Any other disciples or well-wishers not in the area of Alachua Florida or Goverdhan who would like to do something special can send e-mails or postings etc.to let him know.
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Chaitanya Vaishnava Sanga - Chaitanya Vaisnava Sanga (chlear909.com)
PUBLIC STATEMENT ON SEXUAL & FINANCIAL ABUSE OF DISCIPLES BY TURIYA DAS
Dear Devotees,
Please accept my koti dandavat pranams. Sri Sri Guru Gauranga Jayate!
It is with great sadness that I write this letter. It has come to my attention that Turiya Das has recently been giving initiations and holding programs with people who are not aware of his past sexual, psychological and financial abuse of his disciples. You may also find below statement from my former wife who was directly sexually abused by Turiya.
We also ask that you share this with anyone you know you is involved with Turiya, as we are unable to reach everyone.
We are very reluctant to invoke these past events, but for the protection of innocent persons who have come in contact with Turiya Das and his wife, we are compelled to lay out the facts in public for those who care to hear:
1) Between 2006 to 2009, Turiya Das had a very destructive and exploitative sexual affair with a female disciple who had been serving him personally for many years. Essentially using her like a sex slave. This led her to severe emotional and psychological problems, finally leading to a suicide attempt. This devotee was my wife and someone who had served Turiya for 7 years prior, making very great sacrifices for him. Attached after this is a statement from my former wife describing her experience.
2) At the same time of the sexual abuse, he made this mataji work and give him all her money (as she had done already for many years before) and manipulated her father to give him an additional $1,000 USD per month during this time.
3) Also during this affair, he accepted over $8,000 USD from the disciple’s former husband (that is me, also a former disciple) who she had separated from just a few days before he took advantage of her. He kept the affair secret and continued to receive money and praise from me as a disciple for many years, as I had no idea what was happening and still revered him my guru, only considering myself to be a failure.
4) At some point, his wife Shaktimati, became aware of the affair, and allowed this to continue with full knowledge, on the condition that they would meet for sex only 2 times per week. When this news became public in 2011, Shaktimati continued to defend him and denied any wrongdoing.
5) Also in 2011, another female disciple revealed that Turiya had made inappropriate sexual propositions to her between 1998-1999. Unfortunately, she did not warn anybody and continued on due to being under the spell of his emotional control. This disciple had been his primary financial supporter and brought him over $1 million USD over almost 20 years through the hard labor of collecting money on the street. His actions included:
-Giving her a Polaroid camera and instructing her to have a devotee who lived outside the temple take revealing pictures of her. Then she was to bring the photos back for him to see. She said she threw the camera away and didn’t speak with him about it again.
-Suggesting that she (a brahmacharini for many years) could go and find a boyfriend outside the temple, and that this would be okay with him if she came back and told him the details.
-Arranging for me to give this mataji a massage in front of him during a private meeting. I worked as a professional massage therapist so didn’t think much about it as it all seemed very innocent, but she told me it had all been pre-planned, with Turiya instructing her in advance to wear a certain housedress for the occasion.
6) When this became public in 2011, Turiya and his wife never apologized to anyone or acknowledged any wrongdoing. In fact, they defended their position (even sending out an email newsletter about Gopi Bhava the next day). He simply said, “nobody knows what is in my heart, and those who wish to follow me as their guru can follow me.” He does not believe he has done anything wrong.
7) For some background information - Turiya had put a down payment of $100,000 USD for his property in Hawaii around 1990, and benefitted from a real estate boom in Hawaii, walking away with over $800,000 in cash in 2006 after the sale of his ashram, all financed by his disciples (primarily the second mataji mentioned above) who worked tirelessly doing street collections to pay the $2,000 per month mortgage and all Turiya and Shaktimati’s expenses. During my last year in the ashram my wife and I had a quota for $2,000 each per month (total $4,000 per month) in order to support the temple.
Those are the facts and anyone who wishes to discuss with me is welcome to do so. It is to be understood that these were not isolated events, but the culmination of many years and instances of abuse and manipulation of disciples by Turiya and his wife. I could write a book about all the selfish, childish, and immature behavior I witnessed from him and his wife.
