1) There has to be 10 local Brahmans that approve the candidate
2) All the Local GBCs have to Approve – (There is a North American – Committee of 3 GBC men, that Bhakti Marg Swami is working with – One of them is Annuttama Prabhu).
3)The Candidate has to take Guru Training Course (1 or 2 week course for 2 years) (which was initiated at Juhu) Mumbai couple years ago.

The system presently will be similar to Sanyas Approval which – NO OBJECTION RULE – (you are already familiar with).

The following items which are also necessary according to individuals situation.

4) The Married Candidate should have permission from the immediate family members (or spouse). The candidate must have good marriage record.
5)Of course the candidate should be in Good standing with the local Board and Temple Authorities.
6)Most important of all is that the person is well versed in ISKCON’s Philosophy and Srila Prabhupada’s mission.
7)Another Most important item is the person’s Sadhana is strong.
8)In some cases, they have to have permission from their initiating guru.
9)The person is naturally exibiting the qualities of a guru (by personally doing that service of siksha, and training junior devotees)

This is a new system, still being implemented.
—The GBC body knows that they will have to deal with each case individually apart from the first 3 pre-requisites. Eventually, they will have a ‘Standard 10 brahman committee’ in every local area.
—But presently, the candidate can choose his/her own 10 brahmans who will approve of his qualifications.
—This committee presently is NOT required to interview or question the individual.
—It is simply done even by a letter of approval.
—The brahmans are usually senior known leaders who are holding various posts of important services in ISKCON. E.g. Temple president, Preachers, Pujaris etc.

Usually, the persons nominated by the local GBCs are preachers who have been making devotees over the years and have exemplary qualifications in terms of leadership qualities etc. These devotees also normally have aspiring devotees also (a natural consequence).

This year the GBCs decided at Mayapur meetings that they should allow/approve women devotees to become diksa gurus in ISKCON.

Guru’s devotion and merit should be judged, like SP states, how many people become Krishna Conscious because of their instructions and their lifestyle (daily activities).

“Take initiation from there and you are banned from doing service in ISKCON facilities.

And in many cases you are banned from any kind of participation in ISKCON facilities.”

So I’m talking about “service in ISKCON facilities”. Hope this makes it my meaning clearer.

Please note that this is not prescriptive – I’m not expressing approval or objection to this policy. It is descriptive – I’m describing the situation as it is.

Thank you.
Your humble servant,

Bhaktin Jeannette