Beautiful Bhajan (Video)

The Journey Home: How Radhanatha Achieved Zero Gravity

[PADA: Yes it is very odd -- to say the least -- that Radhanath swami is still being promoted so heavily by the GBC's leaders of corrupted ISKCON. Wasn't Radhanath a key henchman / leading player in the criminal regime known as "Srila Bhaktipada's New Vrndavana"? 

Wasn't that place connected to all sorts of crimes including child molesting, if not paying hit men for murders, drug dealing, women exploiting, and it had to be raided by the police? And the police found all sorts of other crimes had been going on there? And later New Vrndavana folks were listed in a $400,000,000 child molesting lawsuit, to which their leaders apparently all pleaded "no contest" i.e. they are guilty? And then ISKCON had to declare itself bankrupt to avoid paying for the lawsuit? These are the people ISKCON needs to put forward as their best leaders and managers? 

And so on and so forth! 

And then, Radhanath writes are cracker pots book full of speculation and mayavadism. And worse -- he then helps bury the stinky corpse of Kirtanananda, the God father of the criminal New Vrndavana program, in a samadhi in the holy dham. And then Bhakti Vikas swami writes a complaint about the cracker pots Radhanath book, but then recants and starts to glorify Radhanath once again, knowing full well that Radhanath is part of all this corruption. 

Notice that Bhakti Vikas swami appears to have no problem with the process of burying the corpses of dead pedophiles and porno swamis in the dham? And this BVKS is the guy Hanuman Croatia thinks is the hero of ISKCON, among the main boot lickers of the pedophile's samadhi program?

And then people wonder why there is a growing sense that these GBC's are perhaps, residents of the "ungodly" lower planets (see below). Yep, we said that Radhanath was compromised with a bogus if not molester messiah's program a long time ago, its seems that others are finally catching up to speed on these things. That is good news. Better late than never. ys pd]   


The Journey Home: How Radhanatha Achieved Zero Gravity

BY: KALIYA MARDANA DASA BRAHMACHARY

Yet thanks to the GBC's promotion of this sort of vacuous tripe, The Journey Home has become a historical first in the Gaudiya sampradaya. It represents the first time in the tradition's long history that a book profusely gushing with shunyavadi detritus has been widely accepted by our lineage's so-called spiritual leaders.

Either the GBC is:

(1) Completely absorbed in Maya due to being enamored by their own supposed advancement; or they are

(2) Too busy with their self-importance and public image to any longer read Shrila Prabhupada's books and try to understand what is in them; or they are

(3) Agents from some ungodly region of hell where it's OK to contradict your guru; or they are

(4)Just plain stupid.

It would be nice to hear a reasonable-sounding defense from the GBC for their love affair with The Journey Home but, as usual, all that we peons of the rank-and-file can expect from our fearless leaders lounging in their ivory towers is their deafening silence, ornamented as it is with their alternating toothy grins and tearful, throbbing looks of compassion.

On the other hand it is natural that an impersonal GBC should adore The Journey Home. Radhanatha's book contains zero philosophy, and glorifies spiritual suicide in the form of shunyavada. In the same way, the empty heads on the GBC likewise have zero gumption when it comes to keeping Mayavada out of the society they are sworn to protect. Birds of a feather merge into the void together, and under the hollowness of the GBC leadership the entire ISKCON will be absorbed into the non-existence of shunyavada in a very short time. Poof.

Fallen Living Entities From Spiritual World (SP video)

http://krishna1008.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-false-version-of-jaiva-dharma-being.html

My Involvement in the Sulochan Murder (Jyotidhama dasa)

[PADA: Very much appreciate this heart felt admission. He says he has been "in denial" for a long time, and that seems to be a standard feeling of a lot of these people who went along with the gang of 11 gurus. At this point, some are admitting, some are not, but the facts of the story seem to getting squeezed out gradually by one method or another. 

Among the last things Sulochan told me was, "I have to go to Los Angeles, if we stay together they will get both of us at once, and there will be no one left to tell the police the real story. And, I will probably never see you again." He had a clear premonition, they were coming after us to kill us. And thus he would not be here to see me again. In short, his body would be dead, and soon.  

After Sulochan was murdered, my friend at the local police came over and told me the FBI had found a note with a description of my vehicle in the pocket of the hit man who killed Sulochan. And the FBI had told my police friend "he is next on their hit list." ys pd]  


My Involvement in the Conspiracy to Murder Steven Bryant (Sulochan dasa)

Reflections by the New Vrindaban Telephone Man

Jyotirdhama dasa (Joseph Pollock, Jr.)


March 21, 2019 (Gaura-Purnima)
Richland, Washington

I was right in the middle of events that happened at New Vrindaban, West Virginia, in 1985 and 1986. My service to the New Vrindaban community put me squarely in the middle of everything that happened then. I managed the communications systems, the main office, mail services and sound systems. Out of all of my responsibilities, maintenance of the community telephone system was my number one priority. My other responsibilities evolved from the installation of the phone system.

The telephone system was an ITT STS-16; a first generation, computerized PBX (Private Branch Exchange) that was capable of generating 1,024 analog extensions. Gaura Shakti dasa, my immediate supervisor, bought the PBX used in 1983; he and I drove to Dallas, Texas; picked it up and brought it back to New Vrindaban. We installed the telephone system near the community business offices in an area known as Bahulaban; about three miles from the temple. Suddenly New Vrindaban had its very own functional, state of the art, computerized, business telephone system. Kirtanananda Swami Bhaktipada, the ISKCON guru who was in charge of New Vrindaban (sometimes respectively referred to as “Number One”), called me “Krishna’s telephone man.”

Gaura Shakti then purchased at auction, and oversaw the installation of, more than seven miles of copper twisted pair, direct burial telephone cable. The seven miles of cable connected most of the community to that one big, centralized telephone system. The brick factory extension was farthest from the PBX, about five miles from Bahulaban. Directly wiring extensions five miles from a PBX is unheard of, even today; but somehow it all worked. At peak there were just over one hundred analog extensions installed.

Once the PBX was up and running I installed its Attendant Console in an office on the ground floor of the business administration building in Bahulaban. I then hired and supervised two non-devotee hourly workers, one full time and one part time, to provide centralized answering for the entire community. I was the backup. The first Attendant hired was Bonnie Carney. Bonnie was hired with the understanding that her family situation would only allow her to work from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM; Monday through Friday. 

Bonnie was great, she was like a rock. To this day she may still be the best live call attendant I’ve ever worked with. She took her job seriously; was always enthusiastic and always very professional. Bonnie made it easy for me to adjust the part time attendant’s hours around seasonal workload fluctuations. Incoming calls for New Vrindaban businesses, Prabhupada’s Palace, the Palace Lodge, the temple, etc., all rang in at the main console, were then answered by the attendant, and transferred to the requested extension via the main cable. The telephone office became known as the Front Office, the Attendant Console was called the “switchboard,” and the attendants became known as “switchboard operators.”

Next we installed a law enforcement quality Motorola UHF-FM 2-way radio system and put the base unit (central answering point) next to the switchboard. The switchboard operators became radio dispatchers too. With the hubs of both communications systems sitting side by side it was a rare day when we could not locate a specific individual anywhere within the thousands of acres that made up New Vrindaban in those days. After the telephones and radios were up and running smoothly, management saw the Front Office as an obvious location to centralize community mail services. 

A US Postal Service bulk mail metering machine was placed in a room behind the Front Office. Community business mail was delivered there, and we did shipping and receiving. Spring, summer, and fall, the office was abuzz with activity. Winter was normally our down time.

Although being right in the middle of the daily action at New Vrindaban, I was not a very prominent figure in the community. That was fine with me. I preferred to stay in the background, perfect my trade, and serve the devotees as best as I could. I was very happy with my service and thought I would never leave New Vrindaban. But after Bhaktipada was assaulted and almost died on October 27, 1985, everything changed at New Vrindaban. When Steven Bryant (Sulochan dasa), an ex-New Vrindaban resident, was killed in May of 1986 in a murder plot engineered by New Vrindaban upper management — that was the beginning of the end of the Bhaktipada and Kuladri (New Vrindaban temple president) reign. After that, I wanted out.

Bhaktipada sent me out on the “pick” (fund raising) shortly after Sulochan was murdered. This came as a complete surprise to me. I didn’t know exactly why Bhaktipada wanted to send “Krishna’s telephone man” out on the road (I wasn’t an exceptional “picker”) but I gladly complied. I was happy to get away from the madness that had overtaken New Vrindaban by then, and I never asked, “Why?” I just said, “Okay.” 

(While writing this essay and reflecting on those days, it now becomes crystal clear to me exactly WHY I was sent out on the road. The conspirators, including Bhaktipada, all knew that I was aware of the identities of the plotters. I suspect that after Sulochan was murdered, Kuladri approached Bhaktipada and asked him to send me out on the road, probably to get me away from New Vrindaban, lest law enforcement or FBI investigators came to the community and interviewed me. Under questioning I might have spilled the beans, so to speak, and implicated the other conspirators. Getting sent out on the road on traveling sankirtan would make it much more difficult for the FBI to find me.)

A year later, in 1987, my wife and I moved to Minneapolis to help with the New Vrindaban satellite center there. In 1989 we moved back to New Vrindaban. I left New Vrindaban (and my wife) for good in 1990. I buried the memories of 1985 and 1986 far deep in my subconscious mind and moved on with my life. Decades passed. Within a relatively short time I had forgotten about my involvement in the assassination of my God brother, Sulochan dasa. Three decades passed.

Then, in March of 2018, I began reading “Killing for Krishna,” a recently-published book written by Henry Doktorski (Hrishikesh dasa) chronicling the events leading up to (and after) the killing of Sulochan dasa on May 22, 1986. I was curious about what Hrishikesh had to say about events that I had lived through. As I read his book I started to remember that I had some involvement in the murder plot, but at first I could not remember what that involvement was precisely as my memories had been submerged in my subconscious mind.

I emailed Hrishikesh because I wanted to tell him that I was involved, but I could not remember how. There was something buried in the deep recesses of my mind that I could not remember, and reading his book was jogging that memory. As I read the book and exchanged emails with Hrishikesh, I began experiencing deep emotional pain. The pain was so intense that I stopped reading the book and stopped sending emails to Hrishikesh, although he tried to contact me again several times. At the time, I did not know why reading his book was causing me such emotional distress.

I did not message Hrishikesh again until January of 2019. I resumed communicating with him via email because that little voice inside of me kept telling me that I had to patch things up with him. We had been friends since the 1980s, and there was no rational reason why I should have abruptly stopped messaging him. When I started writing to Hrishikesh again, I began telling him about my complicity in the murder of Sulochan dasa. Every time I wrote to Hrishikesh, more memories surfaced and when I wrote those memories down, more came out. Thirty-three year old, deeply hidden memories started coming back to me in bits and pieces; all jumbled up.

