Book Changing / Mahavishnu Health / Anatomy of a Psychopath 02 16 25

PADA: Really pilgrims? We are discussing Mein Kampf -- again? India scholars board (ICC) are saying we cannot change Srila Prabhupada's books, this is a severe offense. Fine, except they also endorse Jayadvaita's butchering and hatchet job changing all the books -- which is unilaterally upsetting devotees in every Vaishnava camp.  

Not sure why they are bringing up Hitler here, except that they are very angry and worried that Hitler's books are being re-edited and re-written. But they are in favor of re-writing Srila Prabhupada's books. Yes, the new mission of the Sridhara Srinivasa ICC scholars board is to preserve the writings of Hitler -- while having Srila Prabhupada's books -- hatchet job butchered. Told ya! 

And these are they guys who call themselves "conservatives," evidently because -- homosexuals and pedophiles are sometimes -- or often -- links in their guru parampara, but more strict women cannot be links. 

Ummm, what? They are in favor of book changes, while making pretend they are not. They are in favor of a homosexual and pedophile guru process, but women who are at least trying to follow -- are not allowed in their guru process. Hypocrites!

A woman chastised PADA when we said maybe over 50% of these GBC's gurus are gays. She said, get your facts straight, it is WAY MORE than that! Anyway I am glad the ICC has joined the Hitler book preservation club, maybe they will eventually extend that process to the books of Srila Prabhupada. But I am not holding my breath waiting. It is amazing that the India Scholars Bureau is more interested in Mein Kampf than the Vedas, but alas -- not really surprising. 

ys pd angel108b@yahoo.com   

PADA: There you have it friends. Deviants are in their guru sampradaya. 

Whereas! A woman who follows the process strictly is not allowed in their guru process. Yep, Sulochana said their guru system is pro-homosexual pedophile, and then he was taken off the planet. Odd coincidence huh? 

And the ICC bureau promotes the people who orchestrated the homosexual and pedophile guru process, and taking out of Sulochana. I don't think these women are qualified either, but you see the point. ys pd

============

His Holiness Mahavishnu Swami - Health Update (2)

Feb 15, 2026 | 10:30 PM | Kathmandu

Dear Devotees,

All necessary investigations have now been completed, and our beloved Guru Maharaj has been diagnosed with Pneumonia and sepsis. He has been started on IV medications and is under strict medical care and close observation.
By your prayers, there has been slight improvement, and Maharaj has even expressed a desire to record a message for the devotees (will be uploaded soon).
We humbly request everyone to continue chanting more and more rounds and to keep Maharaj in your heartfelt prayers.
Thank you for your continued support.
— MVS Medical Committee

PADA: OK Mahavishnu swami (the UK one) has been credited by some folks for transferring young boys to Mayapur from Nepal, where allegedly a number of those boys were abused. I cannot verify that, but that is what some said. 

At the same time, it seems almost impossible to me he did not know there was a lot of abuse going on there. Anyway he is struggling with his health now, he thought he was another Jesus of Nazareth and he could absorb sins, well lets see how that works out. 

It is always amazing to me how these people take karma without authority, and then a bunch of their people pray to save them from the reactions. We are not supposed to violate Krishna's rules then pray for Him to save us. ys pd 

-----

Anatomy of a Psychopath: The Spiritual Predator Behind the Saintly Mask | Light of Dharma Publishing

Anatomy of a Psychopath: The Spiritual Predator Behind the Saintly Mask

An analysis of Radhanath Swami's recorded statements rationalizing child abuse and deflecting murder allegations, examined through psychological frameworks and spiritual tradition.

Light of Dharma

1 Feb, 2026 

Priya had been a devotee for eleven years. Every morning at 4:30 she rose for mangala-arati, chanted her sixteen rounds, read from the Bhagavatam. She had given up a career in biochemistry. She had given up her family’s approval. She had given up the kind of life her college friends were living – the brunches, the vacations, the casual freedoms. She had done all of this willingly, even joyfully, because she believed she had found something rare: a genuine spiritual teacher, a living saint, a soul so surrendered to God that simply being in his presence could purify your heart.

Then someone sent her a link.

It was a youtube video. A secretly recorded phone conversation – over 32,000 words of it – between her guru, Radhanath Swami, and a longtime ISKCON member named Sanaka Rsi. A private conversation. Unguarded. The kind of talk that happens when a man believes no one is listening.

She pressed play. And within minutes, the ground beneath eleven years of devotion began to crack.

The voice was unmistakable – that same gentle, measured tone she had heard deliver hundreds of lectures on humility and compassion. But the words coming out of it belonged to someone she had never met. Someone rationalizing child sexual abuse. Someone casually deflecting allegations of murder conspiracy. Someone whose primary concern, when discussing the rape of a thirteen-year-old girl, was not the child but the reputation of the abuser.

Priya did not finish the recording that night. She sat in her room, staring at the wall, feeling something worse than grief. She felt the specific nausea of realizing that the person you trusted most in the world may never have existed at all.

This article is for Priya. And for everyone like her.

The Saintly Mask

To understand what the recording reveals, you must first understand what it contradicts.

Radhanath Swami – born Richard Slavin in Chicago, 1950 – is one of the most recognized spiritual figures in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). He has published bestselling books on devotion and humility. He speaks at international conferences. He is received with garlands and prostrations on six continents. Thousands of disciples treat him not merely as a teacher but as a transparent medium to God – a soul so advanced that to question him is to question the divine order itself.

His public persona is built on a few carefully maintained pillars: humility (he speaks softly, dresses simply, deflects praise), compassion (he emphasizes service to the poor and marginalized), and wisdom (he positions himself as a vessel for ancient Vedic knowledge). His memoir, The Journey Home, reads like a spiritual adventure novel – the young American seeker wandering through India, guided by providence toward his destiny as a sadhu.

It is a beautiful story. The recording tells a different one.

In the phone call, speaking privately to Sanaka Rsi, Radhanath addresses two categories of allegation that have followed him for decades: his involvement in the 1986 murder of Steven Bryant (known as Sulochana das), and his institutional protection of men who sexually abused children.

On the subject of child abuse, he says this:

... “having a consensual relation with a minor is not as evil or as abusive as raping or abusing a little kid in a gurukula… I don’t think they should be treated in the same way.”

He is discussing the case of Varkeshwar Pandit, an ISKCON leader who had sexual contact with a thirteen-year-old girl. And he adds:

“Even the girl admitted that it was consensual.”

A thirteen-year-old cannot consent. This is not a matter of cultural interpretation or spiritual nuance. It is a matter of law in every civilized jurisdiction on earth, and it is a matter of basic moral reasoning accessible to any adult with a functioning conscience. That a man revered as a paramahamsa – a topmost saint – would construct a framework in which the sexual violation of a child becomes “consensual” tells you everything about what lies behind the mask.

On the murder allegations, the tone is equally revealing. Multiple witnesses have claimed that Radhanath pushed for and knew about the 1986 assassination of Sulochana das, a dissident devotee who had been publicly exposing corruption within ISKCON. Six thousand dollars in “escape money” was provided to the murderer, Tirtha das. The FBI investigated. Radhanath’s response, decades later, is not outrage or grief. It is this:

“I had absolutely no communication with Tirtha.”

