MISSION STATEMENT

Enlightening readers about the beliefs and practices of the Hare Krishna (ISKCON) cult is the sole purpose of this blog and its companion, The ISKCON Cult Unveiled, at https://iskconcultunveiled.blogspot.com. Many of the essays I have written over the past ten years deal with controversial issues and others deal with basic philosophical concerns.

Like most cults, ISKCON is two-faced: it has a private side that it reveals to its adherents and another is reserved for the public. Exposing the truth about both aspects of the Hare Krishna movement is vital for a number of reasons that I will summarize shortly. Before I continue, however, let me introduce myself.

Back in 1967, my sister and I (we were 16 and 14 years old, respectively) saw a group of Hare Krishna devotees dancing and singing at one of the famous Central Park “Be-In” hippie events in the “Summer of Love.” One of the devotees approached me and invited me to the group’s “love feast” that they held every Sunday. (For more details about our actual visit, please see my blog essay, https://harekrishnacultexposed.blogspot.com/2010/07/reductive-thinking-and-cult-propaganda.html). I began high school that September and in December, my sister and I were initiated by the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (also called “Srila Prabhupada”). My initiated name was Ekayani and my sister’s became Indira.

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Our guru had come to New York only the year before, so I became at that time both one of the earliest and youngest initiated devotees. We certainly were sincere and stalwart devotees, going to school during the week and worshipping our deities at home and living for the weekends when we would take the subway train to the temple and help prepare the Sunday love feast. We also carefully read all of the scriptures our guru translated (or so we thought) and for which he also prepared commentaries (“purports”), such as The Bhagavad-Gita As It Is and the multi-volume Srimad Bhagavatam (Bhagwat Purana). We also created oil paintings of various scenes in the Krishna legend in our spare time.

After two years, my elder sister married a devotee and moved to St. Louis to start a temple there. Her loss left me to pursue my devotional service in near total isolation, but I persevered. Tragically, just after I graduated from high school, I was told by my sister, her husband, and Srila Prabhupada’s personal secretary that our guru had ordered me to marry one Gopal Krishna dasa, an Indian (now the guru Gopal Krishna Goswami) then living at the Montreal temple. I was only 17 years old and a virgin. (As it turns out, Srila Prabhupada told me himself that he had never given such an order.) For me, that horrific event ended the honeymoon phase of my involvement with the Hare Krishna movement.

But I digress. I do, however, want to make it perfectly clear that I knew the founder-acharya of the Hare Krishna movement personally (in fact, he never failed to greet me whenever we met, even when there was a crowd of other devotees present). I also wrote many letters to him, all of which he answered, sometimes at length (see one very influential photocopy of one at the end of this blog page). Critics of my views, all absolute strangers who never met me or my guru, think their fanatic adherence to his now-thoroughly discredited views entitles them to diagnose me as an insane person and recommend that I seek professional help. Such persons are themselves delusional and, should they ever find the fortitude to reject the nonsensical beliefs they slavishly follow, will find themselves on a therapist’s coach for years to come.

It is a daunting task to summarize the truly bizarre beliefs that our guru held and that he insisted we accept without any investigation on our part. As I and many others have written elsewhere, the problem seems to have its source in his belief that Gaudiya (Bengali) Vaishnavism is the ultimate expression of devotion to Lord Krishna, despite the fact that the philosophy of the character of Bhagwan Sri Krishna in the Gita and the Indian folk stories about the antics of Krishna and his cowherd gopis cannot be compared. He also held that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, a Bengali Krishna enthusiast, was an incarnation of both Radha and Krishna together, ignoring the obvious: read the Chaitanya Charitamrita and a picture emerges of a cross-dressing Brahmin whose ”devotional” proclivities are better left unstated.