I never really forgot that I had been involved in the murder. I just buried the memories so deep in my mind that I had to work hard to remember just what I had done. Krishna says in Bhagavad Gita: “From Me comes knowledge, remembrance and forgetfulness.” Krishna provided the forgetfulness it took to almost totally forget; but He also, quite unexpectedly, decades later provided me with clear memories of what happened in 1986. Eventually it all came back to me. Hrishikesh was the first person I ever told about my complicity in the murder; my son was the second. Now, for the first time in the thirty-three years since the murder happened, I am telling the entire story of how I participated (was implicated) in the murder of my God brother, His Grace Sulochan dasa.

Let me first offer my obeisances to my spiritual master His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, from whom I accepted diksa initiation at New Vrindaban in 1976; as witnessed by His Grace Dharmatma dasa, my temple president at the time. What I am going to say now may be unpleasant for some of my God brothers, the murder conspirators (we all know who they are by now, Hrishikesh got it right in his book) but I mean no harm to anyone. Now I must simply tell the truth about what happened back then. I am going to speak the truth about how I was involved in the Sulochan murder no matter what the consequences are. The time to speak is now.

I first became involved with the murder plot in early February of 1986. I can’t remember the exact date anymore, but one overcast, chilly morning I was asked to open the Front Office about an hour before normal business hours began; which was 8:00 AM. Sometime after 7:00 AM I went to the Bahulaban office and unlocked the front door. I stepped through the doorway, but did not have a chance to turn the lights on because Gaura Shakti, a senior New Vrindaban devotee— a department head who was a fine electrician, came through the door right behind me. I moved to my left, behind the counter to make room for him, he stepped around the counter too and said that he needed to talk to me about something important. He asked me if I was aware that Sulochan dasa had recently arrived in the New Vrindaban area and was making threats on the lives of Bhaktipada and Kuladri. I said, “Yes.”

Then Gaura Shakti told me that upper management wanted to keep an eye on Sulochan, so he and some other New Vrindaban devotees were following him. He said that the surveillance team was having some difficulty staying with Sulochan because of poor telephone communications (no cell phones in those days). They needed a central call-in point to be able to coordinate their movements. Gaura asked me if I would be willing to help them fix the problem. I said “Sure, I’ll help if you’re just going to follow him.” Mind you, we were standing in a dark office. Gaura Shakti hesitated for a second then someone stepped into the doorway. I remember it well.

There was early morning daylight outside so the person in the doorway was sharply silhouetted as he stepped into the dark office. I knew immediately that it was Kuladri, the New Vrindaban temple president who was known as “Number Two.” (Bhaktipada was known as “Number One.”) Kuladri’s silhouetted form appeared dramatically in the office doorway. He entered the office and stood across the counter from Gaura Shakti and I. We exchanged pleasantries, then Kuladri asked why we were standing in the dark, I said “I just haven’t had a chance to turn the lights on yet.” He said “Well you better turn them on before someone thinks we’re up to something.” I could see his crooked smirk even in the dark and heard Gaura chuckle. Gotta laugh at the boss’s joke, right?

Gaura turned the lights on. Kuladri turned to Gaura and said “Did you tell him what we’re planning?” Gaura Shakti said “some.” This “some” was my first inkling that something more than just watching Sulochan was intended. Kuladri turned to me and said “So what do you think Jyotir? Do you want to help us?” I hesitated because I sensed that I had not been told everything. Before I could respond, Kuladri said, “It’s all set. Everything’s in place. The swamis are on board. Gaura is helping with surveillance. We just need your help with the telephones.” To me “the swamis are on board” meant that Radhanath swami and Tapahpunja swami were active participants. Kuladri did not say that “the swamis” gave their blessings or condoned the plan; he said that they were “on board.” I said “I’ll do whatever I can to help.” By then I was pretty sure that I had not been told everything.

Kuladri said “Good. We just need you to keep an eye on incoming calls and be ready to man the switchboard when we need you. Gaura or I will let you know when. Okay?” I said “Okay.” Kuladri said “Anything else?” Gaura said “A couple of things’” Then we talked about keeping incriminating conversations off of the incoming phone lines because we believed our telephones were being tapped by law enforcement; and keeping plot related information off of the two-way radios. Kuladri said, “Any questions should go through Gaura Shakti.” Gaura, Kuladri and I had been working on establishing effective communications at New Vrindaban as the community boomed in the early 1980s; this meeting was like the three of us were just discussing another managerial decision.

When he was satisfied that his communications problem had been solved Kuladri left the office. Gaura Shakti went around the counter towards the front door. He stopped and turned towards me. We stood eye to eye across the counter from each other and I said, “Is there something else you want to tell me?” He said, “They are going to kill him. I was supposed to tell you before Kuladri came in, but he came in too soon.” I was stunned and could only say “Really?” Gaura Shakti said, “Yes, Radhanath Maharaja is preaching that Sulochan is a demon and needs to be transmigrated to his next body.” I was very upset. I was visibly upset.

Gaura noticed my emotional distress, and asked ”Are you okay? Do you still want to help?” I said half heartedly “Yeah, I guess so.” Gaura said “Okay. I have to get to work; we’ll let you know when we need something. Haribol.” And with that he turned and left. Needless to say, that conversation ruined my day. Just like that, without the deep reflection which should have preceded such a monumental life-changing, life-ending decision, without even thinking about the consequences, I became involved in a murder plot.

I did not want to be involved in this murder conspiracy, yet I had just agreed to aid and abet “any way I can.” I remember questioning in my mind why I had said that. Was it because I wasn’t told it was a murder plot until after Kuladri left the office? Whatever my reasoning to agree to “help in whatever way I can,” there was still time for me to get out. Bonnie came in to start her shift and I left the office. 

I was severely conflicted about what to do. I knew that I had a very small window to get out. As the day wore on I weighed my options. If I decided not to take part in the plot. I would have to leave New Vrindaban immediately without telling anyone, even my wife. (We had been paired by Bhaktipada a year earlier, in 1985.) 

I knew that my wife would not go with me if I left New Vrindaban. Although she received diksa from Srila Prabhupada in 1977 in India, I believe, she (and I) took second initiation from Bhaktipada during a festival in 1986. After her brahmin initiation she became a fanatical Bhaktipada groupie and considered herself to be a Bhaktipada disciple. My primary allegiance, on the other hand, was to Srila Prabhupada. I knew she wasn’t going to believe any evidence, however convincing, that painted her beloved spiritual father in a less-than-favorable light.

If I decided to help the conspirators I would have to bury my gut instinct; I had a bad, bad feeling in the pit of my stomach about the plot. My choices were to either join the club or to make a run for it. I had to decide before I went home to my wife that night because no matter what I decided, I could not let her know what was going on in my brain, or in my gut. By the time it got dark and I went home I had decided to stay with my wife and continue my duties as Telecom Manager as though nothing had happened. I made a very bad choice.

Incoming telephone call traffic was normally very light in New Vrindaban in February. The volume of incoming calls usually did not begin to increase until around mid-March, as the tourist season neared. When Sulochan came to the Wheeling / Ohio Valley area in early February of 1986 there was a noticeable uptick in telephone traffic. After my meeting with Kuladri and Gaura Shakti, I began spending more time in the office monitoring the Attendant Console and I noted the increased traffic. To an experienced attendant an abnormal spike in incoming call volume raises a red flag; and that February of 1986 the increase in overall call traffic across the console was noticeable. Bonnie and I both noticed it.

A discernible pattern emerged; calls related to four specific individuals were the source of the increase. Those individuals were Kuladri, Gaura Shakti and the swamis Radhanath and Tapahpunja. The call pattern was consistent with the information I had received at our recent meeting, so I paid particular attention to their calls and tried to handle them myself whenever possible.

Gaura Shakti would come into the office regularly and give me progress reports; check on his messages, and give me special instructions as needed. Occasionally Kuladri would come in to check for mail or messages. Sometimes he would tell me that he was expecting a very important call and what extension he would be near. Garga Rishi, the editor of the Brijabasi Spirit and New Vrindaban News, sometimes would come in the office and talk about Sulochan. 

There was an unusual buzz of activity in the Front Office for February. One evening just after dark, about the time the switchboard was scheduled to close, Gaura Shakti came into the office. He told me that they had lost track of Sulochan and asked me to keep the switchboard open until they could find him. Our evening operator finished her shift and went home. I stayed in the office and kept the switchboard open. Gaura Shakti headed to town. A couple of calls came in from the hunters but it did not take them long to find Sulochan. Within about an hour Gaura called me and said that I could close the switchboard; I remember being relieved that I did not have to stay late .

Once Tapahpunja called in looking for another conspirator (I can’t remember who he called for). Bonnie handled the call but could not locate whoever Tapahpunja was calling for. Tapahpunja pressed her to find the person because the call was urgent and needed to be responded to immediately. I tried to get around the counter and take the call but Bonnie got a little flustered. She did something that I would not have done, she broadcast over the radio that we were looking for so-and-so to respond to an urgent telephone call. That worked. The party was located and picked up Tapahpunja’s call.

When it was over, I told Bonnie that she should have let me handle the call. She said “Why? They’re going to kill him, aren’t they?” I almost choked. Bonnie was shaking and her eyes were wide with fear. She knew that we had been following Sulochan and she figured out the rest. I said, not very convincingly, “I don’t know Bonnie.” We did not talk about the plot again until after the murder happened. Then Bonnie said to me, “Well, they did it.” I said, “Yes, they did.” We both knew who “they” were. No further discussion was necessary. Bonnie looked pained and said “They didn't have to kill him.” She was almost in tears.

Gaura Shakti continued to give me regular updates me on the progress of the plot: they found Sulochan, then they lost him, they found him again; Kuladri swore out a warrant to have him arrested. Then on Thursday, February 6th, Sulochan was arrested for assault and carrying a deadly weapon in connection to threats made against New Vrindaban community members. He was arrested with a loaded gun, a partial bottle of vodka and some hashish. Very soon after he was incarcerated, police gave Gaura Shakti access to Sulochan’s notes and diary. I was getting steady updates about these events as they happened. Sulochan was eventually convicted of carrying a deadly weapon and spent nearly two months in jail before he was released.

During the months that Sulochan was in jail, the call volume related to the murder plot was less than it had been during the surveillance period but it was steady, revolving around the same core of conspirators. While Sulochan was in jail, sometime in March, incoming call traffic began its normal seasonal increase. Visitors began calling in to book summer stays at the Palace Lodge, and tour bus companies began making reservations to visit Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold. Calls among the murder conspirators were much harder to identify; they kept coming in at a steady pace; but by that time, Bonnie was handling almost all of them by herself. As we passed into April, Bonnie was busy with the switchboard nearly eight hours a day and there was no reason for me to be answering calls except to give her breaks.

