Bhagavan Das
Legal name William R. Ehrlichman
Bhagavan das AdhikaryBhagavan GoswamiBhagavan Das GoswamiBhagavan SwamiBhagavan Maharaja
Removed as initiating guru — 1989
- One of the twelve members of the first Governing Body Commission
- 1970–1987
- Zonal guru for southern Europe, later also Britain, South Africa and other countries
- 1977–1987
- Sannyasi
- 1978–1986
- Gave sannyasa toIndradyumna Swami1979
Record summary
2 entries — 2 admissions.
Last reviewedBio
Bhagavan Das (legal name William R. Ehrlichman) was born in Washington, D.C., in 1947, according to his own website, and was initiated at New Vrindaban in 1969. In July 1970 Prabhupada named him one of the twelve members of ISKCON’s first Governing Body Commission (GBC); he signed the founding document, the “Direction of Management”, as a witness under his legal name. He led the Detroit temple in its first years.
After Prabhupada’s death in 1977 he became one of the eleven initiating gurus, each with a zone. The GBC minutes give his zone as France, the Benelux countries and Italy, later the rest of southern Europe, and from 1983 also Britain, South Africa and other countries. He took sannyasa in August 1978 from Tamal Krishna Goswami, by his own account, and was chairman of the GBC in 1980–81. In October 1986 Hinduism Today called him a “closed-zone, autocratic achariya”.
In September 1986 he gave up sannyasa and his posts in a letter to the leaders of his zone. The GBC suspended him as a guru in 1987 and removed him as an initiating guru in 1989. In 2000 he was named as a defendant, as a former GBC member, in the Children of ISKCON lawsuit over abuse in ISKCON’s boarding schools; the complaint makes no allegation about any act of his own, and the federal court dismissed the case against him without prejudice in September 2001 because he had not been served.
By his own account, his own children were among those abused in ISKCON’s schools. He spoke on a panel about child abuse in ISKCON at New Vrindaban in 2003 and has since occasionally taken part in ISKCON events. In 2010 he lived in California, where he ran a design and building company.
Sources (13)
- [1]Direction of Management (A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami) — 28 July 1970; the twelve GBC members include "Sriman Bhagavandas Adhikary"; p. 5, witnesses: "(William R. Ehrlichman) Bhagavan das Adhikary" (scan reproduced by surrealist.org), Jul 28, 1970
- [2]bhagavanacbsp.com, Biography — his own website bhagavanacbsp.com, 2009–2010, now offline: "In August 1978, Bhagavān Prabhu took sannyāsa (renounced order of life) from Tamal Krishna Goswami", 2010
- [3]bhagavanacbsp.com, Biography (part 2): interview by Guru Gauranga das — his own website bhagavanacbsp.com, 2009–2010, now offline, 2010
- [4]Letter from Bhagavan Das (signed "Gurudeva") to the leaders of his zone, 23 September 1986 (copy in Nori Muster's Betrayal Files), Sep 23, 1986
- [5]Los Angeles Times, Krishna Gurus Granted Leaves Amid Controversy (John Dart) — Part II, p. 1 (scan reproduced by surrealist.org), Oct 5, 1986
- [6]Hinduism Today, Murder Quickens Wider Crisis in Krishna Sect, Oct 1, 1986
- [7]GBC resolutions 1981 (minutes of the annual meeting), 1981 (document)
- [8]GBC resolutions 1983 (minutes of the annual meeting), 1983 (document)
- [9]GBC resolutions 1987 (minutes of the annual meeting), 1987 (document)
- [10]GBC resolutions 1989 (minutes of the annual meeting), 1989 (document)
- [11]Plaintiffs' Original Complaint (Doc. 1), Children of ISKCON et al. v. ISKCON et al., No. 3:00-cv-01254 (N.D. Tex.), filed 12 June 2000, Jun 12, 2000 (document)
- [12]Order (Doc. 135) granting the motions to dismiss, Children of ISKCON et al. v. ISKCON et al., No. 3:00-CV-1254-L (N.D. Tex.), 28 September 2001, Sep 28, 2001 (document)
- [13]Henry Doktorski, Eleven Naked Emperors: The Crisis of Charismatic Succession in the Hare Krishna Movement (1977–1987) (Henry Doktorski) — chapter "Aftermath"; excerpt on the author's site
Record
2 entries · most established firstDealt with child abuse by ashram teachers through expulsion and a beating, by his own account
In a 2010 interview on his own website, Bhagavan Das said that after Prabhupada's death, while he was a GBC member and guru, he learned at the Denver temple that an ashram teacher "was abusing the boys terribly", and that "I told the fathers to take him into the woods and beat him." In the same interview his son describes how a teacher at New Mayapur, in France, in Bhagavan Das's own zone, treated the boys, and how his father then expelled that teacher from the community. Bhagavan Das described the leaders' "first knee jerk reaction" as "to get rid of the symptom by expelling the perpetrators and making them feel some level of pain". His account does not mention a report to the police or to a child-protection authority in either case.
