Spring 2005

Readers of Back to Prabhupada (BTP) will by now be familiar with the various methods of cult control ISKCON has employed to try and suppress the truth that Srila Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement, is also the movement's only authorised initiating (diksa) Guru.

In the very first issue of BTP, we highlighted the cult tactic of thought control employed by Vipramukhya Swami, the disgraced "Harry Potter Guru" (so-called because of his predilection for "flying" on broomsticks). The former Swami, who was also the Temple President of Bhaktivedanta Manor until he flew away with a young lady, was notorious for issuing letters banning people from advocating the position of Srila Prabhupada as the diksa Guru of ISKCON, even within their own homes (see BTP 1, page 13).

Failure to comply with his draconian directive would be regarded as "trespassing" if such a thought criminal were to visit the temple, resulting in the Swami calling the police to have the poor devotee evicted from the premises on the pretext of "disturbing the peace". This unbelievable action actually happened and was captured on film, photographic evidence of which we published in BTP 2 (page 13).

In issue 5, we carried an article by Chaitanya Thankey in our regular "Coming to Prabhupada" section. In this article, Mr. Thankey detailed his evolution from accepting a false Guru in ISKCON to his acceptance of Srila Prabhupada as the only authorized and bona fide diksa Guru of ISKCON.
On November 21, 2004, following the publication of BTP 5, Mr. Thankey visited Bhaktivedanta Manor to worship in the temple as usual. However, when Mr. Thankey entered the temple, one of the temple managers approached Mr. Thankey under the instructions of Gauri Das, the Temple President of Bhaktivedanta Manor, asked Mr. Thankey to immediately leave, and then escorted him off the premises despite Mr. Thankey's initial protestations. Somewhat bemused by this treatment more akin to dictatorships than open, democratic societies, Mr. Thankey initiated a correspondence with Gauri Das.

In his first letter to Mr. Thankey, Gauri Das wrote:

The absurdity of Gauri Das' claim above is astounding. He has provided not a single shred of evidence that the IRM is "seeking to destroy ISKCON". This completely spurious allegation is similar to the tactics employed by the Nazi propaganda machine which accused Jews of wanting to destroy Germany. And we all know where such lies led to.

The IRM's "interpretation of Srila Prabhupada's instructions", which is clearly documented in our book The Final Order, as well as in a number of papers and academic publications, simply states that Srila Prabhupada established himself as the only initiating Guru for ISKCON, and that his final signed directive on this matter should be followed. So we therefore ask Gauri Das:

HOW does this "interpretation" lead to the "destruction" of ISKCON?
Rather, surely FOLLOWING the instructions of the spiritual master Srila Prabhupada is the only way to ensure ISKCON is NOT destroyed?

In his second reply, Gauri Das wrote:

Gauri now brings into play a tactic much favoured by cults - THOUGHT CONTROL. Gauri Das is saying is that now one simply has to AGREE with the views of the IRM, namely that Srila Prabhupada is the bona fide initiating spiritual master of ISKCON, and you will be banned from Srila Prabhupada's temple.

Thus cult mind control is now complete from all sides. First, readers were horrified that they could be banned from the temple because of what they advocated in their own homes. Now, simply AGREEING with the viewpoint of the IRM is enough. Thus this truly is, without any exaggeration, a "thought-crime". For now you will be punished not for what you DO, nor even for what you say, but simply for what you are suspected of THINKING.

Gauri Das' letters have a further, hidden twist of irony to them. Gauri Das is also a "Spiritual Commissioner" of the Hindu Forum of Britain - whose leadership was recently invited to the home of Dr. Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi, to participate in a well publicised Hindu-Jewish community-building meeting. Dr. Sacks is a prominent writer and broadcaster in the UK and well known for his eloquence in denouncing the evils of Nazism and his support for free speech. He wrote in the famous London Times newspaper:

Gauri Das' letters enforcing a policy of thought control do not at all sit well with the views of Dr. Sacks.
When condemning the Nazi policy of book-burning, the author Helen Keller declared:

That is why, in the words of BTP's motto originally used by His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada in the first issues of his Back to Godhead magazine, we must continue to "defeat tyranny in the realm of thought".