By April, I was still getting regular progress reports on the plot from Gaura Shakti, but I was no longer actively involved. On April 11th Sulocana was released from jail, and I was told that he went back to his family in Michigan; but was still being followed. Later, I was told that he went to California and that they had lost track of him, but were trying to find him. By May, our PBX was humming with incoming calls related to the upcoming tourist season. It got to the point where I could no longer monitor calls from specific individuals and could not justify spending as much time in the office. In May, incoming call volume was probably ten times what it was in February; calls related to the murder plot were lost in the inundation of normal business calls. My involvement in the plot was about over. I remember feeling slightly guilty that I decided on my own to go back to my normal work routine. I was still willing to provide any help I could, but never got further instructions from Gaura Shakti nor Kuladri regarding telephone calls.

When Sulochan was being stalked in the Wheeling, West Virginia area, there was like a blood lust to find him and kill him. Eventually the fever to eliminate Sulochan seemed to subside. Gaura Shakti told me that they were still trying to find him in California and continued to give me updates on the hunt. I do not remember the exact dates anymore but the last update I got from Gaura Shakti was that, “They are considering letting him live. He has a new girlfriend and does not seem to be very much interested in harming Bhaktipada anymore.” That was a great relief to me. If the assassination plot was called off, I would be off the hook for my involvement. I unburdened my mind about the entire affair and continued on with life as normal.

Then came May 22, 1986. I went to mangal-aroti that morning and as I entered the temple room, before the altar doors opened, I noticed an unusual buzz of conversation. I asked someone what was going on and they happily told me that during the night Sulochan had been shot and killed while sitting in his van on a street near the temple in Los Angeles. I was shocked that they had actually killed him; at that time I didn’t think it was going to happen. I had that bad, bad feeling in the pit of my stomach again. I had made a very bad mistake. I don't remember the rest of that day anymore. I wanted to run away and hide.

The last thing I remember about my involvement in the murder plot was Kuladri coming into the Front Office sometime soon after the murder and encouraging me to “get rid of” telephone call records from recent months; specifically the outbound call records recorded by the STS-16. I hid them in a crawl space above the PBX. I was finished. Soon afterwards Bhaktipada sent me out on the “pick” with Ramachandra dasa, I gladly complied. The irony is that one reason I had agreed to help with the plot was that I was very attached to my service and did not want to leave New Vrindaban. If I had declined to help back in February 1986, I would have had to abandon my service and leave the community. Now I was being sent away precisely because I had agreed to help.

In conclusion, I want to say that this story is about my godbrother Sulochan dasa. Sulochan was martyred for trying to expose bogus gurus in ISKCON. I am not the victim here nor should I be praised at all for coming out of hiding and revealing my involvement in the murder plot. I am an offender by dint of my participation in Sulochan’s demise. I accept complete responsibility for my actions. I do not blame anybody else for my mistake. I was not tricked or coerced into participating in the murder plot. I followed with my eyes open. I went along for completely self-centered reasons. I did not want to leave my wife and my service, my career. That’s it.

I originally went to New Vrindaban to help Bhaktipada build the community as a service to my spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada. I was not fanatically following Bhaktipada; I was not brainwashed. Not once did I ever believe that he was a pure devotee. I never bought into the madness of worshiping him as a “jagat guru.” I was always skeptical. Nor did I ever believe that Sulochan’s killing was somehow “authorized.” In fact, I could not understand the passion to kill him. There was nothing spiritual about the Sulochan murder. We were not “Killing for Krishna” like Arjuna at Kuruksetra. The Sulochan murder was carried out by a group of thugs who brutalized their own God brother to protect their fake guru. 

And that is all it was. I still question why I agreed to help with the plot and I still wonder how seemingly spiritually advanced devotees could decide to commit such an immoral act. I should have heeded just one of the multitude of warning signs, but I did not. I chose to ignore them for my own personal gain.

I am not inclined to get involved in politics. I have no axe to grind; no vendettas against anyone. I’m simply hoping to gain some measure of forgiveness in this lifetime. That requires the truth to be told. I cannot personally apologize to Sulochan prabhu now therefore I apologize to his son and his mother, his friends, and the woman he planned to marry. I apologize to my spiritual master His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, to my God brothers and to all the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord. I apologize to the eternally presiding deities of New Vrindaban, Sri-Sri Gaura-Nitai; and to their Lordships Sri-Sri Radha-Vrindaban Chandra. Please forgive me for my involvement in this despicable crime against my God brother, His Grace Sulochan dasa.

I am grateful to Hrishikesh prabhu for helping to open my eyes to reality with the torchlight of knowledge, and which subsequently released me from my self-imposed prison of denial, ignorance and forgetfulness. I can finally confront the demon in my heart, which has been buried for over thirty years, and exorcise it with an honest confession. I heartily recommend his book, “Killing For Krishna,” for all those who want to understand ISKCON history and the danger of deranged devotion. For more information about his book, see http://henrydoktorski.com/Killing4Krishna.html.

If the reader is interested in corresponding with Jyotirdhama dasa, you may contact him at joep_3300@yahoo.com.

ISKCON Launches Calcutta -- Mayapur Cruise Service

https://newsmen.in/news/iskcon-launches-kolkata-mayapur-cruise-service/?

[PADA: Good idea. Some devotees previously reported potential trouble with various dacoits on the regular travel route, plus the regular route is a lot of hassle and trouble for the older devotees -- or those in bad health. 

A question we get sometimes, "Are we encouraging devotees to boycott the Vrndavana and Mayapur holy dhams due to the heavy handed control of these places by the GBC's goonda process"? Not really, no. 

Rather our Prabhupadanugas should go to these places and make their presence there, why not? The good news is, we have exposed these GBC's goondas so badly, they are actually worried about getting into MORE trouble by making ANOTHER highly publicized goonda-ism attack, so they are back pedalling on their gangster style program. Of course, we should not go to sleep and fail to keep an eye on these things, because there could be another incident by plan or happenstance. 

Things are moving ahead gradually, the GBC clan has been much more careful to treat our people nicer in the recent past. They know that their previous aggression process has not helped their cause a whole lot. And if these tactics are done again, and publicized again, it will not help them going forward. We have had some Prabhupadanugas going to these places without incident recently, and its looking better for us overall. Anyway, if anyone has a report to make on this boat ride, or other related issues and experiences in these dhams, send that to us: 

@ angel108b@yahoo.com 

ys pd]     

ISKCON Society will Get 4 New Sannyasis!

Jayapataka swami

Leader of the hokey messiah's club

Tomorrow ISKCON Society will Get 

4 New Sannyasis!

On the auspicious day of Gaura purnima, HH Jayapataka Swami Gurumaharaj will give Sannyasa diksha initiation to 4 of his devotees.

AG: Hari boll!

DKD: May their mind be always on Krishna.

MD: What are their names?

PD: HG Puspa Shila pv, HG Nabadwip pv, HG Gaur Chandra pv, HG Priti Vardhan pv.

LD: I thought we already had too many sanyasis?

PN: GBC and Guru feels that it's time for more Sanyasis in our society preaching all over world more effectively.

BV: I was thinking Prithi Vardhana Prabhu will get sanyas from Bhakti Vidyapurna Swami?

[PADA: Yes, just when you thought the GBC was banning Bhakti Vidya Purna swami -- as being connected to the child abuse issue -- his name keeps coming up in their circle?] 

PN: As I heard today he will also take sannyas from our beloved HH Jayapataka Swami. Because HH Bhakti Vidyapurna Swami's Sannyas Guru is HH Jayapataka Swami. So when Guru is alive disciples can't give diksha, if Guru not allow.

[PADA: Bhakti Vidya Purna swami is giving people sannyasa, and then it is being re-confirmed by Jayapataka? Notice, the "sannyasa guru" of Bhakti Vikas swami, Bhakti Vidya Purna swami, Gopal Krishna swami and others is -- Jayapataka, the founder father of the illicit sex acharya's program. And then Hanuman Croatia wonders why we are not licking Bhakti Vikas swami's shoes, despite he knows that BVKS is with this crowd all along, and BVKS promotes this crowd as bona fide parampara members?]

JVD: but then what is the situation with Kadamba Kanana Swami who is initiating while his guru Jayadvaita Swami is still present???

[PADA: Yes, first of all we find out that Kadamba Kanana swami has cancer, and he should be careful to not take sins as a diksha guru -- and over load himself with karma. This is well known to make neophytes get sick from taking karma, so we shall make him a diksha guru? Then he can take on boat loads of karma. We want to kill the poor guy faster? Very clever, Jayadvaita shifts the karma he would be taking as a guru -- to another person, an unsuspecting victim.]

PND: There are so many Gurus in ISKCON who were initiated by Srilla Prabhupada, but then they took Sannyasa diksha from their God brothers. Like HH Gopal Krsna Goswami Maharaj who's sannyasa Guru is HH Jayapataka Swami Maharaj.

AKD: HH Jayadvaita maharaj doesn't initiate devotees so he gave it as a service to HH Kadamba Kanana Swami. 

[PADA: We keep seeing this all over the place, he is claiming to be like Jesus and taking karma because, its a type of job or "service." Yep, being another sin absorbing Jesus is a job, a service, kind of like "the service" of being the hired house cleaner? Sorry, the neophytes cannot "do the service" of absorbing sins. And Srila Prabhupada warned us, if we neophytes try to take sins as diksha gurus, it will make us get sick, fall down, or both, of course a number of them died prematurely. 

Did I forget to mention Jayapataka is already sick as a dog from taking karma? And he is the leader of this train wreck? Anyway, it seems they are having a hard time finding candidates to be their new wave of leaders. And so they have to pick on some poor guy who already has cancer and load him up with more and more and more karma, to make him go down all the more. 

Jayapataka folks are really ignorant of all the issues, as we find out when they e-mail me. They have no clue about all the troubles going on in the West under the JPS crap storm he made over here. And then again JPS complained that a lot of his disciples cannot even read and write, many of them are not even literate people. They are simply using ignorance as a wall to build their kingdom behind. That is not a kingdom that will last. ys pd] 

Hare Krishna Mantra - by 'Nava Kanyas' (video)

New Vrndavan Scandals (Dramatic Narration Podcast)

https://art19.com/shows/american-scandal/episodes/26ab54a9-8266-469d-8fe6-4188eb918158/?

