Death Threats from ISKCON's Pedophile Guru Cult

pada@ angel108b@yahoo.com

[JD: If the Lokanath / ICC Bureau people will threaten to kill a mother with little children, they will threaten anyone. Lokanath's program is a violent and murderous child molesting thug cult, and therefore, so are a number of the followers.]

https://iskconicc.com/index.php/bureau-members/

http://krishna1008.blogspot.com/2021/07/iskcon-india-icc-responds-to-na-gbc.html

https://krishna1008.blogspot.com/2021/07/full-video-of-india-icc-defending.html

S DASI: THREATS OF INTIMIDATION

In May of 2021, soon after asking the ISKCON GBC to follow their child protection laws and have Lokanath removed as an ISKCON leader, I was told that I was put on a "hit list" by Lokanath’s (India ICC Bureau) supporters in India. I didn’t know what that entailed but hearing that a group of people wanted me dead definitely put me on my guard. 

I would be standing at my kitchen sink at night, looking out the window into the blackness wondering, “Is someone pointing a gun at me right now?” When I would start the car, I’d ask my three children to stand away from the car while I put the key in, in case there was a bomb waiting to go off." 

On the highway, I would make sure not to drive alongside anyone, lest there be a shooter in the adjacent car. It was a scary and sobering experience. I notified the FBI and my local police in Hillsborough, North Carolina. I felt somewhat reassured that our next-door neighbor was a fire marshal (connected with law enforcement), and that two police cars regularly sat at the intersection a few feet from my house, facing each other on opposite sides of the intersection. 

I would play out scenarios where I could flag them down if needed. The scariest feeling was knowing that within mere seconds, my life would be taken and my children, aged 3, 5, and 7 would be left without a mother.

A few months after being told I was on a hit list, I was watching a British police show. That particular episode was about a woman named Sara Jones who was murdered for her social activism work. Some of the threats I have received include:

- having my tongue cut out

- bugs in my mouth

- getting leprosy

- dying as as a worm

- “definitely” having a car accident

- an anonymous person asking me to fight face to face

- that I am “finished”

- “You will pay for your sins and it will be too late before you realize. Karma is for real”

- “needs the right stick for demons like Sarah and Damodara”

- that I am a demon and should be "mercilessly punished”

- “This is your one and only warning: "back off" oh stupid one, you do not know what you are dealing with. Remember you have until July 20, then I press the red button and will unleash your worst nightmares on you.” 

I received these threats of intimidation because I asked that a child molester be removed from leadership in ISKCON, per ISKCON's own rules. Jane Austen sums up my feelings in Pride & Prejudice:

“There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”

MK Dasi: So sorry to hear of these threats to your life and safety! This ignorance is what we're dealing with in ISKCON these days....

BB Dasa: That is the something I hear about regularly around ISKCON. The aggressive intimidation of people who are asking that as a society we hold these criminals -- who have used their positions of trust and power to commit horrible violations against women and children -- accountable. They talk about doing good, or following God’s laws, or personal sacrifice, all while holding hate in their hearts and causing harm that will be with their victims their entire lives. 

I am saddened that you have been subjected to threats. I am proud of you for setting the example for your children. I pray for your safety. 

PRD: I think it would only be a concern if you were in India. You're pretty safe in the USA.

[PADA: That is why Lokanath's people are infuriated with us "Western Mlecchas," because our police protect us whistleblowers and their other victims from their Satanic and murderous pedophile worshiping cult. In short, us mlecchas are not going to bow down and worship Lokanath's anal reconstructive surgery epidemic messiahs, a program which bans, beats, molests, sues and kills people, and that infuriates the India ICC Bureau and their henchmen like Bhakti Vikas swami, Basu Ghosh, etc.]   

DK Devi: I’m so so glad you have people looking out for you and you’ve reported it to the police and my heart breaks for this. You are doing the warrior work and it’s shameful. If their spiritual master were faultless, there would be no need for death threats. 

LS Dasi: Keep on fighting the Good fight. It's deplorable that some entities cannot see right from wrong. I see some really beautiful and intelligent children being raised with open ears, eyes and same fierce heart of their Mama! Protection of our children is so so very vital. Thank you for being a voice of needed change.

A Dasi: What is this, July 20? I do hope you are bringing some up on charges, like this one. It shows the extent of their nuttiness, and yes you know who you are dealing with! That is why you are speaking out, and with enough compassion and knowledge of karma to know these persons should admit their wrong doing and step down. 

AL Dasi: Anonymous “fighters”? How can they look themselves in the mirror? I will never understand the fear and shame they must be experiencing (or rather burying deep within themselves). I’m so sorry you have to endure this. 

DD: No mother should have to worry her children will not have a mother.  This Lokanath fellow is a creepy demon who wants more children terrorized ... after his program already terrorized thousands. They want children to live in fear of their parents dying. It is what pedophile cults do. They tell little children, we will kill your parents. That is what they always do.  

TT Dasi: Oh my, Dear Krishna! I had no idea the threats were so insidious. May Sri Nrsimhadeva protect you and your family. I'm deeply sorry and sad that you're going through this. I have such challenges with anxiety issues I'd probably be a hot mess. But, after mentally assuming the role you're carrying out, I imagine it is simultaneously empowering to know your voice is causing thunder for our children. 

DD: They want to be able to have children molested and raped with no consequences the whole time. This is not even new, but that does not mean it is not tragic and dangerous now. This needs to be exposed more, Lokanath is the leader of a violent pedophile cult that murders other dissenting people already. And now they are making the same threats they made before they murdered others. They are a murderous pedophile cult. We need this to be more exposed on ordinary news media.

LL Dasa: The things we are willing to live for should be the things we are willing to die for. When this is the case, we are fully in touch with what matters the most. God bless your determination for goodness and justice. ISKCON's history precedes itself. If people would blindly follow Kirtananada and other "gurus", they will do the same with Lokanatha. You should be very vigilant. 

I hope you own and train in firearms. Possibly consider getting a concealed carry permit and train on how to defend yourself and your family. Confidence and training can help see us through extreme situations because we were prepared.

MDF Dasi: So sorry. How disgraceful. Makes me want to run 100 miles away from iskcon permanently to know that you were threatened like this. 

GM Dasa: I think the threats are not real. You don’t need to fear. If you truly believe that these threats are real, then Iskcon is not the organization worth fighting for or worth saving. It is very shameful to Prabhupada and every leader of Iskcon if Iskcon can produce such people. I still trust Iskcon because it is very rare that Iskcon talks violence. I haven’t heard any lecture where violence is encouraged. 

There are some religions which are violent at the core. Iskcon is not like that. Iskcon in 2000s is much different than Iskcon in 70s. So example of Kirtanananda is not correct. You don’t need to fear. You will be safe. It is sad though that some people can make you feel that way. 

[PADA: Same people who supported Kirtanananda and then buried him in a samadhi in the dham. Nothing has changed. Same death threats to defend pedophile worship are still going on now. Bhakti Vikas swami says all this ended in 1988, nope, we have been getting death threats all along, way past 1988. And so will anyone else who does not worship their anal sex pooja program, even now.]

RJ Dasa: There are many wonderful, sincere hardworking devotees in Iskcon! Because there are some bad seeds doesn’t mean we should sink the whole ship. 

[PADA: All of the Kauravas were punished because it is still bad karma to support evil people. There were lots of nice people on the Kaurava side, Krishna had them all eliminated.]

GM Dasa: I am sure that those bad people don’t exist. What is the guarantee someone else will not be attacked or killed? These fears are not true? If they exist, then it is truly very serious. One cannot wash away hands by just calling them “bad seeds”. What does that mean? Some Iskcon devotee abuses my daughter and I will receive death threats if I fight for it. Is this organization worth exposing to our family if this is true? What are you talking by just calling such people a few “bad seeds”! 

G Dasi - Some wonderful sincere hardworking devotees -- but they remain silent to the abuse. These threats are taking this to another level if they are true. What kind of bhakti is that? How can I trust that these wonderful hardworking sincere devotees will stand up for my family or friends when something bad happens?

RG Dasa: My heart goes out to you. You are a strong and courageous woman and a loving mother. I hope you can find a way to live in peace. 

G Dasi: Even if well intended, when speaking truth one always will have enemies, because it ruffles all kinds feathers. There is a quote something like, “if we don’t have enemies we aren’t doing anything” Kali Yuga is loss of innocence. 

MC Dasa: Hare Krsna prabhu. Dandavat pranaam.. May Shree Krsna always protect you from danger and keep you always engaged in serving His Lotus feet. Padam padam yad vipadam. 

[PADA: Right, in Kali yuga we will have pedophiles like Lokanath creating an anal reconstructive surgery epidemic of children pedophile sex cult, and he will be glorified by the India ICC's Bureau. And their hero Bhakti Vikas will say all this ended in 1988, when there are still pedophiles being worshiped now, and they are burying pedophiles in samadhi now.]

SSM Dasi: I celebrate your strength and anyone who can't accept the truth to move to a more positive place is beneath your integrity. I'm not involved with Iskcon at all and haven't been for years but having grown up in it, I completely understand your concerns, as I lived them. You're a warrior Mama and I think you're a champion. 

GP: This situation clearly indicates a there is indeed a BIG problem in iskcon India with child abusers. 

DN Dasa: I’m guessing Lokanath doesn’t make it Florida very often … May be an image of text that says 'DANGER DO NOT FEED OR MOLEST ALLIGATORS. CANNOT BE TAMED AND FEEDING THEM CAN RESULT IN THEIR MISTAKING A HAND FOR A HANDOUT! FLORIDA LAW PROHIBITS THE FEEDING OR MOLESTING OF ALLIGATORS. $500 FINE FL STATUTE 372.667'. 

LS Dasi: May Lord Narasingha protect you and your family.

SP Dasi: Definitely take it serious, these threats. We know from the past the murders committed against whistleblowers in NV. There are plenty of ‘unstable’ people in the world and some are in our movement. 

[PADA:  Yes, they want to try to incite someone to "take revenge on the offenders" to their pedophile messiah's cult.]

S DASA: GBC / ISKCON owes you a permanent protection detail. And every GBC member has the duty to personally -- as an individual, not hiding behind a group--speak out as strongly as you have, sharing the obvious, facts-supported truths and conclusion. They--each!--must put themselves out there the same as you, so that if anyone is to be targeted everyone would have to be targeted. 

I will send this to every GBC; I hope many others do as well. They need to hear a tsunami of support for the truth and condemnation of their inaction. They themselves should be the ones concerned about how the Lord and their spiritual master will view their shameful inaction.

M Dasi: Oh dear, this is unbelievable! I will pray for your safety!

A Dasi: Omg I am so sorry:(

SL DASI: These threats are so bad, I read some of them earlier this year,. I admire your resilience in these matters.

M Dasi: I wonder what kind of spirituality are these people dreaming to follow?

They should know that defending a pedophile, or a child molestor, will just cast them on lowest conditions of life. Its everyone s duty give children protection, not only one s own children. While giving protection to a man unable to manage his own inability to control his senses at that point reveals their inside miseries too.

BJ Dasa: These threats show the backwardsness of some who apparently are living in a bronze age. it is very pitiful. Denial. Not seeing reality. Talk about cheaters. jeeez.

SK Dasi: Oh Krishna! I know what it feels like to be silenced too and I just want to say a really big thank you again to you for your bravery and resilience and confidence in speaking out! It gives me so much strength in my journey about speaking my truth about the horrendous things that have happened in my life and although I still have a very long way to go I am slowly starting to speak. you are such an inspiration to me ! Thank you so much. May Krishna protect you always!

VK Dasi: At any time did LOK tell his disciples, supporters or followers who were threatening to kill you, to stop and apologise, or did LOK himself contact you to apologise that this people wanted to kill you on his behalf? If not, he is

Complicit- I don’t accept for a moment that he is ignorant to these threats.

LG: You will always be protected by the LORD Hare Krishna 

HD Dasa: I’m appalled and consider this an outrage. What has become of some parts of ISKCON. You need to share this post with the GBC Chair and Anuttama pr. You also need to alert the local authorities and media from where these threats come. Name and shame. But never take threats from India lightly - these are gundas!

S Dasi: I think the GBC members were getting their own threats. I heard that Bhakti Chaitanya Swami was threatened by someone he knows, that if he continues to pursue Lokanath he will be in his samadhi soon. 

BP Dasi: This is abolutely horrifying. I am so sorry. May you and your precious children always be protected.

[PADA: Lokanath followers wrote to tell me I am a foolish Western Mleccha and I need to let them decide what is right and wrong. They are being trained to attack and insult anyone who doubts their pedophile guru system. In case people forgot my previous statement, when I protested child molesting in 1979, I was booted out of ISKCON by the gang of four gurus. 

And just as I was walking out the door, one of them told me "you better watch your back." In other words, they were threatening me with violence. And that has been their entire modus operandi ever since, which a policeman told me -- is identical to how the MAFIA operates. And they made good on their promise, I did have to watch my back. 

And me and my friends were banned, some of us were chased with baseball bats, some of us were beaten, some of us were assassinated -- and I would have been assassinated too, except for some timely help from the police. They are a violent pedophile cult, and have been all along. "Watch your back," and that was from one of their gurus. 

That is how they train people, and they still are. The only good news is, they are being exposed badly so their support is drying up. Brahmananda told me, your noisy campaign is why you are still alive. They cannot take you out because then everyone will target them as the number one suspects. Taking out a squeaky wheel is much harder for them to do. Our best defense as squeaky wheels? Keep on squeaking. ys pd]

MP Dasi: That is so terrible! You are so brave to continue. I can't believe this kind of thing still goes on.

WED: Lord Nrshimhadeva shall protect you mataji. Nothing wrong with what you are doing. The law is the law. For everyone…

AA Dasi: Oh oh... don't forget the gazillion "Vaishnava aparadha", Not just physical but spiritual abuse.

RB: Unfortunately there seems to be same very serious mental health issues among same devotes and more than a bit of confusion between spiritual life and plain abuse. Sorry to hear of your situation keep law enforcement informed and keep public about whats going on.

MDS: Maybe get more secure regarding your settings publicly. Have your cause be a cause name not your name. Make those hateful people try harder. Keep the faith though. Just don’t get hurt.

BZD: Hare Krishna. I will pray to Nrsimhadeva for your protection.

YL: Sorry to hear. How awful and barbarous! May the Lord protect you. Hopefully the fact that the world has been put on notice will be a deterrence.

M.E. Dasi: It's absolutely horrifying, but sadly only the latest chapter in ISKCON's long history of encouraging violence and discouraging mental health treatment for those who need it. As you know, I don't share your faith, but am struck by the fact that these threats clearly reveal a lack of faith among those who are threatening you. 

Surely if they actually believed in the philosophy, they would realize that bad things happen (in this life or next) to those who support child abusers and who threaten those who advocate for child protection. I don't know if they are delusional, faithless, stupid, or angry, bitter, miserable human beings, but according to the philosophy, their gurus need to set them straight, since they too will suffer the reactions of their disciples ' behaviors. 

But this likely won't happen given the many benefits they experience in this life from being cult leaders with large numbers of disciples. I admire your persistence, but hope you're ready for this fight to take decades before seeing real change as it's unlikely to happen while any first generation members are still alive.

DP: Do you practice your second amendment right to bare arms?

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

KD: "Narottama dasa Thakura says chadiya vaisnava seva nistara payeche keba, he is indicating an actual Vaisnava, not an envious or jealous person in the dress of a Vaisnava." To neglect such persons we first of all must spot them. We have to identify them. But if we are afraid or too crippled to apply critical thinking, we will never be able to make sense of this instruction and will be victimized by the disguised mundane person.

Many of us can remember our failure to apply critical thinking in the past. We have experienced how men in our midst openly behaved in ways unbecoming of a Vaisnava, and were not only tolerated long past the point of reasonable doubt about their motives, but were hailed as great Vaisnavas. The reason: they were clever enough to hold up some symbols of success—books distributed, devotees made, and temples opened—which we allowed to obscure their questionable character. It is such an obvious strategy.

We Should Discriminate More

Does Srila Prabhupada expect us to apply critical thinking in such matters? He does. In a letter to Hamsaduta (1969), Srila Prabhupada wrote:

Regarding your question about faith in devotees, faith must be there. But we should always take instruction from devotees who are considered to be elevated. A preacher's position is like this: He should have firm faith and love for Krishna. He should make friendship with devotees. He should be very much charitable and kind to the neophytes and he should avoid the company of nondevotees. This program suggests, of course, that a devotee who is not in the neophyte stage can discriminate what is Krishna, what is devotee, what is neophyte and what is non-devotee. 

Unless one is able to discriminate, he is to be considered to be in the neophyte stage. In the neophyte stage the position is that the neophyte devotee worships the Deity in the temple with great awe and reverence, but he cannot discriminate who is devotee, who is non-devotee and who is neophyte. I think you must be in the second stage and should try to discriminate as above. Any devotee wanting to see you should be welcome, but your treatment should be according to his position.

According to these guidelines, one who avoids discriminating is a neophyte. The neophyte cannot discriminate who is a devotee and who is a nondevotee. But a devotee in the second stage, or aspiring to reach the second stage, "should try to discriminate as above." Prabhupada says, ". . .we should always take instructions from devotees who are considered to be elevated." But this entails being able to tell who is an elevated devotee. 

It is not that we blindly accept as an article of faith or by popular vote that so and so is an elevated devotee. We are each supposed to develop our power of discrimination. Therefore, Prabhupada writes: "This program suggests, of course, that a devotee who is not in the neophyte stage can discriminate what is Krishna, what is devotee, what is neophyte and what is non-devotee. Unless one is able to discriminate, he is to be considered to be in the neophyte stage." We should not remain neophytes. We should rise to the platform of discriminating.

But we often hear that the advanced devotee "does not discriminate." Fact. But this does not mean we become advanced by giving up our discrimination, although some of us assume that to be the case."

Russia News: What About Russia's Karma?

Ukraine Soldier Devotee.

What happens If Soldier Devotees Die

Fighting Each Other in Battle?

Good question JD!

Russia News: What about Russia's Karma?

I am sometimes asked about the prospects for Russia, Putin, rallies in Russia, the people and so on. In fact, for reasonable people, everything was clear for a long time, as it was clear in the early 20s of the 20th century that the Second World War, or more precisely, the First World Civil War, would begin, all the prerequisites for this were long before the beginning. It's the same with Russia, so I'll just voice a common understanding, open facts that ordinary people do not always see and cannot connect and analyze.

Despite the prophecies circulating on the Internet about the special fate of Russia, its special purpose, in reality everything is very sad, all these "predictors" forget or, more precisely, they simply do not know -- that they live in Kali-yuga, where it is impossible to just do Satya-yuga. 

To do this, you need to work hard, and not any way you want, but following the strictly established regulations of the sastra and acaryas, as the sick patient follows the doctor's recommendations, otherwise imitation of "treatment" or "pious work" will become a screen for Kali, who, unlike these lazy people, does his job well. 

In Kali-yuga, tamo-guna, the mode of ignorance, dominates, which leads to three things: degradation, decomposition and annihilation. Even rajas (the mode of passion) is not strong enough in itself now, rather everything ends with tamo-guna in the present situation. 

Russia is presently under the influence of tamo-guna, so it is easy to understand what we are waiting for. As the Russian Empire collapsed into component parts and ended its existence, as the USSR collapsed into its component parts and ended its existence, so Russia will fall apart into its component parts and end its existence: conditionally into the Moscow principality (where the Russians will live) and the countries formed by nationality type: Tatars will get something, Ukrainians, Bashkirs, Chuvashes, Chechens, Armenians, Belarusians, Azerbaijanis, Kazakhs, and so on. It will disintegrate into nationalism, tribes and factions eventually.

It will happen as suddenly as the Russian Empire collapsed, which existed for 196 years, as the USSR, which existed for 69 years and collapsed in 3 days, the same will happen with Russia.

I would like to note another point that some people stubbornly do not want to believe in this trend, and just observe in their own private basement studio, branding those who say the opposite of their fantasies -- that these are the intrigues of the enemies of Russia: the countries of the West and the United States, maybe even China, but I assure you that it is more profitable for the enemies of Russia that Russia remains whole. Why? Here are some reasons:

1) If Russia collapses even with just various parts spinning off, then a huge arsenal: nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles and less powerful types of weapons and equipment will go to no one knows who or where, and this is a potential threat to all mankind, nuclear and ballistic missiles can fly to the capitals of Western countries and the United States. We should therefore hope the overall Russia state continues. 

In addition, there are many nuclear power plants in Russia, who will get them? And God save us all, if these nuclear reactors will be damaged, or there are accidents, bad management at nuclear power plants -- we are familiar to mankind and the consequences of them, and in the chaos that will begin after the collapse, the risks of accidents are greatly increased.

2) All of Europe is now dependent on Russian natural gas, if after the collapse of Russia the supply of natural gas to Europe stops abruptly, then it will be a disaster for the whole of Europe, and therefore the world.

[PADA: It is very ironic that the West funds Russia, and China, and we are very dependent on getting raw materials, gas, food, manufactured products or other goods from these folks. We have sort of built our own Frankenstein monsters, which could come back to bite us. This has happened many times in history, the empire becomes dependent on some sort of trade with another land, then the trade is attacked or disturbed for some reason, and the empire suffers or cannot sustain itself.] 

3) The Russian economy is financed by the West. 

[PADA: Yep, we made them what they are today, a well oiled war machine, by funding their economy. It is our shared karma with them at this stage. Or as they say, "you bought it, you own it"!]

The collapse of Russia will lead to a loss of funding. The Russian economy is not so much money as a raw material economy, export of raw materials abroad, the same gas that is vital for Western countries, but natural gas is more important than all other raw materials, therefore it was taken out in a separate item, but in a sense 2 and 3 points are related.

To summarize, the disintegration of Russia promises the enemies of Russia economic, political, social problems, or even simpler: a threat to their survival and reproduction or expansion (in all senses or spheres). Therefore, when or if Russia breaks up into separate countries, there will be occupation by enemies, first of all, the seizure of the arsenal, and then of raw materials.

As for Putin, it is clear that he is not an ideal person, but despite his short comings, he fits well with the place, time and circumstance, because if you take others and put in his place, then everything will only get worse right away, either, if we imagine that an ideal person, a saint king, has come to replace Putin, and he begins to establish religious principles in Russia, even by the standards of the Bible or the Koran, then the first thing he will have to do is to close all slaughterhouses, shops and markets, which sell meat, as well as restaurants, cafes and other establishments that prepare and sell meat dishes. 

After he does this or simply says about it out loud, then 10 million in Moscow and 100 million throughout Russia will take to the streets and demand the impeachment of this sectarian, separatist, idealist, crack-brained, mentally ill person, demand to put him into prison, even kill him or some will themselves be ready to eat him, it is only the people, not to mention the government and elites of the country. 

