Mahavishnu Swami Dynamics of ISKCON and it's Gurus Hare Krishna Hare Rama

Dynamics of ISKCON and its Gurus hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare Camp. Kigali, Rwanda. Mob 00250783035697 All Glories to Sri Guru and Sri Gauranga! Dear Dinadayadra das, Bhn Jen and Ila dd, Please accept my blessings! All Glories to Srila Prabhupada! Please read my letter below and the attached file. It is quite interesting. Please let others read it and give their input too. Maybe I have just given my own viewpoint and I am off track. I see no reason why you cannot find a place for the whole "latest" file on my website. Let us get some input there also. Thank you. Hoping that this finds you all well in Krishna consciousness, Your Wellwishing, Mahavishnu Swami THANK YOU!		DOWNLOAD GBC PROPOSAL ON "Dynamics of ISKCON and its Gurus"
---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Dear Badrinayan Prabhu, Please accept my humble obeisances! All Glories to Srila Prabhupada! Thank you for your letter with the attached "Latest Version" file. Thank you for asking me for feedback. Please excuse my delay in writing. I have read it all in the time I have and below is my humble offering. I really appreciate the hard work that you have done presenting this all so nicely. It clarifies many things and has made me think more carefully what I am doing as an ISKCON guru. As a pioneer in new countries in ISKCON I find myself alone having to fulfill the dual roles of Guru and GBC representative. So I appreciate how I should link up the new devotees with ISKCON as much as possible even though in some places there is no GBC yet. If I go "then what?" is a good practical point. But I feel you have not addressed one important and sensitive issue yet. That is how much the apparently impersonal governmental siksa managerial ISKCON institution will try to interfere with the personal budding relationships between new bhaktas /aspiring disciples with the ISKCON Gurus. In the early days in expanding ISKCON Srila Prabhupada was very personal and lenient but in UK for instance I have heard complaints from my fellow-ISKCON gurus that the institutional standards set by ISKCON UK are off-putting straight jackets for aspirants seeking personal shelter. The gurus themselves find themselves having to unwillingly become apologists for ISKCON's rigid impersonal policies. It even seems that the ISKCON "establishment" has no trust of gurus and that is also not so surprising because of ISKCON gurus track records in the past. But when devotional aspirants are being lured by cheap initiations to other more "sociably personal" groups like Narayan Maharaja and the rather impersonal ISKCON institution is trying to find ways to expand its congregation I wonder why in ISKCON we do not now put our spiritual thinking caps on to find more flexible and personal standards which give more room to allow for loving relationships between disciple and guru to bud, blossom and bear fruit? It is as if "initiation" (a dirty word?) has become something to be resticted as much as possible. Is that the impression we want to give to newcomers who may feel it would be easier to meet a mundane educational establishment's exam requirements. I know there are the "guru fall down and boiling down the milk" counter arguments to the above and maybe this dialectic will just go on forever even as ISKCON dries up as it becomes more and more a heavy-handed Kamsaised organised religion smothering spontaneous devotional creepers right and left. So I humbly request you to consider and address this matter seriously before publishing your booklet in its present form. This is the crucial issue and you are not addressing it yet. Sorry but I do not have time or facilities to find and attach the latest niyamaagraha standards set and published by the UK ISKCON. I hope this is not going on in other countries yet but it may well be a problem for the future. So please address this sensitive issue and somehow or other give love a chance or give ISKCON gurus and disciples a chance. I am short of time to polish this up and I have shot from the hip a bit here getting it off my chest. Please excuse if there are any offences made by writing this but it is only meant to be for the positive improvement of Srila Prabhupada's movement. Thank you again for asking for my input on this important matter. Your Humble Servant, Mahavishnu Swami
Hare Krishna. We need your help. Attached you will find a draft of a booklet titled "Relations between ISKCON and its Gurus". This booklet outlines etiquette, standards, philosophical understandings, and practical dynamics for how a world-wide Vaisnava society, with multiple gurus, a GBC, temple presidents, sannyasis, and diverse congregations can and should function. This booklet will be discussed at the February 2010 GBC meetings and when approved, it will set the standards and guidelines for ISKCON world-wide. We are seeking your comments. You have been selected because you represent an important demographic in ISKCON. We need to hear from you. We have sent this draft booklet out to a select group and we are waiting for your comments. We have received a number of replies already, and we are grateful for that, but we still need yours. This should be the second time you are receiving our humble and fervent request. We recognize that you are busy with many important services. But the results of this discussion will be the guidelines we all live under in ISKCON. Here is a chance for you to express your opinion and influence the final result. Please help us get a clear picture of what senior devotees like you think these standards should be. Any questions, please feel free to contact either of us. Thank you for your help. Your servants, Prahladananda Maharaja and Badrinarayan dasa (on behalf of the GBC Strategic Planning Team)
TO SEE THE GBC PROPOSAL ON "Dynamics of ISKCON and its Gurus" referred to in all of the above correspondence, please click here: Download
Please send in any relevant input that you may feel can be of assistance in this issue.