Welcome to the second issue of Back To Prabhupada. We are very pleased to report that the magazine has met with great success and appreciation from all quarters. We were genuinely surprised at the very favourable response we have met with. It has only further convinced us of the need for such a forum as this, and the need to somehow or other continue putting out this magazine. We would like to thank all our readers who have taken the time and trouble to send us messages of support and congratulations. We have printed a small selection of them in our letters column. However to be honest we did receive one 'negative' comment. One person told us that the magazine was an example of 'Prabhupaditus', which was an 'overemphasis on the significance of Srila Prabhupada'. Our reaction is that we wish we actually did have such a 'disease', and that if we did we would endeavour to infect the whole world with it as quickly as possible! So you can understand why 'negative' was put in inverted commas because though the comment was intended as a criticism we take it as a great endorsement.

We would like to draw our readers attention to a couple of items in this issue. The Srila Prabhupada festival is being held in Los Angeles over the Memorial Day weekend and promises to be the biggest gathering of Prabhupadanugas ever held in the western world. We would encourage everyone to be there, since being the centennial year it will be an unique event. Readers will also note that we have an interview with Balavanta das, former chairman of the GBC. Here we hope to have started some sort of discussion on the controversial 'guru' issue. One of our aims is to try and act as a forum for the many different views and issues surrounding this topic with a view to resolution. It would be fitting if in this centennial year the great mass of devotees are able to begin the process of resolving this topic.

Although many words have been spoken on this subject in the past thus leaving many people fatigued and probably more confused, two things are beyond dispute - firstly, that the issue is still not fully resolved in the minds of many devotees, and secondly, that though much has been spoken on the issue there has only been one occasion in the last 18 years when there has been any meaningful and open discussion and debate. Unfortunately even the video of this event was subsequently banned.

We feel that it is not asking too much if in a spirit of reconciliation and unity the Vaisnavas are able to come together to have an open and free dialogue. After all this is the Vaisnava tradition. We hope that this 'call to istagosthi' will be accepted by the devotees in the spirit it is meant - as a humble suggestion to resolve an issue that maybe dividing Srila Prabhupada's family - and not as a challenge. In the year of the Centennial surely such an istagosthi should be on the agenda. We have nothing to lose except ignorance and disunity.

We encourage our readers to send us their views on this and any other issues concerning how we may best serve Srila Prabhupada.

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 irg@zetnet.co.uk
Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!