Why do ISKCON’s Ethics appeal to some?
Saleh Muthana Yafai.
ISKCON devotees are expected to refrain from
- Eating meat, fish or eggs;
-(Onions, garlic and mushrooms).
The reason for this expectation is based the ‘Four Regulative Principles’ which initiated devotees vow to follow and the Three Gunas.
(Barker, 1989)
The Three Gunas
Energy has three qualities, known as Gunas;
- Sattva (purity);
- Rajas (activity, passion, the process of change); and
- Tamas (darkness, inertia).
(BHAGAVAD GITA, Chapter 14)
Only in enlightenment are the Gunas completely transcended.
3 types of foods
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Sattvic (pure and clean). It calms and purifies the mind. It also gives life, strength, energy, courage and self-determination )
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Rajasic (destroy the mind-body equilibrium, feeding the body at the expense of the mind)
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Tamasic (powers of reasoning become clouded and a sense of inertia (darkness) sets in. Include meat, alcohol, tobacco, onions, garlic and fermented foods such as vinegar).
(www.sivananda.org)
The Four Regulative Principles
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Truth (Satyam or honesty). This means that facts should be presented as they are; facts should not be misrepresented (Bhagavad-gita,10.4-5).
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Austerity (Tapah or self-discipline). Without austerity, no human being can get liberation.
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Cleanliness (Saucam or purity).
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Mercy (Daya or compassion). Compassion for the eternal soul is self-realization. (Bhagavad-gita, 2.1 purport).
By following the four regulative principles, the ISKCON devotees free themselves from miseries and from causing pain to others.
Meat-eating
The disadvantages;
-
Health (People who eat meat have the weakest bones. The excess cholesterol from meat leads to high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke).
-
Ethics (Killing powerless animals)
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Economics (If Americans reduced meat consumption by 10%, it would free 12 million tons of grain annually for human consumption …which would feed millions of people who starve to death).
- Environment
- Karma
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Harm to spiritual life (Krishna is not pleased when people kill His creatures for their own gratification).
(www.iskcon.com)
The Four Regulative Principles and Meat-eating
Killing animals damages the value of mercy or Daya. One turns one’s body into a ‘graveyard’ by eating dead animals.
Every animal has the right to life. Therefore, Anyone who consumes meat contributes in a scheme of violence against powerless animals and as a result, restricts their own spiritual development.
(www.harekrishnatemple.com)
Gambling
The disadvantages;
- The gambling industry preys on people with low incomes.
- Crime and cheating are associated with gambling, particularly in the form of bribery and game fixing.
- Compulsive gamblers can destroy their families.
(www.iskcon.com)
The Four Regulative Principles and Gambling
Truthfulness is shattered by gambling. This is because gambling turns a person into a liar, and a cheat.
Gambling consistently puts one into anxiety and fuels greed, envy, and anger.
This a clear violation of the first regulative principle (Satyam) and at the same time a direct infringement of the Bhagavad-gita (10.4-5) teachings against telling lies and misrepresenting facts.
Intoxication
The disadvantages;
- Poorer countries loose valuable natural resource of land and food.
- Thousands of people die every year from drugs-related diseases.
- Alcohol causes aggression.
The Four Regulative Principles and Intoxication
Taking intoxicants is physically, mentally and spiritually harmful. It destroys the principle of austerity because the reason people take to drugs is that they want to avoid their suffering in the material world; they do not want to face that austerity. This is in the mode of ignorance and leads away from enlightenment.
Intoxication cloud the mind, over-stimulate the senses, and make it impossible to follow the four regulative principles. This is because they simply increase one maya or illusion and take devotees farther away from Krishna.
Illicit sex
The disadvantages;
- Lust is the greatest enemy of the living entity, and it is lust only which encourages the pure living entity to stay entangled in the material world.
- In sex, one becomes more firmly fastened to the bodily notion of life.
- Sex has the greatest force for hampering spiritual development.
- To achieve spiritual perfection one needs to become free from sexual attraction.
()
The Four Regulative Principles and Illicit sex
The third regulative principle (cleanliness or Saucam) is destroyed by unlawful sex. This is sex outside of marriage or any sex for any purpose other than procreation.
Sex for pleasure forces one to identify with the body and stops one from understanding Krishna consciousness.
The Hindu scriptures (such as the Bhagavad Gita) teaches that sex is the most powerful force binding people to the material world. Anyone serious about advancing in Krishna consciousness should thus, refrain from or regulate their sexual activity according to the scriptures.
Conclusion
In the ISKCON movement there are four Regulative Principles, forbidding
- illicit sex,
- meat-eating,
- gambling and
- intoxication.
A supporter must be very eager about following these main beliefs. If one becomes careless in following any of them, their development will be checked.
()
Bibliography
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Barker, E., (1989) New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction, London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office
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International Society for Krishna Consciousness (2006) [online] [cited 27th December 2006] <>.
- Bhakti-yoga= Path of Devotion
- Practices for Purification of the Soul
- Centrality of Hare Krishna Mantra
- Chant 16 rounds daily= 1, 728 times
- Many lifestyle restrictions
Communal Lifestyle
- Mistakenly associated with hippie counterculture
-
ISKCON lifestyle= strict moral restraints on follower (Beckford,1985:112)
(Chryssides, 1999:175)
- “To practice Krishna Consciousness and be an ISKCON member required cutting ties with the outside secular culture and living a disciplined, communal way of life” (Rochford, 1985 cited in Rochford 1997).
- Why?
