These references presented in this Treatise have significantly refuted the current popular belief that someone else, or some ecclesiastical body, can by vote, determine for you who is a qualified guru, also known as,
“Rubber Stamping”.
This kind of system takes the choice away from you. It is unauthorized, moreover, you will not be able to find such belief, or system, in the history of the Gaudiya Vaisnava Sampradaya, in its philosophy or siddhanta.
- In this regard, no one can refute the words that Srila Prabhupada spoke or wrote on this subject.
- Whatever you have heard that does not correlate with Srila Prabhupada words is simply wrong or false.
Srila Prabhupada is absolutely authorized, because he will never contradict his guru, the Gaudiya Vaisnava Sastra, the previous acharyas in the Gaudiya Vaisnava Sampradaya Parampara, and Krishna.
Is any Srila Prabhupada disciple, disciple of his disciple, or any other human being for that matter, willing to argue against, refute, disprove, contest, rebut, counter, repudiate, negate, or contradict, the words Srila Prabhupada spoke or wrote on this subject matter?
The answer to this question is, “a no-brainer”, NO!
There is plenty of instructions, on how one qualifies to be guru, that is clear. Srila Prabhupada disciples cannot claim ignorance. The fact is that Prabhupada stated clearly that a guru is not selected, rubber stamped, by some organization or committee.
What is stranger is that many Srila Prabhupada disciples did not protest, and they cooperated completely. My only opinion in that regard is that they had not read Srila Prabhupada ’s books, nor was this knowledge taught. Ignorance in this regard is no excuse.
Srila Prabhupada, citing Srila Jiva Gosvami, writes in Caitanya-caritamrita, Adi 1.35. Purport:
“It is imperative that a serious person accept a bona fide spiritual master in terms of the sastric injunction.
Sri Jiva Gosvami advises that one not accept a spiritual master in terms of hereditary or customary social and ecclesiastical conventions.
One should simply try to find a genuinely qualified spiritual master for actual advancement in spiritual understanding.”
Guru is a manifestation, of qualities, and it cannot be faked. Actually, there is no such thing as an unqualified-guru. If a devotee is not qualified then there is no question of being a guru, he is simply a Vaisnava who is not qualified to be guru. This instruction of Srila Prabhupada, and also of Srila Jiva Goswami is grossly being ignored by ISKCON to this date. ISKCON is doing the opposite of this advice. So how can these leaders say, that they represent Srila Prabhupada, and the ISKCON they “ruined”, is the institution that represents his expressed missions for the Krishna-consciousness movement? The only thing that ISKCON has accomplished, is the institutionalization of “guru”, which is against sastra.