from Nori J. Muster (Nandini dd)

[Guest guest]

For The Krishnas It's Out Of The Closet With Child Abuse

 

--------------------

BY NORI J. MUSTER

 

EDITORIAL, Dec 10 (VNN) — Third Party Opinion

 

This month the ISKCON Communications Journal

published a paper by Burke Rochford, a professor at

Middlebury College, VT, detailing widespread child

abuse in ISKCON, the International Society for

Krishna Consciousness. It's extraordinary that

ISKCON has come out publicly like this. On October

9, The New York Times carried the story on its front

page, and Associated Press, CNN, the Internet, and

Religious News Service followed.

 

In ISKCON's statement to the media, Anuttama Das,

national director of communications, said, "This

type of problem thrives on secrecy. We chose to

print the articles and bring the abuse out into the

open as part of a multi pronged response to address

past problems as well as to help prevent future

abuse of our children."

 

Is this really a turning point in ISKCON's

relationship with its children?

 

The devotees in ISKCON Communications, ISKCON World

Review, Children of Krishna, Child Protection,

Vaishnava Youth Ministry, and many individuals from

the second generation have worked hard for years to

bring this story to light. They deserve

congratulations and support.

 

I believe that revealing the story is the best

thing--and possibly the most honest thing--the Hare

Krishnas have done since the sixties. However, the

branch that issued the brave press release is only

one face of ISKCON. There are others who were

mortified by the public disclosure and will continue

to live in their old ways as much as possible. They

believe that denial is the best policy, and exposing

old dirty laundry will only hurt the movement.

 

However, the policy of sweeping things under the

carpet has led to continued molestations, beatings,

death threats, slanders, arguments, lawsuits and tea

rs in the devotee community. The cult-like

atmosphere of "us and them" at the temples allows

these things to go on without question. Basically,

in a conservative ISKCON temple, anyone who

disagrees with the leaders' activities is in danger

of losing their apartment and their opportunity to

serve Krishna in the temple.

 

The ISKCON mafia-mentality started with Ramesvara,

the man who was my "guru." He behaved like a

gangster. He and others like him took over

administration of ISKCON and systematically forced

ninety percent of Prabhupada's disciples to leave.

It's been a difficult twenty-one years for everyone.

The kids who suffered through that transition are

now in their late twenties and early thirties. They

suffered terrible abuse and neglect.

 

Many need compensation to get on with their lives.

But besides money, the victims and their families

deserve justice.

 

From my observation, many perpetrators still work

for the organization and represent themselves as

spiritual authorities. Less than a year ago, one

ISKCON guru resigned after people found out that he

had touched a male follower inappropriately. As one

of the second generation said on the internet: "All

I want to see [is] ISKCON kick all the abusers out

of their positions. I can't stand to go to a GBC

meeting or festival and see these people still

posturing as advanced devotees. I feel like kicking

their ass when I see them--many of my friends feel

the same way."

 

As long as the perpetrators remain in ISKCON, it is

a dangerous place for children and child abuse

survivors. Unfortunately, some of the abusers and

their codependents are in a position to exact

revenge instead of leaving.

 

They justify it in their minds, believing that

somehow they are the ones who have been wronged.

Everyone is afraid of them, or they would have been

gone long ago.

 

The New York Times disclosure was a victory for the

liberal Krishna faction.

 

If this group takes control of the institution, then

there could be a whole new Hare Krishna movement. It

would be a miracle; even abuse victims from other

walks of life may learn something from the Krishna

kids' story. I hope the house cleaning project is

successful. The second generation's courage in

bringing their story to light is a welcome sign for

the future of ISKCON.

 

---------------------------

 

Membership Statistics and other Side Issues

 

Let's leave aside the child abuse issue and go to

other aspects of the coverage. The New York Times

article said:

 

"The movement now claims an estimated 90,000

followers in the United States, of whom only about

800 live full time in the group's 45 American

spiritual communities, called ashrams. At the

movement's peak in the United States in the late

1970s, about 10,000 devotees lived in American

ashrams, but most now live and work in the secular

world. Another significant shift is that where once

the movement in the United States consisted almost

entirely of Anglo converts to Hinduism, about half

of the people now worshipping in Krishna temples in

the United States are recent immigrants from India

and Asia.

 

"In recent years, the Krishna movement has

experienced its biggest growth in Eastern Europe and

in India, where it was once regarded with disdain by

native Hindus. Internationally, there are now an

estimated 1 million adherents to the Hare Krishna

movement, known formally as ISKCON, or the

International Society of Krishna Consciousness."

 

First of all, 90,000 followers in the United States

is an exaggeration.

 

Right now, ISKCON is lucky that anyone is following

them. There are a lot of people outside ISKCON who

would be willing to give them a second chance if

they can actually turn the abuse situation around.

 

The figure of 800 full time devotees living in the

ashram is exactly what I would estimate, and that is

down from about 5,000 in 1978, when Srila Prabhupada

died. At its height, the Hare Krishna movement was

about the size of a small college (but spread all

over the world). Now it's the size of a school

auditorium.

 

ISKCON Communications says that most ISKCON devotees

live and work in the secular world, implying that

they have a large congregation. However, many of us

left unhappy. It also says that the nature of their

following has shifted from American kids to Asian

Indians. It will be nice if this trend continues,

because Hindus represent the teachings in a way that

American converts rarely do.

 

They say that internationally ISKCON has one million

adherents, but that number also seems high. Granted,

people in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet

countries are now aware of the Hare Krishnas.

Devotees (including second generation Krishnas)

recently toured Eastern Europe playing live rock

Krishna music for large appreciative audiences.

However, ISKCON's guru there, the former chairman of

the GBC and leader of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust

International, just resigned over a scandal.

 

The ISKCON Communications press release says,

 

"The depth of the abuse was first highlighted at a

national meeting of ISKCON leaders in May, 1996. At

that time, ten young Krishna adults shocked the

leadership during a presentation where they shared

their personal stories of neglect and abuse."

 

They say the depth of the abuse was first

highlighted in 1996. Actually, the GBC (the

Governing Body Commission, ISKCON's board of

directors) were aware of it much earlier, but

neglected to act on the information. The event in

1996 was the exact point when the GBC acknowledged

that they were aware of the problem.

 

In The New York Times, Anuttama says:

 

"We need to get to the bottom of it, and to the best

of our ability do whatever we can to try to repair

the damage to the kids and show them we do care as a

religious society."

 

He also told the Associated Press:

 

"We want people to be aware of the depth of the

problem and do everything possible to protect kids

in the future. The first step is to put everything

on the table and do everything to rectify past

mistakes."

 

We agree that they have put things on the table. Now

we will watch and wait, to see what the organization

does to make amends.

[Guest guest]

>

>For The Krishnas It's Out Of The Closet With Child Abuse

>

> --------------------

> BY NORI J. MUSTER

>

> EDITORIAL, Dec 10 (VNN) - Third Party Opinion

 

 

This must be from last December, right?

 

>

> We agree that they have put things on the table. Now

> we will watch and wait, to see what the organization

> does to make amends.

 

 

Yes, in light of the missing 750K, sadly enough, I'd have to conclude

that we're *still* waiting.

 

Ys,

Madhusudani dasi

[Guest guest]

At 20:02 +0100 12/10/1999, COM: Janaka Gauranga (das) JPS (NE-BBT) wrote:

>[Text 2847444 from COM]

>

>It's from today's VNN. Ys

 

Odd. Someone must have forwarded it to them then. I think it's from

her web site and at least several months if not over a year old (the

ICJ article came out in June, 1998). However, her words still

provide food for thought.

 

Ys,

Madhusudani dasi