Oust the Book Changers!

Oust the Book Changers!


Srila Prabhupada’s books are the most important asset in the world. In 1975 Srila Prabhupada sought to protect his valuable copyrights by giving them to trusted disciples along with instructions about how he wanted them used to benefit his society, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Unfortunately with the passage of time, there are new trustees, who, rather than protecting the sanctity of the books, are changing Srila Prabhupada’s words and setting a dangerous precedent. Additionally there is no transparency in the current BBT’s finances. While ISKCON is claiming to distribute more books than ever (up to 10 million big books/year), the society of devotees have been cut off from being able to request grants from the Building Fund as Srila Prabhupada instructed in the BBT trust document. Additionally in the 43 years since the establishment of the BBT and the mandate that 50% of the proceeds from selling the books be used to build and maintain temples, what projects has the BBT supported?

Fortunately once the devotees discover their power as beneficiaries of Srila Prabhupada’s book trust, it will possible to negotiate, or, if that fails, to use the court system to demand justice. Just as Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz discovered that she’d always had the means to fulfill her desire, in the same way, we, the devotees who insist that Srila Prabhupada’s words should not be changed also have the means to achieve the goal of stopping the book changes. So let’s put on our ruby slippers and click away!


The Plan


In the document that founded the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, Srila Prabhupada names the International Society for Krishna Consciousness as the beneficiary. Ask practically any devotee, “what is the International Society for Krishna Consciousness?” and he/she will reply something to the effect that it is the society that follows Srila Prabhupada’s instructions regarding how to become conscious of Krishna. No one is going to reply to that question, “a corporation founded in 1972 in New York.” Srila Prabhupada didn’t leave his most valuable asset, his copyrights to a corporation, he left his copyrights to his society of devotees. We all know that in our hearts.

Fortunately all of the law in the United States sits on a foundation of common law. In common law, things that people know in their hearts to be true, such as the fact that people who act like they’re married for a length of time, are married in fact, even if they haven’t bought a license or had a ceremony to substantiate the marriage. While most people have heard of common law marriages, a common law trust is less widely known. However, in common law, if the conditions exist that create a trust, such a trust is recognized by the courts. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness is a common law trust.

The plan to oust the book changers and rescue the copyrights involves rallying the beneficiaries of the BBT: Srila Prabhupada’s loyal followers. As a group, we demand that the BBT act according to Srila Prabhupada’s instructions. Here are some of the demands:

An end to the editing. Setting a precedent of “no changes” to ensure purity over the centuries is more important than impressing a few hypothetical scholars. The books as they were when Srila Prabhupada approved them caused the Movement to explode with enthusiasm. When people read the changed books, they don’t know whether they’re reading Srila Prabhupada’s words, or Jayadvaita’s words.
Transparency with finances. Quarterly financial reports including participation/royalties paid by foreign BBT entities
Building Fund grants with guidelines to ensure fairness to applicants. Preference given to SLHT/varnashrama projects as this is the second half of Srila Prabhupada’s mission and sorely neglected.

Putting pressure on the BBTI (a misleadingly named corporation, that isn’t the original BBT, but that uses Srila Prabhupada’s copyrights under the color of ownership) to become accountable and to stop changes by asking them to do these things is probably not going to get any results. They are probably going to have to be looking at a lawsuit that demands these things before they will be willing to negotiate.

In the modern court system, in order to file a lawsuit you have a valid gripe which in legalese t is known as a cause of action. Usually the cause of action involves money that the plaintiff claims is due to him from the defendant. It is fairly common for beneficiaries to sue trustees because a trustee owns the trust property, but has the fiduciary responsibility to use the property for the benefit of the beneficiary(ies). Frequently a trustee will use trust property improperly and the court system is set up to be able to enforce the provisions of a trust when a beneficiary complains.

The strongest complaint a beneficiary of the BBT has against the trustees is complaint that the trustees are not making Building Fund money available to a qualified beneficiary. I called the BBT to ask how to apply for a grant and was told that I’m not a beneficiary of the BBT. But if I’m not a beneficiary, who is? Here are some reasons that I am a beneficiary and why our project should receive funds from the BBT Building Fund:

Our board of directors are all loyal followers of Srila Prabhupada who have vowed the Oath of Allegiance.
Our project is our sincere effort to follow Srila Prabhpada’s instructions regarding a simple living, high thinking lifestyle.
Our project is centered around cow protection, as instructed by Srila Prabhupada.
Establishing varnashrama and a simple living, high thinking lifestyle was so important to Srila Prabhupada that he said it was the second half of his mission.
The project is already successful, but needs funds to enable it to be more effective. For instance we need living quarters for the dozens of young people who have expressed a desire to experience the simple living, high thinking lifestyle.

