What is the Society for Krishna Consciousness really? International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Krishnas).

04.07.2013 00:16

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In July 1975, freelance reporter Sandy Nixon interviewed Srila Prabhupada at his residence at the Philadelphia Society for Krishna Consciousness Center. This talk is an excellent introduction to Krishna consciousness and covers such basic topics as the Hare Krishna mantra, the relationship between the spiritual master and God, the difference between a bona fide guru and a false guru, the role of women in Krishna consciousness, the Indian caste system, and the relationship of Christ consciousness to Krishna consciousness.

Miss Nixon: My first question is a very fundamental one. What is Krishna Consciousness?

Krishna means "God". We are all intimately connected to Him because He is our original father. But we forgot about these relationships. When we think about the questions, “What is my relationship with God? What is the purpose of life?” we are called Krsna conscious.

Miss Nixon: How does Krsna consciousness develop in one who practices it?

Everyone already has Krsna consciousness in their deepest heart. But because we are living material, conditioned life, we have forgotten about it. The process of chanting the maha-mantra - Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare - revives the Krishna consciousness already in us. For example, a few months ago these American and European boys and girls did not know about Krishna, but only yesterday we saw them chanting Hare Krishna and dancing in ecstasy throughout the Ratha-yatra [an annual celebration organized by the Krishna consciousness movement in many cities of the world]. Do you think it was a sham? No. No one can pretend to sing and dance for hours on end. They actually awakened their Krsna consciousness by this method. This is explained in the Caitanya-caritamrta (Madhya 22.107):

nitya-siddha krsna-prema 'sadhya' kabhu naya
sravanadi-suddha-citte karaye udaya

Krishna consciousness is dormant in everyone's heart, and when we start associating with devotees, it awakens. Krishna consciousness is not something contrived. When a boy associates with a young girl, his natural attraction to her awakens, similarly, when a person hears about Krishna in the company of devotees, the dormant Krishna consciousness awakens in him.

Miss Nixon: How is Krishna consciousness different from Christ consciousness?

Christ consciousness is also Krishna consciousness, but because nowadays people do not follow the rules and regulations of Christianity, do not follow the commandments of Jesus Christ, they do not reach the level of God consciousness.

Miss Nixon: What distinguishes Krishna consciousness from other religions?

First of all, religion implies knowledge of God and love for Him. This is the essence of religion. Now people do not receive the necessary education, and therefore no one knows God, let alone loves Him. People are content to go to church and pray, "God, give us our daily bread." In the Srimad-Bhagavatam this is called false religion, because its purpose is not to know and love God, but to gain some profit for oneself. In other words, if I profess to profess a religion but do not know who God is and what it means to love Him, I am professing a false religion. Concerning Christian religion, then it provides great opportunities for understanding God, but no one uses them. So, for example, in the Bible there is a commandment “Thou shalt not kill”, and Christians have built the best slaughterhouses in the world... How can they acquire the consciousness of God if they do not obey the commandments of the Lord Jesus Christ? And this happens not only in the Christian, but also in all other religions. "Hindu", "Muslim" or "Christian" are just labels. None of them know who God is or what it means to love Him.

Miss Nixon: How can one distinguish between a true spiritual teacher and a false teacher?

Anyone who teaches how to know God and love Him is a spiritual teacher. Sometimes shameless scoundrels lead people astray. "I am God," they declare, and people who do not know God believe them. To understand who God is and what it means to love Him, you need to take this science very seriously. Otherwise, you will be wasting your time. So the difference between us and everyone else is that we represent the only movement that can truly teach how to know and love God. We present the science of how to know Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, by practicing the teachings of Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. They teach that our only duty is to love God. We don't have to ask God to supply our needs. God meets the needs of everyone, even those who do not follow any religion. For example, cats and dogs have no religion, and yet Krishna provides them with everything necessary for life. So what is the point of pestering Krishna with requests for daily bread? He gives it anyway. True religion means learning how to love Him. Srimad-Bhagavatam (1.2.6) states:

sa wai poomsam paro dharmo
yato bhaktir adhokshaje
ahaituky apratihata
yayatma suprasidati

A perfect religion teaches how to love God without seeking to profit from it. If I serve God for any benefit, it is business, not love. True love of Godhead is ahaituky apratihata; it cannot be hindered by any material obstacles. It does not depend on any external circumstances. For those who really want to love God, nothing can stop them. Whether you are poor or rich, young or old, black or white, you can love Him.

Miss Nixon: Is it true that all paths lead to the same goal?

No. There are four classes of people - karmis, jnanis, yogis and bhaktas - they all achieve different goals. Karmis work for material gain. For example, in the city, many people work tirelessly day and night to earn some money. These are karmis, people who work for the enjoyment of the results of their labor. A jnani is someone who thinks, “Why should I work so hard? Birds, bees, elephants and other creatures do not go to work, but they also eat. What's the point of working hard? Wouldn't it be better to think about solving the problems of life: the problems of birth, death, old age and disease? The jnanis are trying to become immortal. They think that, having merged with the existence of God, they will not be subject to birth, death, old age and disease. Yogis try to develop mystical powers in themselves in order to show miracles. For example, a yogi can become very small: if you lock him in a room, he can get out of it through any small opening. When a yogi performs such miracles, he is immediately considered an outstanding person. True, modern yogis just show some gymnastic exercises, they do not have any special powers. A real yogi has some power, but not spiritual, but material. So yogis want to have mystical powers, jnana wants to get rid of the suffering inherent in life, and karmis are looking for material gain. But the bhakta - the devotee - does not want anything for himself. He only wants to serve God out of love for Him, as a mother serves her child. In serving her child, the mother does not seek any profit. She cares for him only out of affection and love for him.

When you reach this stage of loving God, that is perfection. Neither karmis, nor jnanis, nor yogis can know God - only bhaktas. Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita (18.55): bhaktya mam abhijanati - "One can understand God only through bhakti." Krishna never said that He can be realized by practicing other methods. No. Only through bhakti. If you are interested in knowing and loving God, then you must take the path of devotional service. No other method will help you.

Miss Nixon: What changes does a person undergo on the way ...

None. Your original consciousness is Krsna consciousness. Now your consciousness is covered with a thick layer of dirt. It has to be purified, and then it will be Krishna consciousness. Our consciousness is like water. Water is naturally clear and transparent, but sometimes becomes cloudy. If you filter out all the dirt from the water, it will again become clean, transparent.

Miss Nixon: One who has become Krishna conscious, does he perform his social duties better?

Yes, you can see that my students are neither drunkards nor meat-eaters, and from a physiological point of view they are very pure: they never get seriously ill. Actually giving up meat has nothing to do with Krishna consciousness, it is a sign of a civilized human society. God has given many things for man to eat: fine fruits, vegetables, cereals, and excellent milk. You can cook hundreds of nutritious dishes from milk, just no one knows this art. Instead, people run large slaughterhouses and eat meat. They cannot even be called civilized. An uncivilized man kills unfortunate animals and eats them.

Civilized people have mastered the art of preparing nutritious dishes from milk. For example, at our New Vrindavan Farm in West Virginia, we prepare hundreds of delicious milk dishes. All guests are surprised how such wonderful dishes can be prepared from milk. The blood of a cow is very useful, but a civilized person uses it in the form of milk. Milk is nothing but the modified blood of a cow. Milk can be turned into various products: yogurt, cottage cheese, ghee (clarified butter), etc., and by combining these dairy products with cereals, fruits and vegetables, hundreds of dishes can be prepared. This is called civilized life. A civilized person would never kill an animal and then eat its flesh. An innocent cow simply eats God-given grass and provides us with milk that we can live off of. Do you really think that cutting the throat of a cow and eating its flesh is a sign of civilization?

Miss Nixon: No, I completely agree with you ... But I'm interested in one more thing: is it possible to perceive the Vedas not only literally, but also symbolically?

No. They need to be taken as they are, not symbolically. That is why we have written Bhagavad-gita As It Is.

Miss Nixon: Are you trying to revive the ancient Indian caste system in the West? After all, the Gita mentions the caste system...

Where is the caste system mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita? Krishna says: catur-varnyam maya srstam guna-karma-vibhagasah: "According to the qualities of people and their activities, I have divided human society into four classes" (Bg. 4.13). For example, you know that along with engineers, there are doctors in society. Are you really going to say that they belong to different castes: some to the caste of engineers, and others to doctors? No, if a person has been trained in a medical school, you will recognize him as a doctor, and if you have an engineering degree, you will recognize him as an engineer. Similarly, the Bhagavad-gita defines four classes of people in society: the highly intelligent class, the managerial class, the productive class, and the simple worker class. This is a natural division of society. For example, one class is people endowed with great intelligence. But in order to really qualify for first-class people, as stated in the Bhagavad-gita, they must be properly educated, just as an intelligent young man must graduate from an institute to become a qualified doctor. Therefore, in the Krishna consciousness movement, we teach intelligent people how to control the mind, how to master the senses, how to become truthful, how to maintain external and internal cleanliness, how to become wise, how to put their knowledge into practice, and how to attain God consciousness. All these young men (pointing to the sitting students) have first-class intelligence, and now we are teaching them to use it correctly.

We do not introduce a caste system in which any rascal born in a brahmin family is considered a brahmin. He may have the habits of a fifth-class man, but he is considered a first-class man only because he comes from a brahminical family. We do not recognize this. We consider a person of the first class to be one who has received the education and upbringing of a brahmana. It doesn't matter whether he is Indian, European or American, low or high - it is not so important. Any intelligent person can learn the habits of a first-class person. We want to refute the ridiculous notion that we are imposing the Indian caste system on our students. We simply select people who have first-class minds and teach them how to become first-class people in every way.

Miss Nixon: What do you think about the emancipation of women?

The so-called female equality means that men deceive women. Suppose a man and a woman meet, fall in love with each other, enter into a relationship; the woman gets pregnant and the man leaves. This woman is forced to take care of her child and ask for handouts from the government, or, having an abortion, kill the child. Here it is, women's independence. In India, a woman, even if she is a beggar, is under the care of her husband and he is responsible for her. When a woman becomes pregnant, she does not have to kill the child or support him with handouts. So what is true independence - to remain under the guardianship of her husband or to be the object of enjoyment for everyone you meet?

Miss Nixon: And regarding spiritual life, can a woman succeed in Krsna consciousness?

We do not discriminate based on gender. We give Krishna consciousness to both men and women equally. We invite women, men, poor, rich - everyone. Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita (5.18):

vidya-vinaya-sampanne
brahmane gavi hastini
shuni chaiva shvapake cha
panditah sama-darsinah

“The humble sages who have true knowledge look alike on a learned and well-mannered brahmin, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater.”

Miss Nixon: Could you explain the meaning of the Hare Krishna mantra?

It's very simple. Hare means "O energy of the Lord" and Krishna means "O Lord Krishna". As in the material world there are male and female representatives, so God is the original male (purusha), and His energy (prakriti) is the original woman. In this way, when we chant Hare Krishna, we say, "Oh Lord Krishna, O energy of Krishna, please engage me in Your service."

Miss Nixon: Could you please tell me a little about your life and how did you know that you are the spiritual master of the Krishna consciousness movement?

My life is simple. I was a family man with a wife and children (now I have grandchildren) when my spiritual master told me to go to the western countries and preach Krishna consciousness. At the order of my spiritual master, I left everything and now I am trying to fulfill his order and the will of Krishna.

Miss Nixon: How old were you when he told you to go to the West?

He told me to preach Krishna consciousness in the West the first time we met. Then I was twenty-five years old, I had a wife and two children. I did my best to follow his instructions, and in 1944, while still a family man, I began publishing a magazine, Back to Godhead. In 1959, after leaving family life, I began to write books, and in 1965 I came to the United States.

Miss Nixon: You said that you are not God, and yet from the outside it seems to me that your devotees treat you as God.

Yes, it is their duty. The spiritual master follows the instructions of God, so he should be respected equally with God, just as, for example, a government official who carries out the orders of the government should be seen as a representative of the government and given the same respect. Even if an ordinary policeman approaches you, you must treat him with respect, because he is a representative of authority. But this does not mean that he is the government itself. Sakshad-dharitvena samasta-sastrair / uktas tatha bhavyata eva sadbhih: “The spiritual master should be respected on a par with the Supreme Lord, because He is the most intimate servant of the Lord. This is recognized by all revealed scriptures and is followed by all authorities."

Miss Nixon: I also want to ask about the many beautiful material things that the devotees offer you. Let's say you were driving from the airport in a gorgeous, fancy car. This surprises me because...

This teaches the disciples to regard the spiritual master as God. If you honor the representative of the government as you honor the government itself, you must give him a splendid reception. If you revere the spiritual master on an equal footing with God, then you should create for him all the conveniences that you would offer God. God rides in a golden carriage. If a disciple offers an ordinary car to the spiritual master, it will not be enough, because the spiritual master must be treated as God. If God comes to your house, will you offer Him an ordinary car or will you find a golden one?

Miss Nixon: One of the aspects of Krishna consciousness that is perhaps most difficult for an outsider to understand is that the Deity in the temple represents Krishna. Could you tell a little about it?

Yes. Because you are not trained to see Krishna, now He is mercifully appearing before you so that you can see Him. You see wood and stone, but you cannot see the spirit. Suppose your father is in the hospital and dying. You cry at his bedside: "Oh, my father is gone." But why do you say he left? What's gone?

Miss Nixon: Well, his spirit is gone.

Have you seen this spirit?

Miss Nixon: No.

So you cannot see the spirit, and God is the Supreme Spirit. In fact, He is everything: both spirit and matter. But you are unable to see His spiritual form. Therefore, out of compassion for you, by His infinite mercy, He appears in the form of a wooden or stone Deity so that you can see Him.

Miss Nixon: Many thanks.

Hare Krishna!

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It all started in the summer of 2012 when I was 17 years old. I was at that time a first-year student of the psychological faculty of a Moscow university, I lived separately from my parents in my mother's apartment. Then I already knew something about Hinduism, read books on this topic, even practiced something: I didn’t eat meat and practiced hatha yoga. I even had a small altar to Shiva, but it was all voluntary. I was not a member of any organizations or sects. At that time I could not even think that I would get into this whole story.

That summer, I decided to expand my knowledge of Hinduism and go to the Shiva temple, if there is one, but I found out that there are no Hindu temples of the god Shiva in Moscow, but there is a temple of Krishna. The alternative looked tempting, so I went there. The Hare Krishnas greeted me very warmly, immediately fed me and told me the basics of their religion, then it all seemed very interesting to me.

It should be noted that I was very suggestible, although I studied then at the Faculty of Psychology and knew about the manipulation of consciousness in order to drag a person into a sect. Due to my age, my consciousness was flexible, and I was greedy for various kinds of “practices”, “personal growth”, “spiritual development”. And they told me very tempting things there, that, they say, it is a great boon to get to the devotees of Krishna, to taste “prasadam” (as they call the food offered to Krishna), that this will allow you to receive in the next life best birth, and, perhaps, if you become a "pure devotee", then generally free yourself from samsara (the wheel of births and deaths).

Krishna was called "the supreme personality of God", "all-attractive", "source of eternal pleasure". They told me that it is Krishna who is the supreme, real God, who should be served. At first, everything seemed interesting to me, it was pleasant to be in the temple. And yet, despite the positive impressions of going to the temple, my enthusiasm and interest faded the next day (common sense prevailed) and I decided that the Hare Krishnas are nice people, but I will not go to them regularly. I will know that they are and sometimes you can visit them. Finally, I joined the VKontakte group “Krishna and You” (it turns out “Krishnaites”), I liked its name. And I forgot all about it.

Three months later, in September, a Hare Krishna wrote to me. He said that he found me in this group, that he would like to invite those who are interested in Krishna Consciousness to a meeting, explained that this is such an apartment building where everyone sits, sings mantras, talks about the philosophy of the Vedas and then has dinner. This is called Bhakti Vriksha. At first I was wary: a stranger calls me to his apartment, you never know what is on his mind, but then I decided to go and see what is there, in the end, I’m unlikely to be offended, and even if he is a Hare Krishna then nothing bad should happen. At that time, an association had already formed in my head that a “Krishnaite” is someone kind, cheerful and positive. In general, Hare Krishnas try very hard to create an image of their society as something pure and bright. Many are attracted to this sect precisely by the illusion of eternal happiness and bliss. They are guaranteed to everyone for careful recitation of the mantra. However, later it turns out that everything is not so simple ...

I came to the indicated address, they let me in, there were 15-20 more people, all the girls were dressed in skirts. They met me and sent me to help in the kitchen. When I announced that I was 17, everyone was happy for me and said that this was a great mercy of Krishna, that at such a young age I met devotees and "took the path", although at that time I was not going to follow their religion. This is another trick that Hare Krishnas skillfully use: recruiting into their ranks those who seem to be “on the periphery”: they listen to lectures, are interested, but do not call themselves Hare Krishnas and do not “hit” this religion. They begin to invite them to programs and actively “preach” them, and after a month or two, a person, without noticing it, already believed that Krishna is the supreme personality of God and he must certainly surrender, leaving everything as Bhagavad teaches- Gita, and Prabhupada (the founder of ISKCON) is a saint who was destined to change the world. For beginners, and indeed for every Hare Krishna, all "gurus" and "senior devotees" are super authoritative. Their lectures are listened to with all attentiveness and never even think about turning on critical thinking and identifying any mistakes. Even the obvious self-contradictory nonsense is perceived as the ultimate truth.

My very first mistake was that I thought that the Hare Krishnas are impartially versed in Indian philosophy and can clear up any ambiguity associated with the study of this topic. But my illusions were quickly dispelled: at bhakti vriksha, I noticed that my questions on philosophy, which seemed to me very significant, were answered very veiled, or, on the contrary, they gave unambiguous answers and even a reasonable attempt to argue was cut down. For example, to my question about whether Vishnu or Krishna is supreme, they answered me harshly that, of course, Krishna is the supreme god and in general, they say, why am I asking such a stupid question, despite the fact that I was ready to provide excerpts from religious studies textbooks and classical Hindu texts proving otherwise. Then, although I was wary of such an attitude, I was not wise enough to understand that this is simply a sect that benefits from presenting the scriptures in a light that suits it. However, I liked everything else: friendly people, mantras, an altar and delicious food. I started going to this Bhakti vriksha once a week, on Tuesdays.

The saddest part of my story begins right here. Once I noticed that one “prabhu” (as the Hare Krishnas call men) goes with me to bhakti-vriksha, his name was Ivan (name changed). He once sang mantras and I drew attention to him. Vanya came up during a break and we got to know each other, told who and where he works, that he has been practicing Krishnaism for the third year. He was 26 at that time, but 9 years of age difference did not bother me and we continued to communicate. I invited him to visit, we called up, read something to each other on the phone.

We talked for a while and soon I realized that I fell in love with him. After a couple of weeks of communication, it became clear that this was mutual, that Vanya was considering me as his future wife. True, even then everything went completely different from Krishna standards.

He moved in with me when less than a month had passed since we met. Previously, he lived in the same place where he worked - the conditions are not quite suitable for "spiritual practice", and, as he said, "there are meat-eaters around, with whom you have to communicate at work, they defile the space." In general, Ivan treated people who were not devoted to Krishna with contempt, making clear gradations into “devotees” and the so-called “karmis”, that is, people living according to their karma, ordinary people. Whether it's a matter of living with me - no one interfered with leading a "good" way of life there, as every Hare Krishna believes.

The first month of our life together, we reveled in communication with each other. I caught Vanino's every word, he seemed mature and wise to me. For his sake, I even abandoned my plans to move to Germany. Although all the documents were already ready, he managed to convince me that this is not a spiritual country and there is nothing to do there. After the move, he immediately began to impose Krishnaism on me, without giving me any opportunity to express my own opinion. At first, I openly agreed to follow the rules, because I liked Ivan and I wanted to please him, to please him. Without wanting it myself, and without even really noticing what was happening, I began to turn into a typical Hare Krishna "mataji" (as Hare Krishnas call women).

