Rupanuga das: Regarding the Lokanath Case

Rupanuga Prabhu (one of Prabhupada's first disciples) regarding the Lokanath case:

Thank you for this opportunity to give my response in this matter. My humble obeisances to you for this service to Srila Prabhupada by defending those children he saw as the flowers of his Movement and it’s future. I have examined your enclosure.

In my opinion, the problem for all involved is the need to fully understand the deeper meaning of the term “child abuse” when describing devotees involved, both perpetrators and victims. Actually, it is a disgrace that the need for a CPO in Iskcon even exists. 

How is it that a truly spiritual institution requires a special office for protecting it’s children from it’s own adult members? Any thoughtful person, apprised of such a need, what to speak of the documented abuses, would hardly join such an institution! 

Because Iskcon leadership has successfully managed to keep such anomalies from the public, what to speak of most of the devotee community, the institution has managed to maintain some acceptability and reputation in the modern world. Unfortunately, at this time there is even propaganda in the general society, rife with child abuse or pedophilia, to minimize the same behavior. In turn, this plays into the hands of Iskcon’s documented history of also reducing it’s importance, which means cheating or deceiving the public as well as the devotees.

However, in my opinion, unless the child abuse in Iskcon is made more public, it will continue as it is at this writing. Because such cases are so often kept secret by family members concerned about reputation and shame, they must ignore the potential of protecting other “Iskcon” children by releasing or providing information on their behalf.

The impact of the difference between child abuse in the general society and Iskcon is to be carefully understood. When a child is placed by parents in the charge or company of a teacher or preacher, it is in the context of or surrounded by a spiritual atmosphere of ashram, temple worship, Deities, prasad, kirtans, paintings, books, dramas, festivals, parikrams, etc. In other words, a specifically spiritual culture.

Based upon such an atmosphere prized by surrounding adults, who very importantly endow the leaders of such a spiritual culture with reputation and authority, the children naturally develop faith and trust.

Herein is the deep difference between child abuse in Iskcon or by Iskcon leaders, and the abuse perpetrated in the general society. Professionals have well delineated the social, psychological, pathological and moral damage caused in the greater society by the many forms of child abuse and pedophilia. But they have no idea of the meaning of the abuse of the spirit - soul’s chances or opportunities for developing it’s dormant Krishna consciousness, the greatest advantage of human life. The faith of the child is at stake. 

Even in more normal circumstances as described by Srila Prabhupada, if a child is forced into 16 rounds before twelve years old, they will lose faith in chanting the Holy Name later.

Now it is true that the soul cannot be burned, wetted, withered by the wind, etc., or touched by bullet or rod. Yet the soul is affected, when the developing dormant Krishna consciousness is betrayed by other spirit-souls garbed in the guise of spiritual teachers and presenting as shelter and protectors. Such entities knowingly compromise or tamper with the natural evolution of Krishna consciousness in the children, creating confusion and fear of the process, by the force and audacity of perverse behavior. 

This is a direct attack on the children’s faith in their parents, Srila Prabhupada and Lord Krishna. Such heartless, selfish misbehavior is intended to be strongly dealt with.

Such a trauma of trust and hope for a dependent devotee child is beyond description for an adult who has never experienced it. To put it another way, can the sun rays be separated from the sun? Or consciousness separated from the soul? Is the sunlight different than the sun, the consciousness different from the soul? Yes, they are both one and different; yet the rays and the consciousness lead back to the sun and the soul. 

So, when the child’s consciousness is in the process of the purification of bhakti yoga, it is -- especially in the child's mood of dependent trust-- vulnerable to the infusion of fear and distress. In other words, spiritual abuse is so much deeper than that to mind and body as in ordinary abuse cases. It is not to be temporarily cured or corrected by mundane therapies dealing with mind, intelligence and ego. Spiritual abuse is as close to touching the soul as one can get. Such spiritual trauma has to do with transcendence; it is in a class by itself.

What can be done? 

Firstly, the offender must sincerely beg forgiveness from the victim. And the offender must be simultaneously punished according the nature of the offense. During the last official meeting with the GBC on May 27, 1977, Srila Prabhupada made it clear that any previous past lenient policy “for working” must now be replaced by removal for misconduct by any GBC member. Certainly this applies to any sannyasi, guru or other trusted leader, especially since Srila Prabhupada is no longer present to make any nuanced adjustments acceptable to all. 

Abused devotees’ faith in Srila Prabhupada and his mission, both children and adults, has been damaged by the cavalier behavior of most leaders after his disappearance, who have ignored or abetted abusive misconduct by those amongst themselves. Secondly, those now-matured spiritually abused devotees must remain aware their faith in Srila Prabhupada is separate and beyond any relation to the misbehavior of his disciples or their followers. 

Srila Prabhupada once said that if teachers cannot love their students they should not teach. He forbade corporal punishment, what to speak of other abuses? He would never have tolerated what happened in this case for a single moment. How can any devotee in good standing tolerate it? He made it clear that the children were continuing from their past lives. Therefore, it is clear it was always the duty of the leaders to facilitate, at any cost, the advancement of the young devotees as the future leaders and preachers.

This particular case of abuse was brought to light just a few years after it’s occurrence in the early nineties. The fact that it still remains an unsettled trauma in the victim’s life after three decades, and the fact that other cases of abuse continue at this writing, indicates that the leadership of Iskcon has lost commitments and connection to standards bequeathed by it’s Founder-Arcarya, thus leaving his society unguarded and open to continued exploitation and infiltration by unworthy, if not sinister elements--all in the absence of basic law and order and waning loyalty to Srila Prabhupada-vani, his sacred instructions.