Even those who may be loyal to this bill, simply fearing for their lives, will not support it. So it turns out that everything is in its place, that is above, then below. Putin is a reflection of Russians, and Russians are a reflection of Putin.

But why then do the people go out into the streets, to rallies, why discontent? Gross atheists and materialists think that being determines consciousness, gross establishes subtle, but in reality everything is the other way around, as Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, but the consciousness of an ordinary person is controlled by his karma and everything will happen according to what is inherent in his karma. 

Therefore, all events are a consequence, a person's karma is a cause. The karma of a person pushes him to rallies and protest, and since the karma of people in Kali-yuga is basically sinful, the consequences are predictable, nothing good will come of it.

Then it turns out that the people are hostage to their karma? Yes and no. At any moment, a living entity who is above the gross, subtle and karma can change his destiny, but he will not do this. Why? 

Here we come to a true understanding of everything that happens, which lies at the basis of everything, a living being (jiva) creates for himself the karma he wants. Karma is the consequence, and the jiva is the cause. The living entity itself puts on the shackles of karma. 

How to understand this in the sphere of our events? And that means that the Russians and Putin themselves created the events that happen to them, otherwise they would take the necessary actions day and night to change their karma, which are prescribed by the sastra, at least from sinful to pious, and it would be even better to strive to moksa, or even better to prema. Putin is an actor hired for Russians by the Russians themselves, and Russians are actors hired for Putin by Putin himself. Everyone plays their part in the tragedy called "Russia".

Returning to Putin, his future is not very good: prison, death or leave the country. I repeat, he wanted it himself, even because this happens in business, he, as a businessman, had to understand this, and the Russians wanted such a ruler-businessman, whom they could choose, and then put him in prison, kill him, or send overseas without restitution. 

And in general, this already looks like a tradition, when the rulers in this territory do not finish very well. And the Russians are waiting for hunger, losses, and so on, also nothing good. What do you want? This is Kali-yuga. 

It's time to be realistic. In Kali-yuga, tomorrow is worse than today, how can you then expect something good and bright without trying to change it tomorrow by the methods established by God, but simply hoping? You get nothing but disappointment and problems. "Society of cheaters and cheating" or "Society of hypocrites and fools" - as the Gaudiya Vaishnava acaryas said. 

We came to this again. It is necessary to change this while there is time, but only a few will be saved as predicted, the rest will be grinded down by Kali-yuga. So think about whether to stay inside the wheel of samsara or get out of its influence. Everything is in the hands of a living being: to remain a slave or to become free. 

Here lies the Rubicon, not on the streets with posters "Freedom to Navalny" or the overthrow of Putin. No matter how much you go out into the streets, no matter how much you do Maidan movement, no matter how much you overthrow the government, you will still remain slaves with the shackles of karma, which you have put on yourself. The caged bird chooses its own cage.

[PADA: Yep, there is just too much heavy duty karma floating around here. We cannot stop the flow of karma easily. Even devotees have gone to various protest meetings to supposedly give out books etc., and yet some other devotees said this is bad because we are then branded as supporting the protest. Probably not a good idea?

And ISKCON has the same basic problem as the tamas guna politicians, they have banned, beat, molested, sued and killed people, tamasic guna behaviors. And now the legacy and -- the karma -- of all that will affect and infect the society and the people of that society in various ways. Karma always acts, even if it takes its time. OK might explain, at least in part, the cancer epidemic among so many persons affiliated with ISKCON. 

Anyway, this is an interesting take on events from Russia itself. Something to think about. At the same time another devotee wrote to me, he is more or less in favor of all this is happening, so everyone will start to get away from using oil and creating hell for the climate. Yep, that is why they call karma, the interknitting knot. One entity's misfortune is another's gain. And when we die, all sorts of microbial entities will be very glad, because now they can eat us up without stop, interknitting indeed, hee hee! ys pd]

Prayers (And Funds) For Hladinini (Gofundme)

 https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-hladini-heal-after-brain-surgery?

[PADA: I am not sure who this lady is. Someone sent me the link to post. Lets hope for the best for her future. God speed and good luck. 

Yep, same old story, when the GBC needs $100,000,000 for all sorts of lawsuits, there is plenty of cash on hand. And Jayapataka was trying to gather another $1,000,000 to sue the Prabhupadanugas just two years ago. The only good news is, Jayapataka's "legal in charge" guy Dayarama has got very sick and he is not up to speed with all his giant multi-billion lawsuit plans at present. 

There is evidently always millions and millions on hand for the health care and salaries of the ISKCON upper tier. Ooops! When any of the citizens are in need, even old time GBC faithful like Madhusudana dasa, well suddenly there is not even $5 cents in the cupboard. Odd huh? ys pd] 

angel108b@yahoo.com    

Bhakti Vikas Swami VS "11 Naked Emperors"

Bhakti Vikasa Swami acknowledges Eleven Naked Emperors (henrydoktorski.com)

BHAKTI VIKAS SWAMI (BVKS): 

In discussing guru issues within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, we may wonder, “Why is there so much guru issues anyway? Why is there so much distrust of ISKCON gurus? Give the guys a break!” It has its roots in history, in the short history of ISKCON, particularly in what is known as the zonal-acharya era. There was a period in ISKCON’s history, shortly after the disappearance of Srila Prabhupada. . . . approximately one decade. . . . Really, things became unhinged. . . . Known as the zonal-acharya era.

[PADA: Notice that BVKS never really explains, who started the whole "Zonal Acharya" deviation? How did ISKCON come to worship 11 Zonal Acharyas, when Srila Prabhupada never appointed any acharyas? And notice BVKS says he has had great hopes for his 11 acharyas, but since they were never appointed as acharyas, he has had great hopes for a big lie and a deviation. 

I have great hopes that I will win the lottery, OK that is called gambling and speculation. I also have great hopes the hospital janitor can perform the brain surgery -- ooops, people are going to die then. 

Or maybe BVKS is still saying that Srila Prabhupada made a HUGE mistake and appointed unqualified persons as acharyas, as BVKS has said previously, the 11 are appointed. And how can we say the Zonal Acharya era is over, when people like Jayapataka (BVKS's sannyasa guru) have held the same "Acharya Zones" since 1978? Nothing has changed since the GBC STILL designates Zonal Assignments every year at Mayapur, as they still do now. 

And how could these "totally unhinged" bogus guru persons "2/3 show of hands vote in" another wave of gurus, OK like BVKS? These people are completely unhinged, therefore -- they voted BVKS in as their co-acharya. Very strange idea, we find a group of unhinged people, and we get them to certify me as their co-member guru.

BVKS likes to say any Prabhupada devotee could be a guru, wait, they were almost all kicked out by the BVKS and Lokanath swami program. And Lokanath swami said ISKCON is a ghost town in 1988. How is it that "any of the disciples can become guru," when almost everyone is booted out the door? 

Notice BVKS says that the Zonal Acharya era only lasted a decade. Ummm, nope, the temples were ghost towns in 1988. Really, almost none of the people who were kicked out were invited back. And 1988 is the year Gaura Govinda Maharaja wrote a paper for the GBC, "what happens when your guru is a demon." 

No explanation why Gaura Govinda Maharaja is promoting demons as ISKCON's gurus. Neither has the BVKS program ever explained their offensive 1980 paper "The Mahajanas Have Difficulties." Supposedly, everything was fixed in the first decade, but there is no evidence any of this has ever even been discussed never mind fixed.]  

Distrust of ISKCON gurus . . . most certainly would not have been to the same extent that it is, if the gurus, especially the original eleven, had lived up to what was expected of them. Distrust wasn’t the norm at the beginning. Great trust was placed in them. The mistrust was “earned” if you like. It was a very tough period. It started off with a lot of hope. (I’m speaking from my own personal experience from that period, and from [the experience of] thousands of others.) . . .

