March 17th, 2015

 

Dear Members of ISKCON,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

The GBC Executive Committee (EC) has been in communication with Hridayananda Das Goswami for over a year, seeking to understand better how his preaching program, Krishna West, will function within ISKCON.

We affirm and acknowledge that:

  1. Devotees serving under his direction consider themselves to be regular members of ISKCON. As such they fully accept Srila Prabhupada as our Founder-Acharya and pre-eminent siksa guru, as well as the authority of the previous acaryas of our Gaudiya-Vaishnava parampara.
  2. Thus like all ISKCON devotees, they accept the Governing Body Commission (GBC) as the ultimate managing authority of all of ISKCON, and all ISKCON authorities serving under the GBC. They will preach and do outreach in cooperation with appropriate ISKCON authorities, especially local GBC representatives and temple presidents.
  3. Hridayananda Das Goswami’s preaching projects have always promoted Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual standards, including ISKCON’s regular morning program, the four regulative principles, and chanting 16 rounds daily.
  4. Devotees serving under Hridayananda Das Goswami will continue to cooperate with other ISKCON projects, and promote and encourage participation in ISKCON temples and programs.
  5. The GBC Body through the agency of its Organizational Development Committee is developing a configuration of ISKCON and its affiliates for a better understanding of their specific functions and position in the society of devotees. Hridayananda Das Goswami’s preaching initiatives, like many others, will be part of this study and final articulation.
  6. Like all ISKCON sannyasis, Hridayananda das Goswami may travel and preach in ISKCON wherever he is invited and welcomed by ISKCON leaders.
  7. We recognize that faithful ISKCON members may disagree on how to best understand and apply Srila Prabhupada’s teachings according to time, place and circumstance. The GBC established a committee on hermeneutics to specifically look at these questions, and we await that committee’s conclusions.
  8. If questions arise regarding Hridayananda das Goswami’s preaching or Krishna West, concerned parties should first contact Hridayananda dasa Goswami directly, or Bir Krishna Goswami, and then, if necessary, the GBC Executive Committee, rather than air issues or grievances in unproductive ways, such as on the internet.

Your servants,

Praghosa das Chairman,

Sesa das 1st Vice-Chairman,

Bhakti Charu Swami 2nd Vice-Chairman

Anuttama das Former Chairman,

Hridayananda das Goswami

 

HDG’s website :http://hdgoswami.com/chronicals/news/gbc-and-hdg-in-positive-agreement/

GBC website: https://gbc.iskcon.org/statement-regarding-krishna-west/

ISKCON News article “GBC Meeting Clarifies Krishna West is Part of ISKCON: https://iskconnews.org/gbc-meeting-clarifies-krishna-west-is-part-of-iskcon,6332/