Descent Into G.B.C. Dystopia

September, 2019

Fourth of a Four-Part Series

by Kailäsa Candra däsa

“This is not some sectarian faith, but it is eternal truth.”
Letter to Mr. Nyamiaka, 11-10-75

“. . . you must be very careful to make sure that my name is registered there as the Founder-Äcärya and that I am to be the ultimate authority.”
Letter to Kuruçreñöha, 12-28-74

I guess every form of refuge has its price.
The Eagles, “You Can’t Hide Your Lyin’ Eyes”

It is incumbent upon all Vaiñëava commentators to present valid arguments against the popularity claptrap pushed by the fabricated, so-called “ISKCON” confederation. This entails presenting a counterpoint to its institutionalism. We all require a much larger scope, a universal vision, an outlook no longer moored within a limited time-frame that facilitates covering over the glaring contradictions of “ISKCON.”

That the vast majority of devotees ever connected with Çréla Prabhupäda’s branch of the Gauòéya sampradäya are now ensconced by hundreds of lower modal principalities within themselves entails that they are easily manipulated by the demotic propaganda. As such, what is presented here—and in everything on our websites—is, by devotees under mundane influence, wrongly considered archaic and anachronistic.

However, all “ISKCON” rebarbative beliefs and misconceptions constitute a re-branding of Çréla Prabhupäda’s authority over his branch of his Hare Kåñëa movement. This must be opposed even though our minority report is considered arcane. The eternal counterpoint—which we represent–is valid and applicable everywhere and at all times. The institution appears to be a lively manifestation, but actually it is dead, vapid, calcified, and full of rationalizations based upon sentiments and apa-siddhäntas.

When a critical mass of devotees stops taking refuge in “ISKCON,” finally realizing the severe price paid for doing so, it will attain real vision as to how calamitous the deviation has been, particularly in the West. When such universal vision is attained by enough devotees, THE TRUTH will become known, reversing the current momentum.

Orwell Lifts the Rock

“Anything without substance will not last, so just demonstrate sincerely that we have got solid ground beneath us . . .Many fanatic spiritual movements have come and gone, but without the flawless philosophy of Krishna, they cannot stand.”
Letter to Lalit Kumär, 11-27-71

Prabhupäda: You cannot say because gold is in the hand of a Muhammadan it is Muhammadan gold, or if it is in the hand of a Christian, it is Christian gold. Gold is gold.
Associated Press Interview in New York City, 7-16-76

“Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four.”
George Orwell

When Prabhupäda’s branch of the Hare Kåñëa movement was seized by the vitiated G.B.C. through the aegis of eleven of its most powerful members, ISKCON was then converted into a flawed entity, one without actual substance. This section is a departure from the usual, i.e., it illuminates Kåñëa consciousness a bit differently. It does so by applying some of Orwell’s aphorisms to the quagmire created and sustained by the Governing Body Commission of the fabricated, so-called “ISKCON” confederation.

It is not that George Orwell was a transcendentalist. Many of his aphorisms were flawed and false, e.g., he believed that perfection of the human being was not a goal worth pursuing, i.e., in sync with the “no one is perfect” trope pushed by “Christianity.” If you believe that, then you are opposed to one of the basic pillars of all four Vaiñëava sampradäyas: The siddhänta and the process are all about becoming siddha.

At any rate, Orwell, although a mental speculator, was obviously a great author. We can cull out aphorisms where he hit the nail on the head, and we can then use them in the service of Prabhupäda’s mission. Utility is the principle. What you are now reading should not be misunderstood to be glorifying the life of Orwell, although, by Western standards, he was admittedly special. We occasionally apply P. D. Ouspensky in the same way. Neither of these men were vegetarians, and that fact alone indicates that they still had a very long way to go in their spiritual development.

However, that does not mean that we cannot quote them. We do so, despite the dull-witted, pedantic propaganda of our pure-as-the-driven-snow adversaries, whose lack of brain substance prevents them from dovetailing anything penned by a conditioned soul that they deem disqualified. Admittedly, Orwell was part of Western culture and was non-Vedic, but he gave us some eye-popping aphorisms here and there.