I made the most terrible mistake, familiar to many: I thought that he would change and it would become easier to relate to all these rituals (perhaps, I thought, Vanya's fanaticism will moderate and mushrooms and good Chinese tea will appear in our house again). After he moved in with me, without even asking if I was against it, but simply putting before the fact (after all, he believed that he was doing good by default) that from now on he lives with me, Vanya created a number of rules for our house, which I had to observe, in his words, "for the sake of my own spiritual progress", such as for example:

– Early rise and recitation of 16 rounds of the mantra. Vanya woke me up at 6:30 in the morning, also saying that it was not so early, giving me the example of “authoritative devotees” who get up a few hours earlier. The awakening was followed by a shower and the chanting of the Hare Krishna manta. One day I didn't want to get up and he just took me, brought me to the bath and doused me with an ice shower;

- Restriction of communication with everyone except Vaishnavas. In particular, he insisted that in my environment there were only Hare Krishna girls and no guys. He was jealous of everyone, even my father (from my current position of perception, it seems to me just wildness), saying that father and daughter should not be left alone. All my girlfriends were offered to convert to Krishnaism, which at first I even reluctantly tried to do, gave them books and rosaries. He looked through all my social networks, phone, forced me to interrupt communication with friends and male acquaintances, did not let me go to the cinema even with my cousin, tightly controlled. Any action that seemed to him a reason for jealousy turned our communication into a scandal: for example, once in the subway, he brought me to tears with indignation about the fact that I allegedly looked lustfully at someone from the crowd. I began to rarely see my family, the lack of communication soon began to negatively affect my psyche;

- Vanya replaced my altar, removing everything from there that concerns Shiva, and replacing it with images of Krishna. He called Shiva a "demigod" (although there is no such concept at all in Hinduism) and said that devotees of Krishna should not worship demigods;

– Bookshelves were to be freed from "karmic literature". Instead, there should have been books about and for Hare Krishnas. One day he brought a stack of Prabhupada's books and suggested that I remove all the books from the shelves and replace them with the books of the Krishna Consciousness Society. To my reasonable alternative proposal of just buying new shelves, nailing them in empty places and putting books about Krishna on them, and not touching my books, since this is my house and there is my own device, he reacted extremely negatively: he threw all my books from shelves and tore them. As a result, I glued torn pages and bindings all night in tears;

- The cat, with whom we then lived together in an apartment, suffered the fate of becoming a vegetarian (how can you feed someone with meat!), Which led to a sharp deterioration in his health. Any of my attempts to stand up for the cat's diet were nipped in the bud. I ended up secretly feeding my cat normal cat food in the elevator stairwell while my "boyfriend" slept or was at work (which happened infrequently). Then Vanya even insisted on giving the cat away, because this animal is “in the mode of ignorance” and how can devotees of Krishna “serve” some cat at all? I still regret that I did not stand up for my animal companion, I miss him and feel guilty before him;

- Any food had to be offered to Krishna, any leftovers of the offered food were forbidden to be thrown away, they had to be left under the tree. As a result, Ivan took out whole packages of skins from fruits / husks from seeds and other garbage and threw them under the trees, to the delight of the janitors. Mantras for offering food to Krishna were recited even over water, pepper and salt. When one day I brought Vanya water that was not offered to Krishna, and after drinking it, he asked if I had read mantras over it and received a negative answer, he yelled at me violently, calling me insulting words;

- Vanya constantly pointed to my secondary position. He talked about my low birth, that I am fallen, that a woman is like a transition from an animal form of life to a human one, and that I will not achieve liberation until I am born a “prabhu” and walk the path of Krishnaism again in a male body ;

– Ivan forced me to listen to lectures by famous Hare Krishna preachers and “gurus”: Torsunov, Narushevich, Ruzov, Khakimov and others, insisting that I was poorly educated in this regard, rude and not like a girl, and that I should become softer, softer and more feminine, although objectively I was an ordinary girl, not too soft and not too rough. Vanya also made me keep a diary of the lectures I heard and checked it;

- I was supposed to wear skirts, dress modestly and not use makeup in order to be "cleaner" and "chaste." He refused my attempts to have sex with Vanya, shaming me for my “licentiousness” and telling me that “a drop of semen is equal to a glass of a man’s blood”, while he himself, when he wanted, persuaded me to do this at any time convenient for him. This is one of the many examples of double standards characteristic of Hare Krishnas. There was constant talk that I was not feminine enough, soft and humble enough. Even then it seemed to me: well, why doesn’t he accept me for who I am, why should I wear masks?

Nevertheless, Torsunov's lectures began to do their job, and soon I believed that I did not meet the "high" standards of the devotees and should change. Therefore, I put on a smile, put on a skirt to the floor, which looked very comical in combination with the Slavic appearance, and tried not to contradict my young man in anything for the sake of our "Vedic" family. Krishna ordered so, Krishna likes girls in skirts, and our main task is to please him! After all, it turns out that Vanya has a choice - to become a brahmachari monk or a grhastha householder, and for my sake he refuses the higher path of a hermit in favor of the family. For my salvation! Like, I should always remember this and be grateful.

In general, a real "mataji" should spend her free time in a special way: to engage in women's affairs in order to develop her true feminine nature, which will lead her to God. The whole house and all association should be "Vedic". This is the only correct way. "There is no other way!" repeats like a mantra, every Hare Krishna. Vanya was of the same opinion. Therefore, he constantly reminded me of the development of "Vedic womanhood", forming in me an aversion to this view of the family. I shuddered at every mention of skirts, chastity, modesty, "protection of the female body" from the "desirable glances of men." The psyche began to be gradually damaged, but I continued to endure and believe that I was simply not pure enough to accept this knowledge and that everything would be fine with time, there would be a “Vedic” family (then I did not know that ISKCON had nothing to do with the real Vedas ).

Probably everyone reading this asks in bewilderment: “How could she allow herself to be treated like that?” I myself still do not know the exact answer to this question. Probably, . I was very attached to Ivan, I thought that I loved him. I was in the midst of a transitional age, when you can inspire any kind of nonsense, plus the type of psyche that is easy to manipulate. I was looking for the true "spiritual path" and fell for the ISKCON brainwashing scam. I lived separately from my family and had little contact with them. The situation was such that my mother lived in another city and she had a new family. I did not communicate closely with my father, they were divorced, and he was not aware of the story. Our communication with him was superficial. One day I was so desperate that I called him and asked for help. As soon as Ivan heard this, he immediately ran away, and dad did not find him at home. My grandparents, with whom I grew up for some time, were also busy with their own affairs: my grandfather developed his own business and he also had a family (and still has one), my grandmother bought a separate apartment and renovated it. Everything coincided in such a bad way that everyone seems to have forgotten about me. Everyone thought that I was studying and living on my own, as befits a student, that everything was fine. And I was afraid that Ivan would be kicked out of the apartment where I lived, and I was silent about many things, because I believed that he would change.

And then I thought that within the framework of Hinduism, what, by and large, does it matter whether I believe in Krishna or Shiva, in whom I believed before? After all, the pantheon of gods is such that Krishna does not exclude the presence of Shiva. For the sake of my new family, I was ready for almost anything, even to completely refuse contact with society, the outside world, and development. The degradation of the personality began, I felt how, in the literal sense of the word, I was becoming dumber every day.

And so I endured it all, each time promising myself that one more of his tricks and we parted. I did not have enough internal strength to leave Vanya, although it happened that he even decided to leave. Then there were scandals, my tears, requests to stay, because I could not imagine my life without Vanya. Surprisingly: for some half a year, from a self-sufficient person, from a purposeful girl who wants to develop in all areas of activity, I turned into a downtrodden whore, not getting out of the kitchen, which developed “Vedic femininity”, being under the strict control of “prabhu”. I believed that everything would be rewarded for me for such austerities, that this is the result of bad karma, because with Krishna nothing happens just like that.

All my friends stopped communicating with me, I left the university, and Ivan approved of this, because “a woman does not need a higher education,” according to the beliefs of the Hare Krishnas. Almost the only place I went to was that very bhakti vriksha, where it was terribly boring and where the same thing was discussed all the time. By that time, I had already been made the head of the kitchen and I was preparing food for 10-20 people. Later, however, under various pretexts, I began to refuse to appear there. Sometimes we went to the temple for Sunday programs and Ekadashi (this is a fast that Hare Krishnas keep twice a month and an all-night celebration is organized on this occasion).

The most amazing thing is that I really believed in all this: in Krishna, that I should follow this path ... I became intimidated, oppressed, unreal. I almost completely lost myself, I cried at night, but my attachment to Vanya was so strong that I believed that everything would change and could not even think about life without him. I didn’t like the roles of “mataji” and “humble wife” at all, but I stopped considering myself capable of something more, because my young man constantly reminded me of my low birth.

After four months of our life together, Vanya invited me to become his wife. Then I should have turned 18. For me, his proposal was a shock, because I was young and did not want to marry Ivan right now. I replayed scenes of explanation with my parents, our possible future, prospects in my head and realized that this was a dead end. This is not my way, the way that has no heart. At first, I tried to evade the answer, telling Vanya that, they say, I am a minor and no one will allow us to register a marriage. To which he replied that he would wait for the eighteenth birthday, we would get married, and after a while we would give birth to a child - the sooner the better (after all, it is such a blessing to incarnate such a pure soul! A devotee of Krishna from birth!). I realized that it was pointless to avoid answering and said directly that this was not for me, that I was not ready for this now. Ivan took my refusal very painfully, and after that our relationship became even worse.

He began to harshly criticize my life before ISKCON, began to sleep separately from me. He refused to eat the food that I tried first, because he believed that I was defiling it by tasting it (I’m a woman, a lower level of consciousness), I played computer games all day long (he reads a mantra with one hand, and moves a computer mouse with the other), constantly raised his voice at me, had long conversations in the style of a showdown, swearing from scratch.

It seemed to me then that this is a real hell on Earth - to understand that this is terrible and not be able to simply stop it due to psychological dependence. Almost no one called me, did not come, even my parents. Vanya began to raise his hand to me: for not offering food to Krishna, for not cleaning up after the cat in time.

He generally beat the cat hard, once kicked him so that the poor fellow could not even stand on his paws. I ended up giving it to my friends, because it was the only way to save it from such a miserable existence. Vanya was only for me to "stop serving the animal in the mode of ignorance."

Vanya also beat me from time to time: once he hit his head against the wall, I fell, and he caught himself and then apologized for a long time, treated me. I even went to the emergency room and said there that I hit the door or the table, although the doctors suggested calling the police.

Once my old friends came to the entrance to find out what was happening with my life, but I just did not open the door to the apartment for them and asked them to leave. “Thank God,” I thought at that moment, “that Vanya is not at home, otherwise there would be another scene of jealousy.”

When he slept with me, I prayed not to get pregnant, because he forbade contraception, and an accidental conception could occur, and then a child with poor genetics of his mentally unhealthy father would be added to the already existing hell that my life has turned into.

A serious change took place in May, at that time we had been together for eight months: after another quarrel, Ivan packed his things and left, and then, in retaliation, he called my 72-year-old grandmother and lied to her that I was taking hard drugs (although even tea in was not kept in our house, since the Hare Krishnas consider tea a mind-altering product, not to mention drugs), which made her heart ill and called an ambulance ...

Then Vanya called me and apologized for a long time. Roared into the phone, persuaded to meet with him, then knelt in the subway and asked for forgiveness. Our relationship was in limbo. I didn't want to forgive him or cut him out of my life forever.

But since then, we began to live separately, because my parents had already intervened, set the condition that there were no strangers in this apartment. It was a breath of fresh air for me! I have been waiting for this help for so long, this manifestation of someone else's will (because I no longer possessed my own). For the first time in a while, I could sit quietly in the kitchen, drink coffee and not worry that someone would blame me for this. Even then, every day I began to understand more clearly not only how psychologically I had "grown" in Vanya, but also how much I wanted to get rid of this addiction.

I began to prepare for re-entering the university and entered. Beginning with the academic year social life Helped me a lot with my mental health. Nevertheless, Vanya and I continued to communicate, he looked after me and tried, as it were, to make amends. On weekends I went to see him outside the city, to the big house where he lived with his relatives, and tried to turn a blind eye to our past. Vanya several times offered to live together again, but I refused him. I continued to read the mantra regularly, keep the fasts, but at the same time I tried to find a psychologist who would help me solve the problem of addiction and internally let go of this person and leave the sect. I went to three psychologists, none of whom could give me adequate support. Two simply refused to work, one pulled money out of me and after a couple of sessions it became clear that there would be no result and there was no point in continuing. I've had bad luck with psychologists. I did not know whom to look for, and rushed into the first hands that came across. They were not specialists in so-called exit counseling and deprogramming. But, they say, to realize the problem is already half the solution to it. And in my mind lived the hope of returning to normal life.

In winter, things got worse again. We quarreled, stopped talking, then started again. Vanya began to set conditions for me. He said that he would communicate with me only if I would be weekly in the circle of “matadjis”. In order not to escalate the situation, I signed up for the “mataja club”. It was an all-female apartment building where they discussed how the world had been degraded by women not fulfilling their primary responsibilities, such as raising children and cooking dinner. At these meetings, I was terribly bored, and I often drew, sitting in the corner of the room, or simply skipped them.

I tried to avoid personal communication with Ivan, because I began to understand that he was simply dangerous. One day in January, he invited me to go to a vegetarian shop in the center of Moscow. It was, as it turned out later, just an excuse for a meeting.

It was very cold. In the park, Vanya attacked me, hit me several times, and, as the subsequent X-ray showed, he broke my nose. Covered in blood, I ran away from him through the crisp snow. He was chasing me, but I ran to some men standing aside and asked them for help. Seeing that I was not alone, he left me alone. The men gave me napkins and offered to help me get home. I refused and sat in the snow, wiping the blood. Vanya came up and began to apologize ... Over and over again I continued to forgive him, despite all his mockery of me.

Over the next year and a half, we continued to communicate, once went to Germany for a month and twice to India - to Vrindavan and Mayapur. All the trips were paid for by me, because he had no money for travel, and he did not want to let me go alone. And I saved up the money that my parents gave me (I was only 17-18), and they gave me something for the holidays, I never spent it - I always put it off. I really liked India, but after a couple of days spent there, I was finally convinced that ISKCON has nothing to do with the real cultural and religious traditions of India. Krishnas are tolerated in India only because every year a lot of devotees from all over the world go there on pilgrimage and bring money with them, which helps to support the country's economy.

The Society for Krishna Consciousness seemed to me to be a grandiose circus performance, in the backyard of which I found myself. I contemplated what was happening: all these rituals, temples, "authorities", all this huge system of lies. In India, I stopped reading the Hare Krishna mantra, I only pretended to sort out the rosary so that Vanya would not make another scandal. My awareness began to return to me, as if I had been blind and had my sight.

In ISKCON, the recruitment of new people is handled by mind specialists. They attract new adherents with the most different ways: yoga, cooking, astrology, Ayurveda, who is interested in what and who will fall for what. The word “Vedic” is added to all the words used in the sermon, and it turns out not just a variety of hobbies, but the real “knowledge of the ancients”! It's hard not to fall for such an attractive wrapper.

The Hare Krishnas preach very convincingly, as they themselves were once brainwashed and they believe in what they say. The knowledge they disseminate has no empirical support in their minds. They were simply told that this was so, and without checking the information, but only fanatically accepting it on faith, they pass it on down the chain, recruiting new members. This sect affects the intellect of the adept in various ways, turning it off, causing "stupefaction". I noticed that I began to think much worse, became more naive, stupider after just a few months of the so-called "sadhana". And so my intellect began to wake up, gradually returning to me, as if "by the grace of Krishna." I clearly realized that I could get out and end this hell.

After returning from my second trip to India, I stopped communicating with Ivan. He seemed to suddenly cease to be interesting to me. At first, I myself did not fully realize my new attitude towards him, savored it and thought about the reasons for its appearance. But over time, I became more and more saturated with this freedom, this inner self-sufficiency, which began to be regained by me. I began to understand that the terrible era that destroyed my life almost to the very foundation was coming to an end. With great enthusiasm, I began to re-explore the world, gradually opening up to me anew in its harmonious diversity of views and opinions. The realization that I had spent a total of three years in this destructive relationship with the cultist haunted me for a long time. Vanya was looking for meetings with me, sometimes I even went to have lunch with him in a cafe, but continued to live my life. He said something about himself: that he was writing music again, that he was going to get initiated. I was not interested and I nodded to him in response out of politeness.

As you know, when you move away from the picture at some distance, the image on it can be seen better. The farther I move away from ISKCON (while, of course, it is not worth leaving the art gallery completely during the analysis - otherwise the picture will disappear from view), the more clearly I see how this system works. This is especially evident when there are comparisons with other sects (pictures).

Of course, ISKCON, like any organization, is great at manipulating people. The system used by Hare Krishnas corresponds to the classical scheme of organizing sects.

All this "Krishna consciousness" is very insidious. At first glance, you think: “Yes, this is an unambiguous blessing! Even if they are not right about everything, they don’t eat meat, but how many millions of them! How many animal lives do they save. Yes, and many gave up drugs, alcohol, changed for the sake of Krishna. That's lovely! They live in the mode of goodness, and after death they will gain eternal life on the spiritual planets.”

But it's all a wrapper. Yes, some people's lives change to some extent. But once you look at the lives of most devotees, you can see that they are unhappy, socially unaccomplished people, often with a bad past and an unhealthy psyche. They are separated from real life, in a cocoon that isolates them from the outside world. They are taught to think in very narrow categories, set from the outside, patriarchal, and no one thinks about who really benefits from this. People are taught to divide people into meat-eaters/vegetarians, devotees/karmis. They learn to hang labels, they teach unambiguity. They refer to authorities, and when you try to get up the stairs to some real sources of information, they tell you: “Our parampara (line of succession) originates from Lord Brahma!” - and that's it. Go bet, Brahma himself! Wow. And there is no way to check this, it's just Prabhupada came up with.

And now, after six months of such processing, irreversible changes begin to occur in the psyche. You begin to understand that there are no more real people around you, only “devotees”. These are broken lives, as it becomes already difficult to return thinking to normal. The further into the forest, the more firewood. You think: “nothing, because this is the real blessing - to communicate with pure people! They surround me because I cleanse myself, and the “meat-eaters” are simply not interested in me, because they have a low spiritual level.”

I began to remember the times when I thought outside these categories. I remembered how different life was, how pure, full, when this endless analysis “from the point of view of a devotee” did not take place in my head. Gradually, my former sanity returned to me, although the echoes of the Hare Krishna experience still make themselves felt.

Krishna consciousness is when your thinking is taken away from you and they say: “Now we will think for you, and you just follow our rules.” This is an eternal categorization, which is then difficult to get rid of when you begin to treat the psyche from the consequences of being in a sect. Fears appear: “I will go to hell if I don’t worship Krishna, Yamadutas will come after me after death”, “Food not offered to Krishna - I taste only sin”, etc. Some people have it more, some have it less, but it was very strong for me at first. I sincerely believed that the day was wasted if I did not spend two hours reciting the 16 rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra.

There is a replacement of real values ​​with false ones. This is what underpinned the fact that ISKCON began to grow so rapidly in the West. Prabhupada hit the bull's-eye. It was then the height of the hippie era. These were people who were looking for and thirsting for spirituality. Prabhupada gave it to them in a beautiful wrapping. More precisely, a surrogate for spirituality. In general, ISKCON is a producer of surrogates. Real people with the advent of this sect are replaced by spiritual brothers and matajs. Real emotions are replaced by "the ecstasy of love for Krishna". Life in all its fullness and diversity is replaced by detachment from it and immersion in a surrogate for life in the ISKCON society, where everyone loves and praises Krishna and Prabhupada.

Prabhupada, by the way, deserves a separate discussion. A man who came from a merchant caste came to the West and proclaimed himself a guru. In India, his life was far from the standard of a saintly life. Married at the age of 22 to a girl who was 11, he worked in a pharmaceutical company, had children, none of whom, by the way, became Hare Krishnas, and in general was no different from any Indian from a middle-income family. Having failed in India as a worker, family man and Vaishnava, he went to the west, where he still had the audacity to teach others.

I am also very struck by the distortion of philosophy by the Hare Krishnas. This was one of the reasons for my leaving the sect. When I started studying Sanskrit, I was amazed at how Prabhupada distorted the translations of the texts. After all, he actually had nothing to do with the real tradition of Vaishnavism, he simply distorted it, modified the translations of the texts of the Gita and other scriptures, taking advantage of the fact that in the West people do not know Sanskrit and will not convict him of deceit. And on the basis of deceit created religion. Started with a scam! For me, this is unthinkable. This becomes evident from an elementary analysis of the original texts and translations. People have been hearing and believing in distorted information for decades, from which, probably, the real Krishna in Goloka Vrindavan would have his hair on end.

Of course, the top of the Hare Krishna community knows about the distorted translations and has long come up with excellent counter-arguments for their flock: “You are not pure enough in heart, and the Bhagavad Gita is a sacred scripture and incomprehensible to a simple mind.” Krishnaites consider Prabhupada an authoritative guru who, for their minds, mired in material life, can “translate” the sacred text of the Gita into the language they perceive. Hare Krishnas simply turn a blind eye to distortions, referring to the lack of their own intelligence, that is, in this aspect they are taught not to think, but only to obediently follow the rules.

All the pillars on which ISKCON stands, everything that the ISKCON "gurus" talk about and write about, referring to the Vedas, is just fiction. In the Vedas there is no "Krishna", no "Maha-mantra", no "bhakti", no "humility", no "service", no "demigods", and even more so there is no "Vedic womanhood". The more I study sects and read articles by former Hare Krishnas, the more revealing facts I discover. There are so many deceptions and lies in ISKCON that the information would be enough to write several books. With an elementary critical analysis, the “spiritual path”, which at first seemed very holistic and harmonious, began to fall apart. The Hare Krishnas are aware of this “feature” of their teaching and therefore they are very, very afraid of criticism. They even have rules of conduct within the system, including refraining from criticism, since for them criticism is insulting, which in turn is a grave sin.

The devastating consequences of being in a sect still affect my psyche. These psychological changes are very unpleasant and difficult to overcome. It was really bad at first - I was afraid to eat garlic and onions, I had nightmares in which I was force-fed cheese with rennet, and I cried in my sleep, thinking that I was committing a sin. By inertia, I continued to pass the actions of all the people around in my mind through the filter of Krishnaism: “What would a devotee do in his place?” or "A devotee would never do such a thing."

I ate and slept poorly, there was neither desire nor strength to do something productive, passivity appeared, the world became distant for me.

When I was alone with men, I felt guilty, because "mataji" should not spend time with "prabhu". I was afraid to make friends with new people, especially with men, I was afraid to start new relationships, because I subconsciously expected a repetition of the story with Vanya (fortunately, my fears were not justified and everything is fine with my current young man).

It took a long time to fall in love with my university and start studying consciously and with pleasure, not thinking that "this time I could devote to the service of Krishna." Now things are much better - I'm practically back to full life and freedom of consciousness. Minor echoes of psychological and physical abuse make themselves felt only occasionally, and yet I still can’t say that I have completely freed myself from the consequences of the experience, but on the whole everything is in order.

I completely revised my values ​​and guidelines in life, learned to separate the wheat from the chaff, to think critically. It's just that now I can't be recruited into any sect. I began to appreciate the society of intellectually developed people, from a scientific point of view I study classical Hinduism and Buddhism - fortunately, interest in them did not fade away after the experience of being in ISKCON, but only intensified.

I sincerely wish all women who have fallen under the influence of this sect to realize its destructive effect on the psyche and be able to get out of there safe!

(c) project "Listen to the Soul" - site

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21 comments on “ Lisa's story: my experience of self-destruction or "How I Came to Krishna Consciousness"”

1. Julia

   Really heavy story, barely finished reading. And there are really a lot of such situations, just not everyone tells ...

