ISKCON Boston and Bhakti Yoga
Brianne Crocker
Lesley
University
For
my midterm presentation, I chose to attend lectures and Bhakti yoga practices
at The International Society For Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Boston, MA.
I was somewhat familiar with this venue because one of my friends is a devotee
and I had briefly gone with her to ISKCON last year for lunch. This year, my
friend is going to be living at ISKCON for six months in order to immerse
herself in Bhakti yoga. I immediately knew that I wanted to research Bhakti yoga
in relation to ISKCON for my midterm assignment. I wanted to be able to
experience an unfamiliar form of yoga and force myself into a possibly
uncomfortable situation in order to gain tangible knowledge about how to engage
in Bhakti yoga practices. I also
wanted to be able to better understand why Bhakti Yoga and ISKCON is such a
central part of my friend’s life and a central part of many other individuals’
lives. In order to complete this assignment, I attended lectures and practices
at ISKCON for three days. The first day that I went was on the weekend and I
stayed for a full five hours and participated in every single lecture and
practice in order to try to fully comprehend this unfamiliar religion and yoga
practice. I went two more times during the week and stayed for around two or
three hours for each of those days. When I finally finished putting together my
research, notes, videos, interviews, photographs, and voice recordings, I was
finally able to comprehend how I can relate ISKCON to the theory, practice, and
culture of Bhakti yoga.
The
International Society for Krishna Consciousness was founded in the United
States of America on July 11, 1966 when Srila Prabhupada (formally known as
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) “officially registered his organization in
the state of New York” (“ISKCON,” n.d.). Srila Prabhupada was born in India in
1896. In 1922, Srila Prabhupada met his spiritual master Srila Bhaktisiddhanta
Sarasvati Gosvami who “convinced [Srila Prabhupada] to dedicate his life to
teaching Vedic knowledge in the Western world” (“ISKCON BOSTON,” n.d.). In
1965, Srila Prabhupada sailed to the United States of America to “spread the
teachings of Krishna consciousness” (“ISKCON,” n.d.). Many younger Americans
flocked to Srila Prabhupada and began to listen and follow his spiritual
guidance. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness in Boston was one
of the first and most eminent temples built during the beginning of this movement.
Srila Prabhupada landed on Boston’s Commonwealth Pier in 1965. Thus, Boston was
the first place in the United States of America that Srila Prabhupada stepped
foot upon. In Boston, Srila Prabhupada “composed his prayer Markine Bhagavat
Dharma, entreating Lord Krishna for the deliverance of the western countries”
(“ISKCON Boston,” n.d.). From the 1960’s until the present day, the Boston branch of
ISKCON has continuously sought to provide spiritual guidance to the community.
In
order to fully understand the history of ISKCON Boston, it is important to
learn about ISKCON itself as a religion. ISKCON is a “branch of the
monotheistic Gaudiva Vaishnava tradition within Hinduism dating back 5,000
years ago to Lord Krishna Himself” (“ISKCON Boston,” n.d.). The two main
scriptures studied and read by the devotees are The Bhagavad-gita and The
Shrimad Bhagavatam. The Bhagavad-gita is believed to be
written by Lord Krishna and the scripture mainly teaches that the “goal of life
is to develop a love of God, or Krishna” (“ISKCON,” n.d.). This love for
Krishna can only be developed and fostered through Bhakti yoga, which can be defined
as “the science of devotional service” (“ISKCON,” n.d.). Krishna is known as and embodies “the
Absolute Truth” (“ISKCON of DC,” n.d.) and in Sanskrit His name means “all
attractive” (“ISKCON of DC,” n.d.). Krishna is always depicted with a blue
color to His skin, black curly hair, and a flower garland around His neck. To
better understand ISKCON, the main beliefs can be summarized in eight points:
1. By
sincerely cultivating true spiritual science, we can be free from anxiety and come
to a state of pure, unending, blissful consciousness in this lifetime.
2.
We are not our bodies but eternal, spirit souls, parts and parcels of God (Krishna).
As such, we are all brothers, and Krishna is ultimately our common father.
We accept the process of transmigration of the soul (reincarnation).
3.
Krishna is eternal, all-knowing, omnipresent, all-powerful, and all-attractive.
