THE GURU BUSINESS Author

THE GURU BUSINESS

Author: H.G. Sulocana Prabhu

(Sulocana Prabhu was murdered May 22nd, 1986, 1:00 a.m., Los Angeles, two days after this story was written.)

Whenever an acarya comes, following the superior orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead or His representative, he establishes the principles of religion, as enunciated in Bhagavad-gita. Religion means abiding by the orders of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Religious principles begin from the time one surrenders to the Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is the acarya's duty to spread a bona fide religious system and induce everyone to bow down before the Supreme Lord. One executes the religious principles by rendering devotional service, specifically the nine items like hearing, chanting and remembering. Unfortunately, when the acarya disappears, rogues and nondevotees take advantage and immediately begin to introduce unauthorized principles in the name of so-called svamis, yogis, philanthropists, welfare workers and so on….The acarya, the authorized representative of the Supreme Lord, establishes these principles, but when he disappears, things once again become disordered. The perfect disciples of the acarya try to relieve the situation by sincerely following the instructions of the spiritual master….Similarly, a devoted disciple of the spiritual master would rather die with the spiritual master than fail to execute the spiritual master's mission. As the Supreme Personality of Godhead comes down upon this earth to re-establish the principles of religion, so His representative, the spiritual master, also comes to re-establish religious principles. It is the duty of the disciples to take charge of the mission of the spiritual master and execute it properly. Otherwise the disciple should decide to die along with the spiritual master. In other words, to execute the will of the spiritual master, the disciple should be prepared to lay down his life and abandon all personal considerations…. When one becomes serious to follow the mission of the spiritual master, his resolution is tantamount to seeing the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As explained before, this means meeting the Supreme Personality of Godhead in the instruction of the spiritual master. This is technically called vani-seva. Srila Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura states in his Bhagavad-gita commentary on the verse vyavasayatmika buddhir ekeha kuru-nandana (Bg. 2.41) that one should serve the words of the spiritual master. The disciple must stick to whatever the spiritual master orders. Simply by following on that line, one sees the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

(Srila Prabhupada from Srimad Bhagavatam 4.28.48,50,51)

Chapter 1 - They Will Just Be Showbottle
Purity is the real force behind any genuine spiritual movement. Prabhupada predicted his "leaders" would not live up to the standards he personally set.

Chapter 2 - Do Not Dishonor Me
The personal ambition of the "big guns" and how it has ruined the society, bringing dishonor to Prabhupada's good name.

Chapter 3 - Cheap Gurus, Cheap Disciples
The truth about the spiritual master. How becoming a bona fide guru is not by appointment, but by a lifetime of sincere hard work and devotion.

Chapter 5 - Just to Chastise the Evil Doers
Srila Prabhupada was not a sentimentalist. Rather he taught that violence is often necessary to combat evil. All else failing, it may be necessary to use force to stop the "guru" imposition in ISKCON.

Chapter 6 - Let Them Dig Their Own Graves
This famous quote by Sridhar Maharaja is one of hundreds of quotes contradictory to Srila Prabhupada's teachings, that helped ISKCON's appointed "gurus" to "dig their own graves." Unfortunately, ISKCON got buried as well. Srila Prabhupada had specifically warned not to take Sridhar Maharaja's advice.

Chapter 7 - A Very Human Story - Planting the Weed
How the "authorized" biography of ISKCON's founder minimizes the qualifications of a true saint, thereby giving full reign to charlatans eager to profit from their "guru business."

Chapter 8 - The Conspiracy
A running history showing the most important events of the takeover and the efforts made to thwart it, beginning in 1977 [Not complete].

Chapter 9 - ISKCON Women: Protected or Exploited?
How ISKCON leaders, especially the "gurus" manipulate innocent women for their own selfish profit, adoration, and distinction. Thus ISKCON's 90% divorce rate. Also the real reason why Prabhupada gave sannyasa to his sexually inclined disciples.

Chapter 10 - A Crazy Man - Kirtanananda 'Swami'
The first in a series of exposes on corrupt ISKCON "gurus." The story behind his personality cult, including the truth about the "PALACE OF GOLD" tourist attraction in West Virginia.

Number 5 - Letter of Radhanatha Dasa to his "guru," Satsvarupa.
Number 8 - Rohini Kumar Swami's paper on "Regular Gurus."
Number 10 - 1978 GBC Report on Women sexploitation techniques.
Number 12 - Mother Mahara's statement about abortion & illicit sex: The real New Vrindaban.
Number 18 - Interview on the subtle sex life of Hrydayananda.
Number 20 - The Real May & June "Appointment" Transcripts.
Number 22 - GBC Document rationalizes breaking marriages.
Number 25 - Interview about Women's sexploitation at New Vrindaban.
DAS Devotee Access Services - An Inside Information Service for Devotees Everywhere.
The Kingdom by Sulocana dasa

As I started to read through Srila Prabhupada's personal letters to his disciples, I was primarily looking for quotes on marriage. At the time I was desperate to try and save my own marriage. Although that was my main motive, I also knew it was my moral duty to try and save my wife and children from possible danger. In this way, I began my research with the blessings of the Lord of morality, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Since I was approaching His topmost representative, Srila Prabhupada, for guidance and inspiration, I knew the outcome would be auspicious, whatever it was. I had no idea where my research would lead me. I only knew that something was going to burst, and I didn't want it to be me. I was not especially concerned with the broader "guru-issue" facing ISKCON's "leaders" today. Mainly, I wanted to save my own family, hoping that was part of the Lord's plan.

Previously, I had been living a rather disheartened married life. My wife had been devoting her heart to another man and so, naturally, this killed any chance of our having a meaningful relationship. Living in this somewhat stagnant state, I had not been inclined to confront the fact that she was unfaithful. In blind acceptance of what I had been told was my spiritual master's mission and his authorized representatives, I had remained simple and naive. This simplicity did not afford me either the desire or opportunity to even imagine what was lurking in the minds of others. They say the husband is always the last to know.

Finally, in June of 1984, with plenty of encouragement from the "guru" she had been devoting herself to, namely one Kirtanananda "Swami," my wife decided to leave me to devote her life to him, even though I have two baby boys by her. At the time, I knew very little about Kirtanananda, so I was a little cautious about openly criticizing him for his interference in my marriage. The fact that his "disciples" have more weapons than brains also discouraged me from openly challenging him. My wife also knew very little about him, except for the hype that's drilled into all the gullible guru-pies at his camp, such as, "He's the oldest and first sannyasa disciple of Prabhupada" or, "He built Prabhupada's Palace, so he must be a pure saint." That kind of stuff. In effect, neither of us really knew anything about him at all, so she agreed that I would go to LA and do some research, and if I found out anything suspicious, I would let her know. She said she would then join me if that was the case.

I agreed to rejoin her at Kirtanananda's camp if his slate was clean. Foolishly, I thought that she was sincere in this arrangement.

Little did I know that before the dust of my tires had settled on the road, she had already been allotted to satisfy the carnal desires of one of Kirtanananda's loyalists, Raghunatha, a man so desperate for sex that he had been grabbing devotee women's breasts and thighs, even though they were married. Kirtanananda requires many women for these loyal and hard working men like Raghunatha, who want more from life than simply work. Since Kirtanananda could see that I was not one of his blind loyalists ("Sulocana, you are just not my man") he naturally had no use for me. But his unmarried and agitated workers would be very pleased with someone like my wife. After all, how long can a young man be satisfied simply with the peephole into the ladies' toilet in the temple building there? So, when my wife expressed to Kirtanananda a desire to stay at New Vrndavana, despite my intention to leave, he didn't hesitate to tell her, "That's all right, let him go. I'll take care of you." It never even dawned on him to counsel us, which is of course the duty of the leader of a real religious community. Having been a lifelong homosexual, and repulsed by women, "Well boys, get out the incense, it's fish night" (Kirtanananda Swami thinks women smell like fish), he could hardly counsel couples in moral obligations, even if he wanted to. But, despite his personal feelings, he needs women for his heterosexual men who eventually leave him if he doesn't supply them a sex partner. So, being a British citizen and somewhat cultured, at least by New Vrndavana standards, my wife was a prize catch for him. Unfortunately, I had found out all these things too late.

So I was forced to make a dreadful choice: "Sink or swim." There was no question of just ignoring the whole thing and starting life over again as my parents were urging me. I couldn't really blame them. It was apparent enough that I was either heading for the gas chamber for just executing Kirtanananda, or a nervous breakdown if I lost my sons. Many of my co-disciples had sought the illusory escape from similar ordeals through drugs, sex, television, violence, and ultimately spiritual suicide. I could have gone any or all those routes. I had the money and I was free from any immediate obligations or debts. Fortunately however the Lord had a different plan for me. By this time I had heard and read enough about Kirtanananda to know that I had to make my best effort to save my sons from his clutches, even though it had become apparent my wife was completely under his control. So, suffering from the stress of having had my sons forcibly taken from me by Kirtanananda's strong-arms, and having lost nearly forty pounds as a result, I decided to take a stand, practically alone, against one of the richest and most corrupt men in ISKCON. This was after nearly five years of lethargic spiritual dormancy.

Knowing that Kirtanananda had attacked Srila Prabhupada in the late sixties in his first attempt to take over the movement, I figured that if I could get all the letters dealing with that incident, then I would have something tangible to show my wife about the real character of her new "protector." Having previously indexed for ISKCON's book publishing house (BBT), I resumed that service with one objective in mind: to get access to Prabhupada's letters. Due to my distress, however, I was unable to conceal my real intentions. Thus they refused to let me have them. This struggle went on for nearly two months, when, by the Lord's grace, I met a devotee who had previously bribed the archives department-at no meager expense-for the complete set. He sympathized with my story, having also been stabbed in the back by an "ISKCON" despot, and he lent me his own set. For the first time in months, I felt hopeful of getting my sons back, although I knew it would still be a long time before I would see my sons safe. Shortly after this breakthrough I made a large sale of jewelry, which enabled me to purchase my computer. It appeared the Lord was definitely with me.

