When Tyranny is Disguised as Absolute Truth

(And Vai avism Thus Betrays Itself)

by Kailsa Candra dsa

Prabhupda: He has taken these ideas from the Vedic literature.

Hayagrva: When this form degenerates, it becomes a tyranny.
Prabhupda: Yes.
Dialectical Spiritualism, Critique of Plato

Prabhupda:
Hayagrva:
Prabhupda:

. . . so-called dharmas, they are simply cheating, because that will not benefit anybody,
the followers or the dictators.
Platform Lecture in Bombay, 11-11-74

The totalitarian mass leaders base their propaganda on the correct psychological
assumption that . . . one could make people believe the most fantastic statements one
day and trust that, if the next day they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood,
they would take refuge in cynicism . . . they would protest that they had known all along
that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical
cleverness.
Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism

The fabricated, so-called ISKCON confederation does not represent the vision of its
great founder, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivednta Swami Prabhupda. It does not
represent the directions of its Founder-crya, either. It enforces, often somewhat
subtly, a tyranny of thought and, in that way, is a covert form of totalitarianism. It is
aided and assisted by hegemonic fantasies and is now nothing more than a degenerating
representation of what only appears to be K a consciousness. The mentality which is
all-pervading in it actually serves to cover K
a consciousness. Its ardent followers and
initiated disciplesall causally injected with the ISKCON bjaadmire and worship its
leaders, and the ISKCON egregor thus flourishes on a teetering platform.

The greatest threat to the dominance of any totalitarian paradigm is schism. In

ISKCON, some contentions have been brewing, and two of them now have the
potential for creating a schism. Thus far, however, they have not done so. The actual
schisms that have transpired in that movement went down in the Eighties: When Neo-
Mutt crossed the river to split from ISKCON and when the criminal Moundsville tribe
went its own way. The current conflicts in ISKCON are not as serious as those, being
mostly diversions, little more than tempests in a teapot.

The peculiar ISKCON dharma can only effectively hue to its strategy of fix-it-as-you-go
when it remains united, avoiding any damaging schism. Its strategy is to perpetually buy
more and more time and thus wipe out the influence of real devotees, those who
remember what Prabhupda's movement was and, just as importantly, what it was
meant to be. The manifestation of ISKCON tyranny requires complete power and
control over its Deities, its corporate entities, and its loyal adherents. The principles and
practices of its political system demand that there can only be one ruling faction, and
that faction is the G.B.C. Party. It must control everything and everyone in ISKCON as
the ultimate spiritual and devotional authority, so called.

Historical Revisionism Within a Regnant Orthodoxy

Will you kindly let me know why you have suppressed so many facts? You have also not
mentioned in the matter of Bon Mahrja's preaching work: Why he was called back
from this work in Europe, and why the Late Goswm Mahrja was sent in his place. If
his preaching was successful, then why was he called back? Don't you know the
history?
Letter to Swm Trtha (Kuja Bbu), 2-7-69

If we divert our attention in this way, the whole thing will gradually deteriorate. . .
Gradually, the K
a Consciousness idea will evaporate: Another change, another
change, every day another change. Stop all this! Simply have krtana, nothing else.
Don't manufacture ideas.
Letter to Sudm, 11-5-72

The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own
understanding of their history.
George Orwell, 1984

ISKCON reality is not something ever-existing in its own right; its reality is whatever
the G.B.C. says it is at the time. The confederation does not have a Ministry of Truth, but
it might as well have one, because it ignores and overrides factual history whenever it
suits The Party to do so. The demonstrable falsehood that Prabhupda appointed eleven
men as pure devotees, the demonstrable falsehood of geographic carve-outs for its
zonal cryas, the demonstrable falsehood that rittviks automatically became dk-
gurus once the founder-crya left the scene, and the demonstrable falsehood that
Prabhupda recognized the G.B.C. as infallibleall of these (and more) underpin an elite
supremacy which commands reality control and tacitly denies anything which does not
tally with that demand. Even when it is demonstrably wrong, it still claims to be
ultimately right, and common sense to see through that illusion is considered deviant
and heretical.