Most importantly, this included serious and repeated criticism of senior Vaishnava saints and Acharyas who visited from India such as Srila BV Narayana Maharaja, Srila BV Tirtha Maharaja, and Srila BV Puri Maharaja, all of whom they considered themselves equal to.
These sannyasis were many times Turiya’s senior, all of them having taken sannyasa either before Turiya was born or when he was a small child. Yet when these saints offered some instruction, Turiya and his wife would criticize them after they left and grumble about what a disturbance it was to host them. I attribute Turiya’s terrible falldown to this serious and repeated criticism of senior Vaishnavas (Vaishnava ninda).
Further Thoughts on My Experience with Turiya Das
Above is list of the most significant events, but there was a long history of more subtle selfish and abusive behavior that his disciples experienced. I was Turiya’s personal servant for the better part of 13 years, living with him directly for 6 years, helping support him financially and managing every aspect of his temple and preaching mission, from mowing the lawn, to massaging his body, to arranging (and paying for) public programs and national preaching tours across the USA to prestigious universities. So I can say that I got to know him and studied his personal behaviour quite well.
I do believe Turiya suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, having studied this topic in-depth due to my own family issues. One bit of evidence is how often Turiya uses the words “I” and “mine.” “My disciples. My deities, etc.” it is a constant thing, and one would think that everything around him belongs to him. Those of you who have some knowledge of this disorder will know how destructive this syndrome can be and I do sincerely believe he suffers from some serious derangement.
To illustrate, some other events included:
-My former wife (who he had the sexual affair with), recounted how when she first came to the ashram she baked two loaves of banana bread as an offering, one for Turiya and one for the devotees. Turiya threw a huge temper tantrum, saying “how dare you prepare an offering for someone other than me?!” And threatened not to accept the bread.
-The story was told of some devotees who came shortly before me who were invited by Turiya to live on his property. After they had invested all their savings in building a structure (I believe well over $10,000 USD), Turiya’s wife changed her mind, thus causing the devotees to lose all their money and have no place to live.
-Once a female devotee who had been sent to us by one of Turiya’s sannyasi friends came to visit our ashram. During the Sunday program, she did not pay obeisances directly in front of Turiya and touch his feet, as she had been trained by the sannyasi to keep her distance from the spiritual master. Turiya’s wife threw a huge tantrum, ranting on and on about how disrespectful the girl was (even though the girl was innocent and actually trying to be respectful) and practically threatening the girl with damnation if she didn’t bow down directly in front of Turiya.
I myself was shocked as this un-Vaishnava like behaviour of demanding someone pay obeisances, but Turiya went along with it. As I recall, the girl was quite shocked herself and left the ashram in disgust.
-When my former wife was a brahmacharini, Turiya once chastised her for holding the young baby of one of the devotees after the Sunday program when everyone was socializing. He said he, “didn’t like the way it looked.”
-On a trip to Vrindavana, I witnessed Turiya yelling and screaming at his most senior brahmacharini disciple for almost one hour because of some small gesture she made that he didn’t like. I was quite shocked myself and remembered that another devotee had left our sangha after a previous trip to Vrindavan some years before due to the same behaviour. He was appalled at Turiya and Shaktimati’s abusive treatment of this young lady, as well as Turiya’s never ending financial demands.
-Once at a university program I organized for Turiya, one of the guests asked me a question directly instead of directing it to Turiya. I started to speak as it was an informal situation, only to look over and see Turiya giving me the most terrifying and evil scowl I have ever seen in my life. I hadn’t done anything wrong, but Turiya didn’t like that any of the attention was diverted from him. Contrast this to a video I saw of Srila Prabhupada at a university program where he is beaming like a proud father when his disciple answers a question for the assembly.
-Before I learned of the sexual affair with my former wife, Turiya actually allowed me to wash his feet on his Vyasa Puja day while the affair was happening, and some years later he and his wife welcomed me in their home for a visit, calling themselves my “second parents” while knowing full well of their evil deception.
Sadly, the person who suffered most from all this was my good mother, who had faithfully raised 5 children and was alone in her old age.
