing. There is a big difference between encouraging gays in their pursuit of bhakti and sanctioning a disciple to “officiate” a gay wedding ceremony while holding the position of ISKCON Temple President.
If Maharaja did not know until after the fact, then did he reprimand his disciple for his involvement while holding a position that should represent Srila Prabhupada? A “No” answer here would also indicate his sanction, and thus a deviation.
