Articles involving Litigation
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2002
2002-06-15 Psychologist: Kashi has all the makings of a cult -- VERO BEACH PRESS JOURNAL by Jayne Hustead ORLANDO - The Kashi community in Roseland has all the makings of a quintessential cult, a psychologist studying the group said Friday. However, Kashi representatives questioned the findings and said other studies were more positive about the North Indian River County community. During the past 10 months, Paul Martin, director of Wellspring Retreat, a residential treatment program for ex-cult members in Albany, Ohio, said he has interviewed 21 ex-members of Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati's Kashi Ashram at 11155 Roseland Road. During more than 35 hours of interviews, the ex-members expressed consistent themes about how the group operated, he said, themes that showed the members were subject to mind control techniques.
As a group, the members also scored the highest Martin said he has ever seen on a psychological test designed to measure psychological abuse....
02-05-18 Abuses define Kashi as destructive cult -- Guest Column by Richard Rosenkranz VERO BEACH PRESS JOURNAL In recent litigation involving Kashi Ashram and myself, Capt. Mary Hogan, head of criminal investigations for the Sheriff's Department, said emphatically she believes Kashi "is a cult." In her deposition, Hogan testified about ordering a SWAT team to rescue a child from Kashi in 1989, and when asked what kind of cult Kashi is, she talked about it having "destructive qualities." Russ Petersen, an attorney who's defended Ma Jaya, Kashi's leader, and her disciples six times in court, asked Hogan to back off her assessment, but she was steadfast...
2001
01-07-19 KASHI LEADER TO BE DEPOSED IN DIVORCE CASE - VERO BEACH PRESS JOURNAL Attorneys for ex-Kashi member Richard Rosenkranz can depose the Roseland group's spiritual leader today, and when they do the scope of their questioning can be as wide as the rules of discovery allow, two circuit judges ruled Wednesday. Vero Beach attorney G. Russell Petersen, who represents Gina Rosenkranz in her divorce
proceeding, had moved to limit the scope of the questioning of Ma Jaya Bhagavati by having a
special master - an attorney specially trained in the rules of discovery - appointed to rule on the
suitability of questions...
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Letters to the Editor About Kashi
Click Logo for Newspaper website The incomplete excerpt under each title gives only a brief flavor of the posting. To read entire article or letter and to view authorship of each posting, you must press the 2002
2002-07-19 Demagoguery at Kashi Ashram -- VERO BEACH PRESS JOURNAL Letter to the Editor by Richard Rosenkranz Ma built a house of what I think have to be lies. She claims she's the most powerful person spiritually on Earth; claims to experience stigmata annually; claims daily conversations with her long-dead guru whom she supposedly sees and touches; claims regular conversations with Christ, with many saints, with Kali, the Hindu goddess, coming complete with fangs and dripping blood.
2002-06-23 'Smoke and mirrors' from Kashi ashram -- VERO BEACH PRESS JOURNAL Letter to the Editor by Richard Rosenkranz In a guest column, Kashi's administrator, Krishnapriya, said categorically, "There have been no civil or criminal charges against Kashi" for 25 years. It's true the Kashi cult itself hasn't yet been indicted. But Ma herself was convicted in 1983 on three counts of battery and one each of disorderly conduct and criminal mischief in connection with a fracas at an Albertsons supermarket in Stuart....
2002-06-18 Undue Credit Sought for World Tibet Day -- VERO BEACH PRESS JOURNAL Letter to the Editor I have had the privilege of working on an Interfaith Forum in Vero Beach with Richard Rosenkranz, an activist in the Tibetan cause. As far as I am concerned, the credit must be given to Rosenkranz for taking the lead in establishing World Tibet Day. He clearly has played an active role in bringing the public's attention to the cause of Tibet. The Dalai Lama's office made this clear when it was approached for a clarification on this matter. He is World Tibet Day personified....
02-04-18 Stay Vigilant to Keep Everything Free -- Letter to the Editor VERO BEACH PRESS JOURNAL Ma Jaya has much to conceal about what really goes on at Kashi Ranch. It's been that way for more than 20 years. That's why I think she directed Gina to settle the (Richard) Rosenkranz divorce out of court. It's no coincidence that Ma's interest in doing social outreach work began after I rescued my daughter from her clutches with a SWAT team in 1989. It's hard to explain what she was doing raising children who weren't her own. A woman capable of obtaining children from their parents at birth, and getting away with it, is dangerous... 
02-03-30 Deception describes Kashi experience -- Letter to the Editor VERO BEACH PRESS JOURNAL My wife and I traveled 2,000 miles to be witnesses in litigation pitting Richard Rosenkranz against Kashi Ashram and its charismatic leader, Ma Jaya. This case, involving his wife, Ma's personal assistant, and his son, who was reportedly abused at Kashi, echoes some of our own horror with what we suffered when Ma took our daughter as her own.
Ma Jaya, who claimed to be a divine being, had convinced both of us to give her our daughter to raise, insisting our daughter would be her designated successor. This deception and coercion by Ma was the worst tragedy of my life....
