Message from the GBC To the Devotees of ISKCON

[Guest guest]

Gaura Purnima, 1999

 

Dear devotees,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

This past year has been one of inspiring victories as well as demanding

challenges for the devotees in Srila Prabhupada's International Society for

Krishna Consciousness. We saw such wonderful achievements as the

inauguration

of three major temple projects in India: the Ahmedabad temple, the Bangalore

temple and the Glory of India Temple and Cultural Center in New Delhi,

India, which was opened by the Prime Minister of India himself. In Germany,

an official commission of inquiry ruled that ISKCON was not a dangerous

"sect" or "cult" and recognized ISKCON as an authentic religion. In Russia,

ISKCON was recognized by the Government as an official religious

organization with all legal rights.

 

The GBC meetings began with the presentation of reports from the different

Zonal Secretaries, describing the preaching successes of last year. We heard

a presentation from the Sri Mayapur Project Development Committee about the

progress being made towards beginning the construction of the Temple of the

Vedic Planetarium. Under the expert guidance of the current management team,

the budget for the project has been considerably reduced, and we look

forward to the completion of the temple within our lifetimes.

 

We feel satisfied that ISKCON has been making progress, and we are sure that

Srila Prabhupada is pleased with the devotees' excellent achievements.

 

However, there have been a number of difficulties that Srila Prabhupada’s

movement has had to face, in particular the departure of one of our senior

members in Europe. In the meetings we have just concluded, the GBC Body has

deeply considered these issues that are at the heart of our movement and of

Krsna consciousness in general. We have carefully considered the guru system

in ISKCON, the improvement of which has been a cause of concern for many

devotees for some time. We have also discussed at length the nature and

functions of the GBC Body and the duties of its members. We have heard

testimonies from ISKCON children who suffered due to mistreatment in our

gurukulas. In our meetings, we feel we have addressed these matters

decisively and appropriately, and now we want to present the results to all

of you...

 

(Complete document contained in attached file)