PADA: An ex-kuli told us recently, its a totally amazing problem that some of the GBC's helped bury Kirtanananda in a samadhi, and then they made Kirtanananda's main henchman Radhanath their new up and coming spokesman / best representative / hero. They seem to be "just totally shameless." Yep! ys pd

Parama Karuna (a play by Bangalore ISKCON) video

Sri Gaura Purnima – March 20 USA, March 21 2019 (India)

Sri Gaura Purnima – March 20 USA, March 21 2019 (India)

Gaura Purnima is the auspicious appearance day of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (who is also known as Gauranga due to His golden complexion), and this year we are celebrating the 533rd anniversary of His appearance on March 21, 2019. This festival also marks the beginning of the New Year for Gaudiya Vaishnavas.

The Supreme Lord Sri Krishna appeared as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to establish Sankirtana (chanting of the Holy Names) – the Yuga Dharma for this age of Kali. He appeared on Phalguni Purnima, the full moon day in the month of Phalguna, (Feb-March) in the year 1486 AD (1407 Shakabda) at Sridham Mayapura as the son of Sri Jagannath Mishra and Srimati Sachidevi. His parents named him Nimai since he was born under a nimba (neem) tree in the courtyard of His paternal house. His appearance day is celebrated as Gaura Purnima.

The celebration begins in the evening with a pallakki utsava of Sri Sri Nitai Gauranga (Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Lord Nityananda). The utsava Deities are taken out in a procession in a pallakki bedecked with flowers. Devotees perform maha sankirtana to please the Supreme Lord. As everyone joins in the sankirtana, the Hare Krishna maha mantra resounds in every corner of the temple.

After the procession, the Deities of Nitai Gauranga receive a grand abhisheka. Their Lordships are first bathed with panchamrita and then with panchagavya followed by various fruit juices. Devotees chant prayers from the Brahma-samhita, glorifying the Lord. A grand arati is performed to the accompaniment of the Gaura Arati song composed by Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. After the arati, the Deities are bathed with sanctified water from 108 kalashas while the devotees chant the Purusha Sukta prayers. Their Lordships then receive pushpa vrishti (showering of flowers) and a special offering of 56 dishes (chappan bhog).

Next follows a shayana arati when all the assembled devotees glorify Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu by singing Sri Sachitanaya Ashtakam that describes His transcendental form, qualities and activities. The program concludes with the shayana pallakki utsava followed by flower holi.

On this day, devotees fast till moonrise and break their fast by taking anukalpa feast (made from non-grains). On the following day, they offer a special feast to the Lord which is called Jagannath Mishra Feast, named after Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s father, who arranged a grand feast to celebrate the birth of his son.

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

Sri Gaura Purnima –

Advent of Golden Avatara

Gaura Purnima is the celebration of most auspicious and adorable advent of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu –

The Golden Avatara.

The Supreme Lord Sri Krishna appeared as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to establish Sankirtana Movement – the yuga dharma for this age of Kali. He appeared on the full moon day in the month of Phalguna in the year 1486 AD at Sridham Mayapura as the son of Sri Jagannath Mishra and Srimati Sachidevi.

In the revealed scriptures Lord Krsna was predicted to appear as Golden Avatara (incarnation) as Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to propound and propagate the congregational chanting of Holy name of the Lord “Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare / Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare“ -- in order to counteract the contaminating influence of this debilitating and despicable age of quarrel and hypocrisy and attain the spiritual perfection.

In this age there is an ocean of faults in action which incurs irredeemable reaction. People are excessively and exceedingly engrossed in ameliorating material condition of life by neglecting their spiritual elevation and enrichment. Maya is ruling unchallenged and unthreatened due to forgetfulness of God.

In this deplorable and disgraceful condition, the only rescue and resort is the unfathomable and unbounded mercy of Lord Chaitanya which makes this abominable age worship-able, and transforms inauspicious to auspicious, joyless to joyful, unfortunate to fortunate and launching frontal attack on the headquarters of Maya.

That is the reason why Vedic scripture glorifies the Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as most munificent incarnation. In other incarnations the Lord demanded surrender first to deliver the fallen soul but Lord Chaitanya Mahaprabhu freely distributed process for delivering the fallen soul from clutches of Maya without any condition and discrimination.

Lord Chaitanya introduced, induced, infused the Sankirtana yajna the joyfully chanting and dancing of Holy name of Lord without any requirement of understanding Vedic scripture, undergoing severe austerities of meditation, expensive fire sacrifice and complicated temple worship.

Simply by chanting the Holy Name of Lord Hare Krsna Hare Krsna Krsna Krsna Hare Hare/Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare one can immediately transcend the negative influence of this dark age and experience the higher taste and discard the lower taste which shackles us in the miserable material Prison house perpetually.

Lord Chaitanya Mercy is a special privilege in this age which empowered and inspired us to triumphantly march out from prison house of material existence on the path of Sankirtana which leads to highest spiritual planet Goloka Vrindavan.

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

All glories to the moons who are devotees of the principal moon, Lord Caitanyacandra! Their bright moonshine illuminates the entire universe.

PURPORT

In this verse we find the moon described as candra-gaṇa, which is plural in number. This indicates that there are many moons. In the Bhagavad-gītā the Lord says, nakṣatrāṇām ahaṁ śaśī: "Among the stars, I am the moon." (Bg. 10.21) All the stars are like the moon. Western astronomers consider the stars to be suns, but Vedic astronomers, following the Vedic scriptures, consider them moons. The sun has the ability to shine powerfully, and the moons reflect the sunshine and therefore look brilliant. In Caitanya-caritāmṛta Kṛṣṇa is described to be like the sun. The supreme powerful is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Śrī Kṛṣṇa, or Lord Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and His devotees are also bright and illuminating because they reflect the supreme sun. The Caitanya-caritāmṛta (Madhya 22.31) states:

kṛṣṇa--sūrya-sama; māyā haya andhakāra
yāhāṅ kṛṣṇa, tāhāṅ nāhi māyāra adhikāra

"Kṛṣṇa is bright like the sun. As soon as the sun appears, there is no question of darkness or nescience." Similarly, this verse also describes that by the illumination of all the moons, brightened by the reflection of the Kṛṣṇa sun, or by the grace of all the devotees of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the entire world will be illuminated, despite the darkness of Kali-yuga. Only the devotees of Lord Caitanya Mahāprabhu can dissipate the darkness of Kali-yuga, the ignorance of the population of this age. No one else can do so. We therefore wish that all the devotees of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement may reflect the supreme sun and thus dissipate the darkness of the entire world.

cc/adi/13/5

Ramesvara: Making A Comeback?

https://iskconnews.org/new-york-brooklyn-and-bhaktivedanta-institute-reports-headline-march-7th-afternoon-gbc-session,6877/

PADA: Various reports are saying that Ramesvara is working with Brahma Tirtha (Bob Cohen) and others from that ilk, those who recently tried to suppress removing Laxmi Moni, a known abuser of children. Heard so many weird stories about her, its hard to imagine why anyone would STILL defend her at this point? 

For example, a mother said to us that a young female friend of her daughter's was staying overnight. And the young friend crept into her bed late at night and tried to engage in lesbian sex with this mother. This young female friend of her daughter's was a student of -- Laxmi Moni. How did such a young person suddenly know all the details of -- how to engage in lesbian sex?

So it seems like on the one hand the GBC has had a homosexual pedophile problem, simultaneously on the other hand a lesbian pedophile problem. And who knows what other reports have been submitted which caused all this Laxmi moni crap storm in the first place. So these guys are not really helping clean things up apparently, and Ramesvara is now sort of sneaking back into the pack of them? 

OK Malati also "came on to" a female friend of ours with some lesbian stuff many years ago, and how did you guess, she is now sitting in a big seat in their assembly. Then again Ramesvara himself was seen associating with at least one young female student when he was the big guru, and a number of female students were operating as some sort of maid service for the sannyasas etc. Whats up with all that?

In any case, this is not the worst case scenario here. A more important issue is: that Ramesvara has evidently helped Jayadvaita and others with the book changes process. Or perhaps there is something worse case here, Ramesvara's people were helping with the assassination of Sulochana, as they themselves told me.  

OK so if your hands are full of dirt from this pile and the other pile, and so on,  then, the GBC makes your one of their key note speakers? Of course we are not spoken to? So this is sad, the best thing the GBC can find to be their new associate is -- the good old boy's club guys with all the baggage of creating the mess we now have? 

Ramesvara was another one of these people who said he is a diksha guru, a person who can absorb sins like Jesus. Does he still think he is a guru and he has disciples, or what? Hard to tell with these folks, they never seem to make a clear declaration on any of these topics. 

In any case, I don't really hold a grudge here. These guys took piles of sins from hundreds, maybe even thousands of people -- onto their subtle bodies as "their disciples," and they also oppressed and offended thousands of devotees, and the combined weight of all these sins will sink them to the lowest regions of the universe eventually. 

The Isopanisad says these false acharya folks are destined for the most obnoxious regions, and that means simply, they have messed with the wrong guy. Krishna is not someone to mess with! Duh! I really do feel sorry for them at this point, they are truly doomed. Ramesvara will not make a comeback with a lot of the people we know, he can only sneak into that bad boy's club and make a big splash there. Hee hee! ys pd

Yep, hey I got an idea! Lets bring back Srila Rage-isvara! 

Ekadasi Meditation Theme (Sri Radha Sahasra Nama) Video

http://krishna1008.blogspot.com/2018/03/sri-radha-sahasra-nama-1000-names-of.html

Sheryl Crow "My Sweet Lord" (Video)

Perfect Discretion: On Accepting the GBC as Spiritual Authority, Part 2

Perfect Discretion: On Accepting the GBC as Spiritual Authority, Part 2

BY: NITYA KRSNA DASA

On the Killing of Brahminical Culture

Having apparent gurus serve at the pleasure of the GBC puts them in a dependent, employee-like relationship with the body. In real Vedic culture a bona fide spiritual master is in the highest social position. Such a Vaishnava is above even the intellectual brahmanas. This is because he has all those qualifications but has advanced still further to performing devotional service to Krishna. The genuine spiritual master thus never has to serve any institution of the material world, such as the GBC, because he is freely distributing love of Krishna to everyone.

"And servant, when one becomes servant, he has to execute anything which the masters order. Suppose one is serving some big man, he says that 'You do this. I want.' Now, to satisfy him one has to act according to his desire, which he may not like. Suppose one says that 'You go and tell this lie. It is required by me.' Now, because I am in service... Even great personalities like Bhīṣma, such a great personality, he could not join with the Pāṇḍava's party, because he became a servant of the Kurus. 

"So servitude is such a thing. A servant means a dog's qualification. In the Bhāgavata it is stated that... Because the higher caste... The caste system, higher means the brāhmaṇas, the kṣatriyas and the vaiśyas, they will never become servant of anyone. Therefore they are higher. The śūdras, they accept service of others. So that was the stricture. And in the śāstra the brāhmaṇas and the kṣatriyas, the higher castes, and the vaiśyas, they would never serve. Now there is injunction in the Bhāgavata: if a brāhmaṇa is in trouble he can become..., he can take the profession of a vaiśya, but never take the profession of a dog. That never serve. Because as soon as one becomes servant, his independence is lost. So our independence... We can keep only our independence when we become servant of God, because there is no injustice." 

