Many wonderful contributions have been made on the recent topic of guru, initiation, diksa, siksa etc. I would like to summarise what has been said and what I have understood so far and elaborate a bit on what has been and is the common feeling amongst devotees, because senior devotees are discussing these topics ever so urgently. They are very concerned about what has become of Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON in such a short time since he physically left this world.

They are increasingly concerned, knowing very well that in the next 10 years or so many of us will not be any longer present in our physical bodies. Time is running out to turn around the ISKCON ship for the benefit of humanity at large. The dangers to become the Hare Krishna religion or another Hindu religion based on religiosity and not spirituality are too great to ignore.

First of all, I want to congratulate Rocana Prabhu for his “Sampradaya Acarya” article (Sampradaya Acarya Thesis) and his recent article, “The Latest Victim of Religiosity”. These are both brilliant contributions and are a kind of a torchlight illuminating the whole debate.

Personally I feel the fog on guru-tattva is clearing more than ever before. I would therefore like to summarise what I have understood so far and what would be the most beneficial and workable solution for ISKCON today:

Srila Prabhupada is the Sampradaya Acarya, the head of our sampradaya and the 32nd link coming from Lord Brahma. Who can argue with this and who would dare to disagree? Only those who want to diminish Srila Prabhupada. Maybe the Gaudiya camp will not be happy with this, but who could and would disagree from within ISKCON?

What is ISKCON? ISKCON is the followers of Srila Prabhupada. So that his followers could associate together and realize his teachings, Srila Prabhupada created the legal entity known and registered as ISKCON. But it was never about creating a corporate entity to which people surrendered. ISKCON was and is meant as a shelter for those who have faith and love for Srila Prabhupada and the path of transcendental life that he taught with such enthusiasm. Put simply, ISKCON is the devotees of Srila Prabhupada and Sri Krsna. The external form comprising the legal documents, meetings, title deeds, property, etc., are all subordinate to the goal of providing an association of spirit souls who want to collectively hear and chant the glories of Sri Sri Gaur Nitai, Sri Sri Radha Krsna and Their devotees. ISKCON is the society of devotees, not the bricks and mortar and legal documents. Thus ISKCON is the actual devotees. You are ISKCON. Where you go, ISKCON goes.

Vaisnavism is the ultimate in personalism. The Vaisnavas know that the highest aspect of the Absolute Truth is the Personality of Godhead. The personal aspect reigns Supreme, bestowing nectarine bliss. The whole creation is an expression of Sri Krsna’s personality. The Bhagavatam informs us that the birds with their wondrous plumage are created out of the artistic flair of the Supreme Personality. In the Gita, Sri Krsna explains to Arjuna that he should understand that all beautiful and mighty creations are created out of a single spark of His splendor. The message is clear, but easily forgotten in this material creation, that the personal reigns Supreme over the impersonal.

Sri Krsna explains that he is equal to all, and yet he is personally inclined to those who render him service. To those that render Him dedicated loving service, He personally carries what they lack and personally preserves what they have. He instructs Arjuna to declare it boldly that His devotees will never perish because He personally protects them. To those that surrender to Him, He assures that He will personally subdue all pending sinful reactions, finally emphasizing, “Do not fear.”

"Therefore having a bona fide spiritual master and serving him and pleasing him and getting his mercy is essential. Otherwise there can be no advancement in Krishna consciousness. And unless the spiritual master is a pure devotee of Krishna then he has no potency to give you Krishna. He is simply a cheating rascal.

So in fact above all the rules and regulations and offenses I have mentioned the most important thing, the essential thing, which is required if you want to come to the stage of purely chanting the Hare Krishna mantra is you must have a bona fide spiritual master who is a pure devotee of Krishna. Without having a bona fide spiritual master you can chant Hare Krishna forever but you will not be able to advance because Krishna does not reveal Himself in this way. He only reveals Himself to those devotees who surrender to and serve and please His pure devotees." (Srila Prabhupada letter to his London disciples, July, 1969)

After working with cows in close proximity for twelve years I'm convinced that substantial telepathic communication takes place among them. Likewise I'm convinced that cows send thoughts to humans as well and if we tune into the right frequency, we can effectively receive non-verbal messages from them.