He
is the seed-giving father of all living beings, and He is the sustaining energy
of the
entire cosmic creation. He is the same God as The Father Allah, Buddha and Jehovah.
4.
The Absolute Truth is contained in the Vedas, the oldest scriptures in the world.
The essence of the Vedas is found in the Bhagavad-gita,
a literal record of Krishna's
words.
5.
One can learn the Vedic knowledge from a genuine spiritual master -- one who has
no selfish motives and whose mind is firmly fixed on Krishna.
6.
Before one eats, one offers to the Lord (Krishna) the food that sustains all humans;
then Krishna becomes the offering and purifies the offered.
7.
One performs all actions as offerings to Krishna and does nothing for one's own
sense
gratification.
8.
The recommended means for achieving the mature stage of love of God in this age
of Kali, or quarrel, is to chant the holy names of the Lord. The easiest method
for
most people is to chant the Hare Krishna mantra: Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna
Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. (“ISKCON,”
n.d.)
The
main idea of ISKCON as stated in the previous paragraph is to develop a love of
Krishna through Bhakti yoga. The most
important practice of Bhakti yoga is mantra meditation. One way that mantra
meditation can be practiced is through japa. Japa is “a quiet and personal
meditation when one chants on beads” (“ISKCON of DC,” n.d.). Most devotees have
a japa bag that holds their japa mala, which means prayer beads. Each bead
stands for one chant and there are 108 beads in total. From speaking with
devotees at the temple I learned that each devotee must chant sixteen rounds of
108 throughout the day. At around 6:40 P.M, the devotees and I sat down and my
friend handed me her japa bag so that I could get the experience of chanting the
Hare Krishna mantra 108 times. In order to participate fully, I placed my hand
in the japa bag as my friend had showed me and held the first bead with only my
thumb and middle finger. The index finger sticks out of the japa bag. As each
chant is completed, I would hold the next bead and so forth until all 108
chants are completed. This practice was quite nerve-wracking for me because it
felt strange to sit in a room with thirty other people and listening to
everyone chant the same exact mantra over and over again. The vibrations that I
felt in my eardrums from all of us chanting this mantra in a seemingly monotone
voice started to make me feel anxious as well.
Another form of
mantra meditation is kirtan. Kirtan can be defined as “the singing of mantras
with others, often with musical instruments”. While at ISKCON, the devotees and
I participated in kirtan from 6:00 P.M. to 6:40 P.M., from 7:00 P.M. to 7:30
P.M. and then again from 8:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. Throughout this time, we sang
songs using only the Hare Krishna mantra; Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare
Hare,
Hare
Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. To help
understand this mantra, I discovered that the word “Hare” means “the beautiful
energy of the Lord” (“ISKCON of DC,” n.d.), the word “Krishna” (as I mentioned
earlier) means “the all attractive one”
(“ISKCON of DC,” n.d.) and “Rama” means the “one who gives happiness to
all” (“ISKCON of DC,” n.d.). At first the dancing was
slower and as the instruments were played louder and faster, the dancing became
louder and faster. The men danced on the right side of the room and the women
danced on the left side of the room. The type of dancing I witnessed included
the men and women jumping up and down, the men running towards the deities and
back towards the devotees, the women dancing in circles, or devotees just
standing and clapping. Eventually the music would slow down and each of the
devotees would bow towards the deities. After prasadam, a slower kind of
chanting ensued where devotees sat on the ground with instruments and swayed
back and forth. Kirtan is a form of Bhakti yoga because by repeating Krishna’s
name, the mind becomes engaged in devotion towards Krishna. By saying Krishna’s
name, which is considered to be divine, devotees can allow the divine, Krishna,
to enter into their minds and bodies.
Another
form of Bhakti yoga that I witnessed extensively at ISKCON is prasadam. The
literal meaning of prasadam is “mercy” (“Hare Krishna Community,” n.d.). The
main idea behind prasadam is to “recognize the fact that everything belongs to
Krishna and because these things belong to Krishna they should be used for
Krishna’s pleasure” (“Hare Krishna Community,” n.d.). Most often prasadam
refers to food. But after doing research and attending ISKCON, I learned that
there are many other forms of prasadam. Prasadam can refer to anything that is
offered to Krishna. At ISKCON, the devotees offered flower garlands, water,
fire, and incense. Once the food
prasadam had been offered to Krishna, the devotees enjoyed a feast. After the
prasadam has been offered to Krishna and then is honored by the devotees, it is
believed that the “spiritual nectar of Krishna’s lips [had] touched these
ordinary ingredients and transferred to them all spiritual qualities” (“Hare
Krishna Community,” n.d.). Prasadam relates
to Bhakti yoga because devotees are engaged in the act of offering items to
Krishna with love. And thus, when the devotees honor prasadam after offering
the prasadam to Krishna, they are more connected with Krishna because He has
come into contact with the prasadam.
Through
my interviews with the devotees at ISKCON, I have learned that there is little
to no discussion of culture that takes place among the devotees in relation to
Bhakti yoga and ISKCON. The population at ISKCON is very diverse and I
witnessed devotees of every race attending each lecture. As I had mentioned
earlier, ISKCON is a “branch
of the monotheistic Gaudiva Vaishnava tradition within Hinduism dating back
5,000 years ago to Lord Krishna Himself” (“ISKCON Boston,” n.d.). Although not thoroughly emphasized or
discussed from my observations, Hinduism and Indian culture have definitely had
a decent amount of influence on the ISKCON religion. The japa mala (prayer
beads) used to chant on are usually made from the tulasi plant. This plant is “venerated by Hindus in general and
Vaishnavas in particular” (“Devasthanam,”
n.d.). At ISKCON, there is a private green room where this plant is grown and
only certain devotees are allowed to touch or tend to the plants. This plant is
also seen as sacred to both ISKCON devotees and Hindus, although not all ISKCON
devotees are Hindu. When chanting on the japa mala, the devotees handle the
beads with extreme care and caution, as they are not allowed to touch the floor
or go into a bathroom with a devotee. Some devotees (like my friend that lives
at ISKCON) will dress in full Indian garb. However, it is not required or
encouraged. There are just as many devotees that dress in jeans and a casual
top. The deities are dressed in elaborate Indian garb because, as it was
explained to me in an interview, some of these deities were the original
deities brought over by Srila
Prabhupada and the devotees do not want to change the style of clothing that
the deities wear.
After spending around twelve hours over three different days
at ISKCON Boston, I feel that it has been extremely difficult to explain
through a research paper what the essence of the temple and of Bhakti yoga is. The
experience was unlike any experience that I have ever had and I strongly
believe that it is definitely something that needs to be experienced in order to
fully understand it. I was
extremely nervous and weary of what my experience would be like on the first
day that I attended ISKCON. However, I surprisingly felt immediately
comfortable and did not feel at all uneasy for the entirety of each day that I
was there. My main observations of the devotees at ISKCON Boston are that they
are extremely kind, enthusiastic, and dedicated human beings. I am not
personally familiar with any particular form of religion and religion has
always seemed to make me feel anxious. But the devotees seem to approach ISKCON
in a manner that is comparable to how one would approach a specific type of science.
None of the devotees tried to force
their belief system on me and they did not once ask me anything about my
spiritual life. This made me feel even more at ease because I did not once feel
judged or out of place. I strongly believe that every individual with an
interest in yoga or specifically Bhakti Yoga should experience at least one
lecture at ISKCON in order to gain valuable knowledge about how yoga is
perceived differently in different cultures. The International Society for
Krishna Consciousness is a welcoming and intellectually stimulating venue that
has allowed me to fully experience an unfamiliar religion and Bhakti yoga in
terms of theory, culture, and practice.
References
Devasthanam. (n.d.). Devasthanam.
Retrieved February 21, 2013, from http://www.sanskrit.org/
Hare Krishna Community . (n.d.). Hare Krishna Community .
Retrieved February 21, 2013, from
http://krishna.org/
ISKCON Boston. (n.d.). ISKCON Boston.
Retrieved February 21, 2013, from
http://www.iskconboston.org/
ISKCON of DC | Hare Krishna Temple of Washington DC. (n.d.). ISKCON of DC | Hare
Krishna
Temple of Washington DC. Retrieved February 21, 2013,
from http://iskconofdc.org/
ISKCON. (n.d.). ISKCON.
Retrieved February 22, 2013, from http://iskcon.org/
Sivananda, S. S. (n.d.). Japa Yoga. The Divine Life Society. Retrieved February 21,
2013, from
http://www.dlshq.org/teachings/japayoga.
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