Some questions for the New Dwarka assembly of devotees (Part 2)

If there should be no change from the standard that Srila Prabhupada set, why are there even other initiating gurus to begin with?

This is the real question which nobody wants to ask. It had always only been Srila Prabhupada as the initiating guru in ISKCON. Upon his disappearance this changed and many gurus sprouted and began initiating their own disciples, splitting the world into zones and having their disciples in those zones chant their own names in the temple instead of Srila Prabhupada's name. New Dwarka leaders acknowledge this history and assure us that the GBC, however, "outlawed" this practice. So the GBC has a record of changing the standard that Srila Prabhupada set but for some reason all of them still rely on the conclusions of the same GBC instead of what Srila Prabhupada actually says.

Now for some reason the devotees in New Dwarka insist that Srila Prabhupada is only the siksa guru of new devotees in ISKCON today. This is a huge change in the standard Srila Prabhupada set. Srila Prabhupada established himself as the spiritual master and initiating guru for all members of the institution: "I am the Spiritual Master of this institution, and all the members of the Society, they're supposed to be my disciples. They follow the rules and regulations which I ask them to follow, and they are initiated by me spiritually" (Srila Prabhupada Radio Interview, 12 March 1968, San Francisco) Srila Prabhupada never said that his status as spiritual master of the institution depended on his physical presence, just as he never said that the morning prayers being dedicated to him depended on his physical presence. Srila Prabhupada simply set a certain standard and practice for the society to follow and that's that. There should have never been any change to that standard. But while the devotees of New Dwarka take shelter of the principle of no change to support one aspect of the established standard in ISKCON (mangala-aratik), they reject the

very same principle when applied to an even bigger established standard – initiations!

If my guru can "bloop", in which case I would have to take shelter of Srila Prabhupada, why can't I / shouldn't I just take shelter of Srila Prabhupada from the very beginning?

This is a very sensible question. But we can hardly expect such intelligent inquiry from the new devotees when the most senior devotees who have been actively serving in the movement since their 20's – who are supposed to be the bright and shining examples for the new devotees – say things like "I don't know one way or the other… whatever the GBC, whatever the big sastric authorities, pandits saw… I just wanna do the right thing. […] Whatever you guys say is the right thing to do, I'll do it." – Senior book distributor at New Dwarka.

Regarding the samsara-dava prayer's dedication, the temple president of New Dwarka asked another senior brahmachari of the temple, "There are many regular gurus who have blooped from Krishna consciousness. So who do they (the disciples of the blooped guru) chant it to?" "Obviously Srila Prabhupada," the brahmachari replied.

The temple president continued, "And the point being is – yes, your guru can bloop. And if he's blooped, then what do you do?" "Go to Srila Prabhupada," they both concluded.

But Srila Prabhupada teaches that an actual bona fide guru can never "bloop" or fall down and that a guru falling down means he was never a real guru to begin with! So why is New Dwarka trying not to change the standard in one place but then drastically changing the standard in another place? It is clear that none of them know the actual standard.

Srila Prabhupada says regarding the position of the spiritual master: "One should take initiation from a bona fide spiritual master coming in the disciplic succession, who is authorized by his predecessor spiritual master. This is called diksa-vidhana." (SB 4.8.54 Purport) "A bona fide spiritual master is in the disciplic succession from time eternal, and he does not deviate at all from the instructions of the Supreme Lord…" (Bg 4.42 Purport) "The guru must be situated on the topmost platform of devotional service. There are three classes of devotees, and the guru must be accepted from the topmost class." (Cc Madhya-lila 24.330 Purport) "One should not become a spiritual master unless he has attained the platform of uttama- adhikari." (Nectar of Instruction 5) "There is no possibility that a first-class devotee will fall down, even though he may mix with non-devotees to preach." (Cc Madhya-lila 22.71 Purport) "…sometimes, if a spiritual master is not properly authorized, and only on his own initiative becomes a spiritual master, he may be carried away by an accumulation of wealth and large numbers of disciples. His is not a very high grade of devotional service." (Nectar of Devotion 14) Compare these statements by Srila Prabhupada with the GBC resolution: "…it should be clearly understood that if such diksa or siksa gurus deviate from strictly following, they may fall down from their position." (Res. 303) Clearly a deviation from the standard taught by Srila Prabhupada. Yet New Dwarka openly

endorses it. This is called a double-standard.