Krishna shows Srimati Radharani
His bird friend.
ART by PADA
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PADA: Thanks prabhu. "New Vrndavana was doing most of the preaching in the 1980s, while the other ISKCON temples were falling apart and were becoming dead zones. So we should give credit to New Vrndavana."
Ummm, OK but the problem now is that many ordinary people are thinking that most Krishna devotees have not been smart enough to know that worshiping a homosexual / pedophile / crook / orchestrator of murder / as their messiah is a deviation. They think most devotees are sentimental [sahajiyas] at best, or supporters of imperious, megalomanic, perverted and crooked deviated messiahs at worst, but they don't have much discrimination either way. And now, to fix all this, Kirtanananda's top henchmen like Radhanath are the new folks in charge.
And it is going to take the rest of us decades of very hard work to recover the good name of the society. If that can even be done at all.
New Vrndavana set back the movement by decades, by creating a terrible impression of Krishna and His devotees. The legacy they left behind is not something that will be easily repaired. And that is why Rupa Goswami says -- false devotees are "utpat" -- they simply create a disturbance and distraction for the sincere devotees.
At least the other temples were going into the dead zone by kicking almost every one out and having nearly no one there, and that was a better process than creating a big giant bad and evil program. ys pd
PADA = angel108b@yahoo.com
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RE: The GBC meeting in India:
Ooops, they started their $20,000,000 lawsuit there, just after they had already been sued here in Dallas for $400,000,000 for child mistreatment. Overall, the Jayapataka people sent me a nasty note -- why did you help various lawsuits and cause ISKCON to lose $100,000,000? Well for starters, I told you guys to contain the child mistreatment in 1980, or you would eventually be sued. And Jayapataka said to me, "so what, take us to court then." I am follower your guy's orders, you told me to help court cases, and now you are complaining that I am your dedicated follower? Sheesh!
I think that after they sent Bhakti Caru swami here to collect funds for their legal team, and he left his body in the process, they have not discussed further lawsuits since then. Maybe they don't have a spare $100,000,000 in their pockets at the present time, or else they would be suing others left, right and center? They were talking about suing me in the mid 1980s, but Brahmananda told them, if you do that, you will simply give him $4,000,000 of free TV and media publicity, it is not a good idea. They agreed.
Of course, they are still paying for the $400m case, so maybe that has depressed their legal / lawyer's Mercedes fund down as well. I am not too surprised they sued Bangalore, the Bangalore folks have a wonderful temple here with a wonderful kids program, where all the kids are happy and blissful. We cannot allow that, sue them! Oh yeah did I forget to mention, the CPO has not been funded properly since forever. ys pd
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DD: I don't know how many subscribers Peacock has - nor how many viewers there will be. Given that there are so many films that portray Krishna Consciousness favourably, it would be tragic if this series became the most watched by secular audiences and shaped their views of what the Krishna consciousness movement is.
PADA: Srila Prabhupada said on Nov 3 1977 -- my only request is -- please do not torture me and put me to death. He knew exactly what was going on. And it was not until much later, 1997, that I got copies of these tapes. These tapes were hidden from us for 20 years. And the person who got me the tapes said -- he never wants his name mentioned -- because, he fears the regime. But he said, you don't give a hoot about anything, so I know -- you will get these tapes out.
And I had them transcribed by a Bengali news writer, and I put them out. Of course, they then started a campaign to discredit me, and even Narayan Maharaja was saying I am a bogus etc., but they could not defeat the words of Srila Prabhupada then, or now. So this is a fact, they are torturing me to put me to death. And now they are doing car poojas for Lamborghinis, they are not spiritual people, they are after money and prestige. But Krishna has the last say, when these people will have to answer in the higher courts of God. One of their GBC people just now wrote to complain how I am a person who has no love for God etc. I said you are right, I have no love for God, but I do fear His wrath. At least I am that much connected, you people have no connection. ys pd
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It was odd to see some of "Keith Ham's" acarya-peers making statements along nothing to intervene in the unfolding catastrophe and even offered support.
And this may not be the only expose that sheds light on deeply problematic thin the lines of "Yeah, I always knew he was a wrong 'un" - given that they didgs that have taken place within the movement. There's shockingly an abundance of content for anyone inclined to make further such films
And this may not be the only expose that sheds light on deeply problematic thin the lines of "Yeah, I always knew he was a wrong 'un" - given that they didgs that have taken place within the movement. There's shockingly an abundance of content for anyone inclined to make further such films
How would it look for instance if the world came to know that even now, in 2023 (not 30 years ago when Kirtanananda was excommunicated), the GBC endorses "leaders" who also have credible histories with child abuse, complicity in murder, etc to hold high office, be worshipped atop golden thrones, etc?
