GBC Pauses Vaishnavi Diksa Gurus, Again

At its November 2, 2022 meeting, the Governing Body Commission (GBC) of ISKCON resolved to again put a moratorium on women devotees accepting disciples in ISKCON. (The resolution can be found at the end of this article.)

The topic has been debated and discussed in various forums in ISKCON for twenty years and has evoked strong feelings (as well as lengthy papers and lists of oppositional sastric [scriptural] references) on all sides of the issue. In 2014, for example, the GBC held a special 3-day retreat at ISKCON’s temple in the holy city of Tirupati, India to exclusively discuss the matter. (See https://gbc.iskcon.org/gbc-completes-three-day-special-session-on-vaishnavi-diksa-gurus/).

The GBC Chairman in 2014 commented that “thoughtful ISKCON devotees will appreciate that the GBC is taking a methodical, introspective and prayerful approach to this issue, and is not ignoring any of the many viewpoints in its discussions.”

After more back-and-forth discussions within GBC and the ISKCON society, in 2019 the GBC voted to allow Vaishnavi Diksa Gurus (VDG) under specific conditions, including that a Vaishnavi had to be 55 years of age and in a stable ashrama situation, as well as fulfilling the other requirements established for Vaishnava men, before they can initiate. See https://gbc.iskcon.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/MGM-2019-GBC-Resolutions-v4-1.pdf (Scroll to section 701.6 on page 5 to see the resolution, followed by a statement on the resolution.)

However, after that GBC resolution, two senior leaders of the ISKCON Bureau, the organization that leads ISKCON in India, spoke to the full GBC Body and expressed their strong disagreement with the decision. They also said that they felt the views of the majority of leaders in India had not been heard sufficiently. At that point, the GBC put another pause on the implementation of the VDG policy, to allow time for a formal dialogue with Bureau members. See: https://gbc.iskcon.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/GBCRES2020.pdf (Scroll to section 700 on page 13.)