3^RD NOVEMBER 2000

1.     The GBC's Best Trick Yet

2.     Harinama (Public Chanting) Brings Devotees Back to Srila Prabhupada

3.     'All Ports' Alert Forces Jayapataka's Return

4.     Abhirama Makes Plans to Pull Out of ISKCON

5.     The Hypocrisy Continues
 

As is plain to everyone, ISKCON is in a complete state of crisis. We have presented much evidence of this in our previous newsletters, and it is a fact acknowledged even by the Governing Body Commission (GBC) Chairman and leaders like Abhirama dasa and Bhakti Caru Swami, who have used terms such as 'disintegrating', 'mess' etc., to describe the state of our society. ISKCON 'Guru' Bhakti Vikas Swami, summed the situation up best when he said:

Indeed, one of the most GBC-friendly communities in the world, ISKCON Alachua - home of 'Back to Godhead' magazine, The Bhaktivedanta Institute, 'Hare Krishna World' newspaper amongst others - recently issued a massive vote of no confidence in the 30 or so 'Diksa Gurus' who run ISKCON as the GBC. They stated earlier this year:

Please note that one of the Board of Directors who signed this was Nagaraja das, the EDITOR of 'Back To Godhead', the 'magazine of the Hare Krishna Movement'. In effect the Alachua board is saying the same thing as the IRM - that while it fully supports the principle of the GBC, it does not believe the current members represent Srila Prabhupada. However, it should be noted that unlike IRM members the GBC have not made any attempt to expel the Alachua Board for their 'offenses'.

Whilst our movement has suffered one crisis after another through the GBC's insubordination over the ritvik system, we have seen them stumble from one botched and cobbled together 'reform' after another in their increasingly desperate efforts to 'fix' things. Since 1977 we have seen the following 'reform' feigning gimmicks employed by the GBC to pacify the general devotees:

Diksa Guru Expansion (1985)
Diksa Guru Reform (1987)
Diksa Guru De-emphasis (1998)
Siksa Guru Promotion (2000)

However, without fail, each time of course they still manage to somehow cling to their own 'Diksa Guru' positions, and keep Srila Prabhupada firmly out in the cold. And without fail, each time of course the so-called 'reform' did not work, and the crisis just deepened. Now, as evidenced from the statements of the GBC Chairman right down to the Editor of the movement's magazine, we can see that we are facing the worst crisis in ISKCON's history. Only this time the GBC are running out of the 'reform' rabbits they can pull out of the hat. Because they have realised that there is only so much 'Guru reform' tinkering you can do before diminishing the position of 'Diksa Gurus' so far down that they are effectively no more than Ritviks.

And as we demonstrated in our newsletter No. 25 -"GBC Teaches That 'Living Gurus' NOT Required" - where we showed how the GBC resolutions have now turned the 'Diksa Gurus' into nothing more than ecclesiastical functionaries who get all the benefits and worship of being a 'Good-as-God' Diksa Guru without needing to do any of the work - we have reached that point.

Thus their latest gimmick, which is slated for proposal at the GBC meetings in Mayapur 2001, is possibly their most cunning stratagem yet:

A 3-day secret meeting was held in Detroit headed by GBC Chairman Ravindra Svarupa, on September 14th, 15th and 16th. Certain selected devotees were invited from all over the world including Alachua and India. Each was sworn to secrecy - that is why most devotees do not even know of this meeting, what to speak of its contents. The basic proposal to 'fix' the many problems in our movement was as follows:

All sannyasis and 'Gurus' will be asked to resign from the GBC. The GBC will then be constituted of able, non-Guru Grhasta (Householder) Managers only.

Of course, on the surface this seems a potentially radical step forward. All the Gurus are relinquishing their power - the GBC will be run by 'normal rank and file' devotees etc. etc. Many devotees would probably believe that anyone else running the movement would have to be better than the self-interested, deluded group currently in place. Finally - after trying for years to force the GBC to resign - they have done it themselves.
Jai!
Everybody is satisfied, the 'reformers' rub their hands in glee, the crisis abates, and we all once again work together under a united ISKCON.
Sounds good, right?

However appealing this might seem we should be very careful not to jump to the conclusion that this proposal is in any way motivated by a sincere desire to rectify the Society. Nor indeed will it rectify the Society.

Please remember, the 'Gurus' originally usurped Srila Prabhupada in order to enjoy. That means they grab as many disciples as they can whilst basking in more worship, adulation and service than could ever be conceived of by even the richest sense enjoyers on the planet. Unfortunately, this enjoyment program is hindered by having to take the flack for all the appalling and bogus resolutions they have voted for in their annual GBC meetings over the past twenty-three years. As we have heard from even their most ardent supporters, the GBC's reputation is at an all-time low, and they are being blamed for everything, from the Gurukula abuses to the loss of devotees and assets to the Gaudiya Matha, and facing headache after headache in the form of court cases etc. etc. Suddenly the GBC, which until recent years was a seat of unquestioned and almost limitless power, has soured into a morass of unlimited problems. The skies are truly darkening with the wings of chickens coming home to roost. Not only that, but whatever little power it does possess has fully evaporated, as the GBC meet every year to pass resolutions that they know no one will even read, much less follow. Indeed, it seems the GBC only pass resolutions for the IRM's benefit, so that we can analyse and expose them as being ridiculous and contradictory.

Thus, in the eyes of the GBC, the above proposed 'solution' at a stroke solves several problems:

1.       It passes all their headaches onto other people.

2.       It means they will no longer be blamed and attacked for all the society's ills.

3.       It gives the appearance of relinquishing power, when indeed there is actually NO POWER LEFT to give up. This simulates humility, thus winning over their detractors.

4.       Plus, the proposed new GBC will naturally be carefully constructed from known supporters of ISKCON's 'Diksa Guru' system, and will hence become an even more toothless watchdog than it is now. Since if there is any real power left in the current Society, it rests in having control over disciples.

5.       Thus it frees the 'Diksa Gurus' up to fully exploit and enjoy their roles as diksa gurus without having to take any direct responsibility for all the inevitable chaos such unauthorised activity generates. Thus now someone else will be left to clean up all the mess they make via their bogus Guru system, knowing full well that the actual CAUSE of this mess - their acting as Gurus in the first place - will be left untackled and allowed to flourish with abandon.

The main difference between this proposed 'reform' and previous efforts is that at least in the past some effort, albeit meagre, was made to curtail the level of worship and power of the Gurus. This new idea actually EXPANDS their capacity for enjoyment for the reasons given above.

In this way it is clearly the GBC's best trick yet. And it seems to be working. Persons such as Dayarama das in Mayapur have already been setting up a false dichotomy over how they will ensure that Jayapataka Swami (JPS) and the other 'dinosaurs' resign. As if it will make any difference. JPS has done nothing but expand his personal matha (now over 5,000 disciples) anyway, so what difference will it make to him if someone else is willing to take all the flack for his and his disciples bogus 'preaching' activities.

In case the reader feels we are being overly cynical, let us just contemplate one scenario. Just imagine that the new GBC is put in place and miraculously decides that the 'Diksa Gurus' should give their disciples back to Srila Prabhupada. Does anyone really believe that any of the
80 'gurus' would willingly give up their disciples? Please bear in mind, that as we saw with the Dhanudhara Swami affair, if even the current GBC could not enforce a restriction as paltry as him not giving class, the new non-Guru GBC's will have zero chance of being able to reign in the activities of the Gurus - the REAL source of all the ills and 'management' problems the Society faces?

So the new GBC may pass whatever resolutions they want, but you can rest assured the 80 'Gurus' will continue do whatever they like, just as they do now. Only you will have the added absurdity of people like Tamal Krishna Goswami and Jayapataka Swami able to join in with any criticism directed at the new GBC 'fall guys' as a new raft of deviation is inevitably set in motion.

Thus this new scheme is definitely a master-stroke. In one fell swoop, the GBC solves all its headaches, stops the attacks on them, and 'buys off' the 'reformers' who feel satisfied that major change has occurred. And all this is done via a meaningless gesture which appears as if they are relinquishing power and undergoing genuine reform, but which actually simply accepts the ground realities - that the GBC body has NO power over the 'Gurus' - so if you can't beat them, join them!

Having milked the GBC post as long as possible, the 'Gurus' have finally realised that the GBC no longer has POWER - only PROBLEMS. Nor does it carry any prestige - only the label of being the root of all problems in ISKCON.

The GBC 'Gurus' have realised that since historically the GBC has just been a 'Guru acharya' board, with the GBC and 'Gurus' being interchangeable, devotees have naturally focussed all their anger in the GBC body.

Remove themselves from this body and the focus of the anger remains the same, but they are out of the picture, and the real source of their self-interest and the cause of the problems in ISKCON - their bogus disciple-grabbing and taking worship program - still remains intact.

We would humbly suggest that the only solution to restoring ISKCON to its full glory is to ensure that the real CAUSE of the problems in our society - the disobedience to Srila Prabhupada's order via replacing him as the Guru of ISKCON - is rectified. This 'solution' merely hands over the poisoned chalice to others, while the Gurus still continue their bogus program undisturbed and a new bunch of people get blamed for all the troubles.

Only one question remains. Will the so-called 'reform-minded' devotees who have been sold this great trick by the GBC, and who have been embracing this 'solution' with enthusiasm, wake up in time to see what is going on:

That the 'sum-total of the demigods' worship continues while ZERO power is relinquished and ZERO problems are solved. However, ALL the problems for the current GBC DO disappear.

And demand genuine reform - i.e. instead of asking the GBC to relinquish their GBC posts - ask the GBC to relinquish their GURU posts - where the real solution to the crisis in ISKCON lies. If our past experience is anything to go by, this will be very tricky indeed.
 

We had related in our previous newsletter no. 32, how the IRM had revived Harinama (congregational chanting of Krishna's holy names on the streets) in the world famous 'Times Square' of New York city, which some would say is probably the epi-center of Maya's kingdom on planet Earth! (Maya = the personification of the illusory material energy). We are pleased to report that this bold move has brought immediate explosive results. The Harinamas started initially with just 3 devotees on a Saturday - Locanananda Das, Brahma Bhuta Das and Bhakta Avatara Das. Now in the space of just 3 months amazing things have begun to happen. Firstly, the devotees are now doing Harinama 4 times a week. The Saturday night Harinamas have grown that over 20 devotees now come to join in. And these are devotees who were unknown to us - they just show up!

Also we have had up to 50 members of the *public* join in as well - they will chant and dance with the Harinama party for up to half-an-hour.
They will just jump in and dance in a circle with their arms raised. Young breakdancers also love to join in. They attract the biggest crowds and enliven people to chant and dance with the devotees. And just as Srila Prabhupada envisioned, the Harinama chanting parties are facilitating massive book distribution. Srila Prabhupada envisioned the dual thrust of Harinama parties attracting the crowds to stop and watch, whilst devotees accompanying the party would then be able to distribute books to the curious crowds. And Srila Prabhupada's formula works. One devotee is able to distribute at least 50 books in just half-an-hour to the enthralled crowds.

Some amazing things have been happening on these far-out Harimana parties:

·         One well-to-do elderly woman danced by and stopped at the corner and happily ran back and exclaimed to Madhusudhana prabhu who was distributing books while the devotees sang kirtan (prayers), that she hadn't seen the Hare Krishnas in such a long time that she thought she was hallucinating!

·         At the time of the UN Millenium Peace Conference, President Clinton's motorcade passed within a few feet of the devotees as they chanted and danced in Times Square.

·         Two couples from Taiwan got such a favourable impression that they asked the devotees if they could take them to Taiwan to do the Harinama there!

·         A TV crew from Australia's 'Rush TV' were in New York on their way to film a programme, when upon seeing the shaven-headed devotees, they stopped and decided to film an interview with them there and then on the spot! This only happened because the devotees where dressed as devotees, and again shows the value of going out onto the streets wearing robes and tilak (sacred clay marking on the forehead, designating the body as a temple of the Lord).

One enlivening scene that happens repeatedly is so many people walk by with children, and they stop and explain to the inquisitive kids who we are; for as we know, children are usually the most captivated by the sound of the Harinama.

Also it is as if Krishna is mysteriously directing devotees to the Harinama, since so many devotees from all over the world have appeared to join in with the chanting party. Here are just some the devotees we have met:

·         A young boy who lived in the Hawaii temple happened on us by chance and danced so beautifully that a huge crowd gathered.

·         A French mataji living in a temple in Ireland on vacation in New York City bumped into the devotees and joined them for an hour.

·         A family of devotees from Ecuador on vacation to the USA happened on the Harinama the same way and joined in for two hours, actually leading the kirtan.

·         Veda Guhya dasa and his wife Janaki devi from California were in town for one night on business and bumped into the chanting party while strolling through Times Square and chanted with the devotees for nearly an hour.

Every week without fail the chanting party 'bumps' into devotees visiting from all over the world. So whether on vacation or business, it seems Krishna truly is everywhere for the devotees!

And finally just to illustrate the power of Harinama to unite all the devotees please consider the following. Many of the devotees who show up regularly to join in the Harinama are affiliated to the various Gaudiya Matha groups. The power of Harinama is becoming such a draw that Puru Dasa, who runs the Gaudiya Matha Narayana Maharaja center in New York, is now being forced to hold another program on Friday nights when the devotees do not go out to chant, since many of his group are joining the Harinama on Saturdays rather than attending the weekly program he holds on the same night!

And please remember - we are not reporting on some special event which happens when devotees go out on Harinama at the time of some festival.
The above transcendental activities are going on every week in New York City, 4 times a week, right now. Please come and join in!

As reported in our newsletters, Jayapataka Swami (JPS) was forced to flee India shortly after the death on August 3rd of the devotee who had been falsely accused of rape via a case that has been filed with the help of JPS's disciples. In September he confirmed he was on the run, and would not make any attempt to return to India unless he was able to get the court order against him vacated:

Fearing that this would not be sometime soon, a meeting of the ISKCON Bureau which was due to be held in November was also cancelled, since JPS would not have been there to make it.

However, following our newsletter sent on the 22nd October, where we informed how an 'all ports alert' was being sent out to all countries and airports, JPS suddenly found all his escape routes cut off. Thus within a few days of our announcement he was forced to return back to India - without even being able to get the court order vacated against him as he had originally planned to do. Looking subdued and haggard, many devotees did not even recognise him since he has now grown a beard!

His forced return now is perfect timing for us since a court hearing regarding the false rape case is to be heard in just a few days on the
6th November. So please watch this space!

Following our revelations last week about how Abhirama das, one of ISKCON's senior most leaders (Managing Director of the Mayapura project etc.), is completely disillusioned with the current state of ISKCON (saying that it was nothing but a 'burden' to the preaching, now run by 'foolish' persons), we can now reveal that he is planning to back up his lack of faith in ISKCON with action. For many years, as devotees will be aware, he has been helping to run a large ISKCON farm in South India. The farm has always been considered by all devotees around the world as being part and parcel of ISKCON, and is indeed even listed in 'Back To Godhead' magazine as such. His plans now, as revealed below, shows that he no longer shares this vision, but rather wishes to pull this project completely out of ISKCON:

1.       Please note the emphasis on the fact that the project MUST be outside ISKCON is Abhirama's himself.

2.       Please note that he cannot even conceive of the project being part of ISKCON even 'conceptually', so weak is his faith in ISKCON at the moment.

3.       'ISKCON DK' refers to ISKCON in South India.

4.       Please note however, that like members of the IRM, he still wishes to serve Srila Prabhupada, but realises that ISKCON no longer provides that facility. He even refers to Madhu Pandit Prabhu and myself (MPD & ADD) in this regard.

It is clear that the rot has set in deep. ISKCON faces a crisis that is only deepening day by day. Even Bhakti Caru Swami, following his comments revealed in our last newsletter regarding how ISKCON is in a "mess", has now gone further and stated that:

And what does our beleaguered GBC do? Instead of trying to rectify the situation via re-instituting Srila Prabhupada's orders, beginning with restoring his position as the sole initiating Guru of the movement, they make plans to deal with the situation via another 'reform' gimmick which simply amounts to re-arranging the deck-chairs on the Titanic, while they bale out to continue with the REAL nonsense which has brought our once glorious movement to its knees: the replacement of Srila Prabhupada with bogus, cheap substitutes.

*Please read the following statements carefully*:

1.       "But today, when I look back, I can see that soon after Srila Prabhupada's disappearance we took it for granted that Srila Prabhupada is not here any more - like any other mortal, as he left his body, he is no more. I very strongly feel that this is the greatest mistake we have made."

2.       "Let us recognize that Srila Prabhupada has not gone away. Rather, he has simply disappeared from our vision. Although we are not able to see him any more with our mundane vision, he is very much there, watching us from the spiritual sky. He will always be there to guide us, provided we remain fixed up at his lotus feet. He will reward us when we please him and he will chastise us if we make mistake."

3.       "Therefore, with all sincerity, I say that we are losing everything because we had been thinking that Srila Prabhupada is now dead and gone, and we started to claim our shares of our inheritance."

4.       "How natural it is to see that Srila Prabhupada is 'the guru' of ISKCON, still today. It occurred to me how clear a fact that is. Still, how seldom we act according to that understanding! Or do we ever act at all with that understanding?"

5.       "Nevertheless, everyday, in all the temples of ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada is worshipped by everyone. Then why do we hesitate to tell a new comer who is searching for a guru that Srila Prabhupada, the best guru the world has ever seen, is still here, and one can surrender unto him and go back to Godhead very easily? When we have such a great good fortune, why do we not take full advantage of it? It is only when we do so that the glorious days of ISKCON will come back again and we will witness Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu's sankirtan movement starting to spread in leaps and bounds all over the world."

6.       "If we really love ISKCON and if we sincerely want the Krishna Consciousness movement to spread all over the world in every town and village, then let us broadcast all over the world that Srila Prabhupada is still with us and that anyone who wants to receive his mercy can approach him and establish his eternal relationship with him."

7.       "Let us take up the solemn responsibility to recognize the fact that he is always present in his ISKCON, and that whoever wants to can come and meet him here, still today."

The statements make it very clear that:

a.       Srila Prabhupada is still here today, watching us, GUIDING us, REWARDING us and CHASTISING us if we make a mistake.

b.       That Srila Prabhupada is the Guru of ISKCON today.

c.       That anyone looking for a Guru, need only surrender to Srila Prabhupada,the best Guru there is, and go back to Godhead.

d.       That Srila Prabhupada is here today to APPROACH, to MEET, and to establish an eternal relationship with.

e.       That all the problems in ISKCON are based on NOT accepting the above facts, and that ISKCON will only flourish ONCE the above facts are accepted.

 

Now any sane individual would simply conclude that they have just been reading the preaching of the IRM - for indeed the above is EXACTLY what we say. Alas no. It is actually stated by the same individual who has supported the expulsion of the IRM TWICE from ISKCON, for the crime of simply stating the EXACT SAME thing which he now states!

Our readers could be forgiven for doing a double-take at this most bizarre situation. However it all makes sense when we reveal that the individual who made the above statements is that master of double-talk and bluff - our old friend Bhakti Caru Swami (BCS). Yes, the above Ritvik message was given by BCS as part of his lecture on Srila Prabhupada's Disappearance day. As we revealed in our last newsletter, BCS also said we must REVIVE ISKCON back to the way things were pre-77 i.e. 'No Change' - again the manifesto of the IRM (ISKCON Revival Movement). Yet despite preaching this we will note that he has not asked the GBC to expel himself for preaching this same 'deviant' philosophy!

Thus it is very clear that despite these weasel words, the biggest EXPONENT of acting as if Srila Prabhupada is 'dead and gone' and NOT here to guide as the Guru who will take us back to Godhead, is Bhakti Caru Swami HIMSELF, for we have reported in previous newsletters :

·         How he gets angry when there are not enough disciples glorifying him on his 'Vyasa-Puja' day as the one who is performing all the functions of being their eternal Guru which he now claims Srila Prabhupada actually fulfils.

·         How he loves to be honoured with lavish worship and daily puja as the Guru of his disciples (cake requiring 8 devotees to carry it - included!).

·         How he continues to take disciples and collect Daksina (gifts and money meant to be used in the service of God, not for personal sense gratification) under the plea that they must have a 'living guru' like him to 'surrender to', to 'approach', to take back to Godhead, to 'chastise' and to 'guide' i.e. even though he now agrees that Srila Prabhupada does this - which of course begs the obvious question as to why we need him AT ALL?!

If anyone wants proof as to WHY Kali-Yuga is known as the age of HYPOCRISY - they need look no further than Bhakti Caru Swami himself. We have proven that hypocrisy positively oozes from every single pore of his body. How else can one explain that the MORE he acts as the 'living' Guru to be worshipped as 'Good as God', the MORE he is preaching the COMPLETE OPPOSITE!

We had opened this newsletter with a story about the 'GBC'S Best Trick Yet'.  We apologise. BCS has gone one further:

PREACH that Srila Prabhupada is the Guru PRACTICE that HE (BCS) is the Guru And then both cheater (BCS) and the cheated (his disciples) feel satisfied that they are honoring Srila Prabhupada. Thus we can see very clearly why Srila Prabhupada stated that the bogus 'guru business' in kali-yuga is simply a collection of the cheaters and the cheated. We only wonder how long BCS thinks he will be able to get away with this charade of glorifying Srila Prabhupada with WORDS, but having HIS OWN SELF worshipped in DEED.

At least no follower of BCS can ever object to assisting the mission of the IRM, since their Guru Maharaja is now preaching the very same message!


A hard copy of our main position paper 'The Final Order' is available on request. 
If you would like to receive any of the back issues of the Newsletter please let me know.

No 1. Invitation to Srila Prabhupada's Vyasa Puja
No 2. GBC Lose First Round of Court Case 
No 3. The Story VNN Refused to Publish 
No 4. Poison Theorists Accuse Adri of Complicity 
No 5. Iskcon Continues to Promote Child Abusers 
No 6. Invitation to Malaysia 
No 7. United World Body Formed 
No 8. Does Srila Prabhupada Support Poisoning Theory?
No 9. PADA Attacks IRM Position 
No 10. PADA Continues to Present False Evidence 
No 11. GBC Funded Video says Ritvik Spiritual 
No 12. Child Rapist Selected by Gurus to Defend their Legitimacy 
No 13. GBC Facing Perjury Charge in Calcutta High Court 
No 14. Sahajiyaism Makes a Comeback in Iskcon.
No 15. Govt. Minister Inaugurates Bangalore Rathayatra 
No 16. Iskcon Calcutta Triumphs Following Arson Attack 
No 17. Fighting Lies with Truth Not More Lies
No 18. GBC Resolutions Continue to Provide Laughter
No 19. Indian Leaders Endorse IRM Position That GBC Confused 
No 20. Convicted Child Abuser Officially 'Returns' To Parampara
No 21. GBC Chairman Admits ISKCON 'Disintegrating' 
No 22. Krishna Confirms ISKCON Re-Birth
No 23. Hare Krishna Explosion Begins In New York as IRM Temple Opens 
No 24. IRM Launches Media Campaign to Defend Srila Prabhupada
No 25. GBC Teaches That 'Living Gurus' NOT Required 
No 26. BBT Admits Books Changed To Fit GBC Philosophy 
No 27. Big Breakthrough For Krishna In Singapore 
No 28. Bangalore Tops World Book Distribution
No 29. City of New York to Honour Srila Prabhupada
No 30. Gurukula Lawsuit Special - The Facts
No 31. BBC Glorifies Srila Prabhupada to the World 
No 32. Harinama Revived in World Famous Times Square
No 33. ISKCON Guru on Run From Police - Suicide Case Special
No 34. GBC Declare All Out War
No 35. GBC Fail Again in Second Expulsion Attempt
No 36. Indian Press Glorifies New York IRM
No 37. ISKCON Temple In Bangladesh Joins IRM
No 38. All Ports Alert For Jayapataka To Be Issued