It has been brought to my attention that you took offense at my posting (for the benefit of the international community of devotees) your e-mail response to my letter hand-delivered to you in 1997. Although I do not believe that your right to confidentiality supercedes my right to do as I please with my correspondence, I apologize if my actions have caused any offense.

However, in the light of the following e-mail which I received recently, I have decided that this would be an appropriate time to make public my letter to you, dated 8-31-97. Please especially note the section dealing with the child abuse issue. I believe you will see that my letter was intended offer help in resolving some of the more critical problems threatening the Society. Sadly, in the two years that have passed, the problems have only become worse.

Begin text email:

"For those who may be interested, here are a couple of quotes from recent email messages that I have received concerning the Windle Turley and Co. lawsuit against ISKCON:

"I spent some time in [deleted] this weekend with Windle Turley and some of the ex-gurukuli kids there. This case is going to be huge and it will probably rid ISKCON of a major portion of its assets, if not all of them. Besides compensating our kids for the abuse they endured (if money can do that), it-a nice place to be humble don't you think?" will rid the GBC of its demoniac element and force ISKCON to basically start all over again--from ground zero-

"...it is going to be international, not just in the USA. They are going after all of them, and I hope he succeeds...if you don't believe me, then call Windle (800-692-4025) and find out for yourself."

****Letter to Virabahu dasa***

Dear Prabhu:

Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!

The details of this letter have weighed very heavily on my mind for several years now, and as additional events have unfolded the weight has increased. I am not sure what will be achieved by addressing this letter to you, but I am no longer attached to seeing changes. Twenty years from now I want it to be said that Halayudha dasa was not afraid to stand up and speak out, that he discharged his duty. If we see a wrong taking place and do nothing about it we are guilty by that omission. It’s been said that all that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

The story of Saksi Gopal is very instructive in this connection. We understand from it that the younger Brahmin was not so much concerned about getting the older Brahmin’s daughter as his wife. Rather, he was more concerned with protecting religious principles. I hope that you will believe me and not think me self-righteous when I tell you that protecting religious principles is my reason for writing this letter. Perhaps you can use your office to make a difference. I apologize in advance if anything I say here offends you. It is not my desire to offend anyone, but I do intend to speak plainly.

I am aware that others have tried to speak and have been silenced in so many ways. One of the first tactics is to belittle the writer, to point out flaws in his character, or his sadhana, or some other discrepancy in his personal life…defeat him with the ad hominem attack. That is supposed to make his opinions worthless. Since this writing is only intended to uncover the truth, I hope that, in the final analysis, it will encourage you to become a model of purity for all of ISKCON.

Ever since the departure of our Beloved Spiritual Master, Srila Prabhupada, from our mortal vision, there has been much confusion and turmoil within his ‘body’, ISKCON. It cannot be denied that the phenomenal growth and success the Movement experienced during his manifest presence have slacked off considerably. Sure, we have continued to distribute books, construct buildings and make new devotees. But in the twenty years since his disappearance, we have not accomplished a fraction of what was done in the 12 years of Srila Prabhupada’s manifest pastimes. By comparison, what have we really accomplished since November 1977? I have heard that when Srila left the planet there were about 10,000 initiated disciples and about 108 temples, farms, restaurants all over the world. Are these figures correct? If so, where have all the 10,000 men and women gone? At the recent New York Vyasa-puja, there were only about 10-15 people there who considered themselves disciples of Srila Prabhupada. What has happened? Did not His Divine Grace instruct that it was more important to keep devotees than to make new ones?

It is my humble opinion that the reason for ALL of the problems that have arisen in our Movement since Srila Prabhupada’s disappearance is the displeasure of Guru-maharaja. This tendency to deliberately incur the displeasure of Srila Prabhupada by disobeying his instructions was already manifest prior to his leaving. He tried in so many ways to warn his men, to prepare and strengthen them against these tendencies that would inevitable lead to their spiritual suicide. However, history shows that these men were either unwilling or unable to rise to the level that Srila Prabhupada expected.

