Dear Raghunatha Anudasa,
Thank you for your email letter expressing your views about our 20/20 segment on the Hare Krishna society. As you may imagine, it's quite a challenge to tell a complex story that spanned many years in a 15 minute report. I can only begin to understand the difficulties you and your friends faced as children of Hare Krishna. By no means did we believe that there weren't positive things going on at the time. But the story had a particular focus and we kept within that framework. I am confident, however, that the details we reported were fair and accurate.
As far as particular memories of former students, we can only report that these experiences are what they are saying they remember. After spending hours with the students, I can only tell you that I believed they were being truthful. The video that you referred to that you believe shows you was obtained from
NBC News Archives 30 Rockefeller Plaza 280E New York, NY 10112
You may want to contact them directly. I know that you and your school mates
have lots you want to say about your experiences at Krishna schools. I hope you
get many opportunities. If 20/20 embarks on an update to the Hare Krishna story,
I would be happy to contact you concerning your thoughts on the subject.
Yours truly, Michael Pressman
Producer, ABC News 20/20
============================
2) Naranaranya dasa conclusion (we hope):
So there you have it, the guy beats up on a young devotee woman, and he is now
glorified by Sanat and co. as the guy we "are envious of." We are just
envious because we have not been women beating and women hunting? We are envious
of the people shastra says, are ALREADY in hell? Sanat says we are envious because
we could not do that, and we would have been better off it we had? Beat women?
Srila Prabhupada's children should be beaten and exploited for sex? This is a
good thing? And they even say we are psychological wrecks because: we have not
indulged in this behavior, and instead we are at least trying to protect women
and not beat and abuse them?
And worse, we should have been doing the womanizing party life --instead of pursuing things like the poison issue? Yep, let the poisoners go free, that is their plan? And worse, when people complain about the beating and illicit behaviors in a lawsuit, then these critics wail like stuck pigs? Hello? If you are going to endorse the "beat people and have a number of sexual affairs" life, you are probably going to get sued --eventually? Anyone over the age of 7 who has watched the afternoon soaps knows that? You guys are like crooks who are baffled when the police come, "well officiarr, we was a' just a' robbin' this hy-ere bank, wots de problem"?
You recommend a "beating women and loose moral lifestyle" as "taking care of women (and children?) (which you claim we are not doing nicely, since we only got sneakers and not jackboots)," then when the legal side catches up, you are upset? Well, you cannot have it both ways here? The abuser / loose morals lifestyle sometimes ends in a legal snafu, as is known to everyone in grade 7 basic social studies class? Hello? And then you say, "well Prabhupada is being blamed," simultaneously, "we like the guy who beats Prabhupada's female children, has a loose goose, and leaves his own kid who knows where"? And this is Prabhupada's agent. Well then you are the one who is sticking Prabhupada with the blame? You are the cause of that wording in the court case?
Women were also servile slaves to be beaten, and for sex, in Kirtanananda's
camp, and in NNV's camp as well. Same mentality, different cloaks and masks. This
was never tolerated in our 1960s Christian Church, so why should it be tolerated
in our year 2000 Church? It should not be and it will not be. And beating up the
guru is one and the same thing if we accept Lord Chaitanya's idea, He says that
beating up His devotees is just like beating on Him personally. So pada agrees
with those who say: enough! Agreed. Let us expose this team of big tough men bully
boys team, who love to punch up on women and exploit a number of them for sex,
for their "spiritual" kicks. And now you know why they want to harass
the women and children victims, they are upset that their beater / loose goose
program is being exposed. Too bad! Beaters and poisoners. This has ALL gotta go!
AND IT WILL!
ys pd
============================
3) JAYADVAITA AUTHORIZES REPRINT OF ORIGINAL GITA
[PADA: This proves that the pressure to "print original editions" is finally causing even internal members of the GBC to recant. Goodie! We heartily applaud this printing as a major step in the right direction, and give credit to Jayadvaita Maharaja, Madhu Pandit, and Adri, for finally geting this together. Pada's four star award! If a few copies get smuggled out, we will be glad to get some and sell them on pada. Hey, hey, hey...]
