narasimha-sq

Story Matters

ISKCON child abusers reenacted the role of demons in the Hindu scriptures.

Hiranyakashipu victimized his son Prahlada, then sent him away to be tortured in a demonic boarding school; Kamsa killed seven of Vasudeva and Devaki's children as soon as they were born. When the eighth child Krishna appeared, Vasudeva had to smuggle him out to the countryside to protect his life.

You would think ISKCON officials would have tried harder to stop the child abuse because nearly every story about Krishna condemns child abuse.

Story Matters Essays





Child Abuse in the Hare Krishna Movement: 1971-1986
ISKCON Communications Journal, June 1998

by Dr. E. Burke Rochford, Jr.
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Middlebury College

Click here to read Child Abuse in the Hare Krishna Movement, by Burke Rochford.





iskontimeline

ISKCON Child Abuse History in a Timeline

The Gurukula Timeline offers significant dates in ISKCON history, including the opening and closing dates of schools. The timeline begins in 1965, when Srila Prabahupada came to America, and ends in 1999. In 2000, plaintiffs filed the lawsuit, Children of ISKCON vs. ISKCON. Therefore, the years 2000 on are covered in the Lawsuit Timeline.

Timeline 1965 - 1999
Lawsuit Timeline 2000 - present





acrackpot

Media Coverage

Child abuse in ISKCON got of mainstream media attention when plaintiffs filed their complaint, Children of ISKCON v ISKCON. Many of the articles are linked or posted here.

Article Index





children-original

Children of the Ashrama
By Raghunatha Anudas
ISKCON Youth Veterans Journal
Vol. I, Issue II, August 1990

This memoir broke down the wall of silence around child abuse in ISKCON. When Raghunatha wrote Children of the Ashrama and sent it to the GBC and other ISKCON leadership, it changed everything. The whole picture came into view, and people were horrified. The perpetrators and ISKCON had done much to cover things up for years, but all it took was one survivor to write a twenty-five page account of his experiences, and the truth was out.

Click here to read Children of the Ashrama

Raghunatha published Children of the Ashrama in his ISKCON Youth Veteran's Journal. There's also a website - now at Surrealist.org - for the Gurukula Veterans Journal. Raghunatha helped organize reunions for gurukula alumni throughout the 1990s in Los Angeles and other cities. The Journal features photos from those days.

gurukulaveteransjournal

Feedback by the late Joey Zalabak (aka Jagabandhu, aka Jatayu), made back in 2000, when the timeline went online:

Hi Nori,
I just checked out the timeline and the scope of the Vets entire site.* You have been working very very hard I see. It looks like what I consider to be the absolute most important work that you have accomplished in this lifetime. I can't imagine anything else that you have done that holds a candle. Congrads.

Click here to see the Gurukula Veterans Journal

1998 reunion

Gurukula Reunion, Culver City, California, 1998.





Screenshot
Screenshot
Screenshot

The Cost of Silence
A 2016 film by Sanaka dasa
A comprehensive update on child abuse in ISKCON since Children of ISKCON vs. ISKCON was settled in 2008.
Watch now: harekrishna.org

Screenshot

Watch the video - click here





Read Nori Muster's review of Gold, Guns and God: Swami Bhaktipada and the West Virginia Hare Krishnas: Vol. 4: Deviations in the Dhama, by Henry Doktorski - norimuster.com
This is Doktorski's tome about the abuse of women and children in New Vrindaban during the years he was a member, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s.





En Espanol

Timeline in Spanish 1965 - 1999
In Memorial: Ananda McClure or English
On Leaving ISKCON by Steven Gelberg (Subhananda)





Books by Nori

cultsurvivorshandbook   cultsurvivorshandbook   childofthecult-cover-tn.jpg





Other Information

Child abuse symptoms and advice
Children of ISKCON Links
Index of child all abuse recovery information available through this site.
Index of all cult information at this site.

2ndgensacredgems

surrealist-logo