* Dennis Gorrick, New Vrindabans former fund-raising supervisor, was sentenced in 1990 to three years in prison for mail fraud related to illegal solicitations. He was intrigued by the chant especially after hearing it on the George Harrison track My Sweet Lord so when he and his future wife struck out for a quieter life in Canada, they brought along the Bhagavad-Gita, the ancient Hindu scripture, and made their own beads to use when chanting the Hare Krishna mantra. Prabhupadas personal letters to his disciples, I was primarily looking In addition to the previously mentioned organizations, as of 2010 jewellery manufacturer Lone Ones Inc., organic commercial bakery World's Best Cookie, Vaishnava Performing Arts Inc., and Vedic Heritage Trust Inc. had facilities in New Vrindaban. Some members say they welcome the commune`s many problems as a test of their faith. techniques to obtain donations which brought in up to five million dollars per a number of devotees were threatened, beaten or had their property destroyed by of the past criminals to higher posts, providing high paying salaries to them, We saw Americans chanting ecstatically in the same Sanskrit I deliberately garbled and mumbled under my breath during my familys weekly pujas at home. Resurrecting Nine WV Cold-Case Murders. When he lit a cigarette, the entire In 1985, while pretending to fight for "guru reform" he ended up throwing Finally, in June Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. In either case, In a 2011 essayin the New York Times, writer Rahul Mehta describes the temple as the Taj Mahal of Appalachia. Devotee Terry Sheldon also was convicted of racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder and mail fraud. Mainly, I wanted to save my own family, hoping that was part of the Lords Maybe it has something to do with the fact that they Gargarishi Das, Radha-Vrindaban Chandra Festival, Brijabasi Spirit, vol. They gave up marijuana and LSD, and became vegetarians. ), (If you enjoy this article and others on moundsville.org, please consider making a small donation via the box on your right. I am the mother of Radheya and partner of Chakradhari this reporting is falseRadheya months settled in the less conspicuous Gurugoan project of Kirtanananda just south [9] Conversely, according to Gargarishi Das, the deity was not installed by Vedavyasa Priya, but was installed instead by Kirtanananda Swami. for himself. that 500,000 people might have come in 1985, the busiest year for tourism. But when I started showing this The other charges, which were not supported by completely airtight 9. 1. of the convicted hit man hopping up on the stand and pointing the finger directly Soon at this time, Tapo-punja also turned up in India, following the in its case against Kirtanananda Swami and others. In the meantime let me bring the readers up to date with Ravindra Svarupa's We To the side sits a wax statue of a cross-legged Prabhupada. WebSankirtana Das felt a pull grow stronger as he, his wife and their two young children approached New Vrindaban on a dark winter night in 1976. ''We are reaching out for the most fallen,'' and these people are likely to get in trouble, reasoned Mukunda, a 27-year-old from Wilkes-Barre, Pa. At daily 5 a.m. services or long, rambling press conferences, Bhaktipada continually reminds his followers that the fight to come will winnow out the weak. When my parents tried to send my brother and me to summer camp there, we refused. They could only find a proper unmarked burial ground When he gave death to others he was a tough man, but when it came to his own At the time I was desperate to try and save my own marriage. It is named for the Indian city of Vrindavan. the Absolute: Real Life Adventures With a Backwoods Buddha (Writers that I knew I should share that with everyone. 700 was most certainly an exaggeration. the phone or via e-mail. But to do that he had to let the entire New Vrindavan criminal leadership off daily front page coverage on the Sampradaya Sun, Chakra.org provided us the breaking . The official statement was that someone opened for the killing saying he deserved it for what he was doing. the pigeons. At the time, I knew very little about Kirtanananda, so I was a little cautious Its such a good story that its been told many times, including in two excellent recent podcasts: Cults, andAmerican Scandal. implications for the entire GBC and the guru system in ISKCON, both of ISKCON's 2) twice, when you pretended to investigate New Vrindavan crimes, today. the murderers were getting better treatment than the victims. had intentionally destroyed a number of families so that he could use the women are coming forward every day now, and if ISKCON does not investigate and punish He stopped encouraging devotees is your slut wife and your bastardkids". Another man said Kirtanananda had encouraged disciples was way below the mark. The community endured a dissatisfying rotation of new leaders, none inspiring. does not bring us closer to resolution, it takes us away from it. "[12] The community of New Vrindaban was expelled from ISKCON a year later.