I grew up in it.. My parents were crazy bout it. I considered it the ultimate truth... I was a fucking idiot.. I ruined my entire teenage thinking all my problems exist because I can't properly do bhakti.
For fuck sake.. why couldn't I figure it out before? Why tf did I fool myself for so much time.
So I have a whole cabinet of basically untouched KC books (most mind numbing read ever no way I’m going to read 12 cantos of bullshit), and I don’t want to give them away because I don’t want to spread these rubbish beliefs but I feel bad destroying them, and I found a new hobby of making cool wooden models I want to fill my shelves with so they gotta go, any ideas?
As an ex Hare Krishan, I recently read PureBhakti’s article “Did Srila Prabhupada Know?”, and it helped me understand something disturbing about how harm can be rationalized inside this movement.
The article discusses whether A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada knew about the abuse that happened in ISKCON gurukulas. Instead of treating the abuse first as an institutional failure, the article explains it through karma, guru theology, and the idea that Prabhupada could not truly be at fault. It even suggests that the suffering of abused children was a reduced karmic reaction because they had come into contact with a pure devotee.
To me, that is extremely disturbing. It creates a religious framework where the guru remains protected, the institution remains protected, and victims’ suffering can be explained away as karma.
Source: PureBhakti – “Did Srila Prabhupada Know?”
This matters to me because I have serious concerns about a temple called Bhakti Yoga Lima, in Lima, Peru, and its broader PureBhakti/Bhakti Yoga environment.
I do not want to disclose my identity publicly because the temple and its network may have influence. But I want people to be aware of allegations involving Madhavi Dasi, associated with Bhakti Yoga Lima, in Lima, Peru.
According to what I learned, Madhavi Dasi allegedly brought a very young woman named Nandini from a vulnerable situation, possibly a homeless shelter. Nandini was reportedly around 16 or 17, or at least not older than 18. Madhavi Dasi, who was around 50 or older, allegedly entered into a sexual and romantic relationship with her inside the temple environment.
If accurate, this would not be a normal relationship between equals. It would involve a major power imbalance: an older temple leader, a vulnerable young person, spiritual authority, possible dependence on housing/community, and a religious environment where obedience, surrender, and guru authority are heavily emphasized.
I was also told that after the relationship deteriorated, Nandini was allegedly emotionally mistreated, abandoned, and later expelled or pushed away from the temple. I was told that Sripad Bhaktivedanta Damodara Maharaja allegedly justified her removal by saying something like it was “not her karma” to stay.
That kind of language deeply worries me because it resembles the same pattern I saw in the PureBhakti article: harm is not confronted directly; it is spiritualized. Instead of accountability, people are given explanations involving karma, spiritual destiny, or guru authority.
I am not presenting this as a court judgment. I am asking for attention, documentation, and investigation from people who understand cult dynamics, spiritual abuse, grooming, power imbalance, and institutional cover-ups.
For context, some members of this broader network are connected with Sri Sri Krishna-Balaram Mandir, in the Seva Kunja area of Vrindavan, India.
Please do not harass anyone. Please do not threaten anyone. But if you have relevant information, screenshots, testimony, public records, archived pages, or knowledge of similar cases, please document it carefully and share it with people who can investigate responsibly.
Links:
If this resonates with you, or if you have information about similar experiences, please consider coming forward with a formal complaint or testimony. Even a carefully documented report can help protect vulnerable people and prevent this kind of abuse from being hidden behind spiritual language.
welcome to New Vrindaban, WV USA
It‘s almost as if Kirtananda never even left.
(this vehicle was “gifted” to Varsana Swami who happily added it to his collection of expensive possessions.)
I've been seeing a lot of videos of him on my feed. At first, I just ignored them, but is he part of the Hare Krishna movement or something? I'm just asking out of curiosity, nothing else.
ISKCON promotes itself as a Vedic movement. It is supposedly devoted to teaching the Vedas and spreading Vedic culture. In truth ISKCON is almost entirely Tantric.
