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International Society for Krishna Consciousness

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Founder of ISKCON: A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), also known as 'the Hare Krishna' movement, was founded in 1966 in New York City by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. While some classified the sect as a new religious movement, its core philosophy is based on scriptures such as the Bhagavad-Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, both of which date back more than two millennia. The distinctive appearance of the movement and its culture come from the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, which has had adherents in India ever since the late 1400s.

Non-sectarian in its ideals [1], ISKCON was formed to spread the practice of 'Bhakti yoga' (The Yoga of Devotion); wherein aspirant devotees (Bhaktas) dedicate their thoughts and actions towards pleasing the Supreme Lord, Krishna (seen as nondifferent from God).

Philosophy and history

For further information see: Achintya Bheda Abheda and Gaudiya Vaishnavism

Hare Krishna devotees believe that Krishna is the origin of Lord Vishnu. They honor Krishna as the highest form of God, and often refer to him as "the Supreme Personality of Godhead" in writing, which was a phrase coined by Srila Prabhupada in his books on the subject. Devotees consider Radha to be Krishna's female counterpart, the embodiment of love. An important aspect of their philosophy is the belief that the individual soul is an eternal personal identity which does not ultimately merge into any formless light or void as suggested by the monistic (Advaita) schools of Hinduism.

Hare Krishna devotees specifically follow a disciplic line of Gaudiya, or Bengali, Vaishnavas which comes under the general description of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Vaishnavism means 'worship of Vishnu', and Gauḍa refers to the area where this particular branch of Vaishnavism began. Gaudiya Vaishnavism has had a continuous following in India, especially West Bengal and Orissa for the past five hundred years. Srila Prabhupada popularized Gaudiya Vaishnava Theology in the Western world through extensive writings and translations, including Bhagavad Gita, Srimad Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana) and Chaitanya Charitamrita and other scriptures. These works are now available in more than sixty languages and serve as the canon of ISKCON. Many of these books are now available online from a number of official websites. [2] [3]

The 'Maha Mantra'

Main article: Hare Krishna Mantra

The popular nickname of "Hare Krishnas" for devotees of this movement comes from the mantra that devotees sing aloud or chant quietly on rosary-like beads, called Japa mala. This mantra, known also as the Maha Mantra, contains the names of God 'Hare', 'Krishna' and 'Rama'. Devotees believe that the sound vibration created by repeating these names of God gradually induces pure God-consciousness, or "Krishna consciousness."

The Maha Mantra :

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare

The seven purposes of ISKCON

Public street festivals are a significant part of ISKCONs outreach programmes. Seen here is a Ratha Yatra festival in central London.

When Srila Prabhupada first incorporated ISKCON, in 1966, he gave it seven purposes:

  1. 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.
  2. To propagate a consciousness of Krishna, as it is revealed in the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad-Bhagavatam.
  3. 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).
  4. 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.
  5. To erect for the members, and for society at large, a holy place of transcendental pastimes, dedicated to the personality of Krishna.
  6. To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life.
  7. With a view towards achieving the aforementioned purposes, to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, books and other writings.

The four regulative principles

Srila Prabhupada prescribed four regulative principles as the basis of the spiritual life:

Preaching activities

ISKCON is actively evangelistic. Members try to spread Krishna consciousness, primarily by singing the Hare Krishna mantra in public places and by selling books written by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Both of these activities are known within the movement as 'Sankirtan'. 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 philosophy places ISKCON in strong contrast to many other branches of Hinduism, which may stress hereditary lineage and are non-missionary by nature. There are ISKCON communities around the world with schools, restaurants and farms. Many temples also have programs (like Food for Life Global) to provide meals for the needy. Also, ISKCON has recently brought the academic study of Krishna into western academia as Krishnology.

Food for Life

Main article: Food for Life

ISKCON has inspired, and sometimes sponsored, a project called Food for Life. The goal of the project is to "liberally distribute pure vegetarian meals (prasadam) throughout the world", as inspired by Prabhupada's instruction, given to his disciples in 1974, "No one within ten miles of a temple should go hungry . . . I want you to immediately begin serving food"[4]. A global charity, directed by Paul Turner and Mukunda Goswami,[5] coordinates the project. Food for Life is currently active in over sixty countries and purports to serve over 700,000 meals every day[6]. Its welfare achievements have been noted by a number of journals worldwide.[7][8][9][10]

Management structure

File:IskonDelhi.JPG
ISKCON Temple in Delhi, India

Srila Prabhupada spent much of the last decade of his life setting up the institution of ISKCON. As a charismatic leader, Srila Prabhupada's personality and management had been responsible for much of the growth of ISKCON and the reach of his mission[11].

