International Cultic Studies Association
 Department: Group Report - Hare Krishna

Vol. 1, No. 1, 2001

Hare Krishna: news articles 1995

ISKCON in the News Articles from the Cult Observer 1984-1999 

1995

September/October

Guruism Tarnished Krishna Movement (pp. 6,7) Professor Larry Shinn, of Bucknell University, a scholar of religion who has closely studied the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna) movement, spoke last year in Germany at the 25th anniversary celebration of the organization's establishment in that country. His generally sympathetic analysis-"The Journey of the Hare Krishna" (Academy for Vaishnava Culture, Conference on Vaishnava Culture, 29 January 1994, Wiesbaden)-is critical of certain aspects of the movement in America, but he laments that its failures have been publicized unjustly to paint a dark picture of the entire movement.

Early Mistakes

Prof. Shinn believes that many of the mistakes made during the first years of ISKCON in the U.S. stem from young people thinking they have seen a vision of a better world which they feel obliged to impose on others. This led to the development of an idealized Hare Krishna school system, the gurukula, which involved exaggerated attempts to form the lives of young students. Unhealthy training and sexual abuse were the result. Such idealized religious training, in Prof. Shinn's view, is simply not workable. He also believes that criticism of the zealousness of Krishnas' selling techniques in airports and elsewhere is deserved.

These problems stemmed, he says, from the inability of many Krishna recruits to maintain, for very long, the ideal Krishna lifestyle. This tendency was especially clear in the eleven young gurus who were chosen in 1977 to succeed the founder of the movement in America, a succession controversial even within the movement. More than half of these gurus collapsed over the next decade amidst sexual laxity, the use of hallucinogenic drugs, and extremely authoritarian views. 

Even at the time he interviewed the founder's successor gurus from 1980-1985, Prof. Shinn says he had the feeling that many of them would not be obeyed because they were still too young to have acquired the necessary spirituality to hold their powerful positions in the movement. (He notes that leading a spiritual and priestly life is difficult even in the American [Roman] Catholic church, a long-established religious institution, as recent celebrated cases show.) 

History of a Guru

The history of the guru who succeeded to the control of a Krishna retreat and farming community, New Vrindaban, in rural West Virginia, illustrates Prof. Shinn's point. Kirtinananda Swami Bhaktipada [Keith Hamm, eventually imprisoned after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder and other charges in connection with activities at the commune] made New Vrindaban into a spiritual Disneyland, engaging architects to put up seven temples on surrounding hills. Already at Prof. Shinn's first interview with Kirtinananda, in 1981, the overwhelming pride of the

guru portended problems. "One could recognize in Bhaktipada the Christian Baptist roots of his father. He interpreted the Krishna text very freely so that his own institutional views predominated." At the same time, rumors surfaced in ISKCON's inner circles that members in New Vrindaban dealt drugs and engaged in other illegal activities to get money for the expensive building projects which Bhaktipada had in mind.

During his visits to New Vrindaban  in 1986 and 1989, Professor Shinn  found Bhaktipada ruling with a heavy hand, and almost murdered as a result. A police raid found large stocks of sports clothing with famous team insignia that the Krishnas were selling illegally on streets around the country. And a murder investigation was underway that implicated a Krishna who had been living in the commune. During his last visit to New Vrindaban, Prof. Shinn was surprised at how Bhaktipada and some of his most powerful cohorts brushed aside charges of illegal activities, even though some court actions were already underway. A certain arrogance and self-righteousness ruled. The leaders had been given so much autonomy, and trust, says Prof. Shinn, that they no longer followed the dictates of their religious tradition. 

The Innocent

Despite all of this, says Prof. Shinn, "I was always aware of the complete righteousness of the god-chosen members of that commune, most of whom had very little to do with the illegal intrigues" and knew little about the goings-on.  Indeed, most of the commune’s members left for other Krishna communes because what was going on conflicted with their beliefs, and the number of residents fell from 800 to fewer than 100.  “The tragedy of New Vrindaban,” for Professor Shin, “was not only that one of the Krishna gurus and some of his chief followers had become involved in illegal and immoral activities, but that the commune had become for many people in America a symbol of the collective ISKCON.  And despite Bhaktipada’s March 1987 expulsion from the movement, the media and anti-cult groups still believe this.  But while the history of New Vrindaban demonstrates that Krishnas in America often handle problems in illegal and immoral ways, this is “not typical for the hundreds of Krishna members with whom I am personally acquainted, still less for the countless communes in America, Europe, India, and elsewhere.  

