Hari Vilasa’s Hapless GBC Management in Hawaii
BY: BHAKTIN MELANIE
Nov 18, 2011 — HONOLULU, HAWAII, USA (SUN) — After reading the last few days of reports about Hari Vilasa das, I feel compelled to add something about his legacy so far here in Honolulu. With his reputation back in the mainland, it was a super shock to some of the devotee community here on the island that such a questionable person with questionable management ethics and questionable character would be chosen by the rest of the North American GBC members to become the ISKCON “commissioner” of the Aloha State. But then it’s hard to make sense of what the GBC does some times, especially in America.
It was one thing to bring in a different temple president without the written permission of all the ISKCON Honolulu Temple board of directors. It was another thing, that after installing Govinda Datta das from Los Angeles as the new Temple President, after two months Hari Vilas removed him over some issue of not “seeing eye to eye”. It seems that this GBC from Washington State likes to be one of these dictator GBCs, who gets off telling the temple president when to wipe his nose.
Correct me if I am wrong, but in Srila Prabhupada’s guidelines for the duties of his GBC representatives, they were not supposed to get involved in the day-to-day management of the temple, but rather they are to check that the temple devotee residents were following all the programs instituted by Srila Prabhupada, and all were chanting their 16 rounds, and following the four regulative principles.
From what I have heard, Hari Vilasa did just the opposite. He wanted to call all the shots, and didn’t care if no one chanted their rounds or attended the temple programs. Maybe as the Indian gentlemen wrote about him in the Sun, he will eventually begin to also use the Hawaii temple facilities to make a Pacific regional base for his Uncle Harry’s business products.
Mixing personal business with negligent GBC oversight, and taking away the power of management from the temple president – did he actually skip going through the required Bhakta Program? And what “purity is the basis” results does he think he will get when he is throwing out or confusing all Prabhupada’s directions and instructions on how to run an ISKCON temple?
Govinda Datta, a Prabhupada disciple from the Radha Damodar days, seemed to have a good track record of making devotees, supporting book distribution, and encouraging Hari Nama. He’s been a temple president in a few places, I’ve heard. But maybe he couldn’t kiss you know what enough, and instead just wanted to follow the simple program that Prabhupada instituted. That is his qualification, to do as Srila Prabhupada instructed the temple president to do.
Finally, the GBC dictator sent him home without having the decency of reimbursing all Govinda Datta’s expenses of flying from Los Angeles to Hawaii and back several times to get settled in his new service. The happy world of ISKCON, or living under the not so happy careless management of the GBC!
Hari Vilasa apparently makes hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, yet cannot be thankful or appreciative of a devotee’s life he has disturbed by covering Govinda Datta’s expenses. Screwed again, by a heartless GBC man.
I agree with Mr. Ram Kamalyan, Hari Vilasa should resign, or redesign the way he conducts himself. Would Hari Vilasa treat any of his personal business employees that way? Make them work for free, steal the worker’s money (air fares, etc.), and then put them out in the street? Maybe he would. He sure did it here. Lord Krishna says that he who puts no one in distress is very dear to Him. Hari Vilasa, are you still reading the Bhagavad-gita?
Oh I almost forgot, the temple devotees say that Hari Vilasa plans to run our beautiful temple from his Seattle cell phone! And I thought that I had already heard of everything. Lord Narasingha! Sri Pancha Tattva! Please protect us from this madness!
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