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REVIEWS AND READERS’ LETTERS

June 19, 2022

FIVE STARS: Riveting, Enthralling, and better than a True Crime Documentary on Netflix!

This volume of the Gold, Guns, and God opus by Henry Doktorski is riveting and enthralling, much like a true crime documentary on Netflix (Making a Murderer, anyone?). Two chapters in and like a magic act everything around me disappeared because I could not put this down or do anything else, but keep reading! The story itself of the conspiracy to kill Steve Bryant should be enough to capture anyone’s curiosity.

The author presents detail after detail of evidence of how many participated in the murder conspiracy and how it was carried out. The more one reads the more one may find themselves in this difficult place of what is reality vs. what we all wish was not. It’s not always easy to accept this unfortunate episode in Prabhupada’s movement and especially when it involved so many “higher ups.” However, it’s too important to trace the root of the problem and it is already well known—it started immediately after November 14, 1977 after Prabhupada’s passing ISKCON degraded down a dangerous road of clashing cults of eleven personalities, or better stated—“Eleven Naked Emperors.”

Volume 6 provides details that explain the beginning of the end of Keith Ham’s reign of sex abuse, corruption, deviations from Prabhupada’s teaching, and ego centric cult in West Virginia. It’s a fascinating read when one compares to other dangerous cults that puts a flawed human being in the center of a community as good as God and calls him ridiculous names like “King.” I say fascinating because the similarities are frightening—unquestioned authority/power over others, blind followers, scriptural inaccuracies of pure teachings, the easy justification of crimes, etc. Think Nxivm, Osho, People’s Temple—the examples out there are endless yet feels like an all too familiar story.

Refreshing that ISKCON and those who follow the path of Bhakti (non-ISKCON) that I have experienced in the present have taken note. Krishna and Prabhupada seem to be at the center again, not “show bottle gurus” exalted to the point they are as good as God. In this sense there is definitely a collective maturity and intentional effort to restore the purity of the movement. The lessons here are impossible to ignore for anyone who wants to learn from the painful lessons of the past in order to avoid an encore. You may ignore this history at your own risk.

Pedro Ramos
Atlanta, Georgia
From a review at Amazon.com.

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July 29, 2022

There are lots of lessons to be learned about cults reading the books of Henry Doktorski. . . . If there’s one thing to learn from the books of Henry, is that you have to take care of your heart. You have to take care of your mind. You do not give your life and power to anyone except God himself. Henry speaks with experience, because he was himself deeply brainwashed by the Hare Krishna movement. And it takes a lot of effort to deprogram oneself from a cult that you’ve been involved for years. It’s possible, as Henry Doktorski is a shining example of one that has now a very successful life, a very positive life, helping others to see what the truth is all about.

Henri Jolicoeur
formerly Hanuman Swami, ACBSP
Montreal, Quebec
from a review of Gold, Guns and God, Vol. 6 on YouTube.

SUMMARY: Volume 6—THE GURU BUSINESS

Gold, Guns and God, Vol. 6, subtitled The Guru Business, begins in November 1977 with the passing of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977), the guiding light and Founder/Acharya for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. The first two chapters describe the March 1978 appointment of eleven senior leaders as successor acharyas by the Society’s Governing Body Commission. Unfortunately the eleven, including Kirtanananda Swami Bhaktipada, were not acharyas (self-realized souls on the highest level of God realization), but were pretenders who ran ISKCON like Mafia dons. Within a few short years, some of the so-called “acharyas” were becoming known for illicit connections with women (and men) and recreational drug use—activities regarded as mortal sins and prohibited to all Krishna devotees. Those few perceptive godbrothers who saw through the scam were blacklisted, forced to leave the Society, and even murdered.

Volume Six also reveals a never-before-released story on the plot to murder Richard “Rsi” Rose, the owner of the 132 acres of land which Hayagriva leased for 99 years in 1968 which became New Vrindaban, West Virginia.

The following ten chapters relate the story of Bhaktipada’s arch nemesis, Sulochan (Steven Bryant), a New Vrindaban resident who discovered many immoral and criminal activities at the “Holy Tirtha,” and began exposing the corruption in his book, The Guru Business, which detailed the faults of Bhaktipada (and some of the other ISKCON gurus) and described some of the criminal activities at New Vrindaban and in ISKCON. Senior leaders at New Vrindaban, Cleveland ISKCON and Los Angeles ISKCON hunted down Sulochan and assassinated him in Los Angeles on May 22, 1986.