ISKCON lives in its own echo chamber, obviating the need for anything resembling
historical accuracy. The cult leaders have no problem if their followers are distracted by
so many nonsense things, just as long as they are unable to recognize their leadership's
blatant contradictions. The books are being re-written, but the G.B.C. does nothing to
stop it. Its institutional gurus are mostly rent-cryas, but the G.B.C. is not bothered at
all by that. There is an alleged infallibility narrative underlying the whole thing, and, as
such, all members must entertain beliefs that tally with an anodyne pseudo-parampar
pabulum which glorifies ISKCON history.

In reality, it is a dystopia riddled with big lies and smaller ones, with blatant lies and
subtler ones, but the pseudo-devotees and sahajiys (who are members in good
standing) never confront those lies; their own daily reality constitutes an approved
ISKCON sub-bubble. Those people are always ready to believe every ISKCON
absurdity, and, even when deceived, they are not bothered much by thatbecause,
after all, every statement by everyone in Kali-yuga is a lie anyhow.

They enjoy the dislocation of their own history. In order to explain away any
incongruities, the cult relies upon scapegoats, loose sub-narratives, and similar easy
fixes that do not accord with historical fact. There is value to such confusion, especially
for those in power. Everything can always be changed, molded, and updated, and the
bewildering state of affairs in and around ISKCON always winds up serving the vested
interests of its elites.

When a joint mess such as that one masquerades itself as perfectly representing the
Absolute Truthand falsely claims the power to link you to that Absolutethere will be
negative consequences demonstrated in due course of time. An ever-widening
polarization (now, an unbridgeable gulf) between the devotees who are all in and those
who bravely speak out against 'ISKCON deviations is but one of those consequences.
Even while Prabhupda was physically manifest, the first echelon mega-enjoyers never
actually trained real spiritual or devotional leaders; they trained lackeys. This historical
fact can only be directly known by those who tried to overcome it.

Nevertheless, the asphyxiating power of its post-modern princes can still be experienced
by anyone who challenges their oligarchy from the inside. Such foolhardy souls will not
remain on the inside for long, because no incremental reform can bear genuine fruit
within such a fever swamp. ISKCON institutional collapse is only avoided by always
refortifying the orthodoxy which created their unauthorized system in the first place.

Yet, history also presents us with a silver lining, especially when we remember how
condemned the malcontents were when, in the late Seventies and early Eighties, they
protested the hubris of the eleven pretender mahbhgavats. Some of them, such as
your author, went so far as to preach that none of those eleven men were genuine gurus
at any level. What was radical blaspheme then is now accepted by the majority of K a
devotees today, so to predict systemic failure of the current organization is not as radical
now as it may first seem. Let the melodrama play out, and we shall, in all likelihood,
realize that ISKCON has indeed neglected Santayana's warning.

A new and bona fide system needs to eventually emerge, but that will never be
accomplished within a systemic fraud by allegedly reforming it. You will find this fact to
be entirely liberating once you free yourself from any and all biases that prevent you
from admitting it.

Questions and Answers

Q: How is it even possible that Vaishnavism can betray itself?

A: Although, from one perspective, you can say that Vai avism is the monopoly of the
pure devotees, from the preacher's perspective, its definition is more expansive, i.e.,
neophytes, mixed devotees, and even separatist mixed devotees are under the umbrella
of Vai avism. As far as the sahajiys are concerned, although they are closer to
Myvds and sense enjoyers, they can also, from an ultra-liberal perspective, be
considered Vai avas. Anyone who believes that Vi u is God can be considered a
Vai ava, as confirmed in the Teachings of Lord Caitanya.

Genuine Vai avism entails ultimate elevation to the spiritual planets of the Supreme
Lord. That is the essence Vedntic personalism. According to that teaching, Vai avism
is meant to elevate all lower Vai avas to a higher state, to pure devotional service.
When that is the momentum present in a devotional movement, then Vai avism is
working as it is meant to function.

However, when the lower rungs of Vai avism are able to drag down devotees at higher
octaves--when neophytes drag down madhyams, when mixed devotees drag down
neophytes, when separatists drag down mixed devotees (who do not have a separatist
vision), and when sahajiys drag down mixed devotees--then Vai avism is not
functioning progressively. That is when it betrays itself.

Q: Can you specify the two current conflicts in ISKCON that could potentially produce a
schism?

A: Those two conflicts are right-wing ISKCON versus left-wing ISKCON, and the
authority struggle between ISKCON gurus against the executive bureaucracy managing
the temples. These will be explained in the Q&A section of a future article.

