ISKCON Ethics / Joshua M. Greene / 08 12 24

PADA: Very odd and ironic that Yogeshvara aka Joshua M. Greene is an expert on the holocaust history -- while it looks to some folks like ISKCON's original devotees were jack booted and purged out -- and this has been seen -- again by some folks as -- just like many people were purged out of many big cities in great numbers during WW II by jack booted thugs. 

And some of the gurukula children told me they had experienced "Auschwitz for kids" due to all the abuses they endured. In other words, some people believe the ISKCON leaders acted somewhat the same way as the third reich did in WW II. 

And now, some of the SAME people who have been involved in top tier managing of ISKCON, or have been acting as advisors to the top tier, are making an ethical monitoring committee for ISKCON. OK so the same people who have been on many previous committees, like Prahladananda, Nrsinghananda and etc. are going to form a whole new committee to address the ethics of ISKCON? 

And since Jayadvaita swami says some of their gurus / messiahs are sometimes caught engaged in illicit sex with men, women and children, isn't the first ethical question: why would anyone want to teach little children that God's gurus  / successors / messiahs are often intoxicated fools, drunks, drug addicts, sexual perverts, porno swamis, predators, and / or deviants, and / or the people 2/3 show of hands voted in by said deviants? But yeah, there are a lot of ISKCON refugees now who call themselves "survivors" of the great purges and abuses, just like holocaust victims call themselves survivors. Ironic indeed.       

Dear Fellow Members of ISKCON, Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada. 

This past year has been one of progress for the ISKCON Code of Ethical Behavior. Thanks to systematic outreach by phone and email, printed copies were requested by and sent to most North American temples. Zoom presentations have reached an aggregate of more than 1,000 ISKCON leaders and congregants including the North American Regional Governing Board (RGB), the European RGB, the GBC College, and communities in the U.S., Europe, and India. 

PADA: That is great news. Krishna's guru successors, who are the sum total of the demigods, who are assisting the gopis, who are pure devotee residents of Krishna loka, will now get guidance from a committee here on planet earth, who will be monitoring the activities of these pure devotee guru residents of God's planet for "ethical behaviors." Krishna has fallen asleep at the switch guiding His pure devotees, so these guys are taking over His job!

New website features scheduled for uploading in the weeks ahead at iskconethics.com include modular training courses, self-guided exercises, quizzes, and a submission form intended to streamline requests for help. 

PADA: You mean like when some woman wrote to get help having sexual predator Lokanath removed from being an ISKCON messiah, and she was harassed and sued in the India courts? And she had to undergo a lot of stress, anxiety and expense to defend herself from the GBC's jack booted thugs? And your program has spent $20,000,000 suing Bangalore, evidently because -- there is no rampant child abuse going on in their program? Or what? 

As previously, the quickest way to get help with an ethical issue in your temple or project is to email info@iskconresolve.com. 

PADA: Oh no, already famous for ignoring or botching inquiries, and perhaps -- making the people making inquiries into pariahs and / or targets.

Please note: if someone you know has an ethics dilemma they wish to report, there are several channels they can use in addition to ISKCONResolve. These include the local temple president, the local GBC, the Leadership Conduct office (psmbyleaders64@gmail.com), and the Justice Ministry (iskconjusticeministry@gmail.com). 

PADA: OK just like Sulochana was working with Rupanuga and Mukuna on the ISKCON justice resolution program, and -- he was vilified, excommunicated, and then killed. Sulochana said he made a big mistake revealing his mind to these justice people, now he became a target, because the justice people told the evil leaders what he was saying and reporting to them. "The rats ratted me out." 

As members of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s worldwide sankirtan movement, we are called upon to set an example of impeccable ethical behavior in devotional service. In a letter to me dated December 28, 1971, Srila Prabhupada spelled out the benefits of setting such an example. “Our unique asset is our purity,” he wrote. 

“No one anywhere can match it, and it will be noticed and appreciated. Our example of purity of behavior is suffi cient to change the world. Let us stand on that basis.” 

The Code is now available in English, Spanish, Hindi, Russian, Chinese, and Portuguese. For a free download, visit iskconethics.com/download. For printed copies in English, send your request to joshua@strmedia.com. 

Thank you for your dedication to Srila Prabhupada’s mission. Your servants, Yogesvara dasa, Project Coordinator Advisors: Atmanivedana Swami, Prahladananda Swami, Balavanta dasa, Champakalata dasi, Devakinandan dasa, Kamlesh Krishna dasa, Kirtan Rasa dasa, Mahavishnupriya dasi, Mark Mausert, Navina Syama dasa, Nrsimhananda dasa, Praghosa dasa, Radha dasi, Vraj Vihari dasa Summer 2024 Update #3 (1 of 2) www.iskconethics.com 

SEXUAL HARRASSMENT— A LAWYER SHARES HIS INSIGHTS Ethical violations, particularly when sexual in nature, can have indirect as well as direct ramifi cations. “I’ve prosecuted 700 or more sexual harassment cases, and I regularly see deficiencies in the investigations that lead to secondary violations,” notes lawyer Mark Mausert, an advisor to the ISKCON Ethics project. 

