For three decades ISKCON has struggled with the fact that no woman has been made an initiating spiritual master, or diksa -guru. This is because Srila Prabhupada, the previous acaryas, and the gastras all give numerous warnings and prohibitions against associating with women and giving them independence.
For three decades ISKCON has struggled with the fact that no woman has been made an initiating spiritual master, or diksa -guru. This is because Srila Prabhupada, the previous acaryas, and the gastras all give numerous warnings and prohibitions against associating with women and giving them independence. Foundational scriptures like Mirada Paricaratra even give specific rules against appointing women as diksa-gurus, with exceptions made only for the most spiritually advanced among them: Hence, with very few exceptions in Gaudiya Vaisnava history, women never became initiating spiritual masters.
This, however, could be about to change. As of the end of 2018, members of the GBC subcommittee on Vaisnavi Initiating Gurus have come to an agreement on recommended guidelines for ISKCON's first female dik.sa-gurus. And in some form or another, the GBC may soon approve some or all of their recommendations.2 their recommendations, however, have little if any basis in guru, sadhu, or gastra —ISKCON's traditional and highest lines of authority.
For example, the subcommittee recommends that a female diksa-guru should give harinama initiation only, and that a male diksa -guru can give second initiation to her first-initiated disciples.
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Vedas (1177)
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