Many of his quotes were about power. The vitiated G.B.C. utilizes institutional power—and also magical powers—in order to carry on its suffocating oppression, and Orwell can help us to understand that dystopia. Such understanding, in and of itself, is but a preliminary step in opposing its sclerotic power, i.e., speaking truth to power.

As an example of this principle, let us consider a poignant scene from “Game of Thrones” illustrating it. Cercei Lannister became Queen Regent in Westeros after her young, sadistic son, the so-called King (he had no legitimate claim), publicly beheaded the King Regent, Ned Stark, although promising Stark’s eldest daughter that he would not harm her father. Thus, the Starks became threats, and only that daughter acquiesced to Lannister rule. The other four were to be captured or killed, but the whereabouts of the youngest daughter, Arya (who would become a trained assassin), was unknown.

The Queen Regent wanted her found, and there were two influential men connected to the Court who had many spies loyal to them throughout the kingdom. They were considered men of advanced intelligence. One of them was Sir Petyr Baelish, also a very wealthy man, because he ran all of the kingdom’s brothels. He had made no report.

This confounded the Queen Regent. It just so happened that, one morning, Circei, accompanied by four praetorian guards, spotted Baelish in the internal courtyard of the Red Keep, the chief castle of Westeros. She immediately approached him and asked for his help, but his reply was reticent, indicating that he wanted something in return.

That should not have been the attitude of a loyal subject, but Petyr Baelish, the wry, sly, and sometimes impudent fellow that he was, had included in his ambivalent reply, “Knowledge is power.” The Queen Regent, although enraged within, kept her cool. She ordered her four soldiers: “Seize Lord Baelish.” They did. She then ordered, “Slit his throat,” and the warrior directly in front of Baelish brought out his blade and put it to the man’s neck. She then ordered: “Stop! I changed my mind.” The knife was withdrawn.

She then ordered, “Turn around.” The four turned their backs to Baelish. She then ordered, “Take three steps,” and they all took three long steps away from both him and the Queen. Getting up close to Sir Petyr Baelish, with a controlled but sharp edge, she said to him,

“Power is power, Lord Baelish.”

“Whoever is winning at the moment will always seem to be invincible.”

This has already been proven. The zonals appeared invincible, but, by the mid-Eighties, they were toppled. The Second Transformation appeared to have solved all the problems, but it did not. Book distribution (read, the pick) plummeted. As such, its so-called invincibility had to be replaced by The Third Transformation, the Hindoo Hodgepodge.

“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle”

By late 1978, it should have been clear to all of Prabhupäda’s initiated disciples that something was dreadfully amiss. It was right there for everybody to see–right in front of each devotee’s nose. Although most were victims of it, only a handful took off their blinders in order to see it. Even less took action. Falling for “Christian” tropes, such as blaming Prabhupada for it and faithlessly concluding that he was not siddha, is a cowardly reaction.

“We know that no one ever seizes power
with the intention of relinquishing it.”

The eleven pretenders did not give up their power willingly. They didn’t resign out of the goodness of their hearts (if there even was any). Since they were allowed to keep their so-called initiated disciples, they never gave up. The fact is that, only when the temple presidents rebelled, they were forced to relinquish the zonal scam.

It was not their intention. Then, Professor Blueblood seized power—in the name of allegedly initiating a revolution. It was no such thing. It was a T-R-A-N-S-F-O-R-M-A-T-I-O-N. It was not a rejuvenation of the Hare Kåñëa movement Prabhupäda founded and developed. It was, instead, one set of winners replacing another set of former winners, who now were seen by many for the losers they always were.

“Progress is not an illusion. It happens, but it is slow.”

As the rock gets lifted away to reveal all of the G.B.C. shenanigans crawling underneath it, the INTERNET, despite its uncountable faults, must be accredited for having facilitated the current slow progress that most of us now experience. Critical mass has yet to be achieved. If and/or when it is, expect the unexpected.

