A very interesting fact is that all during Prabhupada’s life; he did not add or revise this document; nevertheless, the GBC body has made claims that it was amended before Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance. He did not even consider adding guidelines regarding Guru. Today we know why; “he had already instructed “all his disciples to be guru”. With the condition that they must first become qualified and sincere. Moreover, it is evident, in his writing and preaching, what this “being qualified” is.
The most superlative reference, in this regard, is in his Sri Vyasa-puja Lecture —Hamburg, September 5, 1969:
“Spiritual master is not a new invention. It is simply following the orders of the spiritual master. So, all my students present here who are feeling so much obliged… I am also obliged to them because they are helping me in this missionary work. At the same time, I shall request them all to become spiritual master. Every one of you should be spiritual master next. And what is their duty? Whatever you are hearing from me, whatever you are learning from me, you have to distribute the same in total without any addition or alteration. Then all of you become the spiritual master. That is the science of becoming spiritual master. … To become a spiritual master is not very wonderful thing. Simply one has to become sincere soul. That is all.
In the Bhagavad-gita 4.2, it is said,
‘By disciplic succession this yoga process of Bhagavad-gita was handed down from disciple to disciple.
But in course of time that disciplic succession is now lost. Therefore, Arjuna, I am teaching you again the same philosophy.’
So, this is the process. Simply if we… Therefore, Vedic knowledge is called sruti. One has to hear it properly, assimilate it, and then practice it in life and preach the same thing. Then everyone becomes spiritual master.
Caitanya Mahaprabhu says,
“O My dear disciples, I tell you that you, all of you, become spiritual master. Simply you carry out My order. That is all.”
And what is Your order? The order is the same,
Caitanya-caritamrita-Madhya-lila 7.128,
‘Instruct everyone to follow the orders of Lord Sri Krishna as they are given in the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-bhagavatam. In this way become a spiritual master and try to liberate everyone in this land.’ …”
Therefore, in actuality, there is no guru issue to be resolved. The guru issue is solved simply because there was no guru issue to begin with. The proof and evidence of this is SIMPLY the The most superlative reference, in this regard, is in his Sri Vyasa-puja Lecture —Hamburg, September 5, 1969.
So, let’s look at this “DOM”. First, you can see a copy of the original document, and then a transcript of its contents.: