Krishna Consciousness Center

Tara Shugrue

Yoga: Theory Culture and Practice

21 October 2012

Midterm – Krishna Consciousness Center

For my Midterm paper I chose to focus on the Krishna Consciousness Center in Boston. I first experienced Hare Krishnas my freshman year of college, I attended the Boston Freedom rally in the Boston Common park; they were singing and chanting and dancing, I was mesmerized by them. I was always so astonished with the lightness they all seemed to possess, so full of light and love for everyone around them. They placed small bags full of information on Krishna to anyone that would accept them, each had a small treat as well. Every fall since I see them again in the Boston Common, and every time I vowed that I would go to the center, I wanted to learn more about them, but I never ended up going.

I was expecting some sort of temple structure that somehow was native to the surrounding area of Boston, as I walked down Commonwealth avenue I kept looking farther out for some obvious structure; but I could not find what I was looking for. I followed the numbers on the brownstones until I found the matching address, a modest sign, the same used by churches proclaimed it to be the center, I was surprised at how well hidden it was. I walked through the open front door to three white women dressed in long skirts and had scarves around their shoulders, they greeted me with “hare krishna” and welcomed me inside, I nervously put my shoes on a shelf provided inside the door before stepping inside the temple. I was called over by an older white man sitting behind a desk, I explained why I had come and sat down across from him and spent the next two hours talking to him, temple residents and people leaving and entering the temple for worship about Krishna. I did not realize until later that I had forgotten to ask his name.

He thought the best place to begin was the historic element of Krishna and the cultivation and movement of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON. Krishna is believed to have been born over five thousand years ago to save the citizens of Vrindavan from a tyrant king named Kansa. It was at that time that the Vedic scriptures were recorded, believed to literally be god's words, some of these were translated and are used to shape the life that the Hare Krishnas lead. The movement was revived in the sixteenth century by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who said that through the collective chanting of the lord's name, a person could create a personal relationship with him.

Hare Krishnas come from the Bengalio Gaudiya-Vaisnaya tradition of Hinduism, and worship the god Vishnu in his earthly form, which is Krishna. The root word Krish in Sanskrit means attract or tractor, Krishna means the person who attracts, because he is so beautiful and all-loving. They chant the Hare Krishna mantra: “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Har” over and over with the goal of reaching Krishna consciousness.

ISKCON was founded in 1965 by A.C. Bhaktivedata Swami Srila Prabhupada when he moved to the lower east side of manhattan from India with the purpose to spread krishna consciousness to the west. The movement gained a great deal of popularity with hippies, as the two temples in America at the time were in New York City and on Haight and Ashbury in San Francisco. Prabhupada was the one to translate the significant Vedic scriptures.

In the late sixties George Harrison become intrigued with the Hare Krishna movement, in 1969 the Beatles wrote the song “Hare Krishna Mantra” which was performed by Harrison and the devotees of the Radha-Krishna temple in london. He and John lennon later met Prabhupada, and became close with him, George even wrote an introduction for Prabhupada's book Krsna. All of the albums george created in his solo career were hugely influenced by Hare Krishna philosophy; his single “my sweet lord” was a chart-topping hit, which has the Hare Krishna mantra in its chorus. When he passed away he donated twenty million euro to ISKCON.

The ISKCON Boston center that I visited is a significant location in that Prabhupada performed his first Brahamanical initiations in America in Boston. He also established the original printing press for the literature to spread the word of Krishna in Boston. He also personally installed one of the deity forms for worship in that temple. The center has been around since the mid 1970's, the man that I spent the most time with during my first visit lived in the temple in the mid eighties when he first came to Boston from Maine; he now lives within close proximity of the temple.

I met two current temple residents that night, the first was a young woman named Rachel who is getting her master's degree at MIT currently, she moved into the temple about a year ago. I was surprised to find how many science and computer-oriented people frequent the temple. I was told about half of the congregation, which is about two to three hundred, is indian. Most of these Indian people are are first generation, having come to work in america in mostly IT positions, as many of the patrons that passed through the temple doors would identify themselves with their work. The other half of the congregation, I was told were the “radical, extreme, and not regular kind of people”. There was a good amount of young people, sort of “free thinkers” but there was also a lot of older and elderly people. The other resident I met was named Bhakta Vic, which they called Vic for short. He had been living in the temple since the late eighties and has continued until now. He is in his late seventies and his posture is extremely compromised yet he still participates to the best of his abilities, and is a deeply philosophical man, he stopped what he was doing to talk to me for a great while about what why he decided to become a Krishna so many years ago.

Hare Krishnas are known for focusing on the philosophy of yoga and practice Bhakti yoga. My teacher at the temple told me that yoga means “to link” and that Bhakti is “activity of the soul” and is about love, which we all search for. Bhakti yoga is believed to be one of the best ways to connect to the lord, as it is devotional yoga.

Hare Krishnas are also extremely devoted, when I asked my unnamed man at the temple what the guidelines were to becoming a resident were. He explained to me that there was a governing board that decided whether or not a person could move in or would need to leave the temple, which he said was never really an issue. The board made all the major decisions for all of the temples. They are devout, but like all Krishnas they are open-minded. Some women had some issues with the way the womans role was depicted in a translation of a text and that it was incorrect, the board reviewed the passage and came to agree with the women, and corrected what needed to be fixed. There are both men and women on the board, there is and always has been great equality between the genders I was told.

He said that the person should be completley sure that they wanted to make that decision. He told me the four things restrictions that they observed: they are vegetarians, they do not gamble, they do not drink or do drugs, and they cannot have sex outside of marriage and it only occurs for procreation. He said that many of the young people that believe they want to commit to this lifestyle are perturbed by those rules, and that many people struggle with them.

The krishnas have a sort of stigma to them that they are all “hippies” as my friend put it, and immediately said, not that there is anything wrong with anyone who is, but that is not who we are, we do not do those things. The hippie community and the Hare Krishna movement started out around the same time in america, and have some of the same motives and ideals. Both are for love for everyone equally, but the Krishnas are not supportive of using substances to expand one's mind. Another point was brought up in conversation, Krishnas do not believe in a Hell, especially as a form of punishment for not following their rules for living or having a different religion, they are not judgemental as other religions can be. They accept the other religions as well, they do not pass judgement on them, as well as on any person, they love everything and everyone because that is what their lord does and that is what he taught from his writings.

But for those that make the commitment fully seem to benefit expenetially from that chosen path. Every devout Hare Krishna I encountered has been nothing but genuine, sincere, and radiating love. I was told that love is the ultimate goal, to love others as the lord loves everyone; one of the few similarities they share with Christianity. Their eyes are always so wide and attentive, free from the fog cast by substances and things that weigh a person down. They always appear so light, which makes it easier for them to dance and move and sing during worship.

I admire their commitment greatly, and the ability they develop to be ever-loving towards not only themselves as well as everyone else. Some support themselves by selling the books about Krishna, and strive to bring others to the awareness of their faith. They completely reject society's lifestyle staples to live a clean and clear life, and develop a loving relationship with their god.

I wasn't sure what the expect when I went to feast, I chose to go to the Wednesday one, which is an abbreviated version of the 3 hour feast held on Sundays. I loved the singing and dancing and chanting, as I had the very first time that I saw the Hare Krishnas those few years ago. The lecture on Bhagavad Gita was a bit hard to understand to be honest. The man giving the lecture had a heavy accent so it was hard deciphering what he had to say. I tried very hard to pay attention but by that time of the day I have lost most of my attention span. The lecture lasted about half an hour, and it seemed much longer to me. I had to leave early and could not participate in the feast, but from the research I have done on what is typically served at a feast it did not appear that I was missing out on much.

I think that I kind of expected a sort of epiphany moment after attending the feast, but unfortunately that moment did not come. I greatly respect and am interested in continuing to learn about Krishna and to read Bhagavad Gita's writings; but I know that I am not going to convert to Hare Krishna. My experience was still wonderful even though I did not get the expected results that I had for myself.