October  1998

01/10/1998 - IRG has learned that Monika, the "therapist" Harikesha wants to marry, is currently and has been for many years a follower of "Bhagavan Rajneesh". Rajneesh had become known worldwide for giving "sannyasa" to his followers and advocating free sexuality for spiritual advancement. Rajneesh followers have also been known to recruit new members into the group by offering sex. In light of these facts, the recent statements by Harikesha regarding his promotion of more unrestricted sex can be traced directly to the teachings of Rajneesh via Monika. Harikesha is also said to be sharing Monika with two of Monika's boyfriends, since Rajneesh followers do not believe in monogamous relationships.

While Harikesha is vacationing in a top secret location, with money extorted from ISKCON, the former Harikesha zone, which includes most of Northern Europe and Russia, appears to be falling apart. Some reports claim this includes some 7000 initiated Harikesha disciples, which by some estimates accounts for more than half of ISKCON's total membership. For example, after 20 years of preaching in Austria, the ISKCON temple in Vienna, the country's capital, has been closed and the deities moved to Switzerland. The temple building is to be sold to pay off debts to the BBT. BBT debts, that some say, were intentionally created by Harikesha with over-inflated book prices charged to the temples, to milk every last penny out of these temples, to be stashed away in BBT accounts in Switzerland.

Reports of substantial exodus amongst Harikesha disciples could possibly mean the most devastating blow to ISKCON's preaching in Europe. To this day the aftershocks of Bhagavan's and Jayatirta's fall can be felt in France, Italy and England, where ISKCON has not recovered from these fiascos. The New Mayapur temple in France, one of the flagship temples in Europe, once populated with hundreds of devotees, is to be sold, since it can no longer be maintained.

Just weeks ago Harikesha disciples were seen offering Vyasa Puja to Monika's son, after Harikesha told them that he was an incarnation of Srila Prabhupada. This comes as a haunting reminder of other aberrations of vedic tradition in ISKCON's history. Kirtananda disciples eating the remnants of their guru's guard dogs and offering arotika to them, after Kirtananda made statements to the effect they were "great souls" who had come to serve him. Pictures of Kirtananda in jail are circulated today amongst his diehard followers. In other places over-enthusiastic Bhaktins would offer the expelled mucus of ill gurus like Jagadish as nectar to newcomers.

ISKCON seems to get deeper and deeper into trouble with its own legacy, continuing on its course of self-destruction, with its latest attempt to purge the few remaining Prabhupada followers from the society in what is called by many as the latest "ritvik witch hunt".

06/10/1998 - from the The San Diego Union-Tribune

Copyright 1998 The San Diego Union-Tribune
October 02, 1998, Friday
SECTION: LIFESTYLE Pg. E-5
LENGTH: 232 words
HEADLINE: Scandal rocks Russian Hare Krishnas MOSCOW

SOURCE: Religion News Service

MOSCOW -- While the world follows the twists and turns of the Bill and Monica story, the Hare Krishna community has a high- level sex scandal of its own --complete with a woman named Monica.

Harikesa Swami Sri Vishnupad -- former chairman of the Hare Krishna movement's international governing body -- prompted the scandal by announcing plans to marry the woman who nursed him through what has been alternately described as a coma and a breakdown.

As a priest who took vows of celibacy, his recent announcement challenged fundamental Hare Krishna principles and prompted at least 200 of his followers to break with the main 100,000-member Russian Hare Krishna community.

Vishnupad, 49, an American living in Germany whose secular name is Robert Compagnola, was suspended from his post as chairman of the Governing Body Commission (GBC) -- the 35-member panel that governs the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), the formal name of the Hare Krishna movement, a Hindu offshoot. The GBC also revoked his authority to initiate new disciples.

In response, Vishnupad quit ISKCON and denounced it as a corrupt "communist" organization interested only in "money, power, buildings and fruitless institutionalization."

At least 200 of his devotees in Russia, concentrated around a temple in St. Petersburg, have joined him in splitting with the movement.

21/10/1998 - As Harikesa das and his girlfriend Monica recently returned to Germany from a vacation at the French Riviera, VNN received reports of high level talks between GBC members and Harikesa regarding a possible reinstatement of Harikesa to his GBC/Guru position within ISKCON. Amongst other things these secret talks are said to be considering reinstating him in some areas of Russia where some of his most faithful followers are said to have raided BBT warehouses, taking some $800,000 worth of books and paraphernalia from ISKCON.

VNN has learned from reliable sources that Harikesa's "breakdown" is now considered by some ISKCON leaders as well as Harikesa disciples to be a complete fraud, in order to cover up his massive losses of money and improper dealings with women.

These sources tell VNN that due to the recent Russian stock market collapse Harikesa had lost $20 Million Dollars over night. After finding out about the loss over the phone he said: "Its all over!" The next day he is alleged to have staged his "near death experience" from which he was "saved" when Monica gave him a "new heart Chakra."

After that Harikesa is said to have called his disciple Brahma Muhurta, the BBT manager in Sweden at the time, demanding all the money to be turned over to him or else he would "release documents of illegal BBT business." Later the GBC Executive Committee is said to have negotiated this down to $500,000 which he was eventually given.

There is also suspicion now that Harikesa may have mixed himself some kind of drugs into the "Vibhuti" powder, which he was taking for many years.

If the GBC is considering such reinstatement of Harikesa, who is currently suspended from his ISKCON duties, they may have to do some fancy footwork to sell such reinstatement to the devotees.

This in the face of the current situation in Los Angeles, where a senior devotee, who is strictly following Srila Prabhupada's teachings, is currently forcefully evicted from his temple apartment, because he did not want to accept Jayatirtha as his guru in India in the past and does not want to take initiation from any current ISKCON guru, but has been and wants to serve Srila Prabhupada, the founder acarya of ISKCON.
In contrast Harikesa has recently fallen down, repeatedly criticized Srila Prabhupada publicly, disagrees with some of his teachings and has threatened to "become ISKCON's worst enemy", is invited back and is getting the royal treatment by ISKCON leadership.

The Harikesh Saga