The letters contained all the secrets I had been hoping for-and more. I knew then that it would be my assigned duty to make the truth in these letters known to all. It was the beginning of a re-awakening in my heart for a service which He had so mercifully been arranging for me all along-a service far heavier than I would have been able to bear, or even consider, had I remained in the deep, dark, discouraging well of unfaithful female companionship (not to be confused with a devoted wife). Although the ordeal was painful, it was that purifying experience for which I had been longing. I deeply welcomed it. So, on October 11th, 1984, 1 mailed a letter to all ISKCON centers openly declaring war against Kirtanananda and the entire Society if my family was not returned to me intact. The Society ignored me. Hardly did I get one response. Since silence automatically means acceptance, I knew that my accusations were correct, and that it was just a matter of time before the truth would triumph. From that point onwards I was doomed to live in constant hiding from Kirtanananda's worshipers, who would have killed me in an instant if they knew where I was parked in my motor home, typing away.

Although many ingredients are the same, this is no ordinary tale of a woman betraying her husband for another man. It certainly has its intrigue and duplicity, but this story goes far beyond an ordinary marital melodrama. The profound dimensions underlying Kirtanananda's aggression against me are obvious. Otherwise, he never would have taken such a risk for this woman, who is not even a money-picker. That would have been the standard "ISKCON" motive, as you will see in the chapter on women's' sexploitation. This conflict, instead, goes deep to the root of ISKCON's problems. Destiny has certainly arranged that, through this incident, the needed polarization between these personality cults and the real mission of Srila Prabhupada will take place. The enemy will have been positively identified. My personal love for my sons, who are still being held captive in Kirtanananda's grip, is thus no longer the sole or even main motivating force behind this book. You will only hear of my personal grief in this picture, since there have been hundreds, if not thousands, of victims like myself. I can now fully sympathize with them all. The specific injustice done to myself will certainly be rectified in due course as I ceaselessly work to expose the fundamental corruption which underlies what only appears to be the ISKCON movement, but which, in reality, represents the betrayal of our spiritual master, Srila Prabhupada.

As I began my search through the letters, I discovered something higher than my personal marital problems that I knew I should share that with everyone. I discovered that Srila Prabhupada is no ordinary man. Of course, I had read all of Prabhupada's books several times over, the same as most of the devotees and I had even indexed a half a dozen of them. I knew without a doubt that Prabhupada had introduced us to a very pure spiritual culture in its entirety, and I appreciated that very much. Yet, during that time, I never fully appreciated Prabhupada the person. After all, I had never been able to exchange more than a few words with him while he was physically present.

So, when I started to read Srila Prabhupada's words in a form which I could relate to practically, I found myself moving closer to his life in a personal way. For the first time, I realized that Srila Prabhupada's vast intelligence was not like that of an ordinary genius. He certainly had a perfect answer for everything put before him, but, at the same time, he manifested a personality so magnanimous and forgiving that I had no choice but to utterly devote myself to him. Who else but a true saint could be so compassionate? His direct association through these letters rekindled in me the hope that I could also become pure one day. This was all very encouraging and allowed me to take up a desire far beyond revenge. I could see in Prabhupada's letters how a real saint deals with people on a personal day-today level. Anyone can write a book about God and attract a following, but to actually realize God and live like a true saint, twenty-four hours a day, in a predominantly irreligious society like ours-now I could understand just how very special Srila Prabhupada was.

It was then that I first took a serious look at the current guru-issue in ISKCON. I could plainly see that these new "gurus" didn't compare to Srila Prabhupada in any way whatsoever-that they were only externally posing as saints. Of course, I had personal experience that many of them were far from saintly. But I wasn't doing anything about it, since I wasn't fully appreciating the personal greatness of Srila Prabhupada. Thus, it became crystal clear to me that their imitating is actually creating a decoy which moves the devotees away from Prabhupada. Ironically, this was being done by the very persons who were assumed to be Prabhupada's most dear disciples. This made it an ultra-diversion. When other "gurus," making no claim to Prabhupada or Krsna, pose as bona fide gurus, sincere disciples have little problem recognizing that for what it is. By imitating Prabhupada, however, ISKCON's new "gurus," these-called official representatives of Prabhupada, are actually bringing Prabhupada down, in many eyes, to their own, often abominable, level of existence. Realizing this, I became determined to bring out the many quotes which revealed how a real pure devotee thinks and acts so that everyone would have the chance to see, as I now could, the difference between a saint like Srila Prabhupada and these impostors.

Reading the letters became like an intriguing mystery to me. I took careful notice of little comments Prabhupada would make about the leaders, specifically the Governing Body Commissioners (GBC). For instance, Prabhupada's whole strategy changed dramatically in July of 1970. He freely started giving sannyasa (celibate renounced order) to his male followers instead of encouraging them to marry. He stopped encouraging devotees to open temples and instead encouraged them to distribute books. And he began writing very heavy letters indicating that the character of many of his leading disciples was way below the mark. I have included these letters in Chapter Two. They clearly show why Prabhupada became disgusted with these "top men" of the Society and ultimately why he decided to leave the planet early.

Some persons may jump to the conclusion that I did this for gossip's sake or out of envy. This is not at all the fact. For one thing, I had to find out the real status of these men in order to go about rescuing my children. I didn't want to falsely accuse anyone. So it was essential that I knew the truth about these "gurus," who are claiming absolute sovereignty over everyone, even to the point of thinking that they can kidnap their Godbrothers' wives and children at whim. I had to know-Were these men actually dear to Srila Prabhupada and spiritually advanced? or were they merely being given a big position to keep them out of trouble, not necessarily having any claim-what to speak of monopoly-on spiritual advancement? Needless to say, I found out.

I soon found myself becoming enlivened again to preach. Many letters were to married men, like myself, encouraging them to be bold and open temples. In the later years when l joined the Society (1974), I had hardly even heard such things. That idea had more or less been replaced by emphasis on book distribution. Prabhupada actually discouraged opening many more temples at that time since he was seeing that the ones he had already opened were being mismanaged and members were leaving almost as fast as they were coming. So even though I became inspired to open a temple, the difficulty was, I wanted Prabhupada to be justly recognized all over the world, and not just where I and a handful of other ISKCON "outcasts" were preaching. So I decided, first, I must make these most vital and revealing letters available to everyone. Then they could also increase their desire to present Prabhupada's teachings, instead of the bogus philosophy of these new "gurus." By this time, I had realized that these men were actually the major source of Prabhupada's displeasure, despite what most of us had been led to believe. In one letter, Prabhupada actually said that they were not "the real workers."

1) It must be revealed to the world exactly who Srila Prabhupada is and how he has nothing whatsoever to do with the corruption going on amongst ISKCON's leaders today. That is what the media likes to print and so that is what people generally think is the real Hare Krsna movement. But Prabhupada's motive was pure. This is clearly evident when you see how he dealt with people in their strengths and weaknesses on a practical, day-today basis. In other words, unlike the new "gurus," he practiced what he preached. When this is seen, it will become next to impossible for persons who do not possess true spiritual realization and purity to "fool the innocent public." Of course, many persons will continue to lump Srila Prabhupada in with these bogus gurus, but at least the sincere seekers will be able to understand who is who.

2) There is a crying need to increase and even rekindle love for Prabhupada from his own disciples. To a large extent, they have left Prabhupada's mission out of frustration and discouragement. These unscrupulous new "gurus" try to convince us that the majority of Prabhupada's disciples have left the Society because they are all insincere, lusty, envious, etc. They openly claim that the only real disciples of Srila Prabhupada are the ones who accept the new "gurus" as bona fide saints. This is nonsense. Prabhupada makes it very clear in his letters why 99% of the devotees leave the Society: "Nasty, personally motivated" leaders. That's all. There is no other reason. With proper leadership anyone can be happy and find shelter in Srila Prabhupada's real movement. The real movement is meant for the whole world, not just a small handful of religious zealots. But first there has to be real leaders. Unfortunately, because most of us are unable to "turn the other cheek" indefinitely, we could not, and cannot, constantly tolerate the behavior of these men, which is becoming progressively more and more satanic. They were the foremost cause of disciples leaving ISKCON even while Prabhupada was physically present, what to speak of now. So, in reality, the loyalists who have stayed in ISKCON all these years, supporting these "gurus" in their game of Imitate a Saint, are the real offenders to the pure devotee-not so much those who simply go away in utter disgust. All of Srila Prabhupada's disciples and followers should again feel encouraged to take up the real mission of Srila Prabhupada. We must not let these bogus gurus discourage us any longer.

3) An effort should be made to clean up ISKCON and remove the influence of personally motivated leaders. In other words, we should fully awaken the devotees to the politics and duplicity going on behind the facade. In this connection, some devotees have been criticizing us for taking on the function of ISKCON's poison-finder." Some of these critics no doubt assume that we are just as ill-motivated as the persons we are exposing. So they are saying that we should only concentrate on the "positive" aspect of its function. They see that we should just be making available Srila Prabhupada's teachings by categories and helping other devotees find services, spouses, communities, etc. Since this is such a common complaint, we would like to explain why we are eager to seek out and expose the bad as well as the good.

Many people are familiar with boils. Boils are due to impurities in the blood stream, and if ISKCON is seen as the body of Srila Prabhupada, then right now Srila Prabhupada has a serious case of blood poisoning. It is rapidly coming to a head, which is the danger point. This can be ignored for some time, which is what most of the devotees are doing. Ultimately, however, this boil has to be confronted by anyone who claims to be serious about preaching Krsna consciousness. A boil simply cannot be ignored. So, even though the devotees of Srila Prabhupada may be very busy with their various engagements and responsibilities, both within and without "ISKCON," ultimately, they will have to stop everything to confront this boil. Of course, some devotees are looking at it, and some are even attempting to bring the poison to a head. But the real question remains, "How long can we be patient before the body dies?" Daily, lives are being destroyed. Admittedly, it is extremely painful to open a boil, still, it must be done or the pain simply becomes unbearable and ultimately the body dies of blood poisoning.

There are two methods to remove such blood poisoning. There is a slow, painful method, which is what most of the devotees have been indirectly backing now for the past seven years. They want to tolerate all this pain in hopes that it will go away on its own. They think that eventually the GBC will get its act together, and, somehow or other, clean the thing up. That idea has shown less and less promise as time has passed, since, the men who are supposed to clean the thing up, the GBC, are the main ingredients of the boil itself. They are the ones who need to be removed. So the majority of devotees now agree that these anomalies will not disappear by dint of the GBC; there will have to be a direct action taken.

