"The conclusion is that a spiritual master who is authorized and
empowered by Krishna and his own guru should be considered as good as
the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself. That is the verdict of
Visvanatha Cakravarti: saksad-dharitvenasa. [...] As Hari is free to
act as He likes, the empowered spiritual master is also free. As Hari
is not subject to mundane rules and regulations, the spiritual master
empowered by Him is also not subject." (Sri Caitanya-caritamrta,
Madhya-lila 10.136, purport)
Tamohara dasa ; Although both 1. ritvik-priest officiated diksha, as practised by the Sikhs, Christians, Sri Vaishnava sampradaya, Ramanuja Vaisnava sampradaya, Sankara sampradaya, Buddhists, Jews, etc. and 2. acceptance of a perfectly pure advanced empowered by Godhead human-bodied Sri Guru-deva as currently seen especially among Gaudiya Vaisnava sects, are each, both , quite traditional among spiritualists, yet the quoted sastra points out that the Sri Guru Jagad Gurudeva Vaishnava Acarya is as good as God ! , and can do just whatever suits their purposes at any given time !, even if it differs from that of immediate cohorts or previous predecesors to some degree, especially in terms of practical application, rules, and the specific format.
For example, HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada requires only 16 rounds of his disciples, especially for newcomers, accepts females with almost eqaul status as men including on the altars and kitchens etc, writing, preaching, painting, speaking and bhajan singing, even giving sannyasa to one or two. He does not require the endless rituals and mantras of the Gaudiyas, and he accepts all as eligible who but have a heart to reform and/or improve things for the world.
He has had unlimited success by adjusting the formula to the world situations, and when he passed on, he left a ritvik diksha process, and said "dont change things". He saved us from endless gambling on Sri Guru, and from false ego, saving many from fall downs. Now we need no longer argue or differ, except inasmuch as how to fulfill our individual services to the disciplic succession as nicely as possible.
So, those who have a problem with us doing and following roughly this, should kindly meditate and see what the Lord within has to say ...
I did that for years, ... and concluded that the Movement should go on as we always did, as Srila Prabhupada himself set us a "live" example. This is what Srila Prabhupada arranged, and it is perfect and pure.
Elected Temple Presidents, on advices of good brahmanas and sannyasis and other pure followers who are willing and able, and such elected representatives of the Vaisnava sanga who are themselves duly initiated disciples of Srila Prabhupada, can recommend newcomers for diksha ceremonies etc. This can be done including use of computors, tapes, e-books, etc as well as the more traditional books and live association with a pure devotee or devotees. There is no rubber-stamp committee required much more than this. In reality, diksha is a change of heart as much as a powerful and real process of acceptance into the energies of the disciplic succession.
In this way, things can go on fervently and purely and spread widely, with much good siksha association of a world-wide devotional network. Yes, physical Temples are desirable, but not required. For now, many of us make our homes our Temple.
Hare Krsna
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