International Cultic Studies Association
 Department: Group Report - Hare Krishna

Vol. 1, No. 1, 2001

Hare Krishna: news articles 1995

ISKCON in the News Articles from the Cult Observer 1984-1999 

1995

September/October

Guruism Tarnished Krishna Movement (pp. 6,7) Professor Larry Shinn, of Bucknell University, a scholar of religion who has closely studied the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna) movement, spoke last year in Germany at the 25th anniversary celebration of the organization's establishment in that country. His generally sympathetic analysis-"The Journey of the Hare Krishna" (Academy for Vaishnava Culture, Conference on Vaishnava Culture, 29 January 1994, Wiesbaden)-is critical of certain aspects of the movement in America, but he laments that its failures have been publicized unjustly to paint a dark picture of the entire movement.

Early Mistakes

Prof. Shinn believes that many of the mistakes made during the first years of ISKCON in the U.S. stem from young people thinking they have seen a vision of a better world which they feel obliged to impose on others. This led to the development of an idealized Hare Krishna school system, the gurukula, which involved exaggerated attempts to form the lives of young students. Unhealthy training and sexual abuse were the result. Such idealized religious training, in Prof. Shinn's view, is simply not workable. He also believes that criticism of the zealousness of Krishnas' selling techniques in airports and elsewhere is deserved.

These problems stemmed, he says, from the inability of many Krishna recruits to maintain, for very long, the ideal Krishna lifestyle. This tendency was especially clear in the eleven young gurus who were chosen in 1977 to succeed the founder of the movement in America, a succession controversial even within the movement. More than half of these gurus collapsed over the next decade amidst sexual laxity, the use of hallucinogenic drugs, and extremely authoritarian views. 

Even at the time he interviewed the founder's successor gurus from 1980-1985, Prof. Shinn says he had the feeling that many of them would not be obeyed because they were still too young to have acquired the necessary spirituality to hold their powerful positions in the movement. (He notes that leading a spiritual and priestly life is difficult even in the American [Roman] Catholic church, a long-established religious institution, as recent celebrated cases show.) 

History of a Guru

The history of the guru who succeeded to the control of a Krishna retreat and farming community, New Vrindaban, in rural West Virginia, illustrates Prof. Shinn's point. Kirtinananda Swami Bhaktipada [Keith Hamm, eventually imprisoned after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder and other charges in connection with activities at the commune] made New Vrindaban into a spiritual Disneyland, engaging architects to put up seven temples on surrounding hills. Already at Prof. Shinn's first interview with Kirtinananda, in 1981, the overwhelming pride of the

guru portended problems. "One could recognize in Bhaktipada the Christian Baptist roots of his father. He interpreted the Krishna text very freely so that his own institutional views predominated." At the same time, rumors surfaced in ISKCON's inner circles that members in New Vrindaban dealt drugs and engaged in other illegal activities to get money for the expensive building projects which Bhaktipada had in mind.

During his visits to New Vrindaban  in 1986 and 1989, Professor Shinn  found Bhaktipada ruling with a heavy hand, and almost murdered as a result. A police raid found large stocks of sports clothing with famous team insignia that the Krishnas were selling illegally on streets around the country. And a murder investigation was underway that implicated a Krishna who had been living in the commune. During his last visit to New Vrindaban, Prof. Shinn was surprised at how Bhaktipada and some of his most powerful cohorts brushed aside charges of illegal activities, even though some court actions were already underway. A certain arrogance and self-righteousness ruled. The leaders had been given so much autonomy, and trust, says Prof. Shinn, that they no longer followed the dictates of their religious tradition. 

The Innocent

Despite all of this, says Prof. Shinn, "I was always aware of the complete righteousness of the god-chosen members of that commune, most of whom had very little to do with the illegal intrigues" and knew little about the goings-on.  Indeed, most of the commune’s members left for other Krishna communes because what was going on conflicted with their beliefs, and the number of residents fell from 800 to fewer than 100.  “The tragedy of New Vrindaban,” for Professor Shin, “was not only that one of the Krishna gurus and some of his chief followers had become involved in illegal and immoral activities, but that the commune had become for many people in America a symbol of the collective ISKCON.  And despite Bhaktipada’s March 1987 expulsion from the movement, the media and anti-cult groups still believe this.  But while the history of New Vrindaban demonstrates that Krishnas in America often handle problems in illegal and immoral ways, this is “not typical for the hundreds of Krishna members with whom I am personally acquainted, still less for the countless communes in America, Europe, India, and elsewhere.  

