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From: Hari Sauri (das) ACBSP
Date: 12-Aug-98 06:37
To: Prabhupada Disciples [2222]
Reference: Text COM:1583426 by Janesvara (das) ACBSP (Syracuse - USA)
Comment: Text COM:1589512 by Malati (dd) ACBSP (Columbus - USA)
Comment: Text COM:1590456 by Mahadyuti (das) ACBSP (TP Soho St. London -
GB)
Subject: Weird, man, weird.
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The biggest "leaders" of ISKCON say that they have now made a startling discovery that Harikesha's problems were all actually artificially induced by some psychotropic drug!

Whew!!! Boy, am I ever relieved. I mean this means if Harikesha had just continued taking the purple haze (or whatever that powder was), like he had been doing for the last ten years, which was just supposed to be ashes from some tantric fire sacrifice from some bogus idiot - everything would have been alright!!!

I presume Janesvara prabhu is not a practicing psychiatrist. His comments above therefore don't "mean" much beyond his own speculations. I am presently here in Abentheuer where we have been struggling to get a clear picture of what happened to Harikesa to bring about the complete physical and mental collapse he suffered in June and consequent radical changes in his thought patterns. After two weeks here I don't still fully understand all of his problems. I think that needs a qualified medical practitioner to come in before we get a complete picture.

I was asked recently by a disciple of his about the vibhuti and I replied with what I have learnt so far:

Pamho. I think one of the next challenges will be to explain to the
world why the "abrupt withdrawal symptoms" only manifested 4 months
after the withdrawal. People doubt that seriously and their doubt makes sense. What's your explanation?

My reply:

The withdrawal symptoms started right away. He had three nights without sleep immediately after he stopped the medicine. Then he became increasingly hyperactive throughout March, April and May. He took on more and more work and according to the psychiatrist we consulted, the increasing stress finally broke him in early June. In late May there was a gurukula reunion at which some of the kids described the abuse they suffered at the schools. This elicited a very emotional reaction from HKS and he broke down and cried for a long time. When you understand his overall condition you see the pattern. As a child he and his sister were practically terrorized by their father who was suffering from PTDS (post traumatic distress syndrome) after WW II. He was violent and a tyrant who demanded absolute obedience. He tried to strangle Barbara on one occasion with a telephone cord and then tried to smash her with a large fan. HKS ran in and pulled him off otherwise he would have killed her. It seems that he shut off emotionally from all relationships due to the stress of his upbringing. In college he became hyperactive, engaging in more sports, studies, and extracurricular activities than he could humanly manage. This resulted in some kind of a manic mental breakdown. This could have been due to PTDS. According to his sister he received no treatment for this and just gradually recovered on his own.
In 1987 he had another breakdown, both physical and mental although it was not as severe. That's when he started taking the "vibhuti." The vibhuti actually kept him fairly stable. It wasn't the correct medicine for his condition but according to the psychiatrist it was better than nothing. When he stopped the vibhuti in Jan. this year, he was contacted shortly after by his sister. She had been through a terrible car crash and this resulted in her going into PTDS. She started reviving long surpressed memories of her beatings as a child. She had totally forgotten them and was shocked at first when they surfaced. She wrote to HKS and for the first time he also acknowledged their common childhood abuse. Thus the stopping of the vibhuti and the resultant psychosis, plus the childhood abuse coming to the fore, plus his life long tendency to cyclothymic bipolar disorder (a low level manic/depressive condition that usually requires no medical treatment) , plus the stress of all the extra work as GBC Chairman, plus his identification with the gurukula abuse, all seems to have culminated in his collapse in June. Which was the main cause is hard to say but the withdrawal from the vibhuti was definitely a big factor in it all. The psychiatrist confirmed with us today that there was no way he could come off the effects of the vibhuti without the aide of another drug taken gradually over a period of several months. He is a sick man at this point.

The EC released the information about the vibhuti as they received it due to the demands by others for news on what was going on. Harikesa's sister came here to Germany a couple of days after we learned about the drugs and their effects and we got further information from her about the PTDS in the family. Its a bit of a jigsaw and we are still trying to fit the pieces together. In the meantime lets have a bit of sympathy for an ill godbrother who has done tremendous service for Srila Prabhupada over the last 29 years, and let us pray for his full recovery so that he can continue to serve.
(Text COM:1588537) -----------------------------------------




Text COM:1590443 (22 lines)
From: Hari Sauri (das) ACBSP
Date: 12-Aug-98 20:22
To: Prabhupada Disciples [2226]
Reference: Text COM:1589512 by Malati (dd) ACBSP (Columbus - USA)
Subject: inquirey
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you quote from phsyciatrst, which I assume means that you are consulting members of the medical profession for advice. Then you mention that you (meaning god-brothers,etc) are trying to "piece it all together." I guess I am wondering, under the circumstances, how are we, as lay-persons, qualified to do this? Or, is it because HKS personally refuses to meet with any qualified practioner that the burden falls upon us? I am feeling that it seems so speculative, from the limited angle presented so far. Again, this is meant as a direct inquiry, not any criticism.

Yes, the problem is that so far he refuses to see a qualified mental health practitioner. Unfortunately one of the symptoms of what we think is his current condition (temporary paranoid schizophrenia) is that the patient doesn't think there is anything wrong with them while still engaging in bizarre behaviour. His external behaviour has settled down somewhat but his internal condition remains the same. His sister is helping to convince Monika the therapist that he needs professional help. And she is working on him also. There is a chance this can happen and that he can pull through all this.

Meantime the EC is making a statement later today about his status as a GBC member and guru in ISKCON (I won't pre-empt them here).
(Text COM:1590443) -----------------------------------------