This can be seen in its rituals, mantras, and philosophy. ISKCON's Tantric roots are most clearly seen in its worship of the guru. I would argue that 50% of ISKCON's religion and culture is based around absolute submission to the guru. Krishna is almost a footnote to Prabhupada.
The Vedic Guru
During the Vedic Period (1500 BCE - 500 BCE) the guru was simply a teacher. Young men came and lived at his home, alongside the guru's wife and children. They learned reading and writing, memorized texts, and mastered rituals. In exchange the disciples offered respect and service, and upon graduating; a donation. After completing his eductation, the Snataka left to pursue his own life. The guru was not an absolute ruler over the disciple. Nor was the guru considered perfect.
The Tantric Guru
During the Tantric Period (500 CE - 1500 CE) this changed due to a combination of new and secretive religious practices, coinciding with socio-economic collapse.
Tantric practices were considered a fast track in spiritual life. They were considered dangerous, or as Prabhupada would often say, "a razors edge". A guru was required to govern every aspect of the disciples journey, which encompassed his entire life.
The guru became the physical embodiment of the deity. This could be as the god directly, or as the representative of a god. The god spoke through him. His pronouncements were more important than scripture.
Initiation was not simply birth into a lineage. The guru dissolved one's past karma. He absorbed them and magically burned them with his consciousness. The disciple owned his entire spiritual reality to the guru.
The guru business was highly competitive. The so-called secret knowledge was monopolized and protected, just as a restaurant owner protects the recipe for his secret sauce. Only the guru could decode the secret teachings, and initiate one into secret mantras.
Any resistance to total submission was condemned as the path to hell. It was disrespectful and dangerous. Once accepted, one could never leave. The deity would destroy one's soul.
Only those willing to sacrifice their very existence to the whims of the master were accepted for initiation. A qualified disciple was one who would never question and never object. He would sacrifice his ego completely. If asked, he would give his life in an instant.
From the disciples perspective, this radical submission was assumed to open one up to the Tantric gurus shakti, his power. That power arose from his ability to channel the deity. In Medieval Vaishnavism this becomes krpa or mercy. The devotee sacrifices everything for it. He crawls like a dog, degrades and humiliates himself, he exposes himself to abuse, and begs for a drop of that divine shakti. (Krpa bindu diya)
The New Maharajas
During this time, the role of gurus shifted to mirror that of India's feudal lords. The gods were re-imagined as kings of their abodes. Their heavenly realms reflected earthly kingdoms. Gurus came to be worshiped as kings, emissaries of higher realms. They were serviced with yak tail fans, umbrellas, peacock feather whisks. Followers bowed down as slaves as they walked.
To complicate matters, during this period empires collapsed and society fractured. India fell into chaos. There was constant famine and endless war. People abandoned the cities to once again live as farmers and peasants. Upward mobility ceased. Society became uneducated, superstitious, agrarian, and narrow minded. This was a breeding ground for religious fanaticism.
These new Tantric kings stepped in to fill the void. Their closed fiefdoms recreated the security of better times. India yearned to return to the idealized golden age of the Gupta Empire. Like the emperors of days gone, gurus provided a sense of safety in exchange for absolute submission.
Just as the emperor was Gods representative on earth, so was the guru. The guru could command the very forces of nature. Tantric gurus possessed magical powers on top of worldly authority.
Medieval Vaishnavism
During the period of the Medieval Bhakti Traditions (600 CE - 1600 CE), within Vaishnava communities, the authority of the Tantric guru passed to Acharyas and Saints. The guru became the sole path to salvation, the "savior of the universe", the doorway to Vaikuntah.
The Vaishnava guru was the embodiment of Vishnu or Krishna on earth. To question him is to question God. The guru is the vizier of Vishnu, his prime minister, doing his will on Earth.
During this period gurus became as powerful as Zamindars, feudal lords, commanding great amounts of wealth and land, managing it, while commanding their followers and serfs, on behalf of the deity.