A recent example: A street bull I know well entered the small garden to be served. That cold morning I offered him hay sprinkled with hot ginger tea, gur, flour and bran, a mixture he most relishes. After consuming his fill, he sniffed the ground and found a suitable place to sit and ruminate. I sat next to him to chant japa and relish his peaceful company. I thought, “How fortunate am I that I can serve Dharma Personified in Vrindavan.”

The thought he sent me was, “I am grateful to you for that wonderful meal. I especially liked the tidbits of ginger and gur as it takes the chill out of this winter morning.

“In return I offer you this to carefully ponder: A former sannyasi recently attributed his fall from grace to the coercion by his godbrothers to take celibacy vows though he was not fit. Later, his godbrothers again coerced him to take on administrative duties which he lacked the nature to perform. Again the same godbrothers ordered him to accept disciples, though he knew he could not set the proper example to guide them. Following their advice forced him into constant travel, which again went against his grain.

This is a commentary on the recent events surrounding Prabhavisnu Swami's fall from grace. I concur with the analysis and conclusions of several Sun contributors who have commented over the last few days on the letter Prabhavisnu wrote, so I'm not going to focus on that aspect of the drama today. I would like to comment on what hasn't yet been addressed, and that is, how Prabhavisnu's situation can be seen in the context of diksa initiation in ISKCON. This siddhantic issue is one of the highest principles at play here.

Individuals who are involved in falldowns like Prabhavisnu's are the personification of a flawed siddhantic understanding of the process of initiation. We have been exposed to many quotes in sastra and instructions directly from Srila Prabhupada in regards to the necessity of accepting a Spiritual Master and the importance of being connected to the sampradaya. However, due to the very strong tendencies produced by our conditioning, there is a phenomenon that takes place after the departure of great Acaryas - the pure devotees in our disciplic succession. After they depart, the inevitable evolution towards religiosity takes place. I have already written extensively on this subject, but it is again directly relevant to the current situation.

This phenomenon is especially evident in the case of the three previous Sampradaya Acaryas, who have been sent in order to fulfill Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's prediction of Krsna consciousness being spread throughout the world. In order to accomplish that mission, by their divine wisdom they concluded that the facility they required was that of forming an institution. This is understandable, given that spreading Krsna consciousness 'throughout the world' meant primarily taking it to the West, out of India, and in the West, institutional organization is the norm. During their lila periods, these institutions served the Sampradaya Acaryas well in terms of organizing their mission. But as we know, they also warned us that particularly during the periods between the personal presence of a great Acarya, the trend is towards transforming a spiritual mission into a vehicle for religiosity. And that trend is escalated on account of being in the context of an institution. At present, this phenomenon is unfolding in the institution established by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada -- the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Religiosity, especially in this context, comes about partly as a result of the fact that some of those holding power within the institution are granted power and position on an institutional basis rather than on the basis of spiritual qualification. This is true in the case of ISKCON's GBC and their various ministers and underlings. On the other side of the equation are the sannyasis and gurus. Sometimes one personality manages to secure several of these positions at once. But if their spiritual potency doesn't qualify them to hold these positions, if they attempt to maintain these positions without the potency to come up to the standards by which the positions are defined, then they fall back. So in order to keep the power they've become addicted to and have come to identify with as part of their false ego, they are naturally inclined to conclude that forming a religion is the easiest way to hold power.

In this short video from the "Memories of Srila Prabhupada" series Mula Prakriti relates how Srila Prabhupada wanted her to also see Krishna's effulgence and beauty.

In 1971 Srila Prabhupada went to Allahabad for the Ardha-kumbha-mela, and Yamuna-devi and I were in the party that accompanied him. Srila Prabhupada spoke on the story of Ajamila and the holy name, from the Sixth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam. Only the first two cantos had been translated and published, so Prabhupada read from his Sanskrit Bhagavatam with commentaries, sometimes translating from Sridhara Svami’s and occasionally from Jiva Gosvami’s. While there, I heard that Srila Prabhupada had said that he was speaking for Yamuna. And in April 2007, when Yamuna visited me in Santa Barbara, I asked her about it, and she told me something that etched an indelible impression on my heart.