It has been reported that Srila Bhaktisiddhanta left this world, disgusted with some of his leading disciples. With this in mind, it is very important for us to beware of continuing to displease Srila Prabhupada. How might we have displeased him? This is an extremely important question. We should not assume, in the face of the overwhelming problems ISKCON has suffered, that such a question is pointless. Everything hinges on pleasing Srila Prabhupada. When we please him, everything goes well, and when we displease him, it becomes hell.

He writes: " For advancement in material knowledge there is a need for personal ability and researching aptitude, but in the case of spiritual knowledge, all progress depends more or less on the mercy of the spiritual master. The spiritual master must be satisfied with the disciple". (S-B 2:1:10; Purport). Similarly, Narottama dasa Thakura writes:

"Being very much displeased, Brhaspati immediately left Indra’s palace. Thus all the demigods, headed by Indra, became offenders at the lotus feet of Brhaspati…Under no circumstances should the guru be disrespected, but the demigods, being puffed up by their material possessions, were disrespectful to their guru." (SB 6:7:21P). "The devas are celebrated for fighting with the asuras perpetually. In such fights the asuras were always defeated, but this time the demigods were defeated. Why? The reason, as stated here, was that they had offended their spiritual master. Their impudent disrespect of their spiritual master was the cause of their defeat by the demons." (SB 6:7:22P). "Lord Brahma wanted to point out that by the strength of the guru one can become most powerful within this world, and by the displeasure of the guru one can lose everything". (SB 6:7:23P).

There are, of course, numerous other verses that can be quoted to show that everything in spiritual life depends 100% on the satisfaction, the pleasure of the Spiritual Master. That causes an uninterrupted flow of mercy that enables the devotee to make advancement and to perform his service successfully. It is therefore my contention that as a body, we have displeased Srila Prabhupada. The result has been slowed growth, and major problems both inside and outside ISKCON in all areas of endeavor. Again, I ask, how might we have displeased Srila Prabhupada?

I believe the first place we might want to begin our inquiry might be in the area of understanding Srila Prabhupada’s position. As you know, this was a problem from the very beginning. These immature and familiar Westerners with no training, failed to comprehend the exalted nature of the pure, liberated, saktyavesa-avatara in their midst. They thought that by imitating his external dress they could become like him. They had no idea who He was/is. Srila Prabhupada knew he was taking a great risk coming to the land of the Mlecchas and Yavanas. But He had to establish his position as Founder-Acarya, and instituted daily, elaborate Guru-puja. It is at this time that we can get a sense of his preeminent position. There was another risk here, which was that some would envy him and/or desire similar adulation. In truth, many did just that! We cannot hide that embarrassing piece of our history. By the way, where are those eleven elevated thrones today? And if that was what Srila Prabhupada wanted why have they been discarded? If He did not want that, why was it so eagerly done so soon after his departure? Who is responsible for the deviation and why has there been no accounting?

Several years ago, I had the experience of meeting one Australian Sannyasi who, within a couple of weeks of living in LA had discarded his saffron robes for a white dhoti. He told me personally how sorry and broken up he was for having participated in the simultaneous guru-pujas in Mayapura. He told me that he was particularly sad because his job had been to force his god-brothers to bow down before the eleven appointed anointed ones. I could feel for him.

His Divine Grace’s acting to establish his position was not without precedent. Srila Prabhupada, in his introduction to the Srimad-Bhagavatam, in discussing the incident wherein several of Nimai Pandit’s students blasphemed him for chanting the holy names of the gopis, writes: "When the Lord became aware of this, He began to consider the various types of men found in society. He noted that especially the students, professors, fruitive workers, yogis, nondevotees, and different types of atheists were all opposed to the devotional service of the Lord. ‘My mission is to deliver all the fallen souls of this age,’ He thought, ‘but if they commit offenses against Me, thinking Me to be an ordinary man, they will not benefit. If they begin their life of spiritual realization, they must some way or another offer obeisances unto Me.’ Thus the Lord decided to accept the renounced order of life (sannyasa) because the people in general were inclined to offer respects to a sannyasi."

You, our leaders, appear to have acted as if Srila Prabhupada were an ordinary man, just as Nimai’s students thought He was an ordinary person. Offenses to Srila Prabhupada were being made from the very beginning, and he strove vigorously to teach his disciples in such a way that these would be minimized. But not only was his position not fully understood when he was present among his disciples, his 10,000 year presence on this planet also has not been properly understood. The failure to comprehend Srila Prabhupada’s position led to the next logical error of failing to understand his simple instructions for the care and management of his Movement after his disappearance.

