Back To Prabhupada, Issue 4, Summer 2004
Since the launch of Back To Prabhupada (BTP) last October, the ISKCON Revival Movement (IRM)'s campaign to reform ISKCON based on Srila Prabhupada's original instructions has attracted a huge amount of interest, not only within ISKCON itself of course, but also amongst scholars and the media.
In Issue 2, we reported on the highly successful conference hosted last October by the American Family Foundation (AFF), the world's leading anticult organisation, at which the IRM was invited to speak on the ISKCON Guru hoax.
Scholarly interest in the IRM's philosophical research has increased dramatically since then, with some of the world's leading academics on religious movements requesting copies of our foundational book The Final Order (see also page 5 "GBC admits defeat against The Final Order"), as well as copies of BTP itself.
This in turn has led to our biggest academic preaching invitation to date - a presentation to the annual conference of CESNUR, the Centre for Studies on New Religions. The conference is the largest world gathering of those active in the field of studies on new religions, and delegates typically include not only scholars, educators and graduate students, but also lawyers, judges, law enforcement officials, pastors, mental health professionals and journalists.
CESNUR's published aim is to "promote scholarly research in the field of new religious consciousness, to spread reliable and responsible information, and to expose the very real problems associated with some movements, while at the same time defending everywhere the principles of religious liberty." In this prestigious environment, the IRM's presentation "exposed the very real problems" in ISKCON, while at the same time "defended the principles of religious liberty" denied to so many of Srila Prabhupada's disciples in ISKCON. Here follows a brief report on the conference.
CESNUR 2004 Conference report
by Cathy Vaughan, Texas, USA
Waco, Texas was the poignant setting for this year's annual CESNUR conference on the theme of "Religious Movements, Confiict and Democracy". Scholars and other expert commentators on religious movements and cults descended for the three day meeting of minds at Baylor University, lasting from June 18-20 (with the welcome reception held on the evening of June 17). With the IRM due to speak on the final day, the editor of BTP and the author of The Final Order, Krishnakant, was invited to some private meetings beforehand for one-on-one discussions with scholars on just what has been happening within ISKCON, both in terms of the GBC's continuing philosophical U-turns, as well as the attempts by various ISKCON leaders to suppress the truth by harassing, intimidating, banning and in some cases beating IRM devotees - all cases of which are being meticulously documented.
The conference attracted many delegates, with the big themes including the study of new religious movements in the 21st century, 50 years of the Unification Church (the "Moonies") and the Church of Scientology, and of course the Branch Dravidians tragedy at Waco a decade ago, which included a field trip to the scene of the disaster.
The official programme advertised the IRM session as: "ISKCON Controversies Krishnakant Desai will present the position of the ISKCON Revival Movement, opening the floor to responses and interacting with scholars."
As with the AFF conference in October, Krishnakant delivered a very powerful Powerpoint presentation which was projected on to a large screen. The title of the talk was "ISKCON: 25 Years of the Guru Controversy".
The IRM presentation took us right up to 2004 to show, using concrete examples, how the GBC continues to unscrupulously manipulate Srila Prabhupada's philosophy and instructions to justify the existence of diksa Guru successors and Guru falldowns. It particularly contrasted the great achievements and appreciation of Srila Prabhupada with the scandal and shame which has beset ISKCON's false Guru program since Srila Prabhupada's departure. The IRM's recognition by both academia and the media, and the progress in their publishing work, were also highlighted. It ended with a chronological timeline that charted the acquisition of power and Guruship by the GBC Guru oligopoly from 1977 to the present day.
Particularly appreciated by the audience was the brilliant exposé of the GBC's academic deceptions on the Guru issue perpetrated by Dr. Howard Resnick (Hridayananda dasa Goswami) and the posthumously awarded PhD recipient Dr. Thomas Herzig (Tamala Krsna Goswami). The documented contradictions and U turns of these two self authorised ISKCON Gurus was dizzying to watch, and rather entertaining too! More seriously, Krishnakant showed how even some independent academics had been sold the lie about the appointment of Gurus, and he provided evidence of the cult tactics and violence ISKCON leaders employ in their attempts to silence the voices of those who are exposing the truth.
The end of the slideshow presentation, which lasted for half an hour, was in fact just the beginning! Following the presentation, the senior organisers and scholars at the conference engaged Krishnakant in a discussion for over 1 hour on the ISKCON Guru hoax. It was a most lively session, with many questions being asked and answered expertly. In particular, the scholars attempted to evaluate the reform taking place in ISKCON in an historic context, and they were also very interested in hearing about all the changes which have occurred in ISKCON to the present day. The point that the movement in the West seems to be now catering almost exclusively for the local Hindu population was especially noted as a sign of how the movement's missionary zeal had declined.
At the end of a very enlivening and enlightening session, business cards were exchanged, many more contacts were made from around the world, and most importantly the truth was broadcast to one of the most influential gatherings of religious experts in the world.
The Powerpoint slideshow can be downloaded from: www.iskconirm.com/CESNUR04.zip
Subscribe for FREE to Back To Prabhupada Magazine - Click Here
Return to "Academia" Index
Return to IRM Homepage
