Are Hare Krishnas a Cult–PLEASE COMMENT ON THIS
Another thing which makes me think that this is a cult is the number of white people I see following you. How is this possible? Born Christian (most likely), how were they all converted? I’m sure most of them came from Russia but I do not know why. If you want, can you please publish this story? A lot of people have this same question about Hari Krishna being a corrupted
Dear harikrishna.org,
Here is an excellent story to print on your site. Hundreds of hindus can find out the truth!
I am a 19 yr old Hindu student and follower of the Swaminarayan faith as well as all other major Hindu gods/goddesses. You could consider me a ‘normal’ hindu in that sense. I have seen your Hari Krishna parade once and was told by my father that you were a cult. Generally, I know that cults are bad in a sense that there is corruption or something involving improper finance handling or any illegal crimes. Is this true about HariKrishna? If it is a cult, I would stay away from it.
Another thing which makes me think that this is a cult is the number of white people I see following you. How is this possible? Born Christian (most likely), how were they all converted? I’m sure most of them came from Russia but I do not know why. If you want, can you please publish this story? A lot of people have this same question about Hari Krishna being a corrupted cult.
Thank you.
I Am A White English Female, I Follow The Krishna Concioussness, And No It Is Not A cult, My mother Is Catholic But I Was Never Intrested Because They Preach And Ram The Idea Of God Into Your Head Id Say Christians And Catholics Are More The Cult!
I Visited the Krishna Temple In Watford Once It Was Beautiful, Peaceful, Full Of Love, The People Were So Friendly And Answered The Questions I Had They Didnt Ramble On To Me How I Should Become A Krishna Follower, Like christians, They Only Told Me What I Wanted To Know And Said If You Have anymore Questions Please Ask, they didnt send a collection plate round its your choice to put a donation in. your not looked upon badly if you dont donate. unlike in christianity or as a catholic
So there Is your Answer There Are White People Follow the Indian Religion Too. & Indians Who Are Christians And Catholics…That Would Mean Every Religion Was A Cult Beacause Someone With A Different Colour Skin Follows It??
I Think Not
Krishna Is A Great Religion and He Takes Care Of You.
Back To Godhead. Leave This Material World.
A comment on, “Are the Hari Krishnas a cult” ?
The answer to this is no, and why do I say no? Well…..It is simple, If a person Chants the Maha Moantra of– Hri Krishna Hari Hrishna Krishna Krishna Hari Hari Hari Rama Hari Rama rama Rama Hari Hari then sion any person who takes up this Blissful meathode of God realization- will actually start to feel the mellow bliss within their own hearts.
Generally a cult is a group of people who do things in society that go against the normal process of living among other human beings, This Hari krishna movement is a spiritual process that dates back well over several millions of years. In fact, even today there are tens of millions of people all over this world who follow this way of loving
God,.Krishna)
The name Krishna translate to “He who is the topmost resevoir of Pleasure.”
You and I and all humans on this planet are alway seeking out after a way of having pleasure, and if we do not feel the real love of God within our hearts, then we all will seek out Love or “Pleasure” through the temporary means of lust, power, and false ego.
A cult would better be though of as a group of people who think it is ok to commit suicide, just as they have done so in gianna Africa many years ago. That was a very crazy, and sad thing to do. People who allow themselves to be brainwasked into thinking that a Human person Like rev Jones is the final word on God and salvation,and that Killing oneself, is the thing to do, then those people who choose to follow a so called leader like I have just discribed above, then those poor human beings could defintatlly be called a cult. this word (cult) in WEbster’s dictionary means-that which is practised in a manner that goes against the normal means that is know by society at large.
And so, even we can see within the Christian faith, and the Muslins there are some strange cult practices that seem to go agained the norm of things.
Thaat is why some people even might mistakingly think that this Hari krishna momement is some kind of a cult. Well……..This is very far from the Truth my friends. In fact this chanting of the Hari Krishna Mantra is an eternal spiritual purifying process where by a person can once again become aware of God’s love within our hearts.
This Hari Krishna Process of Yoja or “connecting woth the supream Personality of “Godhead”, is an eternal process that has been available to us human souls for many milllions of years, and most recently this eternal process of Bhakti Yoga has been reinstated again only a little over 500 years ago by this blissful incarnation of “Lord Sri Chaiytania Maha Prabhu”. Krishna always will reapeare on this material earth whenever there is a decline in spiritual practises.. There is an amazing book that anyone wants real mercy- may read, and it is called the “Bhagvad Gita As it is” by A.C Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhupada.
Please go to the Website called krishna .org. This Gita Book Means (The Song of God) this version of the Gita has not been changed in any way by lesser persons..
This is the original version that has been translated from the original text of of the original Vedas, The knowlege of This Very Amazing Spiritual Book will make everything very clear whomever takes up the challenge to read the spiritual nector within this book of great teachings coming directly from God, and it is actually written by God himself- “Krishna”…
Furthermore, I must warn y0u my frieds,” Whomever starts to read this Bagavad Gita As it is” will gradually star to loose the ability and the desire to enjoy this temporay and hellish material world. I say this fact only because it is a true statement. My name is Bhaskara and I just happen to be a spiritual soul who has been following this Science of God realization for the past forty years, and I have made a lot a Amazing progress along this Spiritual path. I cannot really enjoy this material sence enjoyment in this temporay body any longer., This Wonderful book ” Bhagavad Gita” has distroyed my material desires, I now can only Love Krishna within my heart. However, Oh…. How Sweet Krishbna Is……If we really want to be free from the cyle of birth and death, and if we really want to be free from all anxieties, and if we really want to feel bliss and extacy within our oun hearts…… and if you really want to feel real pleasure… Then…….go ahead….. Read this “Bhagavd Gita As it is” then very soon…… you will know and feel the wonderful things that I enjoy at every moment in my life.
