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GBC Elections in Bangalore - An Announcement
By: Nimai Pandit Das
It is with great pleasure we announce that gigantic steps have been taken recently in ISKCON Bangalore and other temples in India in the matter of implementing Srila Prabhupada's Direction of Management for electing members of the Governing Body Commission of ISKCON from among the Temple Presidents.
Various instructions of Srila Prabhupada on this matter, both for conducting the elections or for apparently letting the GBC members stay for good, without elections, were discussed threadbare in an istagoshti format for close to a week. Finally it was unanimously decided to hold elections from among the TP body for electing the GBC members.
You can below watch the videos of Sri Madhu Pandit Das and Sri Cancalapati Das explaining the decision made in the meetings.
http://iskcontoday.org/node/76
http://iskcontoday.org/cpp
http://iskcontoday.org/IskconBangaloreacceptsdom
1st Step- TP Body elections for 1st time
As the first step, it was decided by the Bangalore devotees to, for the first time, hold an election from among the full time devotees from all the many temples/centers in India, with minimum three years in the movement, to elect the TP body. This step was taken after extensive discussions among the various leaders as the growth of the almost 20 temples/centers was inorganic and also so as to give chance to formally confirm/reject the potential members of the TP Body by the General Members of the Temples as the members did not have a say in the appointment of the leaders earlier. Total of 138 devotees voted for electing 21 members of the TP body. Secret voting ensured that the voting was uninfluenced. The devotees appeared quite satisfied by the process and the results.
You can below watch a video of Cancalapati Das, the VP of ISKCON Bangalore explaining this process.
http://iskcontoday.org/node/80
2nd Step - GBC elections for India Zone
Subsequently, these 21 members of the TP body voted from among themselves as per the DOM, to elect GBC members from India Zone on Nov 18th 2008. The list of these new GBCs from India Zone has been posted at the temple notice board and will be posted soon at www.iskcontoday.org At the next GBC elections after three years, the 1st step will not be repeated. Only the 2nd step will need to be performed as the DOM instructs.
Both the elections were conducted by election commissioners appointed by ISKCON, Inc. in conjunction with ISKCON Bangalore affiliates and were monitored by Independent observers. The whole process was extensively documented, photographed and video recorded.
The many videos made throughout the discussions and the elections will be posted regularly on www.iskcontoday.org
GBC elections in other geographical regions
After the elections in India, ISKCON, Inc. will conduct elections in other regions in the world to elect GBC members from those regions. All these members from different regions will together constitute the Governing Body Commission of ISKCON. We expect that in each region, the leaders in that region will come together in an istagosthi format, with three members of the Trustee board of ISKCON, Inc appointed as an Election Commission Committee, to discuss and decide on the election policy for their region. The election policy will include the qualification of the temples that can be part of ISKCON, the qualification of their Tps-the ballot, how many GBCs to elect from that region, how many zones in the region, when will the elections be held, where, regional election commissioners, Independent observers, etc.
GBC of ISKCON, Inc. (or ISKCON)
As you all may know, Srila Prabhupada wrote the Direction of Management on the letterhead of his International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. (or ISKCON, Inc.), that he had personally established in NY in 1966. In it he listed the various temples in the world that were part of his society, the ISKCON, Inc., as of July 28, 1970. Thus the Governing Body Commission created by Srila Prabhupada to supervise the temples was formally the GBC of ISKCON, Inc, but known commonly as GBC of ISKCON or ISKCON GBC. Following that precedent, ISKCON, Inc. is conducting the election for the members of GBC of ISKCON.
Srila Prabhupada's GBC an Unincorporated Association
As you also may be aware, the Governing Body Commission appointed by Srila Prabhupada through the DOM was to be an unincorporated association and it functioned for many years likewise under Srila Prabhupada's personal direction. But later, this Uninc. association, the GBC, was abandoned by its then members. After Srila Prabhupada's Disappearance, elections according to the DOM, its founding charter, from among the Tps should have been conducted, but were not. Moreover, there have been no formal meetings held of this association for how many decades we do not know, a necessity for its continued existence.
ISKCON GBC Society of West Bengal, India, a new entity
A few old members of GBC with some other persons, in 1993, formed an ISKCON GBC Society, registering it as a Society, a legal entity in West Bengal in India. This body has no legal or formal relationship to the GBC of Srila Prabhupada formed as per the DOM in 1970. It has no connection to Srila Prabhupada as he did not instruct his GBC to be incorporated. He formed the GBC via DOM, its constitution, and gave them specific roles, powers, organizational structure etc. They did not follow that for this new Society. Instead, some of them created this new organization, calling itself a name similar to the GBC of ISKCON, but not following the instructions of Srila Prabhupada pertaining to the GBC of ISKCON. Moreover, in its incorporation papers, the new West Bengal Society does not mention any relationship to Srila Prabhupada's GBC or to the DOM, a legal requirement to show any formal connection.
Since then they have been trying to lay claim to be the GBC of ISKCON, the "ecclesiastical authority" of ISKCON temples with power to remove directors not in line with them. Believing this misrepresentation, the TPs of temples agree to follow their direction, even if unwillingly, not knowing who else are the GBCs. They do not know that Srila Prabhupada has given them the power to elect the members of the GBC, from among themselves as per the DOM.