How could I, a woman who, after leaving ISKCON after wasting 13 years of life there, manage to earn a B.A. and M.A. while raising my son alone and working a demanding, full-time job (I have worked for a total of 33 years), if, as Srila Prabhupada insisted, women have half the brains of men and (I quote) “there is no very great scientist, mathematician, philosopher among woman.” In these and other laughably ignorant comments about so-called Vedic science— coming from a one-time chemist who, by his own admission, never read the Vedas—A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami proved that he lacked the authority by education and common sense to represent the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita to the West. How could we naively sit by and listen to this man state that the moon is farther away than the sun and the astronauts could never have gone to the moon since it is a “heavenly” planet and they never worshipped the moon-god Chandra in the first place?

Rather than continuing to hide their fundamental beliefs under a cloak of secrecy, ISKCON leaders and members should adopt a full disclosure policy immediately. Your lives--your souls--deserve no less. We  are all reminded from the lethal building collapses in the news that to live in a building with a faulty foundation is to court disaster.

Before ending, I want to restate that my writings are intended solely to educate and inform. Furthermore, I strongly believe in freedom of religion, but still insist that children, who, as the gurukula tragedy taught the public are helpless in such an irrational and abusive world view, are educated in public or private schools with a state-approved curriculum. I also despise and disavow any kind of discriminatory views, whether they concern women, ethnic groups of any kind, races, or religion. Lastly, I want to make it clear that the views expressed in this blog are mine alone and that I labor on them without assistance and have never received any financial help of any kind to support my efforts.

Just out! Please see: https://harekrishnacultexposed.blogspot.com/2016/11/a-note-to-my-readers-voice-crying-in.html

Select Essays on Various Topics in This Blog

Abuse of the Legacy of Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and Swami Vivekananda:

https://harekrishnacultexposed.blogspot.com/2012/09/standing-on-shoulders-of-giants.html

ISKCON Pretends to be an Ambassador of India's Cultural Heritage:

https://harekrishnacultexposed.blogspot.com/2011/10/iskcon-cultural-center-hoax.html

Using the Bhagavad-Gita to Advance ISKCON's Ambitions in Russia:

https://harekrishnacultexposed.blogspot.com/2012/03/gita-and-russia-another-iskcon-public.html

Female Infanticide and Selective Abortion:

https://harekrishnacultexposed.blogspot.com/2012/01/sequin-for-mr-al-zahrani-very-short.html

Evils of Arranged Marriage and Treatment of Widows in India:

https://harekrishnacultexposed.blogspot.com/2010/03/widows-and-child-brides-no-more.html

Child Abuse in ISKCON and Organized Religion:

https://harekrishnacultexposed.blogspot.com/2011/08/sex-abuse-claiments-win-big-justice-at.html

Link between Cultural Intrusions in Russia and Terrorism:

https://harekrishnacultexposed.blogspot.com/2011/01/islamic-tribalism-converts-and-terror.html

All rights reserved. No part of this essay can be reproduced in any medium without the express written consent of the author.

SEX ABUSE CLAIMENTS WIN BIG--JUSTICE AT LAST!

Champions of Liberty and Fairness, rejoice! A few high profile sex abuse cases were resolved today and yesterday, both of which deal with the abuse of minors over the course of many years.

The case in the news today (for details, see http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/08/10/us/AP-US-Priest-Abuse-Lawsuit.html?_r=1&ref=us)concerns an abuse case dating from the 1970's and gives hope to survivors of decades-old abuse: An Illinois man has received a $6.33 million settlement for abuse he suffered at the hands of a parish priest over the course of five years. Another black eye for the Catholic Church, especially since this case involved the hiding of the priest's misbehavior and the way the Church "quietly shuffled him among parishes."

Yesterday's news was even more significant: Warren Jeffs, the leader of the breakaway of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (also known as the FDLS) was sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting one of his child brides, in this case a twelve-year old girl. Please read the full article (http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/08/09/us/AP-US-Polygamist-Leader.html?ref=us) to get a fuller picture of this bizarre case. This case shows how the so-called marriage of grown men (often old enough to be the grandfathers of their victims) to children exists in this country. This cult, like so many others,is led by a charismatic leader who takes their money, controls their most intimate activities, and insists that he is divinely inspired.