International Cultic Studies Association
 Department: Group Report - Hare Krishna

Vol. 1, No. 1, 2001

Hare Krishna: news articles 1995

ISKCON in the News Articles from the Cult Observer 1984-1999 

1995

September/October

Guruism Tarnished Krishna Movement (pp. 6,7) Professor Larry Shinn, of Bucknell University, a scholar of religion who has closely studied the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna) movement, spoke last year in Germany at the 25th anniversary celebration of the organization's establishment in that country. His generally sympathetic analysis-"The Journey of the Hare Krishna" (Academy for Vaishnava Culture, Conference on Vaishnava Culture, 29 January 1994, Wiesbaden)-is critical of certain aspects of the movement in America, but he laments that its failures have been publicized unjustly to paint a dark picture of the entire movement.

Early Mistakes

Prof. Shinn believes that many of the mistakes made during the first years of ISKCON in the U.S. stem from young people thinking they have seen a vision of a better world which they feel obliged to impose on others. This led to the development of an idealized Hare Krishna school system, the gurukula, which involved exaggerated attempts to form the lives of young students. Unhealthy training and sexual abuse were the result. Such idealized religious training, in Prof. Shinn's view, is simply not workable. He also believes that criticism of the zealousness of Krishnas' selling techniques in airports and elsewhere is deserved.

These problems stemmed, he says, from the inability of many Krishna recruits to maintain, for very long, the ideal Krishna lifestyle. This tendency was especially clear in the eleven young gurus who were chosen in 1977 to succeed the founder of the movement in America, a succession controversial even within the movement. More than half of these gurus collapsed over the next decade amidst sexual laxity, the use of hallucinogenic drugs, and extremely authoritarian views. 

Even at the time he interviewed the founder's successor gurus from 1980-1985, Prof. Shinn says he had the feeling that many of them would not be obeyed because they were still too young to have acquired the necessary spirituality to hold their powerful positions in the movement. (He notes that leading a spiritual and priestly life is difficult even in the American [Roman] Catholic church, a long-established religious institution, as recent celebrated cases show.) 

History of a Guru

The history of the guru who succeeded to the control of a Krishna retreat and farming community, New Vrindaban, in rural West Virginia, illustrates Prof. Shinn's point. Kirtinananda Swami Bhaktipada [Keith Hamm, eventually imprisoned after being found guilty of conspiracy to murder and other charges in connection with activities at the commune] made New Vrindaban into a spiritual Disneyland, engaging architects to put up seven temples on surrounding hills. Already at Prof. Shinn's first interview with Kirtinananda, in 1981, the overwhelming pride of the

guru portended problems. "One could recognize in Bhaktipada the Christian Baptist roots of his father. He interpreted the Krishna text very freely so that his own institutional views predominated." At the same time, rumors surfaced in ISKCON's inner circles that members in New Vrindaban dealt drugs and engaged in other illegal activities to get money for the expensive building projects which Bhaktipada had in mind.

During his visits to New Vrindaban  in 1986 and 1989, Professor Shinn  found Bhaktipada ruling with a heavy hand, and almost murdered as a result. A police raid found large stocks of sports clothing with famous team insignia that the Krishnas were selling illegally on streets around the country. And a murder investigation was underway that implicated a Krishna who had been living in the commune. During his last visit to New Vrindaban, Prof. Shinn was surprised at how Bhaktipada and some of his most powerful cohorts brushed aside charges of illegal activities, even though some court actions were already underway. A certain arrogance and self-righteousness ruled. The leaders had been given so much autonomy, and trust, says Prof. Shinn, that they no longer followed the dictates of their religious tradition. 

The Innocent

Despite all of this, says Prof. Shinn, "I was always aware of the complete righteousness of the god-chosen members of that commune, most of whom had very little to do with the illegal intrigues" and knew little about the goings-on.  Indeed, most of the commune’s members left for other Krishna communes because what was going on conflicted with their beliefs, and the number of residents fell from 800 to fewer than 100.  “The tragedy of New Vrindaban,” for Professor Shin, “was not only that one of the Krishna gurus and some of his chief followers had become involved in illegal and immoral activities, but that the commune had become for many people in America a symbol of the collective ISKCON.  And despite Bhaktipada’s March 1987 expulsion from the movement, the media and anti-cult groups still believe this.  But while the history of New Vrindaban demonstrates that Krishnas in America often handle problems in illegal and immoral ways, this is “not typical for the hundreds of Krishna members with whom I am personally acquainted, still less for the countless communes in America, Europe, India, and elsewhere.