What is the update and status of ISKCON lifemembership?

[Paramananda das]

What is the update and status of ISKCON lifemembership?
dear devotees

Please accept my humble obaisences

All glories to Srila Prabhupada

 I like to know what is the status of ISKCON lifemembership and ISKCON GBC policy? I looked up Srila Prabhupadas instructions on lifemembership .In a letter to Brahmananda from july 8th 1969, Srila Prabhupada has stated that bookdistribution is more important than lifemembership.Then again on October 28th 1970 Srila Prabhupada encourages lifemembership and gives some directions of the LM benefitsAnd an important thing is that the LM gets a full set of Srila PRabhupadas books.I have however seen sometimes when I have made some lifemembersthat for some reason there is a delay in getting the LM their full set of Srila Prabhupadas books.This is very disturbing, or sometimes on sankirtana we havegotten complaints a full set was never recieved.Now these may be exceptions, but we should be very carefull to follow Srila Prabhupadas instructionson this.In a letter to Rupanuga on November 13th 1970 ,Srila Prabhupada has advised that lifemembers may fully participate in temple programs, and that theymay stay in the temple where they are visiting.Many years ago when I was making lifememberships for some time in India, the promise was always giventhat the LM can stay in all temples in ISKCON.However this is sadly not so.And we have actually seen a sannyasi in the past reject lifemembers to stay in the temple, which makes no sense.So do we keep our promises to the LM? Or we just want to take their donations and not provide books and accomadations?Obviously the answer is we have to honor what is promised. In the early 1990th Sridhara Swami and some other devotees started a hinduization in ISKCON US, that allowed temple property to be rented out,based on one letter by Srila Prabhupada in Mumbai.However as I later pointed out to the GBC in 1995 if the congregation attends mayavadi lecturesat an ISKCON property and thinks it is an ISKCON program that is very terrible.And the GBC passed some laws in 1996 to rectifie such mistakes.However we see that some devotees still perform Satya Narayana pujas, or the wedding of nondevotees, car blessings etc.  Surely the LM program helped build temples like ISKCON Juhu, and participated in making other huge temples like in ISKCON Delhi etc.Srila Prabhupada writes Jayapataka November 1970:" This membership program  cannot be neglected" And there is so many letters by Srila Prabhupada showing his great approval of LM program, like a letter to Giriraja Swami December 28th 1971.And a stern warning May 16th 1972 to Bhavananda:" Life member money cannot be spent for eating and sleeping"In a letter to Hamsadutta on 15th of May 1974 Srila Prabhupada was upset a LM was turned away.He was even a MP.In Damodaradesh I made onegentelman Senthil Kumara who holds a key position in the goverment there a LM ,but he had a hard time to get Srila Prabhupadas books.Only whenI contacted SriVallabha Prabhu and Basu Ghosh Prabhu was the matter settled. A few days back I have met another indian gentelman that owns many major vegetarian restaurants in Washington DC area, he wants to become a lifemember.When I contacted the Potomac temple, I was told by the headpujari Naveen Krsna Prabhu the temple does not make lifemembers.And that it is not done in US. I question this very much if this is the actual standard ,set by the GBC.Srila Prabhupadas instructions should be the standardwe follow in ISKCON otherwise everything will be lost.We can not manufacture things.So I am very happy to make sure more and more persons become lifemembers that I meet on sankirtana, and Basu Ghosh Prabhu also encouraged me in this matter.However are these persons going to be taken care of, does ISKCON wants their money?Or is it no longer any good when they want to becomeLM.These are some serious questions. The LM program is also to make these persons devotees if possible.This is seen in Srila Prabhupadas letter(to Parasurama Jalan 7th september 1975)This LM program is for sure much better than what they do in ISKCON Brooklyn, which is a Bingo hall and  serving meat on some occasions, this alsois against Srila Prabhupadas instructions and GBC rules from 1996 that states, ISKCON property can not be rented to persons that brakes the 4 regulativeprinciples on ISKCON property.However Ramabhadra das is not willing to let go of this program and this is a matter for the GBC to please rectifie

.your servant

Payonidhi das