12 Commitments for Unity & Respect
When RtVik first started to coagulate I was stunned to find how many people were taking their sophistry so seriously. Late in the summer of 1998, a meeting was held in Alachua Florida to discuss the idea of introducing the RtVik-Theory of initiation into Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON movement. It was attended by about 150 devotees of various levels of interest and commitment. Some were curious, some wanted an alternative to the initiating guru concept, and some were very militant about foisting the RtVik agenda on others.
At this point in time, it was not clear what the RtVik-Agenda was. Did the individuals behind this new system simply want to introduce a RtVik option into the Hare Krishna movement as an intermediate step to a full normal initiation? Or: Did they wish to completely dislodge the long-standing tradition of the Guru-Disciple relationship and replace it with their expanded interpretation of what a RtVik-Priest is tasked to do?
I had been invited to attend this meeting that was promoted as a historic event which would radically change how ISKCON management would function. I attended as a quiet observer until the last hour of the final session when I specifically asked if the RtVik agenda was to “Insert or Replace” the current initiation options in ISKCON.
Now in 2021, it is obvious that the agenda was to throw out what Srila Prabhupada taught for over ten years but in the summer of 1998, their revolutionary destructive agenda had not been revealed. The RtVik concept was becoming a very heated issue. A big split was starting to brew and I hoped that by laying down what I thought were basic Vaishnava ground rules to discuss the matter would be a good idea. That effort led to the following simple treatise I called 12 Commitments for Unity & Respect.
The following January a second meeting was held in Los Angeles. By then I had requested the RtVik generals to clarify if their goal was to “Insert or Replace” their ideas into ISKCON on several occasions followed the Alachua meeting. I never got an answer. They were coy about not addressing this important question because few had even brought it up. So they put all their efforts into gaining as much momentum as they could from those who were not even astute enough to clarify just what the long range RtVik agenda was.
I had way overestimated the integrity of those who conceived of the RtVik-Campaign. They showed no respect for Vaishnav etiquette. It became clear that their real agenda was a comprehensive coup d’état of all ISKCON senior people. The instructions Srila Prabhupada had given in numerous ways had nothing to do with the RtVik-agenda.
“I shall expand into twelve more so that they can exactly work like me. Gradually they will be initiators. At least first initiation.” [Conversation with the GBC – May 25, 1972, Los Ange-les]