Modernization
The authority of these gurus traditionally resided in their lineage. They were carefully chosen and appointed as acharyas.
In the post colonial world, with the rise of globalism, and access to mass media such as book printing, the role of guru shifted from the barer of tradition to charismatic cult leader.
Followers were won through force of personality. We can see this transformation in ISKCON's own lineage. Bhaktivinode represents a rejection of tradition and a shift towards modernization. Bhaktisiddhanta was the proto-cult guru, confined to India. Bhaktivedanta became the world evangelizing charismatic cult leader.
Prabhupada as a Tantric Guru
In a recent post, I had mentioned a morning walk where Prabhupada attacks abortion. Just because a child is defenseless does not mean you can kill it.
He uses his own disciples as an example. He asks (paraphrasing) "just because my own disciples are defenseless, fully surrendered to me, does it mean I can kill them, will the police allow it?"
A disciples enthusiastically answers "Yes!".
The disciple is eager to show he will die for Prabhupada. They all were. They were competing over who would be more surrendered. This is what Prabhupada demanded. Disciples were expected to live without boundaries, without security, without protection, sacrificing themselves completely to the guru and his mission.
This mindset is foundational in ISKCON. This is how devotees lives are structured. The movement chews them up and spits them out. It takes everything and gives them nothing, while promising only access to shakti or mercy.
Supposedly, in exchange for this total surrender, Prabhupada will reward one with spiritual illumination. This is automatic spiritual advancement. If you wish to please Krishna, you must please Prabhupada. Prabhupada is most pleased when you street sell books. That is the key to tasting Krishna's grace.
In truth, even the chanting of mantras, the deity worship etc. only causes one to make spiritual advancement because Prabhuapada and his representatives are pleased. On their own they do nothing. You have no direct connection to Krishna. We are fallen mlecchas with no hope, no rights, and no inherent connection to God. We earn that connection only through submission.
This mindset is why ISKCON devotees gradually devolve into angry "Prabhuadanuga" fanatics. After decades of frustration, they become desperate. They believe their hopes lay in Prabhuapada alone. He is their Tantric master.
It is a common belief in ISKCON, and among modern Hindu Fundamentalists, that the supposed Vishnu Avatara Buddha is different than the Buddha of Buddhism, Gautama Siddhartha. They call the Vishnu Avatara Buddha, "Adi Buddha" and "Sugata Buddha".
This was taught by Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati and Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakura. Prabhupada was a bit looser in his interpretation, generally identifying the Buddha Avatara with the Buddha of Buddhism, who came to "spread a false doctrine and bewilder the atheists".
Why Invent Two Buddhas?
The reason is simple. The Bhagavatam spreads false information and the fundamentalists cannot admit it has made a mistake.
When the Bhagavatam discusses the Buddha in SB 1.3.24 it says he is the son of Queen Anjana, born in Gaya.
This is flat wrong. His mother was Queen Maya. Her father was King Anjana. He was enlightened in Gaya, not born there.
The Bhagavatam was the product of a oral tradition that had incorrect information.
The Vaishnavas cannot admit the Bhagavatam is wrong. It is absolutely perfect and pure. So they invent a new Buddha to match the Bhagavatam.
Agni Purana
The Agni Purana comes from a more accurate oral tradition. It describes the Buddha as the "Son of Suddhodana" the true and accurate name of his father.
It further describes how the Buddha, one of the Vishnu Dashavatara, should be depicted:
śāntātmā lambakarṇaśca gaurāṅgaścāmbarāvṛtaḥ |
ūrdhvapadmasthito buddho varadābhayadāyakaḥ
“The figure of Buddha (buddho) should be made calm-souled (śāntātmā), with long ears (lambakarṇa), a fair/golden complexion (gaurāṅga), covered in cloth (ambarāvṛtaḥ), sitting on an upward-facing lotus, granting boons and fearlessness.”
