Srila Prabhupada established the GBC to provide leadership and governance for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. In turn, the GBC develops global policies and strategies to ensure that ISKCON moves smoothly and sustainably into the future. The times call for both dynamic, visionary planning as well as the effective execution of those plans. The GBC has concluded that to best serve ISKCON, it needs to strengthen its executive strategies by establishing an Executive Director, who will serve the GBC by ensuring that GBC members fulfill the fundamental assignments Srila Prabhupada gave them, implement the GBC’s resolutions, and make progress in activities related to strategic planning

You will find attached a two-part document presented by the Governing Body Commission (GBC) of ISKCON. We write this letter to provide you a brief account of the events leading to the writing and publication of this document. The first part, "Conversation Between Srila Prabhupada and H. H. Narayana Maharaja: Vrindavan-October 8, 1977,"consists of a transcription of the audio recording of that conversation preserved in the BBT Archives. The second part, titled "The Last Conversation," offers a careful analysis of the meaning and significance of this conversation.

Iskcon Governing Body Commission Society. Minutes Of The Annual General Meeting. Sri Mayapur Dham, February 6 – 17, 2010. GBC Officers and Members. Zonal Assignments for GBC Members. Sannyasa Waiting List. Reaffirmation of Ministries and Standing Committees. Categories of GBC Resolutions. Minimum Standards for Guru Approval. Reestablishment of the ISKCON Interfaith Commission.

Anuttama Prabhu, representing the GBC's Guru Services Committee, reported on the Guru Seminars and Guru Retreats program. These programs allow devotees who are serving as initiating or instructing gurus to associate with one another and share their experiences serving Srila Prabhupada in the role of guru. The Guru Seminars and Retreats also aim to enhance skills in counseling disciples and caring for one's own physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

On February 14th, all members of ISKCON’s Governing Commission attending the Annual General Meeting in Mayapur, India assembled in the center of a construction zone. It was the construction zone of the long-awaited Temple of Vedic Planetarium (TOVP), a massive and impressive temple dedicated to displaying the Vedic view of the spiritual and material worlds.

The GBC deputies began the eighth day of the Annual General Meeting of ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission with another session of voting. GBC members discussed and voted on GBC Ministry and GBC Committee member appointments, such as the Minister of Book Distribution, Minister of Education, and Guru Services Committee members.

At present, ISKCON not only has an international Governing Body Commission (GBC) which is responsible for the overall management of ISKCON, but in some regions there are additional lower level governing bodies such as Regional Governing Bodies (RGBs), National Councils, and Continental Committees. What was at question is how these bodies, which hold regular meetings and pass resolutions, interact with and report to the overall managerial authority, the GBC.

Day five of the Annual General Meeting of ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission began with presentations by the Succession and Leadership Training Committee and Devotee Care Committee. Tamohara dasa, on behalf of the Succession and Leadership

Strategic Planning for ISKCON’s future was the central focus for the second through fourth days of the 2010 Annual General Meeting for ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission. In 2006, the GBC Body collectively decided to increase their attention on Strategic Planning, more specifically to spend additional energy on defining and planning ISKCON’s direction and management for Srila Prabhupada’s mission to be passed down to future generations.

The 2010 Annual General Meeting of the Governing Body Commission of ISKCON commenced Saturday morning in Sri Mayapur Dham with Bhakti Caru Maharaja offering the traditional guru-puja ceremony to ISKCON's Founder-Acarya, Srila Prabhupada, while Ekalavya Prabhu led an enthusiastic and inspirational kirtan. This year's GBC Chairman, Romapada Maharaja, welcomed everyone in attendance and delivered a reading from the tenth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam

From January 14-18 the North American GBCs, Temple Presidents and Leaders met together in Dallas, Texas for the North American Leadership meeting. The following is a short summary and highlights of the meeting: The meeting started on Friday afternoon with a lively kirtan led by Bhaktimarga Swami. Vaisesikha Prabhu inspired everyone by his keynote presentation on the importance and joy of book distribution. Kuladri Prabhu followed with the NA Support Office report, including important legal issues.

Every year, each GBC member's zonal areas of responsibility are reviewed and ratified for the coming year. It is interesting to note a gradual shift over the years with an increasing number of GBC members preferring to share their zonal duties with one or more "co-GBCs". This holds true not just for major projects like Mayapur, which has a six-man GBC committee, but even for smaller yatras like Latvia, Bangladesh, and Honduras. Another recent development is a number of non-GBC members holding zonal responsibilities.