Current GBC elections for Srila Prabhupada's GBC
Temples are coming forward to take part in this historic election process. The elections in Bangalore were only the first stages. Please send any queries to secretary@iskcontoday.org. If you wish to keep your communication confidential yuo can personally write to me at nimaipandit@iskconinc.com
We will keep you informed of the new updates on www.iskcontoday.org.
If you have any queries/articles you can direct them to secretary@iskcontoday.org
your servant,
Nimai Pandit Das,
President, ISKCON, Inc. NY
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Comments
DEMIGODS HEADED BY LORD BRAHMA ARE CELEBRATING THIS EVENT
JAYA NIMAI PANDIT PRABHU!
PLEASE ACCEPT MY MOST HUMBLE RESPECTS!A
MY OBEISANCES TO YOU!
THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THE DEMIGODS HEADED BY LORD BRAHMA ARE CELEBRATING THIS EVENT AS MUCH AS THEY ARE KNOWN TO CELEBRATE THE GAURA AROTIK. IT IS NO EXAGGERATION TO STATE THAT THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST SINGLE IMPORTANT EVENT WITHIN OUR ISKCON MOVEMENT SINCE SP ENTERED SAMADHI!
I PRAY THAT THE MOOD FOR THE DOM SPREAD LIKE "WILDFIRE" AMONG THE TORTURED TEMPLES FILLED WITH MANY, MANY SINCERE DEVOTEES WHO HAVE SUFFERED HORRORS IN THE HOPE THAT THEY WERE SERVING SRILA PRABHUPADA.
I PRAY THAT THESE SINCERE DEVOTEES COME FORWARD AND JOIN ISKCON FOR "REAL" THIS TIME......UNDER THE TEN THOUSAND YEAR PROTECTION OF THE DOM!
YOUR ETERNAL SERVANT AND GODBROTHER,
NAARA NARAYAN DASA VISHWAKARMA
Anonymus from Chicago - I am extremely delighted
Dear Nimai Prabhu,
Dandvats. All glories to Srila Prabhupada and Vaishnavas. I am extremely delighted to know that finally Srila Prabhupada's instructions on GBC issue as per His Divine Graces DOM is starting to take shape.
Roupa Manjari Devi dasi
CONGRATULATIONS!
ALL GLORIES TO YOUR SERVICE!
Strictly serve the instructions of teh Spiritual Master
Nimai Pandit Prabhu
All Glories to Srila Prabhupada!
Please accept my humble obeisances.
Hare Krsna!
Re: GBC Elections in Bangalore
If you could convey my humble message to all the devotees who took part in the process:
Thank-you very much!
Srila Prabhupada is manifest in his order - and without a doubt must be very pleased.
If we strictly try to serve the spiritual master, his order, then Krsna will give us all facilities. That is the secret.
691209DB.LA Lectures
So in his life he was akhanda brahmacari. Bhaktivinoda Thakura had many other sons, and he was the fifth son. And some of his other brother also, they did not marry. And my Guru Maharaja, he also did not marry. From the childhood he is strict brahmacari, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Maharaja. And he underwent very severe penances for starting this movement, worldwide movement. That was his mission. Bhaktivinoda Thakura wanted do this. He, 1896, Bhaktivinoda Thakura wanted to introduce this Krsna consciousness movement by sending this book, Shree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, His Life and Precepts. Fortunately, that year was my birth year, and by Krsna's arrangement, we came in contact. I was born in a different family, my Guru Maharaja was born in a different family. Who knew that I will come to his protection? Who knew that I would come in America? Who knew that you American boys will come to me? These are all Krsna's arrangement. We cannot understand how things are taking place. In 1936... Today is ninth December, 1938(68). That means thirty-two years ago. In Bombay, I was then doing some business. All of a sudden, perhaps on this date, sometimes between 9 or 10 December. At that time, Guru Maharaja was indisposed little, and he was staying at Jagannatha Puri, on the seashore. So I wrote him letter, "My dear master, your other disciples, brahmacari, sannyasi, they are rendering you direct service. And I am a householder. I cannot live with you, I cannot serve you nicely. So I do not know. How can I serve you?" Simply an idea, I was thinking of serving him, "How can I serve him seriously?" So the reply was dated 13th December, 1936. In that letter he wrote, "My dear such and such, I am very glad to receive your letter. I think you should try to push our movement in English." That was his writing. "And that will do good to you and to the people who will help you." That was his instruction. And then in 1936, on the 31st December--that means just after writing this letter a fortnight before his departure--he passed away. But I took that order of my spiritual master very seriously, but I did not think that I'll have to do such and such thing. I was at that time a householder. But this is the arrangement of Krsna. If we strictly try to serve the spiritual master, his order, then Krsna will give us all facilities. That is the secret. Although there was no possibility, I never thought, but I took it little seriously by studying a commentary by Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura on the Bhagavad-gita. In the Bhagavad-gita the verse vyavasayatmika-buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana, in connection with that verse, Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura gives his commentary that we should take up the words from the spiritual master as our life and soul. We should try to carry out the instruction, the specific instruction of the spiritual master, very rigidly, without caring for our personal benefit or loss.
Hare Krsna!
ys mahesh