Dear Isa dasa,Please accept my humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada!
I am one of many thousands who are in a state of shock over the apparent uncovering of evidence indicating that Srila Prabhupada was poisoned. You appear to be in the center of this drama, and I appreciate all the efforts you have made to bring difficult information to the attention of the devotees. I imagine that your service to Srila Prabhupada via the VNN website has grown in directions you never anticipated. I know from experience what a great deal of energy it takes to establish and manage a web presence like VNN. Strictly from an editorial standpoint, the responsibility is great. Even greater is the need to vigilantly safeguard one’s spiritual life while dealing with such highly sensitive matters.
My particular angle of vision, as it relates to the overall massive problem we seem to be having within the worldwide Vaisnava community, is focused on the creation of an open, cooperative atmosphere. The pre-requisite to establishing such an environment is that we must ensure freedom of the press [expression]. In fact, we require a constitution enshrining individual liberties and clearly defining the administrative system we are working under in ISKCON. Given the reality of our present GBC, a more accurate realistic political designation for what exists might be a combination of oligarchy, fascism, and spiritual communism....a strange hybrid. What it isn’t, is an open democratic society! I am very grateful for the appearance on the scene of the Vaishnava News Network. We are greatly in need of a truly “free” press, and I pray that you and the staff at VNN will be empowered to fill that role.
Irregardless of what is finally identified on the tapes in question, I think we must carefully investigate what appears to be the astonishing degree of bewildered incompetence surrounding Srila Prabhupada at that time. As you’ve probably noted, many of the questions recently presented in the “Allegations of Poisoning” section of the harekrsna.com website are aimed at clarifying areas of responsibility. While many of the senior devotees have an overall sense of what was taking place politically at that time, little historical proof has been established. To my knowledge, these questions have never been officially posed to the GBC in the past. Instead, they have appeared as innuendo, or have been woven into someone’s personal narrative. As such, they have been easy for the GBC to dismiss. We have a great opportunity here to engage in the process of discovery, to make our findings public, and to help establish the historical facts surrounding these critically important final days of Srila Prabhupada’s manifest presence with us. At this juncture, if the GBC refuses to provide official answers to the many questions, they will seriously undermine what remains of their authority in the minds of thousands of devotees.
In the absence of hard evidence and official answers, we are presently observing a steady flow of relatively “inadmissible” evidence into the public arena, as individual devotees comment, speculate, charge and accuse, defend, etc. This is resulting in a new level of polarization among various opposing groups. These groups are certainly not well defined. There are many devotees within or closely associating with the present day ISKCON who would love to have the embarrassing icons of past tyrannies go down in flames. At the same time, there are many others living on the outside who have fond, sentimental attitudes towards their past authorities and friends. And, departing from ISKCON voluntarily is a far cry from being expelled by representatives of a totalitarian regime.
I am being repeatedly warned, as I’m sure you are these days, by those unknown souls who out of nowhere, suddenly manifest to ostensibly offer me the benefit of their unsolicited sagacious advice. Their words to the wise are that I should immediately cease and desist the committing of grave offenses towards those they consider to be advanced, exalted ISKCON saints. As if I hadn’t carefully considered the risk of committing aparadha. In the wake of recent happenings, the Vaisnava aparadha stick just got much bigger, and is multiplied by the number of fanatical “blind follower” disciples. It is reminiscent of the reeds turning into iron bars when the intoxicated Yadhus were fighting amongst themselves.
The burden of responsibility which is placed on the shoulders of the authorities should be considered from a number of angles. In the absence of straightforward and timely “official” information, the devotees are left to speculate among themselves. The authorities then charge them with committing great offenses by their speculation. If the officials had willingly made full public disclosure all along, a great deal of speculation on the part of many individuals would never even take place. So, do the authorities not share the weight of responsibility for individuals who unwittingly commit aparadhas while they are left to wander about, seeking answers on their own?
On that note, I would like to pose a number of questions to you, personally. I know how busy you must be, but I will appreciate hearing from you on these points as soon as possible. I apologize if you’ve already given answers to some of these questions elsewhere. If so, I have missed them.
1] How many tapes are in your possession, and how long have you had them?2] Why did Satsvarupa dasa Goswami give you the tapes, and what did he expect you to do with them?
3] A year ago, when you sent out letters announcing that these tapes were in your possession, did you suspect that they contained suspicious whisperings?
Please note that I have also posted a number of additional questions in the “Allegations of Poisoning” section of VADA. Those questions concerning the status of investigations are probably also best answered by you. Any attention you can give to providing answers will be very helpful. Many devotees are anxiously awaiting more information.
Personally and on behalf of harekrsna.com, I would also like to extend an offer of assistance to you and the staff of VNN. If there is any way we can help you, please let us know. We would be happy to host you in our Istagosti facilities (Sadhu Sanga chat room, Dharma-Mela), or create any specialized forum or cross-linked sections in VADA that you might wish.
We will appreciate your continued communication, and will share with you any pertinent information that comes our way. Should you wish to have any of your correspondences with us kept confidential, please make a note to that effect on each document. Otherwise, we will likely post what you send us. Likewise, feel free to post anything you receive from us, unless it is marked “confidential”.
Should you ever wish to speak in person, you can reach me at (250) 247-2019.
I hope this finds you well. Please offer my respects to your family, and your associates at VNN.
your servant,
Rocana dasa
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