And regarding Janmashtami Das, the key witness against him:

“Somehow or other, he just hates me.”

No horror at the accusation. No anguish for the dead man. Just casual deflection and the implication that anyone who questions him is motivated by personal vendetta. Yet multiple people across different times and backgrounds are saying the same things.

The Psychology of the Spiritual Predator

What kind of person can deliver tearful lectures on divine love in the morning and rationalize child abuse in the afternoon? What kind of mind can maintain two completely contradictory identities without apparent internal conflict?

Modern psychology has a name for it: psychopathy, specifically the integrated, high-functioning variety described by Hervey Cleckley in The Mask of Sanity and refined by Robert Hare in his Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R).

To understand what we’re dealing with, we analyzed the phone call recording using methods that have proven 84-87% accurate in identifying deception in research studies. These techniques look at speech patterns, word choices, and psychological markers that people display when lying. The analysis revealed an 87.3% probability that Radhanath was being systematically deceptive throughout the conversation – in other words, he was almost certainly lying.

We also scored the conversation against the PCL-R, the standard clinical tool for assessing psychopathy. The score came out between 31 and 35. To put that in perspective: 30 is the threshold where clinicians diagnose psychopathy. Radhanath’s speech patterns scored above that line.

But the numbers, while important, are not the point. The point is what they describe: a human being who has learned to perform empathy, perform humility, perform spiritual depth – while possessing none of these qualities in any authentic sense.

Dr. Inaki Pinuel, the Spanish psychologist who has extensively studied the spiritual narcissist, offers a framework that illuminates this phenomenon with uncomfortable precision. His central insight is this: a true mystic struggles to verbalize their experience. The genuine encounter with the transcendent is, by its very nature, inexpressible. As the ancient saying goes: the one who knows does not speak, and the one who speaks does not know.

San Juan de la Cruz captured it perfectly:

“I entered where I did not know, and I remained not knowing, all science transcending.”

The authentic spiritual person guards their inner experience with a kind of sacred reticence. They do not broadcast it. They do not use it to fascinate or seduce. They do not convert it into a product.

The spiritual psychopath does exactly the opposite. He takes the language of transcendence and weaponizes it. He uses supposed spiritual experiences to create an aura of otherworldly authority that makes him immune to questioning. He lacks genuine self-esteem – Pinuel emphasizes this – and uses his followers as fuel, as narcissistic supply, as an audience whose constant adoration substitutes for the love of self he has never possessed.

And here is the crucial distinction: a true spiritual teacher grants freedom. Over time, the authentic guru works himself out of a job. The disciple grows, matures, becomes autonomous. The teacher steps back. The relationship, like that of a good parent, moves toward independence.

A false guru creates dependency. The relationship never matures. The follower is kept in a permanent state of spiritual childhood, needing the guru’s approval, fearing the guru’s displeasure, unable to trust their own perception. The organization becomes a closed system where the guru’s word overrides observable reality.

Pinuel’s verdict is stark: the spiritual psychopath is the most dangerous of all integrated psychopaths. Because he operates in the one domain where human beings are most vulnerable, most trusting, most willing to surrender their critical faculties.

The Evidence Speaks

Let us be precise about what the recording contains, because precision matters when the stakes are this high.

On child abuse, Radhanath does not merely fail to condemn it – he actively constructs a moral framework in which certain forms of child sexual abuse are less serious than others. He distinguishes between “consensual” relations with minors and other forms of abuse, arguing they “should not be treated in the same way.” He maintained a personal friendship with Dhanurdhar Swami, who was found personally responsible for child neglect, physical abuse, and psychological abuse at the Vrindavan gurukula. He advocated for reducing penalties for convicted abusers within ISKCON’s internal justice system.

This is not a man who “didn’t know.” This is a man who knew, who chose a side, and who chose the abusers.

On murder, the deception patterns are clinically textbook. Analysis of the recording reveals:

Truth-claiming overcompensation: Phrases like “I can tell you very honestly…” and “I’m going to tell you the truth here, and there are court records to verify everything I’m saying” – when someone insists this hard that they’re being honest, forensic linguistics tells us they’re almost certainly lying.

Cognitive load markers: A 289% increase in sentence fragmentation when discussing the murder – incomplete thoughts, broken syntax, verbal stumbling – all consistent with the increased cognitive demand of maintaining a false narrative under pressure.

Semantic coherence disruption: A 412% increase in topic drift when addressing criminal allegations – the mind sliding away from dangerous territory like a hand pulling back from a hot surface.

Impossible knowledge-ignorance combination: He claims “absolutely no communication” with the murderer Tirtha while simultaneously demonstrating detailed, intimate knowledge of Tirtha’s legal proceedings, testimony patterns, and post-arrest activities. The level of specific detail he possesses – not general facts anyone could learn, but insider knowledge of how Tirtha testified and behaved – contradicts his claim of zero contact. Why would someone with “absolutely no communication” track these details so closely?

The Bhagavad-gita warns us about exactly this kind of person:

“Pride, arrogance, conceit, anger, harshness and ignorance – these qualities belong to those of demoniac nature.” (16.4)

And in the same text, Krishna explains why the behavior of leaders matters so profoundly:

“Whatever action a great man performs, common men follow.” (3.21)

When a man revered as a saint rationalizes the rape of children, he does not merely commit a private moral failure. He corrupts the moral framework of everyone who follows him.

Why Followers Cannot See

If you have never been inside a high-demand spiritual organization, the question seems obvious: How can they not see it? The evidence is there. The recording exists. The witnesses testified. How can intelligent, educated people continue to follow someone with this history?

The answer lies in a concept that ISKCON has weaponized with devastating effectiveness: vaishnava aparadha – offense against a pure devotee.

In authentic Vaishnava theology, this concept serves a legitimate function: it warns practitioners against frivolous criticism of genuine saints. But in the hands of a corrupt institution, it becomes a thought-stopping technique of extraordinary power. The logic is circular and airtight: Radhanath Swami is a pure devotee. To question a pure devotee is the worst spiritual offense. Therefore, to even consider the evidence against Radhanath Swami would destroy your spiritual life.

The follower is trapped. Accepting the evidence means accepting that their guru is a fraud – which means their initiations may be invalid, their years of service may have been misdirected, their entire spiritual identity may be built on sand. The psychological cost of seeing the truth is so catastrophic that the mind simply refuses to process it. Psychologists call this identity fusion: the follower’s sense of self has become so entangled with the guru that an attack on the guru is experienced as an attack on their own existence.

This is not stupidity. This is sophisticated psychological conditioning, and it works on intelligent people precisely because intelligent people are better at constructing elaborate justifications for what they need to believe.

But the scriptures themselves – the very scriptures ISKCON claims to follow – warn against exactly this trap. The Vedic tradition has always recognized the dharma-dhvaji: the one who uses the flag of religion for personal gain. Across traditions, the principle is the same. As it is written in Matthew:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.” (7:15-16)

By their fruits. Not by their words. Not by their saffron robes. Not by the size of their following or the eloquence of their lectures. By their fruits.

