No One Wants to Leave ISKCON....
BY: DASARATH DAS
Mar 18, 2011 — SEDONA, ARIZONA, USA (SUN) —
...but who wants to accept the authority of an unaccountable GBC, with a bit of a colored history, and a present insistence that the GBC can do no wrong, with their flag policy of "no one outside the GBC can monitor us or even take a survey about our performance, nor can anyone question our decisions." That's a pretty incredible self-imposed position of immunity. I can't imagine the pride that would have to go along to defend such a preposterous attitude or mentality. Unaccountable ain't good, and in case the GBC hasn't noticed, it's very bad for business, or at least the real spiritual business, that we are supposed to be doing.
About four years ago in Los Angeles, I was rooming with one of the biggest sannyasi leaders in ISKCON, there to celebrate the famous Rathayatra of the Lord of the Universe. Amazingly and in a fiery mood he said to me, "You have to fight R. Swami! He is ruining Srila Prabhupada's ISKCON in North America". I replied, "Maharaj, why don't you fight him. You have much more potency that I". He responded, "No, you are American. You should fight him!"
At the time, I was not fully aware of the extent and trouble to which this Maharaj and his associates are taking to transform ISKCON into a different kind of entity. And I was not much interested in wasting my time on him anyway. The devotees and temple leaders of ISKCON North America were all trained by Srila Prabhupada and his policies, I thought, and surely they will be dutiful to detect something that's going awry and immediately rectify the problem before the disease spreads too much. I later discovered I was wrong! There are a lot of leaders, even sannyasis, who are asleep in the matter, or for whatever reasons of indifference or self-preservation of their place and posts in ISKCON, make not even a "peep" about some of the GBC's errant attitudes and decisions, what to speak of doing the needful to correct the serious complication.
Another sannyasi GBC wrote me not long ago, "Of course we all know there is corruption in the GBC, but what makes you think that you are going to be the one to fix it"? I was astonished at his remark, and at his callous indifference to be a part of the solution. And yet another, very famous worldwide sannyasi preacher said, "Yes the corruption of the GBC is there. I sympathize with you. But fighting them is like fighting City Hall. Better to lick your wounds and just go on with your personal preaching work. If you mention my name that I said this, I will probably deny it". "That", I thought, "is just what the GBC would like me and any other godbrother or devotee who is complaining and confronting this issue head on with the GBC to do - MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, or just GO AWAY!
But, this is our business, all of our spiritual father's business. This is our ISKCON - Prabhupada's ISKCON. The GBC do not have the rights of ownership of ISKCON, nor do they have the right to change ISKCON's Prabhupada-given policies, although the recent North American GBC crafted Temple Bylaws interestingly state that all ISKCON properties are the sole property of the GBC in Mayapur! I guess when you have the boldness and foolishness to vote to change your own Acarya-guru's books, then we can expect anything can happen from such persons.
"And furthermore, as my loving disciple, you are not allowed to give a lecture or lead a kirtan in any of my ISKCON temples, especially in the ones you started". You have just heard the voice of Srila Prabhupada, says the North American GBC Executive Committee (EC). Would you believe these men, inferring that this is the way Prabhupada would think, respond, and run his ISKCON? No, there is no such historical reference in ISKCON of this mentality or mood coming from the pure devotee. It never happened. It is a twisted, new doctrine now embedded in GBC policy and politics, and introduced by some present members of the NA GBC. And it is just one imposed GBC dogma that is contributing to the ruination and de-purification of ISKCON.
Srila Prabhupada's mood is just the contrary. Prabhupada is patita pavana personified. Would anyone really believe that Srila Prabhupada - who was the pure devotee, love personified, compassion personified, mercy personified, the embodiment of Lord Caitanya's mandate to deliver the fallen souls - would make policies and proclamations to drive devotees out of ISKCON, as this GBC does today? Would Srila Prabhupada authorize his GBC to make threats of probation and excommunication, simply because members of the GBC want to resist and side-step the notification and demands of the devotees that they become a "fully accountable" body of overseers of the Movement? Would he approve of his GBC using their position as a means to evade correction and remediation of corruption, or possibly because the GBC lacks the fortitude of people /Vaishnava skills to sit down and discuss issues of contention, face to face with the prabhus?
Why should a GBC that is supposed to be representative of Srila Prabhupada choose the favorite political instrument that even Communist regimes employ - to simply squash their opposition by force and blacklist the objectors and dissenters who question their autocracy and dictatorship? It is hard to trace this kind of GBC response in the Bhagavad-gita as belonging to the divine qualities.