“For instance, the effect of sexual harassment is not always factored in job evaluations. An inexperienced Human Resources officer might keep his or her focus on the low job performance and overlook how much sexual harassment had an impact on the victim’s performance. Other times, a victim’s complaint may be dismissed if the HR offi cer thinks the victim is less than chaste. 

Or the HR officer might excuse a harasser’s abusive behavior by concluding that his intentions were benign.” Proper and sustained training is key to improving an organization’s ethical track record, but “not all Human Resources people receive proper training,” Mausert cautions. 

“And without proper training, HR people can misinterpret a complaint, for example by automatically taking the side of management. With that kind of bias, employees who report sexual abuse are at a serious disadvantage. I’ve known situations where HR officers dismissed legitimate complaints as some sort of challenge to corporate authority. 

That’s the kind of dilemma that brings folks to my door regularly.” Mausert recommends that management reevaluate employee complaints as opportunities to correct shortcomings in their corporate policies and resolve problems in-house, thereby avoiding expensive litigation and maintaining control of potentially volatile situations. 

“Ethics offi cers are usually better positioned to resolve ethical issues than the courts,” Mausert says, “which is why having ethics officers is such a critical component of a healthy work environment. Without a dedicated officer, ethics issues can quickly get out of hand. “And failing to deal with sexual harassment fairly and in a timely manner,” he says, “is itself unethical."

https://artspeak.fiu.edu/interviews/joshua-greene/

PADA: Prosecuted 700 cases, but which ones involved ISKCON victims? Sorry, it does not look like ISKCON victims are getting good representation in the GBC justices department. 

As for Hrdayananda, Prahladananda, Braja Bihari, Sesa and others, there has been more than a few complaints that these guys helped scuttle complaints. Notice that us and none of the people currently on the child protection forum are invited to be part of this committee. 

Did I forget to mention there has been countless complaints about having Radhanath as a leader after his role at New Vrndavana, countless complaints about Lokanath, countless complaints about others, and yet -- nothing seems to ever get done of any substance? And the complainants are often targeted as trouble makers. ys pd

Angel108b@yahoo.com 

JOSHUA M. GREENE is a lecturer on Holocaust history, an author who traces the lives of spiritual seekers, and an entertaining communicator. A former instructor at Hofstra and Fordham universities, Greene is recipient of numerous awards for his historical biographies and documentary films.

His most recent book is UNSTOPPABLE: Siggi B. Wilzig’s Astonishing Journey from Auschwitz Survivor and Penniless Immigrant to Wall Street Legend.

Greene has written several acclaimed books, including the bestseller Here Comes the Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison. His book Justice at Dachau: The Trials of an American Prosecutor, was called “Riveting—historical writing at its best” by Douglas Brinkley, presidential historian for CNN. His renowned work on survivor testimony, Witness: Voices from the Holocaust, was the basis of a feature documentary for national PBS, that was named “One of the Ten Best Holocaust Films” by Facets Media.

Greene has been featured speaker at the Pentagon, and the Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center & School, and was honored by the New York Public Library Distinguished Author series. He is a regular instructor before State Bar Associations on issues of war crimes law. He has spoken on issues of Holocaust memory for such outlets as NPR and Fox News, and his related editorials have appeared in print in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, among others.

Greene sits on the Board of the Yale University Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies. While senior vice president for Global Affairs at Ruder Finn Communications in the early 2000s, he served as director of Strategic Planning for the United Nations Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders.

Among his documentary films are Hitler’s Courts: Betrayal of the Rule of Law in Nazi Germany, which aired on PBS, and Memory After Belsen: The Future of Holocaust Remembrance for Discovery. He is recipient of five “Best Program of the Year” awards from TV Guide, an Emmy nomination for “PEOPLE: A Celebration of Diversity” which debuted at the United Nations, and many other honors and distinctions.

He is author of a series of Holocaust survivor memoirs for Scholastic that have sold more than a quarter million copies. Currently, he teaches Mindfulness in the Workplace for the Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University.


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iskconethics.com

PADA: It looks weak, it looks ineffective. It looks like they are lazy and asleep at the switch. That is largely an illusion IMHO. They are very alert and aware of who their critics are, and they are very forceful in challenging, removing and / or silencing them by various means, including contrived exiles, lawsuits and so on. 

Many of the people commenting on my blog only want their initials used, sometimes not even their real initials, and certainly not their actual names, because they fear strident reprisals. People who fear the leaders are not in fear of ineffective means of silencing them, they fear real consequences. Or, as Sulochana says, they are the iron fist hiding in a velvet glove. And he would know. He is not here. 

They have a clear grasp on the situation IMHO, anyone who raises mistreatment issues is consciously ostracized, removed, shunned, sued, and -- worse. They got rid of the cowherd man who spent 45 years at that service. He said they are not properly caring for the animals. He had to go. Right after he got booted out, his cows and bull died suddenly on the GBC controlled property. My opinion? They are only pretending to be asleep, like alligators look like they are resting when they are not, so their victims will have their guard down. ys pd