Was Tulsi Gabbard indoctrinated by a “cult”?
News Summary/November 25, 2024
By Rick Alan Ross
Former congressman and presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard has a colorful family history that includes ties to a controversial “guru” and a spiritual movement that has been called a “cult.”
Gabbard was raised within the “Science of Identity,” led by Kris Butler aka “Jagad Guru.”
Tulsi Gabbard’s father Mike Gabbard joined the Hare Krishna movement (International Society of Krishna Consciousness ISKCON). When Gabbard was Assistant Dean of Instruction at American Samoa Community College he sought the guidance of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the movement.
Gabbard reportedly acknowledged in a letter how he had first joined ISKCON in 1973.
ISKCON, which represents what many consider a fringe faction of Hinduism, has frequently been called a “cult.” Its adherents are often seen chanting in public and selling books at airports as part of a fund raising effort.
Mike Gabbard would reportedly take his family on a journey through the Krishna movement to an obscure sect led by a self-proclaimed American guru Kris Butler called the “Science of Identity,” with headquarters in Kailua, on Oahu.
Reportedly three of Butler’s devotees, Allan Tibby, Joseph Bismark, and Patrick Bowler, have faced international criminal allegations of money laundering, syndicated racketeering and drug smuggling. respectively.
Butler also reportedly has ties to a Hawaiian political party called Independents for Godly Government.
ISKCON and Mike Gabbard
Prabhupada replied to Mike Gabbard’s inquiry from India during 1977.
The purported “cult leader” responded, "Your idea for starting a Krsna Conscious center in American Samoa is very good, but first you must be well conversant with our philosophy."
Prabhupada died later that same year. Meanwhile ISKCON spread in Hawaii.
Kris Butler would later claim that he had inherited the legacy of Prabhupada, as he was a “pure devotee and true disciple.”
However, reportedly Butler had a rather brief and frequently rocky relationship with Prabhupada, who had actually denounced him repeatedly and accused him of financial transgressions.
In 1983 Mike Gabbard reportedly moved his family to Hawaii to become devotees of Kris Butler.
Mike Gabbard took the name of “Krishna Katha das” and his wife Carol became known as “Devahuti dasi.” At this time their daughter Tulsi Gabbard was just two years old.
Kris Butler reportedly encouraged his followers to not send their children to public schools.
Mike Gabbard began to run a private school on Oahu for the children of Butler's disciples, known as the Ponomauloa School.
Gabbard's devotion to Butler also included becoming the guru’s secretary of personal affairs. Carol Gabbard also reportedly helped to the school and assisted an affiliated group in Arizona.
In 1984 Kris Butler reportedly delivered a rambling speech at one school strewn with what appeared to be paranoid conspiracy theories, including that he was “tracked by the CIA when he was a ‘baby.’"
Butler also reportedly recommended that the children not watch television, and he ranted against teaching evolution and history.
Kris Butler reportedly said, "Screw the history book."
Butler also alluded to his politics, and encouraged the children of his disciples to go into politics.
He explained, "What you’ve got to do is get one of these kids to run for office. Find out why you have to be a certain age to run for office … or a school board."
Child abuse
Butler and his devotees also reportedly ran a remote boarding school for their children in Baguio City, Philippines. This boarding school was seemingly modeled after the notorious ISKCON gurukulas.
Students reportedly listened to recorded lectures by Butler and” bowed to pictures of Butler.” Children from the U.S., Australia, the Philippines, and New Zealand were reportedly sent to this school.
Ian Koviak, reportedly attended the Baguio boarding school for four years, from 12 to 16.
Koviak said, "Some lectures bashed scientists like Carl Sagan and other modern thinkers. Then there were the private tapes that were only for his disciples and close followers. Those went into graphic detail about homosexuality and male on male intercourse."
Koviak also said students “watched a video produced by Mike Gabbard's Stop Promoting Homosexuality organization, which included footage of men having sex in public.”
Reportedly, “Koviak and four other former students of the SIF boarding school all say they were regularly hungry and sleep deprived while at the school. They also all said they spent at least four hours a day chanting, often in a dark room.”
In one school newsletter, Patrick Bowler, arrested in 1997 for international hashish smuggling, is noted as a financial supporter of the school.
Students say “the main focus of the school was the SIF philosophy and worship of Butler. Per Butler’s 1984 lecture, they did not take history classes, learn about evolution, or watch television.”
Past students “all painted a strikingly dark picture of their experiences at the school, and they all say they have struggled psychologically as adults.”
One man who attended the school for four years from ages 11 to 15, said, "We were taught to follow the teachings and words of Butler as if they were the holy divine word itself." He added, “We were always hungry. I almost committed suicide when I was there. I really wanted to go home but was told that my parents did not want me to go back home."
Students were reportedly told, "Fag**ts are taking over and doing disgusting things." He also reported sexual abuse, but school leaders responded that he must be lying.
Another former student said, “We were taught Butler and [his wife] Wai Lana were the only true messengers of God, and serving them would be the ultimate mission in life."
"They strip you of your individual identity. They humiliate you, try to figure out your strengths and weaknesses. You weren’t allowed to talk to any outsiders. You were not allowed to contact your family. Everything we did there was in preparation for whatever they wanted us to do next," he said.
Yet another former student reportedly said that he suffered from depression and addiction as an adult after realizing that his guru, Butler, did not love him.
Three of the men also attended Mike and Carol Gabbard's SIF school on Oahu, the Ponomauloa School, said that they were also “taught to worship Butler, and they were repeatedly exposed to sexually graphic, anti-homosexual material.”
The Madana Mohana Academy's website included a quote by Kris Butler aka “Jagad Guru” and refers to him as "a renowned philosopher and educator." Children could be seen bowing in front of a large, framed picture of Butler in a video shared publicly on the Madana Mohana Academy’s Facebook page.
Tulsi Gabbard influenced?
The five men interviewed from the boys' boarding school said there was also a girls' boarding school in the Philippines. It seems that Tulsi Gabbard may have attended this school during the 1990s.
Tulsi. Gabbard has been evasive regarding Kris Butler and the Science of Identity group impact on her life over the years. She seemingly removed relevant information from her official biography. But there have reportedly been references to "two years spent at an all-girls missionary academy in the Philippines," which were reportedly once online.
An article in The New Yorker states, "as a girl, she spent two years in the Philippines, at informal schools run by followers of Butler."
Tulsi Gabbard was also home-schooled as a child by her parents.
Tulsi Gabbard’s ex-husband, Eduardo Tamayo, is the nephew of Ramon "Toby" Tamayo, who ran the Baguio City boys' school.
Tulsi Gabbard’s current husband, Abraham Williams, is reportedly a second-generation Butler disciple.
At least three of her past Congressional staffers, including Chief of Staff Kainoa Penaroza, are first generation Butler disciples.
Mike, Carol, and Tulsi Gabbard demonstrated strong anti-gay and pro-environmental agendas, reflecting Butler and SIF's views, during their political careers.
Carol Gabbard’s agenda as a school board member reportedly included “supporting private schools and opposing efforts to protect gay students from harassment in public schools.” Tulsi Gabbard has supported her mother's efforts. She said, "Our schools are not rampant with anti-gay harassment."
Mike Gabbard campaigned heavily against same-sex marriage, and his daughter vocally supported his efforts at the time.
Rep. Gabbard in 2015 reportedly said that although she officially supported the legalization of same-sex marriage, her "personal views haven't changed" regarding homosexuality.
Note: This news summary is based upon the report “Butler's Web, Part 3: Grooming the Second Generation” by Christine Gralow published by Meanwhile in Hawaii December 31, 2017.
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