Some will object: “But look at all the service he has done. Look at how many devotees he has made. Look at how many people he has helped.” This is precisely the mistake the scripture warns against. A man who rationalizes the sexual abuse of children has not “helped people” – he has helped abusers. A man who protects predators and deflects murder allegations has not done “service” – he has done a profound disservice to truth, to justice, and to every victim whose voice he has worked to silence. The number of people who bow before him does not erase the children who were violated under his watch. Popularity is not the same as virtue. A large following is not evidence of spiritual advancement – it is often evidence of effective manipulation.

The Path Forward

How do you recognize a spiritual predator? The Vedic tradition already gave us the answer, centuries before modern psychology confirmed it: judge by actions, not by words.

A man who rationalizes child abuse is not a saint, regardless of how beautifully he speaks about divine love. A man casually deflecting murder accusations is not a paramahamsa, regardless of how many garlands are placed around his neck. A man whose primary response to serious criminal allegations is reputation management rather than moral reckoning has told you everything you need to know about the condition of his soul.

If you are inside this system, know this: your ability to question is not a spiritual defect – it is a spiritual gift. The capacity for discernment – viveka in Sanskrit – is celebrated throughout the Vedic literature as one of the highest qualities a human being can develop. Any teacher who asks you to surrender that capacity is not leading you toward God. He is leading you toward himself.

True spiritual authority liberates. It does not bind. It does not threaten. It does not require you to ignore what your eyes can see and your conscience can feel. If your spiritual path demands that you stop thinking in order to keep believing, then it is not a spiritual path. It is a cage.

The recording exists. The evidence is public. What you do with it is between you and your own conscience – that quiet, persistent voice that no guru, however charismatic, has the power to silence unless you let him.

Questions for Reflection

If the same evidence – rationalizing child abuse, deflecting murder allegations, protecting abusers – were presented about a leader of any other organization, would you find it credible? What changes when the accused wears saffron?

When was the last time your spiritual practice increased your capacity for independent thinking rather than your dependence on an authority figure? Does your path make you more free, or less?

The Vedic principle of dharma-dhvaji – using the flag of religion for personal gain – was articulated thousands of years ago, suggesting this problem is as old as religion itself. What structural safeguards could spiritual communities adopt to prevent charismatic individuals from exploiting positions of sacred trust?

The phone call recording referenced in this article is publicly available on YouTube: Radhanath Swami Phone Conversation Recording

Comments

Related Posts

Institutional Control vs Authentic Discipleship in Modern ISKCON

Guru-Disciple-Relationship

Iskcon-Governance

Spiritual-Authority

Institutional Control vs Authentic Discipleship in Modern ISKCON

The tension between organizational authority and individual guru-disciple relationships has shaped ISKCON's evolution since 1977. How do devotees navigate institutional demands and authentic spiritual seeking?

The Zonal Acharya System and Its Deviations from Vedic Tradition

Guru-System

Institutional-History

Vaishnava-Tradition

The Zonal Acharya System and Its Deviations from Vedic Tradition

After Prabhupada's death, ISKCON implemented a guru system with no clear precedent in Vaishnava history. How did this system emerge, what were its consequences, and what does it reveal about institutional vs. traditional authority?

False Vaishnava Gurus and Psychopathic Behavior Patterns in ISKCON

Older post

False Vaishnava Gurus and Psychopathic Behavior Patterns in ISKCON

An analysis of psychopathic behavior patterns in ISKCON gurus: narcissism, triangulation, moral hypocrisy, abuse cycles, and institutional cover-up of exploitation.

Newer post

Uncontrolled Mind

Lisa sits to meditate but her mind spirals uncontrollably through emails, worries, and distractions. She thinks she's failing—until she learns that the restless mind is the problem, not her practice. Through Lisa's journey, discover how recognizing you're not your thoughts transforms your relationship with an uncontrolled mind.

Uncontrolled Mind

Stay Informed

Get updates on new investigations and articles

Tribute to Ekanath / Mayapur is a Mess / Sridhara and Gaudiya Math 02 15 26

 

EKANATH DASA and BHAKTIVEDANTA ARCHIVES

PADA: Yes, we are in deep debt to Ekanath's Bhaktivedanta Archives.

In 1985 Sulochana said he "bribed someone at the archives" to get a microfiche of Srila Prabhupada's letters. We had to buy some really big, clumsy, and somewhat heavy metal microfiche readers to go through them. And we discovered a lot of revealing statements against the GBC, and especially Kirtanananda -- "a crazy man who should be sent back to Bellevue." And Sulochana also got a copy of the "guru appointment" tape from the archives.

Of course the bogus "guru appointment tape" reveals -- that none of these 11 were EVER appointed as gurus, that is not what the tape says. Sulochana also said the tape was spliced, and a forensic expert -- Norman Pearle -- said it is spliced.

Needless to say, our information was ripping the carpet out from under the GBC's whole "we are gurus" platform, and so we became targets for assassination. And one of us was assassinated, but it was too late, the cat was out of the bag. The information simply spread from there and it still is.

Then, maybe 1990 or so, the Archives printed 1,000 copies of the "Srila Prabhupada's conversations books" -- covering 1977. Tamal wanted only 1,000 copies made because he was afraid of the information contained therein, especially the doubts Srila Prabhupada had about the leaders even up to the end of his time here. Somehow or other I got one of the book sets. 

However, in one 1977 passage it says -- in brackets -- "conversation about poison in Hindi." OK that started my quest to get these Hindi tapes. To be honest I did not believe those tapes even existed anymore. But I kept praying to Krishna to get me these tapes, if they still existed. 

And later on -- 1997 -- a person went to the Archives, and got me a copy of those tapes, and brought them to me in Los Angeles. And that is what started "The Poison Investigation." And forensics done on the tape found incriminating whispers etc. 

But none of that -- the letters, the bogus guru appointment tape, the 1977 conversations, and the poison tapes -- would have been uncovered without help from the Archives folks. So we owe them a lot since much of our work has been founded on their supplying us with the needed materials. 

It is sort of like fighting a war, there is the guy who is at the front in the foxhole, and there are the guys in the rear sending ammo to the guys in the front, and the Archives sent me all sorts of ammo which I will be eternally grateful for. And without that ammo, I would have been severely hampered. So I give them a lot of credit for helping me, and for all the other things they have done to preserve the works of Srila Prabhupada. 

Having said all that, I have a lot of doubts about how well things will be preserved in the future -- if the Archives is handed off the the Jayadvaita book changers sampradaya. Of course this all happened because of so many devotees who were not even caring what was going on with the books, or much of anything else. 

Ekanath himself used to complain there is plenty of money for guru expenses and almost no money for my project. He was always scraping around to collect funds. Anyway he did a lot and he is a glorious person, and he helped me a lot with indirect help, information which he wanted to get out -- and thus he sort of made arrangements for us to get these vital things. 

