srila prabhupada's special position.doc

Upload: anton-arsen

Post on 04-Jun-2018

221 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    1/17

    SRILA PRABHUPADA'S SPECIAL POSITION

    AS ISKCON'S FOUNDER-ACARYA

    His Holiness Bhakti-a!" S#a$i

    INTRODUCTION

    Once, in Bombay, in the very year Srila Prabhupada wa to leave thi world !"#$$%, he became annoyedwith one o& hi diciple, who, in a pre con&erence, did not mention hi pecial poition a IS'CON()ounder*+carya I wa -uite urpried to witne thi incident, becaue Srila Prabhupada never cared &orany peronal reco.nition/ yet here wa an intance where he peci&ically demanded it0 1ater, on otheroccaion, I heard Srila Prabhupada pea2 to enior diciple about hi ditinct title, and, &inally, I heard3i Divine 4race .ive a peci&ic intruction that wherever the name IS'CON i mentioned, we mutma2e it a point to re&er to hi role a the )ounder*+carya

    To me, it eemed li2e a contradiction in Srila Prabhupada( nature On one hand, he wa o humble, not

    wantin. to ta2e any credit &or hi many coloal achievement On the other, he clearly indicatedconcern about hi poition a the )ounder*+carya o& the intitution he himel& etablihed Initially, I 5utaccepted it a one o& hi patime that I could not undertand 3owever, a&ter Srila Prabhupada(diappearance, the reaon &or hi concern became increain.ly clear to me I reali6ed that it wa not &orhi own .lori&ication that he wanted to be 2nown a )ounder*+carya, but &or the e&&ective and on.oin.propa.ation o& the 'rna concioune movement 3e wanted to create atandard that would be reco.ni6ed &or thouand o& year into the &uture

    Now, we, the leader o& IS'CON, have to reali6e that the real ucce o& our 7ovement lay inreco.ni6in. and etablihin. the uni-ue poition o& Srila Prabhupada a it )ounder*+carya Thi ideahould be paramount not only in the mind o& IS'CON leader but in all devotee In &act, thi i one o&the mot important reponibilitie that we, a IS'CON member, have

    SRI C+IT+N8+ +ND SRI1+ PR+B3UP+D+

    In the uni-ue mani&etation o& Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu we &ind that 4od appear in the .uie o& adevotee, and 3e doe not let ordinary people 2now 3i concealed identity Due to the e9tremely envioucondition o& people in thi world, the Supreme Peronality o& 4odhead choe to hide 3i identity &rompeople in .eneral I& anyone told 3im that 3e wa the Supreme Peronality o& 4odhead, 3e ued tocover 3i ear a i& 3e had heard the wort blaphemy But 3e could not hide 3i identity &rom 3i realdevotee They reco.ni6ed 3im and let the world 2now who 3e actually wa Similarly, SrilaPrabhupada alo came to thi world attemptin. to conceal hi real identity Srila Prabhupada(appearance i not a chance happenin. but the culmination o& :;; year o& piritual development Sri

    Caitanya 7ahaprabhu came to ditribute 'rna prema, which 3e did, but only in the holy land o& India3i actual plan wa to inundate the entire world, a i evident &rom 3i prediction that 'rnaConcioune would pread to every town and villa.e o& the world

    Thi prediction wa made even be&ore Columbu dicovered +merica, at a time, not to pea2 o& townand villa.e, people o& thi world did not even 2now how many continent are there in thi world Buttoday everyone can ee how that prediction became true due to Srila Prabhupada, and obviouly thathappened by Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    2/17

    awarded the credit o& achievin. omethin. that wa even .reater then 3i own achievement &or which3e i 2nown a the 7ot 7uni&icent= 3ow dear he mut be to the Supreme 1ord that 3e reerved that.lory &or him=

    Thoe who have received initiation &rom Srila Prabhupada, or who received hi aociation while he waon the planet, are e9tremely &ortunate oul, becaue they received the rare opportunity to becomeconnected to one o& the mot intimate aociate o& the Supreme Peronality o& 4odhead Neverthele,we have een that, due to their uicidal mi&ortune, many o& them have le&t the helter o& hi divine lotu&eet Some even became inimical, critici6in. Prabhupada and hi 7ovement In a way, thi i to bee9pected, becaue the .reatne o& a piritual peronality cannot be perceived with material eye Onemut have piritual viion to truly perceive a pure devotee( .reatne

    I& ome o& thoe who were directly connected to him could not reco.ni6e hi e9tremely elevated piritualpoition, then there i little chance that &uture .eneration will, &or they will not have direct contact with3i Divine 4race, at leat not in the ame way There&ore, we, Srila Prabhupada( direct diciple andthoe who live in thi world o oon a&ter hi diappearance, have the ditinct honor and reponibility o&ma2in. everyone aware o& the depth o& hi .reatne

    SRI1+ PR+B3UP+D+(S 4R>+TN>SS

    Srila Prabhupada( .reatet .lory i that he pread 'rna Concioune all over the world andetablihed IS'CON a the intitution that will continue to pread it &or year to come One canaccomplih uch a mammoth ta2 only by the 1ord( pecial mercy Cone-uently, Srila Prabhupadawould o&ten remind u that one cannot pread 'rna concioune without bein. empowered by 'rna?@2rna a2ti vina nahe tar pravartan,@ a the cripture ay

    I& one cannot pread 'rna concioune, even in an ordinary way, without bein. bleed orempowered by 'rna, then it mut be o much more o &or one who pread it in an incredible wayObviouly, Srila Prabhupada wa not only empowered by 'rna but peci&ically ent by 3im to

    accomplih thi very peci&ic miion Otherwie, how could he achieve omethin. o& thi ma.nitude=+nd a the world become aware o& hi indecribable achievement, they will admit without doubt that hei one o& the .reatet and mot important peronalitie o& all time

    The more that people reco.ni6e hi .reatne, the more they will &ollow hi &oottep and ma2eadvancement in piritual li&e I& we could ta2e but a &ew tep in thi direction, the world woulde9perience a piritual revolution in concioune Innumerable people would become devotee o& theSupreme Peronality o& 4odhead and a wonder&ul piritual atmophere would prevail everywhere Inorder to achieve thi .oal, Srila Prabhupada etablihed IS'CONAa piritual or.ani6ation that wameant to continue to propa.ate hi miion even a&ter hi diappearence &rom thi planet +nd, to a lar.ede.ree, IS'CON i accomplihin. thi end

    Srila Prabhupada created IS'CON with tremendou &orei.ht I& everythin. reted on hi peronal, orphyical, preenceAand he did not etablih IS'CON to continue in hi abenceAwhat would havehappened to thoe who reponded to hi preachin.= 3ow would people have protected their piritual li&ein the de.raded environment o& our a.e= e have een o many devotee, in pite o& receivin. the directhelter o& Srila Prabhupada( lotu &eet, .ive up their connection to 'rna Concioune I& thi i o,what hope i there &or thoe not*o*&ortunate oul who will repond to Prabhupada( call, a&ter hidiappearance, &or thouand o& year to come=

    3itorian and ociolo.it ay that mot reli.iou intitution uually crumble a&ter the diappearance o&

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    3/17

    their piritual leader or &ounder 8et IS'CON continue to thrive a&ter Srila Prabhupada(diappearance hen uch hitorian and ociolo.it oberve how Srila Prabhupada tructuredIS'CON and et it mana.ement ytem in motion, they marvel at hi practical widom and mana.erialacumen The .reatet tetimony in thi re.ard i that althou.h Srila Prabhupada withdrew hi patime&rom thi world over twenty year a.o, hi IS'CON miion i continuin. to pread and he i till aliveand betowin. hi mercy throu.h the a.ency o& hi intitution, boo2, and &ollower I& we could butreco.ni6e thi &act and accept him in our live a the central piritual .uide and upreme piritualteacher, we would ee the un&oldin. o& a piritual 2in.dom on earth a never be&ore

