WHERE ARE THE GURUS?

Red say's they ran off with all of ISKCON'S money and put it in Swiss bank accounts and we won't see them anymore. There is a new film about a ritvick debate. They don't seem to want to step down and admit they were wrong about the Guru issue. I was thinking of purchasing the tape but it would probably make no sense and totally be confusing. http://www.itvproductions.net/new_releases.html

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A FEW WORDS FROM THE EDITOR

We would first of all like to apologize to one and all who were offended with our (last) biting exchange with NNV, which we tried to say would not occur again. However, pada's editor is often moving into uncharted territory, emotionally, spiritually, physically, within ISKCON, and within himself. Its a sort of rudderless place. This can be frustrating as hell, but sometimes, very refreshing, elating and even, incredibly ecstatic. So we think this whole episode has been good because we have seen another piece of the ISKCON puzzle fit together, and a puzzle for ourselves in our own spiritual journey. No pain no gain.

For starters, we tried to figure out what it is about NNV that was so upsetting, and we realized it is not him as an individual, it is not an ad hominem thing per se, rather he represents to us a sort of abusive male figure in ISKCON, he sort of represents that person who bothers us as a class. Our first encounter with NNV was in India in 1971 where he was clearly beating up his wife at that time. We all sort of sat around not knowing what to do, and all of the devotees were upset that she was getting another black and blue mark regularly. The guy was clearly a bully. We could tell Srila Prabhupada, but then she would be dragged in as the main witness and she maybe would not be able to speak, due to fear. And whoever "ratted him out" would be the subject of a lot of his considerable rage. It was going to be ugly in any case, guaranteed.

So we lowered our bar of behavior for whatever reasons, and slunk down to being bullied by a woman abuser ourselves. We had a good experience from our Church where a woman there was being beaten, so she reported this to the Church elders. They conspired with a local police man in the congregation to trap the abuser man, to tape record his making death threats, and sure enough he was later busted. Yet here I was in India with no idea where to even start with such a problem? The idea of confronting it was just too ugly, yet not confronting it was equally ugly. So we just sort of let is pass, and it is perhaps for that reason that we have held a grudge against NNV ever since, he won the sort of bully stare down battle with us, and caused no small amount of harm to a nice devotee lady that should have been protected, even by ourself. For our failure to act, we ask the forgiveness of you all.

Yet what we also noted at that time was, that this was not isolated. Tamal was almost equally nasty to Madri, cold, imperious, demanding, a snot head. So we recalled a homosexual co-worker we knew from 1968 who had said that "women are witches and bitches," and so we sort of thought that NNV and Tamal were most likely, gay. That would explain the misogyny? And then again, we heard that some of the other leaders and sannyasis were homosexuals, like Kirtanananda. So it was seeming to be a pattern, homosexuals, misogynists, abusers, bullies. Except here, instead of these abusers being the equal to bilge scum as they were back in the realm we were accustomed to, as they were in our Church, these guys were the "big devotees."

Fast forward to the present and we find that there is plenty of evidence of a widespread pattern of abuse in ISKCON. And it was the same themes and trends from way back in 1971, homosexuals, misogynists, ok there were also some pedophiles in the mix. Ok there were also some murderers and poisoners in the mix, but they all had the same theme, they were bullies, they were bruisers, they were pushy, they were aggressive, they were exploiters, they were in sum: bad guys. And like we said, instead of being rated as bilge scum as some of them were, they were being worshipped as exalted spiritualists. So this set the stage for the wider abuses in ISKCON, clearly.

So the pattern was, let us say, get rid of Srila Prabhupada or his influence by some means, let us get rid of the householders, and let us forward homosexuals, misogynists and frustrated sannyasis as the top of the heap. So the pattern of abuse was already in motion early on. And there was not a good system of checks and balances, nor were the abuser misogynist class in favor of making one.

Fast forward to the realization that many members of ISKCON are now suffering from post traumatic stess disorder, especially many of the women and the children. How did this occur? So it really does not matter if it is a woman being beaten by Jiva, or other women samkirtana pary leaders, or NNV, or it is a child being beaten by Dhanurdhara, the reaction to the victim is the same: post traumatic stress, same as being on the front lines of Viet Nam. This trend and tendency was already starting to be visible in 1970. The homosexuals, the misogynists, the women beaters, they were gaining a foothold. So we would now say there is a direct relationship to the bullies, the exploiters of the weak, the homosexuals, the pedophiles, the misogynists, the abusers et al., and Srila Prabhupada's being poisoned, which is another form of bully boy abuse. They won, well sort of.