In short, I wish him well, and God speed spirit soul, you are a great hero, you were my ammo supplier, despite not being known for that widely. 

ys pd angel108b@yahoo.com

=======   

MAYAPUR is a Mess 

Henry Doktorski III

I received this message from a Facebook friend, a former disciple of Bhavananda. He tells about the time, 41 years ago, when he served as a guard at the Mayapur Guest House during the GBC meetings and heard a scream coming from Kirtanananda Swami's room. 

He peeked into the window and was shocked. He writes:

They call me Max, because I despise CHAOS… The GBC is CHAOS and we need to get ISKCON under Control… 

I realised the GBC had gone over the Dark Side back in 1985 at the Gaura Purnima festival in Mayapur. Bhavananda gave me guard duty keeping devotees out of the Mayapur Guest House. Only GBC were allowed in. Vultures of a cult flock together.

 

I knew something was rotten when I heard a scream that came from Kirtananda Swami’s room. The louvre windows were open and I looked in. Kirtananda “Swami” was molesting a small boy. 

I immediately called Anirdesh (Bhakti Purna Vidya Swami ) to come and see but he just ran away laughing. I spoke to a number of other devotees about it and they said “There is nothing you can do about it. Kirtananda has very rich supporters who are very well connected in the highest level of government and there are ex-army security guards around. They have weapons and the GBC knows what goes on in Kirtananda’s room.“

 

Sexual abuse of children had been going on in Mayapur for years and the GBC had never reported anyone to the Police. The only devotee who was willing to go to the Police was Sarvaksha and he was being told by witnesses that testifying against the GBC could result in witnesses being drowned in the Ganges River. But Sarvaksha would never give up … and then Sarvaksha died mysteriously before he could get to the Police.

 

I was told he committed suicide but I didn’t believe that. The GBC said “Sarvaksha died because he was sick “… If that was true, why didn’t they take him to a hospital? 

 

According to Dhira Govinda Prabhu and the “Advancing Child Protection“ Facebook group there was a very thorough and professional investigation of the Mayapur Gurukula and reports were given to every member of the GBC in 1997. The report said Bhakti Purna Vidya Swami should be expelled from the Gurukula and he should not be allowed to work with children… because nothing was being done to stop sexual assaults on the children.

 

The GBC just ignored that report and Bhakti Purna Vidya Swami was allowed to carry on as principal of the Gurukula and he even invited to preach in Australia’s ISKCON temples where he was promoted as a saint. 

I complained about that to Australia’s Royal Commission on Child Abuse but they told me there was nothing they do about him because they only had jurisdiction over child abuse that was committed in Australia. They said he should be reported to the Indian Police.

 

When the Dallas Gurukula was closed down by the government the Psychiatrist who was appointed by the court to assess the mental health of the children told the court “These children are deprived of love” ... Prabhupada just didn’t accept that it is wrong to deprive children of a mother’s love and he told his disciples to send the children to the Indian Gurukula. The children said that was like being taken out of the frying pan and dumped into the fire. If there is a 99 out there … It’s about time the children were saved and the GBC are dealt with. That’s what Lord Krishna wants.

PADA: Yup. All kinds of people knew the child abuse was going on, especially in places like Mayapur. Everyone had a duty to try to challenge it, but instead, us whistle blowers were often the people being challenged, threatened, banned, removed and -- killed. Now Jayapataka is being awared the Bhakti Sarvabhouva title by the GBC, they love the guy who makes Auschwitz for kids. Sorry, Jayapataka has been the high command of Mayapur, in fact he still is, and he is responsible for what goes on there.  

ys pd angel108b@yahoo.com

====

PADA: Yes, in 1978 the GBC announced that BR Sridhara Maharaja is the GBC's newly annointed shiksha advisor. Sridhara said the 11 GBC gurus can be worshiped as "rati keli siddha," and he introduced the idea of "the acharya of the zone." Sorry. Conditioned souls are not rati keli siddhas, and there is no such thing as the acharya of the zone. When I said there is a problem with Jayatirtha having affairs with females, and offering LSD to the shalagram, the gang of four gurus headed by Jayapataka had me removed from ISKCON. 

And they confronted me with quotes from BR SRIDHARA MAHARAJA, that I should cooperate. Jayatirtha was later taken out by a disgruntled disciple because of his propensity for having affairs with married ladies. I also complained that the children are being mistreated. When they told Sridhara people like me are protesting, he said "none should protest." So we ended up suing the GBC for $3,000,000 and later for $400,000,000 for all the child mistreatment. 

They were following Sridhara's advice, none should protest, when they should have listened to us. But Sridhara made a failed guru program after 1936 in India and he has a long history of making conditioned souls into acharyas, which is forbidden by Srila Prabhupada. Yes we were warned about all this repeatedly, do not follow the Gaudiya Matha conditioned soul guru system. ys pd

Ritvik Initiation / BVKS / More Cancer / Ekanath Departs etc. 02 14 26

 

Bhajan Clubbing. ISKCON has almost no more harinama going almost anywhere, but there is a demand for kirtan. So now it is going to "clubbing." That means ISKCON failed to deliver what people want, and in fact need. I am for Bhajan Clubbing because some chanting is better than zero.

===== 

Asociación Vaisnavas de España

The myth of "Combat Preacher" by Bhakti Vikasa Swami

BVKS says "I speak harshly -- like Prabhupada, and if I get rejected that proves I'm right." "But Prabhupada challenged Mayavadis -- BVKS attacks other vaishnavas. He discards humility and diplomacy as weakness, directly contradicting Mahaprabhu's sunicene trnad api. Present a false disunited narrative: you're either aggressive or you're a phony.

This philosophy isn't just bad logic -- it's dangerous. In 2016, BVKS used this exact scheme to publicly defend Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami against the findings of CPO's child abuse, framing it as "speaking the truth boldly against the establishment." 

It was later confirmed that Bhakti vidya Purna Swami was a high level child abuser. Here’s the inevitable outcome: When you build an identity around “I’m the brave one to tell the truth and my critics are cowards,” you lose the ability to recognize when you’re simply wrong — even when children are the ones paying the price.

The doctrine of the "Combat Preacher" doesn't justify harshness; it provides a prefabricated excuse to silence accountability itself. BVKS is not accountable for all the damage his defending child abuse programs has created -- for children.


=========

MORE MALIGNANT TUMORS

Hare Krishna,

My name is Vijaya Pandita Dasa. I am launching this fundraising campaign to financially assist Guru Dakshina Prabhu, a pioneer in the distribution of Srila Prabhupada's books in Italy. Many devotees know him: he is a dear servant of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.

Guru Dakshina Prabhu was recently diagnosed with a malignant tumor and, unfortunately, is no longer able to work. He was the sole breadwinner for his family. They live in England and, unfortunately, English employment contracts do not provide for long-term paid sick leave: they only grant about twenty days per year, after which you remain employed but without pay.

Let's help Guru Dakshina Prabhu until he can return home healed: the road ahead will still be long.

Thank you very much.
Hare Krishna
All glories to Srila Prabhupada
Vijaya Pandita Dasa


https://www.gofundme.com/f/hare-krishna-guru-dakshin-prabhu-ha-bisogno-del-nostro-aiuto?