Srila Prabhupada left a simple model for the continuation of his Movement. He did not leave something new and concocted. He left a simple daivi varnasrama model for us to follow. What was that? Let me explain. Srila Prabhupada wanted to train up a class of Brahmanas. Typically, Brahmanas are not found in administrative positions. That is the work of Ksatriyas, with the Vaisyas handling the mercantile matters and the Sudras assisting them. He did not have to worry about sudras. "…kalau sudra sambhavan". That was already taken care of. Since there were already many with vaisya tendencies, they only had to become Krsna-conscious and schooled in what occupations were acceptable for earning money. The Ksatriyas would naturally be attracted to Temple Management and would distinguish themselves in that capacity. But those with true Brahminical tendencies, would neither seek management nor business. They would relish study, teaching, counseling, preaching, deity seva, etc. These would be the cream of Srila Prabhupada’s movement. Not necessarily self-realized souls, just men 100% devoted to the above activities. They would be the vanguard of purity because they followed the rules and regulations strictly--the "force" of purity of ISKCON. They were to travel everywhere, preach and teach, not handle money matters or involve themselves in administration, (that would be contaminating for these Brahmanas, most of whom were sannyasis. In this way the temple presidents who were intimately familiar with the local setting could manage as they had done in his manifest presence, while the GBC, the sannyasi/brahmins, would inspire, preach, teach, counsel, and make sure the standards were high everywhere.

"I want that the GBC men should leave the management of the individual centers to the local presidents and concentrate themselves upon preaching work. They should be constantly traveling from one center to another center to see how the students are learning and to give whatever advice is necessary for improving the temple standards. In addition, the GBC men will open new centers, distribute literature, and they should always be traveling with a sankirtana party to accompany them. So practically there is no difference between the Sannyas duty and the GBC duty…" (Letter to Madhuvisa, June 12, 1972)

I humbly submit that we have grossly displeased Srila Prabhupada in this area because of all the GBC men who got into management, leaving aside "constantly traveling" and becoming big, super, corporate-style managers over far-flung empires, (as big as the Holy Roman Empire and the British Empire combined), and not leaving the management to the local presidents. In this way, the GBC became a sort of Federal Government that began to dictate policy to the local (temple) governments. The exploits of men such as Bhavananda, Hansadutta, Bhagavan, Jayatirtha, Kirtanananda, and Rameswara are legendary and extremely embarrassing. They are especially reprehensible because they were GBC and their GBC peers sanctioned and condoned their activities for many years at the expense of Srila Prabhupada’s assets, disciples and mission. When I first came to the LA Temple, Ramesvara Maharaja was Temple president. "I want that the GBC men should leave the management of the individual centers to the local presidents…" Why was this not heeded?

As a result of this disobedience and resultant dissatisfaction of the Spiritual Master, a huge mess was created in Germany, England, Seattle, West Virginia and other areas, including LA. Here, the details you already know. One senior god-brother of my acquaintance had his tires slashed when he spoke up against the excesses of the Ramesvara era. Many others fled the area, were driven out, and/or left the Movement in disgust. Finally, a 15-year old kid with a glint in her eyes and a sway in her hips, toppled him. But he was already fallen, a victim long ago of an overweening lust for power, adulation, followers, and distinction.

Srila Prabhupada wanted this elite group of Brahmanas, to be the advisors for his movement, always on the move, always fixed in pure Krsna-Consciousness, always doing as he had done. However, these men thought they were elite because they had been the first to come to help Srila Prabhupada. Now that he was leaving, they would inherit their father’s kingdom. It was their birthright. They were the rightful heirs to the guru-puja "thrones" soon to be constructed and gold-leafed. No realization of their poor qualifications detracted them from such self-adulatory thinking. They failed to keep in mind the fact that if they did as Srila Prabhupada directed, they would be the elite, but if they did not, they would again become "mice". And so they did, one by one, sordid episode after sordid episode: Homosexuality, decapitation, murder, fornication, drugs and guns. In fact, these men became worse than what they were before Srila Prabhupada pulled them out of the gutter and taught them how to clean themselves after going to the bathroom. Was Srila Prabhupada displeased, or was He pleased by all this?