Agni Purāṇa (49.8)
That is to say, with traditional Buddhist iconography. Golden skin, long earlobes, sitting on a lotus, "granting boons and fearlessness" refers to the abhaya mudra. This can be seen in the images above. Notice the Vaishnava tilak on the Buddha statue LOL. The Buddha explicitly cast aside all such sectarian beliefs and identifications, what to speak of wearing them on his forehead.
"Sugata Buddha"
It is common nowadays to hear this so-called original Vishnu Buddha being called "Sugata Buddha". This has come from Vaishnavism.
The Amarkosha dictionary, written by a Buddhist, gives a list of names of the Buddha. These are divided into two categories. One groups refers to his clan lineage with names such as Sakyasimha, Saddhodani, Gautama, and Mayadevisuta. Another group refers to his general personal titles such as Sarvajna, Sugata, Buddha, Dharmaraja and Tathagata.
Sugata is a common epithet of the Buddha meaning "the one who has attained a good state".
The Vaishnavas like Bhaktisiddhanta erroniously claim these two name lists are referring to two different Buddhas, and the latter names refer to the original Vishnu Buddha.
This is all so absurd. In his Dashavatara Stotra, Jayadeva Goswami clearly referred to the Buddha of Buddhism who decried animal sacrifice (nindasi yajna-vidher ahaha sruti-jatam).
Conclusion
The Vaishnava Acharyas invented a second "original" Buddha, because the Bhagavatam presented wrong information. This fallacy has now spread beyond Gaudiya Vaishnava circles and into mainstream Hinduism, where it has been taken up by religious fundamentalists.
This is just another step in the perversion of Buddhism to serve the interests of Hinduism. First the Buddha was hijacked to claim the Buddhist values of vegetarianism and ahimsa were always Hindu and part of Brahminical purity culture. Now that he has served his purpose, the Buddha is cast aside to protect the illusion of scriptural infallibility.
Hello,
Few months ago (I forgot when but I'm sure it was this year itself)
There was a old video that had Indradyumna, BBG and maybe Radhanath as well where they were seen kissing a little girl on the cheeks in front of a lot of people.
Im not sure if it was redirected to youtube or uploaded here itself. But I can't seem to find that video.
In ISKCON we were taught that to leave the insular cult community is spiritual suicide.
If we hang out with karmis our spiritual creeper with explode into flames. We will become sinful degraded demons addicted to sensual pleasure, living empty useless lives, hypnotized by illusion, just as they are.
I have found the opposite to be true. Karmis have taught me a great deal. I have learned profound truths in their association.
Cowboy Country
Since leaving ISKCON I have had the good fortune to live high up in the mountains where it is very peaceful and beautiful.
My primary association is with real life cowboys. I rent a place on their property, which could be called a small ranch. They herd actual cattle in the mountains, taking them from one grazing spot to another in cattle trucks.
They herd them on horseback, eating cans of beans, sleeping under the stars, as cowboys have for centuries.
They also take people horseback riding on mountain trails and act as trail guides for hikers. In the summer they are fireman and chase fires around the state. On occasion up to five horses are grazing right outside my window at any time. There are also deer, turkeys, skunks, squirrels a cat and a dog.
Yes they eat meat and even (gasp) drink beer, but I have found them to be kind and honest. They are good people and good friends. They even invite me to go out herding with them.
Karmi Ratra
I recently went to a local community "festival" in a small town nearby. There were about five hundred people. One third were ranchers and blue collar rural people. One third were Native Americans, from a tribe that lives in the area. One third were bikers from out of town. There were three motorcycle clubs, including the Hell's Angels.
I hung out with them, engaging in what ISKCON would consider maya. I watched a lumberjack competition, ate some carnival treats, listened to music and watched kids play on rides. I spoke at length with people about the town and their ancestors. I befriended them and became part of their community, at least for a moment.
This would have been impossible when I first had left ISKCON. I would have been overwhelmed with social anxiety, shame, and fear I was "falling down". I would have felt the urge to convert them before they converted me.