ISKCON devotees shall instruct new members to take shelter of Srila Prabhupada and to receive guidance, training and assistance from those who are practically and directly instructing them in Krishna consciousness. They must focus their attention on Srila Prabhupada as the Founder-Acarya and as their preeminent siksa guru.

Six devotees--Jagat-caksur Das, Yadunandana Das, Sarvaisvarya Das, Brhat Mrdanga Das, Jaya Govinda Das, and Vasudeva Das--are to take sannyasa this year.

We, the members of the Governing Body Commission of ISKCON, wish to express our most heartfelt condolences to you for the passing of Srila Bhaktivaibhava Puri Maharaja. He was a dear friend of our Srila Prabhupada and well-wisher of ISKCON

The Executive Committee (EC) of the GBC has received your recent peace proposal for which we offer you our thanks. The EC has since gone through your peace proposal and we have the following points to make.

So the future of this Krishna Consciousness movement is very bright, so long the managers remain vigilant that 16 rounds are being chanted by everyone without fail, that they are all rising before four in the morning, attending mangal arati-our leaders shall be careful not to kill the spirit of enthusiastic service, which is individual and spontaneous and voluntary. They should try always to generate some atmosphere of fresh challenge to the devotees, so that they will agree enthusiastically to rise and meet it. That is the art of management: to draw out spontaneous loving spirit of sacrificing some energy for Krishna.

For the last several years, strategic planning has been a major theme of the GBC meetings. Several days of the Annual General Meeting, as well as the second GBC meeting later in the year, is exclusively focused on this important theme. This year was no exception. Days four through six saw all regular work shelved and the entire Body, plus many other devotees, come together to proactively discuss the best way for the GBC and ISKCON to prepare for the future.

The second day of the GBC meetings opened with a presentation by the Law Book Committee. Aniruddha Prabhu presented the progress of the committee in revising the current law book which contains constitutional principles, action orders, rules of order, administrative guidelines and governing law.

The 2009 Annual General Meeting of ISKCON's Governing Body Commission commenced with arati and guru-puja kirtana to Srila Prabhupada, who is present in murti form in the meeting hall. Apart from the large murti, this year there is a small murti of Srila Prabhupada fixed on a beautiful altar near the Chairman's seat.

It is with great shock, outrage, and sorrow that members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, (ISKCON), have learned of the horrific terrorists attacks in Mumbai, India, against hundreds of innocent people.

Whatever criticisms an individual or a group may claim to have with ISKCON, to purposefully offend a Vaishnava saint in such a blatant manner is irreconcilable with the principles of Vaishnavism, Hindu culture, morality, and common decency. We condemn any and all such acts.

Someone may wonder how it is that gurus attend training seminars. The question was answered this way: Learning from one another is a strength, not a weakness, and wanting to always learn and improve in devotional service is the sign of Vaishnava humility.

The ISKCON Governing Body Commission (GBC), which is currently meeting for five days at ISKCON's Juhu Beach Temple in Mumbai, was shocked this morning at the news that His Holiness Jayapataka Swami, our dear god-brother and GBC colleague, was rushed to the hospital at approximately 4 AM Mumbai time.

Please find attached a statement from the GBC Executive Committee on respect for women. While there are different opinions on the best roles for women in society and how the Vedic culture is to be applied today, I think we all agree that we must be careful to be respectful to all Vaishnavas in both our deeds and words. Your servant, Ramai Swami GBC Chairman

Iskcon Governing Body Commission Society. Minutes of the Annual General Meeting in Sri Mayapur Dham, February 24 - March 4, 2008

Note: In the interest of enhancing the readability of this document, we have simplified the entries by omitting the country names "India", "USA", "UK", and "Canada".

[Guideline] Whereas Srila Prabhupada should be worshiped in ISKCON in a manner befitting his status as the founder Acarya of ISKCON. Our worship of His Divine Grace is an expression of our love and respect for him;

On March 1st, the seventh day of the meetings, the morning presentations focused on the Youth Fund and Mayapur Temple of Vedic Planetarium, while the afternoon session consisted of a presentation by Bhaktivedanta Institute (Kolkata) and straw voting on proposals. The meetings ended with Chairman Bhanu Swami thanking all the attendees, staff, and helpers for their participation in making the meetings a success. He particularly thanked the Deputies for doing lot of background work which facilitated the meetings to end early. In turn, there was sustained applause from the Body for the hard work of all the members of the Executive Committee.