[PADA: Ummm nope. People like me have had no "hope" that the 11 are acharyas right from the get go. The GBC's folks had been falling down left, right and center all along from the early 1970s, and there was no indications that process would stop all of a sudden. Moreover in January 1977 Srila Prabhupada said "no more sannyasa, you are making it a laughingstock," which means these same people could not have become acharyas in January of 1978.]

There is a book which has been written about that . . . by Henry Doktorski. The name of the book is Eleven Naked Emperors. I’ve read the book. Henry Doktorski was at one point known as Hrishikesh dasa, a disciple of Kirtanananda Swami. So he also lived through it. He’s written the book in a manner which is trying to be fair, but at the same time, it is influenced by his adherence to the ritvik doctrine which I obviously don’t believe in.

[PADA: Right, the ritviks say that acharyas are not pedophiles, and BVKS does not believe that, because he is currently promoting the Lokanath program -- which has been promoting pedophiles as acharyas since 1978.]

It’s not really necessary for everyone to know about it. It’s not really necessary for everyone in the movement today to even know of all the details of what went on in the zonal-acharya era. We can know that it was a very rough period in ISKCON’s history, just after the departure of Srila Prabhupada.

Henry Doktorski: Why do you think he thinks I advocate the ritvik doctrine? Personally, I have not taken sides on the issue. I appreciate the ritvik walas, but I also appreciate those who prefer to have a guru they can talk to personally.

Henry Doktorski, M.Mus., C.A.G.O.

PADA: Thanks prabhu. First of all, anyone who rejects the GBC guru system is handily branded as a ritvik deviant, their catch all phrase for all doubting Thomas folks. Secondly, the Zonal guru system has never been dismantled. BVKS is the guru for Salem India, Jayapataka is the guru of Mayapur, Gopal Krishna is the guru of Delhi, Bhakti Chaitanya swami is the guru of Durban, etc. 

It seems like BVKS is spinning the truth on all levels. He also did not consult with you, which is the same thing they do with me "well Puranjan says no more pure devotees will appear for the next 10,000 years." OK, but I never said that? 

A pure devotee might appear, might not appear, it is not my job to speculate on the future. They also know you got at least some help and encouragement from us, so that makes you an outcaste too. He is just trying to paint you as a deviant with a wide brush. 

Right now BVKS is himself in the hot seat because his best pal Basu ghosh is promoting a known child molester (Lokanath) as the ISKCON guru of India, and BVKS is being painted as a co-conspirator on this deviation -- ok because he is. They are really on the run. 

Jayadvaita swami was in Los Angeles recently and he was rarely seen and no one knew where he was staying. Sneaking around basically. OK he is hiding. Kavicandra says he cannot come to the USA to face the angry mobs. Ravindra swarupa has not wrote any position papers in a long time. Satsvarupa seems to have lost his last marble rolling around his head etc. 

They are on the run and they see all of us as an enemy and someone to brand as deviated. It is working fine for them, in Salem India, not many other places. Oddly, BVKS is now saying that since they RIGHT NOW cemented their known child molester as a main guru of India, things are getting better and it is all corrected from the so-called zonal days. So -- a Zonal Pedophile guru fixes everything? 

Ummm, making child molesters into gurus was the problem all along, zonal era, this era, and the present time? It has not been fixed, if anything they are doubling down on that deviation. Anyway, you are on their radar now, hah hah. Read it and weep, should be required GBC reading! 

To sum, Bhakti Vikas swami has dedicated his entire life to making ISKCON's little children worship his illicit sex with men, women, children messiahs, and evidently one of his gurus was trying to have sex with a cat. And as soon as BVKS finds a nice homosexual pedophile, sex with cats deviant, or a porno swami, he is with the group that wants to worship these persons in samadhi in the dham, maybe forever. 

That way BVKS can make his homosexual and pedophile worship go on forever, or at least BVKS thinks he can make pedophile worship eternal, hee hee, or at least as long as he can fool people. Why would someone dedicate their entire lives to making little children worship their corrupt and deviant pals i.e. homosexuals, sexual predators, pedophiles, drunks, drug addicts, criminals, orchestrators of murders etc.? Where did Srila Prabhupada say, we need to worship BVKS and his butt buggery sampradaya? OK he never says that, BVKS says that, and he is trying to make that the teaching of Krishna. In other words, BVKS does not have any idea what Krishna is teaching. 

And BVKS says his butt buggery epidemic guru sampradaya is following "the tradition." BVKS anal reconstructive surgery epidemic guru parampara is "the tradition" of whom? Satan? He never explains. ys pd  

ys pd]

OK I GIVE UP! 

Whose Tradition is BVKS Following?

PADA: Yep, thanks "Russia News" prabhu. You are right, many Russian devotees support their nation, and many Ukraine devotees support their nation. Why? They are still not clear from their nationalism identity. Yep. And all of these people are worshiping the poisoners parampara, and the homosexual and pedophile guru process of BVKS. So they are subject to being illusioned the whole while and they still are. Agreed. ys pd 

Dodging the Ukraine Bullet in ISKCON

Mr. Neutral-pada

WHAT IS OUR NEUTRALITY?

QUESTIONNAIRE: There are friends in Ukraine, in Russia, all loyal people have different opinions, and someone believes that these are very favorable events, someone, on the contrary, has a different opinion, and people because of this fight on political ground. And, of course, the right mindset is needed here. How to stay neutral in this situation? How can we remain neutral when we see what is happening around us?

ANSWER: On the one hand, we cannot stay completely neutral, because if we have a "living" human heart, we cannot help but sympathize with people who are in pain, who are afraid, who are in this situation. That is, usually when it comes to some neutrality, there is a picture of some Himalayan yoga that has climbed high, and here it is completely neutral. We must have a human heart and a living emotion, a living answer. You can't be abstracted from this.

But on the other hand, we have to understand that when we go down to that level, to that level of conflict, we do not resolve conflict, we only intensify conflict because we become a truly fighting side ourselves. If we try, again, only to point out the guilty, then the same situation is happening - this is what dharma, bull, says in the First Song of Shrimad Bhagavatam, when he says that if someone points out the guilty, three fingers are looking at him. It aggravates this conflict itself, it increases negative energy.

Our neutrality is not a yoga neutrality, it is not a neutrality of a person who is completely indifferent. This is the neutrality of a living person, a compassionate person who wants to help others. But at the same time, a person who does not accept any party and does not try to resolve conflict by wrong methods, only by increasing the number of enmity and divisions. If we understand this nature of neutrality... Because if we try to implement solid neutrality in our lives, it won't be right either.

And how? Keshawa Maharaj said: This requires contact with the supreme mind. Be it contact with other devotees, or contact with the books of Srila Prabhupada or contact with the holy name. This will help us not to aggravate the conflict, but to be a solution to the conflict, to be a solution for the situation that has arisen, to resolve it.

[PADA: OK, be neutral to any mundane conflict because we teeny peanuts are probably not going to impact it one way or other. Probably true. 

At the same time, the Vedas condemn anyone who is bombing and killing the civilians, that is always forbidden. That does not mean we are taking a side with one party or the other, we are simply agreeing with the Vedas -- no one is authorized to kill -- especially unarmed and non-combatant citizens -- such as women, including pregnant women, and children, babies, old people and other vulnerable citizens. 

In fact if an opposing soldier drops his weapon and runs off the battlefield, we cannot kill that person either. These are the rules of civilized Vedic society. These are the rules, and we either follow them or we don't. The rules do not say -- well it is ok to bomb the civilians in the case where it is now Kali yuga. Ummm, nope, neither we can kill and eat cows on the plea that it is now Kali yuga. 

The rules are the rules. 