(from Adri) We are pleased to announce the recent printing by the Bombay BBT of 10,000 copies of the original unabridged deluxe hardback Macmillan version of Srila Prabhupada's Bhagavad Gita. We would like to give a special thanks to His Holiness Jayadvaita Maharaja who obliged our request for this printing, by authorising the Bombay BBT to go ahead. Some months ago when Maharaja was visiting the Bangalore Temple, Madhu Pandit prabhu, the IRM secretary asked Maharaja if he would arrange for the printing of the original Gitas, since we were very keen to purchase them. True to his word Maharaja stayed in constant touch with the Bombay BBT and ensured that they were printed. Bangalore has just taken delivery of the first batch of them, and has already sold most of them. This initial printing however is only for distribution in India. We hope to co-operate with Maharaja to begin purchasing *all* of Srila Prabhupada's books in their pre-1977 edition, and see this as just the first of what will hopefully be many printings by the Bombay BBT of the original edition of the books. And with the Bangalore temple alone distributing up to 1 in every 7 books distributed in ISKCON, this will have a significant effect.
==================================
4) WHERE ARE THE GURUS?
PADA, All glories to Srila Prabhupada! Please accept my obeisances. Thank you for your weekly newsletters. I look forward to reading everyone I receive.
I have a question... have these 'gurus' (Tamal, Hryday, and Jayapataka), actually
disappeared completely? What I'm saying is... took the money and ran? I thought
Hrydayananda was hanging out in his Beverly Hills home with all his female servants.
So what I'm understanding here, is that these guys have actually 'blooped' from
ISKCON, took millions of dollars with them, and (I would assume) a few fanatical
followers as well? Thanks for your response... Hari bol!
YS S das
[PADA: Well, yes they are rumored to have stashed lots of money in Swiss banks, and it is hard to find most of them nowadays, they are hiding. Yes, Hrd has a house in Beverly Hills and he rarely visits any temples. Yes, they are unofficially --blooped.]
=====================================
From:
To: angel108b@yahoo.com
5) Subject: A Moral Basis
A MORAL BASIS
Yesterday I received a posting from a retired Indian scholar named V.V. Raman. Using the verse Yada Yada hi dharmasya ‘whenever there is a decline in religious principles’ (Bhagavad Gita 4.7) Mr Raman suggests a deeper significance, that history shows, even great civilisations will eventually crumble if the moral / humanistic basis is lost.
One of the examples he cites is of the Islamic civilisation that has achieved many great things in art, architecture, literature and philosophy. Yet, many of its propagators displayed inhuman disregard for other cultures - reaping painful consequences in the long run. He also mentions that the accomplishments of Western civilisation were gained through the exploitation of other cultures and the enslaving of non-white races – a serious moral transgression, which it is paying heavily for, even today.
I would add to that the Roman Empire, which oversaw more cruelty than any other nation on earth and the Christian Church, which was responsible for the torture and deaths of millions of innocent people during the Middle-Ages. He asks also, if the Hindu’s have not paid heavily for their treatment of the lower castes and outcaste’s, adding: ‘We must therefore sometimes unreasonably have faith that principles based on high moral values will prevail’.
Reading this I cannot help but relate it to Iskcon. When I think of the monstrous way that women have been treated, when I think of the monstrous way the children were treated, when I think of the monstrous and servile way that MOST devotees were treated, it is no wonder the society is on the verge of collapse. In Iskcon there is no moral basis. Anything can be done as long as it can be claimed to be for Krsna. What a dichotomy, as the above verse clearly states Krsna appears to establish religious principles and we think we can please him by giving them up. It’s okay to act criminally, so long as you’re acting criminally for Krsna. I wonder where this particular line of rhetoric came from, certainly not Prabhupada?
But the proof that Iskcon became an immoral institution is in the fact that it has always been so against family values. One leading Swamiji in the movement, who is now an initiating guru with many disciples, called me into his office one day back in the mid-eighties and said "Yaduvendu, I see that you’re quite a good preacher, so why waste so much time on your family? Your children will only grow up and leave the movement, so why waste time on them." He was referring to my taking them to the zoo or beach some afternoons and buying them bikes so they could have fun.
‘No Maharaja, my children will always be devotees’ I told him, ‘and this is why I try to spend time with them, so they won’t grow up feeling resentful of their upbringing’. The maharaja then scowled and said, ‘That’s your trouble Yaduvendu, you’re too puffed up, you think you can succeed where everyone else has failed'. And I certainly would have failed if I’d taken his advice.
There was another occasion around 1980 when another leader, also now an initiating guru in Iskcon, tried to get my wife remarried to one of his young, submissive men, although we already had two children. He sought to set my wife against me by lying to her that I was having an affair. My only regret is that because of my humble and submissive attitude, I didn’t smash my fist into his smug face.
