Reply to "Checks and Balances"
BY: HRISHIKESH DASA
Apr 12, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, USA (SUN) — Thank you, Samba Prabhu, for your April 7 letter responding to my "rendering of a recreated event" in my article, "Faith Is Blind and Ignorance Is Bliss".
I admire your loyalty toward your late father and your determination to cast aspersions on anyone who might portray him as an imperfect human being with weaknesses, and I am sorry if my memories have offended you. I have nothing against your father, and I admired him for his service and devotion to Prabhupada, as attested by my eulogy which you quoted. But he was who he was, and I hope perhaps someday we can all accept him for that without embarrassment or condemnation. I think Prabhupada accepted your father as he was and still loved him.
However I disagree with two of your statements:
(1) "the van safe that was cracked open by New Vrindaban inmates belonged to Hansadutta's pickers - not the Moonies - and was done in retaliation of a Zonal guru picking dispute."
My story of the burglary of the Moonie van at NV is
correct and has recently been corroborated by
Tapapunja, who was also there at the time. It must
have been during late August or early September 1978,
because I was working in the NV garden at the time,
and I only had that service for a week or two before I
began working at the Palace.
I think you might be confusing two or more separate
incidents. Tapapunja explained that there was another
van break which was not widely publicized, but it
occurred away from the community, when some NV
travelling sankirtan pickers discovered and broke into
one of Hansadutta's vans in our zone. I had never
heard of this burglary until now.
There was at least yet a third burglary which I
remember: New Vrindaban devotees also discovered and
raided Hansadutta's warehouse in Cincinnati. I
happened to participate in that glorious event, along
with Tapapunja and Janahlada and others, unloading
thousands of cut-out records into a truck to ship back
to NV. We even took their deities and clothes off the
clothes line. I think this must have happened sometime
between January and March 1980, when I was temporarily
not on the pick.
(2) "For the sake of chronological authenticity, I
lived in Mexico with my dad as Federal fugitives the
entire spring/summer of 1978 while the FBI anxiously
awaited our return to the US. There is public record
which attests to this fact due to the dramatic custody
battle between my parents."
I would very much like to see the "public record" you
claim as proof that you were in Mexico during the
spring and summer of 1978.
The public record I have discovered shows that you
left NV for Mexico during March 1979, as evidenced by
the two following newspaper articles. The first
article is from the Wheeling News Register dated
Friday, April 6, 1979, page 17.
The second more-detailed article is from the
Moundsville Daily Echo of the same date. Your mother’s
court case was front page news in the Moundsville
paper. If the text appears smudged it is because I had
to scan the article in 3 sections, as it reached from
the top to practically the bottom of the page. It is
difficult to make a clear copy from a microfiche
machine, especially the machine at the Moundsville
Public Library.
Click here for Moundsville Daily Echo article
[Click to expand image]
If you suspect I have forged the date using PhotoShop
or some other image processor, I assure you I have
not. I invite you to telephone the Moundsville Public
Library and ask a librarian to look it up for you on
their microfiche machine, and she can attest to the
authenticity of this article appearing on that date.
You went to Mexico during March 1979, and I do not
know when you returned. However I guess that you and
your father might have returned to NV to attend the
dedication of Prabhupada’s Palace during August and
September of 1979. Your statement is correct except
for the year.
On another note: I think you might enjoy reading these
articles for a different reason: I find it especially
interesting that NOWHERE in these articles is there
any mention of sexual molestation. Your mother claimed
only that your "safety and health are in danger."
According to the Moundsville Echo, she said "the child
lost part of his ring finger in a sawmill, broke an
arm and a thumb, and lacks proper dental care." It
also said you were subjected to "educational
indoctrination that will render the child incapable of
functioning in society by alienating the natural
affections . . . for his mother and by extreme and
brutal disciplinary methods."
Apparently sexual molestation WAS NOT a factor in your
mother's coming to get you during March 1979, as
attested by these two newspaper articles, despite
Sulochan's 1985 book "The Guru Business" and attorney
David Gold's book "After the Absolute" which he wrote
decades later. I believe this article supports your
assertion that Kirtanananda never molested you.
Sincerely,
Hrishikesh Dasa
