ISKCON don't want you to know! I've had experience with this though - personally, when I met Bhagavan Gurudeva, who I decided almost immediately was a faker, and who subsequently went to jail for fiddling the books. Also, a friend and business associate was previously an ISKCON devotee for a number of years, and he ended up as a close personal assistant to one of the 11 bogus gurus. He has told me things which are completely sickening. For anyone who wants a brief overview of the misdeeds of these people check this out http://mitglied.lycos.de/gbc/black/bogus4.htm I think you are right in saying that anything such a person said would have only very limited value. Prabhupada (who was himself very limited)used to say that milk is pure, but if it is touched by the lips of a serpent, it becomes like poison. To some degree, I'm sure he was right about that,(metaphorically) even if he was wrong on many other counts. Only a truly realized person can help us to progress spiritually. My own feeling is that often, certain types of guru can actually hold the seeker back.
If they hold you back, they are not Gurus. Robes do not make the man, nor do titles create qualification.
Again Bhaskar I agree - and as Jesus said we should beware of wolves in sheep's clothing. But it seems to me that a true guru is one who will set you free - perhaps one mark of those who are not real gurus is that often they seek to bind their followers, to control and manipulate them. Another question is why do some people get ensnared by false teachers or gurus? Perhaps there is some inner reason?
OK. But I don't think one can blame the victims. It seems to me that the phoney gurus attract people who are looking for a neatly 'pre-packaged' solution to life's problems. I don't think such exists.But because of the way modern capitalist society works, that seems to be what some people want. They are conditioned to want everything thus packaged. They want spirituality to ba another 'product'. They are often people with unresolved emotional issues, people who feel like misfits etc. Theses false teachers seem to offer a way out, and in a world like this, so filled with confusion and contrary indications, it is hardly surprising that some get duped or worse.
Yes...and I don't know about anyother country...but its really easy to pull off scams like that in the US...because it is the nature of most of our people (not just now but throughout history)...to want and search for any "get...quick"...we have "get thin quick" diets..."get rich quick" scams (why do you think so many Americans are litigation happy? Also, for a historical one...California Gold rush...actually some of this country was settled on "get rich quick"...the settlers in Jamestown, VA in 1607 came trying to find gold)...and also the "get God quick" preachers and teachers in each and every religion... so, I can def. see why some one would take such a powerful group such as ISKCON (which was also popular) and exploit it in one of these "get God quick" schemes....because people who want the results without the work would go for it....
