Does a TP 's order over-ride a Diksa Guru's order?

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Home Base: Sri Mayapur Candrodaya Mandir, Navadwip Dhama, Nadia, WB, INDIA

Camp: Sri Radha Madhava Candan Yatra Boat Festival, ISKCON Mayapur, India

 

> Is it true that the temple president's order can overide the order of the

> spiritual master? I mean if your spiritual master wants you to do

> something and the temple president doesn't like it who overrides the >

other.

 

Tricky question. It is more like a matter of jurisdiction. The TP is

responsible for his temple devotees and their temple activities. The TP is

to implement his duties according to the ISKCON Laws and GBC resolutions. A

Guru shouldn't interfere with the TP's devotional service, but rather should

help him as well by being cooperative.

 

Sometimes a Diksa Guru may tell a disciple what devotional service to do

without discussing with the TP and this creates problems for the TP and

management of the temple. So the GBC resolved that a Guru should consult

with the TP and the idea is to generally work through the TP if he wants his

disciple to have a change of devotional service. You can imagine the

trouble if suddenly a devotee in a responsible position was told by the guru

to leave or do something else and the whole temple administration is

abruptly disrupted. Srila Prabhupada avoided acting like that and respected

local authorities so why shouldn't present and future Diksa gurus do the

same?

 

Obviously a diksa guru's instruction will sastrically have more weight for a

disciple than the TP, but therefore the GBC has instructed the Guru not to

give such instructions to a disciple without first discussing with the TP

since it could create confusion. Guru's have to be considerate of how what

they do affects various people. A Diksa Guru must be a cooperative team

player as well since he is getting help for caring for his disciple(s) from

many different leading devotees.