Vrindavan, 2012.02.13 (VT): As the grand opening of the Kripalu Temple of Love (Prem Mandir) in Vrindavan nears, many in the local community are receiving the majestic project with mixed feelings.
Indeed the opulence of the temple, made entirely from pure white marble imported piece by piece from Italy, stands in stark contrast to the muddy reputation Kripalu Maharaja and his disciples have managed to gain around the world.
Now 90 years old, Jagadguru Kripalu Maharaj has gained the adulation of countless followers who follow him with almost fanatically blind devotion. His disciples claim that he is an avatar greater than Krishna or Chaitanya Mahaprabhu — while denying a growing body of documentation from ex-disciples who tell the same stories of sexual contact with females followers, often minors, sometimes consensual, but just as often not.
What is more, the traditions that Kripalu set into motion by his own example appear to be carried on by many of his disciples, not the least of whom is Prakashananda Saraswati, the founder of Barsana Dham, a huge temple project in Austin, Texas, and the main mover behind the Vrindavan Prem Mandir, until his name was sullied by a guilty verdict last year in an American court, which found him guilty of 20 counts of molesting minor girls.
Karen Johnson, an American follower for over 15 years, after becoming aware of the “dirty little secrets” of the Kripalu organization, has spent the last few years researching and writing about her experiences with the goal of exposing the cult for what it is. The full title of her book is “Sex, Lies, and Two Hindu Gurus: How I Was Conned by a Dangerous Cult—And Why I Will Not Keep Their Secrets.”
We had the pleasure of speaking to Ms. Johnson an getting an idea of what this book is about and why she wrote it.
Jagatguru Kripalu Maharaj
VT: Tell us a bit about yourself and how you came to write this memoir.
LJ: I was a member of the Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat (JKP) cult. I lived in the JKP ashram formerly named Barsana Dham in Austin for 15 years. When I realized that I was a member of dangerous cult with dark secrets, I decided that it was necessary to expose them. I founded a Facebook page called The Truth Project for Barsana Dham and JKP, where I collect and disseminate information about the JKP cult. I started as an innocent spiritual seeker, but now I see myself as warrior seeking justice for children harmed by these gurus.
VT: Why did you choose to release the book at the same time as the opening of the Prema Mandir?
LJ: I specifically chose this publication date because I want to contrast Kripalu’s public image with the truth. The sole purpose of the new giant temple is to glorify Kripalu Maharaj—who uses the self-designated title “jagadguru.” Kripalu has been arrested for rape twice during his 60-year reign as a Hindu “spiritual leader.” Yet, he has never been held accountable for these or any other crimes, and the true story has not been fully told until now in my book.
What’s more, this date is close to the one-year anniversary of Prakashanand Saraswati’s criminal trial in Texas and his escape into hiding in Mexico. Prakashananda Saraswati was one of the driving forces in spreading Kripalu’s message in America as well as in building the Prem Mandir and collecting money for it.
VT: What exactly has Kripalu Maharaj done that is so heinous?
LJ: Well, the main thing that most people find reprehensible is Kripalu’s bedroom rituals. Because he is considered to be an avatar of Krishna, his sexual touch and so on are supposed to be a gift of divine love, or prema dan. He gives private audiences to women he can manipulate and blesses them by sexual touch. He invites women to give him “charan seva”, a kind of massaging ritual which usually incorporates sexual touching.
What is worse is that many of the higher placed disciples act as pimps and procuresses finding and bringing young girls to Kripalu. I was in Austin when the daughter of one Indian American devotee, a virgin, refused to go. What is incredible is that the father of the girl himself reacted bizarrely and actually blamed her for not serving her guru. I have given a detailed account of this in the book.
VT: In your book you say that you did not find out about any of this until 2007. You had already been in the organization for 15 years. Why do you think it takes people so long to “wake up”?
KJ: The main reason that I stayed for so long is that I believed what these men said, which is basically that they (alone) could guide and grace me so that I could achieve God realization. That was my primary goal when I met them. I had no idea the entire time that I lived in the ashram what exactly was going on in their bedrooms with adult women and underage girls, because they were very, very good at making those who knew keep their secrets. In the beginning, I naively accepted that they were “saints.” Once I believed that, then I was pretty much doomed, because all of their teachings begin with that core deceit. For example, because they are “saints,” their actions cannot be judged by mere mortals, and, in fact, to judge them is to create an irredeemable “transgression” (sin, aparadh), and you’ll never reach God if you commit such a sin. In hindsight, my problem was believing the initial deceit – that they are saints. Which, of course, I now know they are most definitely not.
As for other people, I believe that they do not want to accept that these men are not saints. Many people have “invested” a lot in this belief, including their time and money. Some people have abandoned family members for the gurus, while others are forced by their family to stay in JKP. Some people’s egos are huge, because they think they have found the highest form of God on Earth (they brag about how Kripalu is THE Jagadguru of our age). And in the case of some of the women, they’ve had humiliating bedroom experiences with the gurus, and they do not want to face the fact that they have committed these acts with some slimy con man. They prefer the deceit to the truth.
VT: Do you work together with other “anti-cult” groups?
KJ: No, I am not. I have been too busy since I left the JKP cult. I have had to heal from the traumatic experience. I spent a great deal of time supporting victims of this cult. I have researched to learn more of these gurus’ secrets. And I have written my memoir, Sex, Lies, and Two Hindu Gurus, which was a major undertaking.
I do not want to be a voice speaking out only against cults, because that would be a victim mentality. What I want is to be a voice speaking out for our eternal relationship with God, which people like fake gurus and other spiritual con men and women only further blind us to.
VT: You seem to be saying that the religion itself is bogus. Is that what you think? What is the relationship between the 15 years you spent following the JKP people and your current thinking on spirituality?
KJ: If you mean that I am saying Hinduism is wrong, the truth is that I have never said that. What I have said is that what Kripalu Maharaj and Prakashananand Saraswati taught was a huge distortion of what I’ve since learned about this religion (or what some people call a “dharma”). I knew nothing about Hinduism when I joined JKP at the age of 33. So whatever I learned while I was in JKP, I learned from them.
I have since spoken with many Hindu people, and they have explained some of the basic tenets of Hinduism to me. There is no other conclusion to draw, except that these two men took a few elements from Hinduism and massaged them to manufacture their own person religion that suited their needs, and they called it “Hinduism.”
For example, Kripalu claims to be both Radha and Krishna. He is Radha, because they say that Radha is THE highest form of God. He is the loving form of Krishna, because that gives his inner circle a way to prepare women and young girls for what he does in the bedroom. They literally tell females that in his bedroom they will have an experience like the gopis have with Krishna in divine Vrindavan.
My current feeling on spirituality is the opposite of what the fake gurus in JKP taught. One Hindu man explained it to me best. It’s the simple idea that we are already God, so we don’t have to “realize” him and we don’t have to go anywhere. We just have to remove the ignorance that makes us think we are separate from God. I know now that those two men just got in the way of my relationship with God. I remember in 2007, right before I learned the truth, I had a moment of frustration at hearing Kripalu say for the millionth time: “Love me more than God.” I thought to myself in: I don’t want to love you; I only want to love God. One month later, I learned the truth about him.
VT: As a person living in Vrindavan, I find it difficult to swallow that from now 50-100 years, Kripalu’s big monuments will be here and there and that will be his legacy. Who he was and what he did will be forgotten. What do you think about that?
KJ: That is a horrible thought, isn’t it? What it will take for that to not happen is for more people to speak out and tell their stories of abuse at the hands of Kripalu and his people. I can tell you that in the USA, Kripalu’s mission is floundering, because people have learned the truth. His “monument” here in Austin, Texas, is struggling. Fewer people are going there, and the ashram’s donations are drying up.