That action begins with this book. This method of opening the boil and making the poison clearly visible is the closest thing to the surgeon's knife which will get the job done, and, hopefully not kin the entire body in the process. At least this book is exposing enough of the puss to clearly show the urgency. But this will not be the end. The job is far from complete. Now that the puss is exposed and oozing out, we must confront the equally difficult task of draining it, removing it, and then, cleansing and healing the wound. This part will take much more time and will require serious devotees to carry out. So, even though this direct method of cutting a boil open always leaves a mess, when an affliction reaches the danger point, it has always proven to be the only way. It may not seem very relishable to many devotees, still someone had to do it sooner or later. Otherwise, the deadly poison, called personal ambition, will have easily "burned ISKCON to ashes." Knowing this, we see this expose as the only way to save Srila Prabhupada's legacy, which, in the absolute sense, is his very life.

4) There is now a new imperative to inspire married couples to be bold and go out to open temples. This was Srila Prabhupada's desire from the beginning. If one has any aspirations at all in this direction, then the letters in this book will be very encouraging. Prabhupada wrote often on that subject, especially in the early years before the 1970 conspiracy. We have included many of those letters herein. When thousands of devotees are united, yet independently preaching the same message all over the world, it will be plainly evident who is actually becoming advanced through their sincere preaching effort, not by some concocted "appointment." The ISKCON movement was never intended to be a movement of neophyte men posing as renunciates, as is the case today. Real society is dependent on responsible householders. ISKCON's divorce rate must come down from its estimated 75%-90% to a much more civilized figure before any attempt to organize a real Vedic society can take place. Therefore, in this book, we have given equal importance to the issue of marriage and women's exploitation in an attempt to clean up ISKCON's high divorce rate, which is also caused, primarily, by the unauthorized interference of the new "gurus."

With these four objectives in mind, we have extracted hundreds of quotes from the letters which are all meant to help us understand what has happened in ISKCON and what we now must do to correct and carry on the mission of our spiritual master. Reading these letters is a direct connection to the mind of Srila Prabhupada. Reading the mind of an ordinary man is generally not very inspiring, there being so many contaminated thoughts lurking up there. But the mind of Srila Prabhupada, because he is pure, can only help us to become pure ourselves. No doubt that is one of the reasons why Prabhupada wrote so many letters (7,000 recovered thus far) instead of using the telephone. There was no shortage of money, especially in the later years. His "big, big" disciples were using the phone almost exclusively (much to Prabhupada's displeasure), whereas Prabhupada would almost always write. He left us his own autobiography, as it is.

Actually, myself, and all the devotees assisting in this great work, are only adding our fuel, which has become an inexhaustible supply, to that same fire which was started the day eleven sinful men falsely declared themselves to be as good as God. The time has now come for a complete fructification of this most important service to the Absolute Cause of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu's mission. Jaya Srila Prabhupada. Hare Krsna. (Comments, inquiries, and donations may be sent to Steve Bryant (Sulocana dasa), 2124 Kittredge #32, Berkeley, CA, 90704.) Thank you.

"Now I want that we shall concentrate on making our devotees Krsna conscious and ourselves becoming Krsna conscious, and not be so much concerned with expanding ourselves widely but without any spiritual content. just like boiling the milk, it becomes thicker and sweeter. Now do like that, boil the milk." (Rupanuga, 5/9/72)

"You mention you like to speak now very often, but the first business should be to preach to the devotees. It is better to maintain a devotee than to try to convince others to become devotees. Don't be too much concerned for the time being with non-devotees, now we must fix up what devotees we have got in the knowledge of Krsna consciousness, then we will succeed. What good are many, many devotees if none of them are knowledgeable?" (Satsvarupa, 6/16/72)

"I have divided these departments to solve problems, but if in the end they are all sent to me and I have to tackle, then just imagine what is my position. The best thing would be to stop all activities and simply chant Hare Krishna." (Brahmananda, 5/15/69)

Note: Here Srila Prabhupada is saying to stop everything and simply chant to become purified. The problems Srila Prabhupada was referring to here are not as significant as the problems which ISKCON is facing today. The leaders, however, still refuse to follow this instruction.

"I am glad to hear that you are now concentrating on improving the regulative life of the temple rather than so much advertising with brochures. This is very nice; this is what I want. A good example is better than precept. The pamphlet is precept, but if we don't follow the precepts ourselves then such advertisement is not good." (Mukunda, 2/7/74)

Note: You may ask: "How can distributing transcendental literature not be good?" Obviously, if someone reads a book, and, coming to the temple, sees hypocrites, who do not understand or follow the philosophy they are distributing, then the book distribution becomes counterproductive. If the newcomer is really intelligent, he may read the book and be able follow the instructions on his own. Generally, however, people will simply be repulsed by the hypocrisy. They will then often neglect the book or sometimes even throw it away. Why should Krsna send any sincere souls to ISKCON when ISKCON is not ready for them? So, as Prabhupada says above, if we cannot properly represent the truth, then better to stop all preaching and first become the proper example.

"We are not concerned with any other movement save and except Krsna consciousness in its pure form. In India it is said that a little bit of a pure thing is much better than huge volumes of impure, adulterated things. So please try to follow this policy..." (Brahmananda, 8/27/69)

Note: This is called simple living and high thinking. In many temples we see so much money coming in and so much opulence-especially the "gurus" quarters-but no real education system. Even the "gurus" themselves are unable to defend their claim of being bona fide gurus. They have yet to honestly defend their claim in any formal document compiled from Srila Prabhupada's teachings.

"It doesn't matter if things are going a little slow, but make everything slow but sure. That is a good principle. To do things hastily and incorrectly is not good. There is a proverb in Bengali; 'sabure mawaphale.' This means that all valuable nuts like almonds, macadamias, walnuts, coconuts, etc. all take a long time to fructify. Anything valuable takes a little time to come into existence. Therefore there is no harm in waiting for the best thing. But everything is well that ends well. That should be the principle." (Shyamasundar, 7/15/69)

Note: This statement "there is no harm in waiting for the best thing," is very important to new devotees. There is no rush to take initiation. Best is to study Srila Prabhupada's books and chant sincerely for some years and, only then, in knowledge, accept a bona fide guru. One must have faith in Krsna to send the guru. If we can become sincere, Krsna will send us a bona fide guru. This is the real process of getting a guru. First we must become sincere. Then we should know how to recognize a pure devotee. Otherwise, so many men will lure us to serve them and then cheat us as stated below.

"We will establish hundreds of temples, and they will all be very opulent. But if we do not follow the instruction of the Spiritual Master, they will just be showbottle. Do you know what showbottle means? It means colored water in a bottle which looks just like medicine, but which does not work." (Room conversation, NY, July, 1970)

"Now people are seeing how genuine our movement is, they are coming forward to offer us so many places. We simply have to maintain our strict principles, keeping ourselves pure. Otherwise, there are so many bogus institutions doing business in the name of God and simply cheating the people. We have to be careful not to degenerate like these others. Our strength depends upon regular chanting the required 16 rounds and rigidly adhering to the regulative principles. (Jashomatinandan, 1/9/76)

Note: Srila Prabhupada also defines bogus institutions as "Making a show of the Deity to cheat an innocent public." So, if the Deity doesn't make an institution transcendental, then what does? The purity of the followers and specifically the leader is the answer. ISKCON is bona fide because of Srila Prabhupada, not because of the "GBC." There are so many stories about all the "gurus" which point to the fact that the purity isn't there. Many such stories will be exposed in this book. Then, if necessary, we will continue to make the truth known until all of these new "vyasasanas" are removed from Srila Prabhupada's temples.

"However, don't create any awkward situation that may be criticized. Caesar's wife must be above criticism. Up to now as I have got respectable situation, I wish that all my disciples will have similar respectable position in society. That will keep my name good. Like father like son." (Caityaguru, 7/11/76)

Note: Prabhupada is concerned to keep his name good because he wants his books to be read for all time. However, there are a group of men today who have none of Prabhupada's divine qualifications but who are posing as saints all the same. This is the problem. By impersonating Prabhupada and doing all nonsense, these men are spoiling Prabhupada's good name. The innocent class of non-devotees will naturally think, "like father, like son." In this letter Srila Prabhupada clearly indicates the possibility that his initiates may misuse their opportunity and drag his name into their mud.

"Recently I have received from one Sannyasi complaint about another Sannyasi who is not chanting regularly. So our view is that we shall be strictly following the rules and regulations. Monetary matters are secondary. On principle, we should better starve than neglect our rules and regulations. We are trying to present an ideal society to the world, so although we are very rigidly following these principles, still, we are very liberal to everyone. For this reason we are being appreciated everywhere. So anyway, I am not at all dissatisfied with you, but it is my duty to point out the mistakes. You are in charge of the Germany organization. Please do it nicely there, not very much on the material side, more on the spiritual side. Example is better than precept. Everyone of you must be the perfect examples, then everyone will follow." (Hamsadutta, 4/11/71)

"Simply become more concerned with increasing the spiritual content of our lives, and in this way all other problems like management will be easily solved, not that they can be solved by making some legal formula and having big, big meeting and talks. The politicians have been holding such meetings and talks for some time now and the world is no better place for it, and they have only made things worse. We should not follow their example. The world is in a very precarious condition simply for lack of God consciousness, so this should be our point of stressing, that we should revive this emphasis on God consciousness everywhere in the world and that will be our contribution." (Jagadish, 5/2/72)

Note: If ISKCON cannot even clean its own house, then what is the possibility of its cleaning the world house thereby preventing these nuclear bombs from dropping? Still, every year, ISKCON has more and more big, big meetings with absolutely nothing sound accomplished. This year, 1985, some devotees were appointed to investigate the guru-issue and make a paper on it to be completed by next Mayapur. That was their initiative for this year. Last year, ISKCON spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a science magazine. ISKCON can't even set an example for sudras as to how to live in peace and harmony with Krsna in the center, but they can spend huge sums trying to preach to the intellectuals. This is the height of folly.

In other words, there isn't even the slightest trace of ordinary good manners evident in the behavior of most ISKCON "gurus," but they went to preach to the scientists. That magazine was a waste of time and money. As Prabhupada says below, some people may be attracted by shows such as this magazine, but that will not be a true attraction to spiritual life.

"So far the Road Show and the Yoga Village are concerned, these things should be stopped. Simply perform our kirtan. If we divert our attention in this way, the whole thing will gradually deteriorate. He is going far away. All these things are nonsense inventions. Such inventing spirit will ruin our this movement. People may come to see, some will become devotees, but such devotees will not stay because they are attracted by some show and not by the real thing or spiritual life according to the standard of Lord Caitanya. Our standard is to have Kirtan, start temples. What is this 'Road Show' and 'Yoga Village?' It will be another hippie edition. Gradually the Krsna consciousness idea will evaporate: another change, another change, every day another change. Stop all this. Simply have kirtan, nothing else. Don't manufacture ideas." (Sudama, 11/5/72)

"I know you are a musician, and naturally you have got a tendency for musical entertainment, but at the present moment our main business is to push the Sankirtan movement. So, as you are doing, take the Sankirtan Party to various places, and this will be the most appreciated. If you adulterate our Sankirtan movement with some business motive, then it will be spoiled immediately. Be careful in that way." (Mukunda, 7/1/69)

"I am pleased to note that there is interest in having our Sankirtan. Party perform in various public engagements. The same thing is going on here, and they have been invited to such places as Amsterdam and Germany. So if you can also do this, it is nice. But do not change our principles. Practicing is already done by kirtan. It is not required for us to become artists. Our main point is service to Krishna, not to please an audience. We shall not divert our attention too much to adjustment of musical sounds. People should not misunderstand that we are a band of musical artists. They must know that we are devotees of Krishna. Our devotional practice and purity should be so strong that wherever we chant there shall be immediately an impression in the audience for devotion to Krishna." (Tamala, 10/30/69)

"With regard to your question about Bengali style kirtan and mrdanga playing, one or two styles is best. To introduce more styles is not good. It will become an encumbrance. Who is that Krsna dasa Babaji who is teaching? If we introduce so much emphasis on style of kirtan, then simply imitation will go on. Devotional emotion is the main thing. If we give stress to instrument & style then attention will be diverted to the style. That will be spiritual loss. I hope this meets you in good health." (Satsvarupa, 6/30/76)

Note: It was because Prabhupada was tired of repeating himself so often on this point that he told the devotees to make some program to circulate his letters. Still, it appears that Ramesvara never understood this instruction above. Has he read these letters? In LA, they try to impress the Sunday guests with amplified stage performances. Many temples now support rock style bands. The LA Rathayatra in 1985 had two staged rock kirtan performances going on simultaneously with a handful of crazy hippies doing aerobics in the front. It was very embarrassing to see the Holy Name prostituted in this way. Because of the offensive atmosphere in ISKCON now, very few devotees are inspired to chant and dance. So, naturally, emphasis is increasing on the performance-type kirtan, the showbottle, which Prabhupada absolutely condemns.

"I am so glad to hear that our Philadelphia temple is running so smoothly, filled with love and truthfulness. Such an atmosphere is so congenial for advancement in Krsna consciousness and if the Prabhus there continue their devotional activities in such a spirit, so many people will be attracted." (Vrindaban-Candra, 1/8/71)

Note: This is what attracts people to Krsna consciousness and not the grand show of opulence. This paper will go into detail to show how love and truthfulness has all but disappeared from ISKCON due to the different warring factions.

"I have seen your advertisements as shown to me by Shyamasundar, and I think you have made the thing less important. This kind of ad is not good, it is not grave. Our process is to show Krsna consciousness as it is, not as others want to see it. By showing Krsna consciousness in this way, you are making the thing less important. It is not that we should change to accommodate the public, but that we should change the public to accommodate us.... These books are the best advertising, they are better than advertising. If we simply present Krsna consciousness in a serious and attractive way, without need to resort to fashionable slogans or tricks, that is sufficient. Our unique asset is our purity. No one anywhere can match it. That will be noticed eventually and appreciated, as long as we do not diminish or neglect the highest standard of purity in performing our routine work, not that we require to display or announce ourselves in very clever ways to get attention. No, our pure standard is enough. Let us stand on that basis." (Yogesvara, 12/28/71)

Note: Here is Prabhupada's plea. Purity is the force and the only worthwhile point of stressing, nothing else. Prabhupada often said that he was only building these large temples to engage us. They are not necessary for preaching. A simple and pure Sankirtan party will make more devotees than a mammoth temple structure; perfect proof of this fact is New Vrndavana. They have so much opulence and space there, but the overwhelming majority of the devotees who go there leave almost immediately with a bitter taste in their mouths. Since Prabhupada left the planet, not one Prabhupada disciple has gone there and stayed permanently. Most stay only a few months, proof of which is available by studying the vyasa-puja books. The purity is missing there (the full story is given in Chapter Ten). However, the small and simple temples of the early days made hundreds of devotees through chanting and philosophy with no material opulences. Simply there was a picture of the Pancha Tattva and kirtan. Those who were around in those days can well remember where the emphasis was placed and how enlivened all the devotees were. At New Vrndavana they practically have to hire devotees to perform kirtan for the tourists.

In this way ISKCON is not being very much appreciated these days by sane people. This is because Srila Prabhupada warned, in the above quote, that we have a tendency to diminish or neglect the highest standard of purity in performing our service. The chance to misuse free-will is there. Srila Prabhupada never said it would be automatic. The current ISKCON management, for whom setting the perfect example is of prime importance, is grossly misusing their power and opportunity to serve Srila Prabhupada. Therefore it is high time they were purified or replaced so that other devotees can be given a chance to utilize that opportunity to advance in spiritual life.

"One thing, if we are not very careful to always stick to the point of regulative principles and purest standards of high living, then everything will spoil very quickly and the whole show will be a farce. So impress this point in your preaching for training the younger devotees, they will follow your example in all respects." (Rebatinandan, 2/2/72)

Note: Prabhupada warned again and again that if the pure standards are not maintained, then everything would spoil. But, if we suggest that ISKCON has now spoiled, we are considered pessimists, blasphemers, enemies, etc. Prabhupada certainly didn't think it couldn't happen, so why should we?

"But we should never steal anything like money, food, water, gasoline, just to enhance our service to Krsna. That is too much dangerous, and if we are caught then all of our work is finished. just like in India recently, this Balyogi Guru Maharaja was detected by the customs authorities attempting to smuggle some small items into India. By this one tiny incident his entire effort for preaching, even he is rascal number one and his preaching is nonsense, even so the example is there, his work is now ruined and he is practically finished as the government will not grant him passport to leave India. So we shall always be careful to avoid any kinds of jeopardizing our high standing in the society by some foolish and small act of illegal stealing." (Sankarshana, 12/31/72)

Note: Many devotees don't seem to realize that Prabhupada did not approve of illegal collecting techniques. One reason for his disapproval is mentioned above. The other, and equally important reason, is that devotees are supposed to be developing good character. "Our devotees must be adored as honest." Virtually the only statement Prabhupada made, which could be misinterpreted as an authorization to "he," is quoted below. But he fully clarifies that a neophyte should not even consider lying to get money. Kirtanananda often quotes this letter below to justify his illegal dealings. This is a common ISKCON mentality. In many places, Prabhupada emphasizes honesty, truthfulness, humility, etc. In some rare instances (and often he clarifies the proper understanding) he says, "We may do anything for Krsna." All of a sudden anything goes. Murder for Krsna, counterfeiting for Krsna, dealing look-alike drugs that kill people for Krsna, prostituting innocent women devotees for Krsna, having homosex and sending young boys to the hospital with ruptured anuses for Krsna. These "gurus" justify so many activities, in the name of Krsna.

"So far this making some false story for collecting money or selling books, of course we may do anything for Krsna, but that is supposed to be reserved for the very advanced experts in Krsna consciousness, they know how to catch the big fish without themselves getting wet. So it is not very much advisable to make lies just to sell a book. If we simply stick to describing how wonderful is Krsna, then whatever we may lie or exaggerate, that will not be lie. But other things, lies, they will not help us to train ourselves in truthfulness. Lie to some, not to others, that is not a good philosophy. Rather the brahmins are always truthful, even to their enemies. There is sufficient merit in our books that if you simply describe them sincerely to anyone, they will buy. That art you must develop, not art of lying. Convince them to give by your preaching the Absolute Truth, not by tricking, that is more mature stage of development of Krsna consciousness." (Sri Govinda, 12/25/72)

Srila Prabhupada then delivered a final decision; issue a letter to all GBC to stop this disguising immediately. His Divine Grace said, "We shall not in any way sacrifice our standard. We must maintain our principles strictly. This dressing with long hair and karmi clothes is the tendency to once again become hippies. Because before you were hippies, that tendency is still there. So this should be stopped immediately."

He made the point still more emphatic by pointing to some poor people who were passing stool on the roadside quite openly in public and said, "They are not changing their standard, despite public opinion. We cannot maintain our standards as strictly as they are maintaining theirs?" (GBCs, 9/20/73)

Conclusion: In this way, the entire movement should immediately rectify themselves or stop "preaching." Hypocrites do more damage than good. The Society should come together, hold kirtana, chant 16 rounds together, study the books, have debates, make apologies, reinstate devotees, etc. and only then, when everyone is satisfied, should the precept be preached. "Example is better than precept." There is no point in doing any more preaching if our own house is unclean. It is doing more damage than good. Already it has become embarrassing to claim any affiliation with "ISKCON." Those who are not interested in cleaning our house, but are satisfied with their own little cults and worship, should be considered the real enemies of Srila Prabhupada's divine movement.

"This Bon Maharaja, perhaps you do not know, has been rejected by Guru Maharaja. So I cannot recommend him as siksa-guru. I think that he has no actual spiritual asset. For spiritual advancement of life, we must go to one who is actually practicing spiritual life; not to some head of a mundane institution, not to one who has offended his spiritual master in so many ways. I do not wish to go into all details here, but I must inform you that this Bon Maharaja may be considered as a black snake, and at the time of His Disappearance, my Guru Maharaja did not even wish to have him in His presence due to the character of this Bon Maharaja..." (Hrisikesha, 1/9/69)

Note: Here Prabhupada is condemning Bon Maharaja for having offended his own Guru Maharaja some 40 years previously. A serious offense to one's own guru has no time factor. This is a very important point. ISKCON's new "gurus" actually think that their rubber-stamp from Sridhar Maharaja (who they also rejected later) makes them bona fide and therefore beyond criticism. But here we see that a serious offense to one's spiritual master can lead such an unfortunate person to become utterly rejected by the spiritual master. Bon Maharaja wrote in a preface to his own translation and commentary on Bhakti Rasamrta Sindhu that he was very, very dear to Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Goswami. The actual truth is stated above by Srila Prabhupada. After reading this book, any sincere disciple of Srila Prabhupada should clearly recognize that the leading secretaries of ISKCON have perpetrated an offense of great magnitude against Srila Prabhupada and his self evident instructions. We should keep in mind this quote concerning Bon Maharaja. He continued to preach, he continued to make disciples, he continued to associate with other Gaudiya Vaishnavas, he continued to translate sastra, and he continued to think that he was very, very dear and special to his guru. But even as late as 1969 Srila Prabhupada is saying that Bon Maharaja must be considered a black snake for having made very serious offense to his guru.

"We have sacrificed our life for Krsna's service, where is there scope for sleeping and gossiping? You can see in my example, not a single moment is wasted. This idleness is the business of the karmis. They can be seen sitting in the park gossiping, "My son-in-law said this," "This man has cheated me" but it has no place in devotional service, so your suggestion is well made."

"The installing of telex communications for our main temples is not required. Then they will gossip more through the telex." (Gurudasa, 2/5/77)

Note: When Prabhupada says "they" he is referring to the "leaders," most of whom are still considered the "leaders" or even "gurus".

"Before coming to your country I took sannyasa in l959, I was publishing Back to Godhead since l944. After taking sannyasa I was more engaged in writing my books without any attempt to construct temples or to make disciples like my other God-brothers in India.

"I was not very much interested in these matters because my Guru Maharaja liked very much publication of books than constructing big, big temples and creating some neophyte disciples. As soon as he saw that His neophyte disciples were increasing in number, He immediately decided to leave this world. To accept disciples means to take up the responsibility of absorbing the sinful reaction of life of the disciple.

"At the present moment in our ISKCON campus, politics and diplomacy has entered. Some of my beloved students on whom I counted very, very much have been involved in this activity which I consider as disrespectful. So I have decided to retire and divert attention to book writing and nothing more.

"Please therefore let me know how far you can all help me in this connection and what are the manuscripts ready for printing. I think I shall now stop all other activities except publishing of my books." (Satsvarupa, 7/27/70)

Note: This is one of the heaviest letters Prabhupada ever wrote. We would like to briefly discuss four points made here.

1) It is clear from scrutinizing Prabhupada's letters that, from this point onwards, Prabhupada's primary concern was writing his books. He indicates, more or less, that the neophyte disciples were increasing. Thus his enthusiasm to take part in the practical aspects of ISKCON slackened. The leaders were manifesting neophyte ambition. There is a spirit of futility in this letter. He could see that they were going to do it their way. So he was requesting that, at least, he should be given full facility for his translation work;

2) In this letter, Srila Prabhupada directly states that the message he is conveying is far more important than making so many temples and so many disciples who are not able to come up to the mark. In other words, the purity of the Krsna conscious doctrine was more important to Srila Prabhupada than all the outward results. This is not at all what has been emphasized in ISKCON over the past years.

3) Srila Prabhupada uses the terms "politics and diplomacy." This is in direct reference to the leading secretaries of the movement. It will not be the only letter which explicitly reveals the existence of this dreadful disease. We shall soon see that Srila Prabhupada even disbanded the GBC for some time due to this contamination. But, what is not so well known, is the fact that Srila Prabhupada once, in utter disgust concerning the politics and personal ambition, directly told his GBC members that they could take the whole movement, and he would simply go his own way. They begged him not to do this, yet were still not sincere enough to stop the personal ambition, diplomacy, and politics.

4) Srila Prabhupada was counting upon his leading secretaries to properly manage his society. But they betrayed him. Therefore, this letter indicates that Srila Prabhupada had lost almost all hope that the "leaders" would ever become sincere enough to renounce the original sin, the tendency to betray the trust extended by the Supreme Lord through his dearmost servitor. Despite many heavy letters such as this one, Prabhupada was never actually relieved from management responsibilities. He had to tolerate innumerable offenses by his "leaders" just to keep the thing going long enough to finish his books. But now, some of these same leaders claimtobesoadvancedthattheydon'tneedtoreadPrabhupada'sbooksanymore. At one point Tamala Krsna demanded that Prabhupada's purports not be read during his classes-that his commentary alone was sufficient.

"Regarding the poisonous effect in our Society, it is a fact and I know where from this poison tree has sprung up and how it affected practically the whole Society in a very dangerous form. But it does not matter. Prahlad Maharaja was administered poison, but it did not act. Similarly Lord Krsna and the Pandavas were administered poison and it did not act. I think, in the same parampara system, that the poison administered to our Society will not act if some of our students are as good as Prahlad Maharaja. I have therefore given the administrative power to the GBC.

"You are also one of the members of the GBC, so you can think over very deeply how to save the situation. It is a fact however that the great sinister movement is within our Society. I have not heard anything from Krsnadasa or Shyamasundar, so all of you may try to save the Society from this dangerous position." (Hamsadutta, 9/2/70)

Note: Prabhupada is easily as good as Prahlada Maharaja, but, since he had given the movement to the GBC, he is saying here that they will have to become as good as Prahlada if they want to save the movement from certain destruction. He was prepared to wash his hands of the whole thing. This exact same sinister movement is still there, but it is no longer within the Society, it has become the Society and everyone else has fled for their lives. Naturally, everyone will point a finger at everyone else as to who these demons referred to here are, but with a little common sense endeavor, anyone can easily see who the agents of this "great sinister movement" really are.

"Of course, by Krishna's grace, the higher learned section is appreciating our books. That is the only hope for pushing on. But, I am very much depressed by the recent incidences in Germany. It is now evident that some of our top men are very much ambitious and there have been so many fall downs." (Bhagavan, 1/27/75)

Note: Notice in this letter that it is the top men that are the very ambitious ones. And also notice that the only hope rests on the higher teamed section, and not the so-caned top men.

"You have written: 'The BBT is capable of keeping up with Prabhupada's pace at this time and we humbly request all devotees to respect Prabhupada's desire to fulfill his dream of publishing and distributing thousands and millions of volumes of Srimad Bhagavatam in Twelve Cantos all over the world by not disturbing him at this time with problems and decisions that can be made by his direct representatives, the GBC secretaries.' Yes, this is wanted. I want to increase my work. Brahmananda Swami and Gopal Krishna were suggesting that I go to some other place in India, but if Tamala Krishna flies 10,000 miles to lodge some complaint against Jayatirtha what can I do? If you all leaders cannot work together, then how can you expect the others to cooperate with you? Differences may be there, but still you have to cooperate together, otherwise where is the question of my being relieved of so many problems and decisions?" (Ramesvara, 9/15/75)

Note: Here Ramesvara is referring to himself as a "direct representative" of Prabhupada whereas Prabhupada is indicating that such a "direct representative" is part and parcel of a group of so many other "direct representatives" who simply engage themselves in bickering and fighting. The side effect of this of course being that Srila Prabhupada was seldom left alone to concentrate on translating. In Mad 7, p.340 and Mad 1, p.131, Prabhupada warns his disciples not to be depressed by these "direct representatives," but to take directly to his books. In another place, Prabhupada says, "one must read all my books, including the Caitanya-caritamrta, or else one wig simply eat and sleep and eventually fall down." Only then will a devotee not be bewildered when he sees so much hypocrisy going on in ISKCON. We have personal experience of this fact. We were badly treated on numerous occasions by some "leaders," but we never held it against Prabhupada because we had read the entire Caitanya-caritamrta thoroughly. We therefore always understood that the "leaders" were simply being engaged according to their material propensities in a way that would satisfy their egos and keep them out of trouble. As Prabhupada once stated, "I have created these big positions for big egos."

"Now this displeasing of Godbrothers has already begun and gives me too much agitation in my mind. Our Gaudiya Math people fought with one another after the demise of Guru Maharaja but my disciples have already begun fighting even in my presence. So I am greatly concerned about it. 'Trnad api sunicena...'

"Please try to maintain the philosophy of unity in diversity. That will make our movement successful. One section of men have already gone out, therefore we must be very careful to maintain unity in diversity, and remember the story in Aesop's Fables of the father of many children with the bundle of sticks. When the father asked his children to break the bundle of sticks wrapped in a bag, none of them could do it. But, when they removed the sticks from the bag, and tried one by one, the sticks were easily broken. So this is the strength of unity. If we are bunched up, we can never be broken, but when divided, then we can become broken very easily." (Kirtanananda, 10/18/73)

Note: An important point in this letter is that spreading this movement all over the world requires "unity in diversity." Many disciples are under the impression that they can go out alone and start a whole new and pure movement just as Prabhupada did. As of yet, however, absolutely nothing substantial has been accomplished by any group, including "ISKCON." This is because we don't have the potency of Srila Prabhupada, and we need to accomplish this objective working cooperatively with Prabhupada's books to guide us. This does not mean we have to bunch up together in limited numbers of temples. It means we have to keep the nucleus of the Society pure and the many branches must support each other with various preaching tools such as books, typesetters, printers, videos, slide shows, puppet shows, drama groups, etc. Every disciple or group of disciples can have his own specialty, but there should be a pure and centralized nucleus to help make all the various preaching facilities and knowledges available to all, free from exploitation. At present, the GBC, which is supposed to represent the head or brains of the body, are the worst exploiters of all. Therefore the whole body is in chaos.

Since this letter was written to Kirtanananda Swami we will use New Vrindavana as a practical example to illustrate this uncooperative spirit. They have thousands of molds for making beautiful temple structures, but no one else can use them. Instead they sit rotting. One of the reasons for this is the belligerency of the leaders at New Vrindaban. If, somehow or other, other temples do manage to buy something from New Vrindaban, they get ripped off. We have personal experience of this fact since we worked in that mold shop for almost a year. An item that could be cast for a total cost of $150, New Vrindaban would sell it to another temple for $1000. Book publishing is another example of this lack of cooperation. The leaders vie with each other, so each zone has to set up his own book publishing house. This means each zone has to spend huge amounts of money on the exact same equipment because they cannot accept the principle of unity in diversity.

"In case you do not like this arrangement then you may keep the temple as your private property and as my disciple I will give you guidance, but you may not use the ISKCON name to collect funds or to take loans. In this connection, until this matter is resolved, no loan may be taken from the bank or elsewhere and all collections in the name of ISKCON must stop. If you desire to keep the temple as private property then Upendra dasa may return to Hawaii and ISKCON Fiji may be dissolved. If you want to consider this project as an ISKCON project then you must abide by the orders and direction of the GBC, which you do not like to do. Now whatever you like let me know." (Vasudeva, 7/29/76)

Note: Srila Prabhupada was never in illusion about the character of his GBC men. For many years they had been causing more trouble than relief for him. The reasons why Srila Prabhupada didn't disband them permanently is not so difficult to understand. For one thing he couldn't possibly deal with each temple individually. He was only one man. So he had to create some kind of governing body. The fact that most of them were neophytes and personally motivated ones at that, didn't stop him from encouraging them to advance. At the same time, he didn't expect his other disciples to have to suffer under such neophytes and so he wrote many letters like the one above. The activities of a pure devotee are impossible to fully understand but to a degree we can see these thing. Therefore he is saying that Vasudeva has his blessings to keep the temple privately and he will still be a bona fide disciple. In this way he is not demeaning the GBC, who he wanted to encourage, and at the same time he is telling Vasudeva that he does not have to abide by the GBC to be a bona fide disciple. This is a very important letter for all disciples who have been brainwashed into thinking Prabhupada is accessible only to devotees who surrender to the GBC.

Also important in this letter is the fact that ISKCON projects are not the property of individuals unless they develop the project independently the way Prabhupada is recommending Vasudeva do here. That means they don't use Prabhupada's name to collect funds, and they don't use Prabhupada's disciples either. If someone develops a community in this way then they can consider it their own independent temple and not have to abide by the order of the GBC. Certain persons, like Kirtanananda for example, think they don't have to abide by the order of the GBC, but this letter does not substantiate his claim. Kirtanananda was simply another worker who helped build New Vrindavana. Prabhupada's disciples and Prabhupada's name were both used to build the place so New Vrindaban is fully under the direction of the GBC. In this same way no one can think that any ISKCON project belongs to a personality. If a temple becomes someone's personal project, it does not represent ISKCON. Srila Prabhupada is the founder acarya of ISKCON only his personality should be worshipped in any ISKCON temple. If someone wants to be worshipped in a temple, he will have to build his own temple as Vasudeva is being encouraged to do in this letter.

There are a class of fools in almost all these ISKCON projects today who think that the projects belong to such and such "gurus." But for those fools who think that the inspiration behind any ISKCON project is from one of these personalities, other than Srila Prabhupada, then it is high time they wake up. It is only Prabhupada's purity that inspired anyone to do anything, even though some people have tried their best to capitalize on Prabhupada's legacy and properties. All of ISKCON's leaders were simply instruments to accomplish the will of Krsna through Srila Prabhupada. If one or several tools become rotten in the process, then they simply must be either cleaned up or discarded.

"...and my reply is that this sankirtana or street chanting must go on, it is our most important program. Lord Caitanya's movement means the sankirtana movement.

"Now you are my elder disciples and both of you are sannyasis and also advanced in Krsna consciousness, so these questions should not arise amongst you again and again. That means everyone is not conscientious. These things are not new to you-why do you continually ask these question? The GBC authority must be accepted under all circumstances, not that there will be fighting amongst you. This fighting spirit will destroy everything, but what can I do, you American and European boys are trained up in this fighting attitude. Now put it aside and simply work cooperatively for spreading this movement all over the world. The standards I have already given you, now try to maintain them at all times under standard procedure. Do not try to innovate or create anything or manufacture anything, that will ruin everything. Simply do as I am doing and be always serious and sincere to serve Krsna, and He will give you intelligence how to do everything." (Bali Mardan & Pusta Krsna, 9/18/72)

Note: Notice in this letter that Srila Prabhupada definitely states that ISKCON, and everything connected with ISKCON, can be ruined.

In Prabhupada's use of the English language, this is a very heavy letter, but for us, it apparently was not heavy enough since nobody seems to have followed it very nicely. The mood of this letter applies to practically all the leaders. They often quote the part about accepting the authority of the GBC, but they never quote the part about strictly maintaining the high standard Prabhupada set.

Prabhupada is also saying here not to concoct anything. In other words we are not qualified to adjust the devotional items for time and circumstance, at least not until we can stop fighting with each other. ISKCON's new "gurus" are not changing the method of guru worship. That standard they like very much and are maintaining to the letter. The problem is however, they have none of Prabhupada's qualifications. In other words, they take the part they like, the profit, adoration, and distinction, and reject the part they don't like, the lifetime of austerity and purification. In this connection Prabhupada gives this analogy:

"A farmer may consider: 'The front part of the hen is very expensive because I have to feed it. Better to cut it off.' But if the head is missing, there will be no eggs anymore, because the body is dead. Similarly, if we reject the difficult part of the scriptures and obey the part we like, such an interpretation will not help us. We have to accept all the injunctions in scriptures as they are given, not only those that suit us." (SSR, p.129)

"Now I have come back, so let me stay in India. I will remain in Bombay, Vrindavana, and Mayapur. As you have desired, now let me do that, to sit down tightly and concentrate on the translating business. But, if you disturb me, then my mind will be disturbed. I want that what I have established may go on nicely, but I see that some of the devotees are reviving their old 'good' qualities. That is the difficulty. If the old habits come back, then everything is finished. If my mind becomes disturbed in this way, then how can I concentrate on book writing. It is not possible. Better not to inform me anything, and let me sit in Vrindavana." (Hrdayananda, 11/13/75)

Note: Prabhupada here is practically begging Hrdayananda to just leave him alone to write his books, but Hrdayananda and the GBC refused. They continued to enact their petty enviousness right up until Srila Prabhupada departed this world. And, needless to say, the old "good qualities" came back.

Prabhupada's last wish was to see "ALL" of his disciples. This would have given everyone a last chance to offer their heartfelt thanks to Prabhupada for the blessings he had bestowed upon us. Tamala informed Giriraja, and that message was conveyed to Satsvarupa and Ramesvara in LA. But these two men decided they knew better than Srila Prabhupada. So they torpedoed that instruction on the plea that it would be too expensive just before the big Thanksgiving and Christmas pick. So even though Srila Prabhupada desired to see his real disciples, they never knew to come, thanks to these "direct representatives." We have testimony by several devotees that they had the money and were ready to go, but the "authorities" convinced them that it was illusion. They were told that they would please Prabhupada more by giving the money to the temple. Their reasoning however was invalid since Tamala used the same arguments directly to Srila Prabhupada at the time of the instruction. He argued that the expense would be too great. But Prabhupada didn't care for those reasons and Tamala was forced to send the message overseas. Satsvarupa and Ramesvara are the ones who must take the full brunt of the responsibility for this offense, which has hurt deeply so many of Srila Prabhupada's disciples.

"Regarding the controversy that is going on there in Stockholm, what is the reason? This must be considered at a full meeting of the GBC. You may suggest a way to mitigate this difficulty and if it is not accepted, then both of them should resign. I know that Hamsadutta is very expert in selling books but books are not only for selling but also for reading. Now has the GBC become more than Guru Maharaja? As if simply GBC is meant for looking after pounds, shilling, pence. The GBC does not look after spiritual life. That is the defect. All of our students will have to become guru but they are not qualified. This is the difficulty." (Alanath, 11/10/75)

Note: Here Prabhupada clearly indicates the tendency of the GBC to try to become more than him. In the "Lilamrta," Prabhupada is said to have said that, "Even I must follow the GBC." Even if Prabhupada did say this, we should not accept it literally. They have clearly shown the tendency to think themselves more than Srila Prabhupada and also, as stated in this letter, to become absorbed in "pounds, shillings, and pence." Please just try and see what Srila Prabhupada is clearly saying! "The GBC does not look after spiritual life. That is the defect." This is staring us directly in the face. If this commission was so divine, as they now claim, why did Srila Prabhupada speak like this about it? Only two and one-half years after this letter was written they claim to have become so advanced as to accept the same kind of worship as Srila Prabhupada, in the same temples of Srila Prabhupada, by the same disciples of Srila Prabhupada. They went to Sridhar Maharaja, told him the big he, and eked out his rubber-stamp for appointing acaryas. Srila Prabhupada describes what they did as follows: "They declared: 'Come on, unfit persons, to become acarya.' Then another man comes, then another, and another. 'Now I am so advanced that I can kill my guru and then become guru.' (Bombay, 8/ 15 / 76) So when the GBC now makes their big claim that they must be blindly followed, we should remember this letter and understand that they have nothing whatsoever to do with Srila Prabhupada anymore.

"My only grievance is that I appointed GBC to give me relief from the management but, on the contrary, complaints and counter-complaints are coming to me. Then how my brain can be peaceful. Naturally, I want to see that all of my centers are going nicely, so it is not possible to mitigate the differences of opinion and work smoothly, conjointly. So best thing is that we wait for the Mayapur meeting and decide there combinedly what to do.

"The local management has to be done by temple president. GBC should see whether management is going on nicely, and if there are any discrepancies that will be discussed at the GBC meeting in Mayapur. That is the process. Sannyasis are meant for preaching only. That is the principle. But, contrary to the principle, if things are being embezzled then how can I save them. How one man can manage the whole world affairs? This is my concern. So far I know you are approved manager, so why complaints are there, I do not know." (Jayatirtha, 10/16/75)

Note: Prabhupada clearly says here that the GBC has not relieved him from having to deal with so many problems even though that was the reason why the GBC was created in the first place. Prabhupada is admitting here that he can't ignore the problems since he wants to see all his centers going on nicely and at the same time he says he cannot possibly manage the whole world. So he simply got more and more fed up with these "leaders" until he decided to leave the planet.

"I am in due receipt of your letter addressed to Rupanuga dasa dated September 16, 1975 and have noted the contents. Why is there this politics? This is not good. If politics come, then the preaching will be stopped. That is the difficulty. As soon as politics come, everything is spoiled. In the Gaudiya Math the politics is still going on. My Guru Maharaja left in 1936, and now it is 1967, so after 40 years the litigation is still going on. Do not come to this." (Gurukripa, 9/30/75)

Note: Did anyone notice any marked difference in these "leaders" between Sept. 1975 and Nov. 1977? Therefore we can easily understand why "everything is spoiled."