A Shock to the System

“So any religious system which has no conception of God and does everything, every year changes by resolution of the priests, that ‘Now this is all right,’ against religious principles—that is a farce.”
Dialectical Spiritualism, Critique of Pascal

“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.”
Letter to Revaténandan, 4-2-72

“It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
George Orwell, 1984

We live in absurd times. Today’s captive hell of “ISKCON” paradise didn’t just happen; it was conjured and has solidified over time. The leaders of that deviation remain spiritually blind, but they are shrewd and crafty. They have considerable astral intelligence, but without higher intelligence. They can appear heavy every now and then (when love-bombing fails), but it is heaviness without substance. They were opportunists, taking advantage of the first shock to the system (the premature disappearance of Çréla Prabhupäda from the physical plane) in order to cash in during the second shock, which they engineered.

That, of course, was the zonal äcärya imposition.

Having loaded the institution with almost all of their own people (also spiritually blind), to say that it is now the blind leading the blind is limited. It is more like wizards leading those under their spell. The eleven warlocks with dandas (two were forced to take the stick) represented the vitiated G.B.C., which empowered them. That governing body was thus responsible for what those men created, contaminated, and destroyed.

“ISKCON” relies upon popularity in order to expand its influence, and it must grow in order to survive. It will either expand or suffocate. Its schemes are all horizontal expansion, extending the domain of its system, a system designed to prop up opportunistic leaders who do not deserve to be even respected, let alone worshiped.

This organization has more unity than Neo-Mutt—and far more than Rittvik—but its unity is utopian. It has not come to the spiritual platform, because it has not yet even reached the mode of goodness. It has not reached sattvic status, because it is founded upon dishonesty. Have you not yet realized this? There is possibility of real unity when an institution is founded upon honesty, but “ISKCON” has no such mooring.

If you suggest dialogue as the path to solution, that will amount to nothing more than the addition of negative qualities to the current mix. When misapplied goodness dialogues with powerful passion, evil benefits. Such fusion always increases CON-fusion. Passion is a lower mode. It is not as evil as tamo-guëa, but it is still categorized with it. These lower modes always proceed more quickly than sattva-guëa. This is a principle.

In the mid-Eighties, the “ISKCON” cheap guru/cheap disciple system relied upon a kind of black magic when it was on the verge of cratering. It was the idea that disciples of great pretenders were still genuinely initiated once their gurus admitted the pretense and thus become, allegedly, no longer bogus. It was the magical idea that their gurus, by simply renouncing the undeserved worship (as pretender mahäbhägavats) that they had been receiving for years, were thus magically uplifted into bona fide äcäryas. . . and their initiations were grandfathered in and made bona fide. Of course, they never became madhyams by such sleight of hand but remained sahajiyäs.

This black magic has not yet dissipated.

However, if we all keep protesting in an authorized way, we can eventually lift the veil on this spell that has thousands of people baffled. If the Soviet Polituro can so quickly—and from such a strong vantage point—suddenly crater, is that not also possible for the vitiated G.B.C.? What a shock it would be! Know it for a fact that today’s G.B.C. is capable of conjuring itself out of existence.

Close Encounters of the Absurd Kind

(Part Two)

11. That a G.B.C. committee will be formed, consisting of the G.B.C. members who are initiating Gurus. They have the power to nominate new initiating gurus, by consensus.
ISKCON Law, 3-11-81

33. That no member of the governing body commission or any regional secretary or temple president shall be eligible to vote in the G.B.C. meeting or temple presidents’ meeting respectively, unless their Oath of allegiance to ISKCON has been duly submitted to the proper G.B.C. authority.
ISKCON Law, 3-13-81

A unique faith, when granted secular power,
certainly degenerates into cruelty and fanaticism.
Voltaire

1981 was a volatile year for the vitiated G.B.C. Things were breaking down in its relation with Gouòéya Mutt, i.e., with Swämi B. R. Çrédhar. The Mahä-maëòala, a breakaway group consisting of former “ISKCON” leaders, was flouting newfound momentum. Indeed, a satellite center would be established in Santa Jose the very next year. The writing was on the wall, and an inevitable schism was on the horizon.