If a group of people in India would stand up to this demon, tell their true experiences, instead of just going away quietly, then perhaps they can help change the course of history there as well. Many people have written to me to support what I am doing. However, they have said things like: “You are brave to stand up to such a large organization.” Well, I don’t think I’m brave, I just think it’s the right thing to do – to help others avoid trap. When I learned the truth, I was appalled to realize how many had left JKP and never spoken out, even former preachers. I decided very early on that I would not go away and stay silent, because that only allows the con men to continue hurting people. A few sincere voices can make a huge difference.
VT: I have a difficulty with the complicity of the women who “massage” Kripalu or Prakashananda. It seems that they were in the know. The disciples who engaged them certainly were. Did you ever talk to the women, especially the Indian women, to get their take on the situation? Was the general mood one of “it is a blessing and we are fortunate to have this charan seva or prema dan. My feeling is that until this point is clarified, the whole accusation of abuse becomes moot. What do you think?
KJ: Generally speaking, the women and girls who were part of the highly secretive pressing ritual and “private time” sex experiences in the gurus’ bedrooms, believed that it was a blessing from God. They thought they were special, the “chose ones,” above all the other devotees who were not invited into the gurus’ bedroom. There is a very hush-hush aspect to the whole thing, even among the women who have participated.
However, to really understand the inside world of JKP is not easy — the answers are not black and white. It’s complicated. And, unfortunately, it’s this very complexity that keeps people in doubt. And the doubt keeps the JKP machine running.
Here is basically how it works: Kripalu has helpers, female preachers, and female devotees who have had sex with him and who bring him new recruits — women devotees and underage girls. Some women jump at the chance to have the sexual experiences, believing that it’s grace and they get an ego boost in the process. Some women and girls are “prepared” for the experience by other women, but are shocked when it happens. Afterwards, they either forget about it and avoid it in the future, or leave the organization without speaking out.
It needs to be understood that the preparation part is very vague. They don’t tell women exactly what will happen: What they say is anything can happen. When I pushed the woman who prepped me for specifics, I asked: “What do you mean anything? Do you mean sex?”
And she answered, “I cannot say. Whatever happens is between you and Kripalu.” So they are very dishonest from the beginning. Then after the women and girls interact with him sexually, he tells them, “Don’t tell anyone.” His supporters further tell the women and girls that if they tell anyone they will lose the “grace.”
Lastly, there are the young girls who are literally raped by him. I have read that he tells rape victims if they speak out they will be punished and receive a great curse. Some young women, especially the Indian girls, do not speak out because of the shame. One young girl, who was raped at 16, did not want to tell because she was afraid no one would want to marry her. Another young girl, raped at 13, didn’t tell, because she was threatened by a preacher and also because she assumed her parents already knew.
One woman who was digitally raped by Kripalu went to tell the woman who organized the “charan seva.” The woman yelled at her and said, “Don’t tell me about your private experiences with Kripalu.”
These are just a few examples. There are so many stories and so many situations contributing to sexual abuse in JKP.
VT: Was there a clearly spelled-out philosophical justification for the charan seva, etc.? It seems that there was definitely an admission to a level of trustworthiness before you were allowed into that inner club. Was it accompanied by any new teachings?
DJ: No, there was no clearly spelled-out justification. As I explained above, it was all secretive. The only public dialogue about it was in coded language. For example, when Prakashanand mention Kripalu’s appearance on this Earth (as the modern-day form of Lord Chaitanya) he said that unlike Chaitanya, “Kripalu is bestowing his grace in so many ways, such as singing, speaking, and touching devotees.” While saying this, Prakashanand is patting himself on the head, as if to say that’s the way that Kripalu touches people.
As for trustworthiness, they did attempt to filter out females whom they felt would not be complicit in their crimes; which explains why I was excluded until 2007, when, as I say in my book, there was a shortage of women. While Kripalu was in the USA that year, they brought in many more women who had never participated. However, before that they tended to invite in Indian women, whom I guess they assumed who never tell, and Western women who were very subservient to the gurus and preachers.
VT: From the Facebook page and elsewhere, it seems that Kripalu’s disciples are continuing this tradition of abuse that he set in motion. Certainly Prakashananda was following it. Do you have close contacts with others following the preachers of the JKP and documenting their activities? If they are doing the same kinds of things, it would seem that they are following a clear philosophical direction, or is it that they are just sexual predators and taking advantage?
LJ: I do not have contact with JKP’s preachers. I only know what Prakashanand did. I had also heard something about another JKP preacher, Siddeshwari, when I saw a letter that some people in Oklahoma sent to her mailing list in the 1990s. In the letter they were warning parents with daughters about taking them to India to meet Kripalu. They said that they believe that Kripalu was raping young girls. They further said that this preacher was caught having sex with some of her male devotees. When they confronted her, she admitted to it and also to having sex with Kripalu. She claimed to be a sex addict. She disappeared for a while after that, then reappeared with a new organization with a new name, Radha Madhav Society.
I only know that the preachers bring Kripalu what he wants – money and female bodies. I have heard him yelling at the preachers for not bringing him enough devotees. I can only assume they are so warped by their experience with him that they become like him.
I had heard rumors that people also bring women to his three grandsons, who are young and virile men, who could very likely take over where Kripalu leaves off when he dies. So if people think it will all end when he dies, they should think again.
On thing I’d like to stress regarding Prem Mandir is that this was Prakashanand’s project since the beginning. He was the captain of the ship. I find it interesting now that he is a convicted felon and fugitive from justice that there is no mention of him. Kripalu told the ashram in the USA to remove photos of Prakashanand from the prayer hall.
Scene from Prem Mandir wall decoration showing Kripalu with disciples. Where has Prakashananda gone?
I was wondering if they had also removed him from any images on Prem Mandir. At one time there was a statue of him there and image of his face in a crowd of faces. Many scenes from Kripalu’s life are depicted on the Prem Mandir’s wall. One such scene shows him with a group of his disciples. Of course, one of the main disciples in the scene was Prakashanand Saraswati. Now, however, his face has suspiciously gone missing and someone else’s head put in its place! I was told by a friend who lives in Vrindavan that there is a place where all these abandoned “heads” of people who lost favor with Kripalu have been dumped. They lost their chance for immortality! It sure looks like every one is dispensable around there. Prakashanand is very much still being sought by U.S. Marshals.
{ 86 comments… read them below or add one }
Next Comments →
I would like to see some intelligent discussion on this subject. Those who come to defend Jagadguru Kripalu Maharaj are requested to refrain from name calling and address the fundamental issues. Accusing the accusers or blaming the victims has no place here. There is copious documentation from numerous women that there can be little doubt of the truth of the allegations.
So, (1) What is the relationship of truth to love? Can you preach love while lying about your actions? If Kripalu and his disciples who bestow grace through sexual touching believe that this is the truth, then they should not be afraid of saying so.
(2) It should be noted from the article above that though the author of this book states that she still feels that she has an affinity for Hinduism, she certainly seems to have lost her taste for Vaishnavism. The Vaishnavism preached by Kripalu is based on the esoteric literature taught by the Six Goswamis, especially Rupa Goswami, and the other madhura rasa upasana sampradayas of Vrindavan. On the one hand Kripalu is bringing people to Radha-Krishna bhakti, on the other, he seems to alienate many as well.
(3) What happens to the guru-institution itself? Thousands of people who have these kinds of experiences ultimately end up denying the need for gurus and blame all gurus for being cheats and rascals. What does that say for Hinduism itself.
I would be interested to hear what people have to say about these things.
Jagat
”I do not want to be a voice speaking out only against cults, because that would be a victim mentality. What I want is to be a voice speaking out for our eternal relationship with God, which people like fake gurus and other spiritual con m…en and women only further blind us to.”
