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ISKCON authorities neglect ISKCON laws.

 

Dear devotees,

 

please accept our humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

 

We'd like to tell all of you about our experience in

applying ISKCON laws in practice, and attempts to offer

a management structure in according with ISKCON Management

Guidelines, usuing as a basis varnasrama principles.

 

Some years ago we've got an electronic version of the book,

consising of Laws of ISKCON and "ISKCON Management Guidelines".

Since in that time in our local community there were numerous

problems with mismanagement, we tried to apply this document in life.

It wasn't an easy deal. Although we addressed many ISKCON authorities,

asking for help and consulting in implementation of ISKCON laws,

we practically didn't get any support. Besides, we became withnesses

of standing position of certain ISKCON leaders in Ukraine, including

GBC member Niranjana Swami, Regional Secretary Acyuta das and our

temple president Vandya das, which were simply ignoring ISKCON laws.

 

Now, due to such circumstances, we were forced to address Minister

of Justice with a grievance form (which is enclosed below), and after

3 weeks we haven't got any reply from his side. Therefore we'd like

to inform the whole ISKCON community about this case in order

to get your help and support, because our goal is not to punish

someone, but to make current ISKCON structure a little bit better.

 

Your servants,

Igor Vovk, Alexander Kolobov, Madhava Das, Oleg Demtchenko.

 

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July 4, 1999

 

ISKCON Grievance Form form 600.1

ISKCON Founder/Acharya: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

 

(To be completed by the member submitting the complaint)

STEP ONE

1. Briefly state the problem.

 

Regional secretary Acyuta das, temple president Vandya das and

GBC member Niranjana Swami consciously neglected ISKCON laws

and lessed importance and resisted introduction of these laws

in the life of our community in Nikolaev.

 

This information I'm able to support by personal facts,

confessions of witnesses, which are enclosed below.

 

2. Briefly state your suggested solution.

 

I ask to resolve about the disciplinary action in accordance with

Laws of ISKCON and submit this case for GBC meeting.

 

The complaint is (check one) Igor Vovk

 

Resolved _____ Referred to __Sesa Das, ISKCON Minister of Justice__

 

Signed Igor Vovk Received by

 

(To be completed by the member submitting the complaint)

STEP TWO

As I have been unable to resolve this complaint, I refer it to _________

with this sug-gestion..

 

Signed Date / /

 

 

(To be completed by ISKCON Board, Team, or Council receiving the

complaint. Use extra pages if needed.)

STEP THREE

Our decision on this matter is as follows:

 

-----

Dear Sesa Prabhu,

please accept our humble obeisances.

All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

 

Below we present our withness confessions:

 

1. Last year we have submitted a grievance form against our

temple president Vandya das on the basis of ISKCON Law 412

(1996) about his misbehaviour, bad dealings with devotees etc.

By the request of GBC member Niranjana Swami we were called for

a special meeting with the regional secretary Acyuta das in May

31, 1998. Below we have quoted some fragments from this

conversation:

 

....

Acyuta das: Niranjana Swami was laughing about your grievance.

....

Acyuta das: This laws can be used also against you.

....

Alexander Kolobov: There are certain laws, and everyone has to

obei them, and ISKCON also follows this laws.

Acyuta das: ISKCON is not developing by these laws.

Igor Vovk: By which laws ISKCON is developing then?

Acyuta das: On the principles of love and trust.

....

Acyuta das: These laws are formal and invalid and

therefore ISKCON is not based on them.

Igor Vovk: And what about the methods of Naveen Krishna Prabhu,

ISKON minister of finance and management?

Acyuta das: The methods of Naveen Krishna Prabhu are not

effective and in practice they don't work.

....

Igor Vovk: We'd like to receive an official answer on our grievance.

Acyuta das: I will say to Niranjana Swami about this request,

but you shouldn't demand a document from your spiritual master.

This can affect your spiritual life. You may get a document, but

you may loose your spiritual life. You have no right to demand

anything from your spiritual master. ...

....

 

P.S Vandya das has confessed his mistakes and after our

persistent requests has got an official warning from GBC.

 

2. Oleg Demtchenko: "In the time of visit I came to Niranjana

Swami in presence of Acyuta das and asked him about ISKCON laws.

He replied that laws book has been sent to every TP, and it's

not his duty to take care about it. I expressed a concern that

laws should be available not only to TP, but to every ISKCON

member and leaders of our society should promote circulation of

these laws among members of any ISKCON congregation. These my

words caused first sceptical and then angry reaction of Niranjana

Swami. He said "Do you think these laws will help you in

spiritual life? Or maybe you want that everyone would act just

like a robot? etc." Seeing that the conversation leads to

nowhere I apologized and went away. After a couple of days I

wrote a letter, where I apologized if I offended him in any way

and humbly asked him to point me, where I did or said anything

wrong, which caused such reaction from his side. I didn't get

any answer on the letter."

 

3. After some time, in the same year Acyuta das has visited our

community. A group of devotees (Madhava das, Vladimir

Zaharovich, Igor Vovk asked him to pay attention to management

problems. Acyuta das asked what are their propositions. Igor

Vovk proposed to imply a system, recommended in ISKCON

Management Guidelines, approved by GBC in 1996. (See Organzitional

Chart of Large ISKCON Community). Acyuta das

proposed to examine this subject to the temple board and in the

same time he publicly ridiculed it, and made a show of "voting",

so major part of assembled devotees voted for "love and trust".

 

4. Igor Vovk: "Our temple president several times didn't

recommend to the temple board to use ISKCON laws on the

basis that "there is me, Acyuta das and Niranjana Swami".

The temple board entrusted me make research of proposition

about managing a community in according with ISKCON Management

Guidelines. But later by request of TP, our temple board

secretary informed me that this question will not be

examinated on temple board minutes. We've not allowed to

be preseent on the minutes, although this question they

decided themselves to left everything without changes."

 

We tried to explain our understanding of this situation but it

was ignored by Niranjana Swami - he didn't replied on any

of our letters. We understand that the truth is in the middle.

Of course, many problems can be solved in a vaisnava manner

on the basis of love and trust, but if someone is continues

and ignores, it forces to apply the laws, because society must

have a management and rules.

 

Your servants,

Igor Vovk,

Alexander Kolobov,

Oleg Demtchenko.

 

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