The seemingly invincible zonals needed to buttress their receding powers. ISKCON Law Number 11 (above) accomplished that (to some extent). In other words, the Äcärya Board, manipulating from behind the scenes for three years (and initially inspired by the Navadvipa mahant), now became formalized. The Thought Control of the Commish was loosening, and those dependent upon it needed to do . . . something!

And that involved their subordinates down-line swearing an Oath of Allegiance to ISKCON. This pledge was really an oath to the vitiated governing body, but that was shrouded for obvious reasons. THE OATH was mandated and made part of ISKCON Law. Let’s check out some more corporate fanaticism by the Commish:

10 (6). To keep the proceedings of the Acharya standing committee confidential, except recommendations to the G.B.C. or the G.B.C. officers’ committee.
ISKCON Law, 3-11-81

30(5). To maintain at all times the secrecy, integrity, and sanctity of the governing body commission proceedings and policy.
ISKCON Law, 3-13-81

Seems like they forgot Prabhupäda’s warning about failing to divulge all important decisions to the rank-and-file devotees:

“I cannot understand why, instead of one G.B.C. man, a person outside the Commission, was given so much power, and there was to be immediate action without divulging the matter to the devotees. And I am surprised that none of the G.B.C. 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 be spoiled by G.B.C.?”
Letter to Hansadutta, 4-11-72

Yes, it shall. In fact, two Procedural Orders of ISKCON Law (21 and 22) intentionally went unpublished in the 3-13-81 Resolutions. This “committee confidentiality” trend would only increase as the years rolled on, because that’s how secret societies work.

54. Nothing shall be circulated about the fall-down of a senior Vaisnava except by the G.B.C. Chairman . . . ISKCON Law, 3-13-81

Then, what about a junior Vaiñëava? The word eventually gets out anyway, but we see here the makings of totalitarian censorship, even in an initial stage. After all, the injunction was inscribed into ISKCON Law, even if that was kept a secret.

3.That the initiating Acharyas standing committee shall recommend to the G.B.C. names of devotees for consideration for appointment as now initiating Guru’s (sic) in ISKCON. A 2/3rds vote of committee members present shall be required for this recommendation.
Initial Announcements, 3-8-81

Appointment to guru-dumb gets mixed up with voting for institutional guru via jumbled syntax. A recommendation for appointment then requires a vote from the governing body within the governing body that first made the recommendation. Got that?

1. That all G.B.C. be nominated as candidates to become initiating Gurus with the requirement that they receive the blessings of 3/4 (three fourths) of the G.B.C. members present to begin their initiating role. There after (sic) the individual G.B.C. men who are initiating will be responsible for recommending new candidates for initiating Guru from the godbrothers within their zone. These names must then receive the blessings of 3/4 (three fourths) of the majority of the G.B.C. present at the annual meeting for them to begin their initiating roles.
Introductory Announcements, 2-27-82

The institutional guru gets locked in here by “the blessings” of a vote.

35. That the San Jose preching (sic) centers run by Dheera Krsna Swami is not recognized as part of ISKCON.
Other Zonal Assignments, 2-28-82

The former “ISKCON” L. A. president represented the leading edge of the Mahä-maëòala in America, and his venture was a stick in the eye to the governing body. This was the year that the great schism went down, so this man’s center in the heart of Northern California posed a direct threat. That initial splinter group grew, and, in 1986, when it recruited the “ISKCON” temple president of San Francisco, Neo-Mutt’s coup was validated in America.

20. a. That the G.B.C. shall be the ultimate authority all over the world for controlling the use of the names ”ISKCON”, “International Society For Krsna Consciousness” , “Hare Krsna Movement” and other names related to the ISKCON Movement.

20. b. The G.B.C. shall be the full and final authority to rescind right to use or operate the above mentioned names, and anyone using the ISKCON names without permission shall be legally stopped.
Introductory Announcements, 3-1-82

The “ultimate authority” of the vitiated G.B.C. of the fabricated, so-called “ISKCON” confederation herein claims a monopoly on these designations.

