In the 1960’s and early 70’s the Hare Krishna religious movement was spread rapidly first throughout the United States and eventually around the world. The movement was started by Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad of Bengal, India who moved to New York city and founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness known as ISKCON. According to Thomas J. Hopkins in his article ISKCON’s Search for Self-Identity, Prabhupad “had the charismatic authority to draw others into what to all of them was a totally unfamiliar tradition”.
As the society grew “Prabhupad could no longer give as much personal instruction and guidance to his disciples as he did during the early days in New York” and was worried about the future of the movement (Hopkins). Prabhupad passed in 1977, leaving behind a legacy of the religious movement he created with little guidance for the future of the movement. Although he left behind many written works, this was seemingly all that his disciples had to base their teachings on. Many of his disciples were able to continue the traditions of the Hare Krishna movement through their use of these written works, but some could not handle the new authority they were given.
A few “sannyasis were mainly responsible directly or indirectly for the child abuse and wife abuse that became a tragic feature of some ISKCON communities” (Hopkins). Although this horrific behavior was only displayed by a few sannyasis, the media focused their attention on this issue and the Hare Krishna movement was shown in an extremely dark light. The movement resultantly gained lots of criticism from around the world and ISKCONs numbers decreased. Shows like the Simpsons mocked the Hare Krishnas, portraying them as radical “crazy men” and this view of them was spread across the world. Although these peak years of the Hare Krishna movement have come and gone, there are still communities who worship Krishna and ISKCON temples across the world. While in London recently, I had the chance to visit one of these temples.
The ISKCON-London Radha-Krishna Temple was founded in 1969, just 4 years after the beginning of the movement in New York City. Upon arrival, we were first presented with a brief history of the Hare Krishna Movement. The presentation focused on the positive aspects of the religion’s history, only briefly mentioning the “wild ones” of the hippy culture who turned to drugs and other illegal activities. The presenter wanted to address this group of devotees as he was aware that these radical people were the ones who were commonly portrayed in the media, but made an effort to show that they were not representative of the society as a whole. Side comments were also made throughout the presentation about the “crazy beliefs” of ISKCON. This made me question to what extent the stories of Krishna were believed to be truth rather than myth.
My next experience in the Temple, however, confirmed the strong belief ISKCON has in the stories of Krishna. The service of worship in the temple was very lively and full of singing, dancing and tradition. As devotees entered the Temple, they placed flowers on the front steps as an offering and proceeded to worship the deities of Krishna at the front. I was amazed at the large attendance of devotees. The service fostered a much more interactive environment with the guests than any other religious service I have attended. This first-hand experience of worship with Hare Krishna followers demonstrated the strength in their beliefs and gave me a much more well-rounded view of the society. My prior views, which were strongly based on ISKSONs negative representation in the media, were challenged and I developed an appreciation for ISCKONs strong hold on their original cultural values despite facing hardship and criticism from the media along the way.