[Posted Mar 9, 2007]

See Srila Prabhupada's original ISKCON Manifesto and Articles of Incorporation

7 Purposes of ISKCON

Praghosa das (ACBSP)

Date: Thu, 08 Mar 2007
From: Patrick Hedemark <pdhedemark@yahoo.com>
Subject: RE: MANIFESTO OF ISKCON'S STANDARD FOR THE NEXT TEN THOUSAND YEARS
To: Dayananda <dayananda@msn.com>, 'Nathan Zakheim' <zakheim@earthlink.net>, 'Nimai Pandit Das' <nimaipandit@yahoo.com>

Dear Prabhus,

Please accept my obeisances All Glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Thank you for sending me this.

I would think that the meaning of "manifesto" - "A public declaration of principles, policies, or intentions, especially of a political nature." (Websters dictionary) - for ISKCON is PERFECTLY expressed by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada in his original Articles of Incorporation in 1966 as follows:

The Bhaktivedantas World Sankirtan Party and Inside Nam Hatta are hosted by Hansadutta das, a senior disciple of Srila Prabhupada and trustee of The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust. Participate or learn more about World Sankirtan Party.

The seven Purposes of ISKCON:

To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all peoples in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world.

To propagate a consciousness of Krishna, as it is revealed in the Bhagavad Gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam.

To bring the members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krishna, the prime entity, thus to develop the idea within the members, and humanity at large, that each soul is part and parcel of the quality of Godhead (Krishna).
To teach and encourage the sankirtana movement, congregational chanting of the holy names of God as revealed in the teachings of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

To erect for the members and for society at large, a holy place of transcendental pastimes, dedicated to the personality of Krishna.

To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life.

With a view towards achieving the aforementioned Purposes, to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, books and other writings.

It would appear that the above-mentioned 7 Purposes perfectly encapusulate the intent of Srila Prabhupada and are his expressed "public declaration of principles, policies, or intentions" in his efforts to plant the worldwide samkirtan mission of Lord Chaitanya, and that THEY are the "Manifested" MANIFESTO - the "VANI" that NNV Prabhu emphasizes we should all exclusively take shelter of.

Minimum Words - Maximum Solution.

This is of course just my opinion but I thought to offer it.

It would appear that what Srila Prabhupada did on July 11th 1966 is perfect, complete and poses no need for "improvement" or addition or subtraction. NNV's own emphasis of this in his new manifesto calls for the complete rejection of "addition or subtraction". How can this new "manifesto" not be seen as anything but a perfect example of what he himself asserts must be strictly avoided—addition or subtraction?

In the interest of agreement with his central theme, I would suggest that we adhere to Srila Prabhuapada's Manifesto - The Seven Purposes of ISKCON, leave it at that, and push forward the book distribution.

Again, just my personal conclusion.

With respect to all

Praghosa Das

Dayananda <dayananda@msn.com> wrote:

Nara-narayana Prabhu,
My obeisances. Jaya Srila Prabhupada.

Here are my responses, briefly put.

I would not normally respond to any such manifesto, but am doing so out of personal affection for you. You sent two files, but I was only able to read the one whose name ended with COPY1.

I resonated with some of the points, and with some, I did not. Regardless, I believe it is important for you to supply references from Prabhupada's books, lectures, letters, conversations, etc. These references should not clutter up your concisely presented 28 points; however, they should be available to the reader.

The response from my heart is that I am not seriously concerned with any controversy other than distribution of Prabhupada's books. I have opinions about most controversies, including adding and subtracting as you've mentioned; however, my first and foremost interest is that distribution of Prabhupada's books is seriously lacking. Worldwide remittances to the BBT are about $6 million. Then, for example, compare $6 million to $950 million yearly income to the Jehovah's Witnesses book trust, or compare $6 million to one or two successful MacDonald's restaurants.

Your servant, Dayananda

Comments

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

INSIDE NAMHATTA

News, Developments, Issues important to disciples of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

It would appear that what Srila Prabhupada did on July 11th 1966 is perfect, complete and poses no need for "improvement" or addition or subtraction.

See Srila Prabhupada's original ISKCON Manifesto and Articles of Incorporation

7 Purposes of ISKCON