Confronting the Demons-in-disguise
BY: HRISHIKESH DASA (HENRY DOKTORSKI)
Jul 24, PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, USA (SUN) — In his recent article, "Money at the Manor", Dandahari das has revealed an important truth which sheds much-needed light on the dark and shadowy inner workings of the Bhaktivedanta Manor administration, and perhaps on all of ISKCON itself:
“Gauri Das must have been in it for-the-money all along, with his backers in the temple council who have been hiding behind him and dipping into the honey pot themselves.”
When we study religious movements-and revolutionary and national movements as well-we notice that after the disappearance of the founder the new leaders begin exhibiting a tendency to become more concerned with acquiring money and power than in living simply and preaching. According to scholars of religious movements, this is a normal stage in the evolution of a religious movement and it should be expected.
A rising religious movement is all about change. For the most part, the founder of the movement attracts members who perceive their lives as useless: they are unhappy, they are frustrated, they are suffering. They long for relief from their anxieties and they crave a new life. These people are ripe for joining a holy cause, such as ISKCON, and Srila Prabhupada, by his own selflessness, purity, devotion, and total faith in the mission of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, was the perfect leader who inspired his disciples to give up their previous sinful lives and follow him.
But there were also others who joined, who in the long term, were less interested in self-sacrifice and serving as missionaries for the mission of Caitanya Mahaprabhu and were more interested in seeking power and riches and advancing their own careers. As long as Srila Prabhupada controlled the movement, these self-seeking mercenaries remained checked in their greed. But when Prabhupada passed away, these shrewd individuals could begin climbing the ISKCON corporate ladder without obstruction.
As long as Srila Prabhupada was present, and for some time afterwards, enthusiasm ran high and we performed great austerities and self-sacrifices to further the goals of the movement. Bodily comforts and personal financial gain of the present were eschewed: the focus was on the future. We performed actions in the present, of course, but our thoughts were forward-looking: preaching today to make the entire world Krishna Conscious tomorrow; chanting attentively and strictly following the regulative principles today so that tomorrow I might become a pure devotee and help usher in a ten-thousand-year era of Krishna Consciousness in Kali Yuga.
However, once Srila Prabhupada passed away, the dynamic phase of the movement apparently ended. The movement ceased to be a vehicle for change, enthusiasm and excitement gradually dissipated, and corruption set in like gangrene. The problems in management we are seeing today strongly suggest that Srila Prabhupada’s society has ceased to be a movement and has instead become an enterprise.
Fifty-seven years ago, Eric Hoffer predicted all of this in his landmark book, The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements. Following are selected quotations from his book, which I believe may shed some light on the recent events at Bhaktivedanta Manor, and in all of ISKCON today.
Hoffer first describes the qualities of people who typically join mass movements as members. Essentially, he claims, they are frustrated with their lives; they are seeking a new life and holy cause which they can espouse wholeheartedly, but, Hoffer warns, there are also others who join a mass movement for less-than-noble reasons.
"People who see their lives as irremediably spoiled cannot find a worth-while purpose in self-advancement. The prospect of an individual career cannot stir them to a mighty effort, nor can it evoke in them faith and a single-minded dedication. . . . Their innermost craving is for a new life-a rebirth-or, failing this, a chance to acquire new elements of pride, confidence, hope, a sense of purpose and worth by an identification with a holy cause. An active mass movement offers them opportunities for both. If they join the movement as full converts [initiated disciples] they are reborn to a new life in its close-knit collective body, or if attracted as sympathizers [friends or Life Members] they find elements of pride, confidence and purpose by identifying themselves with the efforts, achievements and prospects of the movement. . . .
It is true that among the early adherents of a mass movement there are also adventurers who join in the hope that the movement will give a spin to their wheel of fortune and whirl them to fame and power. . . . When a mass movement begins to attract people who are interested in their individual careers, it is a sign that it has passed its vigorous stage; that it is no longer engaged in molding a new world but in possessing and preserving the present. It ceases then to be a movement and becomes an enterprise."
Hoffer also describes the three types of men who figure prominently as leaders of mass movements: (1) the men of words-thinkers and writers who provide the philosophical basis for the movement, in other words: the brahmanas; (2) the founder(s) -the person(s) who creates the movement and by his words and actions inspires frustrated souls to give up their miserly self-interests and dedicate themselves enthusiastically to the goals of the movement, in ISKCON this of course refers to Srila Prabhupada; and (3) the practical men of action-the administrators who wrestle control over the movement, by force or by political maneuvers, after the passing of the founder(s): the ksatriyas.