I am so glad she said precisely that. She said it perfectly! Because it not only hits right on the nail of the particular issue of sexual abuse by gurus, but it speaks of any and all trespassings by those misrepresenting actual love of God. It speaks by association of every other issue out there that is wrong with Vrindavan today. Vrindavan represents the world, not the other way around. What is wrong with gurus, priests and all these so called men and women of God out there cheating without impunity bespeaks of the real Vrindavan. Then by extention with India and finally the world. Those who can see this connection, in that order, are at least spiritually fortunate and should be heard when asking for a check on a demon (she calls him demon in her interview) such as this Kripalu fellow.
I am worried about the good intent due to timing of the expose. I welcome the debate though.
Radhe Radhe.
I sympathise with the innocent spiritual seeker Karen and appreciate her efforts to expose this fraud guru Kripalu. It is really courageous on her part to expose such men and alert innocent seekers after her close association with Kripalu-Prakashanand for more than fifteen years.
I have read the literature of Kripalu and have heard him on TV and he seems to be a highly egoistic person considering others as fools [Buddhu] and sinners and projecting himself as a MAHAPURUSH. His literature like Saadhan Sadhya is used only for self glorification without any religious significance. He has created his impression of GOD to his followers and the innocent followers are worshipping him instead of worshipping traditional Hindu Gods.
Kripalu misinterprets our ancient religious texts and selectively quotes from them which serves his selfish purpose. This person is doing immense damage to Hindu Religion by exploiting the minds and bodies of young spiritual seekers. It is high time that such bogus gurus who promise God Realisation/Bhagwatpraapti to the spiritual seekers and ruins the life of innocent followers by misguiding and misinterpreting ancient religious texts for their own selfish purpose are exposed.
They are not only damaging the Sanatan Hindu dharma but are also causing irreversible psychological damage to the loyal followers by making false promises and exploiting them.
Karen Jonson,
Thank you very much for releasing this book. I will definitely buy and read it. The biggest alarm bell which rang in my head about JKM, after seeing his programs on television, was when he was displaying pseudo Gopi-Bhava like violent body shakes on the mere utterance of the name Shri Radhe. This is impossible to achieve in this degraded Kali-Yuga or Iron age by a House-Holder who has fathered children, and grand children. My Own guru ISKCON Founder Acharya His Divine Grace Srila A C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada who was a contemporary of JKM stated that any one who discusses the higher rasas of Bhakti like conjugal love openly and displays gopi-bhava has to be a fake a pervert. Which is exactly what JKM has proven by his un-holy acts. I think even his Jagad Guru title is also a fake.
In Gaudiya Vaishnavism most of the Gurus rebuke their disciples if they even bring the name of Sri Radhe on their lips and instead ask them to use Hare Krishna to address each other. Anyone who utters Sri Radhe does it out of a certain perversion they say which is true as the name of Srimati Radharani never comes in Srimad Bhagavatam much.
But I fail to understand, one thing. In the history of the spiritual master business in the past 100 years, almost 99% Gurus have involved themselves in sexual acts, scandals, money rip-off with their followers but still very young women are always seen around such fraudsters as if they themselves are seeking these un-holy gurus. This is happening with almost all cults and prominent Export Gurus of India now. Instead of adopting the teachings they get attached to the persona of the Guru and then regret it later. How can one expect true self-less love from a 3rd person when he cannot even get this from his/her own parents.
Whatever JKM teaches can be found in the book “All About Hinduism” written by Swami Sivananda as early as 1946 available for free download from http://dlshq.org. JKM teachings are based on Nimbarka Acharya Philosophy of Bheda Abheda, Simultaneous oneness & difference with the supreme truth which is Radha Krishna which JKP sells as their own invention to it’s followers.
Colonel Zaysen
Nandina – Thank you so much for your kind comment.
SG – I welcome the dialogue as well. But I’m sorry but I do not understand how the timing of my book or any other minor point matters at all when the overriding issue is exposing people who sexually abuse children and innocent spiritual seekers.
Rajesh – It is so refreshing to hear others speak out so clearly against this type of abuse. I only wish this truth were obvious to many more people. Then this type of abuse would stop immediately, because no one would tolerate it.
Colonel Zaysen – You’re welcome! And thank you for your comments and information on certain traditions (which are clearly eschewed in JKP). I have no answers for why some people choose to worship gurus, instead of God. I always wanted God, even while in JKP. In my book, I tell one interesting story about Kripalu’s second visit to the U.S. — which clearly shows that I was not onboard with worshipping him, like all of the others around me. Thank you for the web address. I will definitely take time to read the book you recommended.
Best regards to all who took the time to read this article and learn a bit more about the dark truth behind the facade that is Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat.
” One Hindu man explained it to me best. It’s the simple idea that we are already God, so we don’t have to “realize” him and we don’t have to go anywhere. We just have to remove the ignorance that makes us think we are separate from God. ”
This statement really has made me appalled. A person could live for 15 years in an Ashram that teaches what Rupa Goswami taught and still buy this kind of a statement? People who just watch the television discourses at home with no exposure to the ashrams appear to learn more about Radha Krishna Bhakti than that.
Recently in Canada a man was released from Prison after serving more than 20 years for rape which was laer found to be false. Ms. Johnson you must have been purposefully blind to have lived so many years in Barsana Dham and were in he dark about Prakashanand Saraswati.
I was a member of Iskcon and remember all those Gurus with the big title that A. C Bhaktivendanta himself chose as his successor that fell due to sexual impropriety… Bhavananda etc. You are being dishonest… recently Bhakti Narayan Maharaj have been speaking about Sri Radha. Don’t throw stones when you have glass windows!!!!
Regarding Sivananda preaching the same as Kripalu Maharaj …you are not being truthful. I have read extensively and Kripalu Maharaj is the only person I have found that is logical and understand our scriptures. Most other Gurus with the exception of high quality Gaudiya Vaishnavas makes no sense and preaches utter nonsense.
The fact is many devotees when they fall out of an organization start to spread all sorts of rumour and innuendos. Your website should be like a court of law. This website is doing a disservice to many Guru….. you are publishing unsubstaniated hearsay evidence by a person whom after 15 years suddenly saw the light and wants to create controversy where there is none….. sell a few books etc. We should find out whether Ms. Johnson belongs to any organization that is against Hinduism. I followed the Prakashanand trial and in any other jurisdiction except a Redneck anti Hindu anti coloured area he would have been found” Not Guilty”. There was no evidence except the words of people who had left the organization(does Sai Baba come o mind). Thank God we have laws and certain burden of proof or we may all face the same accusations and innuendos. I have attended satsangs for over 20 years with people involved with Kripalu Maharaj and those who leave mostly because of family pressure or don’t want to give any financial seva etc. I believe JKP IS THE MOST GENUINE ORGANIZATION in the world and if you read and study without bias you will come to the same conclusion.
Let us setup an unbiased panel that will weigh all evidence like a court before we convict Gurus on pure hearsay.
DON’T FORGET EVEN LORD SRI KRISHNA WAS MALIGNED DURING HIS APPEARANCE ON EARTH. NOW WE PRAY TO HIM!!!!
HOW DO WE KNOW WHO IS A SAINT…..99% OF ALL SAINTS HAD FAMILIES AND APPEARED VERY WORLDLY.
Jai Sri Radhey!!!
These are good points. Does philosophical cogency or correctness, or rather high realization, override what is considered proper morality? The shastra appears to say yes, but in some cases they appear to be appalling to ordinary people and even disciples.
In ISKCON, for instance, in the case of “fallen” leaders, there is always an element of forgiveness due to the long service in preaching the ISKCON message and serving the ISKCON cause. If Kripalu is indeed preaching the pure message of Radha-bhakti but has some character weakness, then forgiveness is the proper response, just as found at the end of the Gita’s 9th chapter. In other words, does the good outweigh the evil? Or is even one spot of fault to be immeasurably greater than all the good that a person may have given.