(Lecture on Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita Madhya 22.14-19; New York, January 10, 1967)

In this way, a major reason brahmanas avoid kowtowing to material authorities is that they are duty bound to be independent so that they can always speak truth.

"So a brahmana should be truthful in any circumstances. He will never speak lie. Truthful, satya. . . . A brahmana is not supposed to be crooked and duplicity. No. Simple. It is said even the enemy wants to know something from him, he will clearly say, 'It is this.' That is called simplicity." 

(Lecture, Melbourne, April 6, 1972)

'Manager' is a mundane designation of someone who administers others. Although not everyone who administers is a ksatriya, it speaks of the qualities of that varna or class of men. Ksatriyas or managers are inherently involved in the diplomacy of getting mundane things accomplished, and this sometimes involves deception or even Machiavellian ruthlessness. The GBC has conducted itself or supported such activities any number of times, some of which have been recalled here. 

[PADA: Yes, a number of women and ex-children victims told me, there would NEVER have been ANY abuse of women and children in ISKCON if there had been any actual kshatriyas in the society. The kshatriya class would never have allowed this process to have gone on, at all.] 

However, the use of such political devices can, either consciously or unconsciously, be motivated by personal sense-gratification, something that can cause offenses to other devotees. That is why, in the Vedic system, administrators are supposed to consult and submit to qualified brahmanas. Brahmanas are supposed to know Brahman, the absolute, and be able to put forward what is in the best interest of Krishna and His part and parcel living beings. They are also detached and hesitant to jeopardize their realization by committing offenses.

"According to the system of varnasrama-dharma, the pious and learned brahmanas were the natural guardians of society. The brahmanas, by their learned labor of love, would instruct the administrator-kings how to rule the country in complete righteousness, and thus the process would go on as a perfect welfare state. . . . .The learned brahmanas would advise the king in terms of those standard books of knowledge and with reference to the particular situation of time and place. Such brahmanas were not paid servants of the king, and therefore they had the strength to dictate to the king on the principles of scriptures. This system continued even up to the time of Maharaja Candragupta, and the brahmana Canakya was his unpaid prime minister." 

(Purport, Srimad-Bhagavatam 2.7.9)

The ISKCON institution's "GBC over apparent guru" authority arrangement thus turns this traditional Vedic arrangement on its head. Management diplomats have placed themselves over what is called a guru or brahmana in the institution. To be genuine, well-functioning varnasrama-dharma, it should be the other way around. Instead, those who are supposed to know "complete righteousness" have been made subservient to the people they are supposed to advise.

This conclusion is also borne out by the history of the institution. The zonal acaryas had no use for any analysis of their assumption of power other than their own glorification. In regard to any discussion among their peers of its bonafides one of them said, "There is nothing to discuss. Everything is already decided. We are simply here to tell them." The movement's brahmanas and other thoughtful devotees were thus only potential obstacles for their plan. Another account of a conversation between two of them notes this exchange, 

Q: "What do you do when someone is not accepting the party line?" 

A: "You just rub them out. Anyone who does not fall in line should be dismissed."

[PADA: And Sridhara Maharaja helped this process along, he said "none should protest" (their bogus gurus).]

Unfortunately and mostly by the design of these ruthless men, virtually all documentation of how hundreds of Srila Prabhupada's disciples either got "dismissed" or quietly left the movement is largely non-existent. 

[PADA: True, we rarely hear any GBC discussion on how so many of the ISKCON temples became empty ghost towns. Nor do they seem to discuss all the troubles they caused for the thousands of devotees they banished, some of whom suddenly found themselves sort of homeless, and / or with no material shelter, health care, or facility etc. 

Nor do they seem to discuss how some devotee woman victim of their "kick em all out" policy ended up sleeping in a car with her three children, and the immense suffering they caused to her and her children, and ... so on and so forth. Nor do they really honestly discuss how their program created the entire mass exodus by their policy of banning, or apparently orchestrated mass child molesting, and some cases of evidently orchestrated beatings and murders etc. Nor have they been interested in discussing all this the whole while. "They are in denial" as one devotee summed it up. Or, "they took the loot and ran" as another devotee said.]

The two quoted accounts above were taken from a paper, Challenging the Zonal Acarya System (part 2), that was connected to one incident that is pretty documented due to the paper's recent publishing on the Sampradaya Sun. That incident was the February 1979 confrontation with the zonal acaryas of about 60 senior Srila Prabhupada disciples in Vrindavana, India.

Earlier in 1978 several of these devotees had begun sending the zonals letters and discussing amongst themselves whether the zonals were following Srila Prabhupada's instructions, Gaudiya Vaishnava practice and Vedic culture. Pradhyumna dasa, Srila Prabhupada's longtime secretary and Sanskrit editor, was a prominent letter writer and was chosen by the challenging group, led by Yasoda Nandana Maharaja, to debate the zonals at the February 1979 meeting. As recently attested by Yasoda Nandana, it was Kailasa Candra dasa who wrote the above position paper that was signed by many senior devotees.

In the end, however, the zonal representative in the debate, Hridayananda Swami, demanded that the only discussion point be whether the GBC was the ultimate authority for the ISKCON institution. Pradhyumna, faced with this Machiavellian abuse of brahminical etiquette, therefore begged off. Virtually everyone then removed their names from the paper under threat of being ostracized from the movement. The preaching of Kailasa Candra, who did not remove his name, was subsequently labeled "poisonous" in the 1979 GBC Resolutions. Shortly after, Pradhyumna's service of finishing Srila Prabhupada's Srimad Bhagavatam, as previously ordered by him, was taken away by the GBC and given to Hridayananda.

This was how the zonals and GBC openly and officially dealt with a sincere brahminical challenge, one intended to keep the movement from straying onto a path different from Srila Prabhupada's. Unlike the zonal's responses, virtually every word in the challenger's letters, debate points and paper was polite, humble and respectful. 

Here, unlike the other hundreds of quieter or undocumented dismissals of thoughtful devotees, we have clear evidence of how the zonals and their other complicit "non-guru" GBC associates regularly and ruthlessly ran roughshod over the idea of Vaishnava respect and etiquette in the ISKCON institution. 

Here we are witness to their tyrannical repression of brahminical dedication to truth, guru, sadhu and sastra. During their heyday even sannyasis who had doubts about them sometimes found themselves driven out of temples. It is through these incidents that the Machiavellian diplomacy of the zonals and other subservient GBC members was established as the standard of the movement's power, something that only continues with the on-going marshalling of power blocs. In this regard, the Vishnu Purana describes the Lord as the well-wisher of the cows and the brahmanas.

namo brahmaṇya-devāya 
go-brāhmaṇa-hitāya ca
jagad-dhitāya kṛṣṇāya
govindāya namo namaḥ

"My Lord, You are the well-wisher of the cows and the brāhmaṇas, and You are the well-wisher of the entire human society and world." (Vishnu Purana 1.19.65)

This means that every devotee should undeviatingly serve the Lord's support for brahminical culture and behavior. This should be how the GBC manages the movement. As an illustration, in the Mahabharata even the Kaurava enemies of the Pandavas strictly adhered to these standards. There is the instance of how Duryodana, due to a previous promise of a favor to his enemy Arjuna, simply handed over the five arrows that Bhisma, the grandfather-uncle of both sides, had prepared to kill those five Pandava brothers. 

Despite such loss largely insuring his defeat, this was Duryodana's dedication to word and truth. This means that, in their treatment of the brahminical challengers, what to speak of the already many unnamed dismissed, the GBC and zonals were not even on the standard of the Vedic enemies of Krishna's devotees. And the zonals were supposedly the "gurus" of the movement.

"Because if the human society does not give protection to the cows and does not cultivate the brahminical culture, then it is cats and dogs society. Therefore it is given. And as soon as the whole society becomes full of cats and dogs, how can you expect peace and prosperity? The dog's business is 'Gow gow gow gow! Why you have come here? Why you have entered in our neighborhood? Please get out. Please get out.' Not 'Please.' 'Get out.' (laughter)" (Class on Bhagavad-gita 7.1-3, August 4, 1971, London, 'Beauty Of Brahminical Culture')

After the confrontation the challengers were told, in no uncertain terms (and like all the others who departed) to either submit to the zonals or "get out." This offense was compounded many-fold by how, at the time, everyone was under the impression that Srila Prabhupada had really appointed the eleven as gurus, as they had asserted since early 1978:

Jayapataka Maharaja: Maharaja, when our Srila Prabhupada left, then he has given instruction that for initiating and for carrying on the sampradaya there would be eleven-in the beginning, he appointed eleven devotees, his disciples, to be initiating spiritual masters or to accept disciples and in the future that number would also be able to be increased. So we wanted to take your advice on some points as to various details of how these initiating spiritual masters should deal with certain questions. If we could ask questions to you then? 

Sridhara Maharaja: yes, you may ask. 

Jayapataka Maharaja: He has given explicit desires, but he told us that, on other technical points and other matters of philosophy, it there was question we should approach you. He said that during his ... when he was very ill, he had appointed eleven ritviks and he said that after he disappears that these ritviks would continue as initiating spiritual masters and that they could be increased later, that would be decided by the GBC or Governing Body Commission. 

(Two Official Meetings of Sridhara Maharaja with the ISKCON GBC, March 1978)

The deception of this assertion was not revealed until a couple of years later, when the so-called May 28, 1977 "appointment tape" was released. Although he had not there named anyone specific, Srila Prabhupada had answered some questions about how initiations would take place after his departure. 

In a subsequent July 9, 1977 follow-up letter the eleven zonals had only been designated as "rittik – representative of the acarya, for the purpose of performing initiations." This appointment was a far cry from being told they could act as guru and initiate their own disciples. It only gave them license to continue an earlier movement practice of performing the initiation ceremony in the stead of Srila Prabhupada for those who would then become his disciples, not theirs. No individuals had been officially directed to initiate their own disciples after his physical departure.

This makes the abuses shown to any devotees who were previously driven away all that more sinful, egregious and heinous. Injustice in the form of "might makes right" was imposed as how things got done in the ISKCON institution. After the 1979 confrontation, however, official brahminical discussion or challenge became pretty much out of the question. If even Pradhyumna dasa, perhaps the movement's most highly regarded brahmana, was treated so heavily, others could assume that their fate would be even worse. The later reform efforts of 1985 and after, on the other hand, were more of a popular uprising of Srila Prabhupada initiates. They were, however, largely conducted according to brahminical etiquette.

