Being a devotee from ISKCON, why is it important to accept siksa and diksa guru from ISKCON only?
What are the advantages of this practice?
And what will be negative effect of selecting
siksa and diksa outside of ISKCON ?
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Replies
A bonafide Guru is not bound by the walls of some organization like the Gaudiya Math or ISKCON.
They do exist but are rare to find
The point is a pure devotee Guru CAN be anyone in or outside of those organizations
Actually Krishna is in the heart and will guide a genuine soul
When Prabhupada started ISKCON in 1966 some in the Gaudiya Math foolishly said only in the Gaudiya Math can a pure devotee initiate a new member into, for years ISKCON was rejected by many Gaudiya Math Gurus
So let's not make that same silly mistake by also foolishly claiming, as some members of the Gaudiya math did about our Prabhupada, that a pure devotee is only found in ISKCON and only ISKCON can initiate new devotees into Spiritual life
The fact is there are many great devotees outside of both ISKCON and the Gaudiya Math.
Just find a bonafide dedicated devotee who always preaches about Krishna, performs Sankirtan, serves the non envious devotees and remembers Krishna and never forgets Him
All our Siksha Guru is Srila Prabhupada.
Diksha guru is someone who has to be a living spiritual master (in the body)
That is someone who you can choose, depending on their willingness to accept you as a disciple.
Guru takes a part of your karma and most wont be willing to accept you unless you follow the 4 regulative principles and chant 16 rounds every day for at least 6 months.
We do more Kirtan than any other organization, with exception of Sidha Swaroop, who is also Prabhupad disciple, in Hawaii and not part of ISKCON.
Once I had an acquaintance of a devotee (an Ex-ISKCON) who was following Narayan Maharaj and he never heard of Kirtan mela. Last year it rained so heavily and clear that Lord was pleased from Kirtan mela and not to mention that Advaita Acarya, Gadhadhar and Srivas deities had tears in the eyes when Jayapataka Swami was leading Kirtan from his wheelchair.
12 hours of Sankirtan Yagna for 5 days in a row and on top of that, the blessings of the Lord, and he never heard of it and also didnt seem to think much of it.
Dont get me wrong. ISKCON during Prabhupad, in the old days, some were doing 8 hours of Harinam Nagar Sankirtan and book distribution every single day!! Many of those same people are now doing shudra jobs.
We need to get back into doing Nagar Sankirtana and not into building temples, at least not in India, where there are plenty of temples. And also do book distribution side by side. Never book distribution without chanting of Hare Krishna mantra in groups with drums and cymbals.
Jai Radhe Nischalinn Prabhu
Dandavat
May Radharanis causeless mercy be on you.
Its not mandatory to select guru by organization, neither in Neo Gaudiya Vaishnav Sampradaya(like ISKCON, Gaudiya Math etc...) nor in Traditional Gaudiya Vaishnav Sampradaya (like Goswamis of Nabadwip, Vrindavan, Babajis of Radhakund etc...). However post diksha or siksha you are allowed to serve in the temples or organization your guru is authorized by, for organization or temples which does not authorize your guru as acharya your chance of doing service depends on the jurisdiction of the management of those center.
As rightly said by "Dean Prabhu" ISKCON is MASSIVE, and you get massive service opportunity across the globe wherever you go ( I hope it is something every devotee is looking forward to) if you accept an ISKCON approved guru, else you will not be able to serve in their temple or organization and would be expected that you offer service to your spiritual master's institution or temple.
Hope it answers your query.
and may lord nityananda reveal your actual spiritual master to you soon.
your well wisher servant
Satyananda Das
One can find a lot of self realized guru as per inclination outside Iskcon where one can serve and associate with good devotees as well .I personally know many of them. All are not Sahajiya . Iskcon has an advantage over others in respect of association and the number of temples which is just awesome. In other words Iskcon is a complete package of devotion, service , association .