It remains up to Prabhupada’s loyal disciples, followers and supporters-in-general to preserve, propagate, protect, and practice his teachings by continuing to introduce his ideas into their private lives, including the protection of children as foremost. Thus rooted, the cultural Movement Srila Prabhupada originally introduced (rather than an organized religion), can go forward as the only viable cultural alternative to the modern chaotic society. 

As Srila Prabhupada said June 15, 1972, during the Bhagavatam class on 2.3.19: “The Krishna conscious movement comprehends all sides of life. It is not that a stereotyped churchianity, weekly going to the church and come back. No. It is embracing all sides of life—but, the only aim is how to go home, back to Godhead..”

Your servant,
Rupanuga das (ACBSP ’66 NY)

[PADA: This is a good start. Albeit, it is a little ominous -- the abuse will continue, unless it is made public (exposed). That means the abuse issue is producing perhaps current victims. Very dangerous for the victims and for the ongoing reputation of the society. That also means Rupanuga is also encouraging PADA, we need to expose this process. OK good.

Unfortunately, Rupanuga was one of the people who was part of the 1986 "ISKCON justices committee" to deal with Sulochan (and me) about the New Vrndavana molester guru mess. And he muddled the issue along with no clear victory for Sulochan. And in fact, then Rupanuga's 50 man committee of "reformers" excommunicated Sulochan, which gave a signal to Sulochan's enemies that he is a blasphemer and offender. 

And the real offenders are not -- the leaders of the pedophile guru process. And then Sulochan was assassinated a few months later, and I would have been killed as well -- without rapid help from the FBI -- who arrested their hit man (with the license plate number of my truck on a note in his pocket). So Rupanuga was saying he is going to fix this from inside, but pedophile cults have to be exposed, and if required, exposed from the outside -- as he says now himself. 

As for devotees not knowing what was going on, that seems a little hard to fathom. In 1980 the Berkeley police told me "Hare Krishna is a front for a criminal operation." And in later 1986 -- the year of their big reform -- a CBS news lady filmed Kirtanananda covered with the hands of many little boys and she said to me "this is pedophile heaven." 

And she told me she figured out this is pedophile heaven -- in about two seconds -- as soon as she saw what was going on there. How could "the devotees" not know, when any ordinary woman off the street could figure this whole GBC guru thing is a pedophile heaven guru process, and figure this ALL out in two seconds? And she said if this was her church, she would have gone up to the stage and pulled that pedophile off his seat and stopped his worship program, all by herself if need be. Why were devotees not doing that?, she asked me.

So I believe a lot of devotees have known what was going on, or at least more or less, but they just remained silent in what one ex-victim told me is "a conspiracy of silence." Meanwhile Rupanuga opposes our idea that Srila Prahbupada should remain on as the CURRENT diksha guru -- and instead he has supported their whole idea that we need to promote worship of "someone else" as the diksha guru, which has opened the floodgates for the ISKCON children to worship all sorts of bogus: -- GBC's gurus; Gaudiya Matha's gurus; Narayan Maharaja (and / or his successor gurus); Tripurari swami; Paramadvaiti swami; Babajis; Mahamandal - ishvara Krishna Balarama swami -- and who knows who and what else. 

Sulochan said guys like Rupanuga are dangerous -- if not deadly to children -- sort of acting as the bogus guru's pied pipers -- misleading and taking our children away to worship "some other guru" -- which is really assorted deviants and perhaps even criminal deviations -- if not pedophiles -- and not worship the real acharya. Sulochan was and still is -- right -- indeed "right on" -- on this point. Anyway we were suppressed to the peril of the children. I hope that more people wake up on these issues, and from the looks of things, more people are. 

Rupanuga is also right -- at least now -- they killed the spirit of these children, which is why they are described as "killers of the soul" in Sri Isopanisad. And the killers of the soul will always dwell in darkness, suffering and ignorance, because Krishna will push them down to the lowest regions where they will not be able to kill any more little innocent souls. Discussing this with another devotee recently, there is no real way for any of the participants to fix the damage they have done to others, thus they are more or less condemned to go down at this stage. 

I think many devotees assume the Vedas are some sort of make believe fairy tales. And for their sake -- the Vedas had better be -- fairy tales, but they are taking great risk in the event that killers of the soul really do go down to the lowest regions. And further the Isopanisad says -- that for these fake guru promoting people, it would have been better to have never even heard of the Vedas, because the real point is -- those who distort the Vedas to make fake gurus -- are a billion times more sinful than the regular Joe six pack folks. That is what the Vedas say. 

Yep, let us hope, for their sake, the Vedas are not correct. Personally, I believe the Vedas are correct on these points, and they will have to go down for destroying Krishna's movement, His children, and having us Vaishnavas beaten and killed, and they did this wholesale. There is no easy fix for those who participated in this, either by neglectful omission -- or willful commission. 

Anyway thanks Rupanuga prabhu, for breaking the ice here. Maybe some of your ex-compadres and compatriots will start to speak out too. Let us hope so.

Om tat sat.

ys pd] 

angel108b@yahoo.com
  

Sulochana das: These guru reformers (like Rupanuga) 

are dangerous Pied Pipers 

-- taking our children away -- 

from worship of Srila Prabhupada.

That is the real reason they oppose us: 

they want to steal our kids.