“We are not the International Society for Absurd Consciousness”

Just See, What Happens with an Unaccountable GBC!

BY: DASARATH DAS

Mar 15, 2011 — SEDONA, ARIZONA, USA (SUN) — I didn’t mean to have the recent GBC probation sanctions against me published on the Sun a few days back. That was my mistake. I didn’t make it clear. Maybe it was Krishna’s plan after all, as I would now like to try and clarify a few points of insinuation against me, brought up in the GBC probation letter. It is important to know that these probation measures and charges were, by the way, all drafted by members of the North American GBC.

In the GBC terms of probation against me, # 4 states that I should “refrain from attacks, threats of lawsuits, public criticism, etc. against the North American GBCs members of the North American GBC executive committee and or international GBC (both individually and or collectively)”. Although the members of the North American GBC are in full knowledge of this, they never mention that in fact, it was only in response to an attack against me over the international Internet a few years ago, by one of their own North American GBC representatives, in which he tried to assassinate my personal character and made public other unproven allegations about me.

I responded to him with a letter from a lawyer ordering that GBC person to “cease and desist” from future public attacks against me, or face a possible lawsuit. That person did back down immediately, although he refused to retract any of his unproven statements, as my lawyer also requested him to do. It was in defense against one of their own, that I had to take this course of action. Even one of the biggest gurus in ISKCON said that I was correct and had every right in defending myself, and that if he was in my shoes he would also sue that person, if that GBC refused to retract his statements.

Misrepresentation of Facts #1: While it is OK for the NA GBC man to initiate a smear campaign against a devotee over the Internet, it is not OK for that ISKCON devotee under attack to hire an attorney and protect himself from defamation of character. That will be officially viewed, as in my case, as an unacceptable threat against the GBC or GBC individual.

But just see the irony of how in their probation outline of points and accusations, just to make me out to look like the bad guy, they are accusing me of threatening a lawsuit against one of their members! And they have deliberately presented this portrayal of misinformation to the GBC Chairman, as well as to the general devotee public, all to gain sympathy in their case against me. By presenting this wrongly portrayed information, are they showing respect to the GBC institution itself and what it properly stands for? Are they using their platform as a GBC member to condone deception and misrepresent facts, and expect or even demand that the ISKCON leaders and ISKCON members will accept this as a new standard of their North American GBC management?

Lying to the GBC is also a punishable offense by their own ISKCON Law, unless of course you are a GBC member. In their attempt to discredit me, assassinate my character, and remove me as a threat in challenging such deliberate flaws of their mismanagement, they are showing an example of what will happen to anyone who challenges the authority, right or wrong, of the GBC.

Another example:

Recently the NA GBC sent a meeting memo to all the North American Temple Presidents of the recently held NA GBC / Temple Presidents meeting in Dallas. One of the memos stated:

Phoenix
by Nandasuta Prabhu – temple President and representative of Phoenix GBC Hari Vilasa.

“Few years ago there was an attempt to remove the temple from ISKCON, so NA GBC stepped in and established new management.”

The fact really is, that under the new NA GBC chairmanship of Tamohara dasa, an inappropriate change over the Phoenix temple management was established, using techniques of lying and deception to temple board members, congregational members, and even the Phoenix temple GBC representative at the time, Hridayananda Maharaj. This is confirmed in an email written very recently by Hridayananda Maharaj to some of the members of the NA GBC. The email reads as follows:

“Here are my reasons to urge the retraction of the above statement:

As we know, certain procedural irregularities occurred in the reassigning of ISKCON Phoenix to Hari Vilasa Prabhu. In fact the NA GBC issued a formal, public apology for these irregularities.

…There is in fact a controversy over whether there really was an attempt to remove the Phoenix temple from ISKCON. In fact these accusations were intimately connected to the inappropriate procedures surrounding the change of GBC. The original accusers themselves have been accused of ignoring, if not subverting, ISKCON law and procedure.”

…I am disturbed and disappointed that public statements have been made suggesting that under my administration ISKCON Phoenix was about to be lost, only to be rescued by a competent GBC. Such embarrassing, controversial and unnecessary statements can only revive tension and strife among the devotees. Such statements, as far as I can see, achieve no great good for ISKCON.”