Like Alexander’s generals, the earth was carved up by the 11 so-called appointees. But was this to conform to Srila Prabhupada’s wishes for them to travel and preach and leave management to the local presidents? No, not at all. It was for the purpose of control. What an opportunity! The "old man" was dead. Now we can carve up the world for ourselves and control the millions of dollars in assets he left, plus control the thousands of followers who are flocking to him, and thereby earn many more millions of dollars. And we can do this all in the name of "preserving the parampara". How childish and presumptuous to think that we are able to preserve the parampara. No. It is the parampara that is preserving us. Because of Sri Parampara we came to this Movement, and when we are long gone, Sri Parampara will still be here, for the next 10,000 years.

Unfortunately, for us, our leaders, having drunk the heady wine of profit, fame, adoration and distinction, committed the third faux pas of deliberately failing to implement Srila Prabhupada’s formula for initiating new disciples. That was too easy. "You mean we wouldn’t have control over them to assure our hold over our zones? More disciples means more control, more people believing that they can only receive the mercy of Srila Prabhupada through us." What nonsense! Srila Prabhupada has thundered: "Guru cannot fall!" Yet, we have in our Society, many people who have been initiated two and three times, after surviving successive guru falldowns. Is Srila Prabhupada pleased? Is he displeased? What if the GBC zealots had been content to "constantly travel…and give whatever advice is necessary for improving the temple standards…" and performed the necessary initiations on behalf of Srila Prabhupada as was done when he was present? Of course, none of these horrendous problems would have occurred. The mercy of Srila Prabhupada would have continued to flow uninterruptedly, not getting bottlenecked by some neophyte danda-waving pretender, who was soon to reveal his true colors by being caught with his cloth down in bed with a young boy, or girl. Srila Prabhupada would have remained in the center and everyone coming to the Movement would have been given an unobstructed view of the Maha-Bhagavata Sri Parampara Golden Age Guru, and the chance to get his mercy.

Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not part of the ritvik/regular guru debate. To me, that is not the real issue. The real issue is about pleasing and displeasing our Spiritual Master, and particularly in the area of the management of his Movement. There are many reasons why Srila Prabhupada may have been displeased and thus withdrew his mercy, leading to bewilderment and confusion on the part of our neophyte leaders, and to a total misunderstanding of his instructions.

If we accept this verse, then it is quite obvious that even in their neophyte condition, if they had received the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, they would have been properly guided in the right choices, and so avoided the horrible problems they brought on his Movement.

There are a couple incidents that, in my humble estimation, contributed greatly to Srila Prabhupada’s final displeasure with his big men. It was not only that they were completely transparent to him and he could understand their deep motives and hidden agenda, they also did certain specific things to earn his displeasure. I believe that if you investigated the circumstances of his care during his final days, that Srila Prabhupada was not happy with the arrangements, and indeed expressed grave misgivings about his food and water and the medicines he was being given.

Years ago, when I first came to this Movement, one very senior disciple told me that Srila Prabhupada had been killed by his disciples. How preposterous, I thought. But I considered the source of this information. He was not on a crusade, he was not trying to mount some investigation, trying to drum up support for a cause, or toot his horn to attract a following. He was just a simple prabhu, struggling with his health and the demands of family life. He shared this with me because it offered him some relief from the trouble this knowledge caused him. This is very sad. Is my friend the only one who knows this, or thinks this? No. There is one group of devotees that is demanding an investigation. Do you think that a serious claim like that should be ignored? Silence means consent. You need to get busy and show the truth. If one of your family members dies and you later hear from many sources that he or she was actually murdered, what would you do? Perhaps, because in the age of Kali men have the backbone of a jellyfish, you would do nothing. But we cannot and should not tolerate such statements about our spiritual father. We must discover the truth.

Because Srila Prabhupada was unhappy at the time of his passing, feeling that he was being deliberately and maliciously mistreated, the flow of mercy was cut off to those who jealously surrounded him and who thus made sure he died in that condition.

