Mar 11, 2013 — USA (SUN) — It has been interesting to read the various articles that have appeared lately in regard to the apparent controversy over female members of ISKCON being in the post of Diksa Guru. What I find amazing is that there is a controversy in ISKCON leadership over whether a woman can be a fully incorporated spiritual leader, but a man can be a spiritual leader even though he physically assaulted a female member.
This is exactly the situation with ISKCON Guru and GBC Ravindra Svarupa dasa, as reported by me some months back. Enough time has passed that I think it is clear to pretty much anyone what exactly happened. I think any rational person can see what actually took place if you compare my account, his account and the GBC's official report, side by side. He admits he kicked her, but basically says that it was a "symbolic gesture" made with his foot in her direction. That "symbolic gesture" somehow flew out of control and accidentally connected with her rear end. Of course, I was told exactly what happened by the victim, and she also told several others as well. He violently kicked her and verbally insulted her. He then bragged about it to several others, who then in turn, told others. His official account of the situation is absolutely ridiculous, and no one outside of ISKCON would believe it either. One devotee wrote an interesting article in this regard.
I think that it is useful to perform the simple mental experiment of what would have happened if someone kicked Ravindra Svarupa dasa's wife in the pujari room. I believe most would see its obvious that this person would be immediately arrested for assault, as they should be, and banned from the Temple. But for someone like the victim, she is not as important. The very nature of the assault is so degrading and demeaning and says everything about what he thought of her. A decent person would never treat a dog like that, what to speak of his disciple of the opposite sex. Yet this person is still held in official ISKCON honor and is treated with all reverence. He is currently presenting to the GBC the official Srila Prabhupada position paper for ISKCON that he wrote. He is still the GBC, Temple President, and Guru of Philadelphia. And the victim was the one who had to move out, not him. So, a male Guru in ISKCON can treat a female member like this, but it is a big controversy in the leadership over whether a women can be Guru.
Please don't think that this is a small and trivial thing or that these two controversies are somehow disconnected. The actual precedent has been set in ISKCON that a male leader can assault a female member and still be in a position of spiritual authority. I can't think of any organization or religion that would still allow someone to serve in such a position after such an incident. Most of us have worked jobs in the secular world. If this happened at any job, in this day and age, the perpetrator would be arrested, fired, and promptly sued. But in our religious society, a leader is allowed to act in such a violent and obnoxious manner. Especially considering that violence against women, particularly in India, is front page news these days! But our religion, which comes from India, overlooks the fact that one of its leaders violently assaulted one of his female students. When people find out about this, which they will, it will serve as a total source of embarrassment for our society. It is such a blatant disregard to our religious principles and the principles of most world societies. In other words, it is total hypocrisy.
And the GBC's official response to the incident is deplorable. Instead of being grateful that I reported a severe deviation from one of its members, they labeled my report "inflammatory". Assaulting a women in the pujari room is not inflammatory, but reporting the incident to the authorities and devotees is. They sided with Ravindra Svarupa dasa's official statement, that it was a "symbolic gesture" made with his foot that subsequently went out of control and kicked her. And they confirm that this is not "pastoral abuse", but just inappropriate behavior. I can't think of one thing that demonstrates pastoral abuse better than a head "priest" kicking a "nun" in the inner religious sanctum of the Temple! They had to admit that none of the ISKCON Resolve emails worked, as most of the ISKCON leaders official emails didn't, including Ravindra Svarupa's. I really tried to address it directly to the GBC, but even their official website gave no contact information. I had no choice but to make it public and have absolutely no regrets about it
And don't think that I wasn't clear with the victim that this had to be addressed. I was dealing with this situation for several months and she was in total denial. She was scared to act and wanted to not do anything. I was very clear that her telling me meant that something had to be done. I wasn't going to be implicated in allowing this person to get away with this and I knew her situation would get worse. I arranged for her to move to Boston and also offered my apartment for her to stay in for several months, as I was working away for the summer. But in the end, she didn't want to be viewed as a trouble maker and instead accepted the GBC's so-called "mediation". Instead of standing up to her abuser, she sold out to the powers that be, adding insult to her own injury. It appears that they actively scared and intimidated the victim and Ravindra Svarupa dasa's official response totally puts the blame on her. Not one shred of apology from the perpetrator. It literally is sickening how shallow, self-focused and unremorseful his letter is. It says a great deal about this person's character. Yet he has not been punished, sanctioned or forced to even apologize and is still actively participating as a spiritual leader.