File:ISKCONTirupathiFullView.jpg
ISKCON Temple in Tirupathi, India

The Governing Body Commission (or GBC) was created by Prabhupada in 1972 to gradually take on the responsibility of his management duties while still being under his care. Originally it was made up of 12 people and has since grown in size to include 48 senior members from the movement[12] who make decisions based on consensus of opinion rather than any one person having ultimate authority. It has continued to manage affairs since Prabhupada's passing in 1977.

Influential leaders since 1977

Upon Prabhupada's death on November 14 1977, eleven of his disciples became initiating gurus for ISKCON: Satsvarupa dasa Goswami [13], Jayapataka Swami [14], Hridayananda dasa Goswami, Tamal Krishna Goswami [15], Bhavananda Goswami, Hansadutta Swami, Ramesvara Swami, Harikesa Swami, Bhagavan dasa Adhikari, Kirtanananda Swami, and Jayatirtha dasa Adhikari. From these eleven, the first three have remained as prominent leaders within the movement, as was Tamal Krishna Goswami until his death in a car accident in March 2002. Bhavananda Goswami no longer holds the post of an initiating guru but is still involved with preaching activities.

Of the others, Ramesvara and Harikesa resigned as spiritual leaders in 1987 and 1999 respectively and the remaining four were all expelled from the movement by the Governing Body Commission during turbulent times in the 1980s[16]. Of Prabhupada's disciples, which number some 5,000 in total[17] approximately 70 are now acting as diksha gurus within ISKCON.[18]


For further information see: Disciples of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami.

Internal problems and controversy

A number of theological controversies arose within the movement after 1977[19] which were unable to be fully resolved largely due to the fact that Prabhupada was no longer physically present to pass a final judgement:

The origin of the soul

Srila Prabhupada explains that the soul falls from the spiritual world to this material world and that the supreme objective of the human life is to become Krishna conscious to be able to return "Back to Godhead" (also the title of the official ISKCON magazine). However, some Sarasvata Gaudiya Vaisnavas also teach that the soul has never been in the spiritual world. Discussions about these apparently contradictory views are available in the book Our Original Position published by GBC Press and the article "Where Do the Fallen Souls Fall From?" [20]

The Guru and the Parampara

ISKCON adheres to the traditional system of paramparā, or disciplic succession, in which teachings upheld by scriptures are handed down from master to disciple, generation after generation.[21] A minority of people who express faith in Srila Prabhupada's teachings say that Srila Prabhupada, in contrast to the tradition, intended that after his physical demise he would continue to initiate disciples through ceremonial priests, called ritviks. One version of this idea is espoused by a group calling itself the ISKCON Revival Movement.[22] ISKCON's Governing Body Commission has rejected all such ideas.[23]

Issues within the society

ISKCON also experienced a number of significant internal problems, the majority of which occurred from the late seventies onwards, and especially within the decade following Prabhupada's death.[24]

In 1976 a case involving allegations of brainwashing involving a minor named Robin George and her parents, went all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. The conclusion of the trial was that in 1983, a California jury awarded the family more than $32 million in damages for false imprisonment and other charges, which was later reduced to $485,000 in 1993.[25][26]

Stories of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of children at the society's boarding schools in India and America began to emerge in the 1980s, with cases dating back from the mid-1970's onwards[27]. Some of these cases later appeared in print, such as in John Hubner and Lindsay Gruson's 1988 book Monkey on a Stick. In 1998 an official publication produced by ISKCON detailed the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of children at the society's boarding schools in both India and the U.S. during the 1970s and 1980s[28]. The group received praise for its candor but later was sued by 95 people who had attended the schools.

Facing the fiscal drain likely to ensue from this legal action, the ISKCON centers involved declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. This allowed them to work out a settlement of US$9.5 million, meant to compensate not only the former students who had brought the suit but also any others who had undergone abuse but not sued.[29] About 430 such people responded to newspaper advertisements seeking to identify them. Individual victims are expected to receive between $6,000 and $50,000, depending on the nature and duration of their abuse.