Conversely, why is this GBC not making a more positive and ISKCON-building resolution along with planned actions on how to extend their love, care, and encouragement to the thousands of devotees,who, because of GBC mismanagement or neglect over the years, have left the International Society for Krishna Consciousness? Which members of the GBC actually find it a more attractive part of their job description to concoct ways and means of how to ban someone from participation in ISKCON?
The GBC isn't supposed to have anything to hide. Where is the transparency and means to correct corruption within the organization of GBC management, when it accepts no challenges and then predictably rears its head in indignation? This goes on every day, as the GBC body simply ignores the reaction of so many alarmed devotees. Srila Prabhupada himself wrote, "GBC must mean that by his managing, there is not any complaints. Otherwise, why so many letters of problems are coming, dissatisfied? That is not a very good sign."
"We do everything and make all our decisions based on the example of compassion, love, forgiveness, and accountability, which Srila Prabhupada always demonstrated to his disciples by his own personal example", so say the members of the NA GBC EC, by their actions. Here also, not many devotees out there would believe or have faith in this self statement of the present GBC. Remember, devotees are trained to judge everything the GBC does, by guru (Srila Prabhupada), sadhu (previous acaryas), and sastra (the ones that have not been edited by the votes of GBC members).
Who would believe that Prabhupada would ever be so vindictive, to disallow any disciple who for some time, dedicated their life to his service, and because of some spiritual weakness fell down to even the most sinful acts for even some years, but coming back to the shelter of his guru maharaj, that His Divine Grace would ever say, "You cannot lead any kirtans or give any lectures on Krishna consciousness in my temples for three years, five years, or even the rest of your life". On the contrary, he has even put devotees back in their "GBC posts" the next day, reassuming all their services and responsibilities. That is our Prabhupada, but for some reason, that is not this GBC! No wonder why so many devotees are disappointed and leaving ISKCON.
Granted, this is a very old problem in the GBC, and one they keenly overlook. Over the years, some very senior, hard working, ISKCON loyal and dedicated devotees / sannyasis have been banned, alienated, or driven out of the Movement by this type of GBC politics. The scenario unfortunately goes back decades. And it is high time to stop! It is high time that temple presidents and the "good ones" on the GBC, put their feet down and demand an abolition of this mentality with all its attached aparadhi resolutions.
Since Nityananda dasa, the new GBC Chairman for North America, sent me my probation papers, which were drawn up by members of the NA GBC and taken to Mayapur to get the signatures of approval from the GBC Chairman and Vice Chairman, and since it was publicized on The Sun, about a dozen godbrother devotees have emailed me or called me telling me the same thing -- that the GBC is acting on misappropriated powers:
- "they are being too harsh";
-"this is the most unbelievable, weird and asinine thing I have ever heard of in
my devotional life - you can't lead kirtan? You've lead millions of kirtans!";
-"you are right to stand up to them when they are trying to present a different
ISKCON - one that lacks love, compassion, and where they try and rule the
devotees by threats, fear, intimidation, and resolutions - threatening banishment
if confronting and challenging a GBC thus";
-"you started all the temples in Arizona single handily, and they have done
nothing there, and this is the level of respect they show you? Amazing!";
-"sounds like someone is trying to come in, as some zonal so-called acaryas have done in the past, and steal what you have done for Srila Prabhupada, install their Own disciples in charge, and start tallying up the guru $$$ profits";
- "I feel that some of my dear Godbrothers are going to go down in history as scoundrels, having compromised what they know is right, by their association and acceptance of these kind of GBC-ISKCON policies and practices".
Another godbrother who called me said that "you should put your resume out there, your record of positive service that you have done for ISKCON and Srila Prabhupada since February of 1971, and embarrass these people who don't even know how to show respect to someone who has worked so hard for more than forty years for ISKCON and Prabhupada, and who therefore also deserve his complaints to be heard and remedies sought. Despite all the negatives that ISKCON has dragged along over the years, you continue, by your kirtans and lectures, to open up more temples even today, maybe more than anyone else has done in the U.S. before."
While I do not know if that last statement is true, I did I take his advice, that maybe Krishna wants me to say something. So here it is:
Devotional Resume of Dasarath das
* met the devotees at the University in February 1971, an interim period before
moving on to West Point military college
* was intercepted and Uoined the temple in Baltimore in February 16th of 1971
* initiated in New York in July 1971
* transferred to head up college sankirtan in Washington D.C.