Both schools are there–the forgiving and the unforgiving.
With regards to Karen’s changed views of Hinduism, this falls into the category of the guru role. One’s final guru is always the Antaryami, the indwelling Self, or Conscience. If one acting as Guru responsible for disciples behaves in a way that his disciples lose faith, it should be seen that the Antaryami is acting. The Antaryami is pointing out that there is a problem.
Now in the case of ISKCON, Jagadguru or any other cult or religion, the Catholic Church, or whatever, many people make a decision based on pros and cons as stated above, “There is this much positive value, what is the harm if he has sex with his disciples?”
For others, their entire faith system is shaken up and they may even reject, as in this case, the theological system, seeing the character flaw in the guru as the result of a fundamental misunderstanding of the Universe and God. I am sympathetic to this position.
Religious systems are not much good if they don’t offer the advertised result, and the Guru IS the advertised result.
Especially for awakened women, matters of sexual propriety are of crucial importance. In my opinion, Radha and Krishna, being a symbol of erotic and romantic love between the sexes, are a comment on sexual behaviors.
There is a big difference, however, between the Krishna of the Bhagavata, who is God performing the universal rasa dance with all the living entities in the universe, and the Radha-Krishna of the Radha-rasa-sudha-nidhi and the rasika acharyas, where Radha is the supreme object of love for Krishna, to the point that he forgets everyone else. The theological visions are entirely different. The former is a vision that is still endowed with aishwarya, the latter is one of madhurya.
Shastra says that the guru should be seen as Krishna directly. It may be thought reasonable that this gives the guru the right to sexual involvement with his disciples. Indeed, it would seem that in Kripalu’s case, this is indeed what is going on. I personally think that this is abuse of power and that it also undermines the very teaching, which is of madhurya-bhava.
Groping and touching or using one’s position of authority to extort sexual favors in the name of spiritual grace and mercy are whatever they are, but they are not madhura-rasa bhakti on any level of the equation because they are always predicated on coercion and abuse of authority.
Neil Prashad.
Being associated with JKP for past twenty years does not give you a right to compare the self proclaimed Jagatguru with Lord Krishna and other great saints of India. Your first entry does not give any indication of your twenty years of association with JKP and your second entry makes things clear. As usual , you are accusing Anti Hindu forces to defend the unholy acts of Prakashanand. If Prakashanand was innocent, he could have appealed to a higher court in America but he chose to dissappear which itself proves that the allegations and the verdict was true. Unlike the self proclaimed Jagatguru, Our great saints were egoless with little knowledge of Shastras. They never claimed to be God and never boasted about their spiritual status. Our great saints never made ashrams and temples and never misguided followers by saying that God Realisation is impossible without them.
Being associated with JKP since last twenty years, you must be well aware that most of the followers are blindly following the Guru as the Guru preaches the followers to blindly follow his words and actions without doubting their words and actions as they are the final authority and above God and the followers cannot judge saints and their actions. I think Karen was also a blind follower and when she realised that the self proclaimed God is involved in unholy activities, she realised that everything was not well in the organisation
Mr. Jagat: I’d be interested in knowing this from you, as you invite discussions here and obviously have given your verdict on Kripaluji Maharaj – Do you know anyone who was affected first-hand ?
Wow, so why was my last post deleted? Does Mr.Jagat run this site/manage this article? The minute I ask if he knows anyone who is affected first hand, my post gets deleted….great, good indication for me to walk out of this and stop wasting my time.
JKM is very knowledgeable and presents the teachings of vaisnava dharma very uniquely.
It is very difficult to guess that at the age of 90 he would retain sexual desires. But nothing is impossible.
However, in the past there have been many instances of attacks on strong Hindu preachers by the anti-Hindu groups. Many of the allegations have been found to be false.
However, any preacher needs to be careful not to break wives from their husbands and vice versa. Otherwise such allegations are bound to occur.
Why spend time in private with a woman when your aim is to serve the Divine Couple ?
Hello Radha – I’m surprised by your statement, because Kripalu also teaches that people have to remove a layer of ignorance to realize God. However, he adds one caveat onto this: That we have to worship HIM above worshipping God, because ONLY Kripalu can grace anyone to realize God. Can you please point out this particular teaching – that only Kripalu can grace us – in any of the Hindu scriptures?
Hi Neil – Book authors face a common issue: that is receiving negative feedback from people who have not even taken the time to read their books. I think reading my book would give you more information and the ability to comment more precisely, instead of just in the standard devotee-party-line. In particular, your thoughts regarding Prakashanand’s criminal trial are not based in reality, let alone the truth. You are simply regurgitating what Prakash’s defenders have been saying since he disappeared.
Please do not forget that I was once a devotee for a very long time, so I was once like you: Thinking that Kripalu and his gang are above the law. As a result, I know that you and other devotees do not possess the ability to step back and see the truth (I could not until I saw the cult for the con game that it is). If you someday have the strength to step away from the cult, you may be able to offer up your own independent thoughts. I really hope you do gain your independence back at some point – for your sake. It’s not a good life to be under the iron grip of a devious con man.
Jagat – I gave this organization the benefit of the doubt, believing that we were on a unique, superior path; one on which the normal rules do not apply. We were even told that Kripalu’s descension is so special, that it was not written about in the scriptures (isn’t this convenient for them?). I can only speak for JKP, because despite the devotees continually saying that I’m against Hinduism (in an attempt to discredit me), I have nothing against Hinduism. What I’m against is any leader of any religion that abuses people in the name of God.
One correction is that my view of Hinduism did not change. It couldn’t have, because before I joined this group I did not have any opinion of Hinduism. Now I would never discredit an entire religion or dogma based on one bad apple. My opinion of Kripalu’s religion is that it is a con game. I do not equate his con game with the entirety of Hinduism.
Regarding the right, wrong, forgiveness, or nonforgiveness of Kripalu’s actions: I will side with his child victims who have suffered immeasurable damage as a result of being raped by him and pimped out by his preachers and devotees. I have heard more stories than I am able to publish due to confidentiality issues. However, I tried my best to express the depth and breadth of this problem in my book, so that the readers can understand that is a multi-decade problem in JKP that has affected hundreds of children.
Regarding him having sex with adults, I have always said, let the women have as much sex with him as they want, if that is what they truly want. While I feel that it is abuse of authority, and wrong when it comes to unwilling women, I feel that many women in JKP have willingly chosen the guru-sex lifestyle. In this case, who can say that it is wrong? People have all kinds of non-traditional sexual predilections.
However, I draw a hard, unwavering line, and give no forgiveness to child molesters. As one non-devotee asked me: “Why does God have to have sex with children?” If someone feels that allowing gurus to rape children is okay according to Hinduism, please share the scriptural evidence with me. I would really like to see that.
Dear Radha, No need to panic. This site is moderated. In general, the policy on this site is that all posts are passed, but of course the process is not instant. As to whether I know anyone personally who was affected, I don’t know exactly what your standard is. I know Karen Jonson, isn’t that enough? But I know other individuals who have been long involved with Jagadguru Kripaluji and have reported to me their first-hand knowledge of these matters.
Jai Radhe.
Karen: I see some holes in some of your statements.