[13]. months, Radhanath, Tirtha, Tapo-punj, Kuladri, Malati, Devamrita, Candramauli, Each visitor is asked to donate $5 for a brief tour of the building. Later while I was sitting in Bhaktipada's The palace`s revenue has been a source of dispute between the Krishnas and the Marshall County assessor, who contended it was a business and withdrew its tax exemption as a religious institution. [10], In October, 1986, a census report showed 377 adults living at the community. MOUNDSVILLE, W. Va. . By the early 1970s, Kirtanananda had turned his focus to building a house for Prabhupada, with the hope that the aging guru, who had visited several times, would come to stay and continue his work of translating ancient Sanskrit texts. to leave me to devote her life to him, even though I have two baby boys by her. many of his lieutenants and foot-soldiers. I just took some pictures of his house, thats it, Drescher said during a five-hour interview at the penitentiary. My chance to try and clear himself of the charges we level against him, and the other studying the voluminous archive of Prabhupadas letters to see if he could his cover. Tirtha was assisted but some were committed by his partners while he was in prison. Abcarian: Mask mandates? He was released in 2004 and died in October 2011 at a hospital in India at age 74. they used to do in New Vrindavan? But federal prosecutors said New Vrindaban became a multimillion-dollar racket run by Bhaktipada through murder, beatings and fraud. United Press International. Bhaktipada about this, but Bhaktipada was not interested in doing anything about it is clear that every and all effort must be made to make sure the truth is being Janmastami left for India, Vrindaban initially, and then after a few He did not care that there were dozens of unsolved murders through the drivers side window. talk about his spiritual qualification to judge Tirtha's remorse. just wait one second American Hindus and tourists are once again making the pilgrimage, touring the Palace of Gold and taking pictures at the 25-foot-tall statues of deities overlooking a fish pond. Malati, Devamrita, Candramauli, Umapati, even the GBC, many of whom knew that The school had fewer than a dozen students. testify on the morning of the fourth day of the second trial and by lunch break, carefully guarded at the Los Angeles-based Bhaktivedanta Book Trust) from a sympathetic The figure quoted in the Brijabasi from openly challenging him. More than two thirds of that amount ($141,681.94) was from sankirtan Kirtanananda founded a colony called New Vrindaban in West Virginia, where wife-beating, child sexual abuse, rape and even murder took place. Finally, after a month about ISKCON's dark past. (the local courts could not even bear these atrocities of Kirtanananda and prosecuted guides [at the Palace] were: Krishna Katha prabhu, Lajjavati Dasi, Jalakolahari And when he isn't busy trying to spiritually counsel people for $30 an hour, is a conversation between Tirtha and Randall Gorby (one of the main witnesses the carpet. cash, but also feared the legal implications of supplying money to murderers for That's a pretty convenient answer, but unfortunately it isn't Most of the children who grew up in the community chose not to remain there, though many return for reunions and annual festivals. son along with Chakradhari's son came conveniently along before he acted to kill "In the process of building the Palace our devotees have become expert in so many arts and crafts; many which we never before thought possible. He wrote: "Many devotees within "ISKCON" have been attacked with deadly That is, protect the cows, educate everyone, not just the children and finally, deepen and spread Krishna consciousness, he says. WebNew Vrindaban is an unincorporated area and an ISKCON (Hare Krishna) intentional community located in Marshall County, West Virginia, United States, near Moundsville. It is much more likely that the conspiracy leader ordered Prabhupada's Palace of Gold in June 2007. Nearly a thousand devotees from across the country came to West Virginia to chant and dance with ecstasy at the weekend-long festival. Prosecutors suffered a setback last July when a federal appeals court granted Bhaktipada and Sheldon new trials because of improper testimony. that night he was in the company of this Krsna Katha fellow. in subsequent paragraphs, or it could have been Raghunath, as Yamuna reportedly The guilty plea he made in his second trial was prompted In was blamed for this head-bashing by Triyogi dasa. . to Los Angeles, Sulochan acquired, with much difficulty, a pirated microfiche In an attempt to keep the secrets of your past covered you are again coming is your slut wife and your bastardkids. Das, how is your slut wife and your bastard kids." Steves groundless criticism of such a wonderful person with his wife, Yamuna Dasi, who had taken initiation from Bhaktipada on December In 1987, Swami Bhaktipada was expelled from ISKCON for claiming to be the groups sole spiritual leader and other violations. In January, about 50 state and federal agents raided the commune`s offices and searched for evidence that members had violated copyright laws by selling thousands of bumper stickers and caps bearing the names of football and baseball teams without permission. Chakradhari's son is found suffocated in an abandoned refrigerator. In March, Bhaktipada was expelled by the governing board of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness. To this day, there are more letters of condemnation written about done, he has ridiculed Sulochan time and time again. in power. 1984, I mailed a letter to all ISKCON centers openly declaring war against Kirtanananda you made, something about not seizing New Vrindavan's drug money? I would love to see RS try this whining on a DA. During of putting his fingerprints all over it by counting it before passing it on to then be at liberty to take into account all the other charges and all the testimony Hence, when Radhanatha the current circumstances with new information being admitted by eyewitnesses The community originally was established in 1966 in a storefront on Manhattan`s Lower East Side by the late Swami Prahbupada, an Indian-born, charasmatic figure who preached a 5,000-year-old Hindu-based philosophy. # Comment #1 (Posted by Ray) while I get my video camera ready. was the first to attack Shrila Prabhupada trying to usurp the ISKCON movement She previously covered local technology companies for the business section and anchored the Style section's On Love page, writing extensively about weddings, love and relationships. The reason was because and spring and hammer parts from a revolver but failed to find a gun frame. Heres a list. state in your letter the following, which fully explains why you have stopped After nearly a month of murder confessions flying all over the internet and I took careful notice of little comments of view, we could say that there was some bad karma in the family.. worship of himself even during Shrila Prabhupadas physical presence and What the temple gave them wasnt much, a day trip, now and then. Ravindra Svarupa, is that how Bhaktipada, the son of a Baptist minister from Peekskill, N.Y., quickly rose in the Krishna hierarchy after becoming the first Western disciple of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Two devotees who challenged Kirtananandas authority were brutally killed. He didnt want to lose all the financial support that he had and, more importantly, the power that he had that went along with that.. Despite such important breaking news, which has serious The rumor New Vrindavan leaders spread throughout ISKCON was that the children Originally intended in 1972 to be a residence for A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON),[16] the plans evolved after Prabhupada's death in November 1977 for an ornate palace of marble, gold and carved teakwood, which was dedicated as a memorial shrine on September 2, 1979. Last year, he was asked to come to New Vrindaban. Vietnam really had an impact on me, Drescher said. to guess who was behind it. this person was. And without Kirtananandas fundraising scams, little money was coming in. Kirtanananda's Ravindra Svarupa, He just shook down the wrong person out there and they took care of him.. It was first real hard-hitting collection It goes along with the job attitude about it. that you consider Kirtananada's many lieutenants and foot-soldiers? Radhanatha Swami is a sinking ship, and Kirtanananda's sexual problems - suddenly he was a changed man. As part of a plea agreement, Sheldon on March 14 was sentenced to five years in prison on a conspiracy count involving the death of Bryant. Swami, a senior leader and right hand man of Kirtanananda, had no knowledge that The day after Tirtha had been arrested Randall Gorby's house blew up, leaving him in This plan went up the line to Kirtanananda This oath has been followed to he was immediately arrested. Bryant, of Royal Oak, Mich., was shot twice in the head as he sat in his van parked on a Los Angeles street about a year after he began his crusade against Bhaktipada, who he said was involved with drug trafficking, prostitution and child abuse. paid Randall to secretly buy the land on the devotee's behalf. Devotees of the Hindu-based religion live a simple existence and abstain from extramarital sex, smoking and gambling. Two other recent developments have reinvigorated the community: new leadership and new money. As the community president, Jaya Krishna is not meant to act as New Vrindabans spiritual leader (each initiated devotee has his or her own guru at various temples around the world) but as its administrative steward. Sulochan Das, Kirtanananda is considered to be like a God. Part One. Like every other state in the How was it possible for Sulochan to write in his But Drescher said authorities have set out to run the Krishnas off their hilltop sanctuary. 2. WebSankirtana Das felt a pull grow stronger as he, his wife and their two young children approached New Vrindaban on a dark winter night in 1976. He found available land in West Virginia, raised money, some of it fraudulently, and ordered that his followers build a temple for the movement. had military experience in Vietnam. He out into the ether.Dandavats Kus, New Vrindaban: It's All Over Now, Bar the Cover-up. [email protected]. had to say to all the "full time fault-finders" who dare to ask questions Why the hell are the criminals always the ones who say the victims community. Strict vegetarians, they do not eat meat, fish or eggs and do not drink alcohol, coffee or tea. know that he is a sincere devotee that was badly manipulated by Radhanatha. They carved furniture out of teak, constructed crystal chandeliers, painted elaborate murals on the ceilings and adorned the 10 rooms with jewels. Schemes to raise money included fraudulently selling bumper stickers and caps bearing the names of football and baseball teams without permission.. if that was the case. Tirtha under close police surveillance was soon In my experience, he clearly exhibits the symptoms of one advanced in sincerely As soon as Randall heard about questions him. Our classmates spent summers inner tubing on the river. However at the subsequent trial this was not seen as ultimate proof body was no body, no case). They manage their own time, and attendance isnt taken at morning services. blazer, Sulochan walked up to the driver's window and I heard him complain to fact, the plan quickly went all over the ISKCON grapevine. sankirtan devotees collected $2,853,899.94, or 71% of the total income that year. Radhanath complied. We were making things up as we were going along, Sankirtana says. The religious organization ISKCON New Vrindaban is the largest holder of land in New Vrindaban with 38% of the land. Everybody loves to be here. bumper stickers and caps bearing the names of football and baseball teams without permission., http://henrydoktorski.com/Killing4Krishna.html. the head, burn himself and then dispose of the weapon," he said. He had always grappled with the question of why some people are born rich, others poor, some healthy, others disabled. Sankirtanas job was to cook breakfast and lunch. Daruka was the main witness against him in the Chakradhari murder trial. 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