4. That the “considerations for chasing (sic) an acarya” be a standing order of ISKCON as follows:
Introductory Announcements, 3-5-82

A Freudian slip, certainly.

5. That as ISKCON is non different from His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada no one has the right to lead anyone away from ISKCON.

III Vows, 3-5-82

“ISKCON” was never non-different from Prabhupäda. Even before 1982, ISKCON had been ruined. It had been spoiled. It had been murdered. It was primarily destroyed by the fabricated, so-called “ISKCON” confederation through the aegis of a governing body. Western culture, intrinsically inimical to Kåñëa consciousness, certainly facilitated the devolution. The Personality of Kali is taking great delight in all of this.

Prabhupäda’s initiated disciples have every right to challenge the “ISKCON” entity; indeed, it is our duty to do so. Your author has led many devotees away from that oppressive institution, one which falsely poses itself to be representing the guru-paramparä.

13. That all G.B.C. are candidates to become initiating Gurus with the requirements that they receive the blessings of ¾ of all members of the G.B.C. present, or 2/3 of the total G.B.C. . . . to begin their initiating role. The procedure for receiving the blessings shall be exclusively followed during the G.B.C. annual meeting, and at no other time.
Initiating Gurus in ISKCON, Amendment of Existing Resolution, 3-18-83

Guru in “ISKCON” was subject to changing agendas and fluid voting requirements. This would culminate in the No Objection Certificate, which also had an approval requirement.

3. The PC, with the approval of the G.B.C. chairman, may require of the appealing party, to tender and appeal bond which may be forfetted (sic) at the discretion of the G.B.C. should the appeal prove unsuccessful.
Privilege Committee, Section IV: Method of Appeal, 3-18-83

In order to appeal an injustice, the “ISKCON” member had to approach the Privilege Committee (anagram analogous to Political Correctness). By 1983, the petitioner had to also post bond in making such an appeal. If the appeal was not honored, he or she forfeited the bond. The G.B.C. gets you coming and going.

1.A full initiating G.B.C. member may be put forward the name of a godbrother in his zone for whom he feels completely confident as being qualified and for whom he feels adequate need and cause wxist (sic) to nominate him for being accepted as as initiating guru . . .
Initiating Gurus in ISKCON, B. Procedure for non-G.B.C. members, 3-18-83

The syntax here is disturbed, but that’s nothing new. Throughout all of these years, it was not even on a fourth grade elementary level.

1. All of Hansaduta’s disciples are directed to accept initiation from another ISKCON recognized guru.
Opening Resolutions, 3-6-84

We see that the re-initiation scheme is formally implemented by G.B.C. resolution in 1984.

It would function for a short time only. Once some newcomers were on the verge of accepting their fourth “re-initiation,” it began to break down irreversibly.

The following functions were approved for implementation by the Global Secretariat: Concentrate of propaganda in India during 1985-86, and concentrate for the West during 1986-87. Functions of Global Secretariat, Wordwide (sic) Strategy, 3-11-84

For more insight into this, the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Secretariat of the Supreme Soviet could have been consulted, since he was still active at that time.

4. A G.B.C. vote on adding an initiating guru requies (sic) a quorom (sic) of 3/4 months of the G.B.C. Body to be present. To be approved, a candidate must receive a vote of 2/3rds of the (members present at that meeting).
Opening Resolutions, 2-27-85

By the mid-Eighties, was there anyone in the “ISKCON” rank-and-file able to keep up with all of these complicated annual resolutions?

4. When the G.B.C. Body gives their blessings to a candidate to initiate, it is for a particular guru-datta-desa. . . This establishes the G.B.C. Body in in its position as the ultimate managing authority of Iskcon.
Opening Resolutions, 3-1-85

5. All new initiates must vow at the time of initiation that they accept initiation by their guru into the ISKCON disciplic succession whose founder acarya is His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and whose ultimate managing authority is the G.B.C. Body.
Opening Resolutions, 3-1-85

In 1986, the vitiated G.B.C. doubles down on the ultimate authority bromide. A form of the previously imposed territorial limitation (zones) of its institutional gurus here (“it is for a particular guru-datta-desa”) is thus reinforced, e.g., “äcäryas of the zone” (introduced by Swämi B. R. Çrédhar in 1978, if you remember) made a watered-down comeback!

