GGM and Never leave ISKCON

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> > So we must be responsible for this great task. Not for a

> > single moment shall we be without ISKCON thought. That is my request

> > to you all." (letter from Srila Prabhupada)

>

> Somebody mentioned here Gour Govinda Maharaja. I have heard that he also

> very explicitly instructed his disciples to never leave ISKCON and he was

> very upset with those who suggested that SP maybe didn't give us

> everything. He compared SP's teachings to a banyan seed and said that with

> time and with proper care the seed will manifest what was there from the

> very beginning: the full-fledged banyan tree.

>

> Many of his disciples have gone to Narayana Maharaja because they thought

> that he was the person to save ISKCON to whom GGM referred in some

> prophecy. But it is very clear that he didn't sanction such a thing and

> many of his disciples remained in ISKCON too. GGM has said that the lack

> of qualified gurus is no excuse for leaving either, whenever we are ready

> Krsna will provide such gurus in ISKCON. Actually, he said much more

> beautifully. You have to cry in your heart for Krsna's mercy, then the

> Lord will reveal to you His external manifestation.

 

Nice posting, Mukhya. I remember being in a class where Gour Govinda

Maharaja said if you could cry for the fact that you had no bhakti, you were

a very fortunate person, and in fact you should pray to Krishna that you

could cry for such a thing.

 

GGM was a very unique person, and I don't know if it was quite correct to

list him with NM and Sridhara Swami as people who had been villified. To

begin with, 'villified' is an incredibly strong word. Secondly, I lived in a

temple that was predominantly GGM disciples, and I recall quite well what

went on at the time. Gour Govinda Maharaj was very much of the school of

thought that his disciples' attachment to guru was the only thing that would

save them. This is not a wayward thought, not in the least. The very same

thing was said by Srila Prabhupada. Gour Govinda Maharaj was a very advanced

vaishnava, and a direct descendant of Srivas or Srinivas [if somebody knows

which, please clarify - I can never remember which . He was a very

attractive personality, and as Tamal Krishna Goswami said, if there is one

thing GGM's disciples could teach us, it's attachment to the lotus feet of

guru. They had it in spades over anyone.

 

So his mood was 100% encouragement of that attachment. Even to what some saw

as his disciples' detriment. Some of those disciples were leaning towards

fanaticism, and took it upon themselves to decide that he was the naturally

qualified successor to Srila Prabhupada - indeed, the 'next acharya'. I

heard this term constantly from his disciples - they didn't hide the fact

that that was what they thought, although I will say it wasn't all of them.

 

I don't think for a minute that the GBC's desire to curb this train of

thought can be labelled as 'villification'. I know that Tamal Krishna

Maharaj was sent to speak to him, and he and Gour Govinda Maharaj always had

a very affectionate relationship.

 

I'm not sure what drove hordes of his disciples to NM. I'd like to hear from

someone who does know.

 

Ys,

Braja Sevaki dd