====

EKANATH DEPARTS

HG EKANATH Prabhu disappeared on Ekadashi afternoon of the 13th of February, 2026, in North Carolina, USA, due to heart failure. The Bhaktivedanta Archives, Friends, Family, and myself are devastated. Will dearly and surely miss him on his journey back home.

First photo on a Morning Walk with Srila Prabhupada 1974 Juhu Beach, Mumbai.
Second and Third Photos, Mayapur 1973 wearing white hat/beanie center.

Fourth Photo more recent with his wife Nitya-trpta Dasi.

Ekanatha Das of Dutch origin joined ISKCON Amsterdam in 1972. He came to India in 1973 and was a key figure in the construction of ISKCON Juhu, Hare Krishna Land, Mumbai. Later he moved to Los Angeles, then North Carolina, leading and preserving for nearly 50 years Srila Prabhupada's Works.

Ekanatha Das was a key figure and president of the Bhaktivedanta Archives, responsible for preserving the legacy of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He oversaw the digital preservation of thousands of original audio recordings, letters, documents, and photos, and frequently updated the VedaBase.

He worked to create a "museum-quality" facility that serves as a research center for studying Prabhupada’s life and work.

Key details, preserve original, fragile materials—including 4,500 documents, 9,000 letters, and 200,000 photo slides—in a controlled environment.

VedaBase Updates: He manages the Bhaktivedanta VedaBase updates, which involve reverifying audio transcripts and correcting text, providing updated resources for the Vaisnava community.

Archives Mission: The Archives ensure the "as-is" preservation of historical records to prevent degradation of original tapes and photos.

====

UKRAINE

Bloomberg’s reporting put Russian losses for January just around 44,000 dead on the battlefield, a number Sciutto made even more eye-popping with added context. The Soviet Union lost some 14,500 to 23,000 troops between 1979 and 1989 fighting in Afghanistan, although estimates vary.

Sciutto shared Wickham’s post and wrote, “In a single month, Russia had twice as many soldiers KIA as its entire ten-year war in Afghanistan, which helped bring down the USSR. The losses are staggering.”

PADA: Ukraine is getting closer to their goal of increasing the current 1,000 per day eliminations to 50,000 Russians taken out per month. They also developed some new longer range drones that can go 1,100 miles and they hit a big refinery. 

I was watching a Tik Tok of Ukraine drone operators and they said the Russians are like zombies. They see a bunch of their comrades already dead in the field. But they just march forward over the same field, sometimes stepping over the dead bodies, just like a zombie movie. 

And then they end up getting hit and laying down motionless in the field with the rest of the lot. They were thinking a lot of these Russia guys are just hoping they will get taken out -- and die -- to end their misery.  

There are also a lot of videos of Russians trying to fight off drones with sticks and rocks, which does not seem to work in most cases. The good news is that Russians are struggling with their recently dismantled communications platform after starlink dropped them, so they are getting more disorganized, cannot ask for reinforcement or supplies and etc. It was already chaotic and now it is worse.

So a lot of them are just getting whacked. When Russia says they have taken a town, often times it is only a few teams of guys holed up in bombed out houses hiding in the basement there, they have not actually taken it all over. And then the Ukraine guys start mopping up the people who are hiding. 

Some of those guys end up freezing to death and never leave the house alive. If they are hiding in the basement of a bombed out house, they have not taken the town by any means. And what have they taken over? A pile of bombed out bricks. Congratulations, you now own a giant burnt out junkyard, which has a lot of dead bodies in it. Who even wants to own all that?

Meanwhile there is a drone view of a couple of Russian guys trying to surrender, and they are walking toward the Ukraine guys with their hands up, and the Russians shoot them in the back and kill them. Evidently, surrender is not an option. Ok all these guys are disposable and expendable. No one even cares about the losses. This guy does not want to be a mindless zombie, we have to kill him!

Someone said this is just like ISKCON, let them all leave, we will have a big empty building so we can make a Hindu program. There is no concern for the citizens. ys pd   

===

Statement from the Executive Committee of the ISKCON Governing Body Commission on Vaisnavi Diksa Guru - GBC AGM 2026

At the GBC AGM 2026, the GBC considered and approved a proposal submitted by the GBC - ISKCON Bureau (IB) Committee concerning the topic of Vaisnavi Diksa Guru. The GBC Executive Committee presents the proposal below in its original form, as approved by the GBC. The proposal approved by the GBC is as follows:

Whereas the GBC - ISKCON IB joint committee was given the responsibility of suggesting to the GBC a way forward to resolve the issue of whether Vaisnavis can take up the service of being diksa-gurus in ISKCON;

Whereas this committee has since then discussed and deliberated Vaisnavi diksa gurus (VDG) and various connected issues to arrive at a way forward;

Whereas many highly qualified ISKCON Vaisnavis have done and are doing commendable service under Srila Prabhupada’s guidance and protection in the mission of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu;

Whereas the GBC-IB committee concluded that the role of a guru in ISKCON needs to be further examined and clarified in relationship to Srila Prabhupada’s position, the managerial system that Srila Prabhupada established, the guru’s disciples, and other devotees in ISKCON;

Whereas to conclusively determine who is qualified to take up a service of leadership in ISKCON it is necessary to first determine what the parameters of that service are and the necessary qualifications required to perform it.

Whereas not only scriptural study is required for different parties to come to an agreement on such an important issue, but also continued discussion between concerned open-minded leaders who have mutual respect for each other. It will be helpful if underlying issues which are obstacles for the successful conclusion of the issue be recognized and attempts to resolve them made;

Whereas from the GBC-IB committee’s discussions and deliberations the committee can now present a way forward to resolve this issue. The committee’s proposal was arrived at after an examination of Srila Prabhupada’s instructions and example as well as after consultation with various ISKCON’s committees, leaders, and scholars.

Resolved:

1. There should be an ongoing discussion on guru-tattva based on Srila Prabhupada’s teachings and examples amongst qualified devotees in ISKCON. Details can be discussed further.

2. There should be a system to give more recognition and spiritual authority to certain qualified siksa-gurus within ISKCON.

3. Qualified Vaisnavis or Vaisnavas can be recognized as these special siksa-gurus.

4. Until the issue is satisfactorily resolved concerning Vaisnavi diksa-gurus, qualified Vaisnavis should only be recognized as siksa-gurus, with the exception of Narayani Devi Dasi who remains the diksa-guru of her current disciples.

5. The present committee remains open to assist in further research and discussions on the topic according to the GBC’s desire.

Issued by:

GBC Communications

ISKCON Constitution Links / "Operation Acharya" 02 12 26

DEVAKI HAS CANCER

PADA: She did write a good piece about how the GBC gurus are staying in their posts until the end of their lives -- and are thus not making room for the second generation to be the next wave of leaders. So the second generation is leaving ISKCON not seeing any place for them to participate. She is right. 

Anyway, another ISKCON person with cancer. Yeah, my Mormon nurse friend who reads my blog is correct, it is an epidemic. It could be stress, it could be a lot of things, and my ex-witch lady friend says -- it is coming from eating food offered to contaminated people. A lady friend of PADA has cancer and is not going to take any treatment, she is done with this place and just wants to go. Don't blame her for that. 

