Restoring the Original ISKCON (Part One)

Although the idea that we can restore ISKCON to its former glory may seem presumptuous and nearly impossible–like killing a rhino with a blow dart–it is our duty to try.

What to do first? We have already done the first step. The Hare Krishna Society has produced a booklet summarizing the essential conclusions regarding the mission and teachings of the Krishna consciousness movement, and dozens of senior devotees contributed to and agreed on all the points in SPS and the importance of these points. This should remain our fundamental position paper to enlist the help and participation of devotees who agree with all conclusions.

Next, we have cooperated to help Nityananda produce a full expose of Iskcon leaders and their participation in the cover-up of the murderous plot to poison Srila Prabhupada and pervert his mission. This project, complete with accompanying videos, is very dramatic and will be even more useful if applied in a positive way rather than just as a means of tearing down iskcon leadership. One positive effect would be if these revelations encourage devotees to fully abandon maya-iskcon and cooperate with the Hare Krishna Society by following the principles pointed out in SPS.

Most devotees are struggling to maintain their spiritual life all alone– or in the orbit of iskcon. Many are not supportive on iskcon leadership but try to remain in good-standing with them—just to keep in association with devotees. They see no alternative for association anywhere else. Some adventurous souls like Rathayatra have moved to India to get needed sadhu-sanga via Bangalore iskcon, but the iskcon Bangalore policy is to ban all “foreigner” devotees and appeal to the nationalistic, bodily sentiments of the general public in South India –for the sake of money collection, temple construction, and social prestige.

In my opinion, it may be futile to go on chasing iskcon leaders. They will never change due to their severe offenses. At best, we can rescue a few good devotees from their chaos, but even this Srila Prabhupada never tried to do with regard to the Gauidya Math. In fact, when Indian GM devotees came to join ISKCON, they were especially tested to see if they were really sincere. Srila Prabhupada preferred disciples who had never been in any kind of poisonous association. Indians in general were looked at carefully due to the rampant association that most Indians have had with mayavadis, impersonalists, sahajiyas and all manner of pseudo-spiritualists.

I have heard from reliable sources that some senior devotees have been leaving the Bang. camp. Some have even gone to iskcon. Also, we may expect that the widespread poison videos and solid evidence may cause many iskcon devotees in Europe and around the world to leave the maya-iskcon camp.

It is amazing how Srila Prabhupada created institutions and authorities from neophyte devotees who had only brief training and experience in Krishna consciousness. He could do this instantly due to his own empowerment and authority. Where is that authority now? Who will be convinced that HKS, or any other group, has the full blessings and authority of Srila Prabhupada? This is the real hurdle we must overcome to create another spiritual institution identical or similar to the original mission. Seeing these challenges, many devotees have assumed that the only way to restore iskcon would be to change the minds of its present leaders and followers. In my opinion, however, this is not the way to go. Nor was such compromise with offenders an example shown by Srila Prabhupada.

Srila Prabhupada’s Essential Mission Programs:

• Publications: Srila Prabhupada’s first efforts were involved with publishing BTG. He did this first, beginning in 1945. (Thereafter, he tried to create a “league of devotees” and a preaching center. He did the same thing upon arriving in America.)
• Temples: Srila Prabhupada’s next efforts aimed at creating regular temple programs and daily sadhana, with emphasis on classes and daily street *sankirtana*.
• Books: Srila Prabhupada wanted to fully publish his Bhagavatam, the Gita and other main books. Books were both the means of teaching and the means of income.
• Leaders: Srila Prabhupada tried to create some competent leaders to represent the mission. He conferred upon new devotees high-sounding titles like “Temple President,” “Governing Body Commissioner”, “Swami” and finally ritvik or “representative of the acharya.”
• Institutions: Srila Prabhupada incorporated ISKCON, BBT and a few other trusts.
• Tirthas: He wanted at least one tirtha in the West for pilgrimage and national festivals. Also, he wanted all temples to cooperate in building facilities in Mayapur for yearly pilgrimage and GBC meetings. Representatives from all temples were encouraged to attend.
• VAD: Seeing the slowness of his disciples to fully surrender to the preaching mission, Srila Prabhupada wanted his mission of offer sanga in a peaceful setting for sake of teaching us how to live on the land and worship Krishna. This program was inclusive of the goal of providing places of pilgrimage for devotees in the West and aimed at establishing the fundementals of varnashrama-dharma. Srila Prabhupada said that this program with the second half of his mission.

Most of these programs are going on already to some extent, or are relatively easy to begin. The real difficult task, however, is creating or enlisting devotee leaders who agree to cooperate under a common name and work to earn the trust of rank and file devotees and other mission leaders. Apparently no acharya has been able to do this successfully in this age before Srila Bhaktisiddhanta and Srila Prabhupada– and even Their success in this regard was apparently short-lived. Nonetheless, because they wanted a worldwide institution of Krishna Consciousness, it must go on somehow or other, sooner or later. Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu wanted Krishna consciousness to go on expanding all over the world.

(By Narasimha das)