10/03/97 - 1085

Tripurari Swami Considers Legal Action against ISKCON for "Religious Hate Crimes" - Demands Apology

USA (VNN) - VNN has received the following letter written to an ISKCON official:

(Letter from Swami B.V. Tripurari)

September 30, 1997

Dear Bir Krishna Maharaja,

Dandavat pranams. Sri Sri Guru Gauranga jayatah. Since we last spoke, I received a copy of a partial transcription of Prithu, your GBC representative here in the Northwest, speaking to Iskcon devotees in Zagreb about my self and my Eugene ashram (Sri Sri Gaura Nityananda Audarya Ashram). After name calling, lies, philosophical distortion, telling devotees to bring my disciples to him to be saved from moral and spiritual degradation, and stressing that only devotees of Iskcon can go back to Godhead, Prithu tells his audience that Iskcon would take great pleasure in cutting off the tongues and heads of my disciples and I.

After reading the transcript, my Godbrothers here have advised me to seek legal counsel from the ACLU. Subsequently I was advised that it was "Sufficiently charged with the potential to generate religious hate crimes." I was also told that it would be a routine matter to acquire a restraining order against Prithu and potentially all of his disciples, prohibiting them from coming within a one mile radius of any of my disciples and myself. I am in the process of acquiring a copy of the actual audio tape, and until then have been advised not to forward the portion of the transcription in my possession to you.

You have been cordial and cooperative in discussing this matter with me thus far and I appreciate that. In the interests of keeping the matter within the Vaishnava community, I have taken the time to relate the history leading to the present juncture. I have also suggested how you could deal with the matter, such that I would feel justice has been served.

Before you sent Prithu here, I voiced a concern to H.H. Tamal Krishna Goswami. I know Prithu, and in the recent past I had two very unpleasant encounters with him.

The first was at the Krishna Balaram Mandir, where I had been invited to address the Iskcon assembly on the occasion of Srila Prabhupada's Tirobhava Mahotsava. After the sacred arotika in the quarters of His Divine Grace, immersed in remembrance of Srila Prabhupada, I was accosted by Prithu and told that people like myself we not welcome there. He then proceeded to vilify my beloved siksha guru, Srila Bhakti Raksaka Sridharadeva Goswami, and issue personal threats.

My second encounter was in Candrodaya Mandir, where I had been invited by several GBC members to address the GBC body with regard to the much misunderstood principle of siksha guru. At that time Prithu entered my quarters and in the ensuing discussion vilified the very teaching of Sriman Mahaprabhu by describing raganuga bhakti in derogatory terms. He then again vilified Sridhara Maharaja, proclaiming himself to be a "Prabhupada man" who was not a philosopher. I then had the most unpleasant experience of seeing him from the verandah and thinking that he was demon. At that point I knew that I needed to leave the premises. Shortly thereafter I was informed by two GBC representatives that, although they agreed with me in terms of my stance towards Iskcon, the GBC was not "ready" to hear what I had to say.

My bad experience with your Northwest representative prompted me to contact the GBC when I heard that Prithu was coming to Eugene to open a center. My concern was that in a small town of 100,000 people two centers from different societies representing Gaudiya Vaishnavism might send a confusing message to the public. Moreover, given the history of my experience with Prithu, I felt tensions would be unnecessarily high and potentially explosive. My concerns were dismissed by the GBC, and I was informed that Prithu wanted to cooperate with me.

Our first encounter with Iskcon of Eugene was an impromptu visit from several of your representative's disciples during our Sunday service. Sripad B.B. Vishnu Maharaja was conducting the service on my behalf. Your members were dealt with cordially, although we were shocked at there enthusiasm to "preach," as they proceeded to solicit names and phone numbers of our guests. We did have to ask them not to return.

During this summer, Prithu has mounted a campaign of vilification and hate mongering in the name of Gaudiya Vaishnavism against me and my institution. My disciples have repeatedly encountered this. Embracing those inimical to The Gaudiya Vaishnava Society, even though they remain inimical to the GBC body as well, he has gathered "evidence" to fuel his vilification.

His preaching style leaves much to be desired. One young man who was first preached to by Prithu, related to us how he was quick to share his anti Semitic sentiments with him in the following joke. "How many Jews can you fit in a Volkswagen? Two in the front, two in the back, and 6,000,000 in the ashtray." After hearing this, the young man was compelled to seek his spiritual fortune elsewhere, eventually becoming my disciple.

I was told that recently Prithu was visited by Hamsadutta, his one time mentor, who shares his anti Semitic sentiments and fanaticism. There is a real apprehension here that a once peaceful preaching field could turn into a mini repeat what happened in Berkeley under Hamsadutta's regime.

Thus my initial concerns have been confirmed, and I am left with the message from Iskcon through its representative that is forcing me to severely alter my stance toward the formal mission of Srila Prabhupada. Although I have philosophical and practical differences from Iskcon that forced me in good conscience to leave its fold and form the Gaudiya Vaishnava Society, I nonetheless appreciate Iskcons efforts on some level, as its members are engaging in the yuga dharma. However, if your message to me is that my Society is absolutely bogus, and my initiated disciples should be canvassed in order to be saved from me, a person of spiritual and moral repute, who should have his tongue cut out, I will have to rethink how to speak to the public about Iskcon.

I am now the author of six books, with endorsements from both academia and popular thinkers. My recent publication, Aesthetic Vedanta, has been acclaimed by academia as a "religious classic in its own right." It has also been nominated for the prestigious Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion. My books are in all the popular bookstores throughout the US, Canada and the UK. I am scheduled for interviews with two popular magazines next spring, and a PBS film interview centered on Aesthetic Vedanta is in production. Early next year I will appear on NPR's All Things Considered and The World's Religions. Early next year I am also expanding to Portland, opening two restaurants, and an Ashram/ Educational Center and Retreat. I intend to discuss openly my plans for Portland with your representatives there in the spirit of cooperation.

Srila Prabhupada wanted us to cooperate. I do not believe that mere adherence to the decisions of your GBC is the last word in cooperation. Some of His Divine Grace's disciples now find themselves unable to work within Iskcon. I am one of them, and I am a complex person for most of you, having taken shelter of Sridhara Maharaja, formed a Society, authored books, etc. If you wanted to cooperate with me, you sent the wrong person here as your representative. If you wanted to fight with me, you sent the wrong person as well. Should the opportunity arise for a discussion in a public forum, one that I would at present welcome, I would have no difficulty making your representative look like an bigoted, rumor mongering, philosophical ignoramus, and a poor excuse for the representative of God.

If I do not receive and official letter of apology for your representative's conduct, I will be forced to take other measures to insure the good name of my institution and the safety of my disciples. Furthermore, if you persist in retaining Prithu as your representative here, I am sure that problems will continue and escalate. My guess is that it would not be difficult in the slightest to remove him from this area, in which he has established no more than a rented house. I am sure that you are painfully aware of his removal from Ireland, and more recently from Berkeley by way of a no confidence vote from your own members. I understand that he is now waiting to be confirmed as a full voting member of your Governing Body Commission. I can only hope that my concerns will serve as a deterrent from granting him what amounts to the highest and most dignified position in Iskcon.

In service, Swami B.V. Tripurari

(end letter)

Prithu das and ISKCON Communication officials could not be reached for comment.