Vote #1

[Guest guest]

> Just wanted to make a quick comment that the question of whether

> "ultimate" management authority is necessarily "ultimate" spiritual

> authority in ISKCON is very much open for debate. I, for one, am not at

> all convinced that the GBC should be seen as ISKCON's ultimate spiritual

> authority. What about simply "guru,sadhu and sastra" ?

 

 

Interesting. Who then would you see as the ultimate spiritual authority for

ISKCON? Of course, it is Srila Prabhupada, but who do we accept as the

final arbiter of Prabhupada's instructions now?

 

Can we separate spiritual and managerial functions in a spiritual movement?

How would you define managerial instructions as opposed to spiritual

instructions in terms of ISKCON's operation? My understanding is that we

are working under the Lord's spiritual energy as long as we are serving Him.

That everything which is done in Krishna's service is spiritualised -- as

per Bg 4.24. Is ISKCON's whole purpose, i.e. all our activities, not meant

to satisfy the Lord, and therefore spiritual?

 

I am not sure what you mean by guru, sadhu and sastra in this context. Do

you see this as being incorporated within ISKCON's constitution (that is,

when we finally get one together)?

 

Just a few uncertainties.

 

ys

KDd

[Guest guest]

|

|Krishna.Dharma (AT) pamho (DOT) net [Krishna.Dharma (AT) pamho (DOT) net]

|Vote #1

 

|Interesting. Who then would you see as the ultimate spiritual

|authority for

|ISKCON? Of course, it is Srila Prabhupada, but who do we accept as the

|final arbiter of Prabhupada's instructions now?

 

This is similar to one of the primary historical issues between the

Catholic Church and the Protestants. The Church held that the faithful

needed the Church as the go-between in their relationship with God. In a

practical sense, this meant the priest was understood to "speak for God."

Personal study of the Bible was discouraged in favor of understanding the

message of the Lord through his holy representatives on earth.

 

Protestants reacted by de-emphasizing the "priestly role" and encouraging

personal study of the scripture as a means to understand the message and

will of the Lord. Priests became instead ministers whose role is to

facilitate the worship of the Lord, rather than dictate it.

 

In spite of this significant change of such a primary function in the

institution, we find that Protestant sects have flourished and have not

suffered from a paralysis in the area of management nor have they found it

any more difficult to deal with philosophical differences than the

traditional Church.

 

If one reads the last two decades of GBC resolutions and position papers

on philosophical and quasi-philosophical issues, one will form the opinion

that ISKCON does not need it's own version of the doctrine of Papal

Infallibility.

 

Your servant,

Sri Rama das

 

[srirama.acbsp (AT) pamho (DOT) net], or

[sriramadas (AT) home (DOT) com] < Please note new address.

[http://www.krishnagalleria.com]