First, I am not as close to the organization as you were. But, I have heard many many of his discourses which make perfect sense, and never does Kripaluji Maharaj say that He is the ONLY one who can grace a soul to remove ignorance. He simply states that only a God realized saint whom you accept as Guru can remove your ignorance, and he does not claim to be the only one who is God realized. This is corroborated in many many places in the scriptures which I tend to believe more than your statements, no offence. In fact Kripaluji Maharaj says uncountable souls have attained God realization and similarly uncountable souls are ignorant as well. The God realized personalities, even though they are God realized, maintain their own individual personality as well (that is why when you read about Radha’s sakhis, you will read someone as having a temperament such as anger etc.). May be your situation has made you only focus on his individual personality traits and not focus on his divine side, and left you disillusioned. Can happen to anyone who is under Mayic influence, including myself…
Secondly, I have read else where you wrote that questions were not encouraged by JKP. Though I am not close to the organization, I feel this is COMPLETELY false. I have sent them many of my questions – the ones which would help with my spiritual growth. Not one has been turned down to my surprise. Just like many other souls, I have my share of experiences with other gurus where questions were turned down or not answered. But JKP on the other hand has beautifully clarified every doubt I have had. Now, if you want to ask questions unrelated to spiritual growth, I don’t know if they’d answer those. Relevant questions were definitely answered.
Jagat: You were presumably around even when Lord Krishna was around, and so are you now. Maybe indulging in these topics is the reason.
Pray to God to give me the strength to stop indulging in topics that waste my time and have potential for creating negative vibes.
Jai Shri Radhey
The question that I still don’t find resolved in my mind is how is it possible that so many people can be simultaneously duped for so long on this issue. Here is a note I wrote on facebook – the title expresses my bewilderment as to that question:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1570831628&ref=tn_tnmn#!/notes/nandini-radhe/what-were-they-thinking/10150569457033507
I know this isn’t a quote from the Vedic Scriptures, but I think it is relevent to the discussion. What is the fruit that these two produce?
Matthew 7:15-20 KJV Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
Neil prashad and Radha seems to be blind followers of JKP. Neil prashad says that followers leave JKP due to family pressure/dont want to give any financial seva. It is surprising to note that a religious devoted follower of the so called Jagatguru and the greatest Guru of all times have to leave JKP due to family pressure.Why should the family pressurise the fanatic follower to leave JKP. And is there a rule in JKP that financial donation is mandatory to be a follower ? Both this points imply that something is extremely wrong with the teaching and preachings of JKP. A person following any religious path becomes more loving , cheerful and tolerant with a wide vision. If a follower after joining JKP becomes fanatic , non tolerant, narrow minded and rude than the family members are bound to recognise the fact that something is extremely wrong with the teachings and preachings and actions of JKP.
Why does the greatest Jagatguru makes it a makes it mandatory for financial seva ? Does it mean that the Jagatguru and his preachers will guide you in your spiritual progress only and only if financial seva is regularly done by the follower. Our great saints never demanded anything from their followers and never preached anything which can disrupt families.
Our great saints have always conveyed the message of love and service. All our religious scriptures and shastras have also conveyed the same message. And the message given by the Jagatguru in his books is quite contrary to our shastras. The Jagatguru in his book states that loving your parents, wife , children and family members is a sin ? I have got the book. The jagatguru repeatedly says that the followers should not doubt his words and should follow his words .Is this the message that JKP wants to give to the world and prove himself as the greatest jagatguru of all times. Such preachings ruins the family harmony and instead of spiritual progress results in degradation of a human being and converting the follower into a disturbed perverted state. Even ordinary Sansari Person does not commit such sins of breaking up of happy families for sansari gains. Can you explain and convince me and the others about such preachings.
Radha : I know many blind followers of JKP and have read almost all books of JKP. Apart from the books/literature of JKP, the attitudes and behaviour of the followers conveys the message of JKP which coincidentally does not give a religious message.
Shyam Sunder : I thoroughly agree with you that why should a ninety years old preacher spend private time with women when it is totally prohibited by our Shastras . It is obvious that private time with women in the name of seva has more than meets the eye.
Vaishnavism is the highest level of spirituality but it nowhere involves sex !!!
Those saying that The Six Goswamis Of Vrindavan Taught These things must be the biggest liers and fakers available.
I would request such people to do whatever they wish but they should blame the Authentic Gaudiya Vaishnavas Preaching For The Same.
And as far as of any incarnation….
The Srimad Bhagawatam that is available through disciplic succesion of the Guru’s in Gaudiya Vaishnavism no where holds any incarnation of The Lord Visnu / Incarnation / or advent/ or appearnce of God between LORD SHRI KRISHNA CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU and LORD KALKI…
So people assuming themselves to be GOD should not spread Bogus Teachings like this….
And the people following them should be aware of the following :
As you are into a cult calling it vaishnavism you must have heard the word HELL
people who cheat people like the way you are doing spreading about your so called Guru or whatever ….
Such people get a very lower place in the realms of hell along with their so called guru….
So if you really want to advance in spirituality beg for forgiveness to LORD CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU as he is very merciful he will forgive you and might make you associate with a TRUE VAISHNAVA and deliver you from this deadly forest fire of Matterialsim….
Gaura Premanande Hari Hari Bol !!!!!!
Radha — I will bow to your own statement: Clearly, I do have much more experience with JKP than you do. Believe me, that is not bragging. I wish I knew a lot less than I do. There is absolutely nothing divine about this man or his organization.
People, like Radha, can defend him all they want. I refuse to get nit-picky about every small point his supporters throw out there. I see their ignorance about the truth in each and every sentence. And what I see from this types of support of Kripalu is yet more people being hurt at the hands of him and his entourage.
Since I’ve published the book just last week, I’ve heard from more of his victims — including people whose pockets were picked, families torn apart in the name of God, and more women who were raped when they were very young. Every story breaks my heart and increases my resolve to warn people and reach out to victims.
I wish I were a blind devotee, for if I were one, I wouldn’t even visit this page and indulge in mud slinging just based on hearsay. There are thousands of followers who obviously do not participate in these discussions. People like you who praise Chaitanya Mahaprabhu would have certainly found unfathomable faults in Him when He was around as well. You would want to ascertain what qualifications you have before talking about hell for a God realized saint and also think about the consequences for yourself for talking against one.
I ask for that blind faith in Lord Krishna, so I don’t have to ever engage in such conversations with the other fallen souls. You can continue your mudslinging but I for sure am not coming back to this page.
Jai Sri Radhey!
First, I haven’t drank some cool aid and became a blind follower. I have asked pertinent questions that can withold legal scrutiny. I have associated with JKP for a very long time and have never encountered some of the revelations of Ms. Johnson et al. It seems like people convict individuals on hearsay and innuendos. Let’s remember the Bhagwat has the story of the Pracetas and even in those times people were antagonistic towards spirituality.
Second, if we are interested in the truth about Prakashanandji, let’s get the transcript of his trial in redneck Texas and have a panel of legal jurist without any connection to the organization look at the details and determine whether they would have convicted someone with such evidence.
Third, I believe in “Satyamev Vijayate” but I have noticed a very disturbing trend in the West today. The fastest way to ruin one’s reputation is to claim Sex abuse. Remember the Duke lacrosse players and the IMF cheif.
While I don’t agree with Prakashanandji’s decision to skip out of Texas, I can understand because it takes a very long time for an appeal while you are rotting away. I believe if he was guilty he would never have returned from India for the trial since he was very comfortable.
I have noticed a trend where most of the popular Hindu Gurus are being accused of sexual impropriety. Gurus such as Swami Rama,Osho, Sai Baba,Prakashand etc. I am starting to wonder if some sinister force isn’t behind these accusations. In the culture of the oppressed the first thing a sinister force does is to destroy the intellectual class. JUST A THOUGHT TO PONDER!
Ms. Johnson speaks about misrepresenting Vedic teachings. I have read many scriptures translated by many authors and find what Kripalu ji is saying is in accord with those scriptures. Ms. Johnson give me apassage from a scripture that Kripaluji has misrepresented. Even Shankaracarya have praised Guru as God and a prayer many Hindus repeat “Guru Brahma….. etc equates Guru with God(read Kabir etc). I have listened to many of Kripaluji’s lectures. All he speaks about is loving Sri Radha Krishna. Sometimes Pracharaks out of love speak glowingly about Kripaluji but the focus is always on Radha Krishna and Dhyanam….. SHOW ME WHAT’S WRONG WITH THAT!