Something toxic is going on, for sure. Not sure the exact cause, but it is an epidemic -- for sure. I feel sad for these people, and wish her God speed in any case. Cancer is not fun. I have seen devotees with it and have seen the results first hand. ys pd 

======

THE ISKCON CONSTITUTION:

PADA: It was too long winded for me to wade through. Lots of people complained, it is just more of the same: "we are the ultimate managers, you are not, so shut up already." ys pd

https://constitution.iskcon.org/constitutiondocument 

as linked to from the bottom of the page at https://iskconnews.org/iskcon-constitution-formally-inaugurated-at-the-2026-agm-in-mayapu

========

Operation “Acarya”: 

The Secret Elimination of a Spiritual Leader and the Takeover of ISKCON.

The death of ISKCON founder Srila Prabhupada in 1977 was long considered a "natural death." However, facts that emerged decades later indicate that it was one of the most successful operations by Western intelligence agencies to neutralize an ideological threat.

Motive: Why did Prabhupada become a danger to Washington?

In the mid-1970s, ISKCON ceased to be a group of "singing hippies." The movement transformed into a powerful international structure with enormous assets and, more importantly, an ideology that undermined the foundations of Western society.

Anti-systemic: Prabhupada openly called modern Western civilization a "society of swindlers," calling for the rejection of consumerism and the creation of alternative settlements (varnasrama).

Influence on the Elite: Scientists, rock stars, and the children of high-ranking officials came under his influence.

Geopolitics: The independent movement, equally influential in the US and India, was an "uncontrollable variable" for the CIA at the height of the Cold War.

Chronology of capture and liquidation: key stages.

1974–1975. Decision-making and infiltration.

US intelligence agencies (under programs similar to MK-Ultra) begin developing a plan to "modify" ISKCON.

Strategy: Not to destroy the organization (which would create an aura of martyrdom), but to replace the leader with a docile apparatus.

Action: Increased infiltration into Prabhupada's inner circle. Formation of a group of "trusted" Western disciples, whose ambitions and psychological weaknesses make them ideal conduits for the alien will.

Information blockade. A "ring" is created around Prabhupada. Secretaries begin filtering his mail and restricting independent access. During this period, reports on his health begin to appear in his handlers' correspondence, although he himself is still active and traveling.

1977 (March – November). The active phase of liquidation.

This is the key period of the operation.

May 1977: Prabhupada is persuaded to write a "will" and appoint 11 assistants (ritviks). The intelligence agencies receive a legal basis for the future transfer of power.

Summer 1977: His health deteriorates sharply. Modern hair tests conducted later confirm that it was at this time that cadmium, a heavy metal that causes gradual organ failure, mimicking natural exhaustion, began to enter his body.

Isolation in Vrindavan: He is transferred to India, where the intelligence agencies can more easily control his medical care and avoid independent examination.
November 1977: The Finale. Prabhupada openly declares on an audio recording: "Someone has poisoned me." His words are ignored by the "committee," and he resigns a few days later.

1978–1986. The Zonal Acarya Period.

Immediately after the founder's death, embedded agents (some of whom are part of the Eleven, while the rest are "useful idiots") stage a coup. They declare themselves "new messiahs," divide the world into spheres of influence, and impose a strict dictatorship. Disciples who attempt to raise the issue of poisoning or point out deviations are persecuted or even physically eliminated.

Creation of "Corporate ISKCON" (GBC ISKCON 1993).

When the "Eleven Dictators" model began to threaten the image of the United States due to scandals (drugs, murders), the intelligence agencies rebranded.
Goal: Create a respectable legal entity.

Result: The GBC ISKCON 1993 is established. This structure has finally secured the brand and assets, emasculated Prabhupada's radical teachings, and transformed them into "showcase Hinduism," loyal to any government.

Summary: Result of the operation.

By 2026, it becomes clear: Prabhupada's liquidation was not simply an internal conflict among disciples, but a high-tech operation to seize ideological resources.

The leader is eliminated.

The teachings are replaced (edits to the books).

The organization is controlled by Western legal and financial institutions.

What's next? The disclosure of archival data in 2026-2027 promises to be the end of the GBC ISKCON 1993. When it is proven that the current leadership is the legal successor to a group of conspirators acting in the interests of foreign intelligence agencies, the question of this organization's legitimacy will be closed forever.

According to preliminary reports, Tamal Krishna, Jayapataka, and Bhavananda were recruited by US intelligence agents, as was Kirtanananda and his entire "New Vrindavana"—a base for intelligence agencies where the poison could have been stored. The criminal case against Kirtanananda was forced and more of a rescue than a punishment. Kirtanananda knew about Prabhupada's poisoning. Tamal Krishna was later eliminated by the intelligence agencies—a witness cleansing operation.

After the failure of System 11, the decision was made to switch to the GBC ISKCON 1993. This switch was carried out by the fifth intelligence agent, Ravindra Svarupa, who also knew about Prabhupada's poisoning. Ravindra Svarupa had also long served as the chief GBC and the supervisor for Russia, building intelligence influence in the country using the "guru-disciple" method.

At a time when the world is reeling from the horrific details of the Epstein files, a small document about the assassination of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, approved at the very top and classified as "Secret," could easily become public knowledge.

PADA: This is something I get a lot of, even way back in the 1980s. ISKCON has been taken over by a government agency like the CIA, or the Illuminati and so on. I am not so convinced. First of all, why would a paid CIA agent spend his whole life acting as a Hare Krishna leader or guru? 

I think he would want to have mostly a regular Joe life and not be a pretend guru for his entire lifespan. One would really have to be dedicated to the job to spend all the days of their entire life on one job. Ooops, then there are people like Tamohara who think PADA is a paid CIA agent!

That really does not make much sense. CIA folks usually infiltrate something on a temporary basis -- to gather info, then maybe get rid of people or arrest people etc. but not stay on one job forever. They generally do not live out their whole entire lives as spies or agents inside of a particular cult. 

It is also hard for me to believe that people like Satsvarupa, Kirtanananda, Jayatirtha, Tamal, Bhavananda and others could even qualify as government agents -- when they are basically foolish ex-hippie type guys, and Bhavananda was hanging out with Andy Warhol etc. These guys would not pass the tests. 

But were they capable of plotting to take out Srila Prabhupada and taking over ISKCON -- and maybe poisoning Srila Prabhupada in order to conduct the take over? Well yes, they were quite capable of that, and I believe they did exactly that. 

But it was somewhat of an amateur job. For starters, we never would have got the November poison tapes, the appointment tape, and other evidence items from a truly organized professional group. Even if we had got the poison tapes by chance, they would have eliminated a person like me for exposing their plots. 

It looks like an amateur take over job to me, but even amateur killers who want to take over the assets of the father or leader can be very effective. And no doubt fathers and leaders are killed every day by motivated children and / or lower level leaders who want the top spot. So yeah, it was a conspiracy, and it was effective, they did take over. 