Misrepresentation of Facts #2: As the evidence above concludes, the NA GBC EC violated their own protocol and GBC rules of conduct by deliberately misrepresenting information to the Phoenix temple GBC, temple board members, and congregational members, in order to inappropriately change the temple management and GBC. While it is acceptable by the international GBC for GBC members to engage in such dishonest dealings with other members of ISKCON, it is forbidden to question the GBC about such dealings or to make public such negligent and dereliction of GBC management. The penalty according to ISKCON GBC rules can be excommunication.

For those devotees who don’t like the way the GBC carries on their business, the GBC expects such a devotee to leave ISKCON, and let the GBC continue to “rearrange” “the house that Prabhupada built”, unimpeded. If you challenge the GBC members individually or collectively, as recently I have done with good reason, targeting some members of the North American GBC, with their many new resolutions passed under the GBC chairmanship of Romapada Swami a few years ago, you will become a candidate for probation, and then possibly a victim for excommunication, as they do in the Catholic Church. Excommunication is politically a very convenient instrument for dictatorship, centralization efforts, and unaccountability. But none of these four items were ever introduced by Srila Prabhupada – unmonitored dictatorship, unaccountability, centralization of ISKCON, what to speak of excommunication.

Srila Prabhupada never had a policy for excommunication. Yet recently, one senior disciple of Srila Prabhupada, who spoke up very strongly in defense of Srila Prabhupada’s own hand-signed legal “Direction of Management” directive, Nara Narayan prabhu, was excommunicated by this GBC board. So what is this GBC trying to turn ISKCON into? If you are a temple leader, you had better watch your back and also Prabhupada’s. The GBC is not only supposed to be the watchdogs of ISKCON – the temple presidents are, also. They are the ones in the trenches doing all the hard work. They have to be constantly and carefully assessing if the GBC is operating according to guru, sadhu, and sastra. These newly concocted scare tactics of ISKCON management and centralization by the GBC are a far cry from Srila Prabhupada’s policies of “love and trust”.

I don’t blame the whole GBC here. This particular deviousness is propelled, even into the GBC organization itself, by a small handful and band of members of the North American GBC! And it is the same NA GBC persons also are trying their best to centralize the management of ISKCON, which is against Srila Prabhupada’s express desire and order. Under a centralized and unaccountable GBC governance however, the GBC can do whatever they feel like, and have whatever they want instituted as new ISKCON law, simply with the proper number of votes.

But are devotees really going to accept this newly concocted way to run ISKCON? Aren’t we trained to appraise decisions, even of the GBC, according to guru, sadhu, and sastra? Or do these “ultimate authorities” now propose, that the new triangle of truth is – GBC, GBC, GBC? I don’t think most devotees will buy that. The following recently emailed statement of a senior temple leader in India, shows that all temple leaders are not blind:

” As I read about your case and the GBC EC’s sanctions against you, I now see the centralized system promoted by members of the North American GBC in play perfectly:

*Unilateral decisions being made without any consultation to local devotees.
*Imaginary scenarios presented to bewilder those involved.
*And last but not least, throw in a bit of character assassination without proof or information just to make sure you get the sentiment.

Ouch! I do hope our India Leaders can take heed from this type of situation or otherwise we are next.”

Now my second point. Yes, sadly I have felt it necessary to be a bit vocal in questioning what I and many other devotees see as duplicity and deviance from straightforward and proper GBC management in North America. I have similarly addressed what appears to be some blatant corruption by the GBC.

The NA GBC labels this as “attacks against the GBC”. They cannot see it for what it is – rightful addressing by members of ISKCON of some issues of possible GBC corruption, and addressing the issue of no regulation of monitoring the GBC body. By the adverse reaction of the NA GBC members, they seem to say they are very uncomfortable with the issue of GBC accountability. Why so? And what is wrong with freedom of the press? It will only help them stay in the parameters of guru, sadhu, and sastra.

So many devotees have made complaints to the GBC. In a quote from one letter to a GBC from Srila Prabhupada, he stated that “why so many complaints are coming against the GBC management? This is not a good sign.” Why cannot one question, accuse, or challenge the GBC members, anyway? Are they not the “public servants” of the devotees?

Do they think they are so perfect that they cannot take advice from senior devotees and temple managers? Don’t they want to be transparent, accountable, and in line with the guru parampara in all respects”? One would think so, or hope so. Any public servant can be questioned or challenged. It goes with the job description.

