By Mataji Parama Karuna Devi
Thursday, December 15th, 2011 | The Chakra News — ISKCON, or the “Hare Krishna movement”, became a major cultural and religious phenomenon in the 1970s, effectively introducing the Krishna bhakti cult at global level and giving immense popularity to ethical vegetarianism and to the traditional Indian scriptures Bhagavad gita and Bhagavata purana.
However, with the disappearance of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) the movement quickly degenerated and became famous for many negative reasons, especially for the children abuse in the Organisation’s Gurukulas, for the violent acts against some of the followers, for covert or overt persecution of dissenters, for the scandalous immoral activities of most of the leaders, for the gross mismanagement of funds and properties, for the extreme internal politicisation, for the cult-like fanatical ideological presentation, and for the bitter controversies between factions.
A huge majority of ISKCON members left the Organisation in a bitter state of mind – some after a short period, some after a longer period – but usually without understanding what had really gone wrong with their experience. Many of these migrated to Gaudiya math Organisations, some started “parallel” groups for the reform of ISKCON (such as IRM or the Prabhupadanugas etc), some ended up in the “new age spirituality” streams (for example getting into Reiki, “psychological healing” etc), and some simply became negative and resentful.
The fortunes of the Organisation slowly declined, to a point where many temples and centers had to be closed or became empty, forcing the managers to hire paid people and/or “import” cheap manpower from India and other “second best” countries by offering support for immigration documents.
Some of the ISKCON leaders have been trying to recover a “virginity” for themselves and for the Organisation by adjusting the public relations work to accommodate the taste of perspective “customers” who could finance the temples and centers – especially traditionalist Hindus who needed a place to perform their marriages and support their social interactions, celebrate their favorite festivals, and feel encouraged in their ancestral beliefs and lifestyle. Another good “slice of the market pie” is constituted by those who are interested in getting an “alternative” academic course on conventional indological studies, since mainstream conventional academy is taught by professors that do not believe or follow the religious conclusions expressed in the texts they present.
Some ISKCON leaders have therefore changed their clothing into a more “professoral” style and created a good living for themselves with publications, seminars and courses of their own creation, especially with the help and support of the Mother Organisation to which they render an important public relations service. These developments are ideologically very distant from the intentions of the Founder of the Organisation, as they tend to become spiritually cynical and church-like, aimed at just giving a new coat of respectable-looking paint over the serious ideological problems that continue to fester deeper inside, unaddressed and unsolved.
Unfortunately, any discussion on these issues is perceived by ISKCON people as “offensive dissent”, “betrayal”, and “heretic rebellion”, and those who dare express anything that is not strictly according to the “Institutional policies” are actively persecuted in various ways, even when they openly dissociate from the Organisation. This persecution also strikes those who do not recognize the Organisation’s “monopoly” over the “trade marks” of Iskcon’s religious business, such as chanting the Hare Krishna mantra, teaching or writing about Bhagavad gita (and other traditional scriptures), opening a Krishna temple, naming one’s vegetarian restaurant “Govinda” or “Hare Krishna restaurant”, etc, even if they never express any criticism or antagonism towards Iskcon.
Those who dare to do so independently from the ISKCON umbrella Organisation or its sub-branches (also controlled by ISKCON) are sued, threatened of personal violence, sabotaged and opposed in all possible ways. So, under all aspects, ISKCON has become another Vatican.
Full article at Cakra News
Mataji Parama Karuna Devi, the founder of the Jagannatha Vallabha Vedic Research Center, is a sannyasini, a writer, a teacher and a social worker. The author is a contributor to The Chakra and these are her own views and opinions. You can view her profile here
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