2. Galina

   A very strong story. A deeply meaningful experience. The heroine of the story is now immune to this for life. I read it in one breath, beautifully written, simply and clearly about such a difficult experience.

3. Paul

   Certainly a sad story. Sorry for the girl, but this is not an argument to call ISKCON a sect. Let me explain. I am 36 years old (married, have children). I myself am not a devotee, but for more than 7 years I have been interested in the knowledge that Vedic wisdom carries. I can say, as a person who studies and practices Vedic knowledge, that the girl did not communicate with a devotee, but with a person who has deep material attachments and is trying to realize his gross egoistic ambitions. He imposed on her the principles of Vedic life, taking advantage of her love (not love). And he did it aggressively. But excuse me, one of the four principles of devotees and the main one is non-violence (ahimsa), which no longer allows the guy to be called a devotee. And to violate this principle, as I understand it, the guy was not shy. There was no care or love on his part, which he, as a devotee, should practice.
   I myself often listen to lectures and participate in seminars, festivals, which are attended by Torsunov and Khakimov and Ruzov and other wonderful lecturers. The girl correctly began to understand that she was not perfect, but her mistake was the idealization of her partner and all people who are interested in Krishna consciousness. They are the same lost souls who have just embarked on the path of spiritual self-development. But they are also full of imperfections. There is much more I could write and comment on, but still I will summarize:
   1) The girl did not connect her life with a devotee, which is confirmed by several factors. Here are some of them:
   - Abundance of sex in a relationship. Although before marriage sex is excluded, but in marriage it is subject to regulation;
   - pressure on the girl, rejection of her nature. While violence is only allowed in exceptional cases (self-defense, fire, etc.)
   - disrespect for all living beings (he beat a cat, did not respect people who do not accept the principles of Krishna consciousness, did not respect the needs and desires of the girl with whom he lived).
   2) The Vedas contain fundamental knowledge, by practicing which you feel inner growth and spiritual fulfillment, but you need to soberly look at those with whom you communicate. Critical thinking is vital in any business, and in the spiritual life as well. Spiritual life is walking on a razor's edge, it is not an easy way to enjoy. It is a difficult path, a conscious path. But already in the process of this path you understand the purity, fullness of the heart and connection with the whole world around you.
   I advise the girl not to leave this path, but to become more mature and sober-minded.
   I wish her and everyone peace and happiness!!!

4. ANASTASIA

   I am shocked by this story. I myself serve in the temple of Krishna and have initiation. Indeed, one should not generalize about all the devotees of Krishna. Many of them are very educated people and sincere believers. As for the fact that Krishna is a fiction, then associate with people who serve the Deities in the temple. Here they will tell you how the Lord manifests strongly and many mystical stories associated with the Deities. For example, I have 3 educations and I continue to improve. And I serve and work in the temple. Many realizations from spiritual practice and joy from the Maha mantra. This does not prevent us from living both the worldly life and the spiritual one. No one recruited me, but I only listen to my heart.
   Her experience is very sad. And this man does not look like a sincere devotee. Rather a fanatic and just a sick person. And the meaning of Prabhupada is to invent something. Why is it necessary for an elderly 70-year-old man.
   About his arrival was written several thousand years ago in the sacred writings of India. Even a friend who survived clinical death could have seen the hellish worlds described in the scriptures that Prabhupada translated. And he had an experience of communicating with God, after which he did not doubt that SK is a non-fictional philosophy. Either this is a custom article from ill-wishers, or this is some kind of exceptional case.

5. Nina

   Great story! Because it shows the main danger of all this "Vedic femininity" and the like - a deceitful sectarian religious filling.
   The main thing - religious view, their pseudo-spirituality, lies and deceit. And on top of this layer of religious lies lies a layer of quite normal human values ​​- to love your family, for example.
   In every story on this site, the first step into the cult was this: a person is lonely and desperately needs the presence of meaning.
   Separately, I was pleased that the girl from history realized all the differences between real-life religions and modern false sects.
   I believe that you need to find your own meaning in life. The presence of meaning in life is the best immunity from such sects.
   I sincerely wish the girl from the story to live happily and no longer fall for such tricks of evil forces.

6. Vadim

   A very beautiful custom article with good psychoanalysis and a selection of facts in order to denigrate the Vaishnavas. Ivan did everything to look like a complete moral freak in this story. It is customary for Vaishnavas, first of all, to follow what they teach. If he were a Vaishnava, he would simply not live with her before marriage and would not sleep, not to mention all the other forms of his deviant behavior. Suppose he is crazy, but communicating with other people in this tradition, Lisa would very quickly understand what he was doing wrong. Because, in general, Vaishnavas, as a rule, are adequate people. Therefore it is slander. Moreover, high-quality slander, probably well paid.

7. Natalia

   She fell into the sect of Ivan! It has nothing to do with ISKCON.

8. alexs

   a question for ISCON devotees. prabhupada’s name was abhay charan. his parents gave him at birth. and then what name was given to him by his teacher bhaktisidhanta sarasvati at initiation. and was she?. there is not a single witness to this action. his * beloved * guru. and published only his books. the ship jaladuta, on which prabhupada arrived in america and which in all the photographs of prabhupada's biography, was decommissioned and disposed of in 1965. how then prabhupada sailed to america on it in 1967 ?))). some continuous questions without answers

9. Vitaly Almazov

   Krishnaites are a sect, and they have nothing to do with Hinduism and Krishna. Prabhupada himself was not even a brahmin, much less a sannyasi, as it was correctly noted here. I came to the states to make money on stupid Americans, and only after that this heresy spread throughout the world. The thing is that its adherents have no idea about Hinduism or Indian culture. And so it is easiest to hang pseudo-spiritual noodles on your ears.

10. Former Hare Krishna

    Poor girl, I’m practically in her shoes, I myself am a 17-year-old teenager and was born in a family of Hare Krishnas, radical fanatics, only I look at everything skeptically from early childhood, in other words, I’m just lucky, now I’m visiting a rehabilitation center and trying to fit in with maximum efforts into society, I am gradually getting it and soon I will have independence from all this and it can be forgotten like a bad dream, how I myself was subjected to physical and mental violence, thank you that there are still such articles that shed light on the other side of the medal, thanks a lot

11. Damir

    And what about Krishna? Any religion, if you do not understand, is not given.

12. Lubomir

    I am a Vaishnava and have been practicing for about 4 years. I read your story and was horrified. I will try to give you advice as a Vaishnava: never exclude the human factor and never take anything for granted. Your doubts are normal, you should gradually either be convinced of the same Vaishnava culture or not. The person you lived with is just a fanatic, he has no right to force anything on you. He might try to explain to you, to answer your questions. But what he did is contrary to Vaishnava culture. This is the kind of person you got, unfortunately.

13. Igor

    Sect is a term denoting a separation from the mainstream, heresy, a group of people closed in their beliefs.

    Does this have anything to do with ISKCON? Undoubtedly!
    Does this relate specifically to all members of this organization - it does not.
    A huge number of beautiful people have passed or are passing through this beacon shining in the raging sea.
    Only this illusory beacon is a reflection of a spiritual beacon in troubled waters.
    And this dregs appeared as a result of mixing the spiritual search and building the administrative apparatus. It's milk and pickles. Zephyr and horseradish.
    Hence all the subsequent problems in society.
    The first wave of spiritual freshness that spread throughout the USSR was unique and juicy.
    There was sincerity and firmness.
    But then things started to deteriorate when the administrators decided that the sincerity of a believer should be confirmed by an ISKCON certificate of conformity.
    That the field of life should be lined in stripes. Beliefs and desires corresponded to the GOSTs of the organization. What standards the organization complied with are put out of brackets. To do this, there is a search for claims and court cases with ISKCON.

    As a result of this reconstruction, thousands of highly educated preachers with the face of the famous artist Malevich turned out.
    "Oil paintings" they got the original black.
    Instead of a thousand artists with a unique style, the country received professional copyists of the spiritual revival.
    Unfortunately, the degree of education of such artists was increased, so red-faced disputes about whose "Malevich's square" is more in line with the spirit of Vedanta have become commonplace.
    Someone drew small targets on such squares.
    Sometimes clear silhouettes of the target were drawn on the destinies of the most sincere and devoted to God people.
    Devotees to God but not to administrators.
    Obituaries in ISKCON for such souls were written by abstractionists.
    The pacifists were "put against the wall" - there was a holy war with the illusion outside of ISKCON.
    Illusions within ISKCON could not exist, therefore, in order to eliminate those who disagreed, they were excommunicated from the bosom of the church and a target was painted on the back of their heads.
    And everything would be fine, but firing from all guns at evil spirits penetrated into the depths of the party apparatus.
    So Swiss clockwork spiritual unity started to crash.
    But the machine continued to produce its products - people received their portion (knowledge) of information not backed by the gold of truthfulness and cohesion.

    Naturally, the unique portrait of Liza did not work out, but as usual, Malevich's square was drawn.

    P / S Draw your works at the behest of the heart and from the sacrament of the union of the spirit and God.
    Do not draw under the dictation of the administrators now the works of Andy Warhol.
    Review your knowledge and beliefs.
    Don't take anyone's word until you're sure it's right for you.
    The art of manipulating consciousness is now at its height.
    And if you no longer want to send a preacher with artificial intelligence to hell, you are already in a sect.
    With which we congratulate you - everyone was there)))

14. Lena

    In India everyone knows what is Krishna. Many temples have been built for Krishna (Hampi, Bangalore, New Delhi, Tirupati). There is a big temple in Singapore. The modern series Mahabharata is an Indian production. In the film Jodha and Akbar (Indian film), the main character worships Krishna.
    A person who is at least a little interested knows this. The concept of humility and service is also in Orthodoxy, not only in ancient times.

    A bad experience is no reason not to believe in God.

15. Vasya

    Brad is complete. The article is custom-made, such Vanya Krishnaites are simply hard to find.))))

16. God is One

    Maybe it’s really a custom article, because I didn’t see the author’s responses to comments. But if this is true, then this is a great lesson. Even training as a psychologist and studying manipulation does not protect against a manipulator. Although this is the first year, apparently, the girl did not have time to understand why she went to a psychologist. The lectures of Satya Das would be very helpful, there are on YouTube. Or Mila Levchuk (although she also listened to Satya). I don’t even want to talk about how the young man behaved, many have already written about this very correctly. More importantly, the girl endured and allowed such treatment with herself. It is sad that this is not uncommon in our society. Krishna in the Mahabharata talks about how important it is for a woman to be protected. The Bhagavad Gita says that women are naive like children, they should not be left without the protection of their parents or husband, and in old age - a son. And in Khakimov's lectures, I learned that everything that we cannot tell our parents about says that we are unhappy and secretly want to get happiness, but in fact, just pleasure, enjoyment of the senses. And teenagers who have not received parental love in full measure want personal space so that no one climbs in there and they will seek pleasure on their own and indulge in it. And it's hardly a prayer. Most likely something unworthy, which is a shame to open not only to parents, but also to friends (the girl describes that she could not open the door to friends who just wanted to know how life is; even being alone at home she was afraid to let them into her personal space). Thank God, her parents intervened and she at least "sobered up" a little. We all want love and tend to be led by the illusion of love, but no one can give it to us from outside. The girl was very captivated that this man needed her so much. Although he beat him, she refused the help of outsiders (it doesn’t look like they were maniacs, no worse than her MCH) and began to wait on the bloody snow for her pursuer. The role of the victim is very addictive and encourages a sense of self-worth. He apologized, so he needs me. My family didn’t really need it, but here it seems like it’s like a family: there is M and F and he’s kind of smart, so let him be responsible for my life ... What’s the difference what Vanya believes in if he beats you, and then you , you sit with him at the table and out of politeness you agree. It's better to be impolite!))) No, I'm good, otherwise they will stop considering me kind, white and fluffy. I cannot afford this.
    Children / people who were loved at home do not get into sects. Love your children, help them open up, show them an example of a happy relationship, give them the highest taste and they simply will not be attracted to any surrogate. They can try, yes, but who would settle for less if they've tried better?
    I wish you all happiness! Be with God!

17. Vanya (Lisa's boyfriend)

    Yes, as if there was no such thing at all. Liza, this graphomaniac is sick in the head. I just broke up with her because of a misunderstanding and lack of love, and she wanted to take revenge on me. Not everything is so clear here. 90% of the text is a lie and fiction of an unfortunate girl in a state of depression after a breakup.

18. Alexander

    In general, it is not clear who is the mafia here and who are the civilians. Everyone speaks logically, I take all versions on faith, and put them in quarantine with a note: this is probably true.

Now is the time for democracy, freedom of belief and freedom of information. There is an opportunity to develop in various directions. People strive for happiness, for self-consciousness, and this is quite normal and natural process, because we have a mind, and it requires an understanding of the meaning of our life and its direction. Unfortunately, there are people who create so-called sects who use this need of ours for the purpose of deception and financial gain.

How not to fall under the influence of scammers?

A sect is an association of people with the same beliefs that differ from the beliefs of the majority. But not every sect is dangerous.

How to define a destructive and dangerous sect?

There are a number of signs of such societies:

- mandatory material contributions;
- strict discipline (registration, mandatory attendance at meetings, strict adherence to all rules, constant monitoring);
— the ideology of being chosen (“only we are right, and everyone else will go to hell”);
- the presence of one leader, God (prophet) on earth, who alone knows the path to the truth;
- lack of religious roots.

Is Krishna consciousness a sect or not?

Regarding the above symptoms, let's test the Hare Krishna community:

mandatory material contributions are not established, non-mandatory donations are collected in the temples of Krishna consciousness;
parishioners are not registered anywhere, they can either come or stop attending spiritual programs and events at any time;
the teaching of the Vedas respects all philosophical and religious trends;
the founder of the Krishna consciousness movement is Srila Prabhupada, but he never proclaimed himself God, but considered himself a servant of the one Lord Krishna and his spiritual teacher Srila Bhaktisidanta Saraswati, who blessed him to go preach the science of Krishna to the West. Srila Bhaktisidanta Saraswati had his own spiritual master, and such a chain of teachers goes back far into the past.
The philosophy of Krishna consciousness is considered the philosophy of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, one of the branches of Hinduism, which aims to restore its eternal relationship with Lord Krishna, and the sacred books Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam are centuries-old classics of Vedic literature.
If that's not enough and you still think the Hare Krishnas are a cult, then let's go deeper.

Holy Scriptures of the Hare Krishnas

The Bhagavad Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam are the essence of Hindu theology. The Gita is a conversation between Lord Krishna and his devotee Arjuna, and the Srimad Bhagavatam describes the different incarnations of Krishna, as well as extensive information on philosophy, metaphysics and cosmology.

The famous Russian writer Leo Tolstoy used excerpts from the Gita in his works and said that he firmly believes in the truths described by the Bhagavad Gita, that he is guided by them in all life situations and tries to reflect them in his novels. He was a vegetarian.

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most widely read scriptures, second only to the Bible. By the 2000s, it had been translated into more than 90 languages, and the number of printed copies exceeded hundreds of millions around the world.

Mahatma Gandhi based his philosophy of non-violence called Satyagraha on the Bhagavad Gita. He repeatedly mentioned that the Gita is his reference book, from which he draws wisdom and inspiration.

According to Joseph Brodsky, Nobel Prize winner in literature, the Gita takes 1st place in the list of must-read works.

It seems that some of the wisest representatives of mankind did not believe that the Hare Krishnas were a sect.

spiritual teachers

The founder of the Krishna consciousness movement is Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. In 1965, at age 69, he arrived in America on a cargo ship with a couple of boxes of books, with virtually no means of subsistence. He came to New York on a mission from his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisidanta Saraswati, who asked him to spread the teachings of Krishna in the West. He registered the international organization Krishna Consciousness in 1966, which is based entirely on Gaudiya Vaishnavism. From 1965 to 1977 he founded 108 Krishna Hare temples on five continents and traveled all over the world 14 times.

Bhaktisidanta Saraswati studied the entire Bhagavad-gita as a seven-year-old child and could perfectly explain the meaning of any text. His parents were Vaishnavas, so from childhood Bhaktisidanta practiced loving devotional service to Lord Krishna. During his youth, his teachers awarded him the title of Siddhanta Saraswati for his deep knowledge of astrology. When he was graduating from college, he became the winner in a dispute with a famous professor named Panchanana Sahityacharya. The topic of discussion was astrology. After a brief discussion, the professor admitted his defeat, and after that no one else tried to argue with Bhaktisidanta Saraswati for fear of embarrassment. At the age of 16, he opened the “August Assembly” for friends, whose members promised to be celibate and were going to discuss topics of religion. This was to create conditions and support for the young monks to seriously worship Lord Krishna and not be attached to family life. But only Bhaktisidanta himself could follow the strict vow of abstinence. Apparently, in his time, Krishnaites were not considered a sect. From 1918, Siddhanta Saraswati adopted a monastic renounced order of life and later established the spiritual mission Gaudiya Math with 64 branches throughout India, which became the origin of the Krishna consciousness movement.

Bhaktisidanta Saraswati's father's name was Bhaktivinod Thakur. He was a well-known civil servant, a magistrate. During the British rule, he was in good standing with the British due to his extraordinary intuition, making correct decisions in one hundred court cases a day, as well as for his religiosity and strict worship Lord Krishna. As you can see, Krishnaism was not considered a sect in society. In his younger years, Bhaktivinoda conducted research and a comparative analysis of Western and Indian religious and philosophical trends. When he was 29 years old, he chose the path of Gaudiya Vaishnavism (Krishna Consciousness) and eventually took the position of a very respected spiritual mentor of the Bengali Hare Krishnas. He strictly followed the principles of devotional service and worship of Krishna. Bhaktivinoda Thakura wrote hundreds of books on Krishna Consciousness. In 1886, in recognition of his literary contribution to Gaudiya Vaishnavism, he was given the title of Bhaktivinoda (literally, "one who takes pleasure in the loving service of Krishna").

Srila Prabhupada's followers

One of the most famous Hare Krishnas, one of the spiritual mentors is Bhakti Tirtha Swami (John Favors). He was born in Cleveland in 1950 in a ghetto to a very poor but religious family. The conditions were difficult, but despite this, thanks to his perseverance, he earned the right to study in a good school outside the ghetto. After graduating from high school, he entered Princeton, one of the best universities in America. After graduation, he was invited to the UN. After talking a lot with political leaders, he eventually realized that politics alone would not solve the problems of the world and plunged into a spiritual search until he met his guru Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and accepted Krishna consciousness with all his heart. By working hard for the benefit of the people, especially in Africa, and advising the leaders on the philosophy of Krsna consciousness, he gained great respect and gratitude from millions of people. BhaktiTirtha Swami opened many clinics, Hare Krishna Food for Life free food outlets, orphanages, hospitals for drug addicts, opened agricultural communities and Hare Krishna temples during his life. He became the founder of the Institute of Applied Spiritual Technology in Washington. He adhered to strict principles of devotional service and worship of Krishna. Bhakti Tirtha Swami spoke with South African President Nelson Mandela on several occasions. His hard work was highly appreciated in the 1990s, when almost 2 million people crowned him as King of the people of Warri in gratitude for caring for people, especially for the people of Africa.

Our contemporary is Radhanath Swami, who opened a large Radha-Gopinath Temple in Mumbai and organized many large charitable projects in India from the Society for Krishna Consciousness. In 1998, he opened the charitable Bhaktivedanta Hospital, and in 2004, under his supervision, the Food for Life program began to operate, distributing free vegetarian meals to children from poor families. As a result, by 2012, Hare Krishnas began to distribute hot meals to almost 260,000 children every day.

Radhanath Swami travels a lot with preaching programs, telling ordinary people about Lord Krishna and spirituality. He is a renounced monk and strictly follows the principles of devotional service to Krishna. He often had to communicate with US President Barack Obama. And the President of India, Pranabom Mukherjee, at a meeting with him, said approvingly: " International Society Krishna Consciousness is a good organization doing Good work". Radhanath Swami also met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He spoke about Krishna and the laws of the universe at the Palace of Westminster before members of the British Parliament, at Harvard, Columbia and Stanford Universities, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at the headquarters of Apple, Microsoft, Intel and Oracle. Apparently, some of the most respected people on the planet invited a representative of the "Society for Krishna Consciousness" to their place. So, should Krishna consciousness be considered a sect?

food for life

It is the largest and most tangible vegan food distribution program in the world. It was organized by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness in West Bengal in 1974 on the instructions of Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who wanted there to be starving people within 15 km of the Hare Krishnan temples. At first, the program operated mainly in India and was paid for by the Hare Krishna Literature Publishing House (with funds from book sales). Today, Food for Life provides food to those in need in almost every country in the world, and is often sponsored by local governments or charitable foundations.

To date, the close-knit team of Hare Krishnas is giving away over 1 million free meals each day. Hare Krishna provides food to people affected by natural disasters, the poor around the world, organizes hot meals for schoolchildren in India. They buy food, as a rule, at the expense of charitable contributions from individuals and legal entities, government agencies. Sometimes the mission is carried out together with representatives of the International Red Cross and UNICEF.

In Russia and the CIS countries, food distribution by the Krishna Consciousness Society has been carried out since 1988, when a team of Hare Krishna volunteers from various places in the Soviet Union organized assistance to those who suffered from the earthquake in Armenia. In the 1990s, Food for Life volunteers distributed hot meals in the places of military operations in Abkhazia and Chechnya, as well as to the victims of the earthquake in Neftegorsk. During the First War, almost a million free meals were distributed in Chechnya. One Hare Krishna volunteer was killed in Grozny after coming under fire. The members of the Krishna Consciousness Movement supported not only the body, but also the spirit of the soldiers and the civilian population, through stories about the eternal truths of the Vedas and about Lord Krishna. The New York Times positively assessed the activities of the Hare Krishna representatives in Chechnya and compared them with the actions of Mother Teresa. And how can you say that Krishnaism is a sect?