I was barely able to see her during 15 years due to having surrendered myself to Turiya. I was able to attend to her during the last years of her life, but only after she had suffered many years of great hardship, abuse, and neglect, which was ultimately due to me giving all my livelihood to Turiya for many years.
Beforehand, I had many good career opportunities and the opportunity to go to law school, all of which I gave up for my so-called guru. The result was a disaster, not only for me, but for my elderly and honorable mother.
I can say from what I witnessed and tolerated, only out of respect for Srila Prabhupada and Gaudiya Sampradaya, that Turiya is one of the most selfish people I have ever met. When all was said and done, almost everything Turiya did (including accepting disciples) was ultimately for himself and his own status, not for the sake of genuine spiritual advancement. I often witnessed his two-faced behaviour, acting saintly and humble in public, while speaking critically of others and selfishly in private.
Along with the two other senior disciples at the time, we dedicated ourselves to him 150%, body, mind, and soul, giving up everything – our lives, family, friends, career, and well-being – in the name of Srila Prabhupada and Mahaprabhu’s mission. With Turiya knowing very well all that we sacrificed for him, there are no words that could even begin to express the depth of betrayal, deception, selfishness, and duplicitousness that his actions represent. This is the definition of a wolf in sheep’s clothing and nothing less than pure evil and insanity in the name of Bhagavat Dharma.
Our Vaishnava tradition requires that anyone acting as guru should have the sanction and blessings of their own guru or other senior Vaishnavas. There is no senior Vaishnava, past or present, who would give their blessings to Turiya to be initiating disciples or acting as guru considering his past actions. Certainly not Srila Prabhupada or Srila Sridhar Maharaj, from whom he claims some authority, nor any other Vaishnava that I know of. Additionally, Turiya is currently banned from initiating within ISKCON and thus is acting without any authority whatsoever.
I personally witnessed it when Vaishnava Charan Das Babaji, the senior and renowned mahant of Old Radha Shyamsundar Mandir in Goverdhan, rejected Turiya and refused to accept a flower garland from him. Babaji raised his hand as if to block Turiya and waived him to go away. After that, Turiya began to say the Babaji Maharaja was senile, but I don’t think that was the case.
Perhaps the greatest danger of association with Turiya and his wife is that they deprive us of the association and service of genuine saints and saddhus. I urge any devotees to avoid them at all costs.
For any devotees in Vrindavan who have been initiated by Turiya, please visit Srila Prana Krishna Das Babaji in Radha Kunda, or Vinod Bihari Das Babaji in Barsana and take guidance and blessings there. For devotees in the USA, I recommend Shyamarani Didi who has opened a nice preaching center in South Florida. I have a list available with many links to current and previous prominent Vaishnavas for those who need direction in their spiritual lives. I am also happy to give guidance regarding visiting India, etc. There are also many online sanghas and daily kathas for devotees to take part in.
As for myself, I am very thankful to Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Maharaj who through his sangha has given me the opportunity to visit the Holy Dhams of Nabadwip, Jagannatha Puri, and Vrindavan now numerous times. I can say that I have received immense grace and blessings from the devotees there and am happy to share my experiences with any devotees reading this who are in need of guidance or wishing to visit India, which I highly recommend.
Thank you and we pray for the forgiveness of the Vaishnavas for any offences made herein. We would prefer not to publicize such unpleasant subjects, but consider it our duty to warn others not to be led astray in their spiritual and personal lives. I can be reached at lunalight108@gmail.com
Your lowly and fallen servant,
Vamsi Wala Das
(formerly Nitai-caran das)
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Aloha and Namaste, Respected Community,
I was recently asked if I would be willing to share more openly about the essence of what transpired between Turiya Das a.k.a. Anthony Avella and I between 1999-2009.
I share from a desire to illuminate the true character of Turiya / Anthony as the fraud and imposter that he is to the Gaudiya Vaisnava Community and his unsuspecting followers. Everyone deserves to know enough of the truth to bring the reality to light.
From the moment I put my head at his feet and begged for initiation and to move into the temple to be a full time monastic, celibate student of the Vedas, the power games started. I was quickly stripped of all freedoms, choices, options and rights. All of my time was dedicated in “devotional service” to the point of exhaustion.
