Many readers think that this book is all about the illegal activities that occurred in 1980s at New Vrindaban in Moundsville, WV: But the authors also dedicate significant part of their discussion on the birth and growth of Hare Krishna movement in the United States.
In 1966, both Keith Ham (Kirtananda) and Howard Wheeler (Hayagriva Dasa) were in graduate school with bright future. Howard Wheeler later became a faculty member at the Ohio State University and Kirtananda could have gone up the academic ranks at a major university, but he chose to lead a movement and later turned it into a criminal enterprise that would have made the godfather of a crime family proud. It is incredible that their drug trafficking into this country did not get them into direct conflict the crime families of New York, let alone FBI. This story has all the elements of murder, mystery, drama, drugs, physical and sexual abuse of women and children, pedophilia, stealing, sankirtan scam, and stockpiling of weapons and ammunitions that worked like a hard-core Christian cult. They forgot everything the movement was founded on and followed Kirtananda's sadistic ambitions. The end justifies the means; this was his motto. Use whatever method you like, legal or illegal, to raise money for building the temples, expand the movement, bring more converts, and enrich personal coffers of Kirtananda. The followers thought when all the karmis (sinners) are converted into the Hare Krishna movement, and then they don't have to do drugs to raise money. Many female devotees thought they are serving the Lord when they were offering sexual favors to their gurus. The leaders at several temples, and members of the governing body council (GBC) were also severe abusers of power and authority. Some episodes are described with a great detail; this is a collection of chilling stories and ruthless men.
The very first chapter gives the grizzly details of the murder of Chakradara (Charles St. Denis), a New Vrindaban "fringie" and drug dealer who did not share his inherited fortune with Kirtananda. He was murdered and buried at New Vrindaban by his two henchmen, Thomas Drescher (Tirtha Dasa) and Dan Reid (Daruka Dasa). The second and third chapters chronicle the birth and growth of Hare Krishna movement in 1960s. These two chapters are largely influenced by the book "Hare Krishna Explosion" by Hayagriva Dasa (Howard Wheeler). It is an interesting account of how the founder Prabhupada started his mission on the lower east side of Manhattan with humble beginnings and later turned into a major religious force. Many of his early followers included; Beatles, Henry Ford's grandson, Walter Reuther's daughter, Allen Ginsberg, Harvard MBA's and many from reputed medical schools and graduate programs.
Both Kirtananda and Howard Wheeler were homosexual men and the latter had many male partners including young men from Mexico. His eldest son Samba was five or six when Kirtananda started sexually abusing him, and he became his constant companion. What kind of father Howard Wheeler is to sell out his own son? Dharmatma (Denis Gorrick), a polygamous leader of New Vrindaban's women's sankirtan team had sexually and physically abused many female devotees. When Cynthia Hebel was sexually assaulted by three men in New Orleans and badly bruised, when she returned to New Vrindaban Dharmatma said, "hey, I heard you had a party, how come you didn't invite me?" That is the kind of sensitivity the leading men of ISKCON had on female devotees. Sulocana (Steve Bryant), an early ISKCON devotee who challenged the illegal operation at New Vrindaban was killed in 1986 by Kirtananda's enforcers. Jadurani, the first brahmacharani to join ISKCON was also beaten up for questioning Kirtananda's status as a guru. The children at New Vrindaban were living in very filthy conditions and were highly malnourished, while the male leaders were eating like pigs; alcohol included. Larry Garner and Fred DeFrancisco were pedophiles who abused children in the gurukula of New Vrindaban. The latter served time but the former is hiding in India.
Jayathirtha, the London guru was beheaded by his own disciple, Navanticara in 1987. He was confused with the personal life of his guru who had abandoned his wife and taken up with a much younger woman. This disciple believed that his guru was Lord Krishna himself but when he realized that Jayathirtha is only a mortal sinful man, he stabbed repeatedly into death and later severed his head. When London police discovered the scene the next morning, Navanticara was sitting next to the decapitated body cradling the severed head against his chest. His face was streaked with blood and tears. He was muttering, "I have done my work" repeatedly.
In mid-seventies, Joe Davis, Roy Richard and Alex Kulik had smuggled million's dollars worth of hash oil into California and they used that money to build the Los Angles and San Diego temples. Some of the followers got into troubles with local mob and were killed by the mafia. Kulik and others were convicted and served time. Bhagavan, another ISKCON guru was known as Sun King was well known for his extravagance. The faucets in his bathroom were gold plated. He would eat only from gold plates and drink from gold goblets, and he was chauffeured around Europe in Mercedes 500. Hansadatta, a member of GBC and a resident at Berkeley temple had tremendous ego problem who assaulted devotes, sexually abused women and had a large collection of weapons and fascination for mixing rock and roll music with Krishna consciousness.
There are many websites and blogs that details the atrocities committed by the goons of New Vrindaban. Some of the paragraphs are literally reproduced from this book. Notable sites are Krishna.com, Chakra.com and others. You may find this by a simple Google search of an individual.