[PADA: The 1985 "guru reform" backed by Rocana and others was a total farce from square one. They thought they would become the newly minted ad hoc advisory program -- connected to the GBC's gurus. The guru is a mundane and defective person. Thus! The guru is constantly in need of correction, so the guru needs a sort of "guru reforming / guru correcting committee." They forgot, the guru does not need reform. 

A person who is deviating and needs reform was NEVER a guru in the first place. The result of their "guru reform" was, the post of guru was further watered down to a person who often deviates, and thus needs reform and correction. And then they added 20 more defective people to their "reform school" guru parampara in 1986, simultaneously they "re-instated" Bhavananda as their Vishnupada acharya, despite knowing he was deviating. In sum, the reform was compromised with the original self-appointed guru's deviation.] 

A question can nevertheless justifiably be raised as to how qualified even the best of Srila Prabhupada's brahmana initiates were. After all, virtually all of them were eating meat only years previously. How realized were they? Srila Prabhupada once made this related admission:

"Actually I have not given any of you sanyasa. But I am in a war with Maya, the material energy, and I need leaders. It is called in wartime 'battlefield commission.' There are no qualified leaders, but someone has to lead the charge. So you take every fifth man, 'You are now lieutenant of the squad.' He is really a private, but we make him lieutenant for the day and he leads the charge. It is to be understood that you are not sufficiently equipped for this fight and most of you will go down." (Conversation, July 1,1976, New York)

If even the lieutenant-sannyasis in Srila Prabhupada's military analogy were just privates or spiritual neophytes, then the sergeant-brahmanas certainly were also. Yet, also according to the analogy, such devotees were being directed by a genuinely empowered spiritual general. There would definitely be many casualties, but those who survived would advance rapidly. This means that, even though the movement's brahmanas were subject to many weaknesses, by Srila Prabhupada's grace they had the opportunity to develop some real qualifications. 

As long as they sincerely followed, his spiritual potency prevented everything from becoming the current cheap makeshow that we are attempting to describe.

Herein we give some remarks where Srila Prabhupada cites training brahmanas as a purpose of his movement. This means such people were to act like brahmanas, which entailed having others treat them as such, or brahminical culture. His surrendered Western second initiates may not have been the brahmanas of the Vedic age, but under his direction they did have a transcendental connection that was the essence of brahminical consciousness.

As part of the zonal imposition the activities of the movement's brahmana initiates became limited to worship and giving class or instruction, and then only if it did not criticize or differ with the zonals. In other words, they became answerable to the power possessing zonal administrators (dictators) – "speaking truth" in the institution became limited to what served them. 

Oftentimes, however, this "truth" included knowingly exaggerating, or lying, about the "spotless" purity of one or more of them. The 1979 confrontation was perhaps the last gasp of public brahminical culture (threadbare dedication to truth) in the ISKCON institution. The challenger's defeat thus signaled the firm establishment of the upside down "brahmanas under administrators" standard (later "apparent gurus under GBC"). Although the zonals and GBC members were also brahmanas in name, their activities were more those of ksatriyas, or administrators. Their harsh and brutal deeds, however, were not how a real ksatriya would respond to brahmanas. They spoke more of another group, one that tends to offend humble devotees:

dambho darpo 'bhimanas ca
krodhah parusyam eva ca
ajnanam cabhijatasya
partha sampadam asurim

"Arrogance, pride, anger, conceit, harshness and ignorance-these qualities belong to those of demonic nature, O son of Prtha." (Bhagavad-gita 16.4)

pravrttim ca nivrttim ca
jana na vidur asurah
na saucam napi cacaro
na satyam tesu vidyate

"Those who are demoniac do not know what is to be done and what is not to be done. Neither cleanliness nor proper behavior nor truth is found in them." (Bhagavad-gita 16.7)

One is also reminded of the activities of King Vena, who also prevented brahmanas from performing their duties, instead demanding that they worship him.

tasmān māṁ karmabhir viprā
yajadhvaṁ gata-matsarāḥ
baliṁ ca mahyaṁ harata
matto 'nyaḥ ko 'gra-bhuk pumān

"King Vena continued: For this reason, O brāhmaṇas, you should abandon your envy of me, and, by your ritualistic activities, you should worship me and offer me all paraphernalia. If you are intelligent, you should know that there is no personality superior to me, who can accept the first oblations of all sacrifices." (Srimad Bhagavatam 4.14.28)

We should always remember that, despite being brahmana initiates, the individual ksatriya-manager GBCs are susceptible to all the diplomatic temptations of falling from the high standards of a brahmana. This is why they very much require venerating and following those devotees who always act on that standard. Srila Prabhupada distinguished the spiritual concerns of genuine Vaishnava brahmanas from those dealing in management priorities and politics.

"Politics are always there, and enviousness, jealousy. This is the nature of this material world. You cannot avoid it. Spiritual world means just the opposite. There is no politics. There is no jealousy. There is no enviousness. That is spiritual world. And material world means politics, jealousy, diplomacy, enviousness, so many things. This is material world. So even in the heavenly planets, these things are there, politics. 

"Even in animal kingdom, these politics are there. This is the nature. Matsarata. Matsarata means enviousness. One man is envious of another man. It doesn't matter, even they are brothers or family members. Here the family members, Dhrtarastra and Pandu, two brothers, their sons, they were family members, but the enviousness... So the Krsna consciousness movement is not for the persons who are envious. Envious. It is a movement to train people how to become not envious. It is very first-class scientific movement, yes. 

"Not to become envious. Therefore Srimad-Bhagavatam in the beginning introduces, dharmah projjhita-kaitavo atra [SB 1.1.2]. In this Srimad-Bhagavatam, dharma, religious principles, cheating type of religious principle is completely eradicated, thrown away, projjhita. They are kicked out, projjhita. Just like you collect all the dirty things from the room, sweeping and then kick out, don't keep it within the room. Similarly, cheating type of religious system -- kicked out. It is not such religion, 'this religion,' 'that religion.' Any religion system, if there is jealousy, that is not religion. Jealousy means... We should understand jealousy, what is jealousy. Jealousy means that you are rightful owner of something; I won't allow you to take it. 

"This is jealousy. This is jealousy. Jealousy, try to understand. Suppose you are rightful owner of something, and I am trying that 'You don't own it. I shall own it. Or somebody own it. I shall not allow it.' This is jealousy." (Class on Bhagavad-gita 1.1, London, July 7, 1973)

Indeed, the entire zonal acarya debacle might have been prevented if the GBC had accepted the advice of detached brahmanas immediately after Srila Prabhupada's physical departure. In his absence it was inevitable that new people would request initiation. The movement's scholars and brahmanas should have been consulted and asked to compile Srila Prabhupada's instructions on how his disciples should assume the responsibilities of guru. 

[PADA: Well not exactly, the disciples should have realized they are not AT ALL ready to take the post of guru, and they should have continued worshiping Srila Prabhupada as the guru. "Qualifications for being the acharya" is a way over the top / over-reach for such lower classes of neophytes, and that should have been known to everyone.]

Included would have been this statement from the appointment tape conversation, "When I order, 'You become guru,' he becomes regular guru. That's all. He becomes disciple of my disciple. That's it." Ironically, this answer was cited by the zonals as partial evidence of being deputed by Srila Prabhupada. However, their ambition apparently caused them to overlook "regular guru, That's all." Regular guru does not mean "Srila this-or-that," mandatory worship from godbrothers and godsisters, and raised vyasasanas in the temple rooms.

[PADA: Right, there is no "order" for anyone to be diksha / parampara guru. And there is no such thing as a "sadhaka" (neophyte devotee following the regulations) acharya. That simply does not happen in the parampara. Rather, the neophytes who are still conditioned sadhakas are at best called "ritviks" or priests, who conduct ceremonies on behalf of the acharyas. The regulated devotees who perform the initiation ceremonies on behalf of the acharya are therefore often called ritviks.]  

Unfortunately any thoughts of taking such brahminical advice were abruptly cut short by Kirtanananda giving "initiations" only one short month after Srila Prabhupada's physical departure. Since he had the largest movement community at New Vrindavana, his audacity clearly defied the GBC to do something to stop him. Rather than censure him, however, the GBC quietly allowed him to set the stage and Machiavellian example for how the other zonals would later join him. 

In these early months after Srila Prabhupada's physical departure the movement's brahmanas were just ignored by the GBC. It was the zonal's assumption of power that brought out the GBC's real disregard for brahminical dedication to truth.

History has shown that, rather than brahminical culture and following Srila Prabhupada's instructions, the GBC's primary concern is political control of the assets and personnel of the institution. Srila Prabhupada enjoined them to institute brahminical Vedic standards so that his followers and the world could experience an alternative to "cats and dogs" society. 

Instead, almost from the day of his physical departure, they began reverting to their self-interested, Western, meleccha upbringing with its fallen politics of subjection and deception. And a big element of that deception is that the GBC follows and protects brahminical culture. The reality is that in the ISKCON institution one can be a brahmana up to where he or she disagrees with the GBC. At that point they either submit, leave or play dumb like Jada Bharata.

Reform?

Since the zonals had irrevocably established that the petty standards of Vedic culture and Gaudiya Vaishnavism were not going to interfere with their dominance, it was clear to the 1985 reformers that something extra would be needed to force changes. Yet despite all their political organizing and largely attended meetings, a real show of force that the zonals could not ignore, they were initially only able to effect some outward changes, and then only with the zonals who cooperated. 

By then there was even widespread knowledge that the zonals had lied about being appointed gurus by Srila Prabhupada, something completely contrary to the behavior of a real guru. Despite this, the GBC allowed them to continue, only further confirming the non-Vedic nature of the institution's standard of management.

[PADA: There was widespread knowledge that the zonals had lied about being appointed as gurus, so why didn't the mass of devotee rise up and protest? Or start a lawsuit to have the hi-jackers removed, and so on on?]

"For the present, you may know that this gentleman is very much materially ambitious. He wants to utilize Krsna consciousness for his material name and fame. Sometimes he greatly offended our Guru Maharaja, and it so happened that at the last stage, practically Guru Maharaja rejected him. And the result, we can find that instead of becoming a great preacher of Krsna consciousness this gentleman has become artificially a head of a mundane institution. To become a very important man in the mundane estimation is not success in Krsna consciousness... On the whole, you may know that he is not a liberated person, and therefore, he cannot initiate any person to Krsna consciousness. It requires special spiritual benediction from higher authorities." (Letter to Janardana about Bon Maharaja, a godbrother of Srila Prabhupada, April 26, 1968)

This quote speaks directly to whether the zonals were really able to initiate or give the bhakti-lata-bija to their apparent disciples. Of course there were reformers who wanted to sweep the zonals out and make the slate clean again. They were, however, sold out by the ones who, in the name of "cooperation" and stability, recognized that doing so would severely impact the movement's 1986 membership and likely expand the impending schism several-fold. 