Vedic planetarium

One of the biggest projects of the Hare Krishna Society is the grand Temple of the Vedic Planetarium, where a large model of the Universe will be built, in the form in which it is described in the fifth canto of Srimad Bhagavatam. There will be escalators in the Planetarium, and the pattern of the Universe can be viewed from different angles on open balconies. Also, visitors will be able to learn about the Universe from video presentations, dioramas and diagrams. In the very center there will be a space model that will show different areas of the universe in a breathtaking way, in particular, there will be a giant device that demonstrates the movement of planetary systems. Also, the attention of visitors will be provided with stands describing how all this compares with the movements in the universe that are accessible to our eyes. The main sponsor is Srila Prabhupada's disciple Ambarisa Prabhu, better known as Alfred Ford (great-grandson of the famous Henry Ford). He joined the Krishna consciousness movement in 1975 and has been actively involved in the project ever since. This construction is one of the refutations of the fact that Krishna consciousness is considered a sect. A totalitarian sect does not need to deploy multibillion-dollar construction, why spend such funds? Finances in such organizations most often settle in the bank accounts of the leaders of the group.

When wondering whether Krishna Consciousness is a sect, one should carefully study the activities of the society and what its philosophy takes into account. Anyone who takes seriously the teachings of Krishna adheres to the 4 regulative principles: vegetarianism; refusing to use intoxicants (nicotine, alcohol, narcotic substances), refraining from gambling and refraining from extramarital sexual relations. Such principles ensure the spiritualization of consciousness, a healthy lifestyle, and strong family relationships. The social activities of the Vaishnavas, especially the "Food for Life", have brought benefits to many people, and saved someone from death. Also, the followers of the Krishna Consciousness movement continue to build orphanages, schools and temples.

There are several cases where individual Hare Krishnas were involved in stories with drugs, weapons, childish debauchery. You should not judge a philosophy by referring to a few people who call themselves followers of this philosophy, in practice not adhering to its principles. Krishna consciousness rejects all violence, starting with the killing of animals and proclaiming a pure way of life and love for all living things.

You need to be afraid of sects! They can be dangerous to health and life! But you need to figure out whether there is a real threat in the teachings of Krishna, or quite the opposite, it can bring real progress to modern society.

1. There is the same difference between the India of our Hare Krishnas and the real India as between Zuko powder and the juice of a living fruit.

The Lord Jesus says that he is the son of God. He is not God, but His son... Between God
and the son of God cannot have quarrels. Jesus said: "Love God", and Krishna,
The Supreme Personality of Godhead says, "Love Me." This is the same.

I am Yama, God of death... I am all-devouring death... I am time, great
destroyer of worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people.

Krishna's words about himself in Bhagavad Gita As It Is

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (MOCK) is very active in contemporary Russia. The Russian branch of the sect is called the "Center of Societies for Krishna Consciousness in Russia." MOCK can be described as a pseudo-Hindu syncretic proselytizing postmodern neo-pagan totalitarian sect.

It is widely believed that Hare Krishnas are good, open guys. Of course, they are strange: they shave their heads, leaving the Zaporizhzhya “settler” on the back of their heads, walk around in orange curtains and stick too much on the street with their books, obsequiously looking into the eyes, but they are vegetarians and will not offend a fly. Why are they all so "run over"? In addition, they are martyrs: Soviet power they were imprisoned, and they suffer only for their pacifism.

Each of you saw Hare Krishnas on the streets of cities, on television, they have long become a familiar part of our lives. They are loved to shoot, they are exotic and “decorate” our gray reality. Indeed, if you talk to these guys, many of them give the impression of pure and sincere people. I have no doubt that many of the ordinary Hare Krishnas are like that. But the question, as always, is not in the personal qualities of this or that sectarian, because these people are victims, but in the principles of the doctrine itself. And, of course, in the people whose victims these guys became, as well as in the creators of the doctrine: history has shown that, on the orders of their leaders, ordinary Hare Krishnas, without hesitation, committed crimes. The Krishna booksellers you meet on the streets are victims of deception, but they (wittingly or unwittingly) seek to deceive you too.

The deception consists, for example, in the fact that the Hare Krishnas are presented as followers of an ancient (5,000-year-old) Vedic tradition, as well as members of the 500-million (or 700-million, or even billion-strong - the master's own hand) army of Hinduism. But, in the first place, the Vedic scriptures began to take shape about 1500 BC, that is, only about 3500 years ago. Secondly, the Hindu sacred text they refer to, the Bhagavad Gita, does not belong to the Vedas at all. The Mahabharata, of which the Bhagavad Gita is a part, is a relatively new Indian epic, which finally took shape only by the middle of the first millennium A.D., and besides, the Krishna book Bhagavad Gita As It Is is nothing more than adapted an Americanized retelling of the original with comments on it. And thirdly, Western Hare Krishnas themselves are no more related to traditional Hinduism than a boy who stuck feathers in his hair and painted his face with watercolor paint is to real Apaches and Mohicans. The well-known Russian Indologist Irina Glushkova, an employee of the Center for Indian Studies of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, wrote about this: “There is the same difference between the India of our Hare Krishnas and real India as between the Zuko powder and the juice of a living fruit.”

The methods by which the Hare Krishnas you have seen on the streets distribute their literature are not too clean either. Their tried and tested method: “Hello! I liked you very much, you have a very intelligent face - or: “You seem to me a very reasonable person. We want to offer you a gift.” And give a book in a colorful cover. The man takes the book in his hands. He is very touched that they personally give him a gift, and even such an attractive-looking book! He thanks a generous and very friendly stranger who seemed to show genuine interest in him.

And then they say to him: “Could you make a donation to our charitable society?” The man asks, "What donation?" They say to him: “Well, 200 rubles.” - “How, this book costs 200 rubles?” - "No, we gave you the book, but you make a donation for a good cause." There is already a moment of psychological violence here: it is impossible to refuse, because the gift has already been accepted. And it’s kind of inconvenient to return it harshly: “After all, the stranger was so polite, and even called me smart and intelligent! I can’t act unintelligent now!” So a person pays 200 rubles for a book that he would not have bought even for a fiver.

These nice and sincere guys are trained to trick people into giving them money by deceit and shameless psychological blackmail. USC publishes special magazines that teach "distributors" in all sorts of ways how to keep up with a person until he gives money; for "pretty" street booksellers, special seminars are held on aggressive trading methods. Between individual distributors, between sankirtana groups in one city and between different cities, there is a constant and very fierce competition: who will distribute more books, who will bring in more money. And woe to those who will be among the losers... Krishna and the society of his consciousness are always in need of “lakshmi” (money). And the more money a person brings, the more he loves Krishna and believes in him. No other circumstances may be significant.

We have received reports that Hare Krishnas walk around Moscow apartments and ask for donations to a theological seminary, without warning that this seminary is a Krishna seminary. And this is still the most innocent of their little things.

After all, the founder of MOCK, the “great guru” Prabhupada, taught that “transcendental cunning” is permissible for the sake of Krishna. And this justifies any deceit and any fraud, in particular those mentioned above.

Interestingly, if during a conversation a Hare Krishna finds out that you are Orthodox, then the first thing he will begin to reproach you for is not following the biblical commandments. “You, they say, say: “Thou shalt not kill,” but you kill animals and eat them.” And here you can explain for a long time that this commandment does not apply to animals, that in the Hebrew language in general two different words mean “slaughter animals” and “kill people”, - none of this will be heard: after all, this argument was made by Prabhupada himself, and he never made a mistake, because a person who has reached such a high spiritual level, in principle, cannot make a mistake; the meaning of any of his phrases is absolute.

However, the main thing is not even that. It is paradoxical that if, according to the teachings of Krishna, it is impossible to kill animals, then it is quite possible to kill people, and it happens that it is necessary, especially if they belong to the breed of demons who hate Krishna. And if a person is forced to read the mantra “Hare Krishna” at the moment when he is killed, then his future fate, his karma will be greatly improved.

2. The history of the appearance of Hare Krishnas in the USSR in 1971 is very suspicious

Consider the history of ISKCON. It began in 1966 with the arrival in New York of an elderly Hindu monk named Abhay Charan De (1896-1977). Krishnas claim that they belong to an ancient Indian tradition. In fact, the beginning of their tradition was laid in 1966 by this sannyasin monk, who “modestly” called himself: "His Divine Grace" Sri Srimad Swami Bhaktivedanta Srila Prabhupada .

There are few episodes in Prabhupada's pre-sectarian biography that compare in scandalousness to the life of Hubbard, Moon, or Joseph Smith. Outwardly, everything was more or less decent. But the whole life of the founder of the sect, which has acquired one of the most criminal reputations over the 35 years of its existence, is an illustration of one all-embracing passion that absorbs him - irrepressible ambition arising from unbridled, truly diabolical pride. It is enough to look at his photograph (it can be found in any Hare Krishna publication) for this to become obvious. According to Prabhupada, his guru instructed him to preach the teachings of Krishna in the West. However, in his youth, Abhay Charan did not immediately strive to put into practice the commandment of his teacher; he was a businessman, traveling salesman, drug dealer. He devoted most of his life to these pursuits. He really hoped to get rich - but all his financial enterprises ended in failure. Convinced that business would not lead him to the desired goal, Abhay remembered the commandment of his teacher and, already in his declining years, began to publish a magazine in English about Krishnaism, which was called "Back to God". Prabhupada belonged to the generation of Hinduism, worshiping the only god Krishna. Krishnaites call themselves monotheists, but one can agree with this only after a very cursory glance at them - and even then only in part.

They worship the god they call krishna(in Sanskrit "black", "dark" or "dark blue" - a speaking name). The movement of worshiping him as the supreme deity was started in India in the 16th century by the preacher Chaitanya. The followers of Chaitanya walked the streets of Indian cities, beat tambourines, fell into orgiastic ecstasy - and everyone was called to worship the god Krishna. Prabhupada claims that he comes from a lineage of teachers who go directly to this 16th-century mystic. Below we will see how justified such a statement is.

Chaitanya declared that the way to escape the evil influences of the physical world was to receive the blessings of Krishna. Chaitanya himself is regarded by the Hare Krishnas as a joint incarnation of their god Krishna and his beloved mistress. Radha: Krishna decided to incarnate in Radha in order to comprehend the full power of her loving devotion to himself, and this incarnation was Chaitanya. The main purpose of Krishna's lovers, as taught by Chaitanya, is to love him, as his innumerable cowherd mistresses loved Krishna.

Krishna is a shepherd god whose cult gained popularity in southern India in the 6th-9th centuries. according to R. X. In terms of his character, he most of all resembles the Greek god Hermes - a mischievous, playful and rogue shepherd:

Of frauds I am gambling, I am the brilliance of the brilliant, I am victory, I am adventure, I am the strength of the strong. PURPORT There are many types of rascals throughout the universe. Of all types of fraud, gambling is the highest and therefore represents Krishna. Krishna, being the Supreme, can be more perfidious than any ordinary person. If Krishna decides to deceive a person, then no one can surpass Him in cunning. O Lord, no one can understand Your transcendental pastimes, which... can bewilder anyone.

Krishna is often depicted as a bluish, plump, effeminate youth (although the Hare Krishnas are sure that there is no one more beautiful than him: “After accidentally seeing the reflection of his beautiful body in precious stones on the floor, Krishna exclaimed: “I have never seen anything more beautiful!”).

He indulged in love affairs with countless cowherd boys, and the task of the devotees is to love him in the same way. Then they will leave the wheel of samsara of eternal reincarnations, enter the heavenly palaces of Krishna on the Vaikunitiha planets and indulge in eternal love joys with him in the heavenly forests. As it says under the illustration in the book The Nectar of Devotion, “By developing conjugal love for Krishna, a devotee can go to Dvaraka, where he will become one of the Lord’s wives.”

Some of the guruliniya initiated by Chaitanya are seen as incarnations of Krishna's many beloveds, these very cowherd boys. This is a special honor: they return to earth and incarnate in one or another bearded or beardless guru.

In the 60s, neo-Hinduism became popular in the West, and many gurus adapted to the Western way of life: they began to eat meat, wear Western clothes, because otherwise, as it seemed to them, you would not get many adherents in the West. But Prabhupada was an austere man in his own way: he was guided by a different, much stronger passion. He strictly declared to his students: no Western clothes, no meat - all Indian household regulations must be fully observed. He transplanted the outer side of Indian life onto Western soil, arguing that only in this way could the corrupted West be saved. His favorite metaphor was that the West is blind (meaning spiritually) and the East is lame (meaning materially poor). But when united, they achieve perfection. A picture of a legless blind man - wow perfection!

Prabhupada himself was married and had children, but at some point, already being elderly, he left his wife and became a sannyasin, that is, he devoted himself completely to God. Even though a monk is not supposed to have a physical relationship with a woman, Hindu practice allows living together with the family in the same house. Prabhupada also did not leave his family for some time. Once he said that one day, when he was deeply indulging in God’s thoughts, his wife, who was very fond of tea (he himself, as a sannyasin, this drink was forbidden as an aphrodisiac), sold one of his sacred books in order to buy herself something sweet for tea (Prabhupada's next financial scheme ended in failure, and the family had little money). He was so offended that he left her and the children, left home forever and since then has never asked what happened to them. Devotion to God in adulthood is typical of Hindus, who view their life as a succession of four stages: apprenticeship, family life, and in old age - hermitage and then wandering. So what Prabhupada did was quite normal for his age and culture. But after all, thanks to the activities of this man in the West, tens of thousands of young people, and not at all old people, left their families, relatives and relatives and gave themselves into slavery to the Indian ambitious man eaten by the demon of pride and the totalitarian organization he created!

Prabhupada hoped to establish his own sect in India, but it did not work out - there was too much competition. He intrigued, tried to find patrons in the highest echelons of power, but did not achieve the desired result. And then he decided to try to achieve his goal in America, especially since second-hand Eastern spirituality was becoming an increasingly salable commodity there. At the age of 69, according to the Hare Krishna legend, with a few dollars in his pocket, with a set of pots (despising all material gurus could not imagine life without Indian cuisine) and with an umbrella, he boarded an Indian cargo ship, on which he was transported across the ocean for free. Thus he arrived at the port of New York. Having collected some money from acquaintances, Prabhupada rented a former store in one of the poorest districts of the city and hung an announcement in its window that he would lecture on the Bhagavad Gita. Let me remind you that the Bhagavad Gita is one of the books of the Indian epic in which Krishna teaches the wisdom of his follower Arjuna.

At first, things didn't go well. There was a moment when Prabhupada despaired, as the money still did not come, and was about to leave, when suddenly he, as they say, got into the stream: it was the time of the decline of the beatniks and the beginning of the hippie movement. All of them were very interested in Indian wisdom. Some of the early disciples who joined Prabhupada turned out to be very active and influential in bohemian circles, so things got off the ground somehow. Young pacifists began to join the group, protesting against the war in Vietnam. Young people were especially attracted to oriental exoticism. In addition, the new teacher obliged them to observe an extremely rigorous moral code, which also seemed something new and refreshing to people who were fed up with various excesses. Hippies sought to somehow stand out from the gray crowd of the capitalist establishment, and a shaved head with a bun of hair stands out even much more than long hair. Indian saffron dhotis for men or colorful saris for women are also more visible than embroidered jeans and painted T-shirts. In addition, dancing in the streets, the atmosphere of happenings with tambourines, with cymbals, such an uncompromising challenge to the consumer society - all this was very unusual and interesting.

In 1968, Prabhupada opened his own printing press. He was met by a then popular poet in America, a representative of the beatniks Alain Ginsberg, who was interested in the East. He came to Prabhupada and began to help the "sage" spread his teachings. Soon the Hare Krishnas managed to interest the Beatles in themselves, and they allowed the sect to use their name. George Harrison, one of the four members of the illustrious group, helped the Hare Krishnas release a record with the chant of their mantra, and then he himself released a song in which there was a Hare Krishna melody. After the breakup of the Beatles, he even released a whole disc called "Life in the material world" and is dedicated to Krishna. All this gave the sect popularity. Harrison also supported MOCK with money and even gave Prabhupada a castle outside London that he had previously bought for himself. Until now, this castle is the headquarters of USC in England.

Prabhupada developed a frenzied activity; although he began preaching in the Western world at the age of 70 and looked very old and frail, he had plenty of energy. In 1971, he even came to the Soviet Union. In general, Hare Krishnas are very fond of referring to the fact that they (besides Jehovah's Witnesses) are the only one of all the newly-minted sects that managed to suffer from the Soviet regime, but the very appearance of Hare Krishnas in the USSR is very suspicious. Prabhupada arrived in 1971 as the leader of a religious movement already infamous. He was allowed into the country, he walked the streets, converted several people, founded an organization, and all this happened, as we are told, without the knowledge of the KGB and remained, as it were, unnoticed by the “authorities”. I remind you that they began to imprison and persecute Hare Krishnas only at the very end of the 70s, that is, it is quite natural to assume that certain hopes were placed on them, which for some reason they did not justify. Three years after Prabhupada's arrival, the Hare Krishnas were again allowed into the USSR - this time a whole landing force. They came to Moscow for the International Book Fair, where they were given a full booth. It is hard to imagine that in 1971 the KGB slammed and let Prabhupada into the USSR, and three years later “did not notice” a whole group of representatives of a foreign religious movement. All this looks rather mysterious. In any case, it was in this very suspicious way that Krishnaism appeared in the USSR.

3. Hare Krishnas Have Developed Many Tactics To Extort Money

Gradually the movement grew and grew stronger, and soon there was a smell of very large amounts of money obtained through various types of sankirtana. The "devotees" tried their best to get as much money as possible to please the strict teacher. Prabhupada realized that he had founded not only a sect, but also a rich multinational corporation. Having started this machine, he moved to India, where he settled in the legendary homeland of Krishna, in Vrindavan, from where he directed the movement with an iron hand and with pleasure, as a matter of course, accepted the divine honors and worship paid to him. His every word was recorded on a tape recorder, his every desire was immediately and unquestioningly fulfilled. Several times a day, the disciples reverently decorated his withered and shriveled old body with a huge wreath of fresh flowers. And on the ground, his appointees commanded, finding more and more new ways to extort money from people. Initially accustomed to begging, former Hare Krishna hippies begged on the streets, but their leaders soon developed many much more effective tactics.

For example, a Hare Krishna van with the sign “Radio Station” stops in the parking lot of a supermarket in a small American town. From there comes a dazzling blonde with a microphone, the cord from which stretches into the van, calls a passer-by and speaks; "Hello! We're live, what's your name? We are now running a marathon to help homeless children. Do you love children? What about your wonderful wife? I remind you that we are live. You can say hi to her. How much can you donate to help homeless children?” Naturally, under such pressure - after all, the amount was announced “live” - people gave the last. Meanwhile, there was no radio, and the wire from the microphone was not connected to anything.

But they were still flowers. A lot of criminal facts are known about MOCK of that time. For example, the Hare Krishna mission in Japan robbed jewelry stores. They had a developed system whereby all the loot was brought and sold in India, and the money was piled at the feet of Prabhupada. In California, the local leadership of the movement dealt in drugs. As we know, a lot of hippies joined the sect, among whom drug addiction was very common. The first Hare Krishnas, who thought of the drug trade, reasoned approximately according to the following logic: you were a drug addict, I was a drug addict, we became Hare Krishnas, dedicated ourselves to Krishna, we don’t use drugs anymore. This means that the more Krishna temples there are, the fewer drug addicts there will be. People will come there, turn around and give up drugs, which means that if we sell drugs and build temples of Krishna with this money, then maybe in the short term there will be more drug addicts, but in the end there will be much less of them. This story ended with a contract killing of a competitor (the customer was the president of a Hare Krishna temple) and the arrest of the entire local elite of the ISKCON.

There is evidence that Prabhupada knew everything, because he received letters complaining about the perversion of the original ideals, but he did not answer anything, but only demanded more and more money. There was never enough money, and he demanded more and more, and at the same time hypocritically complained that his followers could not enter into real Krishna consciousness and were fallen people. Thus, in the track record of the Krishnaites, who “wouldn’t hurt a fly,” there are robberies, and drug and arms trafficking, a number of murders, and much more.

4. Terrible exploitation, the most severe punishments, and sexual abuse of children reigned in the “gurukulas”.

Prabhupada passed away in 1977, and a year before that, an order was issued about what would happen after his death. A 29-member Governing Body Commission (GBC) was appointed. But soon the old man realized that there were too many people, and in 1977, shortly before his death, he appointed 11 successor gurus from among his most beloved and promising students and ordered them to divide the world among themselves. Prabhupada decided that they would compete in the number of converts, in the amount of money they would acquire, and in this way the movement would grow and expand.

There is a description of this division of the world between the successor gurus, it is very similar to the “Sukharev Convention” of the children of Lieutenant Schmidt from the novel by Ilf and Petrov, who divided the territory of the Soviet Union between them. Eventually the world was divided up and the successor gurus went through the conquered territories to create new life for the glory of Krishna. Having reigned in their specific principalities, the gurus began to fight among themselves: they drove each other’s agents out of their borders and endlessly sorted out the relationship on the topic of who stole “devotees” from whom and who drove with his sankirtan team to foreign territory. A few years later, after many upheavals, out of 11 successor gurus, only two remained in their former places: someone went to prison, someone served time and left, but did not return to the movement, someone was killed, someone saved connection with the movement, but flew off the leadership position.

Krishnaites, when talking on this topic, begin to assure with fervor that MOCK is a crystal-clear organization, just some former members let us down. Here one involuntarily recalls the CPSU, in which there was not a single criminal - any person who violated the Criminal Code was expelled from the party even before the trial, so not a single member of the Communist Party was convicted. In the same way, when one of the successor gurus was arrested or it became clear that arrest could not be avoided, he was immediately expelled from the Krishna movement, and the ranks of the sect remained crystal clear.