Put a pajama-style outfit on this man and change his religion, and Jeffs would be comfortable as a tribal leader in Afganistan or Pakistan. Put the priest, who got away with abusing his young parisher without any punishment for 40 years,in a saffron robe, and you have a swami or another cult leader who sexually abused minors and now sits on a throne-like chair, dispensing moral precepts to his gullible followers. Worse, many cult survivors are expected to simply "forget" about their abuse by family and friends, most of whom might wonder why the victim has trouble with dating and is often a loner. It is just wonderful to see that this man, now undoubtedly middle-aged, finally has been compensated for his suffering. $6.33 million for abuse that occurred "dozens of times in five years" seems hardly enough, but it is a start. May the girls who were robbed of their childhoods in the FLDS case get enough money to bankrupt that corrupt parody of the Christian religion and wipe it off the face of the Earth.

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NEW WEBSITE: "THE ISKCON CULT UNVEILED" IS ONLINE!!!

After more than a year in development, my new website, "The ISKCON Cult Unveiled" at https://iskconcultunveiled.blogspot.com is finally online. It will definitively reveal, for once and for all, how an irrational, deadly idealogy subverts normal ties to family and country.

The evidence to support this claim will be directly taken from the letters and other published writings of the founder of the Hare Krishna cult, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami ( also known as "Prabhupada"). For example, what follows is a transcription of an especially damning series of comments about this guru's views about women. (Please note: Trivikrama was a disciple of the swami and Dr. Patel was an early Indian admirer of the cult.)

Morning Walk, 9 January, 1977, Mumbai

Prabhupada: I condemn everyone, that “You are all dogs and hogs.” And United Nations a pack of dogs barking. That’s a fact. And in Chicago I said, all women, “You cannot have freedom. You have got only thirty-four-ounce brain, and man has got sixty-four-ounce.” I told them. So I became a subject of very great criticism.

Trivikrama: Women’s liberation.

Prabhupada: I denied, “No, you cannot have.” I told them. One girl in the airship, she was seeing like (makes some gesture-laughter). I asked her, “Give me 7-Up.” “It is locked now.” So I frankly said that “No, no. You cannot have equal rights because your brain is thirty-four ounce.” Actually that’s a fact. Where is woman philosopher, mathematician, scientist? Not a single.

Dr. Patel: Apart from that, I mean, they are made for a particular mission.

Prabhupada: How they can have equal rights? Up to date in the history there is not a single woman who is a great scientist or great philosopher or great…

Dr. Patel: Madame Curie was a…

Prabhupada: All bogus. (laughter)

Dr. Patel: You are getting too harsh on them because…

Prabhupada: No, no. How can I give you equal rights, because your brain is less substance.

Dr. Patel: We cannot degrade our mothers that way.

Prabhupada: It is not degrading. It is accepting the actual fact.

These statements are outrageously ignorant and complacent, but, worse, were accepted by legions of Western ISKCON disciples who should have immediately corrected the swami with the truth. Brainwashing, however, had succeeded in perverting the minds and actions of many young people who simply wasted their lives (and ruined many others) in the pursuit of an exotic delusion.

Comments and explanations will be included, but the purpose of this new website is for the damning information to speak for itself. It will hide nothing and, as such, its contents will be sensationalist in the best sense of the term. For example:

• An original essay, "The Guru-Faking Business," which will offer an introduction and concise history of the descent of the ISKCON cult into the mire of criminal abuse;
• It will also guide the reader to easily obtainable sources where the Swami's support of racism, child abuse, and the mistreatment of women are unmistakeable;
• A handy resource for people to want to extricate a family member or friend from ISKCON (or any other cult) and need to familiarize themselves with the persuasive means that ensnare vulnerable souls.