"Regarding your dealings with Bhagavan dasa, when two GBCs are concerned, the whole GBC must consider, what can I do? I have appointed the GBC not to fight amongst yourselves but to manage. If there is fighting, then how will you manage? So the whole GBC committee must decide if there is fighting." (Hamsadutta, 9/29/75)

Note: Here Srila Prabhupada indicates the futility of the situation. He has established this as his fundamental mood about the GBC ever since the 1970 LA lockup incident, where he was kept captive in a room in the LA temple for a number of days by his "dear disciples." Exact details of this incident are still unknown to us but the indications are clear that some disciples, specifically Brahmananda, wanted to control the movement better than, they thought, Srila Prabhupada was able to.

"Regarding the new New York house, yes, let me know when I shall have to go there to see. I have more houses than anyone else in the world, but I am not allowed to stay. The richest man in the world does not have such facilities. They have one or two, but in each place it is fit for prince, and they do not have as many as I have. And, the wife of Bali Mardan how was she giving such a bluff.?" (Rupanuga, 9/29/75)

Note: Prabhupada wanted to stay in one place to concentrate on translating books, but he couldn't. Why? Because he had to travel constantly to encourage the devotees; his so-called advanced leaders were not doing it."I came to liberate my disciples, they (GBC) have come to keep them in bondage." (Giriraja) Only one leader, Vishnujana Swami, was even civilized enough to deal with the general devotees at the time when Srila Prabhupada wanted to form the world sankirtana party. Prabhupada did not want all this traveling. Chanakya Pandit says: "Horses grow old by being bound; clothes grow old when left in the sun; women grow old when unmarried; and men grow old by traveling."

"Regarding your questions you say that amongst the elder disciples there are still symptoms of greed, anger, strife, bickering, etc., but you are one of them. You are one of the old students, so you fall in that group. So the fighting is among that group, but not amongst the real workers." (Krsna dasa, 9/9/72)

Note: Here Prabhupada is directly saying that "the real workers", the true disciples, are those who humbly serve and don't bicker and fight. The real workers are those devotees going out and distributing books day after day, or cleaning the temple, or worshipping the Deity. The real workers are not the big leaders always acting on the impetus of personal ambition.

"I have received your report on the telephone to Harikesh. This is very funny thinking in our society that you want t6 spend for this boat, and that Tulsi dasa wants to take sannyasa because he is feeling sex agitation. First of all there is no sanction to purchase this boat from the BBT. We are not interested.

"Tulsi dasa is affected by sex, and he wants to take sannyasa? This is nonsense. Is sannyasa so cheap? He will be a victim. He is not fit for sannyasa. His mind is not fixed up. Everyone wants to fulfill their whimsical desires; this is going on...

"Another thing, why are you always calling on the telephone? Are you such important men that you have to call all over the world? We are poor men sons, what can I do? But, why are you always calling on the telephone?" (Ramesvara, 11/7/75)

Note: There is an interesting story of Ramesvara's in this connection. One day Ramesvara was on the phone to Tamala when a devotee came in to inform him of the death of one of his "disciples," Sridhama dasa. He'd been in the morgue, unidentified, for several days, for several days. Ramesvara put the phone down just long enough to "meditate on the soul of my departed disciple and direct him to his destination." Many devotees were present in the room for this one. Here is how the tragedy is functioning. People are coming to ISKCON, brought by the message in Srila Prabhupada's books. Then they are victimized by becoming entangled with "gurus" who they are made to think are the pure representatives of that message. But these sense gratifiers do not even know when their disciple dies. They have to be informed. This man, Sridhama, must have performed a significant amount of selfless service for the cause there in LA and so Ramesvara gave him a minute by interrupting his umpteenth long-distance phone can for the day.

"One thing is, I have heard that Jayapataka is requesting Giriraja that Bombay should send maintenance allowance to Mayapur monthly. But I instructed in the beginning that Calcutta should maintain Mayapur. Also, you are not sending your collections regularly to Bombay, so how they can support you? If Bombay is maintaining, what are others doing, eating and sleeping? Why does Jayapataka want allowance? Anyone who cannot collect money, they should go to Mayapur and live there and simply eat and sleep, like women and widows. I shall arrange for their eating and sleeping. But in cities, those should live who can collect and earn. The widows are not earning in Hindu society, they eat and sleep at others' expense. So if you are not able to earn in Calcutta, better all go to Mayapur and eat and sleep and I shall accommodate all widows, women and others at Mayapur and Vrindaban. Otherwise why should we maintain such large establishment in Calcutta simply for eating and sleeping and spending. These two places will be reserved for those who cannot collect. For them I am making provision. Only the active members who can collect, they shall live in the city. Eating, sleeping members, they shall live in Mayapur, that's all.

"One thing, on the invitation card you have written All Glories to Our Guru Maharaja. This is impersonalism. As soon as we offer obeisances to Guru, the name should be there. We are strictly personalists. The sahajiyas write Glories to Guru. Why you are learning this impersonalism, who has taught you? Daily I am offering obeisances to my Guru by vibrating his real name, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati, otherwise it is impersonal.

"Whether you can deal with so many problems? I am receiving so many letters daily from Calcutta. The temple officers are appointed to minimize my time, not increase it with so many letters. Best to stop expanding, or if you cannot raise funds there, close up the Calcutta center. It is not that the officers should be expert in one field only, they should be expert in everything." (Bhavananda, 7/14/72)

Note: There were very few letters to Bhavananda. You may consult Krta Kanna dasa, who is hiding in San Francisco under threat from Bhavananda, for more information. Bhavananda's defects have not been limited to impersonalism.

"I have got very good respect for Japanese people. So far I have met the Japanese boys and girls in our temple there, they are so well behaved that I was astonished that they were more respectful than my direct disciples." (Taittiriya, 9/15/74)

Note: Many of Srila Prabhupada's direct disciples, particularly the ones with big egos and big positions, did not have good behavior and manners. There are so many examples: we give a few specific instances, all verifiable if necessary. InVmdavana,whenHarikeshwasPrabhupada'ssecretary,hewasknowntohavesaid on several occasions such things to Prabhupada as, "It's your mess, clean it up yourself' or "This isn't dirt Prabhupada, it's Vrndavana dust." Srila Prabhupada once dispatched a letter to Guru Krpa Swami via Harikesh. The letter was very provocative to Guru Krpa Swami, especially the P.S. following the signature. So much so, that Guru Krpa Swami immediately flew from Japan to India. He went to his Guru Maharaja and asked whether or not the message in the letter was totally coming from him. It wasn't. Harikesh Swami was immediately removed from his duties of personal secretary and was exiled to Eastern Europe. He was also told to walk to Delhi from Vrindavana. Another incident, concerning Tamala, was just after the 1976 infamous GBC meeting when Srila Prabhupada exiled Tamala to go to China. Tamala became angry and pointed his index finger at Prabhupada."I will not go to China. Why should I go to China? I have my own party in America. You cannot tell me this. I am not going to go." One sannyasi also in the room protested, "You cannot talk to Srila Prabhupada like this." Tamala replied sharply, "Don't tell me what I can and can't do." Srila Prabhupada once said about another "acarya": "Hamsadutta is praying every night that I will die and he win become acarya." The fist of such quotes could fill a volume. We are only touching the top of the iceberg in this book. Almost without exception, the only outstanding feature all the current ISKCON "acaryas" have in common is their disrespect for Srila Prabhupada. At any rate, we see in this letter, that an ordinary Japanese citizen has better manners than some of Prabhupada's "direct representatives."

"In that trust you must be very careful to make sure that my name is registered there as the founder acarya and that I am to be the ultimate authority. In other words, in any case of necessity of vetoing or canceling any decision made by the other trustees, I should be able to do like that. My decision should overrule all the other trustees combined." (Kurusrestha, 12/28/74)

Note: Does this letter sound Eke Prabhupada had much faith in the combined purity of the GBC? The following incident clearly shows just how corrupt the GBC was/is. And those who weren't corrupt, how foolish they were/are. But today the GBC is still saying that their combined opinion is as good as Prabhupada's. Indeed, they go so far as to say, that even Srila Prabhupada was obliged to follow the GBC.

"YOUR MATERIAL LEGAL FORMULA WILL NOT HELP US ONLY OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE CAN HELP US I HAVE NO APPROVAL FOR ANY THESE PLANS STOP HANSADUTTA MUST RETURN GERMANY IMMEDIATELY DON'T LEAVE AGAIN STOP ATREYA RISHI HAS NO AUTHORITY FROM ME TO MANAGE ANYTHING REMOVE HIM ACKNOWLEDGE CABLE URGENT RENNY STREET PADDINGTON SYDNEY BHAKTIVEDANTA SWAMI." (Copy of telegram sent to Hansadutta, Rupanuga, and Karandhar, 4/6/72)

"Sriman Atreya Rishi dasa may be very expert, but without my say he has been given so much power and this has upset my brain. I also understand that immediate actions are going to take place even prior to my permission, and that, also, 'without divulging to the devotees(!)

"I do not follow exactly what is the motive of the so-called GBC meeting, therefore I have sent the telegram which you will find attached herewith, and I have received the replies as well.

"Under these circumstances, I authorize you to disregard for the time being any decision from the GBC men until my further instruction.

"You manage your affairs peacefully and independently, and try to improve the spiritual atmosphere of the centers more carefully. I shall be very glad to know the names of your assistants such as Secretary, Treasurer and Accountant.

"Finally, I beg to repeat that all GBC orders are suspended herewith by me until further notice." (Letter to all temple presidents, 4/8/72)

"...that is my hope. But I have been very much disturbed recently by the meeting which you all have had in New York, wherein you have passed so many resolutions and elected Atreya Rishi to GBC secretary, and made so many other changes. I am very much puzzled by the whole business. Therefore I have not approved of it and you may by now have received my letter why I have temporarily suspended the GBC. Let us not revive this old matter, but I want to know from you what is your opinion of the matter, and how is it that Hansadutta and Atreya Rishi were able to persuade you all senior leaders of the Society to follow their foolish activities? Kindly inform.

