Guru-System on Light of Dharma Publishing

Anatomy of a Psychopath: The Spiritual Predator Behind the Saintly Mask

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Priya had been a devotee for eleven years. Every morning at 4:30 she rose for mangala-arati, chanted her sixteen rounds, read from the Bhagavatam. She had given up a career in biochemistry. She had given up her family’s approval. She had given up the kind of life her college friends were living – the brunches, the vacations, the casual freedoms. She had done all of this willingly, even joyfully, because she believed she had found something rare: a genuine spiritual teacher, a living saint, a soul so surrendered to God that simply being in his presence could purify your heart.

The Possessed Devotee

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

May 22, 1986. Steven Bryant, known within ISKCON as Sulocana das, was living out of his van on a Los Angeles street. He had been tracked across the country for weeks. He knew it. He kept moving anyway, because he had decided that what he knew mattered more than what happened to him.

What he knew was this: the New Vrindaban community in West Virginia had become a criminal operation. Children were being sexually abused in the community school. Drugs were being manufactured and sold. At least one man had already been murdered and buried in a pre-dug grave on the property. Bryant had published his allegations, named names, and contacted law enforcement. He had made himself into the one thing a closed community cannot tolerate: a witness who will not stop talking.

The Custodian's Failure

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In November 2022, a letter by Sivarama Swami — GBC member for nearly four decades, architect of Krishna Valley in Hungary, prolific author, and spiritual master to thousands — surfaced publicly. Written to the GBC body in response to a Child Protection Office (CPO) decision against Bhakti Vidya Purna Swami (BVPS), a guru found responsible for decades of severe physical and sexual abuse of children at the Mayapur gurukula, the letter revealed not a lapse in judgment but a window into how institutional loyalty can colonize moral reasoning.

The Zonal Acharya System and Its Deviations from Vedic Tradition

Sun, 29 May 2022 18:05:55 +0300

In 1977, following A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s death, ISKCON implemented a system unlike anything in recorded Vaishnava history: eleven appointed “zonal acharyas” who divided the world into exclusive territories where they alone could accept disciples. This system would dominate ISKCON for nearly a decade before collapsing amid scandal and reformulation. Understanding what happened reveals fundamental tensions between traditional spiritual authority and modern institutional management.

The Traditional Guru System

In Vaishnava tradition, the guru-disciple relationship develops organically. A seeker, recognizing spiritual qualification in a teacher, approaches for initiation. The guru, discerning the student’s sincerity, accepts or declines. This relationship forms through mutual recognition, not appointment or territory.