ISKCON GOVERNING BODY COMMISSION SOCIETY

Registration Number S/74662 under the West Bengal Societies Registration Act, 1961

P.O. Shree Mayapur Dham, Dist. Nadia, West Bengal 741313

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

SRI MAYAPUR DHAM, FEBRUARY 20 – MARCH 3, 2011

Go to 2011 Zonal Assignments


Section 100: APPOINTMENTS

101. GBC Officers and Members

RESOLVED:

1. His Grace Hrdaya Caitanya Das is elected GBC Chairman.

2. His Holiness Bhakti Caitanya Swami is elected First Vice-Chairman.

3. His Grace Tamohara Das is elected Second Vice-Chairman.

4. His Holiness Bhakti Purusottama Swami is elected GBC Secretary.

5. Her Grace Dina Sharana Dasi is appointed as Full GBC member.

6. His Grace Candrasekhara Acarya Das is appointed as Acting GBC member.

7. His Grace Chaitanya Chandra Charan Das is appointed as Assistant GBC member.

102: Giridhari Swami as GBC Emeritus

In recognition of His Holiness Giridhari Swami’s tireless service and present health challenges, the GBC body awards him the position of GBC Emeritus. Giridhari Maharaja was Chairman of the GBC from 2002 to 2003, and it was he who proposed the present arrangement of the GBC Executive Committee with each member of the EC serving for three years. When Maharaja regains his health we welcome him to participate in the GBC meetings as a GBC Emeritus. We look forward to again having his association.

In the meantime, we request Giridhari Maharaja to continue advising the leaders in China and elsewhere in his former zone. We also pray that Maharaja will continue to inspire and guide his disciples in those places. We, the members of the GBC Body, offer our sincere prayers for Maharaja's speedy recovery.

103. GBC Deputies

RESOLVED:

The following GBC deputies are confirmed for one year:

104. Sannyasa Waiting List

RESOLVED:

The following are the candidates for sannyasa for 2011 along with their respective waiting periods:

105. Reaffirmation of Ministries and Standing Committees

RESOLVED:

That the following are the Ministry and Standing Committees and their membership assignments for 2011-2012:

Section 200: FINANCE

201. GBC Budget

RESOLVED:

The GBC budget for 2010-2011 is (in Indian Rupees):

202. Appointment of Auditor

Sri A. K. Shah, F.C.A., Chartered Accountant, of 125, Netaji Subhash Road, Room No. 45, Kolkata 700 001, is appointed as statutory auditor for the year 2011-2012.

Section 300: INTERNAL ISKCON

301. Midterm General Meeting 2011

The Midterm General Meeting of the ISKCON GBC Society shall take place from 17-21 October, 2011, at ISKCON Juhu, Mumbai, India.

302. Annual General Meeting 2012

The Annual General Meeting of the ISKCON GBC Society shall take place from February 10-21, 2012, at ISKCON Mayapur, WB, India.

303: Memorial for Jayananda Prabhu

Whereas the GBC Body has been approached by Vishoka Das and Krishna Mangala Das for blessings of their plan to establish a memorial for Sriman Jayananda Prabhu in Sridham Mayapur, and we understand that the Mayapur Samadhi Committee is ready to work with them on such a project;

Whereas Sriman Jayananda Prabhu was uniquely honored by Srila Prabhupada, who instructed his disciples to list his disappearance anniversary on the ISKCON calendar and hold a festival in his honor on that day. Srila Prabhupada also instructed that his photograph should be placed on the cart during all ISKCON Rathayatras;

Therefore the GBC Body hereby thanks Vishoka Das and Krishna Mangala Das for their kind endeavors in this regard and offers its blessing for the successful completion of the project.

304: Kirtan Standards – Instruments

[Guideline]

Whereas performance of kirtan in the temple and in public is a foundational activity of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness and all devotees in ISKCON, as well as our friends and the public at large, are advised to participate regularly in such activities of kirtan;

Whereas although kirtan of the holy names of the Lord is always auspicious, if kirtans organized by ISKCON are performed expertly and in accordance with the standards given by Srila Prabhupada then they serve additionally to encourage all involved in the performance of devotional service, build and strengthen relationships within the society, and in general further the society's mission;

Whereas, there is a need for the GBC Body to provide guidance to the society as to what are the standards for kirtan that Srila Prabhupada wanted;

RESOLVED:

That the paper prepared by the Kirtan Standards Committee entitled, "Musical Instruments to be used for Kirtan and Bhajan in Temple Worship and Public Presentations in ISKCON" is hereby accepted by the GBC Body as its official guideline on the subject. ISKCON leaders are encouraged to adopt these standards in the areas under their jurisdiction and implement them where practical.

The GBC Body thanks the Kirtan Standards Committee for its work and encourages them to prepare further such papers on all other aspects of kirtan in ISKCON.

