Varnashrama Manifesto, split from the Love Hurts thread Options

[Milla]

BTW, I kind of liked Harikesha back in the day - with his Varnasrama Manifesto for a Sane Society and his rock bhajana tapes - his Damodarastika was really cool! For some reason, we weren't supposed to read that book in our zone, but I had it and liked it anyway.

Hm, I can't remember the Damodarastaka. I liked the most his Brahma-samhita. His music from the 80-ies was generally good. In the mid 90-ies he made two techno CD's with Ian Ion, a famous Danish techno artist and Krishna's friend. They were really nice, especially the first one, "Rising Sign".

I didn't read the "Varnasrama Manifesto", I am too much of an individualist to like this kind of stuff. I think Harikesha used to be in some Marxist party before he joined.

Back in Europe she hooked up again with the brahmacari she was really interested in and they got married - I don't know if you knew them - Kalika dasi and ACBSP disciple Jnana dasa?

No, I don't. There is a SP disciple Jnana das who is now with Narayan Maharaja, I think he is British. I have heard that Harikesha had very few American disciples, and they were all from New York. BTW, Satyaraja's wife Vrinda is one of them.

[Preyobrazhenya]

There is a SP disciple Jnana das who is now with Narayan Maharaja, I think he is British. I have heard that Harikesha had very few American disciples, and they were all from New York. BTW, Satyaraja's wife Vrinda is one of them.

Yes, that is the Jnana I am talking about. He taught at Cambridge University, I believe. There was a brief time when Harikesha was GBC for Boston so he had about 2 or 3 disciples, including Kalika dd. Kalika was quite proud of her membership in Mensa, and really wanted a husband to match her intelligence. She also used to be a championship roller skater. We lost touch after a couple of years and I always wondered what happened to her.

[Chanahari]

On Varnashrama Manifesto - I once read somewhere that in Switzerland (?), the military intelligence was ordered to investigate ISKCON dealings, because a copy somehow made its way to a government officer, and they thought that devotees want to plot a coup d'état. I did read, but I could never grasped two things - one, that why on earth devotees need this cruel system, if Caitanya said that it wouldn't do any good; and two, that how are we going to shovel it down to the karmis' throats.

[Dhyana]

Varnashrama Manifesto did get into wrong hands in Russia. If I remember right, there was a freaky fringe political party with Aryan/Vedic ambitions that seized a copy and used some of it in their party program. These people were not ISKCON devotees but one or two individuals had a (brief) past in the movement.

A PR disaster was close, but the devotees averted it by asserting that the book was controversial and that its distribution had been ceased long ago.

This, however, doesn't help all the way, since most of the content in the book is taken directly from ACBS' own writings, only couched in a different language.

[Chanahari]

I would think that only "Saraswata" radicals would go so far as to accept a varnashrama-based plan as a political principle. I was wrong. Even "karmis"!

BTW the GBC distanced itself from the contents of VM, and pronounced that it is not an official ISKCON work, if I remember right. (Despite being based on ACBS.)

[0Oneiros0]

From an article of Ravindra Svarupa (here):

In 1981 one leader, convinced that 'after ten years of rigorous thought' he had it figured out, published what he considered an authoritative 215-page book to persuade 'the intelligent leaders and thinkers of modern society' to embrace the varnasrama revolution. The Varnasrama Manifesto for Social Sanity by Harikesa Swami is, I find, spectacularly unpersuasive, and I can best characterise it by borrowing Alan Greenspan's phrase 'irrational exuberance.' This now famous expression was used by the American Federal Reserve Chairman to describe market investors in the grip of a foolish and dangerous over-confidence. The phrase aptly fits this so-called Manifesto. It should be noted that the work was so controversial within ISKCON that ISKCON's Governing Body Commission - of which Harikesa Swami was a member - passed a resolution in 1982 disowning the work, stating that it 'represents the realisation of the author and does not represent the official view or policies of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.' And in 1996, the author himself issued an apologetic statement that concluded, 'I have grown and matured in my conceptions and also become more realistic and less idealistic in my viewpoint. Therefore even I do not stand anymore behind some of the concepts mentioned in the book and I feel sorry that I wrote some of the things that I wrote.'

[angrezi]

There is sadly a very short space to jump between externally oriented religions and political radicalism and extremism. It is evident in many parts of the globe at present.

