WFLK Fountain of the World

Hindu-based religious community centered in the San Fernando Valley of southern California. The WFLK Fountain of the World was founded by Francis H. Pencovic (1911-58). He grew up in Utah but became known in 1932 under his religious name, Krishna Venta. As Krishna Venta he claimed that he had been sent from heaven to work among the American Indians. He was believed to be the latest in a series of "saviours" who had come to assist humankind. The lineage included Adam, Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Jesus, and more recently Abraham Lincoln and Joseph Smith, Jr., (the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ).

Krishna Venta established his followers on land in Box Canyon in the San Fernando Valley. They lived communally, a practical step in their gaining a unity of mind and spirit, and attempted to put into practice the four cardinal virtues taught by Krishna Venta: Wisdom, Faith, Love, and Knowledge (WFLK), from which the group took its name. The members became well known in the area for their outstanding work in the periodic and dangerous fires that afflict the area.

The organization was traumatized in 1958 when Krishna Venta was assassinated by two former members who complained that he had debauched their spouses. They set off a dynamite explosion in the group's headquarters on December 10, 1958, killing themselves, Krishna Venta, and seven other members. Krishna Venta's wife, Mother Ruth Pencovic, took over leadership of the group and led the group through the 1970s. It was formally dissolved in the early 1980s.

Sources:

Mathison, Richard. Faiths, Cults, and Sects of America. Indianapolis, Ind.: Bobbs-Merrill, 1960.

Ormont, Roger. Love Cults & Faith Healers. New York: Ballantine Books, 1961.