This book chronicles the era of the ISKCON zonal “acharyas” from their first appearance in 1977-1978, through their meteoric rise to power, their ten-year reign, their fall in 1987, and beyond. During a disputatious decade, after the Founder of ISKCON passed away, the Governing Body Commission of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness—more commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement—appointed eleven men as successors to the Founder in what one disciple called “a bloodless coup.” Each of the eleven ruled their own geographic regions (zones), where they were erroneously regarded as pure and perfect beings (acharyas). They were considered beyond criticism and worshiped “as good as God.”

The eleven, however, pretended to be something they were not, and within a few short years insurmountable problems afflicted some of the ISKCON “gurus,” such as falling down into prohibited activities, like illicit sex and intoxication. Unfortunately, the astute and dedicated disciples who criticized the zonal “acharyas” were shunned, expelled, beaten, or (in one extreme case) assassinated. Hundreds, if not thousands of formerly-loyal members defected, were blacklisted, or (in at least two cases) committed suicide.

The reign of self-aggrandizement and political intrigue by the leaders appointed by the GBC, periodically categorized by strong-arm tactics, tainted the Society which had been painstakingly cultivated for more than a decade by the ISKCON Founder His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Eventually, the system of succession that the GBC established collapsed like a house built upon sand. When the eleven, in tandem with the GBC, neglected their spiritual master's instructions and embarked on the zonal-acharya diksa-guru course, they became lost in uncharted and unfamiliar waters. A catastrophic shipwreck was inevitable.