    T3> U1TI7+T> SPIRITU+1 1>+D>R

    In the Introduction to Srimad Bha.avatam, Srila Prabhupada write about the upreme poition o&'rna Thi ame ene o& ultimacy, however, can be attributed to Srila Prabhupada himel&, &or aIS'CON( )ounder*+carya he i the upreme piritual leader o& hi intitution, and he alway will beSrila Prabhupada wrote, @There are many (vibhutimat attva,( controller or .od with variou peci&icpower, but the +bolute Truth i one without a econd@ Similarly, in IS'CON, there are manypiritual leader with variou piritual power But Srila Prabhupada i the @one without a econd@)ounder*+carya o& thi intitution

    @They are undoubtedly peron, but the param atyam &rom whom the .od derive power o& control, ithe Supreme Peron@

    The piritual leader o& IS'CON are undoubtedly piritual mater or acarya in their own ri.ht, but it i&rom the )ounder*+carya that they derive their piritual power and credibility

    @Becaue 3e doe not derive 3i power &rom any other ource, 3e i upremely independent@

    Since Srila Prabhupada i the )ounder*+carya, he i not under anyone( control within IS'CON+lthou.h everyone in IS'CON i under the control o& the 4BC body, he i above their control + a

    matter o& &act, the 4BC body i uppoed to mana.e the ociety accordin. to hi plan and intruction+.ain, they are li2e leer .od, under hi control

    @In the edic literature, Brahma i decribed a the upreme .od or the head o& all other .od li2e Indra,Candra and aruna, but Srimad Bha.avatam con&irm that even Brahma i not independent a &ar a hipower and 2nowled.e are concerned 3e received the 2nowled.e in the &orm o& the eda &rom theSupreme Peron@

    +lthou.h the edic cripture tate that a piritual mater i the hi.het piritual authority &or hidiciple, in IS'CON uch piritual mater are not independent/ he receive hi power o& attorney &romthe )ounder*+carya

    @The bodily machine i uele a oon a the livin. par2 i away &rom it@

    IS'CON a a ocietyAwhich i Prabhupada( bodyAwill become uele i& we do not reco.ni6e SrilaPrabhupada( very pecial poition a it )ounder*+carya

    @There i a need &or the cience o& 'rna in human ociety &or the .ood o& all u&&erin. humanity, and weimply re-uet the leader o& all nation to pic2 up thi cience o& 'rna &or their own .ood, &or the.ood o& the ociety and &or the .ood o& all the world( people@

    E

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    4/17

    There i an ur.ent need to properly undertand Srila Prabhupada( poition a IS'CON( )ounder*+carya e there&ore re-uet all member o& IS'CON, &or all time, to reco.ni6e Srila Prabhupada(e9traordinary piritual tatu a the )ounder*+carya &or their own .ood, &or the .ood o& the ociety and&or the bene&it o& the entire world

    SRI1+ PR+B3UP+D+(S UNIFU> +C3I>>7>NTS

    +lthou.h Srila Prabhupada( .i&t to the world are unlimited and inconceivableAbecaue he ditributedthe mot preciou ob5ect o& the piritual world, love &or 'rnaAthere are everal contribution he madethat are particularly i.ni&icant, and we can brea2 them down into three maincate.orie?

    a% 'rna conciou ociety

    b% 'rna conciou literature

    c% 'rna conciou peronalitie

    +% 'RSN+ CONSCIOUS SOCI>T8 !IS'CON%

    IS'CON i the per&ect mani&etation o& Srila Prabhupada( mercy Due to the e9tremely di&&icult andin&ul nature o& the a.e in which we live, the a.e o& 'ali, it i practically impoible to tread the path o&piritual li&e There&ore, Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu inau.urated the an2irtan ya5naAthe con.re.ationalchantin. o& the 3oly NameAwhich developed practical hape throu.h Nityananda Prabhu( preachin.The preadin. o& thi new ya5na re-uired or.ani6ation and methodical preachin. techni-ue Srila Giva4owami undertood thi on a very deep level, and he &ormed the @viwa*vainava ra5* abha@AtheRoyal International +embly o& ainava 1ater, Srila Bha2tivinod Tha2ur revived the pirit o& thiaembly, and au.mented it method with an elaborate ytem called @nam hatta@Athe 7ar2etplace o&the 3oly Name Srila Bha2tiiddhanta Saravati Tha2ur, Srila Bha2tivinod Tha2ur( on, practically

    applied the concept o& Giva 4owami and Srila Bha2tivinod Tha2ur, and &urthered them, &ormin. the@4audiya 7ath@ a the &irt or.ani6ed 4audiya ainava movement throu.hout the len.th and breadtho& the Indian ubcontinent )inally, Srila Prabhupada, a Srila Bha2tiiddhanta( &oremot diciple, .avean ultimate tructure to thee miionary activitie throu.h the creation o& hi International Society &or'rna Concioune

    IS'CON i li2e a hip that i ailin. throu.h the dan.erou ocean o& material nature, an ocean &illedwith deadly a-uatic The boat i movin. with the wind o& the 3are 'rna 7aha*mantra on it ail/ themot e9pert captain, Srila Prabhupada, i teerin. the boat, and the devotee are chantin. and dancin.on the dec2 I& we 5ump !or &all% overboard, we are ure to drown +ll we have to do i 5ut mana.e totay aboard the hip I& we can do thi one little thin., we will eventually reach our detination, which ion the other ide o& thi ocean o& material nature

    +nother analo.y i that o& an elevator +ll one need to do i 5ut tep into itAthe elevator will do theret 1i2e a .ood elevator, IS'CON can ta2e one to the topmot re.ion o& the piritual 2y

    Srila Prabhupada o&ten po2e o& creatin. @inconceivably .ood &ortune@ &or u +nd IS'CON i themani&etation o& that .ood &ortune I& we imply remain a &aith&ul member, our piritual li&e will bea&e Otherwie, our &ate will be unure e hould never &or.et how tron. 'rna( illuory ener.y iNo matter how power&ul we thin2 we are, we don(t tand a chance a.aint the onlau.ht o& mayaAatleat not on our own I&, however, we tay in IS'CON, &ollowin. the baic piritual practice .iven to

    H

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    5/17

    u by Srila Prabhupada, our piritual li&e will be protected and we will ma2e piritual advancement It iimportant to remember that 7aya i 'rna( ener.y There&ore, althou.h he i naturally very power&uland no one can urmount her illuory in&luence, he i nonethele under 'rna( control +nd i& webehave a 3i ervant, 3e will li&t her power&ul veil, enablin. u to overcome that which wouldotherwie be uncon-uerable Thi i all actuali6ed 5ut by tayin. within the o& IS'CON

    Thi all became very clear to me in the early ei.htie, oon a&ter Srila Prabhupada( diappearance Icloely oberved the deviation o& a incere annyai .od*brother, who, due to ome dia.reement withvariou IS'CON leader, le&t the movement 3e wa uch a trict annyai, and hi adhana oimpeccable, that I wa con&ident he would never &all down +nyway, in due coure, he did

    I ued to have deep repect &or him and li2ed him a .reat deal There&ore, I tried to earch him out, eventhou.h he had le&t the 7ovement I oon dicovered that he wa tayin. in the bac2yard o& the home o&a particular devotee( parent I wa happy to learn that he continued to adhere to hi annya vow andwa practicin. 'rna Concioune Then, a&ter about a year, I &ound out that he re.itered at a localchool to tudy law, but he wa till worhippin. hi deitie and trictly &ollowin. the re.ulativeprinciple I met with him around that time and wa -uite impreed with hi 'rna Concioune

    +&ter another &ull year, however, I dicovered that he wa wor2in. a a lawyer( aitant and wa o&teneen with one particular .irl, who alo wor2ed in the ame o&&ice Soon a&ter, I &ound out that hemarried that .irl, tartin. hi new li&e in hi new ahram I aw that, althou.h incere, without the heltero& the intitution, he .radually &ell &urther and &urther away &rom 'rna Concioune @I& he could notma2e it,@ I thou.ht, @then I certainly do not tand a chance@ I became convinced that without the heltero& IS'CON there i little hope &or piritual advancement

    +lthou.h Srila Prabhupada tarted hi ociety in a humble way, in a mall tore&ront in the 1ower >atSide o& New 8or2 City, hi viion about it &uture .rowth wa clear Thi i obviou &rom IS'CON(ob5ective, a tated within the intitution( article o& incorporationAcompoed by Srila Prabhupada aearly a"#?

    " To ytematically propa.ate piritual 2nowled.e to ociety at lar.e and to educate all people inthe techni-ue o& piritual li&e in order to chec2 the imbalance o& value in li&e and to achieve real unityand peace in the world To propa.ate the concioune o& 'rihna a it i revealed in the Bha.avad 4ita and SrimadBha.avatamE To brin. the member o& the Society to.ether with each other and nearer to 'rihna, the primeentity, thu to develop the idea within the member and humanity at lar.e that each oul i part andparcel o& the -uality o& 4odhead !'rihna%H To teach and encoura.e the an2irtan movement, the con.re.ational chantin. o& the holy nameo& 4od a revealed in the teachin. o& 1ord Sri Chaitanya 7ahaprabhu: To erect &or the member and &or ociety at lar.e a holy place o& trancendental patime,

    dedicated to the patime o& the Peronality o& 4odhead To brin. the member cloer to.ether &or the purpoe o& teachin. a impler and more naturalway o& li&e$ ith a view o& achievin. the a&orementioned purpoe, to publih and ditribute periodical,ma.a6ine, boo2 and other writin.

    Becaue o& Srila Prabhupada( inconceivable piritual potency, hi ociety .rew with tremendou peed,en.ul&in. the world It etablihed root o deep that it &uture i aid to be ecured &or the ne9t tenthouand year Prabhupada accomplihed thi throu.h ettin. up a per&ect mana.erial ytem, which i

    :

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    6/17

    centered around a collective body o& incere devotee to e9ecute the will o& it )ounder*+carya !the4BC%

    +lthou.h there have been many up and down, the ma o& IS'CON devotee have een that thecollective mana.ement throu.h the 4overnin. Body i the bet way to overcome the onlau.ht o&material nature But it i even more important to reali6e that the 4overnin. Body will be e&&ective onlya lon. a it uphold the tenet and ob5ective o& the )ounder*+carya

    + &ew day be&ore Srila Prabhupada( departure &rom thi planet, two very important people came to eehim in rindavan They are 7r Ram2rihna Ba5a5, an eminent indutrialit, and hi brother in law, 7rSriman Narayan, the e9* 4overnor o& 7adra +&ter ome initial dicuion, they told Srila Prabhupadathat they wanted to pea2 to him in private To repect their wihe, Srila Prabhupada a2ed u to leavethe room Reluctantly, we le&t, but be&ore leavin. I mana.ed to witch on the tape recorder Thatconveration wa later trancribed and printed in the BT4 memorial iue &or Srila Prabhupada, printedoon a&ter hi diappearance

    In that private converation, one o& thee two aritocrat a2ed Srila Prabhupada who would be hiucceor a&ter hi diappearance Srila Prabhupada replied that he wa .ivin. the le.acy to all hi

    diciple homever would &ollow hi intruction will have the le.acy

    + the )ounder*+carya he ha et the .oal and .iven the .uideline &or the ociety to &ollow 3iintruction contitute the law o& the ociety It i not that new law will not be made in IS'CON, butthoe law would be contituted in uch a way a to merely ubtantiate or en&orce the law that SrilaPrabhupada ha .iven But the &undamental or overarchin. law will alway be thoe that were .iven bythe )ounder*+carya +nd thi i what will2eep IS'CON piritual

    To indicate that IS'CON i not a material or.ani6ation, Srila Prabhupada aid that IS'CON e9it inthe piritual 2y a well Ultimately, he aid, all incere member o& IS'CON will .o bac2 to that Divine

    IS'CON in the piritual 2y when their alloted time in thi world i &inihed Gut a the holy name o& the1ord i the mean a well a the end IS'CON alo i the mean and the end

    B% 'RSN+ CONSCIOUS 1IT>R+TUR>

    Prior to 'ali*yu.a, which be.an :,;;; year a.o, piritual 2nowled.e wa received throu.h auralreception +t that time, people had uch harp memorie that they could remember everythin. 5ut byhearin. it 5ut once Their memorie, it i aid, were 5ut li2e tape recorder But due to the in&luence o&'ali*yu.a, people tarted to loe their ability to comprehend and memori6e, and there&ore the ytem o&tranmittin. 2nowled.e throu.h the written word became neceary )or thi reaon, Srila yaadev,the literary incarnation o& the Supreme Peronality o& 4odhead, decended to write the edic literatureIt wa 3i compaion on the people o& thi a.e

    )ive hundred year a.o, Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu appeared in thi world to ditribute the eentialteachin. o& the eda 3owever, 3e only wrote the ei.ht vere o& Si2ata2am, leavin. the ta2 o&writin. the bul2 o& 4audiya ainavim( theolo.ical literature to 3i &ollower, mainly the 4owami o&rindavan, who wrote e9tenively to authenticate and elaborate 3i teachin. Srila Bha2tivinodeTha2ur and Srila Bha2tiiddhanta Saravati Tha2ur were alo proli&ic writer, and they e9pounded onthe the teachin. o& the cripture and that o& the 4owami a well )inally, Srila Prabhupada came tothe et and tranlated the mot important o& the edic te9t, and preented them with hi uni-ueBha2tivedanta purport &or the ultimate bene&it o& the world at lar.e

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    7/17

    7ot o& Srila Prabhupada( wor2 wa incredible, but thi achievement o& tranlatin. and commentin.upon edic te9t i hi crownin. .lory 7oreover, he preented thi literature in uch a ytematic andublime way that while a cholar will appreciate them on one particular level, a imple child can enterinto their myterie a well Srila Prabhupada himel& conidered hi boo2 a the mot important apecto& hi .i&t to humanity, and he declared them to be the bai or &oundation o& hi piritual movement 3eboldly declared that they will be the piritual law boo2 &or thi world &or the ne9t ten thouand year

    It i important to note, too, that thee boo2 have a pecial potency becaue they are compiled by a puredevotee o& the 1ord Srila Prabhupada( boo2 have the uni-ue -uality o& a&&ectin. people on uch adeep level that 5ut by incerely touchin. the boo2 one i li2ely to ta2e to the path o& 'rnaConcioune, and i& one i &ortunate enou.h to actually read even a &ew pa.e, one be.in one(piritual li&e

    C% CR>+TIN4 SPIRITU+1 P>RSON+1ITI>S

    Sri Caitanya Caritamrita decribe that 5ut a a touchtone i reco.ni6ed by it -uality to tran&orm ironinto .old, imilarly a devotee i reco.ni6ed by hi ability to tran&orm materialitic people into devotee

    In the piritual hitory o& thi world, no one ha witneed anythin. li2e Srila Prabhupada( achievementin thi repect, and he himel& ued to 5o2in.ly ay that thi wa hi .reatet miracleAtran&ormin.materialitic people into devotee

    Nowaday, many o*called piritualit alo have many &ollower, but Srila Prabhupada did not want&ollower o& thi caliber 3e wanted people who were willin. to chan.e their character hoever camein contact with him and, cone-uently, became hi &ollower, became totally tran&ormed They .ave uptheir in&ul habit and became pure devotee o& 'rna

    Once, ome time a&ter Srila Prabhupada( departure, a di.runtled .od*brother emphatically aertedwhile .ivin. Bha.avatam cla that no one in IS'CON wa -uali&ied to become a piritual mater Srila

    Prabhupada i the only piritual mater, he aid, and to try to imitate him i a eriou o&&ene I, bein. apiritual mater myel&, &elt embarraed, and I at throu.h the cla tarin. at the &loor +t the end, anew devotee challen.ed the pea2er, @8ou are ayin. that Srila Prabhupada wa uch a .reat piritualleader But in(t it tran.e that uch a .reat piritual leader could not ma2e even a in.le diciple who i-uali&ied to be piritual mater=@ Now it wa my di.runtled .od*brother( turn to tare at the &loor

    hen we loo2 cloely at the diciple o& Srila Prabhupada, it become -uite obviou that mot o& themare very pecial peronalitie, with e9traordinary piritual -ualitie +nyone who ha the eye to ee canreco.ni6e that the real .reatne o& Srila Prabhupada wa hi ability to elevate the mot &allen oul tothe hi.het piritual plat&orm

    T3> N>>D TO R>CO4NIJ> SRI1+ PR+B3UP+D+(S 4R>+TN>SS

    Devotee who became di.runtled a&ter Srila Prabhupada( diappearance o&ten &ound themelveleavin. hi 7ovement &or one reaon or another Some o& them eventually tarted to develop di&&erenttheorie One uch theory i the @rittvi2 acarya ytem,@ which claim, eentially, that no one inIS'CON i -uali&ied to become a piritual mater Rather, a the theory .oe, Srila Prabhupada i theonly -uali&ied .uru, and until omeone o& hi caliber become mani&et, Srila Prabhupada houldcontinue to omehow initiate, even thou.h he i not phyically preent on thi planet

    +t &irt .lance, thi ytem eem rather appealin. Srila Prabhupada i the per&ect .uru, and i& the world

    $

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    8/17

    can continue to directly receive hi mercy, why hould it be any other way= ho can be more -uali&iedthan Srila Prabhupada to initiate diciple= 3owever, a&ter e9tenively earchin. the cripture andainava hitorical tradition to upport thi point o& view, and a&ter reali6in. that Prabhupada had never.iven any emphatic intruction in thi re.ard, I could not upport the theory +lthou.h my reearchrevealed that the rittvi2 theory wa erroneou, I could ee that, on a particular level, it doe have certainvalidity Srila Prabhupada i an acarya o& e9traordinary piritual merit, and he &ar urpae any initiatin.piritual mater in IS'CON Cone-uently, everyone will naturally want Prabhupada &or their .uru, and,in a very real ene, he i the piritual mater &or all IS'CON devotee, &or they are nourihed on himovement and boo2 But he i not their initiator I could alo reali6e that IS'CON ha peciali.ni&icance in pirituali6in. thi world accordin. to the prediction o& Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu, and thatSrila Prabhupada( poition a it &ounder and preeminent acarya mut be reco.ni6ed to accomplih itmiion ucce&ully In thi way, the baic premie o& the Rittvi2 ytem ha a bai in reality But itta2e the idea too &ar, &or while Prabhupada erve a the ultimate authority &or all o& IS'CON, theindividual initiatin. .uru alo ha a relationhip with the diciple in a way that hould not and cannot becompromied Thi i the verdict o& the cripture and the tradition

    hen I tarted to initiate diciple on Prabhupada( behal&, I reali6ed how important it i to act a atranparent via medium between my diciple and 3i Divine 4race I reali6ed that I wa initiatin.

    becaue IS'CON ha .iven me the authority to act a Srila Prabhupada( repreentative, to .uide omeo& it new member to 3i Divine 4race( lotu &eet I am o&ten pain&ully aware o& my inability to act inthi .loriou capacity a an IS'CON .uru, and I &eel that the only way I can continue i by totallydependin. upon Srila Prabhupada( mercy I can act a a piritual mater only a lon. a I relay hiteachin. and ideal to thoe who are &ollowin. me + oon a I deviate &rom thi principle, I am nolon.er a piritual mater

    3+T DO>S )OUND>R*+C+R8+ +CTU+118 7>+N=

    )orm the word themelve, the meanin. i actually -uite clear 3e i the &ounder o& a piritualintitution and he i it piritual authority a well But what e9actly doe @a piritual intitution@ mean=Can anyone tart a piritual or.ani6ation and aume the title &ounder*acarya= The anwer i de&initely

    @No0@ The San2rit ynonym o& &ounder*acarya i (Kampradaya* acarya(, and thee ampradaya areetablihed by the divine arran.ement o& 'rna There are &our piritual ampradaya, and the ret areinauthentic !unle, o& coure, they are omehow connected to the ori.inal &our% The ori.inalampradaya*acarya are Brahma, 1a2mi, 1ord Siva, and the &our 'umara Sometime, due to thein&luence o& time, the teachin. o& a bona*&ide ampradaya .et covered hen thi occur, 'rnaarran.e that a power&ul peronality decend to revive the teachin. once a.ain Such peronalitie arereco.ni6ed a ampradaya*acarya +carya li2e Ramanu5acarya and 7adhvacarya came to thi world torevive the teachin. o& their repective ampradaya, and thu they are alo conidered ampradayaacarya hen uch an acarya appear, he not only create a maive piritual movement but aloretructure and ytemati6e the traditional ampradaya in which he appear

    Srila Ramanu5acarya appeared at a time when much o& India wa deluded by 7ayavad philoophy, and

    o he brou.ht bac2 the ainava iddhanta to counter thi enemy o& theim 7adhvacarya appeared onlyli.htly later and accomplihed a imilar miion + a reult, althou.h they appeared only about onethouand year a.o, they are till conidered the acarya o& their ampradaya, and everyone in theirrepective ampradaya become related to them a their diciple They are undoubtedly the preeminenti2a .uru o& their ampradaya Thee ampradaya*acarya are not ordinary livin. entitie They arenot even adhana iddha liberated oul They are either empowered incarnation or eternally liberatedaociate o& the 1ord )or e9ample, Srila Ramanu5acarya i the incarnation o& Sea and 7adhavacaryai an incarnation o& ayu Srila Prabhupada i an acarya o& that cate.ory, to ay the leat SrilaPrabhupada( actual piritual poition i inconceivable &or u 3owever, we can conider that 'rna

    L

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    9/17

    3imel& came a Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu in order to ditribute 'rna prema, which i di&&icult to attaineven &or Brahma and Siva Thi 2ind o& ma.nanimity i unuual even &or 'rna 3imel& There&ore, SrilaRupa 4owami .lori&ied Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu a the mot muni&icent incarnation o& the 1ord 8et,althou.h Sri Caitanya predicted that, in due coure o& time, thi prema will be ditributed throu.hout theworld, in every town and villa.e, 3e 3imel& only ditributed it in the holy land o& India

    hen we conider Srila Prabhupada( .reatne, it become obviou that he i the peronality who too2Sri Caitanya( preciou .em o& 'rna prema to every town and villa.e o& the world + peronality li2ePrabhupada doe not come to thi world to .et ome empty reco.ni6ion &rom vain materialit, but,rather, to accomplih a piritual miion on behal& o& the 1ord There&ore, thoe who want to &ollow himmut continue hi miion by etablihin. him in hi piritual poition I& we try to compete with himintead o& preadin. hi .lory all over the world, thin2in. that now we have become e-ually .reat andare able to do thin. even better than he did, then it i time to probe deep within our heart to eewhether a mad elephant ha entered that holy .arden, detroyin. our devotional creeper

    T3> DI))>R>NC> B>T>>N@T3> SPIRITU+1 7+ST>R@ +ND @T3> )OUND>R*+C+R8+@

    In the introduction to the Srimad Bha.avatam, Srila Prabhupada wrote, @The concept o& .od and theconcept o& the +bolute Truth are not on the ame level The Srimad Bha.avatam hit on the tar.et o&the +bolute Truth The concept o& .od indicate the controller, wherea the concept o& the +boluteTruth indicate the (ummum bonum( or the ultimate ource o& all ener.y@ +lon. imilar line, we canay that the concept o& piritual mater and that o& the )ounder*+carya are not on the ame level +piritual mater convey the teachin. o& hi ampradaya to hi diciple, wherea a )ounder*+caryarevive the iddhanta o& hi ampradaya and &ul&ill the deire o& the previou acarya 1et u loo2, &ore9ample, at the li&e o& Srila Ramanu5acarya, who &irt met 8amunacarya oon a&ter the latter(diappearance Gut be&ore Srila 8amunacarya paed away, he ent hi mot intimate diciple7ahapurna to .o to 'anchipuram and brin. Ramanu5acarya to him 3owever, when Ramanu5acaryaarrived, he &ound that Srila 8amunacarya had already le&t hi body 3e noticed on the body, however,

    that three &in.er o& hi ri.ht hand were &olded Upon in-uirin. whether hi &in.er were li2e that durin.hi li&etime, he wa in&ormed that they were not Thin2in. deeply about the meanin. o& the three &in.er,and 5ut what 8amunacarya wa tryin. to indicate by bendin. them, Ramanu5acarya too2 three vow onthe pot?

    " 3e would pread the .lorie o& inu to &ree the people &or their material bonda.e 3e would write the Sri*bhaya on the edanta*utraE In order to how repect to Paraara 7uni, who decribed the .lorie o& the 1ord in inuPurana, he would name a learned ainava a&ter him

    + he receited thee vow be&ore the body o& 8amunacarya, each o& 8amunacarya( three bent &in.erbecame trai.ht In thi way, it became clear that Ramanu5acarya undertood hi piritual preceptor(

    mind and &ul&illed hi deire 7adhvacarya and Nimbar2acarya alo &ul&illed the dream o& their previouacarya, a did many other .reat oul in the bona*&ide ampradaya

    The poition o& Srila Ramanu5acarya in Sri Sampradaya i o eminent a the )ounder +carya that theampradaya ha been named a&ter him and he i conidered to be the deliverer o& all who 5oin theampradaya herea the preent .uru 2now that their duty i to connect their diciple to SrilaRamanu5acarya There&ore, Ramanu5acarya i 2now a the uddhara2a*acarya or the deliverer piritualmater and the other .uru in hi line are 2nown a the upa2ara2a*acarya or bene&actor piritual mater

    #

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    10/17

    +lthou.h it eem to be a new concept, it i prevalent in 4audiya*ainava*Sampradya alo Srila Rupa4owami, a&ter whom our ampradaya i 2nown a @rupanu.a@ i the )ounder*+carya o& thatampradaya The &ollowin. poem &rom Srila Narottama Da Tha2ur will e9plain that the preent acaryaor di2a .uru ta2e hi diciple to the )ounder*+carya to be delivered or en.a.ed in 'rna( ervice

    @I have heard &rom the adhu that one achieve the lotu &eet o& the trancendental couple by the mercyo& Srila Rupa 4owami O Sanatan 4owami and all the aociate o& Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu, pleae&ul&ill my deire to receive the mercy o& Srila Rupa 4owami One who ta2e helter o& hi lotu &eet i a.reat oul hen will my 1ord 1o2anath 4owami ta2e me alon. with him and o&&er me at the lotu &eeto& Srila Rupa 4owami=@ 3ere Srila Narottama Da Tha2ur ma2e it clear that Srila Rupa 4owami ithe one who deliver or en.a.e one in the ervice o& the lotu &eet o& Sri Sri Radha 'rna +lthou.h hi.uru, Srila 1o2anath 4owami, wa an eternal aociate o& Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu and obviouly aliberated oul, till he i o&&erin. hi diciple, Srila Narottama Da Tha2ur, to Srila Rupa 4owami Thi&act become more clear in the &ollowin. prayer o& Srila Narottama DaTha2ur?

    @I will tay &ear&ully at the bac2 o& Sri Rupa ! 7an5ari % The Couple will then loo2 at me and ay verymerci&ully with a mile, (Rupa where did you .et thi new maidervant=( Then Rupa 7an5ari will ay,

    (7an5unali !7an5ulali=% brou.ht thi maidervant to me(@

    In other word, 1o2anath 4owami !7an5ulali 7an5ari% act a the liaion between Narottam and SriRupa, who i really the one who unite Narottam with Radha*'rna

    Relatin. all thi to IS'CON? Srila Prabhupada mentioned that IS'CON e9it in the piritual 2y Thimean that when we achieve piritual per&ection we will be elevated to the piritual 2in.dom, and thereSrila Prabhupada !li2e Rupa 7an5ari% will introduce u to Radha*'rna and en.a.e u in Their ervice,but one will be brou.ht to Srila Prabhupada throu.h hi di2a .uru Srila Prabhupada &ul&illed not onlythe dream o& the previou acarya but the prediction o& Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu, the SupremePeronality o& 4odhead 3ow can anyone be o blind a to not perceive hi e9traordinary piritual

    tatu= One need imply review the &act o& hitory to ee what Srila Prabhupada ha accomplihed In&act, even i& we &ail to reco.ni6e hi .lory and etablih him on hi throne o& piritual e9cellence, 'rnawill not It i accordin. to 3i plan that Srila Prabhupada came to thi world, and accordin. to that ameplan Srila Prabhupada( piritual poition will be revealed to thi world

    + N+TUR+1 CR+IN4 TO B> CONN>CT>D

    7any devotee who came to IS'CON a&ter Srila Prabhupada( diappearance o&ten lament that i& theyhad 5oined a &ew year earlier, or even a &ew month earlier, they could have met Srila Prabhupada andbeen initiated by him Thi trancendental re.ret or cravin. will alway be there in the heart o& theincere oul + a matter o& &act, a time pae, thi lon.in. to be connected to Srila Prabhupada willactually increae )uture .eneration o& IS'CON devotee will lament, @I& I had 5oined one hundred

    year a.o, I could have met Srila Prabhupada Or, i& I had 5oined one thouand year a.o, I could havemet Srila Prabhupada@ Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu( an2irtan movement i preadin. to every town andvilla.e throu.h IS'CON In the year to come, million o& people will be attracted to thi movementand eventually 5oin in one way or another e, the diciple o& Srila Prabhupada, have the reponibilityto ma2e them undertand that they all have an eternal piritual relationhip with Srila Prabhupada andthat he i available to all o& them a the preeminent i2a .uru o& IS'CON

    T3> U1TI7+T> SO1UTION TO +11 PROB1>7S

    ";

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    11/17

    Since Srila Prabhupada( diappearance, IS'CON ha &aced many problem Some o& them were oevere that it eemed a i& the ociety would &all apart Cloe crutiny will reveal that all o& theeproblem were due to not puttin. proper emphai on Srila Prabhupada( piritual poition and not&ollowin. hi teachin. Some o& thoe problem include?

    " Jonal acarya ytem ea2enin. o& 4BC authorityE The concept that ome other ainava are a .reat a Srila Prabhupada, i& not .reaterH Diciple o& the &allen .uru leavin. IS'CON: Ritvi2vad Nitya*iddha .uru yndrome$ 1ac2 o& unity amon. devotee

    Solution?

    " Jonal acarya ytem

    One o& IS'CON( mot dama.in. problem occurred oon a&ter Srila Prabhupada( diappearance +t

    that time, everal enior devotee whom Srila Prabhupada had a2ed to initiate diciple on hi behal&,aumed the role o& initiatin. piritual mater Some o& them, due to their lac2 o& e9perience, tried toituate themelve in an abolute poition, thin2in. that in order to be piritual mater one had to be inthe ame topmot poition that Srila Prabhupada wa in They et themelve up in their repective6one a @miniature Prabhupada,@ obcurin. Srila Prabhupada( naturally uni-ue poition in IS'CONThi phenomenon later became 2nown a the 6onal acarya ytem Srila Prabhupada warned hidiciple not to appoint a world*acarya 3e pointed out that thi wa the mita2e made by hi .od*brother, and that thi i why the 4audiya 7ath &ell apart Still, depite Srila Prabhupada( warnin.,leadin. devotee o& IS'CON made the ame mita2e, albeit unconciouly and in a li.htly di&&erentway Intead o& appointin. one world*acarya, the IS'CON world wa divided into maller 6one and theinitiatin. piritual mater became the ole acarya o& their repective domain +lthou.h IS'CON did

    not &all apart, it, li2e 4audiya 7ath, had to pay an incredibly heavy price &or that deviation &rom SrilaPrabhupada( intruction Neverthele, &rom thi mita2e IS'CON ha learned a valuable leon? @Don(tma2e the intitution a one man how Rather, puh on thi very important piritual movementcollectively, a a team, with Srila Prabhupada in the center@