So we witnessed that both Tamal and NNV were misogynists early on, and yet for a long time we did not put all of this together, that the whole root of this poison case was already set in motion in 1970 or earlier. So these bully boy types simply gained more and more ground until they finally were able to take over Srila Prabhupada's room and adminster poison, that is what occured. But all of the other bully boys created the atmosphere where this type of aggressive behavior was not even considered as suspect. In other words, the reason Tamal did not stand out as so unusual was that there was a lot of other bullies, homosexuals, misogynists and so forth, in so many other places, and so many prominent places. So we would say this has to be uprooted, at the root, or ISKCON will not survive.

And so now Sanat glorifies a misogynist wife beater and womanizer as being very spiritual, and as an advanced devotee etc. Well, that was already going on in 1970. This trend was never identified as evil. And other people have wrote to complain that we are offending a great senior devotee like NNV and so on. Well, maybe, but in our Christian Church, this guy, a wife beater and womanizer, would not rate much higher than bilge scum. So we in ISKCON have made the standards for great devotees less than, the barely accepted level to enter a regular Church? We have not identified this misogynist trend, abuser trend, molester trend, bully boy trend, and of course poisoner trend, for what it is: evil. And we are just as guilty of not doing that sooner as the next guy.

What a great man does, others will follow, so if the bad guys are the exalted devotees... the senior men? The respected elders? So Yadavendu is right, this boil has to be cured or chopped off. It simply cannot go on like this. This is sad for our hearts, we are feeling a heavy thing, we will all have to change. Well, that is what death is like, it will be a short, sharp shock. We might then have to change? So why not change things now? So this whole process: the molested kids are getting their bad karma; the molested kids are demons who should be chopped into liver and fed to dogs; the molested kids are greedy blood suckers, this is all coming from that root homosexual pedophile, misogynist, mean, evil, child agressing, woman agressing, and even, guru agressing, theme and tendency. It is all connected. Are the woman beaters and child beaters worse than the guru poisoners? Who can say? Is wet stool better than dry?

So these agressive trends, they are all linked and they just happened to culminate in the murder of our guru, that is all. So no wonder some of our readers are so freaked when we compare this to Christianity, where the homosexuals, pedophiles, woman beaters, child beaters, and indeed the entire misogynist bully boy class is, well, less than bilge scum, so where are our big exalted devotee class? So NNV is a big devotee, so is Dhanurdhara, so is Bhavananda, so is this guy and that guy, but what kind of standards do we have then for a big devotee? Even Sanat is now saying, the misogynist class, the woman beater class, is very exalted and he is practically worshipping them, very wonderful, but we all know that if Sanat were to try to pull that off in a Church context, he'd be arrested on sight for trespassing their property.

So pada says that as long as this homosexual, pedophile, misogynist, woman beater, child beater et al. class is exalted in ISKCON, what to speak of poisoner class, then ISKCON is doomed, because that is not even the standard for bilge scum in a regular religion. And there will be lawsuits aplenty with this crap being viewed as the exalted stage. And do not blame us for these lawsuits either.

So it is a good thing that NNV is not a Christian, otherwise they would have perhaps helped have him placed in jail in 1971 and that would have been that. It should also be noted that these bully beater boys are in front of temples all over the world, the big tough guys, defenders of the homosexual pedophile guru lineage. And we often find that the misogynists are compromised with the child beaters, who are compromised with the poisoners, and so on, thus we have what might be called webs and nests of such bad guys working conjointly in mutual support. So it is not one man that we are attacking, ad hominem, it is the whole system. And its time has come -- to go.

And again we apologize because we should have not lowered our own bar of standards, we knew that these woman beater misogynists were evil in our own Church in 1960, before we even met any devotees. That was already our standard, and we let it slip and we compromised. And we are sorry for that. And we also see clearly, this is all connected, it is an epidemic of abuse, and that is why, and that is how, Srila Prabhupada was poisoned. Thus we are more determined than ever to expose that criminal action. Thanks for your patience,

your rudderless servant, pd

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LETTER TO MAHAKSA - From Yaduvendu

Dear Mahaksa Prabhu, I hope you’re keeping well. I have just a couple of comments on your piece in yesterday’s Pada. While it is a nice sentiment to forgive and forget, it is not necessarily the best advice to give people that have been seriously abused and continue to feel victimised. When anger is repressed it becomes internalised and often turns into long term depression. Therefore, giving vent to anger and blaming the oppressors forcefully, is a very healthy and necessary part of the healing process.