I never read the book, but I'm glad to read that some in the GBC could recognize the manefestos 'irrational exuberance', (I think the tern applied to more than just Harikesh's book). I know in the US in the early 1990's there were ripple effects from Harikesh's self proclaimed fanatisicm, inspiring a new generation with the 'save the world..today' mentally, especially noticable after US Iskcon's slump in the 1980's. Harikesh was spoken of as practically an avatar here by reverent sankitan leaders trained under the famous 'maha-ratas' of Harikesh in Europe. That was the prevelant mood, especially on the east coast, when I joined.

Later when I left America, I heard of Harikesh's 'delusions of grandeur' I don't know if all are true. Things about him ordering a UFO landing pad to be built, and some disciple who supposedly blew his hands off trying to make some kind of contraption to talk to aliens. He was a strange bird, no doubt. I heard he is living in Gainesville FL near the Alachua farm at present.

[Chanahari]

As a fresh ISKCONer, I asked my Nama-hatta leader in 1997 about who will be the 33th acharya after Prabhupada. She said in the most natural voice, "Harikesha Swami", without the dimmest sign of doubt. (The idea of a committee taking the place of acharya was unknown for me - and for her too, obviously.)

After the infamous falldown - which made enough noise for me to hear about, through all the layres which separated me from goings-on in the "real" institution - I read an article by angry Harikesha disciples questioning him on - among other things - that UFO launching pad on VNN.

[Dhyana]

(Oneiros)

From an article of Ravindra Svarupa...

In this long quote, Harikesha is credited with total responsibility and exclusive authorship of the VM. In fact he wrote it together with Devamrta Swami (who has just been elected Chairman of the GBC, as per the latest Mayapur reports). HKS contributed some lectures and other recorded material, which Devamrta Swami turned into writing. HK even complained, after the book came out, that DS had changed too much and added his own material.

Sometimes I think the GBC are are lucky that there is one or another leader leaving the fold every other year or so. Thus whatever deviations need to be dealt with can always be promptly ascribed to that person, and disowned.

A recommended read for those interested in examining how much, or how little, agreement there is between VM and ACBS' own views:

(edited by) Bryant, Edwin & Ekstrand, Maria (2004) The Hare Krishna Movement: The Post-Charismatic Fate of a Religious Transplant, by the Columbia University Press.

The book can be ordered via Amazon. There is a chapter where Ekkehard Lorenz puts together the various things ACBS had said about varnashrama, and takes up several ISKCON attempts to introduce this social structure. He also discusses the Varnasrama Manifesto.

[Dhyana]

After the infamous falldown - which made enough noise for me to hear about, through all the layres which separated me from goings-on in the "real" institution - I read an article by angry Harikesha disciples questioning him on - among other things - that UFO launching pad on VNN.

I read that article, too...and had a lot of fun. I don't remember the authors' names, but my impression was that they were not his disciples and that they did not live in his zone. Much of the stuff they questioned him about was gossip or altered almost beyond recognition. Anybody in Europe would have known better.

[0Oneiros0]

As a fresh ISKCONer, I asked my Nama-hatta leader in 1997 about who will be the 33th acharya after Prabhupada. She said in the most natural voice, "Harikesha Swami", without the dimmest sign of doubt. (The idea of a committee taking the place of acharya was unknown for me - and for her too, obviously.)

Didn't the North European BBT publish a BhagavadgItA with Harikesa's name listed after Bhaktivedanta's? I heard that they were told to remove that line.

[0Oneiros0]

In this long quote, Harikesha is credited with total responsibility and exclusive authorship of the VM. In fact he wrote it together with Devamrta Swami (who has just been elected Chairman of the GBC, as per the latest Mayapur reports). HKS contributed some lectures and other recorded material, which Devamrta Swami turned into writing. HK even complained, after the book came out, that DS had changed too much and added his own material.

I did not know this, but it does not surprise me. I can easily imagine Devamrita subscribing to the ideas expressed in Varnasrama Manifesto.

[Dhyana]

((angrezi)

Later when I left America, I heard of Harikesh's 'delusions of grandeur' I don't know if all are true.

Delusions of grandeur were certainly true. I won't get into details in a public forum.

Things about him ordering a UFO landing pad to be built,

Not true. This kind of thing would rather suit Bhakti Tirtha Swami, who was into extra-terrestrials for some time.

and some disciple who supposedly blew his hands off trying to make some kind of contraption to talk to aliens.