Yours., In Love and Light Bhaskara Prabhu
Of course it is a cult–the cult of Shri Chaitanya, as Prabhupada said. Do you think a church is better? Nothing bad ever happens in a church?
Please folks, try to think about terms before you use them. In my opinion, when cults become churches they tend to lose all of their rasa, their juice.
what swaminarayan sect are u from?is it baps or isso?whatever it is i am most suprised a bhakta of swaminarayan would ask such a question.Im a white 19 year old who knows a little about swaminarayan and would like to say1.no it isnt a cult2.that whoever is your guru(if u have one) should be abandoned asap.u are familiar i expect with gita and related sastras so why are u under the impresion that all whites are christian?u yourself could have been a white muslum in ur last life!please tell ur father that he needs to seriously educate u on the REAL swaminarayan and not that nonsense baps teaches.no offense but baps isnot the original swaminarayan.nowhere in vedas is akshar purrusotama mentioned. hope this helps. jai swamiji!
Dear devotees and other interested readers,
The founder-acarya of Iskcon referred to the practice of bhakti yoga, or Gaudiya Vaisnavism as a “cult.” The primary definition of the term “cult” is a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies. That bad things have happened in the Gaudiya Vaisnav tradition is simply due to the human condition, and similar occurrences have happened in all, if not most religions, or cults. Anti-cultists have invented a new derogatory definition for the term “cult.” The closest dictionary definition I could find that describes the anti-cultists’ use of the term refers to a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader. This definition describes many religious traditions. We should all remember there is only one God, and the best part of most religions is that people are encouraged by sincere religious leaders to worship God, and to engage in prayer, and to follow moral principles. There are far more similarities among religions than differences. Personally I prefer bhakti yoga, although I was raised Christian. My preference for Gaudiya Vaisnavism is due to the detailed descriptions of God’s activities, forms, names, and qualities found in the Gaudiya Vaisnav canon.
I guess the Catholic church is also a cult because in America they have more latino members. This goes for the Mormons as well. Sadly, i see alot of Devotees who cannot practice because of the simple fact that they are lusty and sinful. The only logical explanation for not living a life of purity is that you are not serious about giving up sinful enjoyment . Rather than admit this fact you choose to say ‘its a cult’ ‘its dangerous’ etc…well, we can blame blame blame for a lifetime . People tend to play the ‘blame game’ in life period..Not just regarding religion. If its not for you ,fine. But , please, stop making up insane ‘cult’ articles..show proof of damage done,show proof that its a cult..Leading religious scholors say that the Hare Krishna Movement is not a cult! Please do your research. If its a cult then there are millions of brainwashed cult members all over India. Come on Guys!
Well, It’s very difficult for parents who miss their now Hare Krishna monk who travels around and is mostly out of touch with his family, giving up everything for the temple. And, if we do see him, we cannot eat together easily, as he is critical of anything we eat. It hurts. Somehow, I wouldn’t think (my) God would want a family to be so disjointed, just because I am a Christian (protestant) and our son is a Hare Krishna Monk.
Is the Hara Krishna a cult?
To those that are members of the organization the perspective would most likely be ‘of course not’. For when one is deeply embedded in brainwashing, suppression and confided by strict rules dictating every action, it is hard to see objectively.
I was born into the Hara Krishnas.
What I remember…the world ‘outside’ was evil, maya and the only interaction with ‘karmis’ (non-devotees) was to try to help them to see the error of their ways. There was no interaction what so ever with the exception of dancing and singing on the streets to present a false sense of joy. Oh yes also to present myself as an orphan or a cancer child in order to abscond funds from the evil doers in the name of Krishna.
Is the Hara Krishna a cult?
Let’s think about being a child…
At the age of two the mother and father are no longer around as their life and duties belong to Krishna. And there is no one else around eighter. At the age of four children are regarded as being Krishnas children and sent to Ashrams…where rampant sexual, physical, emotional and mental abuse are the norm.
Family is to be left behind. Particularily external families, complete seperation is the norm
And when children try to escape…they are deeply repramended and taught their lesson.
No parents, no family and no one that cares. My memories are of being alone, many tears. I remember as a young child wondering what i had done wrong. Why no one thought about where I was.
And what about the suppression of women:
“you can beat your dog, so you can beat your wife”
“If a women gets raped it is because she made the man lusty”
“Women never progress past the age of a 12 year old”
I feel sadenned when I see Hara Krishna women. I see the same repressed emotion and yearning as when I was in the temple. I recall addressing a woman about the above mentioned thoughts and she immediately called over a man to respond as she was dumbfounded as to what to say.
looking at the ISKON news I am not suprised to see only 1 women staff member.
As a child born into the Hara Krishnas my world was very very small. The bubble of the temple property. I was taught how I must think, act, play, and be. There were no options.
Needless to say I am now not particularily open to religions. I am trying. And yet I see a very distinct difference between Christianity and the Hara Krishnas.
To the scholar who has determined that the Hara Krishnas are not a cult…I wonder how your perspective would be impacted if you actually lived within the confides of the organization.
Using theories and external judgements is very different than existing within a world that is completely closed to any externals.
And there was discussion about becoming a functioning member of society…yes I am extremely proud of who I am and where I have arrived at.
This has followed 20 years of extremely hard work. Healing, therapy, self reflection, and some years where I was not ‘a functioning member of society’. Self inflicted wounds, a continued path as the victim and complete confusion in how the heck I was supposed to suddenly be someone that I have been taught to hate were the norm
To integrate into a world that I was taught was evil and terryfing and to try to be ‘one of them’ compiled with the years of neglect and abuse was not an easy task.
So please think very hard before presenting such confidence in a perspective that comes from analytical theory as opposed to life experience.