"A movement is pioneered by men of words, materialized by [the founders] and consolidated by men of action. [The appearance of the man of action] usually marks the end of the dynamic phase of the movement. . . . The genuine man of action is intent not on renovating the world but on possessing it. Whereas the life breath of the dynamic phase was protest and a desire for drastic change, the final phase is chiefly preoccupied with administering and perpetuating the power won. With the appearance of the man of action the explosive vigor of the movement is embalmed and sealed in sanctified institutions.
A religious movement crystallizes in a hierarchy and a ritual. . . . The establishment of a church marks the end of the revivalist spirit. . . . The members of the institutionalized collective body must be unified only through their unquestioning loyalty to the institution. Spontaneity is suspect, and duty is prized above devotion.
The chief preoccupation of a man of action when he takes over an “arrived” movement is to fix and perpetuate its unity and readiness for self-sacrifice. His ideal is a compact, invincible whole that functions automatically. To achieve this he cannot rely on enthusiasm, for enthusiasm is ephemeral. Persuasion, too, is unpredictable. He inclines, therefore, to rely mainly on drill and coercion. He finds the assertion that all men are cowards less debatable than that all men are fools. . . ."
Hoffer is correct: it appears that very few devotees have sufficient strength and courage to recognize and stand up against the powerful and corrupt administrators and demand justice. In his article, Dandahari das mentioned the persistent inquiries of Tribuvanatha Prabhu, who was only bullied by the authorities who attempted to sideline his preaching.
And what about the other devotees who seem to be blissfully unaware of horrible discrepancies which are glaringly obvious to others: perhaps they are the fools which the men of action love to deceive? Kishori devi dasi supports this assertion in her recent article, "Where There Is Smoke There Is Fire!":
“Innocent devotees like the Manor devotees who believe in the lies of Gauri and his supporters simply do not have the intelligence to discern the truth from the lies. They are obviously inexperienced in corporate ISKCON methodology.”
Hoffer described the man of action in more detail:
"The genuine man of action is not a man of faith but a man of law. . . . He takes . . . great care to preserve in the new institutions an impressive facade of faith, and maintains an incessant flow of fervent propaganda, although he relies mainly on the persuasiveness of force. His orders are worded in pious vocabulary, and the old formulas and slogans are continually on his lips. The symbols of faith are carried high and given reverence. The men of words and the [founders] of the early period are canonized. . . .
In the hands of a man of action the mass movement ceases to be a refuge from the agonies and burdens of an individual existence and becomes a means of self-realization for the ambitious. The irresistible attraction which the movement now exerts on those preoccupied with their individual careers is a clear-cut indication of the drastic change in its character. . . .
It is also clear that the influx of these career men accelerates the transformation of the movement into an enterprise. Hitler, who had a clear vision of the whole course of a movement even while he was nursing his infant National Socialism, warned that a movement retains its vigor only so long as it can offer nothing in the present-only “honor and fame in the eyes of posterity,” and that when it is invaded by those who want to make the most of the present “the ‘mission’ of such a movement is done for.”
The movement at this stage still concerns itself with the frustrated-not to harness their discontent in a deadly struggle with the present, but to reconcile them with it; to make them patient and meek. . . . Thus at the end of its vigorous span the movement is an instrument for power for the successful and an opiate for the frustrated."
In Bhagavad-gita, chapter 16, Lord Krishna referred to these two classes of men as “divine” and “demoniac,” which has been recently pointed out to us by Radha-Govinda Swami in "Old Hat/Helmet". In fact, the entire Bhagavad-gita is intended to awaken Arjuna from his sleep of sentimentality, and to open his eyes and incite him to remove the demoniac from their positions of power, although they be his own family members. We must also be as vigilant as Arjuna, and just as determined and courageous. Perhaps for a time we might be illusioned, but eventually we must wake up and confront the demons-in-disguise.
Neither the sentimental nor the faint hearted will be able to uproot evil, which has become institutionalized. Needed are strong men and women possessing firm faith and steady determination who can recognize and combat deception, and who are free from the false pride which may prevent them from seeing the corruption in their very midst. Hare Krishna.
