CHAKRA under Fire

An editorial

Puru Prabhu has left the CHAKRA team. "Currently I am involved in a theological conflict," he writes, "mostly through e-mail, with the Governing Body Commission of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, otherwise known as the GBC, and some of its individual members."

Puru, according to his letters, has taken up a theological mission in support of Kundali dasa. He also believes that ISKCON is violating scriptural injunctions by allowing re-initiation, a practice whereby devotees of fallen ISKCON gurus may accept another ISKCON guru. The GBC has recommended re-initiation, but it is not required in ISKCON. It is entirely the choice of the disciple.

"I have written three or four extremely powerful letters to two of ISKCON's BC, spiritual leaders, diksa gurus," says Puru. He says that he challenges their ability to offer genuine spiritual leadership and accuses them of deviating from the real teachings of the Vedic scriptures.

"They are both the editors of a web site called Chakra," he writes. "They are admittedly friendly to the GBC body. If the Kremlin ever had Pravda then ISKCON and its GBC have Chakra."

Puru Prabhu suspects that the webmasters of CHAKRA have blocked his access to COM, an ISKCON computer-communications network. "That is fine," he writes. "I am no longer interested in access anyway. However the last time I tried to log on and receive my e-mail from the Telnet COM, my screen went wild and it looked like an insane screen saver."

Puru wonders whether this was the result of COM's blocking him or whether it was an attempt to infiltrate his computer and destroy his files with a virus. "I suspect Umapati and Vipramukhya are behind any blockage or suspected virus attack upon me," he writes. "Or they could be innocent of any such attempt and merely have instructed Raktambara to close me out."

"Please don't think me irrational or paranoid, as I have been accused," Puru explains. "Such conflicts throughout history often manifest in violence of one sort or another. We know about the Great Crusade, the Spanish Inquisition, the danger to Da Vinci from the Catholic church, Lord Jesus' crucifixion. We are a world wide religious order and there are lots of temples and assets at stake if this theological ‘war’ is ever won by the camp that I represent. There have been several murders, on assassination as well, connected to this ongoing religious conflict between members."

CHAKRA has no knowledge of Puru’s blockage from COM, nor did we ask to have him banned, if indeed he has been. As of this writing, in fact, Puru is still listed on COM as a member of the CHAKRA team. Nor can the COM software send a virus to invade someone's computer. Viruses don't work like that. Puru's problem was undoubtedly no more than a bad telephone line.

The latest user list shows that Puru Prabhu is still on COM. "I haven't removed him from COM," says Raktambara Prabhu, the SysOp of COM, "though if he keeps it up, we may have to."

Puru was a valuable member of our team, and we are sorry that he has left. He has gone on his own crusade, and he is angry that CHAKRA will not help him, but that is not CHAKRA's role. CHAKRA is a web-based newspaper that aims to report honest and balanced news in order to counteract the biased and anti-ISKCON news of VNN, PADA, and VADA.