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https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/krishnas-peacock-docuseries-hare-krishna-keith-ham-kirtanananda-swami-murder-sexual-abuse-1234861856/?
https://decider.com/2023/10/20/krishnas-gurus-karma-murder-peacock-review/?
Peacock‘s new docuseries Krishnas: Gurus. Karma. Murder. has a title that seems like it was developed to shock, like one should enunciate the last word with a high-pitched voice while clutching pearls. Much of what’s in the series, about an abusive, violent Hare Krishna commune in West Virginia that was led by a volatile swami, is disturbing, with descriptions of murders and child abuse that can be hard to stomach.
The first two parts of the three-part series can feel slow at times, with part three finally putting many of the puzzle pieces of the series into place. While the story at the heart of the series is worth telling, there’s some fat that could have been trimmed and you can’t help but feel like it would have been more successful as a two-hour movie.
KRISHNAS: GURUS. KARMA. MURDER.: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: Fog rolls over the mountains of West Virginia, where the Hare Krishna commune known as New Vrindaban is located. A voice explains, “I grew up on a Hare Krishna commune. It was called New Vrindaban. It was an enchanting, magical land. A beautiful, poetic picture of spirituality. But I’ve suffered a lot in life because my family was destroyed.”
The Gist: In the 1960s, as a young generation sought to live more spiritual lives, loads of new, appealing religious groups popped up promising community, safety, and enlightenment. Among them, you had your Jesus Freaks, your New Age spiritualists, and you had your Hare Krishna movement. Brought to the U.S. by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in 1966, Hare Krishna originated in India as a sub-sect of Hinduism that promoted peace and renounced materialism, and used singing and chanting as a way to recruit new followers.
Prabhupada successfully recruited thousands (including George Harrison, who helped raise the religion’s global profile), but one of the most vocal followers (with whom Prabhupada would eventually sever ties) was an American named Keith Ham, who adopted the name Kirtananda. Kirtananda decided to found a Hare Krishna community that he would be the sole leader of in the remote mountains of West Virginia, and it was there that he built an ashram from the ground up, recruiting hundreds to join him.
Over the course of the first two episodes of Krishnas: Gurus. Karma. Murder., Ham is depicted as an unstable and violent man who wouldn’t tolerate dissent or rule-breaking. The first episode focuses in on the unsolved disappearance of one member of the commune named Charles St. Denis, who was likely killed after St. Denis not only vocally questioned Kirtananda’s authority, but slept with another high-ranking member’s wife.
Then came the murder of a former devotee named Steve Bryant, who had planned to expose the commune’s crimes but was gunned down in 1986. (These crimes are eventually linked back to Kirtanananda and his henchman, a man named Thomas Drescher, and St. Denis’s dead body is eventually found. In one of the most gory moments of the show, his upsetting killing is described in excruciating detail.)
There’s a very slow build to the series, with details of the police investigations of these murders woven among details of child abuse and spousal abuse sanctioned by the Krishnas. Children who grew up on the commune are interviewed here as adults, and they describe being forced to live with highly abusive teachers who subjected them to corporal punishment and horrific sexual abuse.
https://decider.com/2023/10/20/krishnas-gurus-karma-murder-peacock-review/?
Peacock‘s new docuseries Krishnas: Gurus. Karma. Murder. has a title that seems like it was developed to shock, like one should enunciate the last word with a high-pitched voice while clutching pearls. Much of what’s in the series, about an abusive, violent Hare Krishna commune in West Virginia that was led by a volatile swami, is disturbing, with descriptions of murders and child abuse that can be hard to stomach.
The first two parts of the three-part series can feel slow at times, with part three finally putting many of the puzzle pieces of the series into place. While the story at the heart of the series is worth telling, there’s some fat that could have been trimmed and you can’t help but feel like it would have been more successful as a two-hour movie.
KRISHNAS: GURUS. KARMA. MURDER.: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: Fog rolls over the mountains of West Virginia, where the Hare Krishna commune known as New Vrindaban is located. A voice explains, “I grew up on a Hare Krishna commune. It was called New Vrindaban. It was an enchanting, magical land. A beautiful, poetic picture of spirituality. But I’ve suffered a lot in life because my family was destroyed.”
The Gist: In the 1960s, as a young generation sought to live more spiritual lives, loads of new, appealing religious groups popped up promising community, safety, and enlightenment. Among them, you had your Jesus Freaks, your New Age spiritualists, and you had your Hare Krishna movement. Brought to the U.S. by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in 1966, Hare Krishna originated in India as a sub-sect of Hinduism that promoted peace and renounced materialism, and used singing and chanting as a way to recruit new followers.