The Hindu community is a very conservative group(I know many with wives and daughters) I can hardly see them pimping their wives and daughters.
Someone mentioned one of the preachers as a sex addict. I know this person since she was younger and considering I was a very virile young man with 2-3 girlfriends at the time. I should feel slighted.
The bottomline should be because someone can make allegations we should have some tangile evidence a la Clinton /Lewinsky.
THE TRUTH WILL ALWAYS BE THE TRUTH!
Maybe because there is some truth to these accusations? Most of them have been well-documented. All these “events” seem to follow the same pattern. Admirers express disbelief, accuse the accusers of envy, etc., make excuses, and finally just hunker down after making a decision to just ignore it.
In actual fact, most of the cases show another aspect of the pattern: the accusers are committed and sincere and receive the shock of their lives when they find their guru in behaviors they cannot condone. This is generally a huge shock, as you can probably imagine if you try. The usual reaction is that you don’t know where to turn, your world falls apart. Then when you do speak, you are faced with anger, threats, even violence. The worst face of an organization comes when it tries to protect itself from threats to its self-image as the unique possessor of the one supreme divine truth.
Indeed, the truth will be the truth, but don’t presume that you know what the truth is.
I chalk it up to culture.
Think about this. Kripalu grew up in a society where dating was forbidden and one was expected to remain completely celibate until their marriage was arranged by their parents, and in his generation it would have been rare to even meet your spouse before the wedding.
Then after marriage the couple lives in a joint family household where there is little to no privacy to explore a fulfilling sexuality even with your legally married spouse.
This is a recipe for intense repression and much frustration.
Anyone here remember Operation Majnun? The Meerut police were assigned to crack down on “eve-teasing” (sexual harrassement) and instead they targetted young couples enjoying each other’s company in a park! Beating them up and threatening jail time all because they dared to show affection to one another.
You cannot repress the natural attraction between men and women in this way and expect healthy outcomes in society.
Then you have added to it the expectation that anyone preaching dharma must be completely celibate if not married. See the example of Swami Nithyananda from South India – a young, virile, unmarried man yet expected by his surrounding culture to be celibate all because he is unmarried and preaching dharma.
In the USA, outside of a few religious cults, nobody expects a dharmic preacher to be completely celibate just because he or she may be unmarried. There are hundreds of unmarried men and women teaching yoga, meditation, and other forms of spirituality while at the same time openly having a “partner” and no one bats an eye.
I believe that when India becomes more realistic about sexual biology and psychology and does not expect celibacy from unmarried men and women that you will see less perversions of this type. There will be less lying, hiding and sneaking around in old age because having consentual and open “partnerships” throughout one’s youth and middle-age will be accepted as something natural and healthy.
I also believe that eve-teasing will lessen when young men and women are allowed to meet and date each other instead of being expected to remain without romance until their marriages are arranged at the advanced age of 26.
God is sitting inside us. Praise the lord and the victim who has written this book is totally false.. I had been to Usa and India.
It is total sin committed against greatest Guru in this Universe. Even when Jesus christ came in this universese. people like who wrote this book was there but saints do the work and only blessed soul realise it.. I pray to radha krishna to give this fallen intellect a better thought so that what grave sin they committed without any evidence…
Today the world need a evidence.. you can see on 17th Feb 2012 in the history of vrindavan after Chaitanya mahaprabhu only this Kripalujee can attract 149,456 devotees inside and outside might 98,965 so u can see the truth…
Thank you, Karen, for your bravery!
Jagatji-
“If Kripalu and his disciples who bestow grace through sexual touching believe that this is the truth, then they should not be afraid of saying so.”
Exactly! If that is what they believe, then fine, but there should not be false advertising!! Let it be clear from day 1. Then those, like me, who are not into it won’t have to waste their time and money.
Jagat, you seem to imply you know the truth and anyone who seems to ask rational questions that any lawyer or courts will ask, are just trying to cover up or are in denial.
I will repeat once again let’s reveiw the transcript of the Prakashanand trial with a panel of independent jurist and see whether with such superficial evidence if they will convict. I followed the trial and based on the evidence(if even he was guilty) couldn’t see myself coming to a conviction. The weigh of evidence was not there!!!!!
I believe we need to set up a commission that can investigate allegations against Gurus and if these allegations are true then we can ridicule them but just on hearsay and allegations we shouldn’t be allowed to sully someones reputation.
Jagadguru Kripalu did not just proclaim himself with that title but it was awarded to him by people who are far superior to you and I in knowledge.
The Truth will always be the Truth but hearsay cannot and should not be the Truth.
I forgot to mention that generally people who are perverted will have photographs and other media materials of their pervertion but if I recall correctly in the Prakashanand trial no items such as those were found on his computer etc.
Hare Krishna you are correct when you say we should be more open about sexuality but on the flip side we see what have happened we take it too far with mass pornography and the ills of unwanted progeny. I believe we have to be honest with ourselves and either enter householders life if we want to engage in the sex act. We can still be effective preachers even if we are householders. As I said in a previous post 99% of our saints had families.
HAVE SOME SHAME—-WRITING ALL CRAP ABT SUCH A GREEAT SAINT—–VRINDAVAN TODAY COMITING SUCH A SIN
Can I make a humble request to not argue with these people. The rascal who wrote this blog has a chip on his shoulder about Vrindavan and the blog smacks of a sour grapes mentality. Demonically minded people will always believe the worst about a true Saint no matter what. He is also being dishonest by calling this a book. Its an e-book that some white lady created in wordpad and doesn’t exist anywhere except on her website and here.
Have some sense and if you want to follow my opinion, then I would advice to counteract this stuff by satsang. In the end, satsang destroys all the negativities. Let these English gentlemen argue amongst themselves about how many fairies can dance on the head of a pin, or who is and who isn’t a real Saint. Its their choice to wallow in that. Its our choice to follow our religion, and create a good impression by being peaceful and quiet.
Where should I begin to respond to people like Neil’s claims and questions? It feels to me that he and others are just spouting out a long litany of commentary to create a smokescreen and try to raise doubts in people’s minds about the corruption within JKP. As a result, I refuse to respond directly to all of this nonsense. Those who are able to hear the truth will – and those who cannot and want to worship Kripalu will never hear the truth, no matter how much evidence about the long-running scam is available. And there is A LOT.
People like Neil fit so perfectly into Kripalu’s con game, because they defend him to death. I imagine Kripalu sitting back and laughing at the foolish people, which he calls ‘donkeys’ using the most derogatory Hindi word. He knows who he can manipulate and who he can’t. And he knows that people like Neil are 100% his complete and utter puppets.
Regarding commentary on Prakashanand’s trial by die-hard followers, they are just spouting the JKP party-line. I’ve heard it all before. Those who have a level head can see right through the JKP lies. (For the record, Kripalu knows Prakashanand did it – that’s why he won’t talk about him anymore and removed his face from everywhere. You know the old saying – there is no honor among thieves!)
I would love to see real evidence of Kripalu being awarded the jagadguru title. But I never will because none exists. I’ve never even heard a single comment from a person of authority (higher than Neil) stand up and vouch for him. I did however see a doctored photograph of him supposedly receiving a title in the 1950s – the only problem is that it included people from the USA sitting in the audience. People who could not have possibly been in India then!!
It’s funny that devotees like to say that I’m committing a sin when I tell the truth about Kriplu – meanwhile they are worshipping one of the world’s biggest sinners.
Bisakha Dasi – I agree with you. Why do the women in JKP hide their “graceful” sex acts with Kripalu? Are they ashamed? I don’t blame them if they are.
