08/12/98 - 2000

Vibhuti Madness

USA (VNN) - by a concerned devotee

I am completely amazed at the new spin put on the Harikesa dasa madness issue. Now the trustworthy GBC (and especially Ravindra Svarupa dasa who, you will remember, insulted Srila Prabhupada and all the vaisnavas by challenging us to write a letter to Srila Prabhupada and see if he answers-- {why do we send cards to Lord Jagannatha during his convalescence after the Snana-yatra?}) have cooked up the "Vibhuti defense" and the "Citeswara demon". Now anyone who has performed even the most atrocious or degraded activities, fall downs, swindles the devotees, misappropriates funds from the Society, can claim the Vibhuti defense and blame it all on the Citeswara demon. Nice work, Ravindra.

However, before we rush out and embrace this new revelation as truth, shouldn't we do a little investigating? I have some serious misgivings about this Vibhuti story. First, we are only hearing the Harikesa story from his friends and well wishers, and those who stand to gain by his continuation in his previous positions of GBC, Guru and Sannyasi. It is extremely important for this man to remain in his office, no matter what. His influence over the assets of this movement is immense. His disciples control many key ISKCON centers in Western and Eastern Europe and through them great influence is exerted in India as well. An ousted Harikesa will have a negative impact on the Society as a whole. His army of blind, fanatical, and undiscriminating followers, having long imbibed the poisonous Putana-esque "living guru" nonsense, will certainly split off from ISKCON to follow him. The Society will loose properties, the many millions he still controls, and the ignorant that follow him.

Therefore, no matter what, he must be propped up.

First, they told us it was too much service, too much austerity, and too much devotion to Srila Prabhupada that made this man mad. Did anyone buy this explanation? If you did, I want to encourage you to go back and reread Srila Prabhupada's books. Then they said it was "childhood trauma". Which one of us has not had childhood trauma? Yet, this man has participated in effectively underwriting the childhood trauma of many of our children in the gurukullas. What a lame defense! Next, they tried to palm off his delusions by indirectly calling them divine lila. Obviously, this kind of PR is intended for brainless idiots, which is what Ravindra and his crowd think we have all become.

All of these pseudo arguments were advanced in order to convince us, the mindless, undiscriminating devotees, that Harikesa dasa was in no way responsible for any of his actions. Now we discover that it wasn't too much service, devotion or austerities, it wasn't the childhood trauma, it was (drum roll, please) Vibhuti, all along. Poor Harikesa! What a victim, a helpless prey of the conniving and dangerous Citeswara! Of course in the past, Harikesa did not hesitate to take all the credit, all the money, all the followers, all the worship, and all the recognition he could get. Now to take responsibility for his fall is totally unthinkable. His falldown has been presented as divine lila. He has become more spiritual, more transcendental, more pure and close to Srila Prabhupada. We are being made to believe that what he has suffered is more like a "Fall-Up" than a falldown. What nonsense! This man should be rejected as guru and GBC.

Stelazine is an old prescription-only psychotropic drug manufactured by Smith- Kline Beecham Labs. However, there are now several generic brands on the market. It is generally prescribed for persons exhibiting a wide array of psychotic and schizophrenic behavior and is available in 1 mg to 10 mg doses. The cost per dose can run anywhere from $70 to $200. The color of at least one generic brand is purple. Because this drug has many side effects, including rigidity and other Parkinsonian like symptoms, Artane, a Benzhexol antispasmodic, anticholinergic salt, clear in color, is generally given in tandem with it. Both are dangerous drugs having powerful effects on the central nervous system and the autonomic nervous system.

In other words, the person who gets this treatment has to be already exhibiting severe psychotic symptoms. What were Harikesa's original symptoms that required him to be seen by Citeswara? Is his current delusional behavior reminiscent of the behavior that caused him to be put on the drugs in the first place? Since these drugs are prescription only, and since whoever wrote the scrip had to know that they must be given together, Citeswara must have had some pharmacist ally, or a doctor ally, (assuming that, indeed, the yajna ash contained the two psychotropics, and that this is not just an elaborate scheme by the GBC to deflect Harikesa's own responsibility in this current mess).

Obviously, this Citeswara is a very shrewd operator. He may be a charlatan, but he is no fool. He had the good sense to get himself aligned with one of the other big ISKCON mega-gurus, Jayapataka (someone who still clings to the mistaken belief that Srila Prabhupada appointed him Acarya, and who continues to preach the toxic, bhakti-lata-bija-killing "living guru" stuff.) In this way, he had instant endorsement, instant credibility in the poisoned ISKCON swamps wherever devotees had imbibed this toxin. At a market value of $70-200 per dose, (less if obtained in India) Citeswara and his partners grew fat and rich cheating ISKCON's undiscriminating followers. Rather than protect the devotees from this type of cheating, ISKCON mis-leadership eagerly promoted and endorsed this fleecing of the lambs.

Has anyone bothered to ask Citeswara about his medicines? He will naturally deny putting western prescription medicines in his "ashes". Moreover, why would he want to do that unless people saw relief from what was essentially a chemical imbalance in the brain, as freedom from ghostly influences? The chemically induced non-delusional behavior was then equated with ghost busting. Thus, Citeswara's tantric powers were confirmed.

ISKCON authorities should investigate this matter and collect samples of other Citeswara potions to test for Artane and Stelazine. If further tests confirm that this charlatan used western medicine to pacify the delusional "ghostly haunted" symptoms of his subjects, then he and those who promoted him, (including Jayapataka and Harikesa) should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, internationally. ISKCON has been made a laughing stock again. Thanks, Jayapataka and Harikesa. You can add responsibility for this to your already long list of misdeeds. By the way, for those still taking these drugs, side effects include damage to the liver and blood cell-forming tissue. Great.

If no traces of these drugs are found in other Citeswara potions, then we are left with only a full-blown GBC cover-up. He was drugged out so he's all right. What led Harikesa to suddenly give up taking the drugs? Will the real Harikesa please stand up? We don't know which is the real you-the one that gave up sannyasa and has the hots for Monika, or the one who preached that giving up sannyasa and getting married is to eat one's own vomit? We're confused here and probably need some yajna ashes from Citeswara.

So now the GBC can say "Oh it's all Citeswara's fault" (essentially putting out a death warrant on him), and happily proclaim Harikesa guru, GBC and sannyasi once again. How very convenient. Harikesa is not responsible in the least for any of his actions. I am sorry, prabhus, but there are places for persons who are no longer responsible for their actions. Let us not be naive, sentimental or undiscriminating.