[PADA: The reformers were sold out for starters because -- we cannot "make the slate clean again," unless we know what that means. Rocana admits that there was never a clear mandate among the reformers to adopt a specific policy. The plan was simply to dismantle the log jam of having the 11 as the full blown total controllers, and to makes some of the 50 man committee of "reformers" into some sort of mini-controllers, an ad hoc advisory committee to guide the wayward acharyas, but that was not really a solid plan? 

The eleven remained on as the main controllers and the reformers got a few table scraps of left overs to control. Meanwhile, who should be the exclusive acharya for the society was not settled, or even discussed.]  

By then, because Srila Prabhupada's disciples had been largely replaced by the zonal's people; most of the movement's devotees were theirs. Ravindra Svarupa was the prominent compromiser and, as continuing scandals increased demands for apparent guru accountability, went on to largely shape the current arrangement of collegial accord.

The Challenging the Zonal Acarya System paper was a compilation of many reforms that various devotees, going back to the zonal's spring 1978 launch, had concluded were necessary to return to Srila Prabhupada's stated mission and direction. Eventually virtually every point was adopted by the GBC, with one of the zonals, Tamal Krishna Swami, even later admitting that their reign was a "heresy." Although these superficial changes were very much needed, they failed to get to the deeper Western institutional disease that had taken the place of brahminical culture and Vaishnava standards. Despite the confession, Tamal and several other zonals continue to be considered "gurus" up to the present day.

The reform movement and its manifestos certainly had many elements of brahminical challenge and debate, and there were undoubtedly respectful discussions with some zonals and their followers. What had changed since 1979, however, was that the zonals' abuses, scandals and deceptions – their injuries to the glory that Srila Prabhupada had established – were well known to Srila Prabhupada's initiates. This gave the reformers the justification and righteous indignation they needed to play on the shame of the accountable zonals. Despite these acknowledgements, those who wanted substantive reform of the real deviations were also disregarded or crushed by the GBC alliance of zonals and "reformers" who wanted only cosmetic changes.

Mutual Admiration Society for Krishna Consciousness

Anyone seeking GBC approval to become what they consider guru should contemplate some self-evident statements by Srila Prabhupada and the previous acaryas. This was cited earlier:

"It is imperative that a serious person accept a bona fide spiritual master in terms of the sastric injunctions. Sri Jiva Goswami advises that one not accept a spiritual master in terms of hereditary or customary social and ecclesiastical conventions. One should simply try to find a genuinely qualified spiritual master for actual advancement in spiritual understanding." (Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Adi 1.35, purport)

Here Srila Prabhupada paraphrases Srila Jiva Goswami, recognized as the foremost scholar in Gaudiya Vaishnavism, as recommending that one not accept an apparent guru based on ecclesiastical conventions. This cuts a very broad swath in religious practice and unequivocally includes every method the GBC has used to select or not reject apparent gurus since Srila Prabhupada's departure. 

Here Srila Jiva Goswami and Srila Prabhupada are telling us that if an apparent guru bases any part of their authority on some institutional sanction, it is imperative that they be avoided. This order (something that is imperative) makes clear that such apparent gurus are un-bona fide and only accepted by those with such poor discrimination that they are destined to be cheated. The question then arises why anyone who values seriousness would ever consider becoming an apparent guru in the ISKCON institution.

In this regard, I was recently party to a related discussion regarding those who had taken sannyasa from a zonal acarya who had not only rejected GBC authority but was not even following his own sannyasa vows. One devotee had written authoritatively that, although others were not genuine, so-and-so was a sannyasi because, despite his having accepted sannyasa under such questionable circumstances, his had later been affirmed by the GBC.

Accepting sannyasa means that one vows to give up every desire of the material world. It is a type of death. To truly receive such an initiation, or the seed (bija) of such determination, one needs to receive it from someone who is secure in this standard of renunciation. How could one think, under any circumstances, that they had received this precious seed from anyone who was later revealed to be sexually promiscuous? It is hard to believe the Lord would give the candidate the mystical empowerment needed to carry them through years of temptations. Doubts would certainly arise, thus compelling a truly serious devotee to approach someone better for the real thing.

[PADA: Yes, Sulochana said the GBC's gurus are giving mundane beejas (seeds of desire) such as: sexual predator beeja, homosexual beeja, women oppressing beeja, cheating beeja, drug taking beeja, money siphoning beeja, and so on and so forth, hence these problems keep cropping up in the society.] 

Nevertheless, there are apparently any numbers of devotees who accept that such men are bona fide sannyasis simply because the GBC declares them to be so. The GBC's so-called ability to recognize who is a qualified guru is a similar exercise of what is not mere management but rather, spiritual authority. Apparently, for many devotees, the GBC's declarations have taken on the same weight as guru, sadhu and sastra - a new form of apparent scripture - "Sri GBC uvaca."

Needless to say, in the light of the previous statements about the purity and authority of guru, sadhu and sastra, putting the GBC on an equal or greater level does not evince a very high degree of discrimination or intelligence. As alluded to before, this lazy abandonment of basic Krishna conscious philosophy is not something one associates with real brahmanas or advanced Vaishnavas, much less apparent gurus.

Another applicable text is the first verse of Upadesamrita, The Nectar of Instruction:

vāco vegaṁ manasaḥ krodha-vegaṁ 
jihvā-vegam udaropastha-vegam
etān vegān yo viṣaheta dhīraḥ
sarvām apīmāṁ pṛthivīṁ sa śiṣyāt

"A sober person who can tolerate the urge to speak, the mind's demands, the actions of anger and the urges of the tongue, belly and genitals is qualified to make disciples all over the world." (Upadesamrita 1, The Nectar of Instruction)

This should be pretty obvious for anyone contemplating such a duty. Although controlling the other urges could be considered minimal qualifications, controlling the mind's demands is perhaps more subtle and less self-evident. In the purport Srila Prabhupada gives the general direction that controlling the mind means always thinking of Krishna. This certainly includes avoiding the speculative laziness Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Prabhupada previously associated with anartha. 

As cited previously, the discretion of those aspiring to be guru should be completely in line with guru, sadhu and sastra. Such a devotee should at least consider whether an ecclesiastical managing board is authorized to act as spiritual authority. Regardless of this, however, many of these men have difficulty even controlling the other urges.

[PADA: Yes, Srila Prabhupada says when a neophyte tries to take the post of diksha guru, he will become overwhelmed by the sins of his followers. He cannot absorb such sins, and he will thus get sick, fall down, or both -- of course a number of them are dead prematurely.]

Considering these statements of sastra and Srila Prabhupada, it is surprising that any half-serious devotee would consider applying to the GBC to become an apparent guru, even without knowing their track record. However, since much of their history is well known, it must, therefore, be a far more casual, sentimental or socially considered decision. 

Indeed, if one already accepts the GBC to be on the level of guru, sadhu and sastra and believes that, regardless of whether they follow his instructions, their ISKCON institution is "Srila Prabhupada's movement," they are that much more likely to apply for the post. Although such decisions and approvals are usually accompanied by much pomp and circumstance, many outside observers instead find what appears to be garden variety institutional ladder-climbing.

The context of being a GBC licensed apparent guru is also one that hardly remains august; the attrition rate is widely known to be quite high. Accepted apparent gurus know they will be subject to the derision of many devotees beyond the GBC orbit. Although the zonals were audaciously able to present themselves as jagat gurus, or gurus of the whole world, their failings, as well as those of subsequent appointees, have created a kind of caricature for many outside observers.

[PADA: Yes, I mean really, after all the trouble Kirtanananda created, including apparently his own admission of sexual predatory activity, the leaders still buried him in a samadhi? How does that look to outside observers?]

Such experienced critics generally recognize a gulf of difference between the previous acaryas and the GBC's apparent gurus. In this regard, Srila Prabhupada often said "guru means heavy," indicating the weight of his knowledge, conviction and realization, very much including freedom from the bodily illusion. Although GBC apparent gurus are usually capable of giving this impression, at least to the naïve, their regularly succumbing to that illusion's temptations leads many to conclude they are just (somewhat) capable actors.

[PADA: Right, a neophyte can play act as a guru, but he does not have the potency to deliver others. That is why he has to suffer in worse hells than the ordinary man, Srila Prabhupada told us false gurus are never forgiven by the Lord nor any agents of the Lord. They are condemned people.] 

Another essential aspect of a genuine guru's heaviness is their freedom from worldly authority. Such a spiritual master acts only to please his guru, other genuine sadhus and sastra. Their superior discretion sees through the sentiments, ideas and directions of those controlled by the senses.

"So one who is under the control of the senses, he is go-dāsa. Go means senses and dāsa means servant. And one who is master of the senses, he's gosvāmī. Svāmī means master and go means senses." (Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 6.25-29, Los Angeles, February 18, 1969)

The genuine spiritual master is always such a goswami. He understands immediately if someone is under the dictation of the senses. In this regard, the GBC may be imminently qualified to manage the external affairs of the institution, but their ability to determine transcendental truth or follow Vedic injunctions has already been shown to be rife with hypocrisy and managerial self-interest. A genuine goswami will not be attracted to such authority and direction. This does not speak well of those who accept.

The discrimination of some specific individuals has also been questioned. Reform movement leaders like Ravindra Svarupa and Atreya Rsi dasa accepted apparent guru approvals in 1986. These men had just been part of a sufficient number of Srila Prabhupada initiates to force the GBC and remaining zonals to come to the negotiating table. There had been no shortage of discussion among that group of whether the zonal acaryas came up to the standard of a bona fide spiritual master.

"The first thing, I warn Acyutananda, do not try to initiate. You are not in a proper position now to initiate anyone... Don't be allured by such Maya. I am training you all to become future Spiritual Masters, but do not be in a hurry... You don't be attracted by such cheap disciples immediately. One has to rise gradually by service... These services are most important. Don't be allured by cheap disciples. Go on steadfastly to render service first. If you immediately become Guru, then the service activities will be stopped; and as there are many cheap gurus and cheap disciples, without any substantial knowledge, and manufacturing new sampradayas, and with service activities stopped, and all spiritual progress stopped up." (Letter to Acyutananda, Aug 21, 1968)

In those reform discussions there were many who viewed the zonals and their followers as "cheap gurus and cheap disciples." How Atreya and Ravindra could quickly go from such discriminatory association to being junior zonals does not evince a very high degree of either conscience or discrimination. One is forced to question their honesty, knowledge and religiousness, all supposed functions of their faith in Srila Prabhupada's guidance.

All this hypocrisy, scandal and turning a blind eye has caused a certain mind-set to form among the institution's leaders and apparent gurus. In this regard it is important to understand the dynamics of such institutional religions. At all points in the ISKCON institution's "growing pains" of approving apparent gurus, one central purpose has always been entertaining the needs of "new people" to feel that they have advanced to the stage of initiation, bhajana kriya, or receiving the aforementioned bhakti-lata-bija. This coincidently also has the management utility of binding these people to the orders of their new apparent guru (or the GBC) for the rest of their lives - a pretty handy side effect if you are concerned with membership numbers and donations. This means that it is very important that apparent gurus be seen with as much gravity as possible.