    I& we etablih Srila Prabhupada( poition a the )ounder*+carya and intitute the ytem that the .uruo& IS'CON mut act a the tranparent via media between their diciple and Srila Prabhupada, thenuch miconception will be prevented &orever In our .eneration, we have identi&ied thi dan.er and, toa lar.e de.ree, recti&ied the mita2e, but we hould not be o naMve a to thin2 that &uture .enerationmay not repeat the ame mita2e It i o eay &or a piritual mater in thi a.e to want to becomeindependent with the tren.th o& a &ew diciple 7aybe the ytem in IS'CON ha become o tron.that no one will be allowed to become a world acarya or 6onal acarya in the year to come, but what i

    the .uarantee that ome .uru will not &ind it too oppreive to be under the authority o& the 4BC bodyand decide to create hi own little world !ie, movement% where he will be the only acarya= It mi.ht beaid that thi would not e&&ect IS'CON directly/ nonethele, indirectly it could have devatatin. e&&ect+t the very leat, we would loe that .uru and hi diciple, and an unneceary competition will enue3owever, i& everyone in IS'CON i educated be&orehand about Srila Prabhupada( e9traordinarypoition !a the pre*eminent i2a .uru and the )ounder*+carya &or all who learn about piritual li&ethrou.h IS'CON%, and the main reponibility o& the .uru in IS'CON i to brin. their diciple to thelotu &eet o& Srila Prabhupada and tranmit hi teachin. to them, then the poibility o& uch dan.er canbe avoided &orever

    ""

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    12/17

    e mut remember that thi i the a.e o& 'ali, and that people in thi a.e are .enerally very wea2 anddo not have any piritual inclination +ll we need do i loo2 at our own live 7ot o& u were deeplyinvolved in materialitic activitie and were not at all piritually inclined It i only due to SrilaPrabhupada( cauele mercy that we are on the piritual path today +lthou.h we have aumed .reatpiritual reponibilitie a piritual mater many o& u are not really -uali&ied Spiritual mater inIS'CON are aware o& thi, but they per&orm their duty a .uru only a a ervice &or Srila Prabhupada,and they try to do it to the bet o& their ability

    + piritual mater i uppoed to act a the via media between hi dicipleand the Supreme Peronality o& 4odhead But in order to do that, one mut be a liberated oul 7ot o&u are not Be that a it may, &or the a2e o& preadin. 'rna concioune accordin. to SrilaPrabhupada( deire, in pite o& our inability, we have ta2en up the reponibility to initiate diciple +ndwe are eein. that depite our piritual inability, diciple are ma2in. piritual advancement becaue o&the helter and .uidance o& IS'CON The credit &or that obviouly .oe to Srila Prabhupada It iimportant &or u to appreciate how e9pertly Srila Prabhupada tructured IS'CON In thi piritualor.ani6ation 5ut by bein. loyal to hi lotu &eet we can e9ecute the mot di&&icult piritual ta2 o& apiritual mater and 5ut by bein. connected to him by &ollowin. hi intruction the apirin. candidate

    can ma2e teady piritual pro.re and .radually become elevated to the topmot re.ion o& the piritual2y I& we conider that IS'CON i li2e a piritual hip that i carryin. conditioned oul acro thematerial ocean, then our reponibility a a piritual mater i to ma2e ure that the paen.er areproperly ituated in thi hip Prabhupada( potency doe the ret

    ea2enin. o& 4BC authority

    hen Srila Prabhupada( authority in IS'CON a it )ounder*+carya i etablihed then the poition o&the 4BC a hi repreentative and hence the ultimate mana.in. authority o& IS'CON will automaticallybe etablihed Srila Prabhupada told u many a time how the intitution o& hi piritual mater &ellapart becaue ome o& hi .od*brother in leadin. poition did not abide by the intruction o& hi

    piritual mater to mana.e the ociety collectively throu.h a .overnin. body IS'CON did not &all aparta&ter Srila Prabhupada diappearance becaue o& it adherence to the 4BC principle It i not that theboat o& IS'CON did not roc2 &rom time to time, but due to the collective endeavor o& incere devoteeunder the able .uidance o& the .overnin. body, thoe di&&icultie have been con-uered +t time,2nowin. our own inade-uacie, the problem appeared inurmountable But depite our &railty andincompetence we &or.ed ahead to &ace our problem with the con&idence that the 4BC body i there,behind u, and, behind them, Srila Prabhupada, to provide u with all the upport we needed +nd,today, we can boldly declare that we did not &ail in any o& thoe venture Rather, the continuede9itence o& IS'CON and it re.ular pro.ram i proo& that Srila Prabhupada( movement ha realtayin. power

    +nyone who cloely loo2 at IS'CON will reco.ni6e the importance o& the

    .overnin. body, which i li2e IS'CON( 2eletal &rameAthe or.ani6ation would &all apart without thieential mana.erial tructure +nalo.ically, anyone can undertand the importance o& a tron. body,becaue all trouble actually be.in when the body become wea2 hat doe thi wea2ne re&er to=Thi wea2ne i the inability o& the body to uphold Srila Prabhupada( ideal and intruction

    I& the ociety o& IS'CON literally reco.ni6e Srila Prabhupada( upremepoition a the )ounder*+carya and voluntarily invet the 4BC with the powerto e9ecute Srila Prabhupada( willAand every 4BC member ta2e up thi reponibility with all incerityAthen the .olden a.e o& IS'CON will certainly be.in

    "

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    13/17

    E Some o& Srila Prabhupada( .od*brother are a .reat a Srila Prabhupada, i& not .reater

    hen Srila Prabhupada wa preent on thi planet hi .reatne and potency hone o brilliantly, that noone in IS'CON &elt the need to .o to anyone outide o& IS'CON &or piritual .uidance 3owever, 5uta the world become dar2 due to the abence o& the un and even a mall lamp appear to dipeldar2ne with o much brilliance, a&ter Srila Prabhupada( diappearance ome devotee be.an to .etenamored by everal o& Srila Prabhupada( .od*brother or other enior 4audiya ainava Deluded bythe 1ord( illuory ener.y, ome o& thee well*meanin. IS'CON devotee even tarted to conider theeenior 4audiya 7ath men to be even more advanced than Srila Prabhupada +nd becaue o& thi, theytarted to promote them, ayin. that they are able to .ive omethin. that Srila Prabhupada could not7any innocent devotee became victim o& thi propa.anda and dri&ted away &rom the helter o& SrilaPrabhupada( lotu &eet 1e advanced devotee thin2 that Srila Prabhupada i dead and .one 7any o&them too2 initiation &rom .uru who &ell down They ee IS'CON .uru a youn. in a.e, le pirituallyadvanced and uceptible to &alldown On the other hand, thee 4audiya 7ath .uru are old, wi6enedIndian, learned in cripture and mature in 'rna Concioune, le li2ely to &all down I& it i a choicebetween the youn. IS'CON .uru and them, obviouly, it eem, they are the better choice I& IS'CON.uru had aumed their tatu merely baed on their own merit, they naturally tand no chanceAthere

    i no comparion But in reality IS'CON .uru have a pecial privile.e They are initiatin. and will beinitiatin. in &uture in order to connect their diciple to Srila Prabhupada +nd thi -uali&ie them morethan any o& the traditional -ualitie uually &ound in a piritual mater

    In thi repect, we may conider the e9ample o& a very rich peron li2e Roc2e&eller It may appear thathi little on doe not have any wealth and an ordinary man may eem to have more money than him,but 5ut by hi birthri.ht he i one o& the richet men in thi world Similarly, Srila Prabhupada(repreentative may appear to be not o advanced but a Srila Prabhupada( ucceor they haveinherited incredible piritual wealth In due coure o& time the validity o& thi claim will become obviou

