ISKCON guru system
Upanayana as a traditional "sacred thread ceremony" of the Gayatri Mantra, commonly known Hindu Samskara, is complemented by Pancharatra mantras of the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya and follows the principal initial nama initiation ceremony, referred to respectively as brahmana diksa and Hari nama diksa.
Specifically, in the comments to the sutras 3.3.44-45 Baladeva Vidyabhushana argues that the concept of guru's grace plays the central role in the system of teacher-student succession."
Scriptural evidence towards the issue of a guru lies mainly in a large volume of Sanskrit work named Hari Bhakti Vilasa which received commentary by Sanatana Gosvami.
[3] The place of a guru and his grace (prasada) plays a vital role in the Vaisnava traditions in general and in ISKCON Gaudiya Vaishnavism in particular.
For both, the spiritual master is a type of extraordinary confluence of divinity and humanity, as each tradition exalts ways in which the guide becomes directly and effectively the grace of God in the flesh.In contrast with the established traditional view of ISKCON, some rare sahajia groups in Bengal treat their own preceptor (guru) as the living God.
[3] While the claim "submission of the disciple is neither irrational or blind"[7] is arguable, the question of qualification and humility remained opened for generations prior to creation of ISKCON in the West.
"It has been seen that much of the debate over authority and continuity over the years has focused on one issue: namely, whether current GBC members and gurus are spiritually qualified.
ISKCON is a multi-guru organization that places the ultimate managerial authority in its Governing Body, a group rather than a single person.
Current ISKCON Guru System is developed by the group of leaders, Governing Body Commission, (GBC), the managerial authority of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.
[10] In recent years GBC started to develop a regional seminar "Spiritual Leadership: Being a Guru in ISKCON" and made it mandatory for all future gurus to attend.
The course is based on the work of a group of seniors representing cross section of international devotees and is developed in coordination with Vaisnava Training and Education, the Guru Services Committee of GBC.
[11] Sastric Advisory Council to GBC has reported that there is a desire for control of who is ISKCON guru, the present system does not provides effective safeguards and at the same time contradicts the truly humble attitude of the Vaishnavas and is in danger of gradual corruption.
At a festival at New Vrindaban, West Virginia, on Janmastami day 1970, four recently initiated sannyasis, Brahmananda, Gargamuni, Subala and Visnujana, were preaching that "Prabhupada is God.
Two supporters of ISKCON, Shriman Narayan, the former Governor of Gujarat and a prominent industrialist Ram Krishna Bajaj raised issues of the appointment of a single successor from among his followers.
[27] Annual meeting of Governing commission of ISKCON was scheduled before Gaura Purnima festival in March and Prabhupada long established that the GBC are his "direct representatives to act as the instrument for the execution of the will of His Divine Grace".
The new ISKCON gurus, known as Zonal acharyas, were all young and immature, Kirtanananda Swami was the eldest at 40—many were still in their twenties—and some had only been devotees for five years at the time of their appointment.
When one of the eleven gurus, Jayatirtha, left for the Gaudiya Math by waking out the Mayapur campus towards Swami Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar, the latter tried to mediate between the GBC and Jayatirtha, who recently took sannyasa, but that increased tensions with Gaudiya Math and Sridhara Swami's followers serving in ISKCON.
A threat of no confidence vote was issued towards the Governing Body Commission and demand that all power to be returned to direct disciples of Prabhupada.
End of 1985 also saw an attack on most senior ISKCON guru, Kirtanananda Swami, who refused to accept lowering of the worship and insisted that he should retain the title of Founder/acharya of New Vrindavana.
After the pre-1977 departure of Siddhaswarupa, a number of ISKCON devotees started following variety of Gaudiya Math gurus, all of whom were individual leaders of separate parallel institutions.
Following many years of apparent confrontation in April 2010 ISKCON's Governing Body Commission has released a forty-page document that clarifies the relationship between Srila Prabhupada and Narayana Maharaja.
This orthodox stream holds that the diksha initiation process implemented within “ISKCON”, in Gaudiya Math and by “Ritvik” leaders all deviate from the teachings of the sastras, as well as the guru-vani of the Madhva-Gaudiya Sampradya.
New devotees, according to this view, are to submit to Srila Prabhupāda as their Shiksha-Guru, faithfully follow the rules and regulations of the scriptures, and patiently await the appearance of a qualified diksha-guru Acharya.
