ISKCON Guru Review

Recently Dandavats.com posted a diary entry from Indradyumna Swami titled " Mysterious Antiques ". As most devotees are aware, Indradyumna Swami has an ongoing habit of writing self promotional material under the guise of a "diary". The sole purpose of the diary is really to advertise himself and attract prospective disciples and donors. Much like Radhanath Swami and his "wonderful stories" that aim only to show how advanced he is, Indradyumna's writings also are just a collection of fabricated tales made to show how Krishna personally guides the advanced devotee - who happens to be none other than himself. The target audience is obviously the new and neophyte bhaktas who don't have enough philosophical training to spot such self promotion. Recently Rochan prabhu has been highlighting this new style of "devotional writing", where there is no real philosophy and the sole aim is to promote oneself as a highly qualified guru. Satsvarupa has ...

Again word from Mayapur that another false guru, Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami, has fallen down with an underaged minor. If it had occurred in the United States the criminal would be subjected to a prison sentence. But since it has happened in India, and under the protection of the GBC, it is swept under the carpet and forgotten. It's not that people weren't aware of what was going on. For months people had been seeing Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami going around with this girl, him riding a motorcycle with her sitting on the back, right up next to him, cruising the back roads of Mayapur. Every single resident of Mayapur had seen it, and they all knew, but he was needed to run the gurukula, so they just let it go. I guess they were happy that at least he wasn't a homosexual, like the last three Mayapur Swamis (Bhavananda, Nitai Chand and Satadhanya). A few months ago some of his disciples had complained to me that he was spending the entire day, from morning till evening, at the all-gi...

One very simple way to judge the honesty and integrity of an organization is by seeing the amount of transparency that exists within that organization. Everyone knows from past experience ISKCON fails miserably in the categories of transparency, honesty and freedom to question. Full time members who are dedicated preachers within ISKCON are completely forbidden from asking any questions whatsoever about higher up leadership, for fear of ending up alone on the street. At every step, devotees are encouraged to remain blind and to avoid digging up the past, present or future. This inability to question leadership is one of the main reasons why so much corruption exists within ISKCON. Part of the problem is that in most cases ISKCON leaders are invariably the Gurus of those working under them. Thus it becomes “offensive” to even think something wrong may be occurring up there. In response to this, some devotees look to the IRM (ISKCON Revival Movement), to cleanse ISKCON and bring about a ...

In Umapati Swami's recent reply we hear the same song that all of Kirtanananda's henchmen have sung for years. Each one tries to pretend he was an ostrich with his head in the sand, not seeing a thing that went on around him. The fact is, these henchmen weren't just common you and me devotees, they were Kirtanananda's right hand men, his enforcers, and his philosophical propounders. They were the one's who actually propped Kirtanananda up and made all devotees accept him as equal to God. As Rochan prabhu pointed out in a previous article, it was the "saintly philosophers" who really gave Kirtanananda the power to control the masses. At present, practically every former Kirtanananda leader has oozed back into a position of power in ISKCON, completely sweeping their past under the carpet. It wouldn't be too far off to say Kirtanananda is actually running ISKCON by remote control even today. His deviant philosophies and practices have silently seeped into...

My dear Navadvipchandra das, Please accept my best wishes. All glories to Srila Prabhupada! I normally do not answer crank letters, but I will make an exception in your case. You ought to get your facts straight. After I left New Vrindaban, I openly repudiated Kirtanananda on more than one occasion. I even wrote an eight-page letter that was circulated all over the movement. Unfortunately, I no longer have a copy of it. I never accepted Kirtanananda as God. I defy you to show me any statement I ever made accepting him as such. When he started deviating philosophically, I opposed him in front of everyone there. The reason I wore the monk's robes, though only for a short period, was that someone I trusted told me there was an old letter from Srila Prabhupada saying that if it would help the preaching, the devotees could wear robes like Vivekananda. "All glories to you Bhaktipada" was simply a translation of the normal pranam prayer so his disciples could recite it in Englis...

With Rocana Prabhu's recent article on Radhanath Swami, it brings up a lot of questions surrounding Kirtanananda's leaders and henchmen, many of whom have slipped back into ISKCON in recent years as top leaders. I don't have a complete list of all the Kirtanananda henchmen who are presently ruling ISKCON, but here is a partial list: Umapati Swami Malati Devamrita Swami Radhanatha Swami Bhakti Tirtha Swami (now deceased) Candra Sekhar Swami Bhaktisiddhanta Swami Kuladri Varsana Swami It would be nice if someone could provide additional names of ex-Kirtanananda leaders who have infiltrated ISKCON. One thing they all have in common is not one of them has explained their past association with Kirtanananda. These people spent years as his leading promoters, fighting against ISKCON, even when Kirtanananda was convicted and in prison. They all try to ignore those years they spent in the Franciscan robes, with the female sanyasis, and all sorts of other deviations. Some have even h...

Murali Krishna Swami starts his latest article with the usual put downs one would expect from a guru campaigner, namely that anyone who doesn't accept his guru as a pure devotee is "groping in the dark and lost in mental speculation". Also he points out, as they always do, that all of these unbelievers are "committing serious offenses due to their lack of proper understanding" - the typical aparadha defense. None of this is new, as we have all heard the same arguments in regards to Srila Kirtanananda, Srila Bhavananda, Srila Harikesh, and all the other past and present Divine Graces. In philosophical debate these are the obvious telltale signs of someone who has little substance to offer and has a weak faith. After firing his volley of personal attacks against all us foolish offenders, he finally gets to the point of his article, that one must hear from a pure devotee's physical lips (not from his books, nor from a recording of his lectures). The entire emph...