Afterwords I felt a new strength within myself. It is hard to describe. Deep down inside they had lifted me up. They didn't judge me. They didn't have expectations or demands. There was no ideology. They were just good people having fun with their families. They welcomed me, and that was enough.
I could feel something refreshing in their association. It wasn't intense. It wasn't dramatic. It wasn't harmful. It was just people living life and sharing it with each other.
Recently i have seen a lot people hating on iskcon
I dont know why
I am not against it but i just want to know the context and reason
Westerners warned Prabhupada to not separate children from the parents. Prabhupada responds by threatening violence and condemning them to hell.
>Puṣṭa Kṛṣṇa: In the Western countries they criticize our gurukula, that "This is inhuman, people sending their children away at such an early age, not seeing them."
>Prabhupāda: And to kill, that is very human. Rascal. Kick them upon their face. You rascal, you are talking of morality, rascal, you go to hell. Your place is hell. "Devil citing scripture." You are not... You are so shameless that you do not be ashamed to speak like that. You are so shameless. Your civilization is so shameless.
Meanwhile, while he was saying this, the children sent to his gurukulas were being raped, starved, beaten and psychologically traumatized for life. Many would later commit suicide.
His arrogance is just off the charts. If he had listened to those evil Westerners instead of condemning them to hell, so much pain and suffering could have been avoided. But he is so self-righteous, he is thrown into a rage by the idea those inferior to him would dare instruct him.
Later in the Morning Walk, regarding abortion, he says:
>Prabhupāda: Then why you say that it is mother's right to kill? And tumor, can you bring life in tumor? Kick simply on their face, on their nose. That is the only thing to treat with such... Murkhasya latausadhiḥ[?]. Such fools in the society, they should be hanged. Misleading the whole population.
He truly believed violence was the ultimate solution. He goes on to describe how all of society are nothing but animals.
At the beginning of the Morning Walk, Prabhupada says "breaking the law is a sign of intelligence". He believed that scamming was a sign of being clever and superior.
Today a temple community in Germany is holding their Ratha Yatra despite abnormal 39°C/102°F (according to the weather station it feels like 43°C/109°F in reality).
I was sure they would think of the devotees and cancel, as many events here have already been cancelled.
Even some major trains in this state have stated that they will not drive from 13:00 to 19:00 or so, as they want to prevent people from fainting etc. (Aircon is barely a thing in Germany).
But no. I just saw them posting videos of the RY being indeed held in the center of the city, right in the middle of a concrete jungle.
Germany is not at all made for this heat. Many trams in this state have no aircon at all. What feels like 40° outside, can easily become 50°C inside a train with tiny windows, packed people and no aircon. People have been fainting.
Same for houses. Most don't even have a fan.
I can't believe they are holding their RY despite the heat, right around noon/afternoon.
This is not some tiny backyard RY, it's in a major german city with many hundreds if not up to a thousand people (or more? No idea) attending. People are usually travelling from cities all over the state, some even from different states.
Irresponsible.
All of this just to "spread mercy". No sane person is outside today unless they have to be, who are they spreading mercy to?
This guru business is the biggest fraud in the name of spirituality in India today. Gurus, wearing spears, expensive necklaces and luxurious clothes, are today presenting themselves as the owners of the "biggest startup in Indian history". But the reality is different.
These spiritual businesses do not have the hard work or new ideas of a normal startup. What they sell are the biggest weaknesses of man. Fear of death, fear of disease, isolation and desire for success. They attract lakhs of people and earn crores of rupees by exaggerating things like meditation will cure all diseases and change lives.
The story is clear. On one hand, while ordinary people pay their hard-earned money to attend camps and programs, gurus live a luxurious life. While an ordinary youth studies from morning till night to get admission in IIT or AIIMS, others build an empire on lies and fraud 😣.
This is not Inspirational.........🪬
On the contrary, it is just a business of superstition.