But here is the most painful part of it all. As Srila Prabhupada began to make it clear that he was going to leave, he sent out a call to all his disciples to come to his side for a final darshana. Prabhu, who blocked this call, so that most of Srila Prabhupada’s disciples did not know about it? Everyone would have literally killed himself to get to Vrndavana for this final moment. Did one of the big men think that it was better to not leave the temples unmanned, that Srila Prabhupada’s desire was just sentimental and that they knew better what was to be done?

Imagine your own demise. You are allowed to know you’re going and to have people chanting around you. But some of your disciples are absent. You put out a call. Please come. I want to see you one last time. You give this order to one of your senior disciples. He decides that he knows best and that it would be a waste of time money and manpower for all of your disciples to come to send you back to Godhead. He thinks you are too "out of it" to know that the order was not sent. Are you pleased or displeased?

This was a most important moment for Srila Prabhupada. His final lesson to us. In an incredible gesture of love, he calls out for his disciples to please come to his side so he could see them and they could see him. But some demon made a material calculation: so many disciples x so much money in airfares x so many days of collecting money lost = "Oh he can’t really be serious. He doesn’t really mean all his disciples. Only the big men need to be here." Thus Srila Prabhupada’s final personal desire was unfulfilled. Does this bring tears to your eyes? It should.

Was Srila Prabhupada pleased, or displeased? Am I claiming to know the mind of Prabhupada? Not in the slightest, and unless you can show me that all the nonsense that has gone on in the name of Vaisnavism can satisfy gurumaharaja, I will hold my opinion.

Because, as our leaders, you have displeased Srila Prabhupada, you have been robbed of the intelligence to understand his position; how to effectively manage his movement; and the important guru issue and its application. Like the infamous Duryodhana, you have become hardened in your position, unable to hear any other viewpoint. That has resulted in all these problems. I am perfectly clear about this issue of Guru as it pertains to me, and there are no doubts in my mind whatsoever. Why should there be? Are you clear about who is your guru? So am I. And so should everyone else be. Why all the discussion, the confusion?

One side in this debate feels duty-bound to try to convince the other side of its case, while the other, with much to lose, stubbornly refuses to budge, and continues clinging to its position, even though it has revised its conclusions at least 4 times! When we look at the evidence, we find that our leaders are wrangling over a few obscure statements, transcripts from a tape and a few tired and overworked documents. Why? Would all this not be simply resolved by agreeing to sit down amicably, produce all the evidence, tapes, letters, whatever, and hash this thing out? Why has this not been done? What are you afraid of? The truth? Scary, yes? Is not guru a matter of the heart? Can it be legislated? Can guru be appointed by votes? To this last question Prabhupada thunders, "NO".

Pleasing Srila Prabhupada in this matter can be accomplished simply by cooperating with your godbrothers and openly and truthfully working out the matter. However, you have strenuously avoided doing that, and instead have sought to disfellowship, blacklist, harass, ban, toss out of temples, and preach inflammatory statements from the Vyasasana, that can be taken by neophyte followers as a license to injure anyone who dissents with the ISKCON party line.

Was Srila Prabhupada so naive that he did not leave clear markers as to his intentions? No. Srila Prabhupada was too astute a manager, too pure a devotee, too closely in communication with Krsna to make mistakes like that. It is not Srila Prabhupada who is at fault, it is the faulty followers who have messed things up. These men have deviated. They grabbed for power, money and disciples. They were the inner club, heirs apparent to the Kingdom of Prabhupada. And nothing has been the same ever since. Is Srila Prabhupada pleased, or displeased?

What catastrophe would have befallen the Movement if instead of taking as your own disciples the men and women who were coming to get the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, you simply performed the service of initiating them on Srila Prabhupada’s behalf? Please tell me what damage would have resulted over the last 20 years. Would the Movement have continued to grow with the same pace and excitement? What if every new person were imbued with the sense of being a direct disciple of Srila Prabhupada? How awesome that would be! Not only would we have avoided the multifarious problems that we suffered, we would be a strong cohesive society with Srila Prabhupada clearly at the center of everyone’s life. The temple presidents would be managing nicely, with the constant support, inspiration and preaching of the spiritual elite GBC constantly moving from place to place to train and uplift. They would have no desire to take disciples knowing that due to their insufficient advancement they could not take such disciples very far. Please tell me what damage this would have done to our movement. I’m sure that whatever "damage" you describe will be nothing in comparison to the damage the other way has produced. Of course, there would be no big titles, and no big seats from which to topple. There would be only one title and one big seat: Srila Prabhupada’s. And no one would ever consider himself hot stuff with the title "ritvik-acarya". That is not a title. It is a function.