To ask victims to forgive is tantamount to being in hock with the abusers, from the victim’s perspective. It’s like saying that what’s been done to them isn’t that important and it’s they that have the problem, because THEY can’t get over it. The position of victim is one of helplessness and asking them to keep quiet, perpetuates the feeling of powerlessness, while making the perpetrators seem more powerful (so powerful that we dare not even blame them).

In order to support devotees who still feel distressed about their experiences in Iskcon and many still do, it is important to offer validation. To confirm that what happened to them was wrong and they have every right to feel angry. This stops the victim from taking ALL the blame on themselves.

To suggest that we follow Queen Draupadi’s example in fortitude is a little whimsical considering the level of real distress that has been suffered. We can no more be like Queen Draupadi, than Bhima, who could hurl trees, or Grandfather Bhisma who could tolerate the pain of a hundred arrows and still not die. These were exceptional personalities who lived in completely different times.

I hope you don’t feel I’m having a go at you in writing this. I appreciate that what you’ve said is philosophically correct – I’m only saying there is another side to be considered. Also, if anyone reading this has been abused and is feeling a lot of anger or hatred, hold on to it, it’s empowering!

Your old friend, Yadu

SITES TO CHECK OUT:

* http://www.acbspn.com/ BOMBAY India
* http://www.krsna.tv

*Book For Sale "Someone Has Poisoned Me," You can get it from: New Jaipur Press/ POB 208/ Mayodan NC 27027 $10.00 requested donation

* Seattle, Wa (Dhamaghosa dasa 206-729-0111) dasdasdas@aol.com

* MONTREAL, Canada, Hasti Gopala Dasa (for details write to: hasti90@hotmail.com)

* BERKELEY California. Hare Krishna Youth, 510-389-3346 conducts regular harinam parties, arotikes, cooking classes, college preaching, Prabhupada video nights, and so on.

* NEW YORK "Prabhupada Sankirtana Society" Headquarters 48 Ave. B NY, NY 10009 (212) 674-0680, PSS108@juno.com

01) http://mitglied.lycos.de/pada/ pada newsletter archive
02) http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Parliament/3933 Poison tape

03) Poison tape transcript:
03) http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Parliament/3933/19990519.htm
04) http://www.winink.com/tkg/ Poison whispers
05) www.prabhupada.cc Prabhupada samkirtana site
06) http://tsa.ppp.ripco.net/padaweb/puranjan.html Puranjana's Site
07) http://mitglied.lycos.de/gbc GBC expose
08) http://pages.infinit.net/pragosh/home.html French site
09) http://members.aol.com/gauridas Gauridasa's site
10) http://www.islandnet.com/krsna/ Rocana's site
11) http://www.islandnet.com/krsna/vada/poison/poison.htm Poison issue
12) www.harekrsna.de "Hare Krsna Homepage" (German)
13) http://members.nbci.com/prabhupada/ ISKCON Reform (German)
14) German translation of Final Order (pdf)
14) http://members.nbci.com/prabhupada/final.htm
15) http://members.xoom.com/prabhupada/ (German Expose)
16) http://www.equalsouls.org/tkg Srila Prabhupada wanted to be poisoned?
17) http://www.surrealist.org/gurukula/ Nandini's history site
19) http://mitglied.lycos.de/gbc/ GBC
20) "illicit sex guru" rationalizations:
20) http://www.islandnet.com/krsna/vada/iskcon/right.htm
21) http://www.artnet.net/~yasoda/index.htm Appointment tape fraud
22) http://www.asitis.com Original Bhagavad-gita As It Is
23) http://krsnabook.com Original Krsna Book
24) http://www.krishna.org Prabhupada Hare Krishna News Network
25) http://folio.bhaktivedanta.org S.P. Folio Infobase CD-ROM
26) http://realaudio.bhaktivedanta.org Prabhupada RealAudio Archive
27) http://mp3.bhaktivedanta.org Prabhupada MP3 Bhajans, 2 CD set

28) http://krsna.kgb.cz/hlavni.htm Prague Czech-devotees (english)
29) http://www.domgbc.org petition for new GBC
30) http://tsa.ppp.ripco.net/das/articles.htm (DAS)
31) http://www.com.org/hb/ptd/cyber_gurukula.htm (Cyber gurukula)