The saddest thing is that this model affects the poor and middle class the most. Sometimes we see the rich and educated falling into this trap 🙄
Ordinary people spend their last rupees in search of salvation. The result? Mental and physical exploitation.
This model of making spirituality a business is an insult to real yoga and meditation. Real spirituality is simple. It does not promote luxurious ashrams or global tours.
But that is not enough for today's gurus. They want empires, land, money, political connections, media advertisements, etc.
Do yoga and meditate. But do not see any guru as God. Question. Criticize. Use reason. Because real spirituality is not built on lies.
A question for those who have made spirituality a business:
If you are truly spiritual, are you ready to make your wealth, assets, and business deals public and live like a normal human being?
The BJP central government is the one who is feeding the thief 🙄👞
#FAKEGURUS #spirituality #BJPGovernment
Video: A devotee has a dream a tree is in pain so he organizes a massage party.
Does anyone else feel stupid for worshiping rocks and trees?
As a devotee I was very devoted to Tulsi devi. I assisted in her care for many years and worshiped her personally with elaborate puja. I also had a shalagram shila which I carefully bathed, oiled, painted, fed and did arotiks to everyday. The amount of time this took was unreal.
Looking back I can see how absurd this is. Worshiping deities in a temple room is a little strange as it is, but rocks and trees? Personally I find it a little degrading and humiliating.
I love plants and have feelings for the one's in my care. I can also understand how someone can find the image of Tulsi devi beautiful or enchanting, despite some problematic issues with the original pastime. But worshiping a basil tree?
The shalagram shilas are also just rocks from the Kali Gandaki river in Nepal. Devotees obsess over them and collect them like baseball cards. The river used to be hard to reach and devotees would undergo major pains to acquire them. I have seen devotees collect hundreds of them, competing with each other, storing them in plastic containers. I guess the more you have the more powerful you are.
They were given their spiral shape by fossilized ammonites. The Puranas claim it was magical worms that chewed the stone. They began to be worshiped as Vishnu because the circular pattern was associated with the Sudarshana Chakra. The shape of the chakra further identifies it as a particular avatara.
This is really not different than how devotees of Shiva find and worship anything that looks like a Linga. There is a traffic barricade in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park that is now worshiped as a Shiva Linga. There is even a Hare Krishna playing kartels at the Shiva Linga in that video.
Those filthy White European Mlecchas are the origin of venereal diseases. White women have sex with dogs. They gave humanity AIDs, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, etc.
The irony is you see statements like this from Hindutva fanatics online. "White women have sex with dogs" is a consistent theme of their bigoted attacks on Europeans.
Apparently this form of racist delusion is common in India and Prabhupada believed it. In that discussion he also talks about Mexicans having sex with donkeys and Argentinians having sex with a multitude of animals. Great stuff Swamiji.
Phiranga does indeed mean European. It is a loan word from Persian or Arabic meaning "Frank" as in the French. Indians used the word to refer to Syphilis, which was brought to India by Portuguese sailors. Though they themselves contracted it from the Native peoples of the Americas, not from European women having sex with dogs.
He also talks about how a devotee should become the "dog of a Vaishnava", i.e his dog. A disciple suggests a devotee should be even lower, a flea on Krishna's dog. Basically we are all lowly parasites riding Krishna's dog, Prabhupada.
I am absolutely neutral and I am not trying to provoke an argument. My POV: I don't like cults, in fact I have an aversion to any showy religion, but I just have always been ambivalent about the HKs. At least they seem happy and dance around with funny music and their food is sometimes good. I've done some reading about them and they don't seem to qualify as a cult, although I can see that perhaps the sect (or whatever) could be hazardous to vulnerable people.
I've have good interactions with them and not-so-good ones too.
ISKCON thrives on the ignorance of the public. They also thrive on their arrogance.
I know Better Than You
One of the most frustrating attitudes ex cult members encounter is when people claim ISKCON is not a cult. After all "they fed me in college" or "I went to the Sunday Feast a total of three times".
