Monstrous Hoax Continues
BY: KURMA DASA
Sep 08, AUSTRALIA (SUN) —
Back in 1984, Ravindra Svarupa das was commissioned by the GBC to reform ISKCON's initiation system, a system which had misled sincere devotees all over the world. We now know this system as the Zonal Acarya system. Ravindra Svarupa's small group of people got together and the GBC said that they would need three signatures to empower Ravindra's new model acarya system. This is the un-authorized system that we have today, in 2008.
It is most amazing that the three signatures were that of none other than Satsvarupa, Tamal Krishna, and Hridayananda Maharaja, three of the eleven Zonal Acaryas who Ravindra Svarupa was supposedly challenging at the time. Three of the eleven original ritvik representatives who had perpetrated a monstrous hoax upon the whole society for nearly ten years. These three men signed the deal for ISKCON's current, and bogus guru system.
Coincidently Ravindra Svarupa das himself became an officially approved initiating guru at this time.
Even though the system for initiations introduced by Srila Prabhupada was part of Srila Prabhupada's system of management, rather than revert back to this process, Ravindra Svarupa invented a system which said the parampara should continue via a nod! Yes, that is correct, a kind of wink, wink, nod, nod, say no more!
"…because he said I shall select some of you, this is the selection that never was, I shall select some of you, that's what he did was he, he both selected and didn't select, very cleverly or obliquely, and at arms length. He appointed eleven ritvik gurus, and also said you cannot become guru unless you are qualified, now this, this to me, this was a nod, these are my best people. This was a nod in their direction"
(Ravindra Svarupa, San Diego Debate 1990)
Ravindra Svarupa's reform sought to convince the world that because ISKCON's GBC had made a huge error by un-authorisedly appointing 11 "pure devotee guru successors" to Srila Prabhupada, that now they had the answer, and the answer was that Srila Prabhupada had left a wide open field for any of His disciples to pose themselves within ISKCON as being on the same level as Srila Prabhupada.
Now in 2008, we have a swag of un-authorized "pure devotee successors" competing for disciples within ISKCON. This is most certainly a disturbing and cheating system.
Here in Australia devotees who are pujaris, while they do the offering, are allowed to put a small picture of the guru they have accepted upon the altar during the offering, however they must remove the picture after the offering. This is absurd! This bogus system must be removed and Srila Prabhupada must be rightfully worshipped as ISKCON's only Jagad Guru Spiritual Master.
It is essential that all offerings within ISKCON be made through Srila Prabhupada, so that members are exposed to the proper forms of spiritual items, including prasadam that is within the correct parameters of the disciplic succession. A lot of devotees are unsure about the offerings, whether they are eating bonafide prasadam or not.
For example let us take two of ISKCON's gurus here in Australia, Jayapataka Maharaja and Devamrita Maharaja. Bhagavad Gita 2.9.43 states that:
"One who is now the disciple is the next spiritual master. And one cannot be a bonafide and authorized spiritual master unless one has been strictly obedient to his spiritual master."
In the case of Jayapataka Maharaja, he went to Sridhar Maharaja (Srila Prabhupada's godbrother) and told Sridhara Maharaja a lie. When Jayapataka Maharaja went to ask advise from Sridhara about the process for initiations within ISKCON, Jayapataka misled Sridhara Maharaja by saying that Srila Prabhupada had appointed the original 11 Zonal representatives as successor acarya to Srila Prabhupada.
And in the case of Devamrita Swami, we have personal experience that Devamrita Maharaja was here in Australia as late as 1995, dressed in Franciscan robes and setting up a society that he would be in charge of in this part of the world.
Both of these voted-in acaryas have not been strictly obedient to Srila Prabhupada, as stated in Bhagavad Gita 2.9.43, and yet offerings are made daily in ISKCON temples via both of these voted-in men.
Many devotees have expressed concerns and believe that this is outside the parameter of disciplic succession, and maybe they are correct. This is an area not often discussed. Are the devotees within ISKCON temples eating bonafide foodstuffs?
Kurma das (not the chef)