The other situation with Ravindra Svarupa dasa that is important to address, is his long standing inappropriate relationship with another one of his disciples, Shraddha devi. It is a fact that he has traveled the world alone with her, just the two of them, for many years. I have personally been there when others had picked them up at the airport. Srila Prabhupada refused to even be alone in a room with his older sister Pishima. He then instructed his disciples of the inappropriate nature of a spiritual leader, or anyone, to be alone with someone of the opposite gender who is not a spouse. What to speak of traveling the world alone with a woman less than half your age! They are always associating alone, anyone around Philly will tell you. And trust me, this is a huge source of discontent amongst fellow disciples and congregation members of ISKCON Philly. I am still friends with many of my god siblings and almost everyone has said something or had some crisis of faith about it.
This is also abuse, even though Shraddha devi is a willing participant. It really makes her look bad and people talk about her. Also, it makes Ravindra Svarupa dasa's wife look bad. This problem has caused the falling away of many of Ravindra Svarupa's disciples and has damaged the congregation as well. And the leaders talk about it too, I have been told, and Shraddha is very well known among the leaders. She is one of the main people in charge of the Vedic Planetarium project in Mayapura. The whole thing is so ridiculous, overt and inappropriate, yet no one wants to be the one to address it. So, a Guru in a male body in ISKCON can assault one woman disciple and have an inappropriate relationship with another female disciple, and still be Guru. But for a devotee who is in a female body, the leaders are not really sure if being a Guru is possible.
It's hard for me to understand why there is a controversy over whether a female devotee of the Lord can be a Guru. Of course, we have the huge example of Jahnava Ma in our own Sampradaya who had many thousands of disciples. And the Guru Pati of Sri Vaishnavism is none other than Laxmi Devi Herself. Then there is the great Vaishnavi Mirabai, who the Six Gosvamis associated with and took instruction from. And in our own modern movement we have the humble example of Yamuna Devi. I know second generation devotees who consider her their actual spiritual master, even though they are initiated by someone else. Female Gurus may be a rarer event historically, due to social and cultural norms and restraints. It looks like Acharyas are very rare historically anyway. It definitely has happened though, and is obviously totally possible in the present and future. But this is just part of the existential conundrum that has been created in the failed attempt by ISKCON leaders to institutionalize the post of Guru.
It is a fact that the position of Guru cannot be institutionalized. The principles and rituals of religion can be institutionalized but being Guru or representative of God is something that can never be controlled by anything or anyone accept the Supreme Lord Himself. Srila Prabhupada frequently said that the Guru and Acharya are "self evident" or "self effulgent". In other words, the actual devotional prowess and empowerment of the representative of Lord Krishna is obvious and overt and can't be engineered or artificially duplicated. The Spiritual Master shows by his own example how to directly attain the lotus feet of the Lord and the actual life result of such a person is the convincing pragmatic spiritual example. I have written about this dynamic in my article, "The Model Imperative". Srila Prabhupada was not accepted as Acharya by the Gaudiya Math, but his qualification and position was nonetheless self-evident. His personal example and life is a testament to his spiritual authority. The key to being able to see this qualification, however, is knowledge of the scriptures. The symptoms and characteristics of a Mahabhagavat are undeniable then, but no institution can ever substitute for your own educated spiritual discrimination. That is why Srila Prabhupada painstakingly translated and commented on the scriptures and begged us to read and study them.