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THE MORAL CENSUS

If you’re an American and don’t live in cave, you have recently received a census form that asks you to categorize yourself according to race and ethnicity. Once this information is tallied by the federal government, funds will be allocated for various projects that need the population information from the census. Thus those who have filled out their forms accurately and sent them in by the April 1st deadline have contributed to the public good, albeit in a passive manner. For a very small percentage of the population, however, letting somebody else decide what to do with your tax dollars based on what color your skin is or where your parents came from disregards the shared humanity of all taxpayers and that brings me to the subject of this posting.

Today the Associated Press reported that a 13-year old Yemeni girl has died of injuries to her genitals resulting from her arranged marriage to a man almost twice her age. The “husband” was detained by the authorities, but what difference will that make? Another victim of pederasty has been horribly killed and the outrage in the West over these innocents doesn’t change the fate of these girls in the Middle East.

A few years ago I read an article in The New York Times about child abuse in an Irish orphanage run by the Catholic Church, which included an unforgettable description of children so starved that they could be seen on the side of the road, their mouths dripping green from the grass they had been eating to quell their hunger pangs. Accounts of the Irish Potato Famine in the mid-nineteenth century are full of these descriptions, but how could they happen 100 years later?

When I spent a few months at the Dallas ISKCON temple in the mid-seventies, I remember a visit by our guru, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. The gurukula of that era is infamous for the sheer brutality of its child abuse, but what I saw that day was proof that the inhumanity organized religions practice with the excuse that they value the soul over the body is nothing more than a cover for criminal abuse of the powerless. In this case, I vividly remember seeing rows of poorly clothed young children sitting cross-legged on the floor, getting their breakfast porridge served to them on a continuous sheet of waxed paper on the floor, which they proceeded to hungrily eat with their fingers. That this practice was unhygienic in the extreme is obvious, but the worst of it was that our guru walked past this scene and smiled approvingly. These children should have been eating at a table sitting in chairs and served with proper plates and utensils like civilized human beings. My heart breaks at the memory, but I also feel shame at not intervening then and there. Adults who stand by and look with indifference at such abuses to common decency have as much claim to spiritual advancement as a bunch of staring robots.

Not too long afterwards I visited India and spent a few minutes with my guru, after which I noticed that his cook was bringing him a small bowl with what appeared to be frosting. I asked her what it was and she told me that it was a mixture of confectioner’s sugar and butter, in other words, cake frosting. Seeing the astonishment written all over my face, she said that Srila Prabhupada liked it. Problem is, feeding this stuff to an elderly man with diabetes is tantamount to feeding him poison. So what if he liked it? Telling him that it was bad for his health and refusing to give it to him would have been the right thing to do.

Rational people don’t offer harm to others for any reason except self-defense. Today I wonder at the sheer stupidity of religious fanatics who disregard the factor that distinguishes people from the lower animals, namely, our capacity for rational thought. Instead, you hear so much about “surrender,” which is nothing more than erotic terminology applied to a so-called “transcendental” relationship that in reality operates as if the parties are master and slave. Our moral faculties are nothing if they don’t move us to actively pursue virtuous activities and use our best reasoning capabilities to persuade others to respect the dignity of their fellow human beings. If that fails, force is almost always necessary. The man who brutally raped and killed his “wife”—in reality a girl that should have been home playing with her siblings and her little friends—should be executed for his crimes; similarly, the Catholic order that deprived those poor orphans of the barest human necessities should have to pay damages in the millions of dollars to their victim and their families. As for the gurukula abuse, instead of the paltry amounts doled to these victims in the Chapter 11 settlement of a few years ago, the value of the world-wide temples should be included in a recalculation of the award amounts, which should be enough for each victim to buy a house at the very least. Tolerating the continued existence of these miserable cowards is a continuing punishment for all of us.

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