APPROVED RESOLUTIONS FROM GLOBAL SECRETARIAT

18. The Christmas Marathon will be officially titled the “Srila Prabhupada Marathon.”
Global Secretariat Resolutions, 3-1-85

Doth Spake The Global Secretariat.

3. Atreya Rsi prabhu is given blessings and authoriisation (sic) to take up initiating guru responsibilities. Mukunda Goswami is given blessings and authorisation (sic) to take up initiating guru responsibilities. Opening Resolutions, 4-1-86

Code for a majority vote of approval, i.e., Atreya was voted in. It back-fired big time on the G.B.C., as well as upon Mr. Attar. Authorization is misspelled twice in the resolution. Its first misspelling is different from the later misspelling. By 1986, things were breaking down badly. Bhävänanda, fresh off homosexual activity with his disciple (less than a year previously), was re-instated as an initiating guru. This caused an uproar throughout Indian centers; to a lesser extent elsewhere. The glide path of G.B.C. descent into bureaucratization would, one year later, culminate in The Second Transformation.

A Distinction Without a Difference

“One should, therefore, follow the path of Bhagavad-gétä as it is expressed in the Gétä itself and beware of self-interested people after personal aggrandizement who deviate others from the actual path.”
Bhagavad-gétä, 4.42, purport

Interviewer: I mean, if someone, in all seriousness, wishes to find the spiritual life and happens to finish up with the wrong guru, I mean, should they beware?
Prabhupäda: Yes.
Temple Press Conference in London, 8-5-71

Occasionally . . .
Glancing up through the rain
Wondering . . .
Which of the buggers to blame
And watching . . .
For pigs on the wing.
Pink Floyd, “Pigs on the Wing”

“ISKCON” is the glove, and the vitiated G.B.C. is the hand within that glove. If and/or when THE TECHNOCRACY marries the G.B.C., it will spell big trouble. Beware of this calamitous development. Be thankful that it is only in an incubation stage now, i. e., it can be nipped in the bud–and it must be nipped!

Fully sanctioned by the Commish, the “ISKCON” Interfaith Initiative is fraught with potential contortions difficult to even faintly recognize now—but they won’t be at all difficult to see when up and running, after it is too late to stop them.

The reptilian ambition of the eleven zonals (let us never forget that they were all members in good standing with the vitiated G.B.C.) was exposed in due course. From one perspective, we got lucky when it ran out of gas, in no small part because there were devotees who paid the price in order to expose it.

The zonal concoction, The First Transformation, was then replaced by a much stronger Commission-oriented collegiate concoction, The Second Transformation. The DEVIATION was thus locked in at that time, irreversible, and no longer subject to reform. Accordingly, today’s institutional bureaucrats are not content to play—and will never be content to play—second fiddle to anyone or anything.

“ISKCON” has almost no secular power at this time. That could change once a perfect storm hits the West. Be assured that that will go down, probably in the span of most of our lifetimes. Mleccha cultural constraints imposed upon the fabricated, so-called “ISKCON” confederation will be immediately slackened and then removed if the Interfaith Initiative has gotten its foot in the door by that time.

The vitiated G.B.C. is waiting in the wings for that opportune moment. A precious few of you see this clearly. The rest of you may only be able to get a vague glimmer of it at this time. For those of you who are inclined to confront this difficult topic, don’t be shy about acting on your realization. Instead, if you choose not to so act, the consequences for such inaction could be quite severe for all of us—including you!

Epilogue

1. Resolved: That the yearly G.B.C. secretary will write a letter to all ISKCON centers warning about the poisonous activities of Kailas Candra Das.

March 6, 1979, Resolutions Regarding Priviledge (sick)

OM TAT SAT
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