HG Kalakantha Das - Unity in Diversity - The need for Vaishnavi Diksha Gurus in the West 

WONDERFUL TALK! love it!

Such a nice Class. Thanks a lot. Haribol

Absolutely amazing interview, wonderfully drafted and so easy to understand

Sunīti, however, being a woman, and specifically his mother, could not become Dhruva Mahārāja's dīkṣā-guru. SB 4.12.32 purport

I visited the Atlanta temple recently for a festival, I was the only white person there.

From Spain

A woman is not supposed to take sannyāsa. So-called spiritual societies concocted in modern times give sannyāsa even to women, although there is no sanction in the Vedic literature for a woman's accepting sannyāsa. S.B. 3.24.40 purport

While Srila Prabhupada encouraged and engaged women In varieties of services, for some reason he didn’t appoint them into leadership positions such as temple presidents, GBCs, or BBT trustees. This can’t be regarded as an oversight. The society certainly expanded well enough for another innovation of expanding women’s roles across the board. There are philosophical reasons in sastra as well as in Prabhupada’s purports which can explain why Prabhupada didn’t appoint women in leadership roles. The lack of recognition of such evidence and quickness to dismiss the validity of any tangible opposing evidence in this regard is disconcerting. The general conclusion presented in this interview is gender bias which is inaccurate and stigmatizing. There are videos and books which logically present evidence for the other side. I agree westerners will see lack of women leadership as gender bias because that is all they are capable of seeing. A solution for such perceptions is recognition and promotion of siksa gurus being equally as relevant as diksa gurus, which is philosophically supported. Women can be primary gurus of candidates as siksa gurus while the candidates can receive formal diksa from a male guru. Although feasible that is somehow regarded as unacceptable. According to Narada Pancaratra only fully liberated women on the bhava stage or above can be initiating gurus. That can be linked to why Prabhupada said, “not so many” and “in a very special case”, such as the few he mentioned like Jahnava Ma, the wife of Lord Nityananda. Neglect of such a requirement can turn ISKCON into an apasampradaya. In any event there is substantial support for keeping the status quo according to sastra and by what Prabhupada actually did to not implement women diksa gurus. The loosely espoused gender bias charge against those not in agreement with women diksa gurus is just plain inconsiderate.

Nice interview. It’s confusing though that Srila Prabhupada wished all his disciples to become initiating gurus but also apparently said regarding women “some but not many”. Why is there emphasis on “some but not many”? Why only some? Additionally, why this distinction only for women or is it also “some but not many” for men? If not, it’s still discriminatory on its face. What if there are MANY qualified vaishnavis? If anti discrimination is important, please elaborate on the reasoning behind this distinction.

The woman must remain at home. She has only three stages of life: dependency on the father in childhood, dependency on the husband in youth and, in old age, dependency on the grown-up son, such as Kapila. SB 3.24.40 purport