Lokanath Swami introduced the day’s theme, “Unity in Diversity,” as stipulated in a letter by Srila Prabhupada: “I am therefore suggesting that all our men meet in Mayapur every year during the birth anniversary of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. With all GBC and senior men present we should discuss how to make unity in diversity. But, if we fight on account of diversity, then it is simply the material platform. Please try to maintain the philosophy of unity in diversity. That will make our movement successful.”

Tension was in the air as GBC member Praghosa Das traded insults and criticisms with ISKCONResolve Director and meeting facilitator Braja Bihari Das during a presentation by Praghosa. As the debate got uglier and began to resemble a “Daksa-yajna”, worried attendees looked to the Chairman to pacify the situation.

Sesa Prabhu presented the ongoing work of the Constitution Committee, one of six Strategic Planning groups. This presentation was the major focus of this morning’s session. At the New Vrindaban meeting last June, the GBC members recommended names of devotees qualified to assist in the work of the Constitution Committee.

Bhakti Marg Swami began today's meeting with a vigorous kirtan following which Bhakti Vaibhava Swami read from Srimad - Bhagavatam. Anuttama Das, a member of the Guru Services Committee, reported that the committee had been studying how to help prepare devotees to serve Srila Prabhupada as initiating and instructing spiritual masters.

Mayapura, West Bengal - Trustees of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT), the publishing arm of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, reported today at ISKCON’s Governing Body Commission Annual General Meeting in Mayapura, West Bengal, that its international sales for the year 2007 had increased by 28% over the previous year.

The following points formulated by a committee of ISKCON devotees who were delegated by the GBC Executive Committee to liaise with Satsvarupa Maharaja regarding his service in ISKCON. The following conclusions have been approved by the GBC EC

The GBC Executive Committee, after much deliberation and consultation, has no alternative but to sadly report the deviations of and the abuses to devotees carried out by Balabhadra dasa (ACBSP), previously known as Bhakti Balabh Puri Goswami. This report was compiled for the GBC by the committee dealing with this case, Sivarama Swami, BB Govinda Swami and Praghosa dasa and has been approved by the GBC Executive Committee.

Our constitution committee wish to involve experienced and thoughtful devotees from around the world. Not just GBC members and deputies. We need broader input as we devise a constitution relevant to everyone connected to ISKCON. We hope such a constitution will be pertinent to all, and perhaps especially to the ISKCON leadership who are more accustomed to making laws for others than for having a constitution that holds all members equally accountable.

Our committee is trying to respond to the need to have a more formalized method of operation of ISKCON and more formalized relationship between ISKCON and the members of ISKCON. There is a feeling among many devotees that they want a solid and clear understanding of what it means to be an ISKCON member. A well conceived of Constitution can provide that. We are endeavoring to craft an inspiring document that will make sure that the principles, vision, and mood that Srila Prabhupada established will be preserved for centuries to come.

In response to some devotees' concerns regarding his book "Sanatorium", Satsvarupa Maharaja has given the following comment and has also decided to withdraw from circulation any remaining copies of the book.

Our committee deals with the situation we often find in ISKCON where there are two lines of authority in ISKCON: the initiating spiritual masters and GBC body/GBC member/Temple President system created by Srila Prabhupada. Our goal is help craft a shared, supportive, and shastrically sound system for guiding devotees in ISKCON. Rather than sometimes working at cross purposes, the aim is to have a system that respects, guides, and nutures the devotees in general, as well as all those senior devotees who give siksha and diksa in ISKCON.

We recognize the need for consistent succession policies in the society. The first generation of Srila Prabhupada's disciples are aging. We now read regularly of a senior devotee’s passing away. We need to ensure that the mood, teachings, energy, and ideas of Srila Prabhupada are properly preserved and transmitted. Generation after generation. We wish to identify and empower devotees with leadership potential to ensure the proper succession. This is our long term need.

There were varying degrees of progress achieved since the last GBC meeting in Mayapur, this progress was reported by the different groups to the plenary body. Probably the most comprehensive progress achieved to date was from the committee dealing with the constitution. That said, significant work has been done by all the groups and the overall mood was that a lot has been done but there's a lot more to do.