The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), also known as the Hare Krishna movement, experienced a turbulent period in its development as an Indian spiritual tradition manifesting in the West as a new religious movement... more
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), also known as the Hare Krishna movement, experienced a turbulent period in its development as an Indian spiritual tradition manifesting in the West as a new religious movement following the death of the founder in 1977, when eleven members took on the role of religious leadership as gurus in the organization. The organization’s members dealt with the uncertainty caused by the founder’s death through adherence to practice and tradition, creating an institutional structure, discussing succession with the founder, naming eleven successor gurus, and developing a zonal system of gurus. Rituals, symbols, and honour served to shore up this leadership structure. The new leadership was met with protest and reform, and this process was fanned by the fact that some gurus were experiencing serious difficulties in executing their roles as institutional heads and spiritual guides. Ultimately, ISKCON’s members offset a strong trend towards contingency – a belief that they were trapped in a system of leadership that was not working – by engaging their own agency in the form of protest and reform.