Conclusion: the best way to oust the book changers is to file a complaint that the trustees are neglecting their fiduciary responsibility by not using the profits of the trust as Srila Prabhupada instructed. In the lawsuit, we will move the court to:

Force the BBTI to give an accounting for how they’ve managed the BBT’s finances for the last 30 years
Replace the current trustees with trustees who are willing to protect the copyrights by not changing Srila Prabhupada’s words.
Depending on what is uncovered during the “discovery” part of the lawsuit, possibly press criminal charges on the current trustees if misuse of funds is discovered.
Revoke the license that was illegally granted in the 1998 lawsuit. Nowhere in the BBT document does it give permission for a trustee to sell the copyrights for money and a license.
Require that the trustees manage the copyrights from the valid trust, not from a coroporation that is misleadingly named to resemble the valid trust.
Require that the BBT fund the Building Fund as instructed in the founding document and make Building Fund grants available to qualified projects.

Let’s work together to oust the book changers by cooperatively using our skills and resources to serve Srila Prabhupada by rescuing his copyrights!


What you can do

While many of us have seen our energy and enthusiasm for spreading Krishna consciousness suffer in these years since the disappearance of the pure devotee, this campaign is an opportunity for loyal Srila Prabhupada followers to participate in this transcendental pastime of rescuing the copyrights and to become re-enlivened by pleasing Srila Prabhupada. Everyone can participate and should according to his/her ability. Here are some of the things devotees can do to participate:

+++Let other loyal Prabhupada devotees know that there is a plan to rescue the copyrights and oust the book changers. Let’s make this effort like when Lord Caitanya led the sankirtan party to the Chand Kazi’s palace. The bigger the body of devotees making the demands, the more effective the pressure on the book changers!

+++Sign and send in a Declaration, declaring yourself to be a member of the common law trust known as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. A properly formed Declaration can be admitted in court and will be used to validate the existence of the common law trust.

+++Contribute funds for the lawsuit. In order to create strong cause of action to be able to file a lawsuit, our project should ideally be a tax-exempt 502c3 corporation. The costs involved with deeding our 14 acre farm (with over 15,000 sq. ft. of buildings) to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness including attorney fees, IRS filing fees etc. is expected to be about $4000. Because we, as a common law trust, can represent ourselves in court pro se (without requiring an attorney), we need a much more modest war chest for expenses such as hiring a court reporter, paying mediation or deposition costs, etc. We are hoping to additionally raise between $5,000 and $10,000 to cover such costs. Anything that anyone can contribute financially will help.

+++If you know other devotes who are disturbed by the book changes, you could become a fund-raiser by asking others to contribute.

+++We need a PR person to handle press releases and formulate engagement strategies.

+++We need a webmaster to handle a website to keep the Oust the Book Changers team up to date with the progress.

+++We need devotees to make videos to document our on-going transcendental battle.

+++We need devotees to read case law to help us find controlling cases to prove the arguments we present in court.

+++We need additional devotees to take an amazing law course that I took that gives the tools necessary to win this lawsuit procedurally. In a lawsuit there is the substance of the law—the facts and strengths of the complaint--but there is also the procedure. Even if the complaint has compelling merit, the Plaintiff (us) need to follow impeccable court procedure to prevail. The more devotees with this knowledge, the more likely we will be to succeed.

Please help in any way you can!  E-mail or call: [email redacted] [phone redacted]

Here is the template for the Declaration that every devotee should fill in, sign and send to:  Anuttama Budd, 151 Anderson Rd., Glenoma, WA 98336

Declaration of ___(karmi name, aka devotee name)

I, ___(karmi name, aka devotee name) , declare as follows:

I am a resident of (city) , in the County of (county) , in the State of (state) .

I make this declaration of my own personal knowledge and, if called as a witness, I could and would testify competently to the facts stated herein.

I consider myself to be a member of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

(Additional information such as temples served, type of service, what ISKCON means to you etc.)





I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Californla and of the State of New Mexico that the foregoing is true and correct.

Executed this day of (month), 2019 at (city) , (State)





____________________________________

(signature)

Address:

Phone: e-mail: