False Gurus Create Human Tragedy

ISKCON – The Human Tragedy

BY MADHUDVISA DASA

Although we hear a lot about the problems of ISKCON probably few realize how severely these problems effect the lives of the unfortunate people who actually join today’s ISKCON. As a book distributor I meet so many broken-hearted devotees who have been abused and cheated by ISKCON and had their spiritual lives completely destroyed. 

I met a young man yesterday who was a bhakta in the ISKCON Sydney temple. Before joining the temple he was chanting his rounds, following the principles and reading Srila Prabhupada’s books with great pleasure. But now, after being so shaken and devastated with his experiences in ISKCON he says, “If this is what chanting Hare Krishna does to people, I don’t want anything to do with it.” He’s a very intelligent young man who joined ISKCON and surrendered to the temple authorities [thinking they were representing Prabhupada]. The Temple President then used him to collect thousands of dollars every week in various illegal scams. He then ordered him to aspire to take initiation from Tamal Krishna, which he did…

When he was having problems he wrote to his “guru” who could not help him and simply replied he was to busy working on assignments for his university course to answer the letters…

This devotee was an avid reader of Srila Prabhupada’s books. He had read the Bhagavad-gita at least twelve times and three quarters of the Srimad-Bhagavatam and he very much enjoyed reading the Sri Caitanya-caritamrta. He was trying to be a ‘pukka’ bramhinical devotee but was being constantly criticized by the Temple President and other “senior” devotees in the temple. His frustration was that these “senior” devotees had never even read Prabhupada’s books and he wondered how they could preach to him and order him around…

Many of you will know of Bhavananda who molested more children in IKSCON than anyone else. He is still being employed by ISKCON. In fact he has never left the ISKCON payroll. He was working as the manager of the ISKCON Sydney restaurant then he became a “full-time” temple devotee but after some time the GBC did put a stop to his Bhagavatam classes and his attempt to become an initiating guru in ISKCON again. But they didn’t take him off the payroll! He is now working as the receptionist in the Sydney ISKCON temple.

When this devotee saw Bhavananda having sex in the temple with a young devotee boy who was barely eighteen, just out of school, he thought this was not a very good thing for an “advanced devotee” to be doing. Bhavananda is presented by ISKCON as being a very advanced devotee and the bhaktas are encouraged to seek his association and advice on Krishna consciousness… At one point he was the bhakta leader…

When the Temple President was informed, instead of doing anything about Bhavananda, he called in the GBC [Ramai Swami]. Their solution was to have our friend sign a legal document stating he would not disclose anything he had seen happen in the ISKCON temple to anyone and they promptly transferred him to the Perth temple. Perth is as far away from Sydney as you can get in Australia. It’s in the middle of nowhere…

So Bhavananda continues as a staff member and the de-facto guru of the Sydney ISKCON temple and continues to have sex with the young boys who are unfortunate enough to fall into the ISKCON trap… He does not follow any of the regulative principles and does not chant 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily…

Some may argue that this is not illegal as the boys are mostly over eighteen. But ISKCON is promoting Bhavananda as an advanced devotee, a teacher and practically a guru. So as it is illegal for a teacher to have sex with his young students, even if they may be a little over eighteen, Bhavananda’s activities in the ISKCON Sydney temple are also illegal and ISKCON Australia will have to pay very dearly for this in the future. As the ISKCON US temples are facing an enormous court case for the child molestation that took place in the US and Indian temples [much of it was done by Bhavananda and his followers...], the Australian temples and the ISKCON movement will surely have to pay for their support and encouragement of Bhavananda. It is only this support from ISKCON that has enabled Bhavananda to continue molesting young devotees in ISKCON temples even up till today. And EVERY member of the GBC knows he is doing it…

This is not an isolated incident and all this and much more goes on with the blessings of the GBC and the Temple President. Most of the GBC members and the so-called “advanced” devotees in ISKCON regularly visit the Sydney temple but do absolutely nothing about the situation there…

Even the Temple President is involved in the same molestation business, but with young girls who are unfortunate enough to join ISKCON. He is the “supreme authority” in the temple and tells everyone what to do. So he also should not be seducing the young girls who join… Recently, although he was already married, he “ran away” with one of the young girls who was living in the temple. After some weeks he returned with her as his “new wife…”

So after seeing all this debauchery and after being abused himself physically, emotionally and spiritually by the ISKCON devotees this devotee is a broken man. His faith in Krishna consciousness and Prabhupada is so shattered that he does not like to chant Hare Krishna, he does not read Prabhupada’s books and thinking of ISKCON gives him nightmares.

He says the spiritual abuse is the worst… But he still believes in God… He is hoping to find some other religion where he can meet some people who actually believe in God and are not like the crazy perverts who abused him in ISKCON…

And, even though ISKCON is in so much trouble for the child abuse they have committed in the past, this abuse is not ten years ago… The abuse continues TODAY in ISKCON with the full blessings of the GBC and there is no indication whatsoever that anyone in any position of authority in ISKCON ever wants to stop it.

“The pseudo religionists have neither knowledge nor detachment from material affairs, for most of them want to live in the golden shackles of material bondage under the shadow of philanthropic activities disguised as religious principles. By a false display of religious sentiments, they present a show of devotional service while indulging in all sorts of immoral activities. In this way they pass as spiritual masters and devotees of God. Such violators of religious principles have no respect for the authoritative acaryas, the holy teachers in the strict disciplic succession. They ignore the Vedic injunction acaryopasana–”One must worship the acarya”–and Krsna’s statement in the Bhagavad-gita (4.2) evam parampara-praptam, “This supreme science of God is received through the disciplic succession.” Instead, to mislead the people in general they themselves become so-called acaryas, but they do not even follow the principles of the acaryas.

“These rogues are the most dangerous elements in human society. Because there is no religious government, they escape punishment by the law of the state. They cannot, however, escape the law of the Supreme, who has clearly declared in the Bhagavad-gita that envious demons in the garb of religious propagandists shall be thrown into the darkest regions of hell (Bg. 16.19-20). Sri Isopanisad confirms that these pseudo religionists are heading toward the most obnoxious place in the universe after the completion of their spiritual master business, which they conduct simply for sense gratification.”

Chant Hare Krishna and be happy!

Madhudvisa dasa