    One may -uetion why we are not appreciatin. the .reatne o& Srila Prabhupada( .od*brother/ they

    are alo diciple o& Srila Bha2tiiddhanta Saravati Tha2ur Gut a Srila Prabhupada( diciple are ableto .ive Srila Prabhupada to other, o, too, can the diciple o& Prabhupada( .uru .ive SrilaBha2tiiddhanta Saravati Tha2ur to the people with whom they come in contact 7y anwer to that ithi? even thou.h they may be maintainin. their piritual li&e and not deviatin. &rom 'rnaConcioune, they did not ucceed in carryin. out their piritual mater( miion + a reult, thecoloal tructure o& 4audiya 7ath crumbled a&ter Srila Bha2tiiddhanta Saravati Tha2ur(diappearance It i Srila Prabhupada who revived the pirit o& Srila Bha2tiiddhanta Saravati Tha2ur)rom the ruin o& the 4audiya 7ath, Prabhupada etablihed IS'CON in hi .uru( mood SrilaBha2tiiddhanta Saravati Tha2ur( li&e i &lowin. throu.h Srila Prabhupada( movement today

    Not only i Srila Bha2tiiddhanta Saravati Tha2ur( mood indelibly etched in IS'CON, but Sri Caitanya7ahaprabhu( maintream movement i &lowin. throu.h it vein a well Gut a a mall tream 5oin a

    bi. river and &low to the ocean, imilarly, not only the devotee o& the 4audiya 7ath but all 4audiyaainava play a part Srila Prabhupada( IS'CON I& one i truly a &ollower o& Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhuthen how can he not ee that Srila Prabhupada i the peronality who &ul&illed hi prediction +ndhonorin. Srila Prabhupada i ta2in. part in IS'CON

    H Diciple o& &allen .uru leavin. IS'CON

    Diciple o& the &allen .uru would not have le&t IS'CON i& they were tau.ht that Srila Prabhupada(helter i alway there, and their .uru( main reponibility toward them wa to act a a via media

    "E

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    14/17

    between them and Srila Prabhupada

    The wort period o& the hitory o& IS'CON wa &irt hal& o& the ei.htie, when i9 out o& eleven .uru&ell down The wort thin. that can happen to a devotee( piritual li&e i the &all*down o& hi piritualmater Spiritual li&e i baed on &aith and it ta2e a .reat deal &or a livin. entity to develop thi &aithhen he doe develop it by the mercy o& 'rna, it( mot intene &ocu i on the piritual mater 3eta2e initiation &rom him becaue he thin2 that he i the bet devotee o& the 1ord There&ore, one canwell ima.ine what happen to hi &aith when hi piritual mater &all down hen uch a thin. occur, alot o& ympathy, compaion and care i re-uired to heal the wound But due to their inenitivity manyo& the leader o& that time &ailed to diplay the neceary care and compaion Intead, the diciple o&the &allen .uru were told that they have to ta2e @reinitiation@ &rom a .uru in .ood tandin. In omearea a newly appointed Jonal +carya came and declared that all the diciple o& the &allen .uru o& thatarea will have to ta2e initiation &rom him within three day Otherwie, they were told that they had toleave IS'CON

    Other claimed that econd initiated devotee !who were initiated by .uru who &ell away% hould notchant .ayatri mantra and worhip the deitie becaue now that their piritual mater ha &allen down they

    lot their credibility to chant thoe mantra and they are not truly brahmin anymore

    Needle to ay, thi created an unpleaant and avainava environment, and many wounded oulurrendered with a bro2en heart while other imply le&t the movement e could have avoided theentire ituation i& we had had the clear undertandin. that everyone in IS'CON i heltered by SrilaPrabhupada 3i piritual li&e i completely protected a he remain &aith&ully connected to SrilaPrabhupada and continue to render hi ervice to IS'CON a a loyal member

    The 4BC reco.ni6ed their &undamental mita2e and in order to prevent the re* occurrence o& uchhappenin. they &ormulated a paper on re*initiation and paed variou reolution The pirit o& thereolution in -uetion i that when a devotee o& IS'CON loe hi piritual mater he will ta2e helter

    a the )ounder*+carya Then, in the coure o& renderin. devotional ervice in the aociation o&devotee, a he develop hi &aith in other enior devotee, he can develop a relationhip with them ai2a .uru +nd in coure o& time, i& he &eel that he i able to urrender himel& a.ain to a eniordevotee o& IS'CON, then he may ta2e re*initiation &rom uch a peron In thi way, it ha been madeclear to all that a )ounder*+carya, Srila Prabhupada i the main helter o& all devotee in IS'CON 3ei the preeminent i2a .uru

    +nother very important phenomena we mut note i that thoe diciple o& the &allen .uru who areervin. Srila Prabhupada in IS'CON with incere dedication are not only a&ely ituated in theirpiritual li&e but alo ma2in. teady piritual advancement herea the diciple o& the .uru in .oodtandin. who have le&t the helter o& IS'CON have &allen &rom the piritual plat&orm very -uic2ly )romthi obervation we can reco.ni6e the importance o& bein. connected to IS'CON and the helter o&

    Srila Prabhupada( lotu &eet IS'CON i the e9tenion o& the piritual world in thi material natureThere&ore, to be properly ituated in IS'CON i nondi&&erent &rom bein. in the piritual world +nd tobe properly ituated in IS'CON mean to become connected to Srila Prabhupada, it )ounder*+carya

    : Ritvi2vad i a perverted re&lection o& the )ounder*+carya concept Srila Prabhupada in hi apra2atalila doe not .ive initiation anymore 3owever, all the .uru o& IS'CON, &or all time, reco.ni6e theirreponibility to ta2e their diciple to Srila Prabhupada &or ultimate deliverance

    4enerally it i e9pected that a .uru hould be a liberated oul 3owever, in a ociety li2e IS'CON,

    "H

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    15/17

    which ha a maive reponibility to pread the 'rna Concioune movement all over the world therei a need &or many piritual mater, and obviouly all o& them will not be eternally liberated oul+nother practical conideration i that a liberated oul will not broadcat hi piritual identity Intead o&e9pectin. to &ind o many liberated oul, it i practical &or u to etablih the &act that Srila Prabhupadai an eternally liberated oul and whoever repreent him properlyi a bona &ide piritual mater

    The cripture do ay that one mut &ind an eternally liberated pure devotee piritual mater 3owever,by Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu( mercy a new poibility ha become available Srila Prabhupada came andhe i till betowin. hi mercy in the &orm o& IS'CON In thi a.e, &or the maive propa.ation o& 'rnaConcioune all over the world, many .uru are needed and mot o& them may not be eternallyliberated oul, a tated above Still, no one will doubt the uper*e9cellent piritual poition o& SrilaPrabhupada

    In a ociety li2e IS'CON, where there are o many piritual mater, all o& them will not be e-uallyadvanced Some will be e9tremely advanced and other will not 8et di&&erent devotee will be attractedto di&&erent piritual mater &or variou reaon and receive initiation &rom them The diciple and&ollower o& thoe very advanced piritual mater may &eel that the diciple o& le advanced piritual

    mater will not ma2e piritual advancement by &ollowin. the piritual mater they have ta2en initiation&rom and out o& their compaion they may tell them to re5ect their piritual mater and ta2e re*initiationor piritual helter o& the advanced piritual mater I& it i &elt that the diciple( piritual advancement ilimited to the de.ree o& hi piritual mater( advancement then thi undertandin. i correct 3owever,in IS'CON the advancement o& a particular diciple i not limited by that &actor Srila Prabhupada(uni-ue arran.ement add a totally new dimenion In IS'CON, Srila Prabhupada i the ultimatedeliverer There&ore, diciple mut reali6e that the piritual mater( reponibility i to connect them toSrila Prabhupada and i& they can do that then they are per&ectly e9ecutin. their dutie a bona &idepiritual mater Ultimately, then, the diciple o& an IS'CON .uru can and hould reach &or ever hi.herlevel o& piritual per&ection It i di&&icult &or a neophyte devotee to reco.ni6e an advanced devotee Soo&ten we notice that neophyte devotee mita2e cholarhip and charima &or piritual advancemnt

