Kirtanananda Swami, also known as
Swami Bhaktipada [1] [2] was the highly-controversial
charismatic Hare Krishna guru and co-founder of the
New Vrindaban Hare Krishna community in
Marshall County, West Virginia, where he served as spiritual leader for 26 years (from 1968 until 1994).
(September 6, 1937 – October 24, 2011)
Early life
Kirtanananda was born
Keith Gordon Ham in
Peekskill, New York,
in 1937, the son of a Conservative Baptist minister. Keith Ham
inherited his father's missionary spirit and attempted to convert
classmates to his family's faith. Despite an acute case of
poliomyelitis which he contracted around his 17th birthday, he graduated with honors from high school in 1955. He received a
Bachelor of Arts in History from
Maryville College in
Maryville, Tennessee on May 20, 1959, and graduated
magna cum laude, first in his class of 117.
He received a
Woodrow Wilson fellowship to study American history at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he remained for three years. There he met Howard Morton Wheeler (1940–1989), an undergraduate English major from
Mobile, Alabama
who became his lover and lifelong friend. Later Kirtanananda admitted
that, before becoming a Hare Krishna, he had had a homosexual
relationship with Wheeler for many years, which was documented in the
film
Holy Cow Swami, a 1996 documentary by
Jacob Young.
[3]
The two resigned from the university on February 3, 1961, and left
Chapel Hill after being threatened with an investigation over a "sex
scandal", and moved to
New York City. Ham promoted
LSD use and became an LSD guru. He worked as an unemployment claims reviewer. He enrolled at
Columbia University in 1961, where he received a
Waddell fellowship to study religious history with
Whitney Cross, but he quit academic life after several years when he and Wheeler travelled to
India in October 1965 in search of a guru. Unsuccessful, they returned to New York after six months.
[4]
Keith becomes Kirtanananda
In June 1966, after returning from India, Ham met the
Bengali Gaudiya Vaishnava guru
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (then known simply as "Swamiji" to his disciples), the
founder-acharya of the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), more popularly known in the West as the Hare Krishnas. After attending
Bhagavad-gita classes at the modest storefront temple at 26 Second Avenue in the
Lower East Side of
Manhattan,
Ham accepted Swamiji as his spiritual master, receiving initiation as
"Kirtanananda Dasa" ("the servant of one who takes pleasure in
kirtan")
on September 23, 1966. Swamiji sometimes called him "Kitchen-ananda"
because of his cooking expertise. Howard Wheeler was initiated two weeks
earlier on September 9, 1966 and received the name "Hayagriva Dasa".
[5]
Kirtanananda was among the first of Swamiji's western disciples to shave his head (apart from the
sikha), don robes (traditional Bengali Vaishnava clothing consists of
dhoti and
kurta),
and move into the temple. In March 1967, on the order of Swamiji,
Kirtanananda and Janus Dambergs (Janardana Dasa), a French-speaking
university student, established the
Montreal
Hare Krishna temple. On August 28, 1967, while travelling with Swamiji
in India, Kirtanananda Dasa became Prabhupada's first disciple to be
initiated into the
Vaishnava order of renunciation (
sannyasa:
a lifelong vow of celibacy in mind, word and body), and received the
name Kirtanananda Swami. Within weeks, however, he returned to New York
City against Prabhupada's wishes and attempted to add esoteric cultural
elements of
Christianity to Prabhupada's devotional
bhakti
system. Other disciples of Prabhupada saw this as a takeover attempt.
In letters from India, Prabhupada soundly chastised him and banned him
from preaching in ISKCON temples.
[6]
Kirtanananda, Vamanadev, Hrishikesh, Hayagriva and Pradyumna, at New Vrindaban (late summer, 1968)
Kirtanananda moved in with Wheeler, by then known as Hayagriva Dasa, who was teaching English at a community college in
Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. In the
San Francisco Oracle (an
underground newspaper), Kirtanananda saw a letter from
Richard Rose, Jr., who wanted to form an
ashram on his land in
Marshall County, West Virginia.
"The conception is one of a non-profit, non-interfering,
non-denominational retreat or refuge, where philosophers might come to
work communally together, or independently, where a library and other
facilities might be developed."
[7]
On a weekend free of classes (March 30–31, 1968), Kirtanananda and
Hayagriva visited the two properties owned by Rose. After Hayagriva
returned to Wilkes Barre, Kirtanananda stayed on in Rose's backwoods
farmhouse. In July 1968, after a few months of Kirtanananda's living in
isolation, he and Hayagriva visited
Prabhupada in Montreal. Prabhupada “forgave his renegade disciples in
Montreal with a garland of roses and a shower of tears”.