In 1966, both Keith Ham (Kirtananda) and Howard Wheeler (Hayagriva Dasa) were in graduate school with bright future. Howard Wheeler later became a faculty member at the Ohio State University and Kirtananda could have gone up the academic ranks at a major university, but he chose to lead a movement and later turned it into a criminal enterprise that would have made the godfather of a crime family proud. It is incredible that their drug trafficking into this country did not get them into direct conflict the crime families of New York, let alone FBI. This story has all the elements of murder, mystery, drama, drugs, physical and sexual abuse of women and children, pedophilia, stealing, sankirtan scam, and stockpiling of weapons and ammunitions that worked like a hard-core Christian cult. They forgot everything the movement was founded on and followed Kirtananda's sadistic ambitions. The end justifies the means; this was his motto. Use whatever method you like, legal or illegal, to raise money for building the temples, expand the movement, bring more converts, and enrich personal coffers of Kirtananda. The followers thought when all the karmis (sinners) are converted into the Hare Krishna movement, and then they don't have to do drugs to raise money. Many female devotees thought they are serving the Lord when they were offering sexual favors to their gurus. The leaders at several temples, and members of the governing body council (GBC) were also severe abusers of power and authority. Some episodes are described with a great detail; this is a collection of chilling stories and ruthless men.
The very first chapter gives the grizzly details of the murder of Chakradara (Charles St. Denis), a New Vrindaban "fringie" and drug dealer who did not share his inherited fortune with Kirtananda. He was murdered and buried at New Vrindaban by his two henchmen, Thomas Drescher (Tirtha Dasa) and Dan Reid (Daruka Dasa). The second and third chapters chronicle the birth and growth of Hare Krishna movement in 1960s. These two chapters are largely influenced by the book "Hare Krishna Explosion" by Hayagriva Dasa (Howard Wheeler). It is an interesting account of how the founder Prabhupada started his mission on the lower east side of Manhattan with humble beginnings and later turned into a major religious force. Many of his early followers included; Beatles, Henry Ford's grandson, Walter Reuther's daughter, Allen Ginsberg, Harvard MBA's and many from reputed medical schools and graduate programs.
Both Kirtananda and Howard Wheeler were homosexual men and the latter had many male partners including young men from Mexico. His eldest son Samba was five or six when Kirtananda started sexually abusing him, and he became his constant companion. What kind of father Howard Wheeler is to sell out his own son? Dharmatma (Denis Gorrick), a polygamous leader of New Vrindaban's women's sankirtan team had sexually and physically abused many female devotees. When Cynthia Hebel was sexually assaulted by three men in New Orleans and badly bruised, when she returned to New Vrindaban Dharmatma said, "hey, I heard you had a party, how come you didn't invite me?" That is the kind of sensitivity the leading men of ISKCON had on female devotees. Sulocana (Steve Bryant), an early ISKCON devotee who challenged the illegal operation at New Vrindaban was killed in 1986 by Kirtananda's enforcers. Jadurani, the first brahmacharani to join ISKCON was also beaten up for questioning Kirtananda's status as a guru. The children at New Vrindaban were living in very filthy conditions and were highly malnourished, while the male leaders were eating like pigs; alcohol included. Larry Garner and Fred DeFrancisco were pedophiles who abused children in the gurukula of New Vrindaban. The latter served time but the former is hiding in India.
Jayathirtha, the London guru was beheaded by his own disciple, Navanticara in 1987. He was confused with the personal life of his guru who had abandoned his wife and taken up with a much younger woman. This disciple believed that his guru was Lord Krishna himself but when he realized that Jayathirtha is only a mortal sinful man, he stabbed repeatedly into death and later severed his head. When London police discovered the scene the next morning, Navanticara was sitting next to the decapitated body cradling the severed head against his chest. His face was streaked with blood and tears. He was muttering, "I have done my work" repeatedly.
In mid-seventies, Joe Davis, Roy Richard and Alex Kulik had smuggled million's dollars worth of hash oil into California and they used that money to build the Los Angles and San Diego temples. Some of the followers got into troubles with local mob and were killed by the mafia. Kulik and others were convicted and served time. Bhagavan, another ISKCON guru was known as Sun King was well known for his extravagance. The faucets in his bathroom were gold plated. He would eat only from gold plates and drink from gold goblets, and he was chauffeured around Europe in Mercedes 500. Hansadatta, a member of GBC and a resident at Berkeley temple had tremendous ego problem who assaulted devotes, sexually abused women and had a large collection of weapons and fascination for mixing rock and roll music with Krishna consciousness.
There are many websites and blogs that details the atrocities committed by the goons of New Vrindaban. Some of the paragraphs are literally reproduced from this book. Notable sites are Krishna.com, Chakra.com and others. You may find this by a simple Google search of an individual.
Reference: Monkey on a Stick by John Hubner
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