The world was shocked when multiple facts became known about the life of "gurukulas" - boarding schools where parents sent their children so that these "by-products of the body" (Prabhupada's expression) did not interfere with their understanding of Krishna consciousness. There were massive cases of child abuse, beatings and rape. Here is a quote from a letter from a boy who grew up at USC:

Trying to bring back the gurukula nightmares is the cruelest thing you can do to a teenager. I'm trying to forget all the horrors we endured in the name of God, physical beatings, psychological persecution, constant rape... I was raped by the same teacher who also raped my brother in France, my maternal sister was forced to drink her own urine in Dallas, my stepfather was smuggling drug money from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. My mother was forced to marry against her will. My younger brother's guru was killed by a world sankirtana leader. And you want me to continue like this? Or will you just put me on the list of inevitable losses...? In fact, if you don't know, there are thousands like me all over the world.

Prabhupada's Favorite Disciple Kirtanananda (Keit Ham) hoped to lead the movement later. Even during the life of the teacher, he quarreled with him and broke away from the movement. He settled in a remote area of ​​West Virginia. The colony he founded he called New (New) Vrindavan. In the center of it, with the money that was collected in unimaginable ways (mostly illegal), he built a huge temple, which he called the “golden palace”, and set up a real concentration camp with him. His followers worked on the construction of this “golden palace”, in which an incredible amount of money was invested: Italian marble was used in the work, everything was covered with gold leaf, and inside were incredibly expensive statues. The temple became a place for tourists to visit, from whom they took money. But something terrible was going on among the inhabitants: terrible exploitation of people, the most severe punishments (and even murders), and sexual abuse of children in “gurukulas” were practiced in the community. Nevertheless, Prabhupada reconciled with Ham, accepted him back into the movement (how was it possible to miss such a tidbit from MOCK) and constantly set an example for other students.

After Prabhupada's death, Kirtanananda (by then calling himself Bhaktipada Swami Maharaja) became one of the successor gurus. Of course, the crimes in New Vrindavan continued to multiply. New contract killings were committed. A Krishna who tried to expose them was shot in the back of the head. He was killed by a Krishna killer on the payroll of Kirtanananda. Information about this leaked out; very belatedly, these crimes were solved, and several people were sentenced to life without parole. Most of the criminals fled to India and are still on the run.

Kirtanananda hired the most expensive lawyers, and for some time he managed to prove that everything, they say, was happening without his knowledge. They couldn't catch him by the hand. But when in the end it became clear that he could not get out, the management of MOCK decided to abandon him and expelled him from the movement. Kirtanananda dragged out the investigation as long as he could, and only in 1996 did justice finally prevail: he received 20 years in prison. After he sat down, the remnants of his group reunited with ISKCON.

London's successor guru Jayateerth (James Himmeln) gained notoriety for doing kirtans (dances dedicated to Krishna) with LSD and "flying away to other worlds." He, too, eventually broke away from the movement, started a harem. And he had murders in the group: at least one person who threatened to expose him, he drowned in the lake. It all ended with the fact that one of his students, offended by him, stabbed him with a knife, and then cut off the head of the corpse.

In the book about the "International Society for Krishna Consciousness" "Monkey on a Stick" ("Monkey on a stick"), all 500 pages of text tell about criminal facts from the history of the Hare Krishna movement. From this book it obviously follows that all this is not an accident, but the basis of the existence of a sect. These crimes are irrefutably derived from the teachings and structure of the MOCK, developed by the pathologically ambitious and arrogant.

The very presence of guruism, that is, in essence, divine unquestioned power given to an ordinary sinful person, corrupts his soul and leads to a terrible fall. Let us recall the words of Churchill that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In the case of MOCK, we are dealing with precisely this phenomenon, when yesterday's outcasts and losers, embittered at the world that threw them to the sidelines, suddenly got at their disposal absolute, unlimited power over the lives and destinies of thousands of people. And of course, in the end, Prabhupada is responsible for all their crimes, elevating them and placing them in positions of unlimited power.

5. Idols are awakened, their teeth are brushed, they are dressed, they are washed - washed with a mixture of milk, rose water and cow urine

So, the Hare Krishnas believe in a single, personal God, whom they call the Most High, Supreme, Absolute, True, from whom everything in the world came from. This god has many names, according to his many actions. His main name is Krishna, which the Hare Krishnas, contrary to any etymology, interpret as “all-attractive”. God is eternal and uncreatable, has many aspects, has two types of energy - higher (spiritual) and lower (material), which creates the world and all living beings.

Krishna appeared and lived on earth 5,000 years ago. Since then, there have been 29 of his new appearances - the avatar. But only the first appearance of Krishna was complete, the others were more or less partial. In each new appearance there is less and less percent of the real Krishna. Prabhupada calls Krishna's first appearance the "Supreme Person" of the deity himself. And besides this god, there are many other deities (both Hindu literature and other religious systems), which Prabhupada says that, in principle, they can also be worshiped. But they are only avatars (appearances) of Krishna or demigods, and Krishna is the god of gods, the cause and creator of all other gods. And therefore, according to Prabhupada, those who do not worship Krishna are fools like donkeys, pigs and other unsympathetic animals. In his avatars, Krishna allegedly appeared both as the god of Buddhists, and as the god of Christians, and as the god of Islam (! - A.D.). That is, according to the Hare Krishnas, our Lord Jesus Christ was just one of the very incomplete appearances of Krishna.

Krishnaites even carry out a linguistic analysis and prove that the word Christ (Krist-Kristna, etc.) means the same thing as Krishna. Of course, from a linguistic point of view, this statement does not stand up to scrutiny, because Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word meshiach, which means "messiah." A Krishna - the Sanskrit word, which, as we remember, means “black”, “dark”, that is, “dark spiritual essence”.

The teachings of the USC are allegedly based on the Bhagavad Gita, which is part of the ancient Indian epic. But in fact, our pseudo-Krishnas are not studying the Bhagavad Gita itself, but its translation into English, which was made by Prabhupada and provided with his comments. As for the comments, this is a separate topic, but serious Indologists point out that the Bhagavad Gita As It Is, which came out from the pen of Prabhupada, is not a translation, but a completely modern (one might say postmodern) retelling of the original Bhagavad Gita. ”, diluted with terms and concepts of Western pop culture and pop philosophy.

According to Prabhupada's teachings (particularly expressed in his multi-volume retelling of Srimad-Bhagavatam, which is provided with huge commentaries), Krishna loves fun, jokes, entertainment (lily - divine games), he has 16108 wives, each of whom has a palace, 10 children and a huge number of grandchildren. In a word, this is not a god, but a playful superman. There is an excessive amount of erotic symbolism in Krishna literature. Krishnaites may object that the Bible, they say, also contains the Song of Songs. But in the sect, the situation is still different, because the god Krishna, indulging in erotic joys, is the central episode of their teaching, everything is built on this, everything revolves around this, while the Song of Songs is only one (and far from central) of the biblical books. And nowhere in our tradition is it proposed to take this symbolic book literally.

If you happen to talk with Hare Krishnas, then try asking them about their attitude towards Christ. They will say that they respect Him very much - He was an avatar of Krishna. And then one can ask who was earlier, who incarnated earlier - Krishna or Christ? They will say that Krishna walked the earth and played pranks 5000 years ago, therefore, he incarnated earlier. After that, he incarnated again and again, including, in part, in “the great teacher Jesus.” And then bring the words of the Savior: “Everyone, no matter how many of them came before Me, are thieves and robbers” (John 10:8). And look at the reaction of your interlocutors.

As the sectarians teach, Krishna's word is the same as himself. And since it is believed that the Bhagavad Gita was dictated by Krishna, then every word in it is Krishna himself - if not completely, not one hundred percent, but as much Krishna as each word can contain him. In other words, their sacred book is also a god and should be worshiped as a god. Prabhupada also says that the so-called Hindu Trinity (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) is also a manifestation of Krishna and also partial. Each of them played a role in the creation of the world, but Krishna is supreme and unborn, he differs from the rest of the world in his transcendence, that is, he is absolutely outside the material world.

Krishna manifests Himself in three modes or aspects, the first of which is Paramatma- a localized super-soul, as which a grain of Krishna lives in the heart of every person. Maybe some of you have seen the widespread Hare Krishna picture “The Wheel of Life”, where a baby is drawn, then a boy, then a young man, then a mature husband, then an elderly man, then an old man, then a corpse falling into the grave, and then again a baby. In the middle of the chest each has a bright luminous dot. This is exactly the same soul of Krishna that lives in each person along with his individual soul - jiva, and then transmigrates into each of his successive bodies. Second mode - Brahman is the bright personal radiance that is the inner engine of the entire universe. It is the impersonal aspect, the all-pervading absolute truth, the incomprehensible, qualityless power, the radiation of the transcendental body of the personality of god. The third mode is Bhagawan- this is the supreme personality of Krishna himself, possessing inconceivable qualities, all wealth, power, fame, beauty.

Let's repeat. The three aspects are the super soul, the effulgence or emanation of Krishna, and the supreme personality of Krishna himself. Just as the localized soul of Krishna lives in the soul of every person, so Krishna, who created the entire universe in the form of his radiance or radiation, is present in everything, including in idols - images of deities, but he is present in them more than anywhere else (why in the statue of Krishna there is more of it than, say, in the picturesque image of him, not a single more or less satisfactory answer can be obtained from the Hare Krishnas). Statues should be treated like Krishna himself. That is why in Krishna temples there is a morning ceremony for the care of idols. They are woken up, their teeth are brushed, they are dressed, they are washed-bathed with a mixture of milk, rose water and cow urine. After the gods are washed, this precious nectar is drunk by the followers of Krishna: the cow is a sacred animal in Hinduism, and everything that comes from the cow is also sacred. Several times a day the idols are fed and put to sleep at night.

Krishna, being the supreme deity, himself accepts this worship. Worshiping avatars of Krishna also applies in principle to it, and therefore if you are a Christian and worship Christ, then in fact you are worshiping Krishna without even knowing it. Although, as Prabhupada reminds us, it is very foolish to honor other gods when you can address the god directly. As it is written in the Srimad-Bhagavatam: "The non-believers in Krishna actually worship only the demigods and can receive only illusory and transient benefits." In his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, Prabhupada says that all people are fools and all the suffering of mankind comes from ignorance (“99.9% refer to naradhama ... Naradhama is the lowest form of human life”), but a society that develops in itself Krsna consciousness would be wonderful and prosperous.

So, the ordinary person, devoid of spiritual knowledge, is classified by Srimad Bhagavatam as dogs, pigs, camels and donkeys, and this is by no means an exaggeration. The leaders of such ignorant people are very proud of being admired by so many dogs and pigs, but in fact there is nothing flattering for them, the Bhagavatam openly declares that one who does not show a desire to understand the science of Krishna - even if he the great leader of the humanoid dogs and pigs, is essentially an animal. He may be powerful, strong, or a large animal, but from the point of view of the Srimad Bhagavatam, due to his atheistic mentality, such a leader cannot be considered a person. In other words, atheistic leaders like dogs and pigs are just bigger animals with more animal qualities.

“External” Hare Krishnas will be happy to report that God has appeared in many forms and you can worship him in different ways. Nevertheless, for themselves, Krishna worshipers, following their founder, believe that any person who prefers to worship anyone else other than Krishna is an atheist, a fool, a humanoid creature, a pig, a dog, a crocodile and all the other inhabitants of the zoo. Only Hare Krishnas are at the very top of the pyramid, and they have the incomparably greatest chance for salvation.

6. “I am all-devouring death”

One image of Krishna - a plump, effeminate blue youth - is already known to us. But Krishna has other faces that are more in line with his nature. This, for example, is the many-armed, merciless and bloodthirsty man-lion Narasimha, surrounded by cobras, gnawing bloody human necks and hanging human entrails on his body. “...He tore apart the mighty body of the atheist Hiranyakasipu with his nails.”

But this is not yet the real face of Krishna. Here is what the Bhagavad-Gita says about his true form:

I see in Your body many, many hands, wombs, mouths, eyes stretching everywhere without limit... I see You spewing fire and burning the entire universe with Your own effulgence... All the planets and their demigods are thrown into confusion at Your sight. great form with its many faces, eyes, arms, thighs, legs, wombs and many frightening teeth... Your gaping mouths... All people will rush into Your throats, like moths flying to the fire to perish in it... I see how You swallow people from all sides with Your flaming mouths... I cannot keep my balance at the sight of Your flaming deadly faces... Our main warriors rush into Your awesome mouths. And I see how the heads of some, stuck between Your teeth, are crushed by them.

And here are the words of the “merciful and loving” Krishna about himself:

I am Yama, the God of death... I am the all-devouring death... I am time, the great destroyer of worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people.

And finally, the main characteristic: “...death is the Supreme Personality of Godhead Himself.” How can one not remember the words of the Savior about the devil, who was a murderer from the beginning.

7. “Krishna let a six-month night fall on the earth and made love to a hundred women during it, and their husbands did not notice this”

Prabhupada calls Krishna the "Light of the world", "the cause of the world", "the source, spirit and energy of the world". At the same time, the creator of MOCK was faced with the task of “working in” a relatively new deity, Krishna, into more ancient Indian legends about the creation of the world.

According to the cosmology developed by Prabhupada, the creation of the world began with the original appearance of Vishnu. Vishnu, Prabhupada states, is almost a 100% avatar of Krishna. Vishnu created the world by looking, breathing and sweating. According to these three signs, everything created by Vishnu is distinguished.

Brahma is the first deity in the already created world, it contains 75% of Krishna, and Brahma took a female form. Krishna impregnated Brahma and Brahma began to give birth various forms, including people. “Lord Brahma was at a loss as to where to start creating the material universe. Trying to find out, he fell into meditation and the sound of Krishna's flute entered his ear. Thus Brahma received initiation from the Supreme Lord and became the original spiritual master of the universe.” Since we are descended from Brahma, we have 75% of the properties of Krishna, but there is nothing to be particularly proud of, since these 75% are present in us in very small quantities. Hence the conclusion that we need to grow in Krishna. As for Shiva, he is 50% Krishna and he is a destroyer. The whole world rests on the constant contradiction of creation and destruction.

What is a person, according to the teachings of the Hare Krishnas? This is primarily a soul (spiritual body), and our physical bodies have no meaning for our personality. This view is typical of any religion of Eastern origin. But Prabhupada goes further. According to his teachings, our spiritual bodies come from Krishna and relate to him like a son to his father (an obvious borrowing from Christianity). Of course, the Hare Krishnas also adhere to the doctrine of reincarnation - the transmigration of souls, which is regarded as evil. One should strive to achieve liberation from the fetters of the body. This is a terrible illusion of deluded people, Prabhupada teaches that the material body is a person. This is ignorance and it has to be fought, it has to be eradicated.

Our individual soul (false, atma) is a particle of the supreme soul (Paramatma, Brahman). The field of activity for the jiva is the body, which the soul receives according to its desires. Having abused his freedom, the jiva enters the material world, where he is under the rule of three gunas (states, modes, attachments) - ignorance, passion, goodness. In the material world, the jiva forgets about his divine essence and surrenders to the power of karma, that is, the relationship of cause and effect.

There are three levels of planets in the spiritual world. The highest level is inhabited by the demigods, those whose jiva is in the mode of goodness, virtue. This includes the Hare Krishnas themselves, brahmins, Vedic scholars, Vedic philosophers and cows. The middle level - including the Earth - includes bodies whose jiva is in the mode of passion. Passion is the desire for honor, family, home. Man here has to work hard. On the planets lower level there are jivas in the mode of ignorance (laziness, madness), for which they receive the bodies of animals. Depending on our behavior, our soul can move into either a person or an animal, or become an insect or even a mineral. How to avoid such a sad fate? You need to find the true meaning of life, which will free you from further resettlements and, in general, from any connection with the material world, Prabhupada replies. That meaning of life is to attain Krishna consciousness. This is the “discovery” that Prabhupada made, the method that he invented. It means to learn to understand Krishna, to restore the lost relationship with him. To do this, you need to focus your whole consciousness on Krishna, love Krishna more than anything in the world, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.

If we do not do this, then our soul may next time incarnate in any of the 8,400,000 types of life that Prabhupada counts, that is, move into an insect, a mineral, or something else. “In total, there are 8,400,000 life forms on different planets of the universe, and a living being constantly moves from one body to another, depending on what pleasures he seeks.”

We must admit that not only are we not a whole body, but we are not a body at all. Each of us has a soul. We must not believe any of our feelings and desires. You need to realize this and completely abandon them. On the one hand, it is already enough that we have incarnated as people, which means that we behaved well in a past life, but we could have incarnated as insects. But on the other hand, there is also nothing to be particularly proud of, because if we were really good and obedient, then now we would already be disembodied spirits, which would be incomparably better for us. Taking on a human form, the jiva has a chance to free itself from samsara and return back to God. The liberation of the jiva from the material world is possible only on the path of developing Krishna consciousness in oneself.

If we become Krishna conscious in this life, we secure our incarnation in the next life as a human being. There is a real chance that we can become Hare Krishna again and everything will end well. The ideal is to become a heavenly soul and merge with Krishna in love ecstasy (Krishna is revered by his fans as a lurusha - a masculine principle. Asami Krishnaites, servants of Krishna, consider themselves as prakriti - feminine). If we find the true meaning in Krishna consciousness in two lifetimes in a row, then we will come out of the wheel of samsara, disincarnate and go to the groves of heavenly nirvana, where on the planet Vaikunitihi we will become playful cowherd boys and begin to spend eternity in the loving embrace of Krishna. In other words, to find such an enviable future, you need to hold out for only two lives in a row.

Our relationship with Krishna should not always remain a father-son relationship, because a son can only beg for handouts from his father, and this is humiliating. The relationship between son and father needs to be changed to a sensual erotic relationship between the two parties. We need to love Krishna more than we love our father, mother or children. One must desire it as a mistress longs for intimacy with her beloved. In this regard, the story from the Srimad Bhagavatam is interesting, which tells how Krishna let a six-month night fall on the earth and made love to a hundred women during it, and their husbands did not notice this. It describes in detail how handsome and irresistible Krishna is and how no woman can resist him. In the same way, we should strive to forget everything in the arms of dark blue Krishna. Only in this way can we be saved. So, having borrowed an idea from Christianity, Prabhupada then abandons it - like Satanists take the Lord's Prayer to read it backwards, or steal a crucifix in the temple, then hang it upside down.

Salvation is accomplished by the supreme energy of Krishna, which pours out of him on us. This process comes from Krishna's sensual desire: He wants to enjoy the cowherd boys. But the desire for pleasure "binds" the all-powerful Krishna to the beloved cowherd boys, not only figuratively, but also in the literal sense: they equally owe their pleasure to each other. Freedom disappears from grace-filled love, and love turns into a relationship of a debtor and a creditor. We have to develop our relationship with Krishna to the same high sensual level, when for the sake of loving merging with him we forget about everything else, about all our attachments, debts and obligations in this world. The highest state in many Hindu sects (especially in the Tantric ones) is the erotic feeling. In the hierarchy of relationships with Krishna, enjoying Krishna as a lover is also the most valued. This is quite natural, because this is the feeling that the gopi gopis had for their lover Krishna. The Srimad-Bhagavatam indicates that these cowherd mistresses rushed to Krishna, forgetting their lawful husbands. Therefore, according to Hindu ethics, they are other people's wives, pleasing their lover (at least in this case, the lover of the divine). Here, Krishna's violation of all basic moral laws, not only Hindu, but also universal, is obvious.

8. The main service to Krishna is to remain faithful to the guru

As Prabhupada assures, the material world can become spiritual while retaining its material characteristics. Spiritual is everything related to Krishna. Material values ​​are converted into spiritual values ​​by using them in the service of Krishna, that is, if you give a large part of the income to USC. Everyone, even a person from the untouchable caste, can be freed from the miserable material world and develop Krishna consciousness if he serves Krishna with all devotion. Prabhupada lists 64 services to Krishna, the main of which is to remain faithful to the guru under all circumstances. Recall that the first sign of totalitarianism is guruism. In Krishnaism, the role of the guru, who must be obeyed, is emphasized and exalted to an extraordinary height.

Therefore, firstly, you must first find the right guru, who will lead you right to Krishna. Secondly, Prabhupada says that the final correct guru who goes through a long line of succession is himself. You have to give up the idea that you are subordinate to the material world, you have to subordinate yourself to this guru and serve him as if he were Krishna himself. However, for you it is. You serve him and learn from him. I will repeat the above quote about how to honor and worship the guru. This is what the disciple (shishya) says, who lies at the feet of the guru, with his face buried in his feet:

You are my spiritual sun, and I am an insignificant spark of Your radiance. You are my Lord and I am Your servant forever. The nectar of Your lotus feet intoxicates all my senses, and I rely only on the infinite sweetness of Your holy name. What can I, the fallen one, say according to my understanding? I am here only to do Your will. I feel a deep satisfaction in speaking the words that You put in my mouth, and I will not even think about whether they are right or not.

Domestic Hare Krishnas like to compare guruism with Orthodox elders. But any obedience to the elder ends if the elder preaches heresy or sin. The Hare Krishnas do not raise such a question. We see not obedience, but absolute reckless blind obedience. And the second key point of the text (as, indeed, of spiritual life according to Prabhupada's recipe in general) is intoxication, to which we oppose sobriety as the main necessary element of a healthy spiritual life.

So, for salvation, one must obey the guru as if he were Krishna himself. Here is what the main leader of modern Krishnaism, Harikesh Swami, has recently written about this (see below about him):

Guru's instructions exactly, one hundred percent correspond to Krishna's instructions... Surrendering to guru and surrendering to Krishna are the same... Spiritual master is the embodiment of Krishna's energy... We should give whatever we have to the spiritual master, and be very humble at the same time... The spiritual master is forced to take a stick and beat this stupid disciple... The spiritual master connects us with Krishna, and if we break the connection with the spiritual master, then we lose the connection with Krishna. Glorifying the devotees of the Lord is like glorifying the Lord Himself. In a sense, glorifying a devotee is even more important... “A disciple should want only one thing - to satisfy the spiritual master,” his disciples echo Harikesha.