The ISKCON West Virginia farm community, home of Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold, had become a criminal organization under the direction of the charismatic Bhaktipada, who was lauded as “King” by the New Vrindaban inmates. Did Sulochan die in vain to expose corruption? Would Bhaktipada be eventually charged, tried, and found guilty in a criminal court of law?

The author explains, “Much (but not all) of the material in this volume has already been covered in detail in my earlier-published books Killing For Krishna and Eleven Naked Emperors, but I decided to include a good portion of this information in this current volume of Gold, Guns and God because the decalogy would not be complete without including at least some of this story. For readers who want to understand the plot to murder Sulochan in greater detail and the zonal acharya era of ISKCON, please consult Killing For Krishna and Eleven Naked Emperors.”

TABLE OF CONTENTS—VOLUME 6: THE GURU BUSINESS

Chapter 56: The Zonal Acharyas Take Over ISKCON

1978 GBC Meetings
GBC consults with Bhakti-Raksak Sridhar Maharaja
Eleven “acharyas” allegedly appointed by Prabhupada
Zonal acharyas honored extravagantly
Did Prabhupada appoint eleven successors?
Kirtanananda Swami: the trend setter
Guru must be authorized
“He becomes regular guru, that’s all”
ISKCON “gurus” pretend to be acharyas
GBC should have reprimanded Kirtanananda
Doubts and questions
Zonal acharyas challenged in Vrindaban, India
The “debate”

Chapter 57: ISKCON gurus begin to deviate

Guru cannot be rubber stamped
Jayatirtha
Hansadutta Swami
Police confiscate weapons at Mount Kailasa
Hansadutta punished
The Pyramid House talks
Deviant “gurus” reinstated
Hansadutta goes berserk
Tamal-Krishna Goswami
Bhavananda Goswami
Bhavananda reinstated as guru
Exposed by a woman
Jadurani rejects the zonal acharyas
Jadurani is beaten bloody
Jadurani leaves New Vrindaban
Pittsburgh devotees threatened
Richard Rose sues New Vrindaban
The plot to murder Richard Rose
Politics and corruption in the Ohio River Valley

Chapter 58: A Thorn in Bhaktipada’s Side

Palace marketing manager boosts tourism
Bhaktipada: equal to Prabhupada
Palace manager defects
New Vrindaban becomes a personality cult
Bhaktipada and Sulochan
The Gopi-Bhava Club
Sulochan moves to India
Sulochan moves to England
Sulochan returns to India
Sulochan returns to England
Sulochan marries
The wife must please her husband
The husband must protect the wife
Sulochan and Jane move to New Vrindaban
Temple authories pressure Jane to take initiation
California, here I come
Sulochan abuses his wife and children
Sulochan attempts to adopt the Brijabasi spirit
Sulochan bullied by Kuladri and his thugs
Sulochan leaves New Vrindaban for good
Sons retrieved by mother and three enforcers
A wife’s relationship with the spiritual master is eternal
Jamuna divorces
Sulochan acquires pirate copy of Prabhupada’s letters
Sulochan hears reports of anomalies at New Vrindaban
Sulochan’s editor
Sulochan advocates violence against the ISKCON gurus
Can a fallen devotee detect hypocrisy more clearly than a strict sannyasi?
Subhas Chandra Bose: Indian patriot
Corrupt regimes overthrown by violence

Chapter 59: The Kirtanananda Exposé

Kirtanananda is a “crazy man”
Sulochan made some incorrect and vicious accusations
GBC concerned about Bhaktipada
Prabhupada’s crown removed
Radhanath Swami
Sulochan challenges Bhaktipada to debate
Bhaktipada threatens to resign from GBC if Sulochan is not silenced

Chapter 60: The Guru Reform Movement

ISKCON temple presidents begin organizing against the zonal acharyas
Ending the fratricidal war
Many Prabhupada disciples disillusioned
ISKCON gurus: above the law
August 1985 emergency GBC meetings
Brahmachari claims ISKCON “guru” attempted to seduce him
Bhaktipada’s 48^th birthday party
North American GBC and temple presidents meeting
“On His Order”

Chapter 61: Preaching From a Jail Cell

“The Story of a Cheater”—the “real facts”about Sulochan
GBC rules in “Sulochan vs. Bhaktipada”
Bhaktipada erred by initiating Sulochan’s wife
Sulochan excommunicated
Puranjana intercedes on Sulochan’s behalf

Chapter 62: An Attack at the Heart of ISKCON

Triyogi tries to kill Bhaktipada
Triyogi restrained, arrested by the sheriff
Jail break attempt
Bhaktipada rushed to hospital
Brijabasis devastated
Hrishikesh dasa chants “Jaya Jagad Guru Srila Bhaktipada” (See YouTube.)
ISKCON leaders offer support
Some want Bhaktipada to die
Bhaktipada awakens from coma
Bhaktipada returns home
The joy of reunion
Prabhupada’s crown returns

