To: ISKCON GBC
Make ISKCON Great Again!
Make ISKCON Great Again by insisting that qualifications for spiritual positions not be based on material bodily discrimination of caste, gender, color, ethnicity, etc.
Why is this important?
arcye viṣṇau śilā-dhīr guruṣu nara-matir vaiṣṇave jāti-buddhir
viṣṇor vā vaiṣṇavānāṁ kali-mala-mathane pāda-tīrthe 'mbu-buddhiḥ
śrī-viṣṇor nāmni mantre sakala-kaluṣa-he śabda-sāmānya-buddhir
viṣṇau sarveśvareśe tad-itara-sama-dhīr yasya vā nārakī saḥ
If one thinks that the worshipable śālagrāma-śilā is a mere stone, that the spiritual master is an ordinary human being or that a pure Vaiṣṇava preaching the bhakti cult all over the world is a member of a particular caste or material division of society, he is considered a nārakī, a candidate for hellish life. CC Antya 6.294 (Quoted from Padma Purāṇa)
N.B. Nara-matir means literally “[ordinary] person-mentality” if we consider a Vaisnava or Vaisnavi guru or teacher to be an ordinary human being that is a hellish mentality and Jāti-buddhir means literally "birth-mentality” if we consider an aspect of a Vaisnavas or Vaisnavis material birth to be a disqualification, it is a hellish mentality. Females are also a material division of society.
The malcontents against VDGs (Vaisnavi Diksha Gurus) say that the above does not apply to those born female, it only applies to those born male. Thus they consider the qualification for being a Vaisnava Mantra Diksha guru to be dependent on a customary or social convention i.e. that only dvija born males can be diksha gurus.
Srila Prabhupada did not teach or agree to follow the caste and gender discriminatory rules given in those certain sastras which deal with hereditary, customary social or ecclesiastical conventions, as a basis for the purely spiritual position of Vaisnava Diksha Guru.
Srila Prabhupada did not accept that the qualification to be guru is based on customary hereditary, ecclesiastic or social considerations. He tells us this clearly in the section defining Guru Tattva in Caitanya Caritamrta (the first chapter of Adi Lila teaches Gaudiya Vaisnava Guru Tattva):
Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī advises that one not accept a spiritual master in terms of hereditary or customary social and ecclesiastical conventions. One should simply try to find a genuinely qualified spiritual master for actual advancement in spiritual understanding. CC Adi 1.35 purport
Accepting a guru ONLY from a group of hereditary lines of dvija born male gurus is wrong as per this statement.
Accepting a guru ONLY from a customary social group i.e. only (dvija) males is wrong as per this statement.
Accepting a guru ONLY from an ecclesiastically approved group i.e. approved by a Church system (ecclesiastical convention means Church rules or GBC resolutions) is wrong as per this statement.
One may accept a guru from one of the above groups, but one must not think that only those who are hereditary gurus, male gurus or Church approved gurus are the ONLY spiritually qualified persons to be guru. If one does then as stated above in the Padma Purana, he has a hellish mentality. This evil hellish mentality must not be allowed to enter ISKCON.
viṣṇor vā vaiṣṇavānāṁ kali-mala-mathane pāda-tīrthe 'mbu-buddhiḥ
śrī-viṣṇor nāmni mantre sakala-kaluṣa-he śabda-sāmānya-buddhir
viṣṇau sarveśvareśe tad-itara-sama-dhīr yasya vā nārakī saḥ
If one thinks that the worshipable śālagrāma-śilā is a mere stone, that the spiritual master is an ordinary human being or that a pure Vaiṣṇava preaching the bhakti cult all over the world is a member of a particular caste or material division of society, he is considered a nārakī, a candidate for hellish life. CC Antya 6.294 (Quoted from Padma Purāṇa)
N.B. Nara-matir means literally “[ordinary] person-mentality” if we consider a Vaisnava or Vaisnavi guru or teacher to be an ordinary human being that is a hellish mentality and Jāti-buddhir means literally "birth-mentality” if we consider an aspect of a Vaisnavas or Vaisnavis material birth to be a disqualification, it is a hellish mentality. Females are also a material division of society.
The malcontents against VDGs (Vaisnavi Diksha Gurus) say that the above does not apply to those born female, it only applies to those born male. Thus they consider the qualification for being a Vaisnava Mantra Diksha guru to be dependent on a customary or social convention i.e. that only dvija born males can be diksha gurus.
Srila Prabhupada did not teach or agree to follow the caste and gender discriminatory rules given in those certain sastras which deal with hereditary, customary social or ecclesiastical conventions, as a basis for the purely spiritual position of Vaisnava Diksha Guru.
Srila Prabhupada did not accept that the qualification to be guru is based on customary hereditary, ecclesiastic or social considerations. He tells us this clearly in the section defining Guru Tattva in Caitanya Caritamrta (the first chapter of Adi Lila teaches Gaudiya Vaisnava Guru Tattva):
Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī advises that one not accept a spiritual master in terms of hereditary or customary social and ecclesiastical conventions. One should simply try to find a genuinely qualified spiritual master for actual advancement in spiritual understanding. CC Adi 1.35 purport
Accepting a guru ONLY from a group of hereditary lines of dvija born male gurus is wrong as per this statement.
Accepting a guru ONLY from a customary social group i.e. only (dvija) males is wrong as per this statement.
Accepting a guru ONLY from an ecclesiastically approved group i.e. approved by a Church system (ecclesiastical convention means Church rules or GBC resolutions) is wrong as per this statement.
One may accept a guru from one of the above groups, but one must not think that only those who are hereditary gurus, male gurus or Church approved gurus are the ONLY spiritually qualified persons to be guru. If one does then as stated above in the Padma Purana, he has a hellish mentality. This evil hellish mentality must not be allowed to enter ISKCON.