I will continue to inform those who want to know the truth. Several people have already written to thank me for the book and to share their stories of abuse. There seems to be one for every person who leaves the cult. Read a few more on my blog at my website at http://www.rishikaxcult.com. They are heartbreaking.
JKP followers like Dane are showing their JKP Brand spirituality in the debate. JKP supporters like Neil Prashad are defending dissapearance of Prakashanand by reasoning that the appeal would have taken a long time and the divine enlightened HD Prakashanand would have been rotting away. AS per our scriptures and Gita an enlightened soul is STITHIPRAGYA- meaning that an enlightened soul is neither affected by luxuries nor by miseries. If HD Prakashanand was a divine enlightened soul than he should have proved it by appealing in the higher courts and spending his time . The problems with this so called divine persons are their double standards. On one hand, they preach their followers to donate money, celibacy, etc,etc and on the other hand they themselves are indulging in all sorts of unholy acts.
The title of Jagatguru is presumed to be awarded by Kashi Vidwat Parishat comprising of some five hundred sanskrit scholars/Pandits. If you search the net for Kashi Vidwat Parishat, you will be surprised to know that Kashi Vidvat Parishat does not exist on the net and you will be directed to JKP sites. If I remember correctly the same sanskrit scholars/pandits of Kashi had abused our great saint KABIR. It seems that the very existence of Kashi Vidwat Parishat is doubtful. Moreover, even if such an organisation exists, who gave them the authority to appoint anyone as Jagatguru-Universal Guru ? As Neil says that the pandits of Kashi Vidwat Parishat are more knowledgeable than himself and Jagat, than I would go one step ahead and would add that the pandits of Kashi Vidwat Parishat are more knowledgeable than your so called Jagatguru because one who is having more knowledge can judge the knowledge of others. All this means that the title of Jagatguru is fake and a big fraud is going on in the name of spirituality as amply proved by Prakashanand and subsequently by the self proclaimed Jagatguru by removing all traces of Prakashanand from the new temple in Vrindavan.
Neil Prashad, ” I believe we have to be honest with ourselves and either enter householders life if we want to engage in the sex act. We can still be effective preachers even if we are householders. As I said in a previous post 99% of our saints had families.”
And what if someone doesn’t want to have a family? Then what? Complete celibacy for his or her entire life? That’s the only choice – either family life or celibacy? No middle path?
This blog is about as representative of Vrindavana as Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is a representation of Hindu culture. Monkey brains anyone? India is free, and so are we. Let these guys spit on our Holy land while enjoying its fruits; let them spit on us; let them spit on the names of our most revered Saints. But we should stay peaceful and happy. As stated above, when the author is willing to lie by calling this a “book”, why expect him to be truthful about anything else? The words typed by a white lady he has never met, on her computer, are more valid than anything we could ever say or do.
I think I saw Marry O’CORNER at the inauguration of the Prem Mandir. Were you wearing an orange sari, Marry? Kind of, in a corner?
I hope Karen’s book sells millions of copies and as a consequence Kripalu is brought to secular justice for his terrible con acts. This is the master of the spiritual deceivers, no doubt.
Dane — Your comments are funny, considering that Kripalu’s “jagadguruship” and “sainthood” exist only in his mind and in the minds of his blind-faith followers. He’s created an insular and unnatural world where people are abused and the rest of the followers, like you, defend the abuse. Out here in the real world, many people know he’s an utter and complete fraud, running an age-old scam. I am truly sorry for all the innocent spiritual seekers caught up in this con game — and wasting their lives doing Kripalu’s bidding. And I’m especially sorry for all the young girls who will be scarred for the rest of their lives at his hand. If only his followers cared about others as much, the con game would finally end.
@ Karen..
there are many organizations where the ex-members try to mudsling just coz they were not had some problems with their inmates and now they get so frustated that they just want to bring a bad name to the institution and the preachers by “HOOK OR CROOK”!..so congratulations Karen, at least u r able to fool around a group of people who actually are desperate to have these kind of rumoured news about great saints like Kripalu and a few others. may b we can see somebody else after a few days coming up with another book accusing yet another spiritual guru of any such acts and i m sure people who are supporting Karen would be supporting thhose books too..as they are always keeping an eye on some gossips around..well done Karen..you have a talent to grab publicity..also..if kripalu is so loose charactered, how does his logics fit into the hindu literatures so well..either He is a superhuman or just a dumb to have such great and deep knowledge of scriptures and still perform such acts..hats off to your bewildered thoughts Karen..!! though i m not his disciple..yet i had a chance to see him when i went alongwith a friend of mine, who has been associated for a few years i believe. i got a chance to clear a few of my spiritual doubts in alone(as i had insisted upon asking my questions in private)..may b wat u r calling his “bedroom”!!..i went inside..stayed there for about 10-15 minutes..mind u Karen..all alone..!! and he dint even stared at me..let alone your “touching” craps..he answered all my queries with utmost sincerity and my doubts were cleared as if they were never there..i felt so relaxed and relieved..i haven’t had as many years of association like Karen..but if Karen says she stayed in the organization to bring out the truth..it actually means her intention was never to seek spiritual satisfaction..but was to take some kinda revenge so that she could dishonour the institution..and well done Karen..you have been successful..u got enuf publicity Karen..still if u wanna continue with this..carry on..at least u cannot deviate his followers..i wasnt a follower till date..but after the absurd u published, i realize to what extent people could go out of jealousy of one’s prosperity and success!!..I AM NOW A FOLLOWER OF SHRI KRIPALUJI MAHARAJ..thanks Karen!!
Jai Sri Radhey!
Ms. Johnson, I see the ugly side coming to the fore. When you can’t answer the logical questioning that any courts or lawyers will ask you malign people with words taken out of context from Kripaluji’s lectures.
Shankaracarya and other saints have referred to the masses as fools and donkeys etc .
I have always maintained that evidence is necessary when maligning anyone’s character and I have never engaged in any name calling. I have been attending satsangs for a long time and have never had your experience.
Iwill now poke some holes in the interview. I can see that from the outset the interviewer was biased and had some hatred for JKP and rather than ask you difficult questions helped you with your tirade.
I see paralells between JKP and ISKCON in the followers being called fanatics. Bhaktivedanta Swami and his followers were pilloried by the public and other Gurus. The only difference he was being accused of “brainwashing” as opposed to “sexual molestation”. As most will remember with very little evidence(Japa Yog has been around since time immemorial) ISKCON was made to pay large sums to those rascals.
Sorry some computer issues.
Jai Sri Radhey!
Ms. Johnson you speak of a Kripalu tradition and with one broad stroke implicate many devotees and preachers of wrongdoings. Since, you were living in Barsana Dham…. name the culprits and PREACHERS even those that left JKP. I know from personal experience people come and go from organizations due to many reasons. Ask those from ISKCON etc how many devotees have left and return. Trust me JKP is a very smal organization in the West…. so you don’t need to be afraid.
The people you have interviewed, are they willing to subject themselves to unbiased interviews and lie detector test. YOU KNOW PRAKASHANAND SUBJECTED HIMSELF TO UNBIASED LIE DETECTOR TEST AND PASSED. IT DIDN’T HELP HIM BECAUSE I BELIEVE BASED ON THE EVIDENCE THE STATE AND JURY WAS BIASED.
You mentioned that Kripaluji has manipulated Hinduism. If memory serves me well Bhaktivendanta Swami faced the same criticism from the Hindu community that wants to trudge along spewing their incoherent beliefs that is a far cry from Vedic philosophy. I guessed Prakashanandji infuriated many when he wrote “The History and the Religion of India”.
Most of the Hindu masses are very uneducated about our reigion and hence become easy targets for conversion. Ms. Johnson please go and educate yourself from an authority.
Are you saying that Pradhanmantri Acarya Sri Rajnarayan ji Shukla and the Kashi Vidvat Parishad who bestowed the Jagadguru title did not exist?
