Who is Kris Butler aka "Jagad Guru"?

News Summary/November 25, 2024

By Rick Alan Ross

Former congresswoman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard, now nominated to a cabinet position by President Elect Donald Trump, has drawn scrutiny and garnered controversy due in part to her ties to a purported Hawaiian "cult leader" Kris Butler.

Butler is apparently the dictatorial head of a group known as the "Science of Identity," headquartered in Hawaii. 

Gabbard's parents are long-time Kris Butler devotees and she was raised within the group under his tutelage.

It has been reported that the group's critics say that Kris Butler "misappropriated" religious beliefs "to achieve financial and political power."

Gabbard's father reportedly "served as Butler's personal secretary in the 1980s" and "at least five of Tulsi “Gabbard's [past] Congressional staffers [were] also Butler disciples."

The Cult Education Institute (CEI) has received many complaints about Kris Butler.

CEI's message board has also hosted critical commentary about Butler and the Science of Identity for many years.

Butler's childhood

Butler is reportedly the son of Hawaiian plantation doctor Willis Butler.

Kris Bulter grew up in Hawaii, but was born in Louisiana in 1948.

Classmates reportedly described him as an "average student" and "solid surfer." 

Butler told the Honolulu Advertiser (1977) "that he got into a lot of trouble as a teenager and was expelled from Kailua High School."

Butler later graduated from Kalani High School (1966).

Butler’s estranged younger brother Kurt and a former classmate reportedly said that he was "popular with the girls" and that "He had these piercing eyes and this intense way of looking at you."

Butler later reportedly "became deeply involved in the late-'60s psychedelic counterculture scene in Honolulu, heavily exploring hallucinogenic drugs." He dropped out of college, ultimately becoming a self-proclaimed "guru" while still in his 20s.

His brother Kurt also said, "He used to believe there is abundant life on the moon, because the scriptures say so," said Kurt. "Ergo, the U.S. moon landings must be a hoax. I don't know whether he still believes such nonsense."

Kris Butler has reportedly "delivered dozens of decidedly anti-science lectures" and "mocked Carl Sagan and science experiments."

Butler's rocky Krishna connection

Butler was reportedly described as a "dictator" over a Krishna faction living on Maui and Oahu, "One man rules Haiku Krishaites."

A reporter commented, "All these young people just worshiped him," later adding, "I saw him as living the good life with all this power and control."

But in November 1970, Prabhupada, founder of the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), reportedly sent a letter to one of his disciples in Honolulu with instructions to seemingly denounce Butler.  

"I authorize you to print [the denouncement letter] profusely and distribute to the public so that the misunderstanding created by [Butler] may be dissipated," wrote Prabhupada.

Seemingly the net result reportedly was that the next month Butler's group was disbanded and joined ISKCON.

Butler reportedly "renounced all of his disciples" and paid Prabhupada "$28,800.” ISKCON then reportedly absorbed all of his devotees.

Butler joined ISKCON and was supposedly "encouraged" to recruit "lost hippies."

But by 1972 Kris Bulter's relationship with ISKCON was once again "on the rocks."

Around this time Butler reportedly begins "what would become a long-time business/spiritual partnership with David Muncie, aka Tusta Krishna das. Around this time, another New Zealander, Patrick Bowler, also began a close relationship with both Muncie and Butler. Bowler, aka Paramahamsa das, would later become SIF's primary financial supporter in the '80 and '90s. (Bowler would also, incidentally, get arrested in 1997 for running a major, decades-long international hashish smuggling ring.)"

In 1973, Prabhupada wrote that Butler had sold off ISKCON's Hawai'i temple and "went away with all the money without taking any permission from me."

But later letters seem to suggest that Butler may have ultimately paid off Prabhupada.

Butler's politics

By the end of the 1970s Butler controlled "impressive fruit and vegetable farms" and had expanded his following in Hawai'i. And after Prabhupada's death in 1977, Butler’s followers reportedly started to call him "Prabhupada." 

In 1977 Butler ventured into the realm of politics. He reportedly "had close ties to a new political party called Independents for Godly Government (IGG)."  IGG candidates William Penaroza and Kathy Hoshijo were identified as "Butler disciples" along with "other IGG candidates. " None were elected initially, but the group's "political ambitions" were noted.

One reporter noted, "What struck me was the small, very tight, intricate network of business and politics." “Almost all the [IGG] money was coming from about 20 people."

That same reporter also recalled how the Butler/IGG "had so many tendrils,"

Note: This news summary is based upon a previously published report titled "Butler's Web, Part 2: Who is Gabbard's Guru?" by Christine Gralow published December 3, 2017 by Meanwhile in Hawaii.

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