"From now on, the temples will operate independently and try to improve their spiritual life more carefully, so there is no more need for such financial arrangement of centralization, as you have proposed...

"So far your statement, "our final success will be when you actually sit tight and translate books and let us manage successfully," yes, that is my desire, but if you can do it or not, that has again disturbed me very much. Now I have given you everything, but I do not see that even the basic principles of advancement in spiritual life are always there, and sometimes there is tendency to neglect what is our real purpose of life, namely, to become mad after Krishna, and instead we become carried away by big, big talk. So I am still thinking how things will go on." (Satsvarupa, 4/10/72)

"And I am surprised that none of the GBC members detected the defects in the procedure. It was detected only when it came to me. What will happen when I am not here, shall everything by spoiled by GBC? So for the time being, let the GBC activities be suspended until I thoroughly revise the whole procedure. In the meantime, you do your duty as president of Hamburg Temple, and try to improve spiritually, Our spiritual way should strictly observe the following points especially: 1) Neatness and cleanliness of all personal bodies. (I still see those who are initiated as brahmins, they do not even wash their hands after eating even; of course, there may be so many defects due to your births in non-brahmin families, but how long it shall go on? It is very easy thing.) 2) Chanting 16 rounds daily. (I don't think everyone is following these principles.) 3) Temple worship, which should be performed rigidly between four and ten AM.)

"I find that the devotees are still sleeping up to six, seven o'clock. So in the GBC agenda I do not find any such programs for reforming our past bad habits. So kindly as President o Hamburg center you try to observe yourself all the regulative principles and see all the members are following." (Hansadutta, 4/11/72)

"I think it is best thing if the GBC members always travel on Sankirtan Party in their zone and go from one village to another and visit the temples to see how the students are learning and do my work. In this way, they will avoid the propensity to sit down and plot and scheme how to eat and sleep. So you can advise them all to travel extensively on Sankirtan all over their zone." (Karandhar, 5/4/72)

Note: We would like to summarize, very concisely, the most important points made in these revealing letters and telegrams. 1) Legal formulas cannot replace true Krsna conscious behavior and endeavor. You cannot make a man Krsna conscious by legal formulas. Obviously, the GBC was thinking that possible; 2) Prabhupada exposes the GBC's tendency not to divulge their insidious schemes to the general devotees. We do not claim to have exposed, in this document, all their treacheries. Seeing how many we have exposed, just imagine how many there actually were! 3) The GBC had a tendency to enact legislation, plans, and money manipulations prior to Prabhupada's sanction, but the constitution of the GBC incorporated the necessity for Prabhupada's approval in all such important decisions; 4) The argument is sometimes raised, and Srila Prabhupada is said to have said, that the GBC, as a combined unit of over 20 men, cannot make a wrong decision due to the group influence. But Srila Prabhupada asks how two men, one of whom was not even a GBC, could push their concoction past the other members. It is simply not a fact that numbers alone can prevent deviation and group treachery. One powerful enticement can pollute all the remaining members; 5) Srila Prabhupada says that the GBC has a tendency to neglect the fundamental principles of Krsna consciousness and get carried away by the so-called big picture even though the fundamental principles are not even being followed by the leaders. 6) Srila Prabhupada directly doubts whether there is any possibility that the management will carry on after his departure. We can see that his doubt was not only utterly justified, but was directly a wanting to us all. 7) Srila Prabhupada specifically states that the whole movement may become victimized and spoiled by the GBC. It has come to take place; 8) Srila Prabhupada specifically states that the GBC men, who call themselves Srila Prabhupada's "direct representatives," have a propensity to simply plot and scheme. In this section, we are exposing many of those plots and schemes. We ask you also to expose these to all those who are sincere enough to hear and benefit from these truths.

"...if he received the vote, why you have opposed? You must be impartial. My recommendation is that he must be the president. He has been chosen by the vote, and I am giving the casting vote for him. He is doing things very nicely there, so he must be the president, Prabha Vishnu should go on Sankirtan, and Madhavananda should be president. Everything must go on. The women are doing nicely so why are they being changed from the pujari to the Sankirtan? These things should be done by the President. These are internal things, and you should not interfere. I do not approve of your changing the women. It should be the choice of Madhavananda who should be the pujari.

"Why did you close Edinburgh without asking me? Paramahamsa reports that you have closed the Edinburgh temple. Edinburgh was doing nicely. You can't close a temple without asking me? Is it too much to do this? Our propaganda is opening temples, and you are closing them. We are not for closing but for increasing. I do not approve of this. If possible the Edinburgh temple must be re-opened again. (Ed. note: It was re-opened.)

"If you close the temple, what is the management? Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu pushed the Sankirtan movement, but He never said to close the Jagannatha temple or the Govindaji temple. In Edinburgh we had a nice house, why you have closed it? Why you have whimsically done this? If possible the Edinburgh temple must be reopened. Don't do anything whimsically without consulting me.

"I made the GBC to give me relief, but if you do like this, then where is the relief.? It is anxiety for me. This is the difficulty, that as soon as one gets power, he becomes whimsical and spoils everything. What can I do? " (Hansadutta, 9/12/74)

Note: A very important point in this letter is that the GBC must not interfere with the internal dealings of a temple. That means they are not insiders but outsiders simply observing the activities of the temple. If they detect deviation, they may recommend replacement. That's all. Not that they have anything to do with a temple's preaching activities. The President is the leader of any temple, and the GBC has nothing to do with his plans or preaching desires, unless they go against Prabhupada's instructions. Most of the GBC don't know those instructions however, so basically every temple is on its own. If a temple president doesn't want any of these rubber-stamped "top" men to perch up on big seats in the temple, then he has the right to nip that imposition. This is now happening in ISKCON's first liberated temple, Berkeley. Hopefully many more win follow that shining example.

As stated in a previous chapter the cause of disturbance in ISKCON is ignorance. That is clear. But there is also another cause as mentioned in the following letters: personal ambition. If the current leaders are sincere, then we can easily remove this disturbance by bringing out knowledge through discussion and debate. But if ISKCON's disturbance is an intentional display of personal ambition, then it has to be removed by other means. You can only wake up a sleeping man, not a man pretending to be asleep.

Srila Prabhupada here confirms the famous quote that power corrupts, and so naturally, absolute power corrupts absolutely when the "schemers" are not in absolute knowledge.

"Our life is very short. The Krsna consciousness movement is not meant for fulfilling one's personal ambition, but it is a serious movement for the whole world." (Satsvarupa, 7/31/70)

"In my books I have tried to explain clearly this simultaneously one and different philosophy, 'acintya bheda bheda tattva', propounded by Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu. But sometimes it happens that this philosophy is given a self-interested interpretation. As soon as personal motivation comes in it is not possible for one to understand our Krsna consciousness philosophy." (Ishan, 9/70)

"As alleged by you I have received complaints against Bali Mardan and his wife, so seriously so much so that the girl has declared that Bali Mardan is an incarnation of bhakti Siddhanta Saraswati Thakura on my name. In India some of the important members they have collected huge amounts in the name of the Society and spent it luxuriously. I wanted you all my experienced disciples should manage the whole institution very cleverly without any personal ambition like ordinary materialistic men. The Gaudiya Math institution has become smashed, at least stopped its program of preaching work on account of personal ambitions.

"So whatever is done is done. I shall request you all not to be personally ambitious. I shall do everything in my power to fulfill your personal ambition, but that will be done in due course of time when you are fully trained up and following the regulative principles and chanting 16 rounds." (Karandhar, 10/8/74)

"We have worked very hard and established a great institution, but if we think for our personal benefit then it will become ruined. This is my only concern." (Chayavana, 11/1/74)

"Regarding Brahmananda, he is actually surrendered soul, but Maya is so strong that on account of association he has even fallen down. So these two things are always side-by-side: Maya and Krsna; Krsna is service and Maya is sense gratification, so every moment we are prone to be subjugated by either of them. Our duty is therefore to be very, very careful. The poison is personal ambition. So everyone has the chance, therefore one should not be complacent. Doubts may come about, but one should be firmly fixed up that there cannot be any doubt on the Spiritual Master or Krsna. (Satyabhama, 11/7/70)

Note: These letters indicated the razor's edge. Unfortunately, the leading secretaries have all fallen off the edge. They are now completely entangled, having been carried away by personal ambition. The facilities they took to exploit various situations have degraded them beyond hope. That is the penalty for falling under Maya's enticement in the form of the lure of personal ambition. We should not remain sentimental. Srila Prabhupada did more than just warn us; he stated clearly that these things were happening. It has not been rectified. On the contrary, it has become far, far worse. We should stop being ostriches. Srila Prabhupada now goes on to describe all these personally ambitious "disciples."

"I am hearing so many things about management. My request is that until I am able to return to the USA you all please work peacefully. At our next annual meeting at Mayapur all complaints and counter complaints will be heard in the presence of all GBC and I will also be present. In the meantime work peacefully without disturbing the situation.

"In Bengal there is a proverb that even if there are some dead metal utensils but when they are together they make so much noise, so what to speak of living utensils. So this is natural, but since we are all pledged to work for Krsna, we should follow the principle of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu; trnad api... This is Vaisnavism. So my request is do not be agitated. Let us do our duty honestly. Krsna will give us the intelligence to do everything nicely.

"Europeans and Americans are very agitative, but since we have all taken pledge to the service of Krsna we have to change this habit for the peaceful service of Krsna." (Ramesvara, 9/15/74)

Note: "Noisy living utensils" do not qualify as gurus. Ramesvara is still so agitated that he now has all sorts of nervous disorders, including serious ulcers. His nickname has become Rage-esvara. It is also well known that Rage-esvara is very fond of going to movies, especially science fiction movies. He was recently seen standing in the line for the movie "Dune" and it is said he has seen "Star Wars" five times. Of course many devotees, having been forced out of their father's temples, go to movies nowadays for lack of any kind of an organized society to take shelter within. A man wishing to take the responsibility of guru, however, should not be interested in such mundane things. Prabhupada was lenient with the congregational devotees, especially householders, but the leaders he insisted be exemplary.

"The future hope of solid standing of our mission is on the proper management of our governing body. Now we are increasing in volume. The area of our activity is expanding. Under the circumstances, if our management