I think it's a great disservice when victims don't speak up, and ultimately, it does precisely what the abusers and those in power want: Your silence and obedience.

Think about how many people would be helped if he came forward on a forum like this (not this specific one, but on the cult forums site) or Reddit, social media, or in an anonymous contribution to a book, etc. It would shake these cults in their shoes.

At the same time, I get it, and it's a pretty common phenomenon with trauma survivors and cult survivors. The psychology behind it, unfortunately, is also what keeps victims in a paralyzed cycle of pain/trauma.

RUN.

Just one victim impact statement to the ISKCON CPO, from my friend, could result in Bhavananda losing his position with ISKCON high leadership in Mayapura. He is being presently treated like a celebrity there, Bhavananda is. But my friend is not willing to go on the record, and part of the reason for this is that he is scared of potential repercussions against himself and his family, his kids. Another reason has to do with being reluctant to re-visit certain elements of his past, re-traumatizing himself and etc. He's just not ready, he says, to make that move. And I respect that. I do not pressure him one bit, just try to be supportive.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2024 04:11AM by XKRISHNA.

He even had the opportunity to materially benefit from the Turley case, more than twenty years ago, but he did not want to go on the record then either. He told me that he regretted that decision, though. He could have been paid, at the very least. It could have helped his family, at the time. But he did not want to visit the past at all, back then.

RUN_FOREST_RUN Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bhaktivedantas writing, lectures, and casual talks
> are chock-full of anti-homosexual rhetoric,
> anti-blacks, anti-women etc. It's preposterous for
> Shyamasundar to state that Bhaktivedanta
> "...seemed to not give it a whole lot of notice".
> BULLSHIT. Bullshit. and another small pile of
> bullshit. Like all the shit they all peddle.
>
> But all in all a nice slice of history once again
> showing that Butler had a style/agenda/motive that
> was pretty evident even when his own guru was
> around.
>
>
> Hence, run.


The mood of comments in A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami's writings and letters or conversations is different. In the commentaries on Bhagavad Gita or Srimad Bhagabavatam, one can see the care and accuracy of the message. Attention to completeness. These are the times of his stay at Damodara Temple, according to the biography. However, there is a certain casualness in the dialogue recordings.

Key word: sacrifice something. When a sect or denomination grows, utilitarianism creeps in unnoticed - as the wealth increases, there is a need to maintain it. At some point, the welfare of the sheep and science begins to be sacrificed in the name of subsistence. And this is the beginning of the end of the sect's "spiritual" good contribution. Leaving aside the value of science and faith.Moral values.

A question about ISKCON and expansionism versus the Chaitanya tradition and teachings. He didn't want to have followers. He wanted to spread sankirtana. However, if spreading requires the purchase of property, there will automatically be a need for maintenance. Temples etc. The Gaudiya tradition has its regulations here. How the brahmacaris and pujaris were to be maintained. At SIF they had to work outside and at the same time run the program. When money ran out, the program was suspended. Money became the goal.... As Bismark and Eswaran's QNET shows, moral principles were also sacrificed - according to Garuda purana, profit must be related to trade. Application fee - not allowed...

When in your sect you are building there are already thousands of people, dozens of properties and buildings, but you can see the beginnings of pathology, but you want more, you have to answer the question - will I discipline the sheep so that some of them leave, but I will lose the chance for more. Have a larger sect or spread the teachings further. And here comes the calculation. But pathology is already an element of it. A factor.

I met a man whose small sect was beginning to become successful. Doctrinally and folkloristically between Buddhism, shamanism and Shintoism. There were interested parties, the mafia, prostitutes, security services, and unhappy women who wanted spiritual and sexual ecstasy in the leader's temple - and, of course, comfort and adoration for the guru's chosen one.

The "Guru" was serious here - he said - this mess doesn't make sense anymore. He went out of business. He returned to simple professional work in construction. Then he was harassed for a long time. Because of the mafia, disappointed women, the services...



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/08/2024 09:36PM by Culthusiast.

"The "Guru" was serious here - he said - this mess doesn't make sense anymore. He went out of business. He returned to simple professional work in construction. Then he was harassed for a long time. Because of the mafia, disappointed women, the services..."

That's something many don't think about -- the way success and wealth bring problems.

Too many people making money off of you (mafia, etc) and refuse to let you shut the circus down.

It's how many celebrities, especially in the rock and pop music business, are driven to early deaths and, too often, break downs -- too many are earning livings off of them.

Ordinary therapists have colleagues they can discuss things with, share/make referrals with.

A guru is cursed and made isolated by uniqueness.

"Heavy is the head that wears the crown." Exactly.

[www.harekrsna.org]

corboy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That's something many don't think about -- the way
> success and wealth bring problems.
>
> Too many people making money off of you (mafia,
> etc) and refuse to let you shut the circus down.

In his case, a cavalcade of off-road vehicles would come and plow the land in front of his house. Or they smeared feces on his front door. Young women texted him etc.

By the way, it is worth recalling the 6th Canto of the Bhagavatam, where it is written that a brahmana who undertakes priestly activities loses part of his brahmanical achievements.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/09/2024 06:40AM by Culthusiast.

Cultthusiast. Why is it worth recalling this?


By the way, it is worth recalling the 6th Canto of the Bhagavatam, where it is written that a brahmana who undertakes priestly activities loses part of his brahmanical achievements.

Because it is worth emphasizing that the very doctrine of this philosophy - described in its scriptuers - proves or confirms that the activities of a chaplain, a teacher, a preacher - they reduce or take away the effects of sacrifices and Brahmanical achievements. This is a good argument against the fanatical blind faith that the teachings of this or that guru "are perfect, his vision is pure" and the narrative is perfect. Well, as you can see - not necessarily. Moving within the doctrine itself. Her truths and beliefs.

Might be another way of saying that earning money reducing mysteries beyond words to words, commodifies them and breeds delusion?

Lots of ways to interpret this.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2024 01:53AM by corboy.