Q: What does it mean when you say that those conflicts are actually diversions?

A: They are diversions, because they are nothing more than in-house politics ultimately
serving to cover the root issues, which are never debated within the walls of ISKCON.
Those two tempests in the confederation's teapot serve the cause of the ISKCON
deviation, and followers become immersed in what they wrongly believe are the really
pressing issues of the moment. Particularly in the Western world, the root issues are the
ones actually checking the genuine K
a movement from making any significant
progress.

Q: What was Santayana's warning?

A: Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

Pseudo-Devotional Power Politics

(And Some Raw-Nerve Source Codes)

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.
Letter to Guru-Kp,
9-30-75

I made the G.B.C. 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?
Letter to Hansadutta, 9-12-74

One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the
revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution.
The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. George Orwell, 1984

There is no need to come under the spell of any misconception concerning the power
sources of ISKCON, because they are most definitely not philosophical. They are
process (procedural) to some extent, but even that should not be overblown. Ultimately,
it is all about overlording, viz., the ISKCON lords controlling their chelas. There is a
hierarchy in that turtle tank, but we shall not delve too deeply into that topic here.

Control of Deities, along with Their opulent worship, produces power to overlord. Control
of the means of production--the temples and all the facilities and amenities provided in
and by them-- produces power to overlord. Control of the printing operations and the
books (obviously, one and the same) produces power to overlord. Colorful rituals,
ceremonies, and parades produce power to overlord. There is a power aura to all of
these.

That aura can be cent-per-cent spiritual and devotional, but it is not necessarily so. It
can instead be a semblance or a shadow of the real thing. Just as there is true and
advanced bhakti (exemplified by His Divine Grace rla Prabhupda), there is also, as
confirmed specifically in the Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, the semblance (bhsa) of bhakti,
and, lower than that, the shadow (chaya) of bhakti. When there is major philosophical
deviation combined with direct disobedience to the orders of the Founder-crya, these
reflections result.

Again, this is a very complex, convoluted, and complicated topic; it cannot be

adequately described in an article such as this one. Actually, it would be offensive to
Lord K
a to even attempt to do so, because too much confidential knowledge would
have to be revealed in order to fully, or even adequately, discuss it threadbare. The
INTERNET is open to all, but the Lord emphatically orders that confidential knowledge is
not open to all:

ida te ntapaskya nbhaktya kadcana

na curave vcya na ca m yo 'bhyasyati

This knowledge is never to be spoken by you at any time to anyone who is not austere,
not a devotee, not engaged in bhakti and also never spoken to anyone who is envious of
Me.
Bhagavad-gt, 18.67

Nevertheless, your author is giving you a glimpse of the raw-nerve source codes which
under-gird the political power of ISKCON leaders. They know that neophytes are
enamored by well-decorated Deities of the Lord, so they provide those at their main
centers. Are all of those Deities actually installed? Of course not, but They are forms of
the Lord, so we are not referring to any kind of idol worship here.
The Deities that Prabhupda authorized to be installed are the Deities that are actually
installed. After his disappearance, none of those ISKCON leadersby that time,
dominated by the eleven pretender mahbhgavatswas authorized to actually install
Deities in any temple anywhere. Yes, this is a raw nerve issue, but you might as well
confront it now, because it is going to be confronted on a major scale in due course of
time.

Ironically, near the end of his manifest presence, a Deity installation ceremony was held
in Heidelberg against the express wishes of His Divine Grace. So, not every Deity
installation that transpired during his time with us was bona fide, i.e., one was not.

Lenin emphasized control of the means of production when he overthrew the royal
family (murdering them in cold blood) and forcibly created the world's first Communist
government in 1917. The ISKCON leaders knew it well that they had to have complete
control of all the temples and temple properties in order to pull off their scam. Although
three of those were taken away, on the whole, they were successful in controlling the
means of production. And, in those temples, the ritual, the ceremony, and the worship is
conducted according to their dictates, which have not been bona fide since the spring of
1978.

That consideration is not important to them, because neophyte and mixed devotees
and certainly all of the Hindu hodge-podge revenue sourcesare unable to recognize the
difference. ISKCON leaders knew that in advance, and they also knew, over time
(more quickly than they even imagined), they would be able to stock the temples with
their own people. They did this, in no small measure, by driving out, directly or
indirectly, those who were not enamored by their show-bottle spiritualism, i.e., those
who believed the whole thing was a farce from the gate.

