Things are getting weird on Vedic Inquirer

Vedic Enquirer's forum was created in 2020. Its purport was to bring awareness regarding pedophiles harassing children in ISKCON and to denounce them. To the great despair of the participants, many among them having been victims in their childhood, these vicious and criminal activities are still present in ISKCON. And, as is often the case in this area all over the world, leaders are often involved, if not aware of it.

The forum is of respectable quality and the administration demonstrates great tolerance;* it is open to everyone. That, by itself, is an exceptional feat in ISKCON and the movement in general.

When I joined the forum last year, in 2022, the debates had to revolve only around the incest against children, any other subject not related was not welcome. With the flow of new members joining, the rule became difficult to maintain; there was so much resentment and complaints to be added to the discussions, like the guru issue or Srila Prabhupada’s responsibility in the gurukula fiasco.

The last point is taboo. Although understanding the course of events after Prabhupada was informed is essential for clarifying the situation.

As the months passed, Damodara das, who was one of the leading administrators, began to introduce quotes from Western philosophers, commenting on them succinctly. Doing so, he highlighted what was pertinent to child abuse in ISKCON. This is where the problem lies and where I come in, finding most of the quotes irrelevant. It did not go well for me.

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* "I am not here to preach tolerance. The most unlimited freedom of religion is in my eyes a right so sacred that the word tolerance, which would express it, seems to me in some way tyrannical itself, since the authority which tolerates could not tolerate." Mirabeau 

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As it is the case with most devotees, it appears that Damodara is not familiar with the authors he calls on to develop his ideas. I must say first of all that any intelligent man can produce wise thoughts, whatever his integrity is. I mean Staline, Darwin or Ravana have said intelligent things among all their nonsenses. Demons can do that, because they got intelligence. This is not the prerogative of men of virtue. As Nietzsche, Freud or Plato are famous and respected worldwide personalities, Damodara judges that they will advance the cause of Vedic Inquirer. This, despite the shortcomings of which these authors are guilty for in the areas of incest or morals. Is it not true that in our movement, some devotees have performed great work and given fantastic speeches, although they reveal themselves to be criminals or suspect of gaslighting children. Will someone suggest listening to their kirtans and propagating their words because of their sweetness and profound significance?! Unfortunately, many are doing so, especially the disciples; it doesn’t matter the deviance of the guru that they love as if he was God. They will not tolerate you, if you find faults in him.

At Damodara's last intervention, before he blocked me, I said he was a Woke. He did not deny it, but replied: "Go back to sleep and pull the covers over your head." My intuition was right. On Vedic Inquirer, there is a strong tendency towards this new social religion. It overturns traditional values ​​in the name of humanist justice; the LGBTQ+ are the loudest spokespersons. (We will see that later in this article or the next one.)

Upset with me, he wrote: "I am accustomed to your taking a contrary tone with almost everything I post. Which does lead one to wonder how committed you are to the goals of the group."

He is right, as I have explained.I find each time he uses notorious authors to justify his fight against pedophiles and ISKCON's laxity towards them, that they do not lend themselves to the mission of this forum.

One day, he posted a video with a young man and three women who were upset with him because he liked young women instead of older ones... I thought the publication was weird, and I couldn't understand why he was defending the women. In that exchange I explained to him why it is normal for a man to prefer a younger woman. (In France, we have a President, Emmanuel Macron, married to a woman, Brigitte, who is 70 years old. She is 25 years older than him!) He was put out by my comments. 

Another time, he published a thought of Thomas Mann. I replied: "A wild family, this Mann, girls and boys! Of course, homosexuality should not be compared with pedophilia, but in these days we wouldn't. Thomas Mann is the representation of these old and wealthy homosexuals who love young boys and make this vice a very popular literary culture."

He wrote me back and admitting that he didn't know it: "I had never heard of him and was unaware of his moral failings prior to your raising this.  I stand by everything I wrote as my purport to his sutra which seems on point notwithstanding his problematic nature."

Now, he knows at least the decadent family to which Thomas Mann belonged to. He doesn't mind, nevertheless, Mann seducing young boys while being married. His wise words are not improper to be published on Vedic Enquirer. That is Woke.*

When Damodara published, earlier, a citation from Plato, I said that he had sex with young boys. He is not someone we can highlight to defend the cause of children who have suffered incest. He remained silent this time. Was he aware of it? Who doesn't know, anyway, that the Greeks practiced this type of sexual relationship with adolescents, and that it was part of their way of life?

Sometimes after this, he posted a citation of Nietzsche. What I explained to him about the philosopher goes over his head. Next day, he reproduces another quote from him. Again, I intervene to drive the point home: —Nietzsche was never married. But he enjoyed free sex with prostitutes.

At one point, he and his good friend Rilke shared the same woman, Lou Salome. Nietzsche was a destroyer of traditional family life. He certainly died of syphilis, like many men of his time, in an asylum. He was there because he lost his mind.

Then, he published this, from Sigmund Freud : "Unexpressed emotions will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways." 

Damodara is really getting bizarre... Freud help to hide the truth about sexual abuses regarding the children, and he is using this heavy drug addict to defend the trauma that ISKCON children are still living with. What to say! I am reading for months talks and complaints about gaslighting, but Freud was a champion in this psychological posture!?! Carl Jung was so disgusted by the whole affair that he left him, although he was his best disciple. 

He is definitely not pleased with me. He wrote: "I am accustomed to your taking a contrary tone to almost everything I post. Which does lead one to wonder how committed you are to the goals of the group." He blocked me.

I am not the only one, two days before he did the same. Once he is disproved, he uses this method. When an exception is repeated, it becomes a habit.

What is Damodara's philosophy, anyway? By the references he is posting, you know it has nothing to do with Vedic Culture or Gaudhya Vaishnavism.

One day he attacked Russell Brand: "In a group whose objectives - amongst others - include "understanding why ISKCON has a culture so tolerant of abuse and fixing that culture"....

I definitly agree. If Brand has done something wrong, justice should take care of him. I don't really the dude, I mean I don't listen to him, so I asked what crime he has done exactly? No answer. Damodara doesn't like that when someone disputes his claim. (My intuition...)

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* For those who are not familiar with Woke.

More about my experience on Vedic Inquirer to follow.