Killing civilians is not authorized, it is sinful. It was sinful in the past, it is sinful now, and it will be sinful in future. Any person who neglects these rules will have some heavy karma coming down the pipeline on their heads. That is just the way it is. So we should not tell people it is ok to bypass these rules, when it is not. Telling people to stick to the rules is our job, and that means, we are not fully neutral to these situations. Of course, the whole thing is sad and dreadful for all parties. As it is said, the only winners of the war are the undertakers and grave diggers. ys pd]    

Summary of Ritvik Points (VIDEO)

  http://www.rtvik.org/

Yogi Bhajan's School's Children (VIDEO)

 [PADA: Oh oh. "Corporal punishment was pervasive." "Female children were groomed to be concubines" etc. Yikes pilgrims! ys pd]

Hare Krishna's Ukraine Food Relief (VIDEO)

[PADA: I am all about devotees doing good deeds to others. We need to do a lot more of this to repair all the damage done to Krishna's good name by the GBC's clone heads since 1977. As one devotee said, even if someone paid $5,000,000 to a professional image management company to give Krishna a bad name, they could never do worse than what the GBC has already done to give Krishna a bad name, and they did all their nasty work -- for free. 

Anyway I like this Parasurama fellow, he is on the right track in this effort IMHO. 

Meanwhile, someone wrote me a mean spirited letter saying -- it looks like I am against the Ukraine invasion for no good reason, because -- what about all the bombs dropped by the USA in the past 20 years? Did I forget that? Huh! Ok fair enough. However, anyone dropping bombs on civilians is wrong, and two wrongs do not make a right. 

And! Just because the GBC promotes child molesters as their messiahs and gurus, does not authorize anyone else to do the same thing either. All bomb dropping on civilians is sinful, wherever the bomb dropping is located -- anywhere. No one has a license to commit these crimes against civilian populations. 

In sum, he missed my point. I also fail to see the logic here. The GBC makes molester messiahs, so it is fine to do that same thing elsewhere? Ummm nope. Of course he is right about one thing, civilians are being mistreated all over the place, and I get that. 

That is unfortunately why we hapless fools have been born here into Kali Yuga. We have been very sinful people previously, and so we got dropped into this hot mess -- because it is our destiny. We should not be overwhelmed by all the evils of Kali Yuga, that is true, but we should also not be seen as encouraging or acquiescing with these evils, at least as far as possible.  

ys pd] 

Krishna Kirti On Lokanath's "Five Man Panel"

Essays

Assessing the Five-Man Panel Report in Light of Mimamsa

Posted by By Kṛṣṇa-kīrti dāsa April 8, 2022

Posted in Essays

Assessing the Five-Man Panel Report in Light of Mimamsa

To download the PDF version of this article and the original report titled “Report of the Lokanath Swami Case Panel” (71 pages) and its appendices (213 pages), click on this link.

Table of Contents

Results of the analysis

The only meaningful difference is the approach each side uses to interpretating applicable law

Classifying the textual approaches of the two sides

Majority – Textualist

Minority – Contextualist / Pragmatist

Secular character of the Five-Man Panel Report

Introduction to Mimamsa, the Vedic tradition’s system of textual interpretation

The golden rules of interpretation in Mimamsa

K.L. Sarkar: Introductory Lecture, Class II: The General Principles of Interpretation

Is the Minority’s approach to interpreting text the correct method?

Must we use Mimamsa?

Distinguishing Mimamsa from Karma-mimamsa

Results of the analysis

The only meaningful difference is the approach each side uses to interpretating applicable law

As per “Report of the Lokanath Swami Case Panel” (henceforward, the Five-Man Panel Report), both the Majority and Minority agree on 1) the material facts of the case, 2) the history of how the case had been conducted, 3) and what are the applicable laws. The Majority and Minority opinions are in full agreement on this much, and this covers the first 22 pages of the 71 page report. 

The only meaningful aspect of the report that merits scrutiny are the different approaches, or theories, of textual interpretation that the Minority and Majority use to reach their opposite conclusions. The Minority explicitly names a theoretical approach that they use for interpreting applicable law, and interpretations produced by this approach form the basis of their dissent. And although the Majority does not say they relied on any particular theory of textual interpretation, unstated assumptions on their part about how to interpret applicable law are nevertheless operative and well understood. 

It is unnecessary to examine the final decisions each side has made, since they proceed from their different ways of interpreting GBC laws. Hence, in order assess which side has more merit, it is necessary only to consider the different approaches to textual interpretation used by each side.

The question then, is which approach to textual interpretation is most suitable for this case? This can be best answered by first classifying the approach each side uses, then assessing the relative merits of each, and then comparing the two approaches with the Mimamsa system of interpretation, which is the system that our ācāryas use.

Classifying the textual approaches of the two sides

Majority – Textualist

The Majority’s approach to interpreting applicable law is clearly “textualist.” As described by Frank Cross in his book The Theory and Practice of Statutory Interpretation (2009),

"The simplest and most straightforward approach to statutory interpretation is to decide based on the text of the statute passed by Congress." And it is “grounded in the fundamental principle that judges should give effect to what the legislature actually promulgates in statutory text and not go beyond those words with judicial discretion. . . . (Cross 24)

A sign that the Majority prefers a textualist approach is its insistence that the intent of the GBC be inferred from their own written statutes.

We cannot sanction re-writing the 2007 GBC resolution concerning leadership restrictions ̨on cases decided by the CPO to cover any child abuse decisions. If that was what the GBC intended, it should have said so. And if that is what it wants now, it should amend that resolution. (50)

Also, the Minority criticizes the Majority for their “literal” (i.e. textualist) interpretation.

In considering whether a case previously dealt with by the GBC or one of its agents should be re-opened by the Task Force / CPO particularly that of whether a sentence that has been imposed is “clearly inappropriate” warrants more than a literal interpretation of the words that form this criteria. (55)

The Majority is textualist in its approach to interpreting statues governing the case.

Minority – Contextualist / Pragmatist

In their dissent, the Minority says that the legislative history of the GBC’s statutes pertaining to child abuse and child protection should be reviewed, along with specific CPO policies and rulings in other abuse cases. They say that this is necessary because it provides additional context that the text of the applicable law does not give and will give us a better idea of what the GBC law really prescribes.

To interpret a text in its context includes the intra-textual context and the enactment as a whole (in this case to ascertain whether the case should be re-opened) as well as the extra-textual context i.e. the rest of the existing law and other contextual considerations that might be applicable (in this case the purpose of the task force and the establishment of the CPO for the addressing of allegations of child abuse to be dealt with properly and consistently). (57)

[PADA: This keeps happening over and over -- there are people who keep saying that the Lokanath case was investigated already, resolved, and a consensus of conclusions / findings / results / verdicts were reached. And as such, further discussion are now "re-opening the case." No, the case was never handed off the the CPO. There never has been any actual independent investigation, or conclusion. Ever! It is not re-opening -- if it was never opened! 

Of course, why is Lokanath participating in an illicit sex with men, women and children and / or homosexual pedophile "guru lineage" in the first place is another issue. In other words, none of these issues are being resolved all along.] 

The Minority calls this the “text in context” approach to statutory interpretation (60). 

[PADA: This is another false idea. The worshipers of pure devotees are "the minority fringe." Nope. Lokanath's people who want to worship pedophiles are the minority fringe. The ISKCON GBC's pro-pedophile guru parampara -- molester messiah's etc. -- are a teeny fraction of the devotee community, and the world population, they are a teeny cult faction. Devotees in UK just made a new Krishna temple and they invited in some Babaji from india, they did not invite any ISKCON dignitaries.  

Almost everyone else has jumped ISKCON's ship a long time ago. The majority of people want to worship a pure devotee and NOT illicit sex deviants. Even Lokanath himself said that ISKCON is turning into an empty shell, a ghost town, in 1988. OK he already knew all along his pedophile worship cult is making ISKCON into an empty ghost town, with lots of evidence of temples with almost no one attending the morning programs, temples trying to hire cooks, pujaris and etc. because most people left. More leave all the time.]