I was not allowed to keep company with anyone outside the ashram. I was not allowed to listen to anything other than specific recordings provided by my guru or of my guru. We were not allowed to read books other than what we were given/allowed to read. Differing philosophies were looked down upon. The path of pleasing guru to please God was the only way.
This was taken to an extreme. It would literally take a series of books to describe the length, depth and awfulness of the many injustices, restrictions, punishments, controls, abuses, mind games, extortions and straight up soul-sucking daily practices that I survived in the name of “bhakti-seva”.
I was brainwashed to have no worth of my own, no value other than to serve him. I was taught to believe that the eternal nature of my SOUL rested upon whether or not he was pleased. I was made to beg donations on the street for hours under challenging conditions (all of which went unaccounted for in their books of course- hundreds of dollars a day)... for years. I was not allowed private friends, personal phone calls or even letters. When I developed an interest in respectably getting to know a god-brother under proper scriptural protocols, the backlash was so horrible I considered ending my life, and agreed to get married within the next 2 weeks so I wouldn’t get kicked out of the ashram…
I had worked so hard to receive 2nd initiation, to learn to do puja, and I was a METICULOUS pujari energetically. I was in the practice of this religion with a fervor so intense I obviously didn’t realize I was being abused in the name of spiritual development.
After my husband broke down from his own trauma with the guru, was when the sexual abuse started. He approached me alone in my cabin as if to console me like a friend. Told me he was a gopi and so was I, we were eternally 12 years old, yada yada yada.
From there he forced me into sexual acts and that continued as a regular power play of his for the rest of the years until I escaped. I would cry when he would say we were soulmates because I hated him so much. I was trapped.
To say he is fond of perversions is a light statement. I will spare you the torrid details of what this so called Acharya prefers for pleasure. It’s the sad result of years and years of self denial and twisted power dynamics. The many disgusting acts he forced me to commit over all those years have me STILL in psychotherapeutic recovery.
By the way, his wife knew all about his perversions. At a certain point she guessed and he confessed to her. They reached an agreement that he could “be with me” twice a week, as long as she was off the property. How I dreaded those days.
When the ashram closed in 2006, I went with he and his wife to Florida because I believed I had no other choice. I did only what he instructed me to do and I had no other reality.
I was completely trapped. They forced my aging, struggling father to pay them over $1000 a month for me to live on their property. He made me get a job with an acupuncture doctor who ALSO started sexually harassing me. I was made to try a number of jobs to bring in money for them, and my mental health was crumbling.
In 2009 I had a full psychiatric breakdown and began taking medication. I planned my escape to California to leave this all behind and start a new life. When I told Turiya I was leaving and there was nothing he could do about it, he tried to have sex with me again but I refused and he cursed me saying that I would see his face forever in every lover that was on top of me! How horrible! This is a saint?!
After 5 years in California with massive and increasing mental illness- I was diagnosed with Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and put on numerous medications over that 5 years. Sadly I didn’t receive good care and in 2014 I attempted suicide by pill overdose and nearly lost my life. Factually, I almost died.
The path to my healing has been a long one. I’ve had help but mostly have done the work myself. I have been off meds for 7 years now but still live with depression, anxiety, OCD, perfectionism, nightmares, flashbacks, insomnia…so many self worth and trust issues. I also am still trying to teach myself that it’s ok to: be free, to eat, to allow myself to receive good things, to get to know others, to trust myself… the list goes on.
My point in all this is that the damage this man has done to my soul and my psyche is deep and real. He is not to be trusted. He is NOT pure and holy. I would not advise following his ways.
I will conclude this by saying that my trauma has prevented me from coming further forward with more detailed stories until now, that and I haven’t seen the good in it or the use for it. HOWEVER, at this point, it is my hope that someone will be saved from falling prey to his false teachings and losing any of their life or living to him.
If for some reason you feel you wish to know more details about my story, you may send inquiries to serenitywellnessarts@gmail.com. Out of respect for my sanity I will NOT be answering inquiries on this topic by phone or on any social media platforms.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration.
Serena Garretts