Srila Prabhupada also frequently criticized the "rubber-stamping" , or hierarchical approval of Gurus by various religious institutions, including the Gaudiya Math. The obvious problem with this arrangement is that politics, power and wealth may influence the decision of someone attaining or maintaining this sacred post. This has been a constant source of problems in ISKCON, Ravindra Svarupa dasa's example being one of them. This is especially true when there is a lack of transparency and accountability in an institution, as exemplified by our ISKCON leadership. There are basically no checks and balances of power in our religious society, and no way for ISKCON members to remove corrupt leaders. I have written about this crisis in my article "#OccupyISKCON". Over and over we see that the only way bad spiritual leaders are removed, dozens of Gurus at this point in ISKCON, is for them to basically crash and burn in moral tragedy or resign on their own terms. This is a very bad situation socially for any culture or sub-culture to be in. We end up lost in a house of mirrors of dysfunction; a perpetual state of turmoil, hypocrisy, scandal and crime. The source and scope of our problem becomes clouded by the apathy of members subjected to never ending corruption. You can't have a civil society if you are unable to remove your corrupt leaders. No one wants to do business with a dictatorship, say like Iran or North Korea. You will potentially loose all your investments and service because you are not protected by laws, but are instead at the whims of a tyrant. This is ISKCON's present situation, and many of us feel helpless as we watch Srila Prabhupada's service and investment plundered by unchecked leaders.
This situation with Ravindra Svarupa dasa, unfortunately, serves as a good example of ISKCON corruption, dysfunction and hypocrisy. We have seen many times in our religious society's history where horrible acts of leaders have been covered up or minimized. This case has all the tried and true classic corrupt antics of a dying cult leadership. The more a leadership becomes insulated and less transparent, the more it becomes isolated, socially remote, and culturally insignificant. Simultaneously, the more hypocritical a leadership becomes, the more it has to rely on a mythology of its members. At a certain point, there may be no congruency between the beliefs and principles of a religion and the overt character of its membership and hierarchy. The price to be a member of a society like this is blind faith and magical thinking, all of which are totally contrary to the humble student of the Absolute Truth. Now we have a real precedent in our society that a male Spiritual Master can physically assault one of his female disciples. If Ravindra Svarupa dasa is not held accountable, what will prevent another person from doing the same thing? If you knew you would get arrested and lose your position of power, you might think twice about being violent. This is why he needs to resign ASAP. And not only do I think he should resign, but I think he should be arrested for assault. And this probably still will happen because it will be very clear to authorities what has taken place after reading and hearing all the evidence. Not only is Ravindra Svarupa dasa not above the law, but as a leader he should be held to an even higher standard. The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office has taken down many, many corrupt and abusive religious leaders in its history, it is no problem or shock for them.
People may say I am just an envious disciple. Of course, this is exactly what Ravindra Svarupa dasa has been saying. All I can say to this is that I would not trade my life for his or any leader in ISKCON for a trillion dollars and a thousand years to enjoy it! Dealing with this situation, and Ravindra Svarupa dasa in general, has been a very big inconvenience for me. I have no choice though, for this is one of my tests. What many members of this movement fail to realize is that you are directly implicated in an offense or sin if you don't speak up about it after witnessing or being in knowledge of it. You might not be able to do something, but you at least have to say something or you are spiritually and karmically implicated. It is just the laws of nature, and Srila Prabhupada told us this many times. We also have to follow the dictates of our conscience or we live a lie. I refuse to be tacitly implicated in this gross and ridiculous act. And as an initiated disciple of Ravindra Svarupa dasa, I have an obligation to call him out on it or Lord Krishna will be displeased. Look what happened to the Pandavas when they didn't stand up for Draupadi? My allegiance is ultimately to the Lord and so I have to do what He wants, even though it is surely an inconvenience to me. But then I will be able to live with myself at least and sleep at night. I really don't know how Ravindra Svarupa dasa or any other leader who protected him in this incident can.
I think women in ISKCON should be very worried that a precedent has been set that leaders in ISKCON can assault them and still be leaders. At the same time, adding insult to injury, the leadership is actively discriminating against spiritual qualification purely based on a devotee's external female gender. Your own faults are your own and mostly you suffer for them yourself. Violence against others, especially the innocent and unprotected, is another category entirely. Aggressors are severely condemned in the scriptures, and for good reason. They upset the whole fabric of human civilization because it is purely animalistic and is the grossest form of lording it over material nature. Unfortunately, Ravindra Svarupa has this violent streak. The last part of this very disturbing video circulating around the Internet says more on this issue than I could ever say. We all deserve better than this.