But no, it was not a professional CIA agent master class operation. But a lot of devotees are catching on at least to this point, it was an organized take over scheme among these leaders. That is a fact.

And yeah, anyone who tries to expose things is suppressed, by the clique or its enforcers. So I think the whole thing was sort of loosely put together by a bunch of motivated people, many of them stoner heads, and Vodka drinking fools like Hansadutta. And the plan was later on uncovered due to the sheer negligence of putting together a solid plan, along with the fact that these guys could not carry on the fake guru act for very long because they were such fallen and conditioned souls.

All that being said, there is a reason this keeps coming up. The idea that the GBC is some sort of highly trained professional Government Agency / Illuminati operation is making them way larger than they really are. They became some sort of super demons with super powers. 

I think that is because so many people failed to oppose them, and so now they want to make excuses for why so many never opposed the GBC guru scheme -- "no one could oppose the mighty CIA Illuminati."

Well yeah, but if 20 people with protest signs had gathered in front of a temple "this place worships homosexuals and pedophiles as its messiahs," then the protesters could have effectively shut down one or many temples in the GBC program. But no one thought that was a good idea. Even people who found out their children were molested told me they did not want to report the crime, to "save ISKCON." 

These people who "saved ISKCON" in reality only saved the pedophile guru process, and not ISKCON. Rather ISKCON suffered by allowing all this abuse to go on, while worshiping the orchestrators of the abuse process. So in that sense, the acquiescing rank and file were also part of the conspiracy to make all this possible.  

Do I believe Hansadutta, a life long Vodka drinker fool who was having sex with hald dozen ladies -- was a professional CIA agent? Nope. He was a drunken womanizer, but he became guru by what I would call an amateur guru appointment hoax, that had all sorts of holes in the plot. 

OK there is no way this guy was a professional at anything. The police told me, Hansadutta is a low level criminal who makes so many mistakes, we arrested 72 of his disciples because they were so clumsy performing crimes. 

Even Himavati, Hansadutta's then ex-wife, was busted by the police for wearing the same clothes that were purhased on a stolen credit card. Amateur hour. Not CIA level. 

But if we make the boogey many way bigger than he is, then that gives us an excuse not to chase him out of the Church house. And I believe that is what happened here. We could not confront an amateur hour criminal operation, because we were amateur hour criminal hunters, so the criminals won by default and not by any brilliant strategy. 

Nowadays all their plots and schemes are being uncovered, and the poison plot is the worst, second only to all the child abuse. But it is all coming out now, and a professional CIA program would not have been exposed like this, because their "rule No.1" is -- no one should be able to expose our plots, we should be operating in secrecy. "Go in and go out without being detected." 

That is not happening here. All their plots and schemes are unravelling one after another. On the other hand, it speaks volumes against the mass of rank and file for allowing all this to transpire without protest. They added fuel to the fire that burnt down the house by -- a conspiracy of silence. That is also a conspiracy. 

Anyway, these GBC guys were motivated, they cooked up an appointed guru scheme, and even today some of my God brothers argue with me that there is no precedent for worshiping a departed pure devotee. They drank the kool aid, and that is how they helped all this happen. 

There are many components to the conspiracy, and most of the rank and file supporting or at least acquiescing is a big reason this all developed. None of this looks professional to my karmi friends who are looking at the whole mess from outside. 

One of them told me -- "this is just a bunch of goof balls, posing as gurus, who are not being challenged by the other goof balls -- who are in the congregation. The Emperor CLEARLY has no clothes, but no one wants to say anything. The whole lot is all goof balls, because even we outsiders know -- the Emperor has no clothes." Well yup.

ys pd angel108b@yahoo.com   

Bhakti Vikas Swami / ISKCON Poly Crisis / Discriminating Who is Guru 02 11 26

PADA: For some reason BVKS recent videos can only be viewed, but cannot be shared. And he is also making a series of short videos one after another, which seems like he is sort of trying to correct the mess he made on the previous ones. 

Anyway! I cannot listen to all this, but I did catch one glaring mis-representation which needs addressing. He said the major splits in post-1978 ISKCON are the ritviks and the women guru splinters. 

Wrong! The first splinter group was created by Bhakti Vikas swami's GBC gurus, when they announced in 1978 that Sridhara Maharaja is the shiksha guru, and senior most advisor etc. Then Sridhara Maharaja was the ghost writer of many early GBC papers. 

For example Sridhara said there should be the Acharya of the Zone, which is called the Zonal Acharya. Later on -- things soured, and the GBC decided Sridhara was taking over too many people. So they wrote a paper around 1982 condemning Sridhara and saying anyone who associates with him is out of ISKCON.

OK many of the ISKCON senior sannyasas and maybe 500 or more of Jayatirtha's disciples all left ISKCON, and started various splinter groups of competing organizations. There was the Peace Krishnas, Pancadravida in Soquel, Jagat Guru in South India, Sudheer Krishna in San Jose etc. The result for the UK was that Bhaktivedanta Manor went nearly bankrupted -- due to losing all the manpower. 

They even lost Croome Court. However some pedophiles who were using chloroform on children were roaming around Croome Court for some time. So this was the first big splinter, and ISKCON lost almost the whole Zone of Jayatirtha and most of his people as a result. The Sridhara folks are still around in various forms, siphoning people out of ISKCON. But one of their biggest swamis, Paramadvaiti swami, was caught having sexual affairs and his mission sort of broke apart.   

   

 

ISKCON'S POLY CRISIS HEE HEE!

But he cannot participate in any Sridhara Movement either. 

This is another example of following Sridhara's people, but he now says he is not part of any of their organizations. Pranada is promoting him as an authority on her female diksha guru campaign. Does anyone not notice that Sridhara endorsed a bogus guru after 1936, and he endorsed the GBC 11 after 1978, causing havoc and mayhem, and no small amount of banning, beating, molesting, lawsuits and murders? Yeah that is the path we need to follow!

OK after all that then Narayan Maharaja became the darling of the GBC. And he was hanging out in Texas with Tamal and all that, and saying we are ritvik poison. Well yeah, we were having Tamal sued for $400,000,000. Same thing, NM was starting to become too powerful and influence and so the GBC axed him out, and forbade people from visiting him. And hundreds of people, including some prominent leaders, all left and started a competing organization against ISKCON. 

Of course the 1986 murder of Sulochana caused hundreds of people to leave, and New Vrndavana to become a ghost town. The $400,000,000 lawsuit caused many parents to pull out their kids and leave, and so on and so forth. There has been many splinters, spin offs, people leaving in droves, and all sort of things -- apart from the ritviks and the women guru advocates. So BVKS is misprepresenting the actual history. The ritviks are one of many splinters from ISKCON, and as we see, ISKCON is experiencing "a poly crisis" where more splitting is inevitable.

ys pd angel108b@yahoo.com

==== 

NOT STABLE

Thanks prabhu, Yeah Jayamadhava many times disagrees with me, and I do not think he has a stable platform on the issues. He seems to confuse the issues, and sometimes confuses me as a person supporting various issues, which I never supported. 

Garuda is sometimes an ally and sometimes not, but so is Jayamadhava. My kids told me the whole problem is, I was blowing the fire alarm alert starting in 1979, but almost no one cared, rather everyone waited until everything was at a crisis state, the Titanic was taking in tons of water, before they agreed with me. But it was a little late in the game.

OK they waited until the house was burnt to ashes, the gurukula kids were all alienated out, the media was full of scandal stories, books were being changed etc. Then after the house was nearly demolished, they offered to help me with a bucket of water, way too little, way too late. 

I have some friends working on the BBTI legal issue and I hope they can make progress, we have to see. But it is all very late in the game and Garuda should never have been the BBTI issue front man on any other issue, but he became a prominent figure by default because -- everyone else ran away and did not help at all. When no one else does anything, someone doing something becomes prominent, which is also how I became sort of prominent, I was the de facto point man -- by default. ys pd

===

Devotion, Discernment, and Shared Responsibility (SRD)

Over the past few years I have given a lot of thought to the nature of the guru disciple relationship, surrender, authority, and conscience.

I share some of my thoughts, not as conclusions, but rather as evolving ideas that I am still striving to discover, grasp and integrate. As far as I understand, in Gaudiya Vaishnavism, surrender to Sri Guru is sacred. It is not optional; it is fundamental. We are taught that grace flows through the guru and that with faith it opens the heart, and that humility and trust allow spiritual transformation to occur.

I do not question that. I have had some personal experiences of transformation and insights through grace and faith. At the same time, I have become increasingly aware of a vulnerability that can arise within a tradition that revolves around the surrender to a vertical authority. I don't see it as a structural flaw in the philosophy itself, but rather something that I have witnessed emerge in practice.

When a teacher’s spiritual authority and guidance become intertwined or dependent on assumptions of moral perfection, acknowledging the possibility of ethical failure can be perceived as deeply destabilizing; not just personally, but spiritually.

In such atmosphere, raising a concern is sometimes viewed as a form of betrayal. Questioning is discouraged as offensive and ethical discomfort can begin to feel like a threat to faith itself. It is my understanding that the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy, is more nuanced than this.

On one hand the guru is described as Sakshad Hari, but on the other, the guru is also clearly distinct from Svayam Bhagavan.

The guru is a via-medium; a representative, but not the Absolute Himself. We speak of the need for guru, sadhu and sastra to be coherently aligned, but the guru is not isolated and immune from evaluation. We are encouraged to engage our intelligence in order to surrender, not to discard it.

Disciples are rarely prepared to tackle the possibility that their guru may be fully aligned sometimes, and act as a transparent conduit and misaligned at other times and act in ways that are destructive.

We have all witnessed instances where surrender to the guru drifted into something more absolute and beyond scrutiny, something perilous that is not in line with the teachings of our Acharyas. An extreme example comes to mind. A few years ago a respected Gaudiya Vaishnava teacher was credibly accused of sexual misconduct with some of his young male students. 

This teacher was not a guru, but to this day he has a large following of dedicated supporters. Attempting to defend the teacher, one devotee argued that his behaviour could not have been motivated by lust for he really wanted or needed to believe that his teacher was a fully liberated Maha-Bhagavat.

He suggested that perhaps his actions must have been motivated some form of selfless intervention of a higher spiritual or esoteric nature, something that lesser evolved devotees could not understand. He tried to argue that the teacher's only motive must have been to cure the students of their own lust.

Aside the fact that there was no evidence presented to support such an outlandish proposition, what unsettled me was not only the extreme nature of the claim, but what seemed to drive it.

If the supporter admitted moral failure on the part of his teacher, his entire spiritual narrative surrounding that teacher would become fractured and incoherent. Preserving the narrative of sanctity seemed more urgent than examining a conduct that to me was so obviously harmful.

It is easy to dismiss the example and the reasoning as extreme. But I cannot simply point outward. I have witnessed subtler versions of the same ideology at work in myself. When something sacred to me feels threatened, I felt a strong pull to reinterpret, soften, or spiritualize what disturbed me — not necessarily out of malice, but out of fear that the authenticity of the transmission, its meaning and my identity itself are at risk.

This acknowledgment has forced me to ask uncomfortable questions.
Does devotion require that discernment and moral concern take a secondary place?

Is faith strengthened by suppressing doubt, or by learning to examine it honestly?
If acknowledging human limitation destabilizes me, what does that say about the foundation of my faith?

What happens to the tradition, the teacher and the students, if the teacher is expected or attempts to live up to a superhuman ideal of perfection; one that requires a metaphysical justification for abuse of power, immorality and harm?
If spiritual teachers are placed beyond ordinary ethical evaluation, it can create a burden that is not humanly sustainable. If students equate surrender with silence, this will gradually erode discernment. In the long run, I don’t see how either of these outcomes can serve the individuals or the purity of the tradition.

Bhakti does not ask us to abandon intelligence. We are encouraged to take full responsibility for our spiritual lives by exercising our discernment before we surrender, not to surrender our discernment. Conscience/discernment (Vivek) is not an obstacle to devotion. It may in fact be one of the ways Sri Guru protects us from harming ourselves.

Devotion without discernment can drift into unhealthy dependency. Discernment without compassion, love and devotion can harden into counterproductive cynicism.

I am now of the view that a genuine and transformative spiritual experience, however meaningful, is not an automatic guarantee of absolute purity and perfection of the teacher or settle questions of responsibility, abuses of power, or impact.

Personal transformation does not erase the need for shared ethical clarity. I hope to learn how to hold devotion and discernment together without dismissing one in favor of the other. The work, as I see it now, is not to choose between them but rather to find a way to integrate them; especially when doing so is uncomfortable.
If my faith depends upon the impossibility of moral failure of my teachers, then it is more fragile than I may wish to admit.

I like to believe that a mature spiritual culture should be able to withstand truth, especially the most painful truths, without feeling that transcendence itself is threatened. But rather recognizing that honoring the truth, however devastating that may be, may be what brings us a little closer to Krsna.

I do not offer these reflections to weaken faith or to cast suspicion on authority itself. I offer them because I hope they may be of some value to the devotee community.

If we can find ways for love to coexist with accountability, and surrender with discernment, then what we preserve will be more valuable and stronger, not weaker.

I do not have any conclusive answers, I do not know how the guru as Sakshad Hari can coexist with the guru that is also human, but I am looking the possibility that Grace may operate through a person without erasing their humanity.
These are unsettling questions and observations that I am learning to live with.

PADA: Yep. I said in 1979 that Jayatirtha is a predator. And Srila Prabhupada says -- when a guru has amorous affairs with his own followers -- is the same as a father having an affair with his own daughter. So if we worship a predator, as a society, we will become what we worship -- and there will be many other predators attracted to the predator worship magnet. And predators will be allowed and protected, just like he is. And worse, we are offering food to a predator, and people eating it are getting the predator beeja, or contamination. Well as we know, they removed me and kept the predator guru. We become what we worship, and worship of predators will make a society that protects them, that is really common sense. And as a matter of fact, ISKCON became a magnet for predators and protecting them and etc. ys pd