Prabhupada successfully recruited thousands (including George Harrison, who helped raise the religion’s global profile), but one of the most vocal followers (with whom Prabhupada would eventually sever ties) was an American named Keith Ham, who adopted the name Kirtananda. Kirtananda decided to found a Hare Krishna community that he would be the sole leader of in the remote mountains of West Virginia, and it was there that he built an ashram from the ground up, recruiting hundreds to join him.
Over the course of the first two episodes of Krishnas: Gurus. Karma. Murder., Ham is depicted as an unstable and violent man who wouldn’t tolerate dissent or rule-breaking. The first episode focuses in on the unsolved disappearance of one member of the commune named Charles St. Denis, who was likely killed after St. Denis not only vocally questioned Kirtananda’s authority, but slept with another high-ranking member’s wife.
Then came the murder of a former devotee named Steve Bryant, who had planned to expose the commune’s crimes but was gunned down in 1986. (These crimes are eventually linked back to Kirtanananda and his henchman, a man named Thomas Drescher, and St. Denis’s dead body is eventually found. In one of the most gory moments of the show, his upsetting killing is described in excruciating detail.)
There’s a very slow build to the series, with details of the police investigations of these murders woven among details of child abuse and spousal abuse sanctioned by the Krishnas. Children who grew up on the commune are interviewed here as adults, and they describe being forced to live with highly abusive teachers who subjected them to corporal punishment and horrific sexual abuse.
(Charles St. Denis’s son, Bhima-Karma Saragrahi, was only a small child when his father was killed but he also was one of the victims of the physical and sexual abuse within the Krishna school there. Though not all of the plot of the series is related to him, his journey in and out of New Vrindaban becomes a throughline and a key element to the series.)
The irony of it all is that what initially attracted many followers to the ashram was the idea of communal living, a spirit of kindness and lack of possessions. Ultimately, though, many of the inhabitants were victimized and traumatized by the actions sanctioned by their deranged leader who was ultimately a criminal mastermind capable of the unthinkable.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? It’s impossible not to compare this series to Netflix’s Wild Wild Country, which set the bar on documentaries about charismatic but unstable cult leaders whose followers are essentially trapped in a violent subculture of their own making.
Our Take: Kirtananda seems at first to be just a garden-variety scammer, but soon enough, we learn that he is diabolical. He is a cruel man whose lust for power, money, and most horrifically, young boys, proved more important than his desire to be a spiritual guide. What happens to many of the people in this community, especially the women and children, is truly despicable.
The series saves all of the biggest revelations about Kirtananda for the final episode, perhaps the biggest and most disgusting one being his sexual proclivity for children. (It’s a proclivity that appeared to have been not just tolerate but shared by some of the other adults at the commune.) Though there is some evidence that he would sexually abuse boys on the commune, it wasn’t until Kirtananda was caught in a sexual situation with a little boy outside the commune that his followers turned on him.
There are several instances where the series’ storytelling seems curtailed and not completely fleshed out. With so many children being abused on the commune, why did it take so long for his followers to turn on him? None of the New Vrindaban inhabitants in the film, aside from Saragrahi, really speak on it, but I wish they would have. (This kind of physical and sexual abuse was common in Krishna schools all over the world, and it’s upsetting to think that this is just one of hundreds of communes where this kind of thing occurred.)
There could be a truly compelling and concise documentary buried in this series, but I came away from my viewing thinking that while all the elements of a successful exposé are there, they’ve been assembled haphazardly: it somehow manages to be a smidge too long, but often lacks thorough enough explanation.
Sex and Skin: There are some graphic and potentially upsetting descriptions of sexual abuse, but no actual depictions of any kind of sex.
Parting Shot: The end of part one leaves off with the disappearance of Charles St. Denis from the New Vrindaban commune. His wife Deborah went to the local authorities to report him missing. The officer who spoke to her, Thomas Westfall, recalls telling a colleague after Deborah left his office, “I think that’s a widow right there.”
Performance Worth Watching: The people who were most vulnerable and affected by the violence and sexual abuse at New Virndaban were undoubtedly the children who were raised there, often separated from their mothers and cruelly beaten or molested by their caretakers. Now grown, these children, including Bhima-Karma Saragrahi and Premanjana Autry, have spend their lives trying to overcome the trauma they experienced while in the care of those at New Vrindaban.
What do you think? Be the first to comment.