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Click Logo for Newspaper website The incomplete excerpt under each title gives only a brief flavor of the posting. To read entire article or letter and to view authorship of each posting, you must press the 200202-03-24 Ashram shares reputation as cult, sanctuary: Former members tell tales of control -- FLORIDA TODAY Already, a group that monitors new religious movements called the American Family Foundation estimates 5-10 million Americans have been "transiently involved with cults," and that 1,000 sects in the United States alone meet some ominous criteria for cultic behaviors, which usually include:
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02-03-24 Rosenkranz Guest Columnist Commentary in FLORIDA TODAY
On February 3rd, Florida Today published stories on the Ma Jaya Neem Karoli Baba Kashi Ashram in Sebastian, Florida and on its founder and leader, Ma Jaya Bhagavati. It was a valiant effort, but flawed. In being interviewed for the story, I offered lots of compelling evidence that Kashi definitely is a cult and that Ma Jaya is a cult leader... ...Moreover, I gave the paper sworn statements by two Antioch professors, Cheryl and Jim Keen with whom my son had lived for several months, when he was trying to escape from the cult, until he was blackmailed and intimidated into returning. The Keen’s confirmed what an ex-Kashi member Sal Conti had stated in a police report, that my son, Chun, had been severely beaten at Ma’s orders when he was 13, tied with duct tape and beaten twice with stones in socks that left permanent scars on his face that he showed to the two professors and to students at Antioch.
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02-03-22 Ashram's ex-PR chief settles divorce case -- FLORIDA TODAY ...Richard Rosenkranz was scheduled to begin an annulment hearing in Circuit Judge Paul Kanarek's courtroom in Vero Beach on Thursday morning, claiming he had been manipulated into a fraudulent, 18-year marriage by the founder of Kashi Ashram in rural Indian River County. But Rosenkranz said his out-of-court agreement was a victory over Ashram leader Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati. "From my perspective, it's fabulous," said Rosenkranz, the self-employed president of the World Tibet Day Foundation. "Ma caved because she knew we were going to bring up damning evidence against her if this thing went to trial."...
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In 1976, a Jewish housewife left New York City after visions of Jesus Christ and two Hindu spirit guides ignited her into an interfaith odyssey. Along with a handful of followers, she settled on 7 acres along the St. Sebastian River, just west of the City of Sebastian. She called her mission Kashi Ashram...
...Having celebrated its 25th anniversary in December, the ashram dedicated to promoting world peace is no stranger to human conflict. Although longtime members and associates describe Kashi as a model of harmony, a Florida Today investigation reveals the ashram has also produced some bitterly divided families. More recently, several former key members are accusing Bhagavati of brainwashing, intimidation through violence, illegal drug use and siphoning off nonprofit funds for shopping and gambling sprees...
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200101-10-04 KASHI ASHRAM MEETS STANDARDS FOR CULTS - VERO BEACH PRESS JOURNAL ...I now believe that it is more important than ever that the darker realities of organizations like Kashi Ashram be revealed. I believe this for two reasons. First, complacently turning a blind eye to charismatic cults and their leaders has proven in many recent and past events to be extremely short sighted and dangerous. Secondly, it is precisely during times of personal and global tragedy that people become most vulnerable to groups like Kashi. Perhaps this letter will prevent at least one person from making the same mistake I made in misplacing my trust...
01-09-09 EX-MEMBERS OF KASHI COMMUNITY SADDENED - VERO BEACH PRESS JOURNAL It is with sadness that we, former members of the Kashi community, read Krishnapriya Hutner’s letter in the Aug. 24 Press Journal.
01-09-09 ASHRAM INHIBITS PERSONAL FREEDOM - VERO BEACH PRESS JOURNAL I cannot resist writing to refute the letter sent from Krishnapriya Hutner (“Rosenkranz wrong to attack ashram”, Aug. 23) I lived on Kashi Ranch for three years. I knew Richard Rosenkranz and his wife, Gina, well.
I know that the marriage was arranged by Ma to secure another baby for her and Master Cho. I left Kashi Ranch because Ma controlled too many aspects of the lives of her students. I left Kashi Ranch many years ago...
01-08-23 ROSENKRANZ WRONG TO ATTACK ASHRAM - VERO BEACH PRESS JOURNAL In response to the article regarding the Rosenkranz divorce settlement ("Rosenkranzes reach tentative settlement," Aug. 4), Kashi's continuing position is that this was a nasty divorce to which it was not party. Richard Rosenkranz is an angry man with a personal vendetta bent on smearing Ma Jaya and Kashi. His attacks are false and unfounded...
01-05-08 SPOUSE: RESTRAIN KASHI PEOPLE - VERO BEACH PRESS JOURNAL Alleging death threats by members of the Kashi Ashram spiritual community in Roseland,
former community member Richard Rosenkranz is petitioning the court to keep his wife and
other members of the group away from him...
01-03-29 ROSENKRANZ MEDIATION ENDS IN STALEMATE - VERO BEACH PRESS JOURNAL Mediation of a marital dispute between a current and former resident of the Kashi Ranch in Roseland has ended in a stalemate, making a divorce trial increasingly likely. Richard Rosenkranz, also known as Brahma Das, is a former follower of the ranch's spiritual leader, Ma Jaya Bhagavati. He said he and his wife, Gina Rosenkranz, also known as Krishnabai, recently hit an impasse at a closed mediation hearing. He said she refused even to sit in the same room with him...
01-02-14 ROSENKRANZ vs. ROSENKRANZ ALSO INVOLVES KASHI ASHRAM - VERO BEACH PRESS JOURNAL ...Both sides came out fighting Tuesday during the first round of what could be a protracted marital and spiritual dispute between a member of the Kashi Ashram interfaith community in Roseland and her exiled husband who wants to expose the group as a cult and convince their son to leave it... ..."There's something terrible going on there and exposing it may be the only way to get our son free of it," he said, adding, "I truthfully consider (the Kashi Ashram) a cult now."...
1989
89-08-04 BIOLOGICAL PARENTS KEEP KASHI CHILD -- VERO BEACH PRESS JOURNAL The biological parents of an 8-year-old girl raised by the spiritual leader of Kashi Church Foundation now have permanent custody of the child...
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