Perhaps it was only natural that with the experience of Catholicism and Protestantism with its tradition of Bishops and Popes so much a part of our Western psyche, that you should have opted to follow this course. Your GBC body is like the Vatican’s Council of Bishops. Who is the Pope? I understand that there is one amongst you who behaves like one. Does this please Srila Prabhupada? What would?

You have also displeased Srila Prabhupada in many other was, too many to list here. But this next area is extremely important and I believe that it is a nasty time bomb waiting to explode. I call it Srila Prabhupada’s revenge. When it does explode, mark my words, we will become scorned by many in mainstream society. Many of our friends will abandon us and many of us will be ashamed to wear dhoti, shaved head and tilak in public, and to be identified with ISKCON. Not only have you, our leaders, displeased Srila Prabhupada in this area, but also you have committed a great evil, have attempted to cover it up and have heaped great insult and embarrassment on the head of Srila Prabhupada as a result. Judge for yourself if he’s pleased.

How else can I introduce the subject of the abuses of our children in your gurukulas? They were put in your care for safe keeping and proper training. You knew how much Srila Prabhupada valued the children, of whom he had high hopes. Yet, disregarding his instructions, you put perverts and sexual deviants in charge of them, pederasts who had themselves been molested for many years by the higher ups, then turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to their pleas for relief from their abusers. Where was Pariksit maharaj, when Kali was beating Mother Cow and Father Bull? That’s right. On the scene with his drawn sword ready to decapitate the miscreant! When the children were being abused, where were our GBC men "constantly traveling…to see how the students are learning…giving advice for improving the temple standards."? Why has this been covered-up all these years? And why has there been no accounting? Responsibility means Accountability. We, the rank and file members of this society, are individually powerless to exact that accountability. You make the rules, and if you don’t wish to speak with us lowly peons who can force your divine selves to do so? However, let me tell you what damage you have done.

His Holiness, Lokanatha Maharaja, in his most recent lecture here in Los Angeles, spoke about the fact that if we don’t preserve our families and opt instead for divorce and remarriage, we damage the children, and in so doing, he said, "they will hate your Krsna". I am sure that there are some among that group of molested gurukulis who hate Krsna. But one thing we can say for all of them is that almost to a man, they do not respect you as their leaders. You have betrayed their trust. Many of them have deep and lasting scars as a result. All you have to do is read the literature on child abuse to know the devastating consequences that result from such activities. To make matters worse, you have not demanded a full accounting. You have not dealt severely with the perpetrators and demanded justice be done according to the law of the land. Instead, you have systematically covered up this matter, and have been lenient with the others of the "old boys club" who have been caught in the chain of this degradation. You have failed to protect Srila Prabhupada’s most precious treasure, his children. And does that not fit hand in hand with your Society-wide institutionalized disrespect for women? You pay no more than lip service to the ideal of protecting our women and children, have kicked out many brahminically-inclined devotees, and have little or no regard for the cow-like ordinary devotees.

Women and children may be less intelligent according to sastra, but that does not make them 2^nd class citizens. That means they must be protected. Anyone who exploits them on the belief that they are less intelligent is himself less intelligent and worse than a demon. In fact, in this age of Kali, everyone is less intelligent and that means both you and I are included… "manda sumanda matayoh manda bhagya hy upadrutah." How can women- and children-hating sannyasis, and other sexually frustrated persons, making a pretense of celibacy, manage our Movement consisting of so many women and children? Srila Prabhupada saw that this was impossible. He forbade it. Let the sannyasis travel and preach. They were actually very attached to sex life and being denied the benefit of the householder asrama, they could only barely survive gross sexual misconduct by directing overt hatred to women and the children produced of sex life. Look how many of them returned to gross sex life. What a travesty! The temple presidents must manage. Srila Prabhupada said it. They need a cohesive unit of men and women for the temples to be successful. Children are a necessary and inevitable part of the equation. And is it not the grhasta asrama that maintains the other three? We have it completely backwards. Here it is the sannyasis that have the money and live a life of luxury and ease instead of one of renunciation. Does this please Srila Prabhupada? That is the corruption of the sannyasa asrama.

Because you deviated, all these problems have resulted. You have displeased Srila Prabhupada.

Recently, in Florida, a group of Sannyasis, hearing the complaints of the abused children agreed to give them $150,000 in compensation. (How is it possible for sannyasis, who have no connection with money to come up with this sum? My guess is that they are not real sannyasis, but merely wealthy bachelors in a peculiar dress). Do you suppose these boys and girls want money? How crass! They want justice! Srila Prabhupada has taught "atmavan manyate jagat", the fool thinks everyone is like him. Because these men are motivated by money, they think everyone else is. Not so. These children are now young adults. They are bright, intelligent and have a chip on their shoulder. They know that the law is on their side. They know that you have been criminal. Your feeble attempts to buy them off will not work. It is only a matter of time before the laws of nature take their course and you and the other leaders of this International Society for Child Molesting have your hands full with several huge class-action lawsuits brought against you by these children. They will own you. All the world will know of this scandal and you will be greatly disrespected in all circles. Your celibate priests will be laughed at as pretenders and your sannyasis as simply cheats. I am firmly convinced that this is going to be the next major challenge that Srila Prabhupada will bring upon you.

Here’s what I suggest you do: Begin your own thorough investigation now. Interview all the students who have been abused. Get names, dates, places, times, and exact details. Have the perpetrators promptly arrested and begin full-scale prosecution of all offenders. In short, a full accounting must be given and justice must be done. If you do not do so voluntarily, you will be forced to do so involuntarily. In the past, you have refrained from disciplining your peers because they knew too much, could spill the beans on you too, and toppling them could mean that your own followers might question your purity. (Was this not the reason why Hansadutta was allowed to remain in power during his North American reign of terror, and why Bhavananda continues to be sheltered by you?) You must bring these men to justice. That will restore faith in the leadership and prove that you are ready and willing to act on the important issues. It will prove that you are champions of truth and the protector of the women and children as well. Why are you so keen to protect criminals? If you do not do this, I have do doubt that there will be hell to pay, and it will take this Society many years to recover from the scandal. Do not spare anyone. You are so quick to ex-communicate and banish anyone who speaks a contrary opinion, (even if they are correct, or merely fulfilling their brahminical duty to speak up), but slow to see that justice is done and wrongs righted. That is to your eternal shame.

As you can see, this letter was not whimsically written. I have waited since 1989 to write these things--8 years. I couldn’t understand why our leaders acted in this stubborn, Duryodhana-like manner. Did they think Srila Prabhupada was no longer here? Actually, that was the conclusion I came to. That all of you believed that Srila Prabhupada was gone. That justified your taking your own disciples, in the mistaken and childish belief that you were preserving the parampara. Nonsense! As I have said before it is Sri Parampara that is preserving us.

(Autobiographical section deleted)

Now I understand that for many in our movement, Srila Prabhupada is dead. Yes, intellectually we accept that he lives in his books, and in his instructions. But actually, we do not accept that he is really present. If we accepted that, how could we propound such expressions as "living guru"? That must mean that the other guru is a dead one. When I read your book, I was totally dismayed. It purported to deal with what Srila Prabhupada said about guru (and what he said about guru he said about himself), however, I found that in the name of Srila Prabhupada, you were misquoting Srila Prabhupada. It was an attempt to justify your guruship and that of your peers over and above his clear instructions. Your book greatly disturbed me. Phrases such as "current link" and "living guru" created confusion. There is no such thing as a dead guru and Srila Prabhupada is our current Sampradaya link, not you or any other conditioned soul.

For me, Srila Prabhupada is alive and actively carrying on his mission. One who accepts him as their life and soul can see him. For others, he is dead. Since you and the other GBC men, gurus and whatnot choose to think speak and write about him as if he were dead, then he is dead for you. That is the greatest offense, and the greatest displeasure caused to His Divine Grace. Fifty years from now, when all his direct disciples are gone, will Prabhupada’s guru puja still go on? Will it be enthusiastic, or will the new devotees merely be going through the motions of some ritual? Will they comprehend, or will they be confused?