* 1972 - initiated brahmin in New Vrindavan, opened three preaching centers in
Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Birmingham, Alabama
* moved to Denver, Colorado temple in beginning of 1974; headed up traveling
sankirtan bus party, college preaching and new bhakta program (GBC
Annutama das became devotee by our preaching programs)
* joined BBT Library party early in 1977
* Library Party was dissolved in 1978; sent to St. Louis to join Ganasyam and
Tripurari Swami to sell full sets of Prabhupada's books in homes
* made temple president by TKG in St. Louis temple in 1979, with sixty Radha
Damodar brahmacaris.
* moved to Detroit in 1981 to help with opening of Fisher Mansion temple and
preaching; started preaching center in Ann Arbor for three years.
* 1985-86 - rented Romapada Swami's personal motor home for $650/month for
traveling sankirtan - from New York to Key West, Florida.
* in summer of 1986, with one brahmacari (who is still with us) and a one way
rental truck and only gas money, journeyed from New York to the State of
Arizona to try and establish a Prabhupada temple where there previously was
none.
* in 1987 in Tucson, with the help of my wife Sandamini and this brahmacari,
founded the Caitanya Cultural Center, Govinda's restaurant, where now 20
devotees happily serve Sri Sri Gaura Nitai. The current #1 BBT book distributor
in the USA, Paramesvara prabhu, was made a devotee there, as were many
others.
* in February1996, Prabhupada Centennial year, opened up small preaching
center in Phoenix, and with the help of only two 17 year old brahmacaris from
Assam and Nepal, in four months collected $120,000 for down payment on large
new Thai-style temple building, which today houses most beautiful large size
Radha Krishna, Gaura Nitai, and Sri Nathji Deities, with full worship.
* in 2006, incorporated the Sedona Center of Vedic Culture, with plans for the
building of an $80 million dollar cultural project and for distributing
thousands of Srila Prabhupada's books per day. (SedonaVedicCulture.com)
* for past three years having small temple, Deities, and festivals in Sedona
* in December 2010, encouraged the opening of an already very successful
preaching center in Flagstaff, Arizona, with the help of a fired-up brahmacari from
San Diego. They have already made one new bhakta.
* March 13, 2011 - received email from new NA GBC chairman, stipulating GBC
probation rules against me for the next three years, including a ban preventing
me from leading kirtan or giving classes in any ISKCON temple worldwide, speaking up against the GBC
In the last six or so years, I have uncovered some of the NA GBC men:
1) Using extremely questionable and unethical means of GBC management, which has totally alienated me from the faith and sanity one needs to follow such persons.
2) They have refused to correct themselves or come with humble apology, and have refused to sit down and talk face to face with me over the issues I am dissatisfied with.
3) Three years ago, through a warning given by Gopal Bhatta dasa, they had threatened to have me excommunicated from ISKCON if I did not back down from taking two senior NA GBC men (Romapada Swami and Badrinarayan dasa) through their own ISKCON Resolve system of mediation (which I did comply with at the time).
4) In January 2010, when Romapada Swami was the international GBC Chairman, he inspired a millionaire GBC backer devotee named Gopal Bhatta dasa to call and intimidate me, and threaten that if I ever put anything negative about Romapada Swami over the Internet again, that he would personally call the IRS about me, call the City Council, Mayor of Sedona, and newspaper, and try to discredit my personality, make my life miserable, and in his words, become my worst enemy! He said he didn't care about what I did to the rest of the NA GBC, but that Romapada Swami was his personal friend.
After all this, these same NA GBC members blame me for therefore having no other recourse than to discuss with devotees over the Internet on websites like the Sampradaya Sun, and on a website some devotees and I contributed to called The Watchdog: News Promoting Accountability In GBC Management. They also demand that I accept the GBC as the "ultimate authority" of ISKCON. That would be very nice, but with their own unique way of GBC management, they are making that very difficult for me to do.
The Watchdog was to be somewhat of a barometer for GBC performance. Most successful karmi corporations and companies welcome criticism for improvement, because they want to expand, but cannot do it so easily when the workers and public don't trust them. This GBC, however, seems to abhor appraisals of its worth. For several terms of office, even the devotees sitting in the top position of international GBC chairman, have shown no interest in these complaints. What do they think the "spiritual shareholders" of ISKCON think about that, and them? (According to an independent survey of the NA GBC done in January 2010, almost eighty percent of the temple presidents remain dissatisfied with the NA GBC's accountability and other issues of performance).