Another friend of mine who is now an Iskcon guru was sent to Norway by his Regional Secretary on a bank scam to steal thousands of pounds, which he did - for Krsna. To him, liberating the money from the karmi’s was like liberating Sita from Ravanna. Duty and morality in Iskcon is narrowly portrayed as 16 rounds and 4 regulative principles. But the very definition of morality is - that which is against the family principle. If for example, a person who is married has extra-marital relations, it is deemed immoral because it places the family at risk.
Pornography is considered immoral for the same reason. It sends out the message that casual sex is okay and this is also against the family principle. Family life is considered to be the cornerstone of the Vedic civilisation. Absolutely everything depends upon it. If the family is strong it will turn out good citizens who will uphold dharma. Where the family principle is weak it will result in dysfunction, sin and crime. Sanyassi’s are dependent upon the householder, not only for their sustenance, but their very birth. The household ashram is therefore, considered to be the most important of the four ashrams and for this reason the Vedas depict the trinity of the father, mother and child as representative of the Supreme.
In Iskcon the family has been devalued to the point where it has been seen as a fall-down to get married and devotees who express affection for their family are considered to be in maya. Yet Prabhupada was not like this. There may be philosophical statements in his books and lectures to help us appreciate the virtue of renunciation, but he liked to see devotees becoming married and responsible.
When I was first married I was walking to class one morning when I met Prabhupada in the corridor. As he approached me he looked down at my yellow dhoti and then up at me. A big smile came across his face and he put his palms together and said ‘Jai!’ I could see by this that Prabhupada was very pleased to see that I had become a householder and therefore, a little more responsible.
Mafia codes have no place in spiritual life. Machiavellian principles and the scramble for power have no place in spiritual life. The gathering of munition has no place in spiritual life. Criminal activity has no place in spiritual life. Propaganda has no place in spiritual life. Cover-ups and dishonesty have no place in spiritual life. The excessive gathering of funds has no place in spiritual life and the systematic abuse and bullying of devotees has no place in spiritual life. It is a simple question of distinguishing right conduct from wrong. None of these are justifiable as a ‘higher cause’ on behalf of Krsna.
But as Buxton writes in his Notes of Thoughts, ‘It is astonishing how
soon the whole conscience begins to unravel, if a single stitch is dropped’.
Mr V.V. Raman puts it another way, that when the moral basis is lost – everything
is lost. Sanatana Dharma is not religion performed out of duty or obligation,
but duty AS religion. Duty and moral conduct are therefore, the basis of spiritual
life and without them we have nothing.
Yaduvendu
yvendu@hotmail.com
================================
6) HEALING OURSELVES AND ISKCON
Hari Bol Puranjana------
I just finished reading your "words from the editor" piece, and have
to say that it was a well written one. Your analysis is accurate - we are a bunch
of animals occupying human bodies in this kali yuga. I also like your honesty
about your failures, and humility to state it to the world of vaisnavas and others
who are reading. This is the beginning of healing our wounded hearts. All of us
came to this movement with an endless train of karmic baggage that is now manifesting
for some and will manifest in the future for others.
A part of the healing process of these wounded hearts is first to recognize it, then to do something about it. I was listening to some inspirational tapes yesterday and one story was told there that I want to relate with you. He told of a man who was watching a football game and his son was bothering him with all his noise - so the father took a newspaper which had a picture of the world on it, then tore it up into a lot of pieces and told his son-lets see how smart you are-see if you can put this picture back together again!!
In a short time, his son came back to him with the put together picture and amazed his father. His father asked him how he did it so fast? The son turned the world picture over and showed him a picture on the other side of the newspaper of a mans head and said-"I just put the man back together -and then the whole world was right!" Moral of the story-we have to heal ourselves, make ourselves whole, if we ever want to be happy-then the outer world-be it iskcon, be it abusers, whatever, will have no adverse affect upon us.
So, I strongly feel that part of this healing process is to get involved in
some sort of "correctional process" of this thing called the "Hare
Krsna Movement". To become whole, to become self satisfied, means in one
sense to confront the crimes that took place in the name of religion by doing
something about it. That something for each person will take various forms-but
doing "something" is part of the cleansing process. If we do nothing,
then we have no one to blame but ourselves.
Hari bol-hope you are well
your friend 'Damaghosa
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)