Whereas it is a standard practice for Ombuds offices to have "Terms of Reference" which help to clarify for all involved – the ombudsman, ISKCON leadership, those taking advantage of the Ombuds service, etc. – the role of the Ombuds office;

RESOLVED:
                         
That the attached be accepted as the ISKCON Ombuds Office's official Terms of Reference.

306: ISKCON Dispute Resolution Committee (IDRC), ISKCON Dispute Resolution Office (IDRO), Director of the ISKCON Dispute Resolution Office

Whereas offering ISKCON members the option (when applicable) of a formal dispute resolution procedure is an important element in providing a fair system for dealing with disputes that arise in ISKCON;

Whereas previous attempts to create a judicial process in ISKCON never took hold due to the fact that at the time there was no Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system in place, and thus establishing a judicial process was expected to be prohibitively expensive. An ADR system now exists in ISKCON in the form of ISKCONResolve;

Whereas while having ISKCONResolve in place means that the majority of disputes can now be settled either by ADR or by management decisions, there still exists the need to investigate and adjudicate the minority of cases that are best settled in a formal way by a neutral third party;

RESOLVED:

That there shall be an ISKCON Dispute Resolution Committee (IDRC) and an ISKCON Dispute Resolution Office to institute and conduct a system of formal dispute resolution in ISKCON. The IDRC shall promulgate policies for the operation of the IDRO within the scope of this mandate. The entire mandate, as well as the initial policies for the ISKCON Dispute Resolution Office, is attached.

The members of the IDRC shall be the Minister of Justice, a Co-Director of ISKCONResolve, the second vice-chairman of the GBC EC and the Director of the ISKCON Dispute Resolution Office.

307: Statement Regarding Umapati Das

Srila Prabhupada instructed that the Governing Body Commission [GBC] is the ultimate managing authority for ISKCON. The GBC is responsible to see that Srila Prabhupada's teachings are properly represented and that the standards expected of sannyasis, initiating gurus and other spiritual leaders are upheld.

The GBC holds those who represent Srila Prabhupada as sannyasis and diksa gurus to the highest standards of moral and ethical behavior. As Srila Prabhupada often cited:

"One who cannot deliver his dependents from the path of repeated birth and death should never become a spiritual master, a father, a husband, a mother or a worshipable demigod." (SB 5.5.18).

In recent years, accusations were presented to the GBC that Umapati Swami had violated the required standards of behavior for a Krishna conscious leader.  The GBC carefully considered these allegations and determined that Umapati Swami, now Umapati Das, shall no longer be accepted as a sannyasi, nor may he function as an initiating guru within our society.

Umapati Das does not accept the findings of the GBC and has informed us that he plans to continue in the role of a sannyasi and initiating guru against the direction of the GBC Body. Umapati Das acknowledges that by doing so he will not be accepted by the GBC as a member, sannyasi or initiating guru of ISKCON.

The followers of Umapati Das who behave respectfully toward ISKCON and the GBC are welcome to fully participate in any ISKCON center, and are encouraged to remain serving and residing within the Society under the guidance of ISKCON's leadership and other senior devotees. 

However, ISKCON will not recognize initiations given by Umapati Das after February 2010. Devotees initiated prior to this date are accepted as duly initiated members of ISKCON. Devotees who have only received first initiation will be required, when and if they are ready, to accept second  initiation from a bona fide guru within ISKCON.

As Umapati Das is no longer an ISKCON spiritual authority or member, devotees of ISKCON should not promote Umapati Das as representing ISKCON nor encourage anyone new to Krishna consciousness to accept him as a spiritual authority. They should direct such persons to accept the bona fide gurus serving within ISKCON and uphold the authority of ISKCON's leadership and its decisions. Those who are not willing to follow these decisions should not attend ISKCON programs.

Umapati Das himself may visit ISKCON centers, but only with the prior permission of both the Temple President and GBC representative. He will not be allowed to reside in ISKCON temples, nor to teach or lead kirtan at an ISKCON temple, or an ISKCON-sponsored event.

308: Letter of Censure to Bir Krishna Das Goswami

Dear Bir Krishna Maharaja,

Please accept our humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

Due to the reasons stated below, you have been censured. A censure expresses disapproval of your conduct. A censure is an official note of caution.

Please take due notice thereof and rectify the situation.

In 1996, as GBC of ISKCON Hillsborough, North Carolina, you received a credible allegation that a member of the congregation had committed sexual abuse of a child some years earlier in another country. While some investigation was done, and some cautionary steps taken, you failed to properly report the incident to local authorities, or later to the CPO. Most significantly, the local community and householders were not notified or made or aware of this potential threat, contrary to ISKCON Law 3.5.5.1.3.9.

This put the community at risk and created serious potential exposure to repetition of these incidents.

Your servants on the GBC Body