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EDITORIAL  Calcutta Surprise? BY RADHA KRSNA DASA (MEXICO CITY) EDITORIAL, May 16 (VNN) — Did ISKCON's recent attempt to violently oust Adridharana Prabhu from the Calcutta temple surprise you? Well it shouldn't. Rogue actions are a standard tactic in the GBC's bag of tricks, one of the many Machiavellian techniques they are ready to employ to preserve the "Pax Iskconiana." Personally, I did not find this latest episode of the ISKCON saga surprising. In fact, based on my experience, I found it distinctly unsurprising, almost predictable, for a couple of reasons. One, it tallies with my longstanding perception that illusion has stolen the good intelligence of ISKCON's leaders. Over the last 25 years, those at the top of the ISKCON foodchain have systematically turned this Movement into a marginal group riddled with ineptitude and fortified with impunity. And two, I have directly witnessed the same tactics by the same people on earlier occasions. Allow me to share this with you. In 1984 in Colombia, although Alanath Swami was preaching very successfully the GBC considered him inadequately submissive to their authority. His emerging leadership was obviously a threat to their institutional leadership, and their insecurity and immaturity played out as condescending and abusive treatment by the regional GBC leadership, namely Hrdayananda Goswami, Jayapataka Swami and Panchadravida Swami. For example, they continuously tried to sabotage his programs, turn his own people against him and minimize his work. Matters reached a breaking point during the Mayapura Festival, where Alanath notified the GBC that he had had enough. He and the other local leaders refused to any longer recognize the authority of the regional GBCs until the matter was resolved through an impartial GBC delegation. He indicated that the GBC delegation could include anyone except--for obvious reasons--Jayapataka and Hrdayananada. Eventually a delegation was formed, and Hrdayananda called one day before its departure for Colombia to tell me that I was to be part of it. The arrangement was for me to fly to Miami where I would join Satsvarupa Goswami, Prahladananda Swami, and possibly Atreya Rsi Prabhu. But lo and behold, upon arriving in Miami I found Jayapataka was also there, ready to fly down! He assured me everything had been worked out and that Alanath had agreed to his coming, a statement I knew to be blatantly false because hours earlier I had spoken with Alanath, who reaffirmed his insistence that Jayapataka (a person he did not trust) not be included. The plot thickened as all through breakfast, Hrdayananda called Satsvarupa and fed him the names of gullible Colombian devotees who could be "turned," as well as ideas on how to storm the temple in Bogota. It reminded me more of a "mini Bay of Pigs operation" than a group of sadhus trying to resolve a conflict. By keeping my eyes open I was able to to assemble the pieces of the plot, which was to unfold as follows: I was to fly down clandestinely with Jayapataka and two others. Two hours later the official delegation (Satsvarupa, Prahladananda and the rest) would fly down to be received at the airport by the local leadership. This would give the "covert" first group time to reach the temple unopposed and brainwash the devotees against Alanath. Voila. Finito. Mission accomplished. Many souls would be saved and ISKCON would be victorious. However, once I understood the deviousness of this plan put together by Jayapataka and Hrdayananda, I called my office in Los Angeles and told them to alert Alanath. I never considered this an act against ISKCON but an act against the unlawful, deceitful and misguided behaviour of those running it. This extends to Satsvarupa, "Saintly Sats," who was a full participant in the deception, even implicating his disciple in the subtrefuge. Ironically, he has written a book entitled "Truthfulness, the Last Leg of Religion." As our plane passed over Cuba, Jayapataka revealed that Alanath actually didn't know about him coming and explained his final version of the plan to "save" the temple. But the surprise was on him. After clearing Immigration and Customs he was ready to roll, but was instead shocked to find Alanath & Co. awaiting him in the airport's lobby, where, in the midst of hundreds of onlookers, he boldly denounced Jayapataka as a cheater and a crook. A short time later, Saintly Sats arrived to the same treatment. Within 48 hours we were back in the U.S., minus the $10,000.00 that had been wasted on plane tickets and hotels. As a result of this "brilliant" operation, the devotees of Colombia permanently severed all ties with ISKCON. A whole country with temples, farms, and restaurants was no longer part of ISKCON. To date, ISKCON has not recovered from this fiasco, and it struggles even to exist in Colombia. Were Jayapataka, Hrdayananda and Satsvarupa ever held accountable for this debacle? Of course not. The show must go on. But behind the facade of devotion, erudition and saintliness lies a mentality ever-ready to preserve at all costs a flawed system of institutional authority. For those surprised at Satsvarupa's involvement here, this simply shows how contagious is the atmosphere of decadence in ISKCON. Even someone with a mystique of saintlyness ends up an accomplice to his power-hungry peers. So don't let the Calcutta attacks surprise you. It has happened before and will happen again, unless and until the Movement regains its purity. But, of course, if that were to happen, we would all be surprised.  Comment on this storyContact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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