The teachers and the children are not named in this record. The incidents are known only from this interview; no other record of them has been found.
No investigation or ruling on these incidents has been found; they are known only from this account.
In the same interview he said that "in other places, the incidents along with the perpetrators were minimized or ignored to avoid embarrassing public attention", and that, after learning of abuse at the Los Angeles temple school, "I encouraged the mother's prosecution of the perpetrators". [1]
Sources (2)
- [1]bhagavanacbsp.com, Biography (part 2): interview by Guru Gauranga das — his own website bhagavanacbsp.com, 2009–2010, now offline, 2010
- [2]Henry Doktorski, Eleven Naked Emperors: The Crisis of Charismatic Succession in the Hare Krishna Movement (1977–1987) (Henry Doktorski) — chapter "Aftermath"; excerpt on the author's site original
Left sannyasa and his guru and GBC posts over a relationship (1986)
In September 1986 Bhagavan Das, then a sannyasi and one of ISKCON's zonal gurus, wrote to the leaders of his zone that "sentiments which have developed between myself and the concerned party" were "certainly out of place for the sannyasa asrama", and handed over the management of his zone and disciples. The Los Angeles Times reported in October 1986 that he had "taken vows of celibacy" and had told friends "he was considering getting married". In 1987 the GBC accepted his resignation and suspended him as a guru; in 1989 it removed him as an initiating guru. The resolutions give no reason.
The woman is not named in this record.
- 1986AdmittedIn his letter to the leaders of his zone he wrote: "I am not able to remove the sentiments which have developed between myself and the concerned party, which are certainly out of place for the sannyasa asrama", and gave "negligence regarding the strict principles of sannyasa" as one possible reason for his "change of direction".
- 2010AdmittedIn a 2010 interview on his own website he named "the feelings of attraction that developed towards the woman I left with" among the reasons he left.
The GBC accepted his resignation and suspended him as an ISKCON guru in 1987 (res. 2 and 96), continued the suspension in 1988 (res. 31) and removed him as an initiating guru in 1989 (res. 86), telling his disciples to "seek spiritual shelter elsewhere in ISKCON". None of the resolutions states a reason.
In the 2010 interview he said: "I am sorry for the confusion and disruption that came from the way I left." He also named the infighting among the leaders, "the recognition of how extreme the child abuse was" and "the sheer weight of the zonal responsibilities" among the reasons he left. [9]
Sources (7)
- [3]Letter from Bhagavan Das (signed "Gurudeva") to the leaders of his zone, 23 September 1986, pp. 2–3 (copy in Nori Muster's Betrayal Files), Sep 23, 1986 original
- [4]Los Angeles Times, Krishna Gurus Granted Leaves Amid Controversy (John Dart) — Part II, p. 1 (scan reproduced by surrealist.org), Oct 5, 1986 original
- [5]The Philadelphia Inquirer, Crimes Among the Krishnas (Eric Harrison) — "resigned under pressure last year to get married" (scan reproduced by surrealist.org), Apr 5, 1987 original
- [6]GBC resolutions 1987 (minutes of the annual meeting), 1987 (document) original
- [7]GBC resolutions 1988 (minutes of the annual meeting), 1988 (document) original
- [8]GBC resolutions 1989 (minutes of the annual meeting), 1989 (document) original
- [9]bhagavanacbsp.com, Biography (part 2): interview by Guru Gauranga das — his own website bhagavanacbsp.com, 2009–2010, now offline, 2010
Timeline
Each status change in this record, on one axis, with the periods of the cases Bhagavan Das is involved in.
- 1986
- AdmittedSep 23, 1986 Left sannyasa and his guru and GBC posts over a relationship (1986) In his letter to the leaders of his zone he wrote: "I am not able to remove the sentiments which have developed between myself and the concerned party, which are certainly out of place for the sannyasa asrama", and gave "negligence regarding the strict principles of sannyasa" as one possible reason for his "change of direction".
- 2010
- Admitted2010 Dealt with child abuse by ashram teachers through expulsion and a beating, by his own account "After Prabhupāda's departure I was traveling in America with Ramesvara Swami. We met at the Denver temple and it so happened that when we arrived, it came to the surface that the ashrama teacher […] was abusing the boys terribly. The fathers approached us angered and confused. […] I told the fathers to take him into the woods and beat him."
- Admitted2010 Left sannyasa and his guru and GBC posts over a relationship (1986) In a 2010 interview on his own website he named "the feelings of attraction that developed towards the woman I left with" among the reasons he left.