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    The Book Changer: The Life & Teachings of HH Jayadvaita Swami
    The Book Changer: The Life & Teachings of HH Jayadvaita Swami
    The Book Changer: The Life & Teachings of HH Jayadvaita Swami
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    The Book Changer: The Life & Teachings of HH Jayadvaita Swami

    By ISKCON Revival Movement

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    Examining the Examiner of Srila Prabhupada’s Books

    His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, reverentially known as Srila Prabhupada, is the Founder-Acarya (spiritual master/ guru) of ISKCON (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or Hare Krishna movement). His Holiness Jayadvaita Swami, an ISKCON-authorised guru and Director of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT), admits to having made large-scale changes (running into the thousands) to Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is:

    “And if the integrity of the books is in doubt, then everything’s in doubt. […] We should all be concerned about the integrity of Prabhupada’s books. […] I’ve undertaken a really large-scale revision […]  How do you know we didn’t mess up?”
    - HH Jayadvaita Swami

    Jayadvaita Swami is, therefore, a person who wields immense influence over the integrity of Srila Prabhupada's books, shaping what will be read as being the words of Srila Prabhupada for generations of devotees to come. Given this influence, it is only right and proper for us to examine Jayadvaita Swami’s integrity. And that is exactly what this book does. 

    In particular, we examine the following claim made to establish Jayadvaita Swami’s suitability for having undertaken this “really large-scale revision”:

    “Since Srila Prabhupada's departure, Jayadvaita Swami has taken part in no philosophical heresies (and has spoken out against several), he has maintained his spiritual vows, he has served Srila Prabhupada steadily.” 
    - bbtedit.com

    And this examination is done using only the words of Jayadvaita Swami himself and those whom he accepts as bona fide authorities.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherISKCON Revival Movement
    Release dateJan 10, 2016
    ISBN9781524217891
    The Book Changer: The Life & Teachings of HH Jayadvaita Swami

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      The Book Changer - ISKCON Revival Movement

      Introduction

      His Holiness Jayādvaita Swami (JAS), an ISKCON Governing Body Commission (GBC)-authorised dīkṣā¹ guru and Director of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT), correctly explains that the Krishna Consciousness movement rests on Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books, and if these books are changed, then everything is lost:

      (¹ Initiating)

      Our whole movement rests on Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books. And if the books are adulterated, […] then everything’s lost.

      (JAS Lecture, 5/5/13)

      He raises this point because he has made really large-scale changes (running into the thousands) to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, and thus he accepts that we should be concerned about the integrity of the books:

      And if the integrity of the books is in doubt, then everything’s in doubt. […] We should all be concerned about the integrity of Prabhupāda’s books. […] I’ve undertaken a really large-scale revision […] How do you know we didn’t mess up?

      (JAS Lecture, 5/5/13)

      JAS is therefore a person who wields immense influence over the integrity of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s books, shaping what will be read as being the words of Śrīla Prabhupāda for generations of devotees to come. Given this influence, it is only right and proper for us to examine his integrity. And that is exactly what this book does. In particular, we examine the following claim made to establish JAS’s suitability for having undertaken this really large-scale revision:

      Since Śrīla Prabhupāda’s departure, Jayādvaita Swami has taken part in no philosophical heresies (and has spoken out against several), he has maintained his spiritual vows, he has served Śrīla Prabhupāda steadily.

      (www.bbtedit.com/whom-did-Srila-Prabhupada-trust, archived March 2015)

      This examination is done using only the words of JAS and those whom he accepts as bona fide authorities. All emphases in this book have been added, unless otherwise stated.

      PART A:

      1978 - The Disobedience Begins

      The chapters in this section document how, immediately upon Śrīla Prabhupāda’s departure, JAS began a life of disobedience to Śrīla Prabhupāda.

      CHAPTER ONE

      Disobedience After Śrīla Prabhupāda Departs

      Begins decade of disobedience

      Following Śrīla Prabhupāda’s physical departure in November 1977, ISKCON set off on a different and disobedient path from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s original ISKCON. At the heart of this new disobedient path was the instituting of a false guru system of ‘11 appointed pure devotees’. Although there may be disagreement currently over what the correct guru system should have been, there is no dispute that the ‘11 appointed pure devotees’ guru system that ISKCON actually did follow at this time was wrong and did not adhere to Śrīla Prabhupāda’s orders. JAS admits this, stating that due to the influence of māyā (illusion), he joined the rest of ISKCON in disobeying Śrīla Prabhupāda by supporting this false guru system which diverged from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s instructions, for almost a decade straight after Śrīla Prabhupāda’s departure:

      But by the influence of māyā, illusion, a different idea soon evolved—that Śrīla Prabhupāda had appointed eleven pure devotees to serve as the only gurus after him. These eleven, the idea went, should each serve as the spiritual master for a specific geographical zone" of the world. This zonal guru system, as it came to be called, prevailed in ISKCON for about ten years, until its falseness became clear […] In 1986, ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission formally dismantled the system. In the years till then, Back to Godhead sometimes reflected and supported the erroneous zonal guru system. Here, therefore, we wish to admit this mistake. I was managing editor for some of those years. Satsvarūpa dāsa Goswami, editor in chief during those years, joins with me in apologizing to our readers for BTG’s conformity to the zonal guru error. In particular, we express our heartfelt apologies for contributing to the hurts and wrongs devotees endured when ISKCON diverged from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s instructions."

      (JAS, Editor in Chief, An Apology, Back to Godhead ("BTG") #25-01, 1991)

      Satsvarūpa Dāsa Goswāmī, whom JAS states was the Editor in Chief of BTG during these years, and under whose authority JAS worked, was also one of these falsely proclaimed eleven pure devotees who formed the basis of this zonal guru system. Therefore, it is no surprise that, as stated above, BTG served as a mouthpiece for this false guru system, which JAS admits supporting as BTG’s managing editor.

      Huge philosophical deviation

      JAS explains that this false guru system he supported involved the GBC perpetrating such a massive philosophical deviation that it was so thoroughly discredited as to not even be spoken about just a few years later:

      13. After Śrīla Prabhupāda’s disappearance, for many years the GBC systematically misrepresented Śrīla Prabhupāda’s teachings and instructions about carrying on the disciplic succession.

      (JAS, Several Grievances Against the Members of the GBC, 5/3/87)

      The GBC represented to us, falsely I believe, that Śrīla Prabhupāda had appointed eleven pure devotees who were to be the spiritual masters for the whole Society, that they were the spiritual masters of their disciples, that they were essentially the spiritual masters of their Godbrothers, that each of them was supposed to be the spiritual master for the people in a geographical zone of the world, that the business of the… that we could only get Prabhupāda’s mercy through those Godbrothers and a host of other ideas, which are so thoroughly discredited that they are no longer even spoken about, practically speaking, in today’s ISKCON.

      (JAS, ‘Ṛtvik’ debate, San Diego, 1990)

      Conclusion

      Therefore, as documented by JAS’s own admission, straight after Śrīla Prabhupāda’s physical departure, he took part in a philosophical heresy known also as the "zonal-ācārya" heresy, which lasted for almost a decade.

      CHAPTER TWO

      Complicit in

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