I have faith that one day things will change and that those sincere men and women who came eager for the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, will one day realize that they received it not because of the men who interposed themselves between him and them, but in spite of them.

In conclusion, I am challenging you and your peers to ensure that Srila Prabhupada’s preeminent position is fully understood and explained. Do not compare yourselves to the Devotees of the time of Lord Caitanya who gave diksa to each other. They were all maha-bhagavatas, able to give shelter to the whole universe. Please ensure that his orders for the running of his Society are followed. Please commit to protecting our women and children and begin an immediate and thorough investigation in cooperation with the media, the police of India and the U.S. to expunge any trace of the abuses our children suffered in our gurukulas, and to ensure that the perpetrators are punished.

My request is that any and everyone who either by omission or commission had anything to do with the problems here, be brought to task as follows:

1. That person who blocked His Divine Grace’s request for all his disciples to come to Vrndavana, if he is still in our Movement, must resign his position, if he holds one, and do humble penance for the rest of his life.
2. Those persons who failed to provide proper care and who might have led him to say that he was being poisoned must be investigated, whether they are in or out of our Movement.
3. Everyone involved in causing such pain to Srila Prabhupada, in kidnapping his disciples, in failing to manage as he dictated, in perpetrating, condoning, ignoring or failing to correct the abuses in the gurukula system must immediately be sanctioned.
4. Srila Prabhupada’s death must be thoroughly investigated. Some of these men must be turned over to the relevant law enforcement authorities without fail.
5. Society-wide, there must be a thorough cleansing. You must all publicly apologize to the devotee community, agree to sit down amicably and work out those differences with your godbrothers whose opinions are just as valid as yours.
6. And for the worse offenders, those who have, while knowing the truth, continued to preach and live a lie, they must do the 3 R’s: Resign, Rectify themselves and make Restitution.
7. You must also demand a complete financial accounting of everyone who has occupied any position of authority since 1977--whether they remain inside or outside the Movement. Where malfeasance is found, such criminals must either make restitution immediately, or be prosecuted.
8. All disciples initiated after November of 1977, as disciples of pretender guru’s must be re-educated to the understanding of whose disciples they really are. There has been too much emphasis placed on the diksa initiation ceremony.
9. Management of the temples must again be wholly the business of the local presidents.
10. Sannyasis and GBC must not be involved in management and handling money. They must act as laid out in Prabhupada’s instructions, e.g. his letter to Sriman Madhuvisa cited earlier.
11. Admit the problems you have caused, both individually and collectively. Apologize, give an accounting and take responsibility. Do the honorable thing and resign before the cycle of wrong-doing results in more serious retribution.

I do not believe you have a choice in this matter. Either you do these things, or the problems of the last 20 years will continue to haunt you like a brahma-rakshasha ghost. It is your choice. If you do not act, your memory will be hated when the truth comes to light, as it doubtlessly will. But if you do act, while the short-term repercussions will be painful, the long-term fallout will be glorious, and above and beyond that, Srila Prabhupada will be pleased.

Prabhu, I am asking you to take up this fight. It is a tall order for one who may not consider himself so powerful and charismatic as some of your peers against whom you will have to go. But if you do this, there is no doubt that you will be pleasing Srila Prabhupada immensely. Obviously, you will have to change first. If you do not, then you will be like all the others who do not accept the principle of "satyam" and who prefer to turn their faces and pretend they don’t see the evil. As Brahmanas we must speak and do that fearlessly. That is our duty. We are followers of one whose name is "Abhay". We must take heart. We are not attached to the results, but we must do our duty. We must stand for what we know is right.

This letter has been a little long, but writing it was necessary. I do not know where it will lead. I am an insignificant speck of dust in the grand scheme of Srila Prabhupada’s ISKCON, but as I said in the beginning, my concern is the protection of religious principles: Understanding the Spiritual Master’s position; adherence to his instructions in the matter of management and disciple-initiations; and assuring the protection and safety of our children from sexual deviants and other sociopaths. Hopefully, nothing here has offended you. Kindly see me as your erring son, and overlook my faults. If I am wrong in any thing, please show me. Hare Krsna!

Your humble servant,

Halayudha dasa