It is also known by some as the “Legislative History” approach, which includes a plurality of different methods (the “mischief rule” cited by the Minority is but one among many rules used in this approach). As per Cross,

The basic theoretical case for consideration of legislative history lies in a broader theory about the importance of “intentionalism” in statutory interpretation. Per this theory, the court’s objective should be to ascertain the legislature’s intent underlying the statute and ideally how the legislature would have intended this particular statutory interpretation case to be decided. The judge basically inquires into the question of how the legislature would have meant for the instant case to be resolved, had it explicitly considered that case. 

Joseph Raz argues that since the legislature has the lawmaking power, the law must be presumed to be what it intended to enact. The interpretation of such a law would be legitimate only insofar as it reflected that enacted intent. (Cross 59)

The purpose of this approach is to understand the legislators’ intent behind their statute—especially in cases where the legislation itself is not clearly expressed. Though in wide use, this approach is not uncontroversial, and it continues to be the focus of substantial criticism.

Perhaps the best known cynical comment on legislative history refers to its use as like “looking over a crowd and picking out your friends.” Consideration of the legislative materials allegedly allows “judges to pick and choose from the diverse opinions found in much legislative history, and thereby reach result-oriented decisions.” 

A review of securities law opinions concluded that legislative history was used by the justices “for post hoc rationalization of a conclusion reached on other grounds.” Yet the degree to which use of legislative history allows such manipulation, as opposed to other interpretive theories, is an unproven empirical question. (Cross 80)

The Majority in fact criticized the Minority for trying to bypass parts of GBC statutes in order to get the result they wanted.

The “clearly inappropriate” standard that the Task Force Report thus provided for reviewing the prior sentences is not a technicality or loophole, but rather a fundamental principle of law. One can only imagine the chaos if every punishment issued by decision-makers in our world — be they criminal judge or ecclesiastical body — were subject to increase or decrease merely because another decision-maker, years later, believed a different punishment was more appropriate; (50)

[PADA: Lokanath and his handlers all promised the victim that he would never hold a prominent position in ISKCON henceforward. That was the alleged "punishment" for the crime that everyone supposedly agreed to originally, and that was never enforced self evidently. There is no point in making agreements or legislation if there is no intention to follow up. 

In sum! No actual "sentence" for Lokanath's crime of child molesting was ever factually implemented. Nor was the so-called agreed to sentence of banning Lokanath from posts of authority ever really enforced, or even publicly advertised, which created mass confusion later when Lokanath disciples discovered he had been previously investigated for child molesting.]

But there is reason to believe that the Minority is not so interested in understanding the actual intent of the GBC’s 1993 statute. There is no question that the GBC in 1993 did not want to place any permanent ban on Mahārāja. That is why temporary restrictions were placed on him, not permanent ones.

[PADA: The GBC in 1993 was already creating a growing suicide epidemic among their molesting victims. And! How can the guru be the successor to God, and be censured for being a child molester, simultaneously? When did Srila Prabhupada say the guru is going to be voted in, voted out, monitored, suspended, censured, removed, excommunicated and so forth? And child molester messiahs can thus be "suspended from initiating" when they never had the potency to initiate anyone from square one.]

What the Minority really wants to the GBC to do is simply do what the Minority thinks is “the right thing,” regardless of what the GBC might have said or written in the past. In other words, outcomes are what matters, not what prior, expressed intent might have been. This is the Pragmatist approach to textual interpretation.

[PADA: It is not even pragmatic to keep a child molester in the post of acharya and Krishna's guru successor. It is causing thousands and thousands of people to doubt the whole religion, abandon ISKCON, and it is alienating if not infuriating the existing victims all the more.]

Perhaps the most controversial contemporary theory of statutory interpretation is pragmatism. Unlike the theories discussed in the above chapters, pragmatism does not rely on particular legislative materials or particular interpretive rules that constrain judicial discretion. By contrast, pragmatism embraces judicial discretion and seeks to direct it toward the best outcome for society. 

Pragmatic interpretation may reject as fiction the claim that judges merely “interpret” the pre-existing defined law, contending that judges are partners in creating the law that governs America. As such, judges should dedicate their efforts to creating the wisest rules of law. (Cross 102)

Some further consideration of the history and philosophical tenets of Pragmatism will help show why the Minority’s approach to textual interpretation is better understood as Pragmatist, though there is much overlap with a Legislative Historical approach.

Pragmatism is distinguished from other theories by its broader philosophical pedigree. It developed in the latter part of the nineteenth century in the United States. It developed in the latter part of the nineteenth century in the United States. Pragmatism evolved out of a small group of Massachusetts intellectuals, including lawyers, who called themselves the Metaphysical Club. 

They included William James, John Dewey, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. Rather than pursuing a notion of absolute truth, the [103] pragmatists simply sought to find “what worked” in the world. The philosophy was a consequentialist one. 

The morality of action was grounded in its consequences, and action was evaluated based upon its results. The theory is plainly instrumentalist and abandons all pretenses that the law is a self-contained system ruled by logic. For Holmes, law was not based on a “syllogism” but on the “felt necessities of the time,” and “intuitions of public policy, avowed or unconscious.” This may be what Alexander Hamilton meant when he spoke of the important role of the judiciary in “civilizing” statutes. (102 – 103)

William James, also a pioneer in the (then) new field of Psychology, described the “cash value” of some statement or outcome as the only thing that counted as truth. 

[PADA: Yes, that is the consensus, the GBC keeps their bogus gurus to keep the cash flow coming in. It is the "cash value main concern," and not the moral or spiritual value.]

For James, theories themselves were of no consequence. In his book Pragmatism (1907), in which he explains its philosophical tenets, he declares that if a theistic or non-theistic account of the universe were to succeed equally in describing the universe as we experience it, then he would consider both theories to be of equal worth, to have equal “cash value.”

Hence, the Minority suggests numerous, different ways that the GBC could somehow ban Lokanatha Mahārāja as an initiating spiritual master or allow the CPO to retry the case, which would assuredly result in Mahārāja being banned from initiating.

[PADA: Badrinarayan says Maharaja is addicted to initiating. So the whole problem is, the GBC has become addicted to promoting false gurus to keep the economic status quo.]

(Point 1) Argues that because the GBC’s initial ruling was “decided on administrative standards,” they could just reopen the case and rule that Mahārāja’s ban on initiating be permanent. (53)

(Point 2) That the “clearly inappropriate” standard could be read in a different way through the application of a “text in context” approach to statutory interpretation in order to allow the case to be reopened. (55)

(Point 3) Ex-post-facto law: The GBC could simply add a condition to the 1998 Child Protection Task Force Report’s criteria that would allow the case to be reopened.

(Point 4) Use a double-jeopardy exception that had been discontinued by the GBC in 2009. (62)

(Point 5) Argues that that “finality of judgment” does not apply to GBC decisions, because they are administrative, not judicial. (62)

(Point 6) Just reopen the case on any pretext. (63) As said by the Minority, “In short, there are many valid and acceptable reasons why an administrative decision can be changed or amended.” (64)

Etc. (the Minority gives further suggestions not mentioned here)

So, the Minority’s “spamming” the report with numerous, more or less creative suggestions for getting the case against Mahārāja reopened, or just even outright banning Mahārāja from initiating, without regard for actual intent of past legislation, and for the sake of bringing about what the Minority thinks is the right outcome, shows that the Minority’s approach to statutory interpretation is also as Pragmatic, though that also includes legislative history (“text in context”) as a tool in the Pragmatic interpretive toolbox.

[PADA: Well yep, it is very pragmatic to keep molesters OUT OF the guru seat, or the whole religion becomes a laughing stock, or worse, considered a dangerous child molesting cult with child molesting gurus.]