North American Temple President Survey on the GBC
Yes, I am not a GBC, yes I am a fallen soul, yes I have had a few spiritual fall downs over the past 15 years, yes I also attempted to start a self-sufficient ISKCON farm project in New Mexico in 1999 that failed and therefore a lot of laxmi that I raised was lost, yes I also started a Govinda's in Gainesville Florida that failed to support itself, even after being helped with investments from Balavanta and Ambarish prabhus. One is not always successful in one's every endeavor to spread Krishna consciousness. There are many contributing factors, much less my own disqualifications and my own past spiritual weakness over a period of time
But by the mercy of Srila Prabhupada, there are some success stories also in which I had a humble role. There was absolutely no temples in Arizona before Krishna sent me there. I do not take any credit for what I have done, it is all Srila Prabahupada's and the Vaishnava's mercy, However an average person would think that after all the hard work I have done for ISKCON and the spreading of Krishna consciousness, THESE PUFFED UP NA GBCs AND THEIR AGENTS WOULD BE HUMBLE ENOUGH - DIPLOMATIC ENOUGH - SMART ENOUGH - TO SHOW SOME RESPECT TO SOMEONE WHO HAS GIVEN HIS LIFE TO SPREADING KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS AND HAS ESTABLISHED FIVE CENTERS OR OUTLETS FOR SPREADING KRISHNA CONSCIOUSNESS IN ARIZONA.
Meeting cordially face to face, they should apologize for their mistakes and me for mine, and try and work honestly together for spreading Krishna consciousness. But they refuse. When I first went to Arizona, Badrinarayan dasa was heard saying, "He can't go and start a temple in Arizona. That's our San Diego back yard. He won't last one summer in that hot desert". Isn't it so wonderful to get the blessings of such a Vaishnava?
And for the questionable NA GBC management I am disgusted with, and the shrewd mentality of arrogance of this North American GBC Executive Cmmittee, to try and shut me up by their unethical, non-Prabhupada approved methods of probation or threats of excommunication, for their attempts to try to make me a non-existent casualty for criticizing the GBC of wrongdoing, and for their attempt to try and make me an obsolete non-member of no relevance but to ignore - well you readers can be the judge and the jury for their merits or demerits.
Yes, non-GBC regular devotees know this is not like Prabhupada, to present these kinds of judgments, of no leading kirtan probations, and threats of excommunication from ISKCON, for bringing to the attention of the devotees these examples of mal-practices of GBC authority. But is it really any surprise? These same GBC men/women are the ones who still today condone, approve, and support the changing and re-re-re-editing of the ISKCON Founder-Acarya's, our beloved Guru Maharaja Srila Prabhupada's divine writings. If they will do this most unthinkable action, when Prabhupada warned, cautioned them over and over hundreds of times - "DO NOT CHANGE MY BOOKS! DO NOT CHANGE EVEN ONE WORD!", then what other kind of decision patterns can we expect them to be capable of? Srila Prabhupada, if physically present, would most probably kick them all out of ISKCON, for the Guru-acarya aparadha of changing his books, what to speak of their policies in the making, to alienate many devotees for the sake of their power.
It really struck me, that one godbrother called me and said, "By your chanting and classes, you have established and are still establishing temples in Arizona for Prabhupada, and they have the audacity to tell you - you cannot lead any kirtan or give classes, even in the temples you started, and after you have achieved so much for Prabhupada's ISKCON mission". He made a good point - it is by a devotee's kirtans and Krishna conscious classes, and the mercy of guru and Krishna, that Krishna consciousness spreads. That is the divine order of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and Srila Prabhupada, to preach and chant in every town and village of the world, and the way one gets their causeless mercy.
It is easy to correct this GBC problem of unaccountability. But they have to be willing to show a transparency of honesty, integrity, humility, and show a new policy of "nothing to hide' to the devotees and the public, and welcome checks and balances to their system. The worst it can do is increase love and trust among the devotees in ISKCON. And most devotees will simply not "buy" their new product of a new and revised "ISKCON by the GBC" anyway. They like the perfect way that Srila Prabhupada left it. Bas!
In case there are some GBC members that may be having a hard time analyzing the purport or intention of this article, I will help translate it for them:
I am not attacking the GBC collectively or individually. I am attacking the long time tolerance and indifference of GBC members of corruption in their organization, wherever and whomever it is coming from, and their non-compliance with the right of the world and Vaishnavas to see their accountability! We need a GBC that all the devotees can trust, and one that is truly representative of them. The other bullshit should stop!
On Gaura Purnima 2011, TPs and IRGBs worldwide, we owe it to Srila Prabhupada, who daily feeds us, to clean this mess up! We should be proud of "purity is the force" in GBC and ISKCON management, not pandering to the politicking of a few, and start correcting the huge mistakes in GBC management that are still going forward.