"They are happy innocent people who like to dance in the street". "You ex Hare Krishna's have no proof, you just have a bug up your ass".
Perhaps they have ten minutes of experience with the cult watching a harinama, or they read an entire Wikipedia article, and this entitles them to downplay and challenge the expertise of those who were born into the movement, or spent decades of their lives in the backroom where the sausage is made.
The irony is the cult they are defending considers them karmis, demons and two legged animals.
It Was Just a Few Bad Apples
Another common response you see is that the faults of the movement are definitely not due to Prabhupada, his teachings, the leadership, or the culture of the movement. Rather those causing problems were an outlier and deviation. Just a bad apple here and there, marring an otherwise stellar religion with a hoary past in ancient India.
"Every religion has bad actors, it is unfair to blame the entire religion". Meanwhile they have never read one line of Prabhupada's teachings. Nor have they read the accounts of ex members.
It Is All In The Past
Naive Hare Krishna defenders, often influencers, will vaguely acknowledge that ISKCON has had problems in the past. They characterize them as something the movement has overcome: "ISKCON has matured past these things and let us not talk about them."
They feel it is wrong to paint the entire religion with the New Vrndavana brush, to focus too much on the insanity of the 70's and 80's. They feel they are being charitable and liberal minded.
The murders, beheadings, spousal abuse, child marriage, book distribution harems, thievery, illegal fraud, ended long ago. The bad actors were driven out or arrested. The rampant child physical and sexual abuse has been paid for and the movement is vigilant. So what are you complaining about?
They don't understand that the core cult dynamics which made this carnival or horrors possible is alive and well. Devotees are enslaved and exploited. Power is absolute, despotic, and corrupt. Gurus are constantly falling down. Problems are hidden. Women are treated like garbage. Children are psychologically abused. I strongly believe sexual and physical abuse persists.
Every Religion Has Problems
Many more excuse ISKCON by by normalizing abuse. "Everyone does it". Catholic priests molested children. Mormons have had a problem with child marriage and bigamy. As if ISKCON is overall a good organization but "no one is perfect".
They do not understand that ISKCON's problems are structural, built into the movement and teachings. Prabhupada advocated for child marriage and bigamy. Prabhupada created and excused an environment where children were beaten and molested.
ISKCON is not simply a religion, it is an authoritarian cult that controls and destroys the lives of its members in the name of a megalomaniac narcissist cult leader and his mission. It is an high control environment that functions through coercion, isolation and ideological capture (i.e. brainwashing).
Relax Bro
Many people have a reflexive attitude. When they see a group being heavily criticized, they project innocence onto them and rush to their aid. They see themselves as heroic and virtuous, defending the helpless, a motherly figure protecting the babes of the world.
Some may even believe they are defending ISKCON from "Hinduphobia".
When they see ex-members are hurt and angry, they assume they are bad actors. The abused become the abuser. They find strong criticism distasteful. It offends their refined sensibilities.
Imagine someone stumbling onto an altercation in the street where a woman is slapping a man. All they saw was her slapping him across the face. They immediately rush to the man's defense because he is the victim. They tell the woman to relax and stop being so upset, "How dare you treat him like this!".
They are too arrogant to recognize they don't have all the facts. The man had just tried to rape the woman and she struggled for dear life to push him off.
Hi beautiful people,
I come to you today for some advice and support.
I grew up in a predominantly Christian country, but when I was a teenager, my mom and I were heavily influenced by Hare Krishna devotees (there's a whole movement where I'm from).
My mom and I started looking into our birth charts and the charts of our whole family. She quickly lost interest in the predictions, but I fell for it blindly. Honestly, I was just a teenager and grew up with a very weak sense of self. I was easily influenced by external factors - whether it was a prediction or someone claiming to study the Vedas.
Somehow, they drilled into my head that they held the absolute truth, and I believed it.
Anyway, I’ve spent my entire life growing up in fear.