Conversely, this also necessitates that the embarrassing indiscretions of backsliding apparent gurus be hushed up, obfuscated or covered up for as long as possible. Only when it is clear that too many people know the truth or when the offender makes a public admission, do the GBC and other apparent gurus break their silence to acknowledge his "weaknesses." 

In one of the worst cases, zonal acarya Bhavananda "Swami" was reinstated with full initiating privileges and authority only months after admitting to multiple homosexual affairs. 

Although these official pronouncements are generally sufficient to calm the loyal and dependent, they only further contribute to the caricature in the minds of those who have left the institution. Another interesting side-affect is that each scandal only increases the number of these unbound, resentful and angry ex-disciples.

One consequence of this ever-growing chorus of criticism is that, for the GBC, there is no apparent alternative to a continuous supply of naïve new people, people who generally read one of Srila Prabhupada's books and are easily convinced that the ISKCON institution is his movement or successor. This may be why membership among non-Indians, who don't historically or culturally accept gurus, has been declining since Srila Prabhupada's departure, and why many Western temples are now dominated by either local people of Indian descent or salaried Indian immigrants.

Apparently committed to riding this lame horse to the end, everything remains "authorized," supposedly just like when Srila Prabhupada was physically manifest. In such an Orwellian context, the pastime of one great devotee has found disproportionate utility in maintaining the loyalty of as many rank-and-file devotees for as long as possible. And this is Srila Ragunatha Bhatta Goswami's vow to never hear criticism or speak negatively about any other devotee.

"Although a Vaiṣṇava preacher may sometimes criticize others, Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa avoided this. Even if another Vaiṣṇava was actually at fault, Raghunātha Bhaṭṭa would not criticize him; he saw only that everyone was engaged in Kṛṣṇa's service. That is the position of a mahā-bhāgavata. Actually, even if one is serving māyā, in a higher sense he is also a servant of Kṛṣṇa." (Purport, Sri Chaitanya Charitamrita, Antya Lila, 13.133)

Here Srila Prabhupada makes clear that Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami's standard is one of maha-bhagavat devotees. Although there are dire consequences for blaspheming or offending other devotees, especially one on that level, artificially imitating such a great personality is also not recommended.

"However, one should not imitate the behavior of an advanced devotee or maha-bhagavata without being self-realized, for by such imitation one will eventually become degraded. ...The devotee should also know his own position and should not try to imitate a devotee situated on a higher platform." (Nectar of Instruction, Text 5, purport)

An honest objective devotee will thus avoid imitation, choosing to follow in the footsteps of his guru and other genuine authorities. In this regard Srila Prabhupada also said that a Vaishnava preacher may sometimes criticize others. However, since criticism can very easily turn into offense, it is very important to take much time and prayer before launching into it. Srila Prabhupada liked to paraphrase a standard attributed to Jesus Christ.

"Just like Lord Jesus Christ said that 'You hate the sin, not the sinner.' Not the sinner. This is very nice. Because sinner is illusioned. He's mad. If you hate him, then how you can deliver him? Therefore those who are devotees, those who are really servant of God, they have no hate for anyone." (Lecture on Bhagavad-gita 6.6-12, Los Angeles, February 15, 1969)

So a devotee, or an institution populated by devotees, may not be acting or preaching according to standard Vaishnava siddhanta, but we should not hate or offensively criticize those devotees personally. However, as we saw previously with Srila Prabhupada's own statements about his godbrother Bon Maharaja, bona fide criticism of devotee's deviations and self-interest can sometimes be quite pointed, especially if there are questions of pretence and misleading.

"According to social conventions, it is said that one can speak the truth only when it is palatable to others. But that is not truthfulness. The truth should be spoken in such a straight and forward way, so that others will understand actually what the facts are. If a man is a thief and if people are warned that he is a thief that is truth. Although sometimes the truth is unpalatable, one should not refrain from speaking it. Truthfulness demands that the facts be presented as they are for the benefit of others. That is the definition of truth." (Purport, Bhagavad-Gita 10:4)

Srila Prabhupada's personal example was that he was rarely critical of other devotees, and then usually only in private conversations and letters. One aim of his criticism was to demonstrate proper discrimination to his disciples through proper application of the philosophy. This is one duty of the spiritual master. He may be on the same topmost level as Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami, but he acts outwardly on the middle madhyama platform to demonstrate perfect discretion to the world.

However, in parts of the ISKCON institution the example of Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami has almost taken on the weight of a fifth regulative principle. "Avoiding faultfinding" of devotees has thus become a semi-official stricture. "Good devotees" are thereby differentiated from those (usually outside the institution) who, among other things, write articles such as this. Unfortunately this differentiation generally makes no attempt to distinguish if the criticism hates the sin or the sinner. For the most part, any and all negative mentions of the GBC or their apparent gurus are considered falldowns. In this way, those in the institution who exemplify and preach Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami's renunciation are considered worthy of following, while any and all outside devotees are inherently suspect and therefore to be avoided.

Although superficially this has the appearance of a very high standard of Krishna consciousness, something that easily overcomes the intelligence of the naïve, it has the rather pernicious side-effect of limiting advancement to that level. In other words, in the name of following Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami, neophyte devotees are encouraged to abandon discrimination in regard to Vaishnava behavior. Instead, for the sake of staying in good graces, developing or remaining in the approved previously described ignorance is rewarded.

Clearly, this misapplication of Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami's example also has great management utility. In this regard, it is not uncommon to find ISKCON institutional authors railing against "bogus gurus" outside the institution, such as Guru Maharaji or Rajneesh. This criticism of non-devotees follows Srila Prabhupada's long-time example. However, a line is drawn when one compares the genuine Vaishnava gurus to the apparent ones of the institution. That is considered very sketchy territory wherein neophytes (without the experience of the GBC!) are cautioned about "falling victim to the mad elephant offense." The clear implication is that sinful reactions will likely force them to share the fate of all the outside faultfinders.

In regard to official enforcement of Srila Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami's standard, until recently one institutional temple had a webpage entitled "A Stern Warning," on which potential visitors were cautioned about criticizing great devotees. At this temple, therefore, the example was apparently enforced as mandatory conduct. 

Among those pictured, in addition to the previous acaryas, were Gour Govinda Maharaja, Aindra dasa and George Harrison. Although George was instrumental in bringing many to Srila Prabhupada with his music, it is somewhat well known that he later had other more impersonal spiritual interests, as well as smoking, occasional drug use and drinking difficulties. Although he left his body hearing devotees chant, he was hardly fixed up. 

Gour Govinda Maharaja and Aindra, despite their reputations, can both be charged with lack of discrimination in bowing to the zonal acaryas and lending at least tacit support to decades of GBC hypocrisy and deviation. Accepting them as maha-bhagavatas is hardly self-evident. Apparently stating such things was, and may still be, prohibited at this temple.

What has resulted in the ISKCON institution is a kind of "mutual admiration society of (so-called) Krishna consciousness." Superficiality thus reigns in much the same way as those choreographed kirtans that sometimes accompany institutional Ratha Yatras and other events – a large number of young, shapely, tightly sari-ed matajis dance and play karatalas in well-rehearsed unison. For those enthralled by the institution's spectacle, simple honesty finds itself cowering before the prodigious volume of ignorance and misapplied faith required to maintain such a semblance of legitimacy.

For others, it doesn't take much internet research to learn that in 1978 the zonal acaryas repeatedly lied to the movement that Srila Prabhupada had appointed them gurus and his successors (See Jayapataka quote cited earlier). He had only named them "rittik – representative of the acarya." The fact that they used this lie to ruthlessly and audaciously overlord their godbrothers and sisters still burns in the hearts of many of those who left what was previously their heart and soul.

Because this gross deception can be described so clearly, perhaps the most fundamental block in that wall of institutional ignorance is that "the word lie is perhaps harsh and not applicable" – a tact also used by any number of government leaders – the purpose of which is to obfuscate and create as much plausible deniability as possible. Of course, that obfuscation can be minimized to the extent that a glossed-over version of the history has been accepted. Nevertheless, anyone considering being one of their apparent gurus should know the truth. Yet, such people apparently still find reason to join the three remaining liars ensconced as "senior gurus" on the officially approved and to-be-honored platform.

People who lie for the purpose of being worshipped can hardly be considered good people, much less senior and honorable spiritual masters. Yet, submission to such a wizard-of-Oz standard is de rigueur for prospective apparent gurus. Outside of this Oz, however, the previous acaryas like Srila Bhaktivinoda Takura take a much different view of those who lie for the purpose of being "guru."

"One should give up the association of dharmadvajis, the hypocritically devout, with special care. Those who accept the external signs of dharma but do not actually follow dharma are called dharmadvajis. There are two types of dharmadvajis—the hypocrites and the fools, or the cheaters and the cheated. Such hypocrisy in jnana-kanda and karma-kanda is also condemned. In devotional service this hypocrisy ruins everything. Better associate with sense enjoyers, for in this whole world there is no worse association than the dharmadvaji. The deceitful dharmadvajis accept the signs of dharma with a desire to cheat the world, and to fulfill their crooked desires they cheat the foolish by helping them in their rascaldom." (Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura, Sri Bhaktyaloka, Six Faults that Destroy Bhakti, Jana Sanga)

Not only do prospective apparent gurus agree to sit down with, honor and mutually admire the three remaining zonal acarya, brahminical-culture-killing dharmadvajis, but they also rub shoulders with all the other apparent gurus, men with that many more years of experience in compromising with ethics, Srila Prabhupada's instructions and sastra. This latter group includes men like Ravindra and Radhanatha swami who were brought into the circle for almost entirely political reasons. Radhanatha was invited because he brought thousands of Kirtanananda's ex-disciples back to the institution, despite being among Kirtanananda's GBC apostates for all the years they acted like Christians.

This clearly does not speak well of the discrimination of anyone agreeing to join or remain one of the apparent gurus authorized by the ISKCON institution's GBC. Continually turning a blind eye to the prodigious amount of historical hypocrisy and abuse pretty much amounts to undergoing a spiritual and ethical lobotomy. After undergoing this "wiping" of standards, such people actively propagate all the aforementioned institutional ignorance as part of the daily charade of their post.

(To be continued...)

[PADA: The GBC guru's followers have suffered a "spiritual and ethical lobotomy," hee hee, I like that summary. And yes, to the outside observer this whole thing looked like a train wreck starting way back in the late 1970s. The GBC does not care how bad the society looks to the outside observers, that seems self evident. ys pd]