Chapter 63: He Was a Very, Very Different Person

Bhaktipada’s brain damage
Anterograde amnesia
Narcissistic personality disorder
The greatest disease: tasting absolute power
Disciples paralyzed due to emotional investment
Bhaktipada’s personality changed
Head injury caused increased sexual desire?
Foolish consistency

Chapter 64: Murder Conspiracy

Sulochan praises Triyogi’s assault
The alleged collaboration of Sulochan and Triyogi
Secret meetings
Tirtha recruited as hit man
Gorby: government informant
Federal government investigates the cults
Tirtha begins searching for Sulochan
Janmastami recruited as hit man
Tirtha names seven conspirators
Scriptural justification for murder
“If the man who blasphemed . . . is killed, his sinful action may be atoned”
“One should by force cut out the blasphemer’s tongue and kill the offender”
Even a “meek and humble” devotee should “be as angry as fire”
“Saintly persons . . . take pleasure in the killing of envious living entities”
Killing for Krishna
Ksatriyas confident

Chapter 65: The Keystone Cops Surveillance Team

Janmastami dispatched to California
Sulochan visits high school friends in Michigan
Tapahpunja attempts to sub-contract the hit
Radhanath Swami flies to Los Angeles to meet with Ramesvara
Sulochan drives from Michigan to the Ohio Valley
Sulochan threatens to destroy Kirtanananda and New Vrindaban
Sulochan’s threats greatly exaggerated
Kuladri requests assistance from local law enforcement
Tapahpunja and Tirtha drive to Michigan
Tapahpunja tricks Mrs. Bryant into revealing her son’s location
Gorby’s story different from Tapahpunja’s story
Sulochan meets with the FBI
Tapahpunja’s story different
Gaura-Shakti protects himself
Sulochan eludes his pursuers a second time
Tirtha flies to Los Angeles to rendevous with Janmastami
Gorby reveals Sulochan’s hiding place
Gorby’s miraculous tracking ability
Warrant issued for Bryant’s arrest
Sulochan telephones tax assessor

Chapter 66: The Demon Jailed

Sulochan arrested
Demon Discredited
New Vrindaban examines Sulochan’s papers
Tirtha and Janmastami remain in Los Angeles
Sulochan and Ramesvara
Ramesvara’s ksatriya disciple
Sulochan’s disguises
Southern California ISKCON mamagers aware of murder plot
Tirtha needs constant encouragement
Mr. T and Bhakta Barney meet Krishna-Katha and Premadatta
Surveillance team examines mine shafts
The two New Vrindaban hit men leave California

Chapter 67: A Real Pain

Sulochan meets Triyogi
Something fishy in the sheriff’s office and county jail
Sulochan’s campaign loses steam
Tirtha and Gorby spy on Sulochan in Michigan
Sulochan returns to California
New Vrindaban managers attempt to procure funding for Tirtha
Bhaktipada allegedly authorizes $2,500
Tirtha receives $2,500
Tirtha flies to California
Sulochan predicts murder as his destiny
Tirtha and Krishna-Katha spy on Sulochan
Sulochan gives up his crusade, more or less
Radhanath Swami flies to Los Angeles
Murder is “a nasty thing”
Hiding in the shadows

Chapter 68: The Murder of Sulochan

News of the murder spreads quickly: New Vrindaban all a-buzz
Tirtha told to go to India
Escape money denied to Tirtha
Dharmatma refuses to give Tirtha any more money
Tirtha speaks to Tapahpunja in Columbus
Bhaktipada is notified of the murder
Backlash
ISKCON leaders denounce the murder
Puranjana and Kailasa-Chandra fear for their lives
Brijabasis cautioned not to speak to media or police
A wolf in sheep’s clothing

Images

U. S. Geological Survey topographic map of McCreary Ridge showing location of principle sites of New Vrindaban.

Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in the pavilion on the hill behind Bahulaban (September 1972).

The eleven ISKCON zonal acharyas with a painting of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the Founder/Acharya of ISKCON (Mayapur, India, c. August 1978).

Pradyumna.

B. R. Sridhar Maharaja.

Jayatirtha.

Hansadutta Maharaja.

Tamal-Krishna Maharaja.

Jadurani devi dasi.

Steven Bryant as a young man in Royal Oak, Michigan (early 1970s).

Sulochan dasa Brahmacari (Steven Bryant) on the altar offering aroti to Sri-Sri Radha-Vrindaban Chandra at New Vrindaban (c. 1975).

Puranjana (Tim Lee), long-time critic of the zonal acharyas and Sulochan’s life-long best friend (passport photo, early 1980s).

Sulochan dasa Adhikari with his two sons, Nimai and Sarva, probably at his parents’ home in Royal Oak, Michigan (c. 1983)

Sulochan’s divorced wife, Jamuna dasi (Jane Seward), holding her first child by her new husband, Raghunath (Ralph Seward) (c. 1988).

Kailasa-Chandra, Sulochan’s editor

Cover of Sulochan’s book, The Guru Business. Notice the three images on the cover representing: money bag, official ISKCON guru rubber-stamp, dhoti-clad ksatriya bearing an automatic weapon. Sulochan selected the title The Guru Business from a passage by Prabhupada: “Sri Isopanisad confirms that these pseudo-religionists [so-called acharyas] are heading toward the most obnoxious place in the universe after completion of their spiritual master business.”

His Divine Grace” Kirtanananda Swami “Bhaktipada” (Keith Gordon Ham), the ISKCON zonal acharya at New Vrindaban, known as “Number One.” Here on his vyasasana (throne) at the newly-dedicated RVC temple at New Vrindaban. Publicity photo (1983).

Bhaktipada supervises a road-building brick-laying marathon near New Vrindaban’s RVC temple complex (summer 1985).

Triyogi (Michael Shockman), the mentally disturbed visiting devotee who tried to kill Bhaktipada on October 27, 1985, by smashing his skull with a three-foot-long steel rod reported to weigh twenty pounds. Here at the Marshall County Jail in Moundsville, West Virginia.

The MRI image of a cross section of Bhaktipada’s brain, which, when turned upside down, resembles a ghastly face. The devotees believed it to be Lord Nrisimhadeva.

Bhaktipada returned to New Vrindaban on Friday, November 22, 1985, after four long weeks in the hospital.

Emotions were intense. Tears flooded the eyes of the Brijabasis and the eyes of their beloved master during the emotional reunion.

The New Vrindaban temple president, Kuladri, feeds Bhaktipada in bed.

Bhaktipada, surrounded by followers and disciples, rests in his bedroom.

Umapati, Kuladri and Bhaktipada at the temple (c. late-November or early-December 1985).

Bhaktipada, ambulating with great difficulty using a walker, in the temple room at his home (December 4, 1985). He had been ten days in a coma, three weeks on the critical list, and 26 days in the hospital.

Steven Bryant (Sulochan). Photo taken during a television interview with WTRF Channel 7 (Wheeling, West Virginia) at the Marshall County Jail in Moundsville, West Virginia (September 1985).

Hayagriva (Howard Wheeler), Keith Ham’s college roomate, lover, best friend, and co-founder of New Vrindaban. Here with his life-long buddy at a Labor Day Festival at New Vrindaban (September 1984).

Kuladri (Arthur Villa), New Vrindaban’s temple president, known as “Number Two.” Here officiating as a priest at a New Vrindaban fire sacrifice (1984).

His Holiness Tapahpunja Swami (Terry Sheldon), the president of Cleveland ISKCON, at New Vrindaban.

Tirtha (Thomas A. Drescher), New Vrindaban’s chief “enforcer” and hit man, in court.

Janmastami (John Sinkowski), Tirtha’s partner in crime, chanting japa on the sidewalk in the front of the RVC temple (September 1991).

Russell “Randall” Clark Gorby, retired steel worker, longtime “friend” of New Vrindaban, vocal advocate for the murder of Sulochan, and government informant.

His Holiness Radhanath Swami (Richard Slavin), “gentle and humble” sannyasi dearly loved by the Brijabasis.

Dharmatma (Dennis Gorrick), Director of New Vrindaban’s multi-million dollar “Scam-Kirtan” panhandling operation. Image from Brijabasi Spirit (January-February 1977).

His Divine Grace” Ramesvara Maharaja (Robert Grant), the ISKCON zonal acharya for Southern California and head of the North American BBT, during a rare visit to New Vrindaban. Photo from Brijabasi Spirit (summer 1985).

Krishna-Katha (Jeffrey Breier), head of security at Los Angeles ISKCON and Tirtha’s assistant. Breier helped hunt down Sulochan and was with Tirtha until moments before the murder. Some say he witnessed the murder. (Undated Linkedin photo, c. 2010)

Sulochan

Sulochan’s lifeless body at the Los Angeles morgue (May 22, 1986).

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