ROFLMAO
This story is getting better and better with each retelling!
In the 80s, Harikesa was interested in free energy research: Nikola Tesla and other such He gave a disciple of his, who had some technical skills, a task of researching whether there was anything useful in the field and whether energy-producing constructions could be built. That disciple experimented, among other things, with rotating magnets as a source of electric energy. This is not anything wacky per se, it does work. The magnets were made of something I don't know the name of in English, carborund? some special kind of hard ceramic. Unfortunately, in a test he made them rotate so fast that the centrifugal force caused them to split and fly off, cutting a nice clean circle through the floor, walls and ceiling of the workshop, and through that devotee's right hand.

He got his hand put back together. He is missing half of his right index finger. And he is absolutely sure the aliens weren't involved. I know, because he is my husband.

He was a strange bird, no doubt. I heard he is living in Gainesville FL near the Alachua farm at present.

I have heard he is doing quite fine. I am happy for him. The life he lived wasn't healthy for anyone.

I think that ISKCON leadership positions weren't be attractive to, and couldn't be handled by, anyone who was not a strange bird. And to make things worse, once you sat in the saddle, the social dynamics around you pushed you further out of balance.

The individuals are responsible, but the social structure is sick.

[angrezi]

He got his hand put back together. He is missing half of his right index finger. And he is absolutely sure the aliens weren't involved. I know, because he is my husband. 

The individuals are responsible, but the social structure is sick.

No offence to ek! I did not know that ! How the rumor mill churns!

Yes, group dynamics can be dangerous. I admire any Iskcon leader who can sacrifice their 'empire' and ashrama and be honest about their doubts and shortcomings, to face certain ridicule and contempt by the Isk. society.

If that honesty was the standard early on, how much pain could have been prevented.

[Milla]

Yes, group dynamics can be dangerous. I admire any Iskcon leader who can sacrifice their 'empire' and ashrama and be honest about their doubts and shortcomings, to face certain ridicule and contempt by the Isk. society.

I admire this too, but in Harikesha's case it came about as an unintended side effect of a severe breakdown where he lost control big time. I am afraid that if the situation had been less extreme, he would have manipulated and hushed the whole thing.... as in previous less serious breakdowns.

I would also like to hear some apology for consciously and deliberately co-creating the myth of his greatness and infallibility. So much nonsense was tolerated because of the belief that he is the One. I would also like to see him own his share of responsibility for what went wrong during his reign and not just point out his successes which nobody denies.

(At the same time, I am aware that I want too much from him, considering his mental disease, and that some of the damage incurred by being an ISKCON guru for over 20 yrs is irreparable. Still, I keep repeating it, because, paraphrasing the Latin saying, to be human is not to lose hope.)

[Milla]

In the 80s, Harikesa was interested in free energy research.

Yes, he is very New Age and had a fascination for anything alternative, especially alternative medicine. During the Y2K bug craze Brahma suggested to him introducing ISKCON's own money currency, to avoid the collapse of the world economy. He loved the idea!

[Tapati]

These pastimes just go to prove the saying that truth is stranger than fiction. Who would believe all of these things if they were written in a work of fiction?

[Dhyana]

(Oneiros)

Didn't the North European BBT publish a BhagavadgItA with Harikesa's name listed after Bhaktivedanta's? I heard that they were told to remove that line.

Neither I nor Ek have heard about it.

[Dhyana]

I admire this too, but in Harikesha's case it came about as an unintended side effect of a severe breakdown where he lost control big time. I am afraid that if the situation had been less extreme, he would have manipulated and hushed the whole thing.... as in previous less serious breakdowns.

I agree with you, Milla. The way he collapsed was traumatic for everyone involved, including himself, but in the long run I believe it was best that way; some truths saw the light of day that would have otherwise been swept under the carpet.
I haven't heard about the Y2K currency fad but I can very well believe it!

To comment back on Harikesha's music: my absolute favorite is one particular Maha-mantra tune, an extremely elaborate one that was sometimes referred to as "the Hanuman tune". And some of the Gauranga Bhajan Band productions... like Jay Nrsimha, Sri Nrsimha... the one that is played when Sri Sri Prahlada-Nrsimha's altar doors are opened at Deity greeting, in NJNK in Germany.

[babu]

During the Y2K bug craze Brahma suggested to him introducing ISKCON's own money currency, to avoid the collapse of the world economy. He loved the idea!

"In Krishna We Trust"