Prakashanandji’s books and articles are very much on JKP Radha Madhav’s website. If Kripaluji wanted to throw him in a dust bin…wouldn’t his books and lectures cease to be on the site?
I will leave with those thoughts to ponder for anyone who believes in truth and Justice. I hope a reliable commission can be setup to investigate and document all cases of allegations. If such body is able to prove beyond a shadow of doubt. I will eat humble pie but until such time we are just engaging in defamation, hearsay and innuendos.
To those who would like the book in a book form versus an ebook — it will be available on Amazon within a couple of months as a Kindle book and a paperback. Thank you Karen
We should get lot’s of copies of Karen’s book and distribute them in front of the perverted swami’s new Temple in Vrndavan.
When you go to http://www.rishikaxcult.com and press RESOURCES go to photo gallery where she posts the picture of the book by H.D.Swami Prakashanand Saraswati “FORMATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT & THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY.An amazing discovery of the hidden secrets of the Bible” with her comment that Swamiji bashes Christianity.This is so EVIDENT that Rishika aka Karen Jonson is pro Christian and probably she is even financially supported by some fanatic Christian organization/s in Austin that does NOT like any Hindu Temple within their Bible Belt! It costs money to produce her website and this unspeakably malicious dishonest book where one lie follows the other.
According to many fanatic Christians no one has a right to present any theory explaining the origins of Christianity except Christians themselves.
Swamiji’s book plus His other book “THE TRUE HISTORY AND THE RELIGION OF INDIA” present a huge threat as many logical thinking & open minded people after reading these books may turn away from Christianity.And REMEMBER there are so many fanatic Christian missionaries in USA that want to ” save” India from “evil Hindu Gods” and christianized them!They say it very openly on many US TV channels!
Swamiji’s trial was done in a Christian INQUISITION style where some hundred years ago it was enough that a neighbor accused you for witchcraft because his/her cow stopped milking.No proof was needed,such an accused victim was tortured and burned on stock & his properties were confiscated by Church.Now they can not burn anybody anymore BUT they use the same tactic ( plus some extra communistic style propaganda, where they very carefully chose certain words & images to exaggerate the case as much as possible) that someone accused is found guilty ONLY ONLY and ONLY because an accuser said so, NO evidence or investigation needed!!!
Karen Jonson very likely entered Barsana Dham & lived there with a sole purpose to use her stay there as a ground for writing this disgraceful book.She is as far from a spiritual seeker as evil is far from goodness.
RishikaXcult is viciously abusing both Swamiji & Kripaluji at every step, calling Them and the organization so many disgraceful names.It is absolutely outrageous, for me it qualifies as a HATE speech and conscious,well planned effort to defame these wonderful Rasik Saints and their organization.If I only had money I’d take you to international court , Mr.Jonson.
I come from Poland so I do know something about UGLY communistic methods when someone is inconvenient and needs to be destroyed. Nowadays the easiest way is to put on someone a mark of “child abuser or womanizer”, as we see in the case of Swamiji NO proof is required, anyone can perform this acting circus and maybe even cash a good money for their roles!
And SHAME on you all guys who without taking effort and deeply investigating the story , so eagerly jump to negativity and are so eager to join in blaming Swamiji & Kripaluji.Many people seem to strive on negative sensations,it makes them feel better! So disgraceful! Beyond words.BUT God is your ETERNAL witness, He does NOT leave you even for a fraction of a second & He takes notes of every thought you think.So contemplate on this ultimate truth, unless you are atheist and do not believe in God at all.
Please,kindly remove my first comment as I made few mistakes and corrected them here.Thank you.
Notwithstanding other allegations, certain things of JKM and JKP philosophy is horribly out of place.
He claims to be avatar of Sri Krsna. That is such a great insult to dharma.
There have been so many preachers of dharma against whom such allegations never arose. Why ? I think there can be no smoke without fire.
Yes, it feels bad to be cheated especially when it comes to spirituality. However, you can come out of the cult and accept true Krsna bhakti and wait many lifetimes (as is expected) to attain perfection described by the Six Goswamis of Vrindavan. Don’t expect to attain it right away, as that is the perfect recipe for disaster in spiritual life.
Where is my previous comment?
Too strong to be put on this forum?
Rishika should know what people think about her and her actions.My comment was very proper. What is improper is her incredible guts to come out with this 100% made up vicious story.But after all we do have Kali Yuga now, so all kind of evil people try to bring attention to themselves on expense of ethics and basic decency.
Please excuse the delays in approving comments. I was ill the past two days.
Quotes from RishikaXcult http://www.rishikaxcult.com /resources/photogallery:
1)” Prakashanand purchased this property in 1990 at a time when he was not talking about his affiliation with Kripalu, and in fact would tell people he was NOT affiliated with him.”
This is 100% BIG FAT lie! H.D.Swami Prakashanand Saraswati stayed connected with Kripaluji Maharaj every moment of His life since They both met, all His books are dedicated to Kripaluji Maharaj and He always emphasized that these books were made possible ONLY by the blessings and the Grace of His guru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj. In all the books by Swamiji that I have , there is at least one or more pictures of Kripaluji Maharaj.
2)again your nasty comment under the picture:”Prakashanand stands while Kripalu performs arti in India at one of their ashrams. Interestingly, at this exact time, Prakashanand’s lawyers in the U.S. were telling lawyers handing his trial that he was “bedridden” and couldn’t move after having had “back surgery.” This is not the only evidence that he was not bedridden..”
First of all there is NO date under the picture and artis are performed all the time for years and years and there are thousands of pictures being taken so such a picture proves NOTHING.
The resources in you book(media, facebook and photo gallery) should not even be called resources as they are self invented, self promoting and like in a case of cult recovery videos they are not even remotely related to JKP. The media are ONLY two: thedailybeast.com/articles and the statesman.com/news which consists of the same group of Austin individuals trying very hard to defame Swamiji and destroy Radha Madhav Dham.No outside resources.
As any allegations against Kripaluji Maharaj were officially confirmed as UNTRUE, it is extremely malicious and ill intended to use them against Him as nowadays anybody for any reason can place any allegations against anybody so ALLEGATIONS are not proof of ANYTHING.
Your mind Karen is filled with envy, hypocrisy, carelessness, extreme lies,etc. People who are so eager to believe you either they have the same motive to defame JKP for whatever reason or they are extremely naive and they NEVER done any real deep search into any subject. They may just like sensations as it matches their low vibrations. Such people apparently have nothing better to do in their lives or they use such “sensations” to comfort themselves as they feel their lives are not really very exciting or happy.
And the last but not the least things, for anybody who has ever done comparative spiritual studies( like comparing different and all presently available spiritual philosophies), the Vedic Philosophy as propounded by Kripaluji Maharaj offers the most complete, the most beautiful, the most clear explanations on any spiritual question/aspect with extensive Vedic quotations and examples. For me His teachings are enough proof of Him being a genuine Saint, no doubt is left in my mind.
However if you take one or two statements from the whole context and ad your own twisted interpretations then it may sound bad or scary.
So shallow people may fall for your trap but true followers of Kripaluji Maharaj will stay faithful to Him forever, your dirt is not capable of destroying their trust and faith in Kripaluji but the very same dirt will destroy you at the end of the day.It works like a boomerang that turns back on you at the time when it is destined to return.
It would be really nice if Neil, jenny, and Gopika would actually read my book. Then they would understand how I got into this cult, what I experienced, what I learned, and how I came to know the truth.
Neil would also gain a more in-depth perspective on Prakashanand’s trial than he has now.
And jenny, please do not blame me for your mistake.
Mahasrnga dasa – thank you! unfortunately, many of those following Kripalu do not appreciate the truth – they would rather live in their fantasy world.
Next Comments →