    Sometime they even thin2 that birth in a certain country or cate i a criterion &or piritualadvancement +lthou.h canvain. and preuri6ation i prohibited in IS'CON, the practice i till.oin. on urreptitiouly or de&iantly +lthou.h the enior devotee notice that they do not want toaddre the iue becaue o& the unpleaantne it will create, and they hope that thi yndrome will .oaway, it hould be clear that it will not .o away on it own But i& we etablih the Srila Prabhupada)ounder*+carya concept properly, the a&orementioned problem will alo diappear Thi i o becauethe devotee will reali6e that they will not have to loo2 &or a nitya iddha .uru 3e i already there +llthey have to &ind i a preent .uruAwho i on a moderate level o& piritual advancementAwho will lin2them up to Srila Prabhupada

    $ Unity amon. devotee i e&&ected due to chim

    Srila Prabhupada emphatically intructed hi &ollower to e9pre our love &or him throu.h cooperationwith each other In the a.e o& -uarrel unity i the mot power&ul mean to avoid the evil in&luence o& thea.e 'ali etablihe the rei.n o& adharma throu.h in&ul activitie and -uarrel, and Sri Caitanya7ahaprabhu came to etablih dharma, which counteract 'ali( in&luence by creatin. a beauti&ul pirito& unity amon. the devotee There&ore, unity mut be our mot important conideration )or IS'CON,one o& the wort obtacle to the pirit o& unity i chim O&ten, diciple diplay a tendency to createa clan around their piritual mater In certain area there are diciple who have uch a tron.hold thatthey do not allow other .uru to come and initiate Thee ort o& practice create unpleaantne and idetrimental to IS'CON( unity 3owever, i& every devotee reco.ni6e that hi .uru i connectin. him to

    ":

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    16/17

    Srila Prabhupada, a all the other .uru o& IS'CON are alo doin., the diciple will come to ee that allIS'CON .uru repreent the ame thin.Anothin. more or le than a lin2 to Srila Prabhupada, withone not bein. better or wore than the other I& thi mentality i adopted, then all ectarian tendenciewill diappear and devotee will learn to &ocu on Srila Prabhupada Only then will the pirit o& unitynaturally develop

    3+T DO > +CTU+118 +NT TO +C3I>>=In order to undertand what we actually want to achieve, we have to &irt o& all undertand what weactually have Seein. the e9tremely &allen condition o& the people o& thi a.e, Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhudecended in order to ditribute 'rna prema, the treaured wealth o& 4olo2a rindavan, and the-uali&ication to receive it i &aith and urrender One doe not have to be piritually advanced or piou I&one imply reco.ni6e Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu and 3i devotee( pecial mercy he will be able toreceive thi e9traordinary piritual .i&t o& Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu Unli2e other a.e, thi arran.ementi not &or the cla but &or the ma There&ore, Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu and Nityananda Prabhuor.ani6ed thi collective method o& piritual advancement, or an2irtan, the con.re.etional chantin. o&the holy name The proce i clear? 5ut by chantin. the pure name o& the 1ord, devotee becamedelivered 3owever, Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu wa not ati&ied with thi/ 3e had another plan 3e

    wanted thi movement to pread all over the world, in every town and villa.e In thi a.e, to pread the.lory o& the 1ord in that way, to that e9tent, literally mean wa.in. war a.aint 'ali, the ruler o& thia.e

    e all 2now that 'ali yu.a be.an :,;;; year a.o, when 'rna le&t thi planet, 8udithira retired &romhi throne and Pari2it 7ahara5 became the 2in. +t that time, dharma wa per&ectly etablihed by'rna and wa bein. maintained by Pari2it 7ahara5 hen Pari2it 7ahara5 aw 'ali en.a.ed in hine&ariou activitie o& torturin. mother earth and cripplin. dharma, he wa about to 2ill him, but uponhi prayer &or &or.ivene he decided not to 2ill him but to banih him &rom hi 2in.dom Pari2it7ahara5 wa the ruler o& the entire earth planet, includin. the ocean There&ore, to be banihed &rom hi2in.dom meant to be banihed &rom thi earth 'ali be..ed &or ome place on thi earth to tay, but

    Pari2it o&&ered him only thoe place where meat eatin., into9ication, illicit e9 and .amblin. areper&ormed Durin. Pari2it 7ahara5( per&ect rule thoe activitie were not prevalent There&ore, 'aliwanted ome other place where he could tay Pari2it 7ahara5 thu alo allowed him to tay where .oldi accumulated &or materialitic activitie

    'ali i detined by 'rna( arran.ement to rule over thi a.e There&ore he.radually ucceeded in preadin. hi in&luence 3e aw that a lon. aPari2it 7ahara5 wa in power, he had no hope o& preadin. hi in&luence 3e 2new that he did not havethe power to de&eat him There&ore, he in&luenced a uperior power to accomplih hi miion? hein&luenced the brahmana boy Srin.i to cure Pari2it 7ahara5 to die within even day In thi way, dueto 'ali( in&luence, the head o& the ocial body became corrupt Ta2in. advanta.e o& the a.e o& 'ali, thera2aa too2 birth in the brahmana &amilie and in the name o& reli.iou principle they tarted to

    introduce all 2ind o& irreli.iou activitie, and, ta2in. advanta.e o& their uperior poition, be.an toe9ploit the other member o& ociety hen the 2atriya aw the de.eneration o& the brahmana theyre&ued to accept their authority Thu, the 2atriya became independent and depotic In thi way,without the .uidance o& the .enuine brahmana and the real 2atriya, the tructure o& human ocietybe.an to collape Now, within :,;;; year, 'ali ha con-uered the world There&ore, wherever we .o,practically everyone i involved in meat eatin., into9ication, illicit e9 and .amblin. Thee &our le. o&+dharma have been o tron.ly etablihed that Dharma ha been banihed &rom thi world

    herever there i uch a decline o& Dharma and a predominant rie o& +dharma 'rna decend to

    "

  • 8/13/2019 Srila Prabhupada's special position.doc

    17/17

    etablih Dharma 'rna came a Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu to .ive 3imel& in the &orm o& the holy name,and, &inally, he ent Srila Prabhupada, the per&ect .eneral to launch hi &inal attac2A dethronin. 'ali&rom hi eat o& overei.nty &or ten thouand year 1i2e a valiant warrior, Srila Prabhupada went aloneto the capitol o& 'ali( 2in.dom and challen.ed 'ali to war 3e releaed the prioner &rom 'ali( prionand &ormed an army +nd ince then he win each battle, with victory aured by 'rna( aociation

    That .reat .eneral 2new that he would not be there to lead the army &oreverThere&ore, with incredible &orei.ht, he tructured hi army to outlive himThat tructure i IS'CONAan or.ani6ation empowered by 'rna( piritualpotencyAan e9tenion o& the piritual world It i an invincible &ortre thatwill protect the oldier Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu &rom all the attac2 o& 'ali IS'CON i not anordinary etablihment Sri Caitanya 7ahaprabhu and the entire diciplic ucceion i empowerin. it,and Srila Prabhupada, depite hi apparent diappearance &rom thi planet, i till .uidin. it li2e a.uardian an.el

    Thi movement i meant to ta2e over the whole world and etablih 'rna Concioune in every noo2and corner

    e, the member o& IS'CON, have a very pecial reponibility to protect thi preciou intitution,dand the way to do that i the way I mentioned earlierAby etablihin. Srila Prabhupada in hi ri.ht&ulpoition a it )ounder*+carya The ret will happen automatically

    It i not that 'ali will accept hi de&eat o eaily 3e will continue to launch attac2 and each ucceiveone will be more evere than the lat But he will be de&eated each timeAa lon. a we continue to &i.htunder the command o& our trancendental .eneral, Srila Prabhupada

    "$