Fear that life will punish me, that I have to pay for things I did in past lives, and that even doubting this "truth" right now is a sin. (As you can see here is a mixture with some Christianity guilt)
I was absolutely terrified of Jyotish. (of the fact that some other people can read my karma and whatever waits for me) Everyone kept telling me it’s the only truly accurate predictive science out there. Which doesn’t make sense to me deep deep inside I believe there is a reason we don’t remember our past lives and don’t know the future. God intended this to be that way.
Anyway.. It mentally paralysed me.
For example I was told I wouldn't be able to lose weight after 25, or that my friends would eventually betray me. So, I didn't even try to get fit, and I completely isolated myself from my friends because my chart said I was "opening up to enemies." These are just more harmless things that happened.
I stopped trusting myself. I completely lost my inner voice.
Now, I have a baby, and this obsession has started driving me crazy with a whole new force.
I look at my child's and my husband’s Jyotish charts and see things I don’t understand and fear, mostly because I take everything I'm told so literally.
Recently, I reached my breaking point. I decided to read the BPHS (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra) myself, and it made me sick. Sorry to be blunt, but I physically almost threw up from the sheer amount of stress and overwhelming negativity in it.
I started digging deeper and found out that historically, Vedanga Jyotisha wasn't even a predictive tool for fate or karma - it was just astronomy and timekeeping for rituals.
So why is everyone so blindly confident in the "accuracy" of predictive Jyotish? I am so confused and don't know where the truth is anymore.
It honestly makes me nauseous to read things like: "Your chart is okay, BUT you have this dosha that ruins everything, and your lagnesha and 5 houses are weak, so you will suffer - here, this ritual, it's the only way to make it slightly better." Like what the hell?:(
I probably would have stopped believing in all of this a long time ago if it weren't for my dad's Sade Sati.
It approximately coincided with a time in his life when his entire business was stolen and our family lost all our wealth.
Even though we don't know his exact birth time (so I don't know which houses Sade Sati was transiting), the timeline of the period matched.
Many other things in astrology haven't matched for us, but that one did. Because of moments like that, I built my entire life around my chart and ended up becoming a very weak, fearful person.
But now I have a child, and I simply cannot afford to be this weak anymore.
I am reaching out to you for help as I don’t have anyone in my circle who knows about the culture, only the astrologers (and it doesn’t help long term as you can see).
I feel like I've been stuck in a cult mindset that constantly crushes you with negativity, where the Gods are always ready to punish you ("wrath of Shiva," etc.).
Has anyone here gone through this?
How true is Jyotish really?
Did anyone here deeply believe in it, only to step away and realize the world actually works differently?
Maybe you have some advice for me, or a story you could share 🥺
Fundamentally, deep inside, I love science and astronomy. At the same time, I believe in God as a unified, pure energy. I'm not even sure I believe in reincarnation anymore, at least not in the way Hinduism describes it.
I see a massive, pure energy, pieces of which are in all of us, and anyone can tune into that frequency.
For me, physics and the space between us is a manifestation of God.
But my self-trust is so broken that I’ve allowed others to dictate who I am and what the "truth" is.
Anyway…
I hope to hear from some of you 🙏🏼
Thank you in advance for reading and for your support.
Have a great day everyone.
You feed them low-nutrient, high-carb rice and watered-down dhal until their brains shrivel up, and all they can do is sit in a corner and chant on rote. Simple living, slow thinking.
India has a double burden of malnutrition. It's a leader in undernutrition, with some of the highest per capita rates of childhood stunting, anemia, protein deficiency, and micronutrient deficiencies—with adults suffering the opposite (you halava, gulabjamun-eating older devotees know how you are!)—overnutrition, leading to obesity, diabetes, fatty liver disease, and metabolic syndrome.
ISKCON has been working with government subsidies, payments made to them to provide essentially nutritionless, below-dog-food-level nutrition to schools. Naturally, they have found allies in these campaigns with the larger Hindutva government body. The biggest loser and victim? Kids, as usual.