Thoughts on Sannyasa and GBC
Hare Krsna!
AGTSP
Esteemed GBC Strategic Planning Team,
Paoho.... Thank you for the following letter and invitation. Let us take this moment to organize and express our thoughts on these topics in a manner that we can also circulate for the criticism of others also.
We attended the GSG Sanga which was in 2015 as I remember. We have also attended the last two ILS and one or two other SPT meetings. Administratively we are now a Member of the Latin American Regional GBC, the Executive Committee of the Ministry of Education, have been Temple President for three ISKCON Temples, worked for years with the large scale programs of the Bhaktivedanta Institute and now are acting in our best capacity as Advisor, Administator and Foot soldier for NIOS (North American Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies) which is graced with Tamohara Das as our GBC and Nitai-gaurasundara Das as our President. NGD is Director of a Psychiatric hospital here in Tennessee and his brother is currently President of the nation-wide Indian Lawyers Association.
So . . . we have been involved in the management aspect of ISKCON.
NIOS organized a program jointly with the Indian National Museum on "The Contribution of of Ancient India to Making a Better World". It was innaugurated by Mukundakam Sharma, former Justice of Supreme Court of India and two former Governors of West Bengal. Now NIOS is organizing a very delightful and taxing International Seminar on "Psychology and the Sacred" with the National Library in Peru.
Just writing about this is exhausting.
We have the dates blocked on our Calendar [Feb 6-9] . Of course we can't come to India just for this three day event, but it could fit in with other travel.
In general we feel that ISKCON has become too much advanced in the mode of passion. We also feel that our feelings and opinions are certainly not perfect and want to express them as much for criticism as well as appreciation. One day during the remembered 2015 GSG Sanga the GBC Members were not present and the meetings were amongst Sannyasis who had not much or no GBC administrative posts. The idea that the GBC should look to its Sannyasa community as its source of protection, strategic leadership and ultimate spiritual authority was expressed by several Sannyasis present with citations from Buddhist history etc. Of course, our ISKCON Sannyasa community may not be capable of doing their role properly, but the theory and ideal should be kept and considered the most essential focus of the GBC to develop, no?
When we were discussing this one of the most well know of the Sanga commented that this was all true but if you expressed these ideas publicly then you would be marginalized politically.
In the written evaluations of the meetings requested the following day, I suggested that there was great necessity for more chance for the administratively uninvolved Sannyasis to meet and try to clarify their ideas about their Ashrama and its relation to GBC and Guru tattva, but there was no more meeting scheduled for this. Hare Krsna...
Of course, there are other efforts along these lines with the Sannyasa Ministry but in conversation with them and others, we feel that is a very key aspect of having an effective GBC, Sannyasi, Guru Sanga in 2017.
Awaiting your opinions for our consideration and to carry to our friends at this corner of ISKCON.
Thank you so much for the work you are doing. Practically speaking we see almost no one else doing it.
Your rather fallen servant,
Hanumatpresaka Swami