I did initially try to take my grievances about the NA GBC through the recommended proper ISKCON channels of the mediation board of the ISKCON Resolve team. But as more evidence seemed to be surfacing against two NA GBCs I was courting, they threatened to begin steps to have me excommunicated if I didn’t back down, which at the time I did.

Dear devotees and temple leaders, unless and until there becomes established by the temple presidents and GBC of ISKCON, a system of oversight and accountability of GBC management, one that is a checks and balances above and beyond the present “closed GBC door” jurisdiction of organization and resolutions, there will not be any satisfaction to the myriad of complaints of GBC mismanagement or even worse, GBC corruption.

The other way of course to solve this growing problem, is if the individual temple leaders, comparing some of the decisions of the GBC with the direction of guru (Srila Prabhupada), sadhu, and sastra, and finding that there are indeed in some cases gross errors, misjudgments, or speculations on behalf of the GBC, decide not to accept such concocted fantasies, and go their own way or simply refuse to accept that which is not bona fide. That is all within the training by Srila Prabhupada, who is the supreme authority of ISKCON.

Although Srila Prabhupada hoped that a competent GBC would lead ISKCON properly, no devotee or member of ISKCON is under obligation to accept decisions by the GBC that are clearly opposed to the teachings or management direction of the Founder-Acarya of ISKCON, Srila Prabhupada.

Any government body anywhere in the world that insists on no outside monitoring or checks and balances of its system will absolutely be a breeding ground for corruption. All the complaints from so many devotees prove this to be true. And still the GBC resists – no accountability! Why?

Knowing all this, how can a sane person respond to the demand, “Such and such prabhu must accept the GBC as the ultimate managing authority of ISKCON”? Although Prabhupada did train us to be humble, he didn’t train us to be morons! First you start showing me that you NA GBCs are, by all your actions and words, following the supreme authority of ISKCON – Srila Prabhupada!

Then I will immediately accept your authority. Lying to and the deceiving of the devotees and fellow members of the GBC is not following anything but one’s mental concoctions, and it is destroying the faith of the devotees, such as myself, in the GBC.

Oh, one other footnote, there was recently a website called TheWatchdog, (that has been temporarily suspended by the sponsors) that stressed accountability in GBC management, and illustrated recent straying of certain GBC members from the directive of Krishna Himself.

I also helped write some articles on that website. My involvement with that website was condemned by this NA GBC in their recent probation paper, and my acceptance as a good standing member in ISKCON would be to withdraw from any involvement in the website.

Interestingly, all the articles on The Watchdog were only calling for GBC accountability, along with the posting of dozens of Srila Prabhupada’s quotes to the effect. It was chiefly calling into question decisions and activities of certain members of the NA GBC, the same men who now are after my hide.

The probation terms saying that I cannot lead kirtan in any of my guru maharaj’s temples, some of which I even started, shows what sitting in too many meetings can do to a GBC man. That is, it can cloud their real Krishna conscious perception. Banning a devotee from leading kirtan? Oh, that is definitely Srila Prabhupada all the way!

This reminds me also of the probation that the NA GBC EC (when again Romapada Swami was the Chairman) put on one devotee for something they had no concrete proof of and still impose against him today. He was not allowed to lead kirtans in ISKCON temples under a bogus probation that had no legal proof of misconduct of the devotee to support their ban.

Once in New Vrindavan, as he is famous for his kirtans, he was asked to lead the guru puja. To please the devotees and Krishna he complied, and when the NA GBC EC found out, his ban and probation was extended another two years. Sound like Prabhupada? Absolutely not! And it is an embarrassment the GBC is allowed to commit such Vaishnava aparadh.

Did Srila Prabhupada tell Sudama ex-Maharaj when he came back to ISKCON out of maya, that he couldn’t lead kirtan in temple for three years? Did he say that to Gaursunder of Hawaii, or anyone else? This is all the mental concoctions of some NA GBCs. How else does one become purified but through kirtan? We are not the International Society for Absurd Consciousness.

Anyone wishing to write me personally can do so at: dasarath@sedonavedicculture.com.

Kingdom of Lord Jagannath
Sedona, Arizona, USA