- corrupting influence of material world
- Prabhupada himself wary of negative influence of mainstream culture on spiritual path of devotees
-
Mainstream schools as ‘slaughterhouses’ (Goswami, 1984:1 cited in Rochford, 1997)
Male and Female Devotees
- Strict regulation of contact between sexes
-
Single men [brahmacaries] and single women [brahmacarinis] live in separate quarters [ashrams] (Rochford, 1985:14)
- Opposite sex must be avoided unless in conjunction to marriage, preaching, teaching and employment (Knott, 1986:52)
Why?
- Remove possible distractions from devotion to Krishna
- Romantic love and sexual desire tie devotee to material world
- Must withhold from sense gratification in order to achieve Krishna Consciousness
Dress
Male Devotees
Simplicity & Hygeine
Renunciation
sacred clay
Marks body as a temple
Vedic tradition
Uniform/mark of identity
Reminder/identifier
(Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International, 2002)
Female Devotees
Vedic Tradition
Identity
Modesty
Reminder/identifier
Marriage
- For procreation not pleasure (Chryssides, 1999:176).
-
sannyasi = chosen to surrender themselves completely to Krishna (Judah, 1974:125)
- Must renounce material world including family
- Husband and wife must live apart
- No physical contact allowed
Why?
- Avoid sense gratification, everything should be done for Krishna
- Sex-produce Krishna Conscious children- form of devotion (Knott, 1986:67)
- Sleeping around causes anxiety (Knott, 1986:67)
Conclusion
Bibliography
-
Bhaktivedanta Book Trust International (2002) Hare Krishna 101 [online] [cited 8th January 2007] <>
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Beckford, J. A. (1985) Cult controversies: the societal response to the new religious movements. London: Tavistock.
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Chryssides, G. D. (1999) Exploring New Religions. London: Cassell.
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International Society for Krishna Consciousness (2004a) Food [online] [cited 1st January 2007] <>
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International Society for Krishna Consciousness (2004b) New Vrindaban [online] [cited 4th January 2007] <>
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Judah, J. Stillson (1974) Hare Krishna and the Counterculture. New York: Wiley.
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Knott, K. (1986) My Sweet Lord: The Hare Krishna Movement. Wellingborough: Aquarian Press
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Kurma, D. (no date) Ask Kurma – Answers [online] [cited 4th January 2007] <>
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Rochford, E. Burke (1985) The Hare Krishna Movement in America. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press.
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Rochford, E. Burke (1997) Family Formation, Culture and Change in the Hare Krishna Movement. ISKCON Communications Journal, 5 (2) [online] [cited 1st January 2007] <>
Can ISKCON be viewed as an NRM or a traditional form of Hinduism based on its theological views?
Gwyn Owen
ISKCON place within Hinduism
- ISKCON base their teachings on the Bhagavad Gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam
- They claim to be in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition
- Refer to Krishna as the “Supreme Personality of Godhead"
- Unlike Advaita schools of Hinduism where Krishna is the 8th avatar of Vishnu, ISKCON worship Krishna as the origin of Vishnu
- Radha given special place as the female counterpart and love of Krishna
Prime focus of ISKCON worship
- The traditional philosophy of the three gunas particularly in the rople of sound in worship is central to the ISKCON. The recital of the Maha Mantra is viewed as a way to achieve concious union with the Godhead and therefore we can see the ISKCON as a form of Bhakti Yoga
Bhakti Practice
1) Hearing about the Lord
2) Glorifying the Lord
3) Remembering the Lord
4) Serving the lotus feet of the Lord
5) Worshiping the Lord
6) Offering prayers to the Lord
7) Serving the Lord
8) Building a friendship with the Lord
9) Surrendering everything unto the Lord
(http://www.krishna.com)
Bhagavat Gita on Bhakti
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man-mana bhava mad-bhakto, mad-yaji mam namaskuru, mam evaishyasi yuktvaivam, atmanam mat-parayanah
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"Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, become My devotee, offer obeisances to Me and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, surely you will come to Me." (B-Gita 9.34) ()
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bhaktya mam abhijanati, yavan yas casmi tattvatah, tato mam tattvato jnatva, visate tad-anantaram
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"One can understand Me as I am, as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, only by devotional service. And when one is in full consciousness of Me by such devotion, he can enter into the kingdom of God." (B-Gita 18.55) (http://bhagavadgitaasitis.com/18/55/en1)
Unresolved Issues
- ISKCON has sought to address issues relating to the soul and divinity, the organisation teaches that a soul is an eternal and personal identity, it does not merge with a higher form as is taught in Advaita Hinduism. Prabhupada taught that souls come from heaven and that the goal of life is to become Krishna conscious so as to “Return to Godhead”.
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The Gaudiya Vaishnava position on the soul is that the soul has never been in the spiritual world, as a result of this contradiction in ISKCON theology see "Where Do the Fallen Souls Fall From?" (Back to Godhead Magazine) or “Our Original Position” (SWAMI, 1996)
Other views of Krishna
- The term Krishnology has been used in order to focus on Vaishnava groups that hold Krishna as the central deity rather than Vishnu
- Guy Beck studied the Radha vallabha Sampradaya
-
“Alternative Krishnas: Regional and Vernacular Variations on a Hindu Deity”
- Tamala Krishna Gosvami furthered the studies in this area with research at Cambridge University
- Focus on the Krishnology of Prabhupada
(
Other groups
- ISKCON is not unique in that other new groups have grown out of the Gaudiya Matha school of Hinduism, some of these groups and their founders are:
- Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math