Memorable Dialogue: “Everything went on with Kirtananda knowing about it in that community,” Dennis Gorrick, the man responsible for finances at New Vrindaban, says, explaining that all the illegal activities carried out by followers were ordered by their leader. When the commune found itself under intense scrutiny for illegal activity in the 1980s, Kirtananda falsely denied knowledge of such things, selling out those who believed in him.
Our Call: STREAM IT. With a documentary like this, one that spans decades and involves so many people (and victims), the one wish I have as a viewer is that everyone gets closure in the end. While Bhima-Karma Saragrahi’s story gets a complete epilogue and he’s fortunate enough to have processed a lot of his trauma in a healthy way, there are several people in the film I wish we could have understood more about, especially those who stayed at New Vrindaban after its downfall. Despite the fact that I don’t feel that complete sense of closure, I still think the story behind the film is worth watching and understanding.
Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.
Tags
Krishnas: Gurus. Karma. Murder.
Peacock
Stream It Or Skip It
The irony of it all is that what initially attracted many followers to the ashram was the idea of communal living, a spirit of kindness and lack of possessions. Ultimately, though, many of the inhabitants were victimized and traumatized by the actions sanctioned by their deranged leader who was ultimately a criminal mastermind capable of the unthinkable.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? It’s impossible not to compare this series to Netflix’s Wild Wild Country, which set the bar on documentaries about charismatic but unstable cult leaders whose followers are essentially trapped in a violent subculture of their own making.
Our Take: Kirtananda seems at first to be just a garden-variety scammer, but soon enough, we learn that he is diabolical. He is a cruel man whose lust for power, money, and most horrifically, young boys, proved more important than his desire to be a spiritual guide. What happens to many of the people in this community, especially the women and children, is truly despicable.
The series saves all of the biggest revelations about Kirtananda for the final episode, perhaps the biggest and most disgusting one being his sexual proclivity for children. (It’s a proclivity that appeared to have been not just tolerate but shared by some of the other adults at the commune.) Though there is some evidence that he would sexually abuse boys on the commune, it wasn’t until Kirtananda was caught in a sexual situation with a little boy outside the commune that his followers turned on him.
There are several instances where the series’ storytelling seems curtailed and not completely fleshed out. With so many children being abused on the commune, why did it take so long for his followers to turn on him? None of the New Vrindaban inhabitants in the film, aside from Saragrahi, really speak on it, but I wish they would have. (This kind of physical and sexual abuse was common in Krishna schools all over the world, and it’s upsetting to think that this is just one of hundreds of communes where this kind of thing occurred.)
There could be a truly compelling and concise documentary buried in this series, but I came away from my viewing thinking that while all the elements of a successful exposé are there, they’ve been assembled haphazardly: it somehow manages to be a smidge too long, but often lacks thorough enough explanation.
Sex and Skin: There are some graphic and potentially upsetting descriptions of sexual abuse, but no actual depictions of any kind of sex.
Parting Shot: The end of part one leaves off with the disappearance of Charles St. Denis from the New Vrindaban commune. His wife Deborah went to the local authorities to report him missing. The officer who spoke to her, Thomas Westfall, recalls telling a colleague after Deborah left his office, “I think that’s a widow right there.”
Performance Worth Watching: The people who were most vulnerable and affected by the violence and sexual abuse at New Virndaban were undoubtedly the children who were raised there, often separated from their mothers and cruelly beaten or molested by their caretakers. Now grown, these children, including Bhima-Karma Saragrahi and Premanjana Autry, have spend their lives trying to overcome the trauma they experienced while in the care of those at New Vrindaban.
What do you think? Be the first to comment.
Memorable Dialogue: “Everything went on with Kirtananda knowing about it in that community,” Dennis Gorrick, the man responsible for finances at New Vrindaban, says, explaining that all the illegal activities carried out by followers were ordered by their leader. When the commune found itself under intense scrutiny for illegal activity in the 1980s, Kirtananda falsely denied knowledge of such things, selling out those who believed in him.
Our Call: STREAM IT. With a documentary like this, one that spans decades and involves so many people (and victims), the one wish I have as a viewer is that everyone gets closure in the end. While Bhima-Karma Saragrahi’s story gets a complete epilogue and he’s fortunate enough to have processed a lot of his trauma in a healthy way, there are several people in the film I wish we could have understood more about, especially those who stayed at New Vrindaban after its downfall. Despite the fact that I don’t feel that complete sense of closure, I still think the story behind the film is worth watching and understanding.
Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.
Tags
Krishnas: Gurus. Karma. Murder.
Peacock
Stream It Or Skip It