Classic Marxism propounds the proposition that a dictatorship of the proletariat is

nothing more than the penultimate stage. In due course, after being fully implemented,
it falls away, and everyone is uplifted to the same level, i.e., there is no more need of
leaders. That is a pie-in-the-sky utopian pipe dream that will never come to pass, and
various Communist dictatorships over the last century have proven it beyond a shadow
of a doubt.

Similarly, the mis-leaders of the ISKCON oligarchical dictatorship allegedly hold their
power in order to create other advanced devotees (who they rule in the interim),
training them to higher and higher states of purity and realization. Nothing like that has
ever gone on, and nothing like that will ever go on, not in ISKCON.

Its power source codes weren't fully described here; your author is simply providing
some hints. If you utilize intuition, your higher intelligence (praj), you will be able to
explore this topic more fully within your own selfprovided that you have enough
devotional dedication and experience to do so. Everything is topsy-turvy in Kali-yuga,
and the ISKCON upper echelons exploit that existential fact for the purpose of securing
more and more power. The object of securing their power is simply to increase it.

They get off by expanding and amplifying their profit, adoration, distinction, and power
propensities (all substitutes for physical sex pleasure) by taking advantage of what are
ultimately basic principles. These are allegedly unapproachable, because it is supposed
to be offensive to even deliberate on them. It is not at all offensive to do so, as long as
they are seen and understood in the right way. Indeed, you need to actuate your own
spiritual courage in order to confront the unthinkable, which really means that it is
essential to understand the raw-nerve source codes for just what they are.

Absurdity's Horse Adorns the Sky

"This is ridiculous. Why they are dragging me into the management?

Now the crya is meant for handling business?
Letter to Spiritual Sky manager, August, 1974

If the majority are fools and rascal,

if you say something sane, then they'll (say),
'The man, the sane man, he is insane. He's crazy.'
Room Conversation, 11-3-76 in India

We can't be certain who the villains are, 'cuz everyone's so pretty.

Sheryl Crow
There Goes the Neighborhood

Faith in the messianic fantasies of well-dressed ISKCON leaders is a sure ticket to

serial disappointment. Their proud, pukka profiles have produced many abstract
compromises, buttressed by inflamed rhetoric (subject to change at any time),
ultimately leaving us their Trojan Horse, viz., a legacy of intractable problems. The late-
Seventies Diktatfrieden (that eleven pretender mahbhgavats must be worshiped by
godbrothers and godsisters) eventually gave way to the mid-Eighties Diktatfrieden of a
collegial, ecclesiological institutionalism--and everyone was obliged to accept the new
mandatum.

The world of ISKCON is a broken world, and it has been so for quite some time. It is
just plain nuts. It is fundamentally opposed to the real system of guru and disciple,
which is always forged within the matrix of that disciple's eventual self-determination,
free from any and all institutional delusions. The governing commission was given a
sacred trust, and, if it had upheld its mandate, then it would have been dovetailed to the
Absolute.

Instead, it became a tyranny in disguise. It was then anything but representing the will
of the Founder-crya, who himself was perfectly linked to the Absolute Truth. It has
become a covert kind of criminal enterprise, and so many villainous activities have been
able to prosper within the super-structural framework it created over time.

How can you petition it for redress of wrongdoings which are ultimately of its own
making? There will be no reform within ISKCON. There cannot be, because the G.B.C.
is at the root of all the deviations that have degraded the Hare K
a movement of K
a
consciousness. ISKCON is very pukka when it comes to its well-dressed Deities. Its
sannyss are brightly adorned in their garbs, as well. Such a nice movement on the
exterior, but you subject yourself to an insane paradox if you therefore believe that such
pukka leaders (by outward dress) must necessarily be really good and spiritually
advanced men.

ISKCON has degenerated into a tyranny. It has betrayed Prabhupda, and it has
betrayed you. It is a cheating dharma made up of cheap gurus and cheap disciples. It
does not represent the vision or directions of rla Prabhupda. It will not in the future,
and it only appears confusing if you choose to allow yourself to be confused by it.

OM TAT SAT