“A student should never consider the spiritual master to be an ordinary person, and the Deity in the temple to be made of stone. Anyone who thinks so is a resident of hell” (Bhag. 4.21.12). One who does not have spiritual vision considers the Deity of Krishna to be material, although He is actually spiritual. In the same way, it seems to us that the spiritual master, like ordinary souls, suffers from the consequences of karma. However, it is not. The guru's body is also spiritual... “As soon as a person surrenders to Krishna, Krishna takes away all his sins. Similarly, the representative of Krishna, His external manifestation, brings the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead to living beings by giving spiritual initiation to the disciples, so he also bears all the reactions of the past sinful activities of his disciples” (Bhag. 4.21.31, comm.).

The guru initiates adepts (distance initiation is possible), takes on the karma of the student, gives a secret “protective” mantra with which the student can turn to Krishna in extreme situations. The Guru helps the shishya to transform his spiritual world, to develop a special blissfully enthusiastic worldview, in which a devotee of Krishna tries to see the causeless mercy of God in everything.

Thirdly, it is necessary to develop an attitude to look at the world with eyes "smeared with love for Krishna." Love for him is manifested in the highest degree in the achievement of religious ecstasy through meditation, collective and individual. Individual meditation (japa) and collective (kirtan) - joint chanting of mantras, accompanied by playing musical instruments and dancing. The exclusive role belongs to the maha-mantra: "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare, Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare, Hare." It must be repeated at least 1728 times a day. In the mantra, as you heard, there are only three words: Krishna, Rama(names of the deity) and hare - in the interpretation of the Hare Krishnas - the vocative case from the word hari, which means "the energy of the deity", but in fact one of the names of the properties of Vishnu, meaning "yellow-brown", "dirty brown". That is, in essence, again, only the name of Krishna is repeated. But it doesn't matter if you understand or don't understand these words. The main thing is to start singing the mantra, and then these words themselves will do the cleansing work for you, awakening Krishna consciousness in you and developing it. By repeating these words, that is, this name, endlessly, you enter into personal association with Krishna, which is contained in his name; thus every time you chant a mantra, you are tasting Krishna.

Fourthly, one should serve Krishna. But the best service to Krishna is to renounce the whole world, become a sannyasin monk and live in a temple. A sannyasin, of course, renounces all sexual relations. If you cannot do this, then you will marry, but then physical intimacy between a man and a woman will be allowed to you only to prolong the family, and this is once a month on the day when the woman is most likely to become pregnant. And before this relationship, each of the spouses needs to read a large circle of the maha-mantra, that is, 50 circles on the rosary, in which there are 108 beads (each bead is a complete mantra), and only after that try to conceive a child with consciousness fixated on Krishna. But if you want to lead a perfect life, then you need to give up your wife, move to a temple and live in such a way that you fully surrender yourself to Krishna.

Further, it is necessary to refuse to eat any forbidden food. The diet for all members of the sect is one. Forbidden foods include meat, fish, eggs, onions, garlic, mushrooms, tea, coffee, etc. All Hare Krishnas need to eat only those foods that are dedicated to Krishna. All food is divided into 4 varieties. 1st group - prohibited; 2nd group - this is passionate food, that is, very satisfying, with a lot of spices and spices; the 3rd group is good food (mainly vegetables and milk); The 4th group is pure food, that is, that good food that was dedicated to Krishna during its preparation, then immediately after preparation, Krishna was fed with it, and it is desirable to eat it within three hours. Food dedicated to Krishna is called prasadam. Krishna, having tasted it, enters into it, and after that she herself becomes Krishna, loses her material properties and becomes spiritual food. By eating it, you partake of Krishna.

When Hare Krishnas distribute their prasadam on the streets, we must remember that by eating it, we thus partake of Krishna, that is, we violate the commandment forbidding Christians to eat idolatrous things (Acts 15:29). Here we can remind you that the Hare Krishnas themselves will never eat our food, this is strictly prohibited. The Hare Krishnas love to talk about their charity: they say they fed people in Abkhazia, and they had a kitchen in Grozny. They have a whole program, the so-called "Food for Life". They don't just feed, they cook only prasadam, forcing ignorant hungry people to partake of Krishna. This is not charity, but an act of spreading their faith through the distribution of ritual food.

At the beginning of 1997, there was a program on TV that advertised Hare Krishnas; what wonderful heroes they are, how they sacrifice themselves and feed the people in Grozny. Meanwhile, this food was given to them by the Petersburg government, they did not spend their money at all. They also provided them with other state money received, among other things, from Orthodox taxpayers. In essence, this money was transferred to the pagans, who used it for advertising purposes to spread their organization, that is, to oppose Orthodoxy.

9. Signs of ecstatic love for Krishna: rolling on the ground, loud cries, yawning, salivation, wild laughter, heavy breathing, belching...

To gain Krishna consciousness, one must learn to get out of one's own body and fall into ecstasy when chanting a mantra, and for this, tympanums, tambourines, drums and joint ecstatic dances to the chanting of a mantra are practiced. After that, you cease to feel your own body, “go out into the astral plane” and merge in ecstasy with Krishna. Having reached this state, a person becomes a “realized soul”. The signs of ecstatic love for Krishna are rolling on the ground, loud cries, yawning, salivation, wild laughter, heavy breathing, belching, etc.

According to Prabhupada, a person falling into an ecstatic state experiences eight states:

1 - there is a numbness and a feeling of emptiness;

2 - sweat breaks through you;

3 - hair on the body stand on end;

5 - you begin to tremble and shake;

6 - your skin changes color;

7 - you begin to cry and fight in hysterics;

8 You fall into a cataleptic trance.

All this is very similar to how demons enter a person, that is, to possession. It is clear how all these “states” affect the human mind.

10. It is necessary to give up everything: from your property, from your body

So, when people settle in a Krishna ashram (community), they must begin to follow a strict Hindu (in the understanding of Prabhupada), but in fact a typical sectarian everyday code of behavior. It is necessary to give up everything: not only from your property, but also from your body. He who thinks more than prescribed about his body is still unworthy of Krishna, thoughts about the body hinder the development of Krishna consciousness. Naturally, all your property should not be thrown away and distributed to the poor, but should be given to the Society for Krishna Consciousness. With all his personal asceticism and an urgent demand to adopt Indian life in his life, Prabhupada, in order to increase profits after the initial bans, nevertheless blessed his followers to collect money on the streets in suits and wigs (now this is already the norm). Let me remind you that, apparently, he knew about the crimes being committed, and yet, if it brought money, he was ready to turn a blind eye to everything.

Prabhupada left prescriptions for all occasions. For example, how to take care of your body, how to wash it, how to clean it, how to wash your face, how and how much to sleep, how and what to think about. There is no freedom left for a person - everything is decided for him. The adept falls into absolute slavery. Life in the community is very strict, the schedule does not leave a minute of free time. There are nine main activities in the ritualized life: hearing about Krishna, chanting a mantra, remembrance, service, worship, prayer, obedience, maintaining friendship with Krishna, and giving everything you have.

Too much sleep is very bad, so you need to get up at three o'clock or at half past three (the Hare Krishnas go to bed after ten in the evening), after which the ceremony immediately begins. You need to go around all the idols, wake them up, wash them, brush their teeth, dress them, feed them. Then follows the reading of the mantra on the rosary. This takes at least two hours. Then a whole hour of listening to the material prepared under the guidance of Prabhupada, and the sermon. After that, work and at 9 o'clock - breakfast. By that time the food had already been prepared and dedicated to Krishna.

After breakfast, street work to collect money and those activities that bring money, the so-called sankirtan, begin.

Hare Krishnas treat women badly, because women are less worthy creatures than men. If in a past life they behaved well, then they would have incarnated into a male body, and not into a female body. Therefore, a woman must completely and completely obey a man. Usually she gets the dirtiest and hardest work.

11. Traditional Hindus themselves are quite wary of Hare Krishnas

Krishnas like to identify themselves with Hinduism (“we are 500 million, 800 million, a billion, and we have the ancient Vedic tradition”). It is very beneficial for sectarians to present themselves “for outsiders” as the traditional Indian religion. In fact, what the USC preaches is pseudo-Hinduism, heavily adapted to Western tastes. Prabhupada liked to elevate himself to the final link in the chain of Indian mystics that began in the 16th century. But this statement is based only on his own words, which are not supported by anything.

Let's make an analogy. For example, Lutherans elevate themselves to Luther, who also lived in the 16th century. Their statement is confirmed by the fact that in any Lutheran library you will certainly find the writings of Luther, his disciples and followers in continuity up to the present day (not to mention the works of the early Church Fathers, which Lutherans also study). Thus, we see that their erection of themselves by the 16th century is fully justified. Krishnas study Prabhupada and only Prabhupada. Enter a Hare Krishna library or bookstore, look at what they sell on the street - it's all either Prabhupada's books or Bhagavad Gita As It Is, which, as we remember, can also be called Prabhupada's work. Even in the Hare Krishna bookstore, you can find the writings of Prabhupada's disciples, now leading ISKCON. But from what was written before Prabhupada, you will find almost nothing there, except, again, in the retelling of Prabhupada himself.

It can be recognized that USC has some relation to Hinduism, comparable, for example, with the attitude of Jehovah's Witnesses to Christianity. There is some distant connection between Jehovists and Christianity through their origin from Adventist circles, but because of this it is very difficult to call them Christians. The same can be said about the attitude of our Hare Krishnas towards Hinduism. Traditional Hindus themselves are quite wary of them, because for them only a person born in India can be a Hindu, and a non-Hindu converted to Hinduism, and even more so one who has dedicated himself to the Brahmins, is nonsense. Accordingly, Western Hare Krishnas are not allowed into many Hindu temples associated with the "earthly life" of Krishna. Moreover, when Prabhupada founded the movement in the West, he was even stopped being invited to the annual gatherings of Chaitanite Vaishnavas. Perhaps offended by them for this, he made the following statement in a rare moment of frankness:

In an attempt to fit the Krishna consciousness movement into the appropriate historical and cultural context, many people identify it with Hinduism. But this is a misconception... There is a misconception that the Krishna consciousness movement is a Hindu religion... Sometimes Indians, both inside and outside India, think that we are preaching the Hindu religion, but we are not. ... The Krishna consciousness movement has nothing to do with Hinduism or any other religious system... People should understand that the Krishna consciousness movement does not preach the so-called Hindu religion.

It is clear that this statement finally dots the i's. After the unequivocal words of their infallible divine guru and founder, any claim by the Hare Krishnas that they belong to Hinduism is an outright lie. Therefore, it is more correct to attribute the movement of Krishna consciousness to neo-Hinduism, and even more correctly to pseudo-Hinduism, post-Hinduism or neo-Guruism. Apparently, in order to compensate for the weakness of religious ties with India, the Hare Krishnas decided to strengthen their political ties. Now they are an active core in the extremist Indian religious-nationalist (communalist) movement "Vishwa Hindu Parishad".

12. Krishnaites operate in all major cities Russia and are very actively lobbying their interests in the power structures

So, Krishnaism has been operating in the USSR since 1971, and officially since 1989. Now it is quite widespread in Russia. At the beginning of 1998, there were 120 registered Hare Krishna temple communities in 100 cities in our country. According to the testimony of the Hare Krishnas themselves, in Moscow and the region they have more than 30 thousand adherents, and in total in Russia more than 100 thousand. Until recently, their numbers continued to grow.

In our country, Hare Krishnas are not too different from their Western co-religionists and leaders: there are few Russians who have never encountered their obsessive trade and aggressive begging on the streets of our cities. All such widely advertised "charitable" activities of the "Society for Krishna Consciousness" ultimately come down to the distribution of food offered to idols. Moreover, according to eyewitnesses, Hare Krishnas bypass the Moscow markets and dedicate all the products for sale there to Krishna. Let us remember that this is exactly what the emperor Julian did in order to force Christians to taste unknowingly things offered to idols and thus become defiled.

The sect, which has enormous material resources, is making extraordinary efforts (24-hour radio broadcasts, loudly advertised "humanitarian" missions, active media campaigns, etc.) to improve its image in the mass consciousness. And this is intended to contribute to the widespread dissemination of sectarian teachings in our country and, ultimately, the establishment of an “ideal Vedic” regime in it with total brahminical control and executions of those who disagree (see below). The USC actively cooperates with such “human rights” organizations as the Adventist-controlled International Association for Religious Freedom (the ROC withdrew from this organization after being a member for a very short time), the Yakunin Committee for the Defense of Freedom of Conscience, the Pchelintsev Institute of Religion and Law, the pro-Scientology Moskovskaya Helsinki Group”, and engages in political lobbying.

USC operates in all major cities and actively lobbies its interests in all government structures. The main emphasis is on the fact that Krishnaism is supposedly a traditional religion, that it represents ancient Hinduism, an ancient Vedic tradition. Moreover, Hare Krishnas claim that they are more traditional for Russia than Christianity, that Russia has been a Christian country for only some 1000 years. And before that, there was an ancient Vedic tradition (read: Krishnaism). This “original” and “historically substantiated” idea is repeated by the Russian leaders of the USC and ordinary Hare Krishnas many times wherever possible. It is on this common ground that they establish contacts with domestic neo-pagan and neo-Nazi groups engaged in the creation of an “Aryan-Vedic International”. MOCK also maintains close contacts with other destructive sects, such as Moon's Unification Church, Hubbard's Church of Scientology, the Family sect, Jehovah's Witnesses, and others.

Krishnaites are actively infiltrating all bodies and organizations that deal with religions and trying to establish contact with all government structures, often not without success. In particular, they took part in the development of the current law on freedom of conscience, and many drafters of the law listened to their opinion much more carefully than to the opinion of representatives of the Orthodox Church. Domestic Hare Krishnas are very fond of speculating on their "Indianness" and when the slightest criticism appears in the press, they begin to blackmail them with the inevitable worsening of relations with "Russia's main strategic partner" - India. Unfortunately, this blackmail often works. However, this can be considered the most innocent of all the arsenal of lies and forgery that the Hare Krishnas resorted to.

It must be said that recently the Hare Krishnas, in an attempt to create a completely new image of their sect, have gone to whole line sensational confessions, stating that in the past they had many mistakes, but now they have already corrected. Now they are no longer a cult, but a legitimate religion that contributes to the democratic development of a modern pluralistic society. So, they should be treated accordingly. Hare Krishnas constantly appeal to the public conscience, citing freedom of religion and other human rights, and claiming that they are being persecuted in Russia for their religious beliefs. So, an article in the Novoye Vremya magazine, which described how several Hare Krishnas were beaten in Rostov-on-Don, was blasphemously titled: “For which of the good deeds are you persecuting me?” - the author attributed to the anti-Christian religious grouping the words spoken by the Savior about Himself.

13. MOCK is obviously a tough group to take over.

However, for all their self-criticism, the Hare Krishnas do not abandon one of their most important doctrines - the concept of Varnashrama, which today remains the "sacred cow" of Krishnaism. This concept of a new society and state was formulated in the book “Varnashrama is a manifesto for social mental health”. Its author is the aforementioned former personal secretary of Prabhupada His Divine Grace Om Vishnupada Paramahamsa Parirayacharya Astottarasata Sri Srimad Harikesh Swami Maharaja Vishnupada, Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or simply Harikesh Swami.

Harikesha Swami is an American by nationality (his real name is Bobby Campagnola). A member of the Society since 1970, he became one of the 11 successor gurus and administrator of the property on October 11, 1979 after the death of Prabhupada. When the world was divided, he got the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Consequently, at the time of writing the book, he was the supreme guru for all Soviet and Eastern European Hare Krishnas and all his opinions and decisions were binding on them.

As more and more of Prabhupada's disciples dropped out of MOCK, the authority of Harikesh Swami grew steadily - by the beginning of the 90s. he was one of two successor gurus still in power in the movement. And this despite the fact that he was known for many scandalous acts. For example, he dreamed of becoming famous as a rock star. For this purpose, Harikesha equipped a rock studio at the expense of MOCK, released his records in thousands of copies and forced sectarians to distribute them - although his co-religionists described the “transcendent sounds” he created as “the roar of an elephant who had a miscarriage”. In addition, Harikesha was seriously interested in the occult and did not make important decisions without swinging the pendulum over the magic board; he designed a perpetual motion machine and built a flying saucer and a spaceport for it. He predicted that in 1982 the third world war would begin, after which many of his students sold everything they had and hid in basements, waiting for the inevitable end of the world. Campagnola was also known for his nationalism: he declared to his European students that they would be very lucky if they incarnated in the future life in the bodies of Americans. But compared with the "hobbies" of other gurus, it all seemed innocent eccentricities.

Eventually the successor gurus system was abolished and power in the movement was handed over to MOCK's highest governing body, the GBC (Society Ruling Committee). The Chairman of its Executive Council was elected for a 12-month term.

All this took place in the context of a fierce undercover struggle between sannyasin gurus and married temple presidents, who are trying to seize the supreme power in society. It is in this context that “the reform movement within MOCK, which exposed the many crimes of sannyasin gurus and advocated the purification of the Society, should be seen. This movement was spearheaded by an ambitious Philadelphia Temple President Ravindra Svarupa(real name William Dedwyler). Although the "reformers" were in lip service for a return to Prabhupada's ideals, in reality they were consciously ignoring the unequivocal preference that the old man had given sannyasins during his lifetime.

Nevertheless, in 1998, Harikesh Swami was elected Chairman of the Executive Board of the GBC for three years. By this time, he had already held the positions of the minister of education of the sect, the head of its publishing complex Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (that is, in fact, the minister of the press) and the manager of all the property of ISKCON. Years of struggle ended with the complete triumph of Harikesha: he actually became the head of the sect and took the position that no one else could take after Prabhupada's death. Thus, he managed to significantly oust the “reformers”. His popularity in MOCK was extremely high, and among Russian Hare Krishnas it was practically unlimited: his portraits adorned their premises, his books were sold in large quantities in their shops, and even a Russian-language magazine was published entirely dedicated to his personality. This meant that every domestic Hare Krishna was obliged to consider the concept of Varnashrama as the divine order of society and strive for its universal introduction throughout the world.

Nevertheless, it is quite difficult for a non-Krishnaite to learn about the content of this concept. The leaders of the sect hide it from the “outsiders”, believing that they are not sufficiently enlightened to understand and accept it and will be scandalized if they find out about it. It was this feeling that caused Harikesha's partial and gritted rejection of "some parts" of the concept (1997). He did this in an attempt to improve the very negative image of his organization in Germany. However, let us not believe his forced and partial renunciation, especially since, as he repeatedly writes himself, his book is completely based on the writings of Prabhupada himself. Moreover, already after this renunciation, in books published “for internal use” and sold in MOCK stores, Harikesa, as if nothing had happened, asserted the same concept of Varnashrama.

What is this concept? First of all, it rejects the foundations of democracy, that is, the very principles that Hare Krishnas refer to in defending their right to exist in a pluralistic society:

Since there is no head in human society, insane people who are not brahmins lead the world to painful self-destruction... Until the brahmins are at the head of the human race, there will be no peace, happiness, pleasure (p. 106).

The religious neutrality of the state, falsely called atheism, is declared the culprit of a general decline, which can only be corrected by the immediate introduction of the Varnashrama caste system all over the world, headed by leading Hare Krishnas. We are talking about a kind of seizure of power, which can be carried out through the conquest of the intellectual elite of different countries and a decisive influence on the media:

The current social system, to which people feel attached, can be painlessly changed if the right social goals are adopted, which real Vaishnavas and Vedic texts have (p. 133).

Harikesa Swami would like to "use the society's information network to spread knowledge about the divine" (p. 136), that is, to turn the media into a tool for propagating Krishna consciousness, not without reason hoping that

restructuring will happen fastest in those societies where a fair amount of information can flow freely. At present, information channels are being abused by captivating the human mind with material goals. The intelligent stratum of Vaishnavas can spiritualize these channels, and they will use them in order to cause spiritual changes in society (p. 134).

In the new society, the restructured media will have different tasks:

In the society of Varnashrama information flow will be under the control of the Brahmins. This means that all information disseminated by the media will have to comply with the spiritual standard... The Varnashrama society depends on the intellectual guidance of the brahmins. Therefore, the Varnashrama society cannot leave the media under the control of other powerful forces (p. 146).

All key positions in the media will thus be occupied by the highest caste of Brahmins:

Brahmins have the task of educating the people with the help of the information network. The Brahmins will become the advisers of the people and will determine the character of society (p. 118).

Actors, commentators, cameramen, etc. will remain shudras - the lowest caste of mercenaries working for money. but

everyone who decides what knowledge and information should be disseminated: editors, journalists, screenwriters or stage directors, must be brahmins trained in how to manage society. Under the leadership of the Brahmins, the media will serve the same purpose as under today's capitalist leadership, namely to maintain social stability. However, it will not be a materialistic society that has reached a dead end, but a progressive spiritual society (p. 148).

The ideal social system is an elevated and non-negotiable theocracy based on a caste system. The Varnashrama MOCK system comes from

The All-Perfect Supreme... The Supreme Master has empowered representatives to carry out his orders in this world... The Supreme Master desires to establish his perfect social system (Varnasha rama-dharma) as the standard for human society (her. 73,81 .88).

The government of Varnashrama - this should be understood - is not a fascist, but a rigid regime (p. 208).

You can often find an "organic" description of ideal systems. Many fascist ideologists like to compare the state to an organism that has a head (the ruling elite), arms (the police and warrior caste), a belly (the merchants and bankers caste) and legs ( working part population).

