The following letter from two ISKCON legal experts explains the current effort to seek input from ISKCON devotees worldwide in formulating a Constitution for ISKCON.  ISKCON News encourages all devotees to open the link, review the draft, share their thoughts, and help build the foundation for our society’s future. 

ISKCON Constitution – Your Chance to Participate!

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Founder-Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), on several occasions expressed the desire for an ISKCON Constitution, to guide his followers through the generations. In 1971, for instance, he wrote: “We are in the experimental stage, but in the next meeting of the GBC members, they should form a constitution how the GBC members manage the whole affair.” (Letter to Giriraja, 12 Aug 1971)

Through the years, various attempts at writing the ISKCON Constitution took place but did not come to completion. The present team has been receiving feedback on their work from various leaders. Based on their suggestions and on further research, the team developed the present version, Draft Four. We are now opening the dialogue to the whole of ISKCON, inviting everyone to share comments and suggestions that may improve the document to create a final version for GBC ratification. This is a historic opportunity for all members of ISKCON.

We want to hear from you. Please visit iskconconstitutionproject.org.

Please take the time to go through the document, organized in sections, and let us know your level of satisfaction and your thoughts. The site requires you to register to get access. Once you register, you’ll see the guidelines for giving feedback. We have tried to make this process as easy as possible. 

We also request you to encourage all the devotees in your circle of contacts – starting from your family and community – to also take part in the survey. At present the text on the site is only in English but will soon be available in all major languages.

So, please visit iskconconstitutionproject.org and give your feedback.

On behalf of the ISKCON Constitution Project,

Your servants,

Devakinandana Das, ISKCON General Counsel and GBC Member (Singapore); Devasri Radhika Devi Dasi, Attorney and Legal Advisor (Switzerland)