International Society for Krishna Consciousness

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), popularly called Hare Krishna, is a New religious movement founded by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, referred to by followers as "Srila Prabhupada," in New York in 1966. ISKCON is a society formed for practitioners of Bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion, as practiced within Gaudiya Vaishnavism. The bhakta's devotion is specifically directed towards Krishna, along with Radha, his divine consort.

An overview

Hare Krishna devotees are known for their singing and dancing with drums and cymbals in streets of cities around the world as it has been done for centuries in the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition (harinama-Sankirtana); the ladies in colorful saris, the married men and novices in white dhotis and the celibate brahmacharis in saffron dhotis. Monks living inside the temple grounds typically shave their heads, leaving only a tuft of hair called sikha. As followers of the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition Hare Krishna devotees wear tilakas on their forehead.

The great mantra

HARE KRISHNA HARE KRISHNA
KRISHNA KRISHNA HARE HARE
HARE RAMA HARE RAMA
RAMA RAMA HARE HARE

The popular nickname "Hare Krishnas" for devotees of this movement comes from the maha-Mantra (great chant) they either sing aloud or chant quietly on rosary-like beads. The sound vibration created by repeating these names of God is said to gradually induce pure God-consciousness. The maha mantra appears originally in the Kali Santarana Upanishad, a part of Krishna Yajurveda:

hare krishna hare krishna krishna krishna hare hare hare rama hare rama rama rama hare hare

iti sodasakam namnam kali-kalmasa-nasanam natah parataropayah sarva-vedesu drsyate

"These sixteen names destroy the sins of the Kali age. No method higher than this is found in all the Vedas." (Lord Brahma to Narada Muni)

This mantra is to be found also in other Vedic scriptures, and was specifically promoted by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. In the West the mantra seems inextricably linked to ISKCON, but in India it is chanted widely, independent of any particular movement.

Krishna and Rama are names of God and Hare (vocative of 'Hara') refers to God's Shakti, known as Sri Radha, or Radharani.

Frequently other mantras will be sung with the maha-mantra, as in the background vocals to "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison. See maha mantra for an audio recording of the chant, link courtesy of ISKCON United Kingdom.

Reportedly, when John Lennon was murdered in 1980, a Krishna devotee working at the hospital where he was brought (in a final effort to save his life) began chanting the maha-mantra in Lennon's ear, and was removed from the room. (Krishna followers believe that at the time of death, hearing the maha-mantra in a pure state of mind will liberate the living entity from this material world and thus the living entity will go back to Godhead--back to Krsna in the spirtual world.)

Philosophy and history

Hare Krishna devotees understand Krishna to be synonymous with Vishnu, and the highest form of God, or "the Supreme Personality of Godhead", and Radha to be his female counterpart, the embodiment of love. The teachings of Bhakti yoga date back to the Vedic era and were fully developed since the times of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu in West Bengal in the mid 1500s. Thus Hare Krishna devotees specifically follow a disciplic line of Gaudiya, or Bengali, Vaisnavas.

Since the middle ages Gaudiya Vaisnavism has had a continuous following in India, especially West Bengal and Orissa. An important aspect of Gaudiya Vaisnavism is the understanding that the individual soul is an eternal personal identity which does not ultimately merge into any formless light or void as suggested by monistic (advaita) interpretations of Hinduism and the Bhagavad Gita.

The Gaudiya Vaishnava Theology was popularised in the Western world by Prabhupada who wrote and published English translations of the Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana) and Chaitanya Charitamrita and other scriptures, which - together with his other books - were then translated to over sixty languages and serve as the canon of ISKCON. Many of these books are now available online here.

The Seven Purposes of ISKCON

When Srila Prabhupada first incorporated ISKCON, in 1966, he gave it seven purposes:
  • To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all peoples in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world.
  • To propagate a consciousness of Krishna, as it is revealed in the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
  • To bring the members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krishna, the prime entity, thus to develop the idea within the members, and humanity at large, that each soul is part and parcel of the quality of Godhead (Krishna).
  • To teach and encourage the sankirtana movement, congregational chanting of the holy names of God as revealed in the teachings of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
  • To erect for the members, and for society at large, a holy place of transcendental pastimes, dedicated to the personality of Krishna.
  • To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life.
  • With a view towards achieving the aforementioned purposes, to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, books and other writings.

Spreading the word

ISKCON is actively evangelical. Members try to spread "Krishna consciousness" by, for example, going on the streets to chant their mantra or to sell their books. According to the doctrine of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu one does not need to be born in a Hindu family to take up the practice of Vaishnavism. This openness places ISKCON in strong contrast to many other branches of Hinduism, which may place strong or exclusive stress on hereditary lineage and are non-missionary by nature. Thus there are ISKCON communities around the world with schools, restaurants and farms. Many ISKCON temples also have programs (like Food for Life Global) to provide meals for the needy. ISKCON has assimilated Western cultural contexts as it maintains mandirs (temples) in many countries of the world, but still the ISKCON members vow to follow Gaudiya Vaisnava principles, including Vegetarianism, and abstinence from gambling, alcohol, sex outside marriage, and intoxication. In the early days of ISKCON many members lived in temples, but nowadays most believers live in their own homes. ISKCON has recently brought the academic study of Krishna into western Academia as Krishnology.

ISKCON after Prabhupada's Death

Prabhupada spent much of the last decade of his life setting up the institution of ISKCON. As the charismatic leader, Prabhupada's personality and management were responsible for much of the growth of ISKCON and the reach of his mission.

Upon the death of Prabhupada on November 14, 1977, eleven of his disciples became initiating gurus for ISKCON. Those chosen were: Tamala Krishna Gosvami, Satsvarupa dasa Gosvami , Jayapataka Swami , Hrdayananda Gosvami, Bhavananda Gosvami, Hamsaduta Swami, Ramesvara Swami, Harikesa Swami, Bhagavan dasa Adhikari, Kirtanananda Swami, and Jayatirtha dasa Adhikari. Of these eleven individuals, only the first four have stayed within ISKCON. While traveling through West Bengal, India, Tamala Krishna Gosvami died in a car crash on March 15, 2002.

ISKCON is managed by the Governing Body Commission created by Srila Prabhupada to handle affairs in his absence concerning the daily management and spiritual standards for the organization and its members. The authority and mission of this body has evolved since the time of Prabhupada's death in 1977. Devamrta Swami is currently (2005) the Chairman of the Governing Body Commission.

Scandal and controversy

Since the death of Prabhupada, ISKCON experienced a variety of heresies over the next two decades. These heresies include: 1) The Guru is God Heresy 2) The Centralisation Heresy 3) The Zonal Acarya Heresy 4) The Proxy-Initiation Heresy 5) Heresies of Continuity 6) The Sannyasi-Householder Controversy 7) The Gopi-bhava Club Heresy 8) The Rasika-bhakti Heresy 9) The Origin of the Soul Heresy .

Over the years ISKCON and its leadership have been accused of kidnapping, child molestation, obstruction of justice and fraud. In the early 1980s there were a number of lawsuits which resulted in some large financial settlements and the imprisonment of some of its leaders. The most notable lawsuit that reached all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States was that of Robin George and her parents.

In their book Monkey on a Stick: Murder, Madness and the Hari Krishnas (ISBN 0451401875) about an American Hare Krishna community called New Vrindaban'', authors John Hubner and Lindsey Gruson, wrote of members that were involved in drug smuggling, gun running and possibly even murder. Hubner and Gruson write that ISKCON's founder Srila Prabhupada encouraged members to live in ashrams and to abandon their education thus isolating members from their family. This is one of the reasons that the organization has often been accused of being a cult.

Following Prabhupada's death, the U.S. branch of the organization went through years of turmoil and controversy. After much negative plublicity regarding child molestation, in 1998 ISKCON Communications Journal, the group's official publication, ran an article that detailed the widespread physical, emotional and sexual abuse of children at ISKCON boarding schools in India and the U.S. during the 1970s and 1980s. The group received praise for its candor but later was sued by 95 people who had attended the boarding schools. After a settlement of US$9.5 million was agreed upon, 430 more people responded to newspaper advertisements seeking to identify additional victims. ISKCON has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in order to facilitate the orderly disbursal of funds. $6.5 million of the settlement is to be contributed by temples outside the U.S. Individuals are expected to receive between $6,000 and $50,000, depending on the nature and duration of their abuse.

In response to the need to establish transparency and accountablily among its members, ISKCON encouraged the establishment of ISKCONResolve, likely the first global conflict resolution system in a religious organization. To date over 500 mediators have been trained in the art of transforming disputes and solving conflicts. Also, there are a half dozen ombudspersons who can be contacted with any kind of ISKCON-related concern, suggestion, complaint or question. The ombudspersons are confidential, neutral, informal, and independent of the ISKCON hierarchy. They are there to listen to the visitor, sometimes look into matters at the visitor's request,and offer them options on how to best deal with their concern. Often when the subject is an interpersonal conflict, a mediation will be arranged. To date, there have been several hundred mediations and nearly 300 ombud's visitors. This Integrated Conflict Management System (ICMS) also provides facilitators, arbitrators, and conflict analysis experts. It is designed to give all members of ISKCON a voice, and, as stated above, to bring the ISKCON leadership to higher levels of transparency and accountability.

Differing Gaudiya Vaisnava lineages

Although all members of ISKCON are Hare Krishna devotees, not all Hare Krishna devotees are members of ISKCON. Around the world thousands of Hare Krishna devotees now follow gurus in the Gaudiya Vaisnava school who are not connected to ISKCON. However, most Western non-ISKCON Hare Krishna devotees have either spent some time in ISKCON, or have learnt from the teachings of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, his teaching differ from Srila Prabhupada's teachings in the Canon or accepted principle criterion (the siddhanta in sanskrit), like the following:

The origin of the soul (Sanskrit: jiva). Srila Prabhupada explains that the soul falls from the spiritual world (the paradise) to this material world and the supreme objective of the human life is to become "Krishna conscious" to be able to return Back to Goodhead (this is the title of the official magazine of ISKCON). Some Gaudiya Vaisnavas teach that the soul has never been in the spiritual world. More information in the book "Our Original Position" by GBC Press.

Following the 4 principles. Srila Prabhupada taught to follow 4 regulative principles as the basis of the spiritual life: No meat, no illicit sex, no gambling and no intoxication. Some other Gaudiya Vaisnava leaders are more indulgent with one or more of these 4 regulative principles.

The Guru (spiritual master) and the parampara (the disciplic succession). Srila Prabhupada taught exactly what he received from his guru, thus he became guru and made a new generation of gurus that will prepare the new generation. Passing of knowledge is named "parampara" or disciplic succession. Some other Gaudiya Vaisnavas claim that one needs to learn only from Srila Prabhupada and nobody else will be a guru any more. More information in "Apasampradayas" book by Suhotra Swami.

See also

Sources

  • Becerra, Hector: "Krishna payouts begin", Los Angeles Times, 26 Jun 2005
  • Becerra, Hector: "Krishna's Closing The books On Abuse Scandal, June 26, 2005

Deskmenu   Index

This page is based on the Wikipedia article ''International Society for Krishna Consciousness''. It is licensed under the GNU free documentation license.

Home