Secular character of the Five-Man Panel Report

Aside from the fundamental role of specific theories of textual interpretation, another remarkable feature of the report is its thoroughly secular character.  The only references to anything in śāstra or something Śrīla Prabhupāda said are from his Gītā commentary on ślokas 9.30 and 31 (cited on page 35, and in its entirety in Appendix T) and excerpts from some conversations (Appendix U). 

[PADA: Right, the GBC makes long winded "secular" analysis of all sorts of things, without quoting Srila Prabhupada, or quoting him out of context etc.]

And these were used only by the report to clarify what was meant by the assessments of Mahārāja’s behavior, made by the original 1993 Committee and by representatives of Child Abuse Prevention Behaviour Associates, Inc. (the “CAP Team”). Nothing else in the more than 280 pages of the report and appendixes seems to rely on these references.

While no one, including Mahārāja himself, disputes that Mahārāja’s offense occurred because of negligence in following the rules and regulations of dharma and bhakti, the remarkable thing is that hardly anyone who has been involved in conducting this case or in reviewing it seems to have ever questioned whether the exercise of justice itself has been in accord with the principles of dharma and bhakti.

The fact is -- that the report’s Minority party, in accordance with secular legalistic principles and secular principles of textual interpretation, is aggressively recommending all manner of legislative maneuvers just to obtain a particular outcome against Mahārāja. In a similar manner, secular societies are constantly adjusting their own laws in order to produce some good result yet always end up creating social unrest and chaos.

[PADA: So the only option left for people who disagree with the GBC program of making child molesters into messiahs is to create social unrest. OK and that is common when corrupt regimes oppress the citizens. Agreed.]

“The Vedic principles (mahājano yena gataḥ sa panthāḥ) urge us to follow in the footsteps of great liberated souls. In this way we can receive benefit in both this life and the next, and we can also improve our material life. . . . 

In democratic government at the present moment all kinds of fools and rascals are making decisions. But what can they do? What is the result of their legislation? They enact something today just to whimsically repeal it tomorrow.” (SB 4.14.4)

“The demons, therefore, do not accept any instruction which is good for society, and because they do not follow the experience of great sages and the rules and regulations laid down by the sages, the social condition of the demoniac people is very miserable.” (BG 16.7)

Consequently, the social unrest that has accompanied this case for the past thirty years seems to be increasing, not decreasing. That should at least raise some suspicion that the execution of justice within ISKCON may be to some degree opposed to the principles of dharma and bhakti, not in accord with them. Bringing our system of justice in line with Vedic principles would reduce the problem of social unrest.

[PADA: Correct. If the GBC has followed their own rules, to get Lokanath off of any post of authority, they might have dodged a bullet for some time. However the next question is, why are child molester prone people being made into GBC gurus in the first place. That question then emerges. Which means, they are certifying unqualified persons as their gurus all along, while the cover up of their misdemeanors and crimes gurus is simply a component part of that issue.]

It so happens that within the Vedic tradition, there is an extensive tradition of theory and practice of law as well as advanced principles of textual interpretation. In particular, the Vedic science of interpreting texts is called Mimansa, and it is used wherever there is need of interpreting difficult passages or resolving them.

[PADA: Child molesters are not gurus, not God's successors, and so forth. This is not a difficult passage that needs a lot of debate.]

Moreover, ācāryas within our own disciplic succession use mimamsa to harmonize texts with one another or to clarify the meaning of esoteric passages. As will be shown in the next sections, matters that will remain forever controversial within the framework of Western secular law are easily resolved by mimamsa.

When there are conflicting statements, we must decide which is stronger and which weaker. This relative strength and weakness applies to differences between one scripture and another as well as to different statements within a single scripture.

What was the existing law (the legal position) before the legislation in question was adopted? ii. Which problem (mischief or defect) was not adequately addressed before the new legislation (in this case the CPO Guidelines) was adopted? iii. What remedy is proposed by the new legislation to solve this problem? iv. What is the true reason for the proposed remedy? (59)

This shows that Sarkar’s criticism of the English system directly addresses the issue as to whether the Minority’s interpretive approach is justified, or whether even the Majority’s approach is justified. What we have seen in the report is that both the Majority and Minority have accused each other of using inappropriate methods of interpreting GBC laws. 

[PADA: But the GBC is defective, and therefore the laws they are making are defective. At the same time, they do not even follow the laws they make anyway, making their own laws not only defective but null and void from the get go. A law that is not followed, and not enforced, is not a law at all. It is simply a waste of ink and paper.] 

Is the Minority’s approach to interpreting text the correct method?

[PADA: No, the people who do not worship homosexuals, illicit sex with men, women and children, crooks, drug addicts, drunks, porno swamis and / or pedophiles etc. on the planet are the majority, never the minority.]

The Minority’s dissent rests primarily on an interpretation of GBC laws that utilizes a wide variety of sources in addition to the text of the laws themselves. And they not only criticize the Majority’s literal interpretation of GBC statutes but also go to great lengths to argue for the use of a much broader interpretation.

[PADA: Nope. The minority (the non-pedophile guru folks who worship pure devotees) really do not care about GBC legislation and laws, since the GBC does not follow their own laws anyway. Moreover a guru is not subordinated to GBC statutes and rules anyway, the guru gets dictation from Krishna and not some bogus committee.] 

In this regard, the (GBC) Majority’s approach to interpretation, “textualism,” or literalism, in mimamsa is the Śruti principle of construction. As described by Sarkar. “. . . where the writing exhibits the statement of an independent proposition in clear grammatical language couched in terms of unambiguous meaning, that proposition must be accepted and acted on as it is, however disagreeable or objectionable it maybe to those who are called upon to interpret the writing.”

[PADA: The GBC spokesman Jayadvaita swami already says that their gurus are often fallen into illicit sex with men, women and maybe children. That is the text of their idea, but Srila Prabhupada says -- anyone who thinks gurus are fallen is a demon who is going to hell, and it is thus one of the ten offenses to say gurus are ordinary and fallen. They can write whatever texts they want to, but unless they follow the texts of the Vedas, they go to hell, and so do their followers.]

Must we use Mimamsa?

Finally, it may also be said that there may be some approach to interpretation that is useful but not governed by mimamsa. To a significant extent, this is true, as vyākaraṇa (grammar) and nyāyā (logic) also deal with interpretation, but each within their own domains. And different fields such as dharma have their own rules regarding hierarchies of pramāṇas (evidences) and how they are to be understood and reconciled. So, vyākaraṇa (grammar), mīmāṁsā (textual interpretation), nyāyā (logic), along with śabda (Vedic literature) together constitute a comprehensive system of pramāṇa in which all kinds of evidences may be reconciled. In other words, pramāṇa–śāstra is a comprehensive and scientific system of epistemology with universal application—on the vyāsāsana, in the laboratory, and in court rooms and legislative assemblies.

[PADA: OK so pedophiles should sit on Vyasasanas because of the Vedic process of mimamsa? Umm, nope, there are no pedophiles in bona fide guru paramparas ever sitting in Vyasa seats found in the Vedas.]   

Within the Śrī Vaiṣṇava sampradāya there was a great ācārya known as Vedānta Deśika. He began writing a commentary on Pūrva-mīmāṁsā-sūtras, and it is known as Seśvara-mīmāṁsa (seśvara = sa-īśvara, lit. “with God”), which explains that how the mīmāṁsā-sūtras establish that there is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, īśvara, not nirīśvara. The point is that the Mīmāṁsa–sūtras are not at all opposed to Vaiṣṇavism or bhakti. If it were, the great ācāryas, including those in our own sampradāya, would not have accepted its authority.

[PADA: OK which authorized guru sampradaya contains illicit sex with men, women and children, found in the Vedas? ys pd angel108b@yahoo.com]

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