To guard against further abuses, ISKCON has established a child protection office with teams worldwide, meant to screen out actual or potential abusers, educate children and adults on child abuse, and encourage due vigilance.[30] A petition circulating (as of July 2006) among ISKCON members calls for "zero tolerance" for past offenders.[31]

In 1990, US Courts pronounced Kirtanananda Swami, the leader of the 'New Vrindavan' religious community (which was expelled from ISKCON for ten years between 1988-1998) [32] guilty on charges of racketeering and conspiracy to murder for his role in the death of two devotees (Steven Bryant and Charles Saint Denis) who had threatened his control of the community. Kirtanananda was sentenced to 20 years in prison on the racketeering charge, but was released in June 2004 for health reasons.

In response to the need to establish transparency and accountability among its members, ISKCON encouraged the establishment of an ombudsman organization, "ISKCON Resolve."[33] This Integrated Conflict Management System (ICMS) also provides facilitators, arbitrators, and conflict analysis experts to help ISKCON members deal with internal disputes and concerns. The Resolve organisation states that its aims are to give all members of ISKCON a voice and to bring the ISKCON leadership to higher levels of transparency and accountability.

See also

References and footnotes

  1. ^ August 22, 1976 Conversation "ISKCON, which is a worldwide nonsectarian movement dedicated to propagating the message of the Vedas for the benefit of mankind."
  2. ^ Vedabase.net
  3. ^ Srila Prabhupada's books from Veda Encyclopedia
  4. ^ History of Food for Life
  5. ^ About Food for Life Global
  6. ^ About Food for Life Global
  7. ^ New York Times, Dec 1995
  8. ^ The Hindu: A meal from Lord Krishna
  9. ^ European Vegetarian and Animal News Agency (EVANA)
  10. ^ AHN Global News
  11. ^ Knot, Kim "Insider and Outsider Perceptions of Prabhupada" in ISKCON Communications Journal Vol. 5, No 1, June 1997: "In an evaluation of the nature of the guru, Larry Shinn, a scholar of religions, utilised Max Weber's analysis of charisma in order to understand Prabhupada and the issue of leadership in ISKCON. He noted that 'Prabhupada profited from two intertwined sources of authority' (1987:40), the traditional authority of the disciplic lineage, parampara, inherited from his own guru, and his own charismatic authority, derived from his spiritual attainment and presence...(49) Shinn offered an analysis based on sociological rather than spiritual (Vaishnava) authority in order to make sense of the role of guru in ISKCON and the unique qualities of Prabhupada." See also Larry D. Shinn (1987), The Dark Lord: Cult Images and the Hare Krishnas in America. Philadelphia: The Westview Press.available online
  12. ^ iskcongbc.info
  13. ^ Satsvarupa dasa Goswami
  14. ^ Jayapataka Swami
  15. ^ Tamal Krishna Goswami homepage
  16. ^ The Perils of Succession: Heresies of Authority and Continuity In the Hare Krishna Movement by Tamal Krishna Goswami
  17. ^ Srila Prabhupada Disciple Database
  18. ^ "The lastest information that I have is that there are 69 initiating spiritual masters in ISKCON." Prahladananda Swami [1]
  19. ^ The Perils of Succession: Heresies of Authority and Continuity In the Hare Krishna Movement (Part 2) by Tamala Krishna Goswami
  20. ^ Origin of the Jiva from jswami.info
  21. ^ See the brief essay From Master to Disciple by Jayadvaita Swami.
  22. ^ IRM article 'The Final Order'
  23. ^ See The Perils of Succession: Heresies of Authority and Continuity In the Hare Krishna Movement, Part 2 by Tamal Krishna Goswami. (Here is the link to Part 1.)
  24. ^ [http://www.iskcon.com/icj/5_1/5_1perils.html The Perils of Succession: Heresies of Authority and Continuity In the Hare Krishna Movement]
  25. ^ Court Case details
  26. ^ "Krishna Group Loses Brainwashing Lawsuit", New York Times, June 18, 1983
  27. ^ Child Abuse in the Hare Krishna Movement: 1971-1986
  28. ^ an article in ISKCON Communications Journal
  29. ^ Press Release: Courts Confirm Hare Krishna Chapter 11 Reorganization - Religious Society Apologizes to Victims of Child Abuse
  30. ^ Child Protection Office
  31. ^ Zero Tolerance Campaign
  32. ^ Rochford, Burke E. Jr. and Kendra Bailey Almost Heaven: Leadership, Decline and the Transformation of New Vrindaban in Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions Vol. 9 nr. 3 February 2006 pages 10, 13
  33. ^ Iskconresolve.com

Official sites

Unofficial websites

- Academic:

- News

- Books

- Theology

- Child Abuse Problems

- Women in ISKCON

- Succession Issues

- Miscellaneous Links

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