Society should indeed be headed by an intelligent head that makes decisions in accordance with absolute principles (p. 88). This leading elite is the Vaishnavas, the Vaishnava-acaryas, that is, the monks of the Society and their leaders. No elections are needed, because

if the common people see how they act and hear what they say, then it is quite obvious that they will be carried away and follow these highly qualified, graceful and spiritual people who care exclusively for the highest welfare of mankind (p. 82).

The Krishna guru also expressed his opinion about the workers, to whom more than half of the population in his system belongs. Here's what he thinks of them:

The professional inclinations of the sudras correspond to physical labor or service... The sudra is in the service of three other social classes... His income depends on the degree of satisfaction that he brings to his customers. .. People with sudra abilities are meant to live under the control of the other three social groups... His (Shudras. - L.D.) : meat, fish, eggs - and especially to fermented and rotten food. Sudra is obsessed with wine, whiskey, beer, cigarettes and cigars, and is often a drug addict. He can lose all his money and squander it for the satisfaction of his sensuality. The Sudra is not able to endure the limitation of sense enjoyment for even a single moment, and at the first opportunity, with a feeling of complete relief, indulges in the search for pleasure. His favorite pastime is sex life. Driven uncontrollably by his genitals, he works day and night to create an environment according to his lustful desires... Sudras are always controlled by someone else, according to their inclinations. The best thing for them is to submit to the control of the Vaishnavas of the Varnashrama system. Then they will finally be satisfied (p. 215,217,227).

It should be noted that, unlike the caste system in traditional Hinduism, where membership in a caste is determined by birth, members of new castes will be selected in the early stages of schooling:

No one is completely devoid of personal qualities and no one can not act in accordance with nature. And it is only a matter of time before the symptoms of certain social classes appear in the child (p. 143).

Thus, the fate of a person is determined not by blind chance, but by the ruling elite. Each caste will receive an education strictly corresponding to its position in society:

Schoolchildren who are capable enough to be trained as Brahmins receive sufficient knowledge in all philosophical and social subjects. For other community groups, this is neither required nor appropriate. Along with future brahmins, only kshatriyas (that is, warriors, politicians), who later occupy high leadership positions, undergo a long course of study. The remaining members of society will receive an education appropriate to their caste, after which they will be fit for the professional fulfillment of their social duty ...

At the age of about 12 years, the child leaves the basic school and then receives an advanced education in accordance with his professional inclinations.

If a student has the ability of a sudra, that is, a worker, he will be taught to do a certain job. He will attend school until he acquires sufficient knowledge to carry it out, but no longer. He will then leave school to do community work. A student who has demonstrated the ability of a vaishya (merchant) will receive a more advanced school education, specializing in vaishya professions such as a merchant, banker, landowner. These professions do not require extensive education (p. 144).

There will be no room for religious pluralism in schools. In all schools of the new society, only Krishnaism will be taught:

As for the fallacious senseless principles of atheists, children who attend the Varnashrama school should not be informed about them, except to know what others believe (p. 141).

Despite the Hare Krishnas' constant statements about their desire for peace and the regular "peace festivals" they hold, in the Varnashrama system, the most important functions are entrusted to the military caste - the kshatriyas. In the society of the future, there are also “kshatriyas of the atom”, whose task is to

spiritually or with the help of electronic means ... to wipe the enemy off the face of the earth with weapons and devices (p. 180).

The bearer of the divine consciousness, as the head of the government, should be given the opportunity

wage both defensive and offensive war and lead the troops to victory. .. He will have to attack, enslave them, neutralize their evil behavior and then build a society of social consciousness in their country (p. 163).

We have global plans:

If one of the societies can change and adopt spiritual values, it is very important that the leaders secure the interests of this spiritual society throughout the world. Armed resistance will come only from demonic personalities who wholeheartedly cling to atheism and materialism. These are the people who need to be sent away. Then the world will be freed from their intrigues (p. 163). What do the stupid and sentimental ideals of “live and survive” mean in a world that has clearly shown itself to be self-destructive? (p. 181).

An integral part of the "ideal society" is the image of the enemy. MOCK refers to his enemies as "demons":

Three kinds of people live in this world: God's chosen, demons and innocent. God's chosen ones have taken their place in the service of the Supreme. Demons are actively working to destroy any knowledge of God. The innocent form a herd that follows the one who is at the head of society (p. 158).

All citizens will go through a mandatory brainwashing system.

The corrective measures introduced by the powerful head of Varnasram will not be limited to various types of military intervention.

Citizens of societies poisoned by atheism will receive instructions from the brahmins in order to understand the necessity of the Varnashrama system... One can easily separate the useful elements of society from the useless ones by calling everyone together to chant the Hare Krishna mantra. With the help of this congregational chanting of mantras, many people who are now perhaps criminals can be purified and perform for society useful work. If some people continue to remain rascals, despite the fact that the path of purification will be available to each of them, it is necessary that the Kshatriya police should be firmly engaged in every incorrigible (p. 163,177).

And here is how to conduct a discussion with critics of the system:

Envious and especially baseless critics may be invited into public discussion with the brahmins just to keep up the spirit of the people. As a last resort, the Brahmins will call in the Kshatriyas, who will call such agitators to order (p. 165).

The theory of punishing dissenters is also extremely interesting:

Since people in Varnashrama society will be taught high standards of human behavior from birth, they will have no excuse for crime. Therefore, the police of Varnashrama will be quite strict with those who break the law, they will be sentenced to severe punishments ... After trying to set the beginning criminals on the path of truth, the kshatriya police will have to expel or eliminate hardened criminals ... The use of the death penalty is not subject to discussion. In modern society, the death penalty is viewed as a senseless cruelty, almost everywhere it has been abolished. But the abolition of the execution proves only the inconscience of the leaders of society, but not their mercy towards the murderers ... If the murderer is executed according to religious law, then according to the law of karma, he will be released from posthumous punishment.

Punishment will serve as a very strong deterrent. It would be better if the sentimental advocates of individual freedom were indignant at the fact that the ruthless maintenance of law and order does not take into account the social background and environment of the criminal (pp. 176-177).

So the Society for Krishna Consciousness denies freedom. But at the same time, when critics of totalitarian sects talk about the lack of freedom within sectarian communities, they are accused of bias. Varnashrama's theory is a theoretical substantiation of the ban on freedom, coming from the lips of the sectarians themselves. To propagate and implement such concepts in society, the Hare Krishnas, like other youth religions, willingly use the right to freedom of conscience and opinion. However, it is unacceptable to abuse one of the fundamental human rights - the right to freedom of conscience - in order to restrict other fundamental rights. As we saw in the concept example. Varnashrama, ultimately this will lead to the elimination of the right to freedom of conscience.

The picture of the life that the Hare Krishnas are planning for us is clear enough. For Russian Hare Krishnas, this book is intended “for internal use”, and therefore they do not like it when it is quoted by “external”. After the first publication of these quotes, the Hare Krishnas launched a massive slanderous campaign, which culminated in their participation in the Moscow trial in 1997 (see the collection “Sects Against the Church” about it. M., 2000). It is important to recall that they lost the process miserably, and so far no one has been able to refute the assertions about the high place that the concept of Varnashrama occupies in the creed of modern Krishnaism.

It is clear that the MOCK is a tough group to seize power, built on strictly totalitarian principles and dreaming of extending them to the entire population of the globe, and all the Hare Krishna talk about “democracy” and “tolerance” is nothing more than a cover for the doctrinal sources contained in them. far-reaching misanthropic and aggressive plans.

14. The mafia runs the business among St. Petersburg Krishna worshipers

In conclusion, it is necessary to tell about the events of the second half of 1998, which radically shook MOCK, and about the facts that were discovered in connection with this. It all started with the fact that the Governing Council, headed by Ravindra Svarupa(William Dedwyler) - Philadelphia temple president and MOCK's top redistribution of power - has announced that the great guru Harikesh Swami has gone mad. When he built flying saucers and spaceports for them, there were no questions about his mental health. But now the head of the "Society" has declared himself an incarnation of Krishna, as well as his beloved disciple Chaitanya. Moreover, Harikesa showed his severe mental illness by declaring that he wanted to reform the “Society”, and even dared to criticize Prabhupada himself (for example, he compared his former teacher to Hitler), in particular, for his too strict approach to sex. The sannyasin Harikesha said he wanted to marry his psychotherapist Monika Kranz, a non-MOCK practitioner of New Age psychic methods. According to some reports, she is a follower of the teachings of the infamous guru Rajneesh, who preached complete sexual promiscuity. It turns out that she has been using Harikesha for a "modest" fee of $300 an hour for a long time. According to members of the Governing Body, Campagnola had long suffered from mental disorders and was taking powerful psychoactive drugs, which he called "Vibhuti transcendental powder." Then, they say, he abruptly stopped taking the medication, because of which he had a mental breakdown, which led to the described results. But in the meantime, by decision of the Council, Harikesh was removed from all his posts. A married president of one of the temples was appointed in his place. The “incorruptible fighter” for the purity of the “Society”, Ravindra Svarupa, who really manages this whole process, prudently reserved for himself the second place in the hierarchy. It would seem that all this meant the final defeat of the sannyasins.

However, as Internet users soon learned, the guru thus denounced expressed his disagreement with the actions taken by the “Committee”. He stated that MOCK is a criminal communist fascist organization that suppresses the freedom of its members and deceives them. “This is a corrupt communist organization that is only interested in money, power, real estate and fruitless institutionalization,” Harikesh said of the sect he recently headed, among other things. The transition of power in MOCK from the successor gurus to the Governing Council was commented by Harikesh as the appointment of fifty one hundred times less qualified instead of eleven unqualified persons. He called on all his students to leave MOCK and added that if his positions in the organization were not returned to him, he would create his own religion and take most of the Hare Krishnas with him.

The offended MOCK leadership replied to its former chairman that he was primarily responsible for all the illegal activities undertaken by the Hare Krishnas, for all of them were carried out in order to improve his personal material well-being. The MOCK leadership accused the “renunciate of all worldly attachments” sannyasin of living in astonishing luxury, sexually assaulting his students, and establishing an autocratic regime in the organization without giving anyone an account. He squeezed all the juice out of his followers, forcing them to bring him as much money as possible, and then threw them out into the street with ruined health and without a penny. In particular, the story came to light about how Harikesh forced his student to put his own mother out of the house, sell this house and give the money to him.

Harikesha threatened a number of people with death, after which at least one of them died under unclear circumstances. It also became known that Harikesha handed over to the KGB one of the Hare Krishnas who made frequent trips to the USSR with false passports. This is another indirect evidence of the existence of secret connections between the MOCK leadership and the KGB. Opinions have been published that Harikesa may have drugged the Vibhuti powder he had been taking for many years.

MOCK emissaries told the world about their meeting with Harikesha in an attempt to find some kind of compromise. According to them, the fifty-year-old guru appeared to her in a colorful sports T-shirt, Bermuda shorts and a baseball cap, worn back to front. Along with him, his psychic fiancee and her young son, whom “Maharaj Harikesa” declared to be the incarnation of Prabhupada, arrived at the meeting with him and demanded that all those present give him divine honors. Harikesha did not compromise, but announced that he was going to create a rehabilitation center for members of the Society for Krishna Consciousness who suffered from psycho-abuse. After that, he drove off with his girlfriend to rest on the French Riviera.

It turned out that all these distant Krishna "showdowns" are directly related to our country. Internet cyberspace was torn apart by messages coming from our compatriots. A group of Moscow students of Harikesha wrote an open letter to MOCK demanding the return of their beloved teacher immediately. Otherwise, the Moscow Hare Krishnas wrote, we would commit collective suicide. Other more devoted followers of Harikesa reportedly raided the warehouses of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust and carried off books and various merchandise totaling US$800,000. The official radio of the Russian Hare Krishnas, Krishnaloka, also took the side of Harikesha and declared live that MOCK is “a dangerous totalitarian sect that zombifies its members, maims and corrupts children. Its leadership seeks only money and power.” The Governing Body immediately issued an order to change the board of Krishnaloka. The radio was never restored.

The St. Petersburg temple of the Society for Krishna Consciousness - the largest in Europe - fully supported the line of Harikesha and went into schism. After that, another dose of information about the St. Petersburg Hare Krishnas came to light. It turned out that all affairs among the northern worshipers of Krishna are run by the Armenian mafia, one of whose authorities is the president of the St. Petersburg temple, known under the cult name Kamalamala. He equipped inside the temple two rooms in the style of "luxury", intended exclusively for Harikesha during his visits to the city. Another Armenian authority, Brahmananda Puri, presented Harikesh with six-figure sums in US dollars during his every visit to Russia, which was considered by many as a payment for the presidential appointment of Kamalamala and for the appointment of Brahmananda himself as the head of Krishnaloka. The two were closely associated with Brahmika Das, the president of Prema Invest, a company that speculated on the foreign exchange market and also in the real estate market. This whole group, together with the extremely wealthy Sanyas Das, began an active campaign in 1992 against the representatives of the emissaries of the Executive Council sent by him to Russia. Rumor has also linked their names to a brutal physical attack on Sri Rama Das, a disciple of Prabhupada, who was sent by the Governing Body to Moscow to act as temple president. Unidentified people attacked Sri Rama in the street and beat him so that he ended up in the hospital. Shortly thereafter, he left Russia, yielding his seat to Harikesha's appointee.

It also became known that Prema Invest lost a lot of money due to the Russian crisis (according to some reports, 20 million US dollars). True, it turned out that Harikesha's cash account in a Swiss bank had significant amounts left, which, according to MOCK, are the public treasury. Harikesa, however, has a different opinion on this matter. Moreover, immediately after the bank losses, Harikesa called his disciple Brahma Muhurta (then the manager of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust in Sweden) demanding that all the money of the publishing house be transferred to him immediately. In the event of refusal, Harikesha threatened to “publish documents on the illegal activities of the publishing house.” In the end, the Executive Committee of the Governing Body in negotiations reduced the amount required to 500,000 dollars, which were issued to Harikesha. In the last months of 1998 Harikesha was given another million dollars. The IK leadership stated that if they had not done so, the Russian mafia would have killed several ISKCON leaders.

The split continues to grow. Time will tell what will become of the Society for Krishna Consciousness. In an attempt to disassociate itself from the heritage of Harikesha, it went on a series of unprecedented confessions about the terrible abuse of children that reigned everywhere in Krishna boarding schools - gurukulas. Now we will become different, - assures the greatly thinned leadership of ISKCON. But where is the guarantee that all this will not happen again?

Some Hare Krishna sources reported secret negotiations between members of the Executive Council and Harikesha regarding his possible return to all his previous positions in ISKCON. Among other things, the possibility of appointing Harikesha as the supreme guru of Russia was discussed there. Many MOCK leaders, as well as Harikesha's students, consider his "psychic breakdown" to be a deliberate simulation undertaken to cover up the guru's massive financial losses and sexual behavior. Seemingly, having lost $20 million in one evening in the Russian stock market crisis, Harikesha declared: "Now it's all over." The next day, he faked his "being at the very gates of death" from which he was "saved" when Monica gave him a "new heart chakra".

Negotiations failed - Harikesha finally broke with MOCK and moved into the capacity of a New Age esoteric teacher - one of many. The Hare Krishnas who followed him adopted the new faith of their teacher. This story is very instructive: again we are convinced that as long as the system of guruism, that is, the unlimited power of people over the bodies and souls of their adherents, is preserved, there is always a possibility that they will not overcome the temptation to dispose of this power to the evil of others. This is exactly what happened in the dramatic story of the rise and fall of the “great guru” - His Divine Grace Om Vishnupad Paramahamsa Parirayachariya Astottarasata Sri Srimad Harikeshi Swami Maharaja Vishnupad.

As a post-script, we can add that the Russian USC is gradually managing to overcome the consequences of the split. Lost for him, the St. Petersburg church is increasingly becoming the center of New Age spirituality and no longer competes with Muscovites. They also survived the scandals associated with the brutal ritual murder of Hieromonk Grigory (Yakovlev) by a Krishnaite in Siberia and the rape of a 12-year-old girl by a Moscow Krishnaite. Recently, USC and its subsidiaries are increasingly being introduced into food industry, and more and more often, Muscovites, bringing home a cake bought in a bakery, find on a small insert an inscription like “OOO Prasad” or “Society of Vegetarian Culture”, indicating that they were deceived into selling them idolatrous food without their knowledge.

The main center of Butler's organization is located in the United States in Hawaii. Other centers are located in California, Great Britain, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines. There are also small (2-3 people) missions in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Norway and Germany. The most numerous and active branch of the Chaitanya Mission operates in Poland, from where the first missionary was sent to Russia at the end of 1991. In 1992, two more missionary visits to our country took place; the first followers appeared. In 1993, the Butlerite organization was registered by the Department of Justice of the city of Moscow. To date, there are centers in St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, Lvov and Kiev.

The leaders of the Mission in Russia - Butler's initiated disciples Vishnu das (Woldemar Kochuba) and Hari dasi (Hanna Polak) - are citizens of Poland. Director of the Moscow branch of the “Institute for the Knowledge of Identity” and editor of the journal “Haribol News” - Omkara das (Oleg Stanislavsky).

About a dozen people live in the hostel of the Moscow center, more or less permanent parishioners are about fifty - mostly young people 20-30 years old. The maximum number of listeners gathering for the performances of foreign preachers of the Mission is up to one hundred people. In rented halls, video lectures by Chris Butler and meditations are held once a week, gathering several people. Flyers inviting people to attend these missionary activities are posted around the city.

Butler's teaching is a simplified exposition of Swami Prabhupada's doctrine. The authoritative sources are the translations and commentaries of ancient and medieval Hindu sacred texts made by Srila Prabhupada: “Bhagavad-Gita As It Is”, “Srimad-Bhagavatam”, “Sri Isopanishad”, etc., as well as the works of Chris Butler and some other neo-Krishna authors. such as Bhaktivenoda Thakura.

The adaptation of neo-Krishnaism to Christian civilization led to the development of specific ritual charity by the Butlerites: in state centers social support population is the distribution of idolatrous (dedicated to Krishna) food, accompanied by missionary slide programs and sermons. Money for these projects comes from foreign centers.

The Chaitanya Mission, as well as MOCK, is characterized by revering the guru as the infallible representative of God. According to the director of the Moscow branch of the Mission, the key to spiritual progress is the satisfaction of a pure devotee of Krishna, that is, Chris Butler. It can be shown how the “perfect Teacher” demonstrates his ignorance or dishonesty, for example, trying to substantiate the well-known thesis of sectarian syncretism, which says that followers of different religions worship the same God:

“So, although God is one, He has many names based on His various attributes. For example, God is called Jehovah because He is omnipotent. God is called Allah, which means that He is compassionate to everyone. And He is called Krishna, which means "All-attractive Person."

but Jehovah(or rather, Yahweh) actually translated from Hebrew means “Existing”, and not “omnipotent”, Allah(from Arab, al-ilah)- just “Deity”, not “compassionate”, and, finally, Krishna -“black” or “dark purple”, which does not attract everyone. It is possible, however, that the Sanskrit word krishna, like the Russian red, goes back to the Indo-European root with the meaning “beautiful”.

Engaged in proselytizing in a Christian environment, Butler often refers to the Bible, declaring the absence of contradictions between Christian Revelation and his “Science of Identity”, which he generally represents as Religion with a capital letter, the very essence of all other religions:

Even... a quick glance is enough to begin to understand the position that Jesus and Krishna occupy. Jesus is the son and Krishna is the father. Jesus is the son of Krishna! That is why Jesus is called the Christ because He was anointed by Krishna. The beauty of this fact is beyond any glorification! This knowledge will free the world from the imprints of restless sectarianism... We will see that Jesus desires nothing else and teaches nothing other than Krishna!

There is no need for a Christian to declare himself a Hindu... Going from "Christian" to "Hindu" to "Muslim" will not help you. Remain in your dress, your status: outward change will not help. But accept this additional knowledge of the Gita and know the true meaning of the word "Christian".

At the end of the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna states: “Give up all kinds of religion or belief and just love me.”

In other words, to become a real Christian, you need to become a Hare Krishna. The assertion of one's loyalty to Christ, according to Butler, is a sign of religious fanaticism:

If someone thinks, "I am a Christian," he will consider Muslims or Hindus as his enemies, and vice versa. Such divisions have nothing to do with real religion, but are based on false bodily identity, which is why so many conflicts and religious wars are based on this basis.

“Real” religion, says Butler, teaches about the identity of a person with his soul, the purpose of which is to finally get rid of the body, breaking out of the cycle of birth and death: “... if you were without a material body, you would be in the kingdom of God.”

Butler, out of ignorance or deliberately trying to mislead, gives out this pagan view of man as the higher knowledge inherent in various religions, including Christianity.

"Krishna Consciousness" or "Krishna Consciousness Movement" - these terms can refer primarily to, founded in the mid-60s in America by Srila A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896 - 1977), as well as, in a wider sense, to the totality of organizations and missions operating under the flag.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, which originated in the United States and spread throughout the world in a few years, soon became known under the “unofficial” names - the Hare Krishna Movement, the Krishna Consciousness Movement and the Hare Krishnas. All these names are unconventional in the sense that in history, which until the end of the 19th century was present, by and large, exclusively within India, such terminology was absent.

At the end of the 19th century, the well-known religious figure and writer Kedaranath Bhaktivinoda Thakur (1838-1914) became a pioneer in preaching the teachings of Mahaprabhu in the West, who wrote a number of books in English and tried to clothe the cult of Mahaprabhu in new forms. The baton was picked up by his son, (1874 - 1937), the founder of a large missionary organization, whose centers were opened throughout India, in Germany and England.

In the twentieth century, the aforementioned A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, achieved unprecedented success in preaching Chaitanya Vaishnavism. The followers of ISKCON themselves formulate their ideology and practice as follows:

The philosophy of the Krishna consciousness movement is a monotheistic tradition, far from being sectarian. This philosophy can be summed up in eight points:

1. By sincerely cultivating authentic spiritual science, we can get rid of worries and achieve a state of pure, eternal, blissful consciousness.
2. Each of us is not a material body, but an eternal particle of consciousness - a soul, a part and a particle of God (Krishna). With this nature, we are all interconnected through Krishna, who is the father of everything.
3. Krishna is eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent and absolutely attractive. He is the father of all living beings and the source of the energy that sustains the universe, as well as the source of all incarnations of God.
4. The Vedas are the most ancient scriptures in the world. The essence of the Vedas is set forth in the Bhagavad Gita, a book that is a record of Krishna's speeches delivered 5,000 years ago in India. The goal of Vedic knowledge - as well as all theistic religions - is to achieve pure love of God.
5. Everyone is able to acquire the knowledge of self-realization through the instructions of a genuine spiritual master, a person free from selfishness, whose mind is absorbed by Krishna.
6. Whatever we eat should first be prayerfully offered to Krishna. This is how Krishna accepts offerings and blesses us, so that we become purified.
7. Instead of leading a life of self-centeredness, we should act for the satisfaction of Krishna. This strategy is known as bhakti yoga, the science of devotional service.
8. The most effective means of achieving God consciousness in this age is the chanting (calling) of the holy names of the Lord:
   Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
   Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

By and large, these basic postulates are shared by all the followers of the numerous large and small groups of followers of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who form the global “Krishna Consciousness movement”.

Acquaintance with the Vedic worldview

What is the Vedas? The evolution of the soul in many bodies. The main difference between man and animal. Spirituality is the basis of the stability of society. Awakening of consciousness. Love is the fifth goal of human life. The whole world is permeated with the consciousness of the Creator. Beauty is the innermost aspect of the Supreme. The unique right of every soul. Preaching is like meditation. Why are we not attracted to Krishna? Genuine spirituality is not imposed - it is fascinated. material wealth and spiritual life. Faith is the path to gaining divine love. Life has to become meditation. Nothing will ever give rise to something. How to get closer to God? Kali Yuga is the era of degradation. Many talk about the Vedas, but few understand them. Prayer for the knowledge of the Truth. different levels of spirituality. Spiritual life is real freedom. On the attitude towards women in the temple. Rajnesh is a psychiatrist guru.

The nature of devotion

How did Mahaprabhu convert Muslims into Vaishnavas? The concept of Krishna consciousness is the concept of love and beauty. Nature of Radha-kunda. Ideas of Vaishnavism in the words of the philosopher Hegel. Is Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu Bhagavan? Preaching Krishna Consciousness to Muslims. Where did the Aryans come from? Why are worldly achievements and material gains weeds on the path to Krishna? Who exactly is the true Buddha? What is the result of imitation of chanting Hare Krishna? Who are the sahajiyas? Can drugs lead to God? What is the position of the Absolute? Who is he? The powerful nature of Krishna.

How Krishna Consciousness Began in the USSR

About spiritual progress. About the Vaishnava and Vedic cultures. About Vedic omens. About people who act like animals. About the taste of the Holy Name. On the Immediacy of Novice Devotees. How to change your level of consciousness? About the trip to India of the first Russian devotees. On the fearlessness of the first Russian preachers. How to prevent the development of pride? How will everything improve in the process of developing the Vedic culture, the Vaishnava? Preaching in word and deed (achar, prachar). The process of influencing the chanting of the Holy Name on a person. Friendship between a man and a woman. How to live in polluted ether? Three levels of religious people: kanistha, madhyama and uttama-adhikari. Danger of offending. History of Chapal Gopal.

Extended egoism or God-centeredness

The entire material world consists of areas of "extended egoism": people, nations, countries are constantly at war in it. The result of these actions is bad karma. We are the architects of our own destiny and should not blame others for success or failure. With the realization of this fact, the path to liberation begins. If we have gained a connection with the Source, then the good and bad events of this world lose their power over us. A dream may be good or bad, but the sages are interested in Reality.

The ABCs of Krishna Consciousness

The human form of life is meant for self-realization. What is the essence of the Krsna consciousness movement? Why is knowledge of the Divine lost over time? The greatness of the devotion of Bhaktivinoda Thakur. Phenomena contrary to Krishna consciousness. Sahajiism is an imitation. The essence of Krishna consciousness. Vaishnavas are everything and everything. This is the alpha and omega. The primary source of devotion to Krishna is association with His devotees. How to distinguish authentic Vaishnavism from imitation? Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math is the real Krishna consciousness. The Importance of Having a Shikha in a Devotee. Krishna consciousness can be recognized and seen in the stream of service.

Spiritual path and inner conflicts

What is special about this seminar? Difficulties in the spiritual life of devotees and our attitude towards them. About the seminar author Ravindra Svarupa Prabhu. Goals and ideals of the ISKCON society. Dharma and adharma. High standards and internal conflict. Do not be afraid of defeat in the war with Maya, be afraid of self-deception. degradation of religion. We are looking for sidings ... What to do when hands drop. Difficulties are springboards. Anthony Boysen. Do not trample on the platform of self-respect. "A wise man picks up gold even in an unclean place." Kaitava dharma. Mind tricks. Remorse. About transcendent pride.

Beauty controls everything

Beauty controls everything, not power, not power. The Lord says, "I am your friend." The Bhagavad Gita is a life-giving source for all. Love is able to control the Absolute. Service under the direction of a Vaishnava or independent pursuit of benefit for oneself. Physical intimacy is not true intimacy. We live in a paradise for fools. Genuine service is very rare and precious.

What is a dedication?

What is a dedication? How can one come to the concept of Krsna consciousness? The highest concept of Govardhan. Krishna is present in the person of the Guru. Radharani is the majordomo of Krishna. "One-way ticket". The supreme position of Radharani. Krishna is Shyamasundar. Radha and Krishna are one Absolute Truth. Mahaprabhu is Krishna enriched with the heart and effulgence of Radharani. Vasudeva - Krishna without potency. A devotee of a devotee of Krishna is a devotee of Krishna. Every atom in Nabadwip is capable of giving Vrindavan in its entirety. The supreme nature of the relationship between Radha and Krishna. If there is something good in us, it is the creation of our Gurudeva.

What is the difference between Allah, Jesus and Krishna?

What is a mantra? What is the difference between nectar and ecstasy? What does it mean to "go home to God"? The beauty of Krishna consciousness. Spiritual revolution. What is the criterion for determining the authenticity of ideas about God? There is Allah, there is Jesus, there is Krishna. What is the difference?

How to stay if you want to leave?

What to do when you want to leave the association of devotees? Temple atmosphere in India. About Siddhanti Maharaja. If you decide to go to Krsna consciousness, prepare yourself for a life full of problems. How far from perfect is man? Why do we see faults in others? The Ashram is a hive of seva and spiritual activities. Krsna consciousness comes through association. What is a real ashram? Communication is a condition necessary for spiritual progress. Life-giving nectar for surrendered souls.

"Die to live" - ​​what did the Guru want to say? Why is self-surrender necessary? Die in this dimension to live in that dimension. The supreme position of the gopis of Vrndavana. How to realize that Krishna Consciousness really exists? Where is the source of karma? How to overcome karma? The struggle with the ego is an ongoing process. What is hard work for in life? Why does the soul have to suffer? A bad worker complains about his chair. The story of Rupa and Sanatana Gosvami. Why does the death of the body not get rid of karma? The body is the biological expression of the illusion in which the soul resides. Can the will be controlled? "If God existed, he would have to be a good dancer" - Nietzsche.

How to connect with the Lord?

Why does the Lord descend to earth? The nature of the Lord's love for His devotees. The desire of the Lord to enjoy the lila (Hiranyakasipu vs Lord Nrsimhadeva). Prahlad Maharaja, the best of the devotees. The source of all power. The Lord protects His devotee. Vaishnavas do not allow the Lord to serve them. Service or business. The result of contact with Krishna. The nature of Vaikuntha and its inhabitants. The unique position of the Earth. The nature of unselfishness. Grace of the Lord: the best to the worst. All-consuming devotion. Chana Avatar of the Lord. Sole proprietor of our hearts.

Goswami Maharaj presents a new book to Sridhar Maharaj

Goswami Maharaja presents Sridhar Maharaj with a new, newly published book. Preface to Srimad Bhagavatam. Holy scriptures and gurus. Fossil versus subjective evolution. Origin of the soul. Knowledge Beyond Death. Reality itself and for itself. The guru is heavier than the Himalayas. Land of devotion. 6 philosophical systems of India. Analysis, yoga and logic. Atomic theory and karma. Beyond Christianity. Krishna is the center of all attraction. Is Jesus' position static or dynamic? Soul transmigration. Level of God Realization. Krishna concept. Hare Krishna Mahamantra. 10 insults. Service to the Holy Name. Nectar of the Holy Name. The Vedas are a jungle of sounds. A wonderful reality. Varnashrama is the highest goal of life. Knowledge and devotion. Beyond the Spirit. Divine slavery. Different types of relationship with Krishna. Synthesis of dominant and subordinate beginning. The highest concept of absolute truth is the highest form of ecstasy. On the intimate and respectful relationship between Bhaktivedanta Swami and Sridhar Maharaj.

How to help and not harm?

Innocence of consciousness. The line between comprehensibility and aggressiveness. Humility is the greatest strength. Fate is a very good teacher. The difference between preaching and begging. Friendship is a way to understand another person. Games of the Lord. There is no need to become devoted to your mind. Love is a mystical phenomenon. Answers on questions.

How to learn not to judge other people?

How to learn not to judge other people? What is "acquired prejudice"? Our mind is like a mirror. A question of faith. Why do we get sleepy when we read? Holy Scriptures? Charm of Srila Sridhar Maharaj. Example of exalted grhasthas. About preaching: when you like something in Krsna consciousness, you should share it. How did a Catholic priest win the heart of Sridhar Maharaj? About the principles of preaching, which bequeathed to Saraswati Thakur. Why did Saraswati Thakura call Sridhar Maharaj a "bad Ganesh"? Any talk about Krishna is auspicious. Krishna consciousness is a dynamic living phenomenon. Krishna is Beauty personified herself. Why does Goura-lila have a higher taste than Krishna-lila?

Rules of conduct for Vaishnas

Why are people often unhappy with something? How important are stereotypes to a person? How important are stereotypes to a person? What is Vaishnava etiquette? How does Krishna consciousness change people? Basic Rules of Vaishnava Behavior. How important is cleanliness? Answers to the questions: How to deal with money? Why should a wife glorify her husband? What is justice?

Where does spiritual progress begin?

The soul does not need progress. It is necessary to realize ourselves - without this we will not be able to progress. It is important to learn how to control the modes of material nature. Obstacles on the path of spiritual progress. False renunciation. What is "I"? Spiritual suicide. You need to see things as they really are. Our goal is to clear the mind. Renunciation is when we serve Krishna without changing circumstances. Where does spiritual progress begin? Importance of chanting the Holy Name. Degradation is all material, and progress is all spiritual. How to learn to be selfless? The Holy Name is the medicine. Answers on questions.

heart thief

What qualities distinguish Krishna from Vishnu? Krishna Vrindavan and Krishna Dvaraka. Krishna and Narayana. Why did Lakshmi Devi fail to enter the rasa lila? "Who will I tell, and who will believe me?" Krishna Moyi. The grandeur of Vaikuntha and the sweetness of Vrindavan. Madhura rasa is the source of everything. About what the flute of Krishna sings. Who is allowed to invoke Krishna for us? We see a stone when we look at a Deity, and when we look at a Vaishnava, we see a person.

How to live alone?

How to live alone? For whom did Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada keep a spare room in the temple? Why did Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada consider Govinda Maharaja his son? What is more important, family duty or devotional service? Why do our relationships with the opposite sex disappoint us over time? About love and tenderness spiritual world. In fact, we don't know who we are. What does it mean to live in the family of God? Why are devotees not alone? Devotees are like bees. They enjoy the honey of talking about Krishna.

Highest aspiration

How to establish a relationship with the Lord? Faith and the association of devotees is the only requirement of Bhakti. Various stages of spiritual realization are not a necessary condition. Synthesis of Sweetness and Giver of sweetness. The service of Radharani is extolled in the line of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Poetry of Bhaktivinoda Thakur. You need to capitalize on a bad deal. Methods of application of the theory of Krishna consciousness in the practical sphere. Constitutional and revolutionary method in ministry. Under the guidance of a true Vaishnava one can take any risk.

The power of transcendental sound

Mridanga is a type of musical instrument. The meaning of the name "Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math". Where and how did the Vedic culture originate? About the name ISKCON. What peoples are the descendants of the Aryans? The general instruction of all the revealed Scriptures. Should a devotee take astrology into account? Priority of spiritual preaching. This body signifies an invitation to death. The nature of Pitriloka is the moon. The nature of the sun. The Secret Essence of the Gayatri Mantra. Everywhere there is death. An anecdote about a go-getter. About top management - guru. Does the living entity come to the material world from the spiritual world? About the mental country. Two kinds of creation. Yajna Patni - Brahmin wives could not be with Krishna. How will the Krishna consciousness movement spread everywhere? The power of transcendental sound. The infinite nature of Krishna. Parable of Praise human body animals.

Three Kinds of Guru

About the three types of Gurus and the three types of devotees. Nature of Arjuna. Krishna consciousness is the subtlest current, all-pervading and eternal. The law must restrain the unworthy and inspire the worthy. Sincerity is the best qualification. If Gurudeva is not around, how can we understand that we are pleasing him and not going aside? The voice of conscience. Where does conscience come from? Mistakes are sometimes preferable. By pleasing the Guru, we can satisfy Krishna. Renunciation is more dangerous than exploitation. How hard should a sannyasi be on himself? about Self-Sacrifice in Krishna Consciousness. Thesis, antithesis, synthesis. In what cases is it not necessary to fast? When is a Guru qualified to initiate? There may be many siksa gurus, but there is only one diksa guru. About preaching through books. How strictly should Ekadashi be fasted?

The first seven years of development - the level of the muladhara chakra

Brief overview of the philosophy of Chakravidya. The crisis of middle age, according to the fifth chakra "Vishudha". Common sense and preaching. Intelligence is very important in Krishna Consciousness. Delay in development. The Parable of Leonardo Da Vinci and the Last Supper fresco. Help must be reasonable. Professionalism and profanity in preaching. The subtle and gross bodies are connected through the chakras. Vedic methods for solving problems in the family. Chakra development. Do devotees need to change jobs? Four types of personalities. Different approaches to digging a hole for four personality types. It doesn't matter what you do, it matters how you approach it. Stages of development of consciousness by chakras. Schedule of chakra activity. How to make others happy? Development of a devotee according to the chakras: whose happiness is he thinking about now? A smart approach to problem solving. Questions on the Chakravidya table. Two options for development after 49 years. Rapid development in Krsna consciousness. The first seven years are the level of the muladhara chakra. Fear is a sign of maya. The first seven years of Krishna Consciousness. The 8th year of Krishna Consciousness is the test of the senses. Signs of a crisis in the spiritual organization. Fast way determine your dosha constitution? The Krishna Consciousness movement is a movement of taste. Krishna is the All Attractive. Gardeners of Bhakti. Survey of seminars.

Why is there no happiness in life?

Who am I and why am I suffering? Where did I come into this world? How to find God? connection of the soul and physical body. Why is it a great fortune to meet a devoted God? Why do we have the illusion that sometimes we are still happy? As the king of the heavenly world, Indra was born in the body of a pig. Free will and free choice. How to develop a taste for chanting the Holy Names of the Lord? Does everyone have the same path? How can we cultivate faith? About right association with devotees. How to use money in spiritual practice? About the importance of communication with those who are above us. What is japa for? The exalted position of the Vraja gopis. Supreme position of Uddhava. The mystical power of chanting the Holy Names of the Lord. Why does the present body suffer for the deeds of the past?

Looking for love

Why did Ragunath Das Goswami leave a lot of wealth and a beautiful wife for Mahaprabhu? How does all this talk about Krishna help anyone? What is the root cause of all suffering? How do you choose the highest goal to dedicate yourself to? How do you save everyone by saving others? I'm not afraid of death. Why is the Kurma Avatara sloka mentioned at the very end of the last chapter of Srimad Bhagavatam? What is interesting to God Himself? Immortality is an innate right and quality of the soul. Happiness is just a certain set of chemical elements? Objective and subjective Reality. There are no facts, only interpretations. Who can teach to see the subjective?

Life after death

The concept of slavery is the highest realm. Life after death. The Satanic Doctrine of Genesis. The material world is the world of labor and pleasure. Dangerous fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Transmission of the Srimad Bhagavatam to mankind. 3 verses by Vyasadeva (introduction to Sh.B.). The nature of envy is the main obstacle to spiritual progress. Reality is stranger than a dream. Negative sacrifice (leaving the body). Positive sacrifice (drive to serve). The only criterion is Krishna's satisfaction. Krishna is the concept of God. How to recognize and end envy.

What is the Absolute Truth?

Why has the Western world been captivated by Indian philosophy? Why is a spiritual teacher needed? What is the Absolute Truth? Psychological portrait of modern man. Russia is not the West, and not the East. What is the sense of life? What are the duties of a sannyasi? What should be the right mindset? On the power of true knowledge. What is true strength and what is true weakness? What is real Krishna consciousness? What can attract Krishna? What should a devotee think about while performing service? What is an insult to the holy name? About self-abasement in Krishna consciousness.

Mahaprabhu's concept

Mahabrabhu concept. Real life is the life in which we are connected with Krishna. Krishna is the Protector and Preserver. The offending Vaisnava takes upon himself this filth. Illusory concepts of good and bad. All our interests are beyond this world. Different approaches to preaching, possible conflicts. On patience in preaching. Conflict is not a very high level. Destruction of the Deity of Krishna is possible only with His permission. The Comparative Theism of Bhaktivinoda Thakur. Bhagavad Gita leads to devotion

Why are we unsuccessful?

Secrets of the Bhagavad Gita. Unilateral reaction. Fear is the emotion of ignorance. How important is cleanliness? Why are we unsuccessful? External cleansing can only help if the cleansing has taken place on the internal level as well. Three states of consciousness. Answers on questions. Male and female responsibilities. How to Tell Your Family About Krishna Consciousness.

Srila Prabhupada

This program tells about the life of the great Vaishnava Srila Prabhupada. At the age of 69, he traveled to America to preach Krishna consciousness. He created the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and spread this teaching throughout the world. Srila Prabhupada came to the countries of the West to preach Krishna Consciousness and distribute it all over the world.

Song of Krishna's Flute

Service is above renunciation. The great dedication of Sri Rupa and Sanatana. Asceticism of Raghunath Das Goswami. Devotion is pure - exploitation is base. Flutes of Krishna and Gayatri Mantra. The story of Gouridasa Pandit and the Gaura-Nitai Deities. Nature of Gouridasa Pandita. Other murtis of Mahaprabhu. Vasudev-Sankarshan-Pradyumna-Aniruddha. Why did Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada only install Deities of Gaura-Nityananda and not Radha-Govinda? Where on Earth is Kali in control? The infinite mercy of Nityananda Prabhu. Srila Saraswati Thakur is the successor of the madhura-rasa lineage of teachers. A place where all insults are forgiven. Krishna consciousness enables us to live in the family of God. Crush the fossil theory. The Meaning of Sannyas in the Kali Yuga.

How to preach to relatives?

Who should we respect? The ability to see the positive in everything. What is communication? What are the consequences of disrespectful treatment of people? Everyone has a duty to be fulfilled. The ability to draw conclusions. Krishna consciousness is not a social organization. How to deal with a midlife crisis? What is the meaning of renunciation? Life is like a hot frying pan. How to preach to relatives? How to wake up loved one? What does sinful action mean? Respect is also yoga. How to make your life enjoyable? Mind respect. What is respect for reason? Why is it necessary to respect the merits of another person? Answers on questions.

What does it mean to love?

Love - the desire to use someone for your pleasure? We have an urge to sacrifice ourselves. Water the root. Only the Boundless can satisfy all our aspirations. How can we limited beings draw the Infinite to us? Human life is the door to the world of eternity.

4 types of finders

The nature of devotion. How does loyalty change people? How to recognize a godly person? Prosperity is the principle of practicality. How not to become a spiritual lazy? Juicer effect. What is life without spirituality? People interested in the unknown and the noble. How to talk with loved ones on spiritual topics? Is it possible to preach when a person is clearly not interested? How does life change in Krishna Consciousness? The role of intonation in preaching. Is it worth it to preach to representatives of other religious denominations? How important is compassion in preaching?

Spiritual Ministry of Emergency Situations

What is the specialty of the Krsna consciousness movement? Initiation into Krishna Consciousness. The task of Vedic culture is the salvation of souls. The mission is carried out in cooperation. False spiritual attachment. Humility needs to be worked on. Mistakes should become the backbone of our successes. The more difficult the service, the more emotions. How to overcome difficulties. The story of Radharani.

Sermon Secrets

Two stages of preaching. What is the right way to preach? How should you meet new people? Freedom of choice. Why do spiritual families break up? Why is prayer needed? Our fears. In any undertaking - the main desire. The difficulty of preaching to friends and family. The role of the Internet in preaching. The sermon must be cultural. Don't be afraid to talk about God. Where the most sacred is, there the most dangerous appears. How to tell relatives about Krishna Consciousness? The luck of our lives. The power of prasadam. Who is responsible in the family? Relevance is the trap of fanaticism. Debt karma.

Self-improvement is self-improvement

Spiritual yoga. What is the meaning of mystical perfection? Aggression is positive energy. The problem is that we do not understand enough the difference between the soul and the body. In preaching, it is important not only to present the process, but also to have experience. The secret of family relationships. A story about what constant complaints lead to.

Heaven and earth

Patience and enthusiasm. Service is the path of devotion. Grace of the Guru. What does true service mean? The story of Krishna's headache and the exceptional devotion of the gopis of Vrindavan. What is the end result of Krsna consciousness? Krishna by His very nature attracts everyone. Krishna is the personified taste of ecstasy.