[8]
When the pair returned to West Virginia, Richard Rose, Jr. and his wife
Phyllis gave Hayagriva a 99-year lease on the 132.77-acre property for
$4,000, with an option to purchase for $10 when the lease expired.
Hayagriva put down a $1,500 deposit.
[9]
Kirtanananda Swami and New Vrindaban Community president Kuladri das, c. mid-1970s
Prabhupada established the purpose and guided the development of the
community in dozens of letters and four personal visits (1969, 1972,
1974 and 1976).
New Vrindaban would fulfill four major functions for ISKCON:
- establish and promote the simple, agrarian Krishna conscious lifestyle, including cow protection,
- establish a place of pilgrimage in the West by building seven temples on seven hills,
- train up a class of brahmin teachers by training boys at the gurukula (school of the guru), and
- establish a society based on varnashram-dharma.
Kirtanananda eventually established himself as leader and sole
authority over the community. In New Vrindaban publications he was
honored as "Founder-
Acharya"
of New Vrindaban, in imitation of Prabhupada's title of Founder-Acharya
of ISKCON. Over time the community expanded, devotees from other ISKCON
centers moved in, and cows and land were acquired until New Vrindaban
properties consisted of nearly 5,000 acres. New Vrindaban became a
favorite ISKCON place of pilgrimage and many ISKCON devotees attended
the annual
Krishna Janmashtami
festivals. For some, Kirtanananda's previous offenses were forgiven.
Many devotees admired him for his austere lifestyle (for a time he lived
in an abandoned chicken coop), his preaching skills
[10] and devotion to the presiding
deities of New Vrindaban: Sri Sri Radha Vrindaban Chandra.
[11] For other devotees who had challenged him and thereby encountered his wrath, he was a source of fear.
Palace of Gold
Late in 1972 Kirtanananda and sculptor-architect Bhagavatananda Dasa decided to build a home for
Prabhupada.
In time, the plans for the house developed into an ornate memorial
shrine of marble, gold and carved teakwood, dedicated posthumously
during Labor Day weekend, on Sunday, September 2, 1979. The completion
of the
Palace of Gold
catapulted New Vrindaban into mainstream respectability as tens (and
eventually hundreds) of thousands of tourists began visiting the Palace
each year. A "Land of Krishna" theme park and a granite "Temple of
Understanding" in
classical South Indian style were designed to make New Vrindaban a "Spiritual
Disneyland".
The ground-breaking ceremony of the proposed temple on May 31, 1985,
was attended by dozens of dignitaries, including a United States
congressman from West Virginia. One publication called it "the most
significant and memorable day in the history of New Vrindaban."
[12]
Upon Prabhupada's death on November 14, 1977, Kirtanananda and ten
other high-ranking ISKCON leaders assumed the position of initiating
gurus to succeed him. In March 1979, he accepted the honorific title
"Bhaktipada."
"Interfaith era"
In 1986 Kirtanananda began his so-called
interfaith
experiment and the community became known as the "New Vrindaban City of
God". He attempted to "de-Indianize" Krishna Consciousness to help make
it more accessible to westerners, just as he had done previously in
1967. Devotees wore
Franciscan-style robes instead of
dhotis and
saris; they chanted in English with western instruments such as the
pipe organ and accordions
[13] instead of chanting in
Sanskrit and
Bengali with
mridanga drums and
cymbals;
male devotees grew hair and beards instead of shaving their heads and
faces; female devotees were awarded the sannyasini order and encouraged
to preach independently;
japa was practiced silently; and an interfaith community was attempted.
[citation needed]
Assault and ensuing expulsion from ISKCON
Kirtanananda Swami under house arrest, 1992
On October 27, 1985, during a New Vrindaban bricklaying marathon, a
crazed and distraught devotee bludgeoned Kirtanananda on the head with a
heavy steel tamping tool.
[14]
Kirtanananda was critically injured and remained in a coma for ten
days. Gradually he recovered most of his faculties, although devotees
who knew him well said that his personality had changed.
Some close associates began leaving the community. On March 16, 1987, during their annual meeting at
Mayapur, India, the ISKCON
Governing Body Commission expelled Kirtanananda from the society for "moral and theological deviations".
[15]
They claimed he had defied ISKCON policies and had claimed to be the
sole spiritual heir to Prabhupada's movement. Thirteen members voted for
the resolution, two abstained, and one member,
Bhakti Tirtha Swami, voted against the resolution.
[16]
Kirtanananda then established his own organization, The Eternal Order
of the League of Devotees Worldwide, taking several properties with
him. By 1988, New Vrindaban had 13 satellite centers in the United
States and Canada, including New Vrindaban. New Vrindaban was
excommunicated from ISKCON the same year.
[citation needed]
Criminal conviction and imprisonment
In 1990 the
US federal government indicted Kirtanananda on five counts of
racketeering, six counts of
mail fraud, and conspiracy to murder two of his opponents in the Hare Krishna movement (Chakradhari and Sulochan).
[17]
The government claimed that he had illegally amassed a profit of more
than $10.5 million over four years. It also charged that he ordered the
killings because the victims had threatened to reveal his
sexual abuse of minors.
[17]
On March 29, 1991, Kirtanananda was convicted on nine of the 11
charges (the jury failed to reach a verdict on the murder charges), but
the
Court of Appeals, convinced by the expert arguments of defense attorney
Alan Morton Dershowitz (a
criminal law professor at
Harvard University who represented such celebrated and wealthy clients as
Claus von Bülow,
Mike Tyson and
O. J. Simpson), threw out the convictions, saying that
child molestation evidence had unfairly prejudiced the
jury against Kirtanananda, who was not charged with those crimes.
[17] On August 16, 1993, he was released from
house arrest in a rented apartment in the Warwood neighborhood of
Wheeling, where he had lived for nearly two years, and returned triumphantly to New Vrindaban.
[17]
Kirtanananda lost his iron grip on the community after the September
1993 "Winnebago Incident" during which he was accidentally discovered in
a compromising position with a young male Malaysian disciple in the
back of a Winnebago van,
[17]
and the community split into two camps: those who still supported
Kirtanananda and those who challenged his leadership. During this time
he retired to his rural retreat at "Silent Mountain" near
Littleton, West Virginia.
[17]
The challengers eventually ousted Kirtanananda and his supporters
completely, and ended the "interfaith era" in July 1994 by returning the
temple worship services to the standard Indian style advocated by Swami
Prabhupada and practiced throughout ISKCON. Most of Kirtanananda's
followers left New Vrindaban and moved to the Radha Muralidhar Temple in
New York City, which remained under Kirtanananda's control. New
Vrindaban returned to ISKCON in 1998.
[citation needed]
In 1996, before Kirtanananda's retrial was completed, he pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering (mail fraud).
[17] He was sentenced to 20 years in prison but was released on June 16, 2004.
[18]
On September 10, 2000, the ISKCON Child Protection Office concluded a
17-month investigation and determined that Kirtanananda had molested
two boys. He was prohibited from visiting any ISKCON properties for five
years and offered conditions for reinstatement within ISKCON:
[19]
- He must contribute at least $10,000 to an organization dedicated to
serving Vaishnava youth, such as Children of Krishna, the Association
for the Protection of Vaishnava Children, or a gurukula approved by the
APVC.
- He must write apology letters to all the victims described in this
letter. In these letters he must fully acknowledge his transgressions of
child abuse, and he must take full responsibility for those actions.
Also, he must express appropriate remorse, and offer to make amends to
the victims. These letters should be sent to the APVC, not directly to
the victims.
- He must undergo a psychological evaluation
by a mental health professional pre-approved by the APVC, and he must
comply with recommendations for ongoing therapy described in the
evaluation report and by the APVC.
- He must fully comply with all governmental investigations into misconduct on his part.
Kirtanananda never satisfied any of these conditions.
[20]
After imprisonment
For four years after his release from prison, Kirtanananda (now
confined to a wheelchair) resided at the Radha Murlidhara Temple at 25
First Avenue in New York City, which was purchased in 1990
[21]
for $500,000 and maintained by a small number of disciples and
followers, although the temple board later attempted to evict him.
[22]
On March 7, 2008, Kirtanananda left the United States for India,
where he expected to remain for the rest of his life. “There is no sense
in staying where I’m not wanted,” he explained, referring to the
desertions through the years by most of his American disciples and to
the attempts to evict him from the building. At the time of his death
Kirtanananda still had a significant number of loyal disciples in India
and Pakistan, who worshiped him as "guru" and published his last books.
He continued preaching a message of interfaith: that the God of the
Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Vaishnavas is the same; and that men of
faith from each religion should recognize and appreciate the faith of
men of other paths. "Fundamentalism is one of the most dangerous
belief-systems in the world today. Fundamentalism doesn’t promote unity;
it causes separatism. It creates enmity between people of faith. Look
at the Muslims; Mohammed never intended that his followers should spread
their religion by the sword. It is more important today than at any
other time to preach about the unity of all religions."
[23]
Death
Kirtanananda died on October 24, 2011 at a hospital in
Thane, near
Mumbai, India, aged 74. His brother, Gerald Ham, reported the cause of death to be
kidney failure.
[2]
Bibliography
Kirtanananda Swami authored two dozen published books, some of which
were translated and published in Gujarati, German, French and Spanish
editions. Some books attributed to him and published in his name were
actually written by volunteer ghostwriters.
[24]
Books by Kirtanananda Swami Bhaktipada:
- The Song of God: A Summary Study of Bhagavad-gita As It Is (1984)
- Christ and Krishna: The Path of Pure Devotion (1985)
- L'amour de Dieu: Le Christianisme et La Tradition Bhakti (1985) French edition
- Eternal Love: Conversations with the Lord in the Heart (1986), based on Thomas à Kempis’ Imitation of Christ
- The Song of God: A Summary Study of Bhagavad-gita As It Is (c. 1986) Gujarati edition
- On His Order (1987)
- The Illustrated Ramayana (1987)
- Lila in the Land of Illusion (1987), based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland
- Bhaktipada Bullets (1988), compiled by Devamrita Swami
- A Devotee’s Journey to the City of God (1988), based on John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress
- Joy of No Sex (1988)
- Excerpts from The Bhaktipada Psalms (1988)
- Le pur amour de Dieu: Christ & Krishna (1988), French edition
- One God: The Essence of All Religions (1989), Indian publication
- Heart of the Gita: Always Think of Me (1990)
- How To Say No To Drugs (1990)
- Spiritual Warfare: How to Gain Victory in the Struggle for Spiritual Perfection (1990), a sequel to Eternal Love
- How to Love God (1992), based on Saint Francis de Sales’ Treatise on the Love of God
- Sense Grataholics Anonymous: A Twelve Step Meeting Suggested Sharing Format (c. 1995)
- On Becoming Servant of The Servant (undated), Indian publication
- Divine Conversation (2004), Indian publication
- The Answer to Every Problem: Krishna Consciousness (2004), Indian publication
- A Devotee's Handbook for Pure Devotion (2004), Indian publication [25]
- Humbler than a Blade of Grass (2008), Indian publication
Articles and poems by, and interviews with Kirtanananda Swami published in Back to Godhead magazine:
- 1966, Vol 01, No 01, (untitled poem, no. 1)
- 1966, Vol 01, No 01, (untitled poem, no. 2)
- 1966, Vol 01, No 01, (untitled poem, no. 3)
- 1966, Vol 01, No 02, (untitled poem, no. 4)
- 1969, Vol 01, No 29, “Man’s Link to God”
- 1969, Vol 01, No 31, “Krishna’s Light vs. Maya’s Night”
- 1970, Vol 01, No 32, “Prasadam: Food for the Body, Food for the Soul and Food for God”
- 1970, Vol 01, No 33, “Observing the Armies on the Battlefield of Kuruksetra, Part 1”
- 1970, Vol 01, No 34, “Contents of the Gita Summarized”
- 1970, Vol 01, No 35, “Karma-yoga—Perfection through Action, Part 3: Sankirtana”
- 1970, Vol 01, No 37, “Transcendental Knowledge, Part 4: He Is Transcendental”
- 1970, Vol 01, No 38, “Karma-yoga—Action in Krishna Consciousness, Part 5: Work in Devotion”
- 1970-1973, Vol 01, No 40, “Sankhya-yoga: Absorption in the Supreme”
- 1970-1973, Vol 01, No 41, “Knowledge of the Absolute: It Is Not a Cheap Thing”
- 1970-1973, Vol 01, No 42, “Attaining the Supreme: What Is Brahman?”
- 1974, Vol 01, No 66, “Turning Our Love Toward Krishna”
- 1977, Vol 12, No 12, “The Things Christ Had to Keep Secret”
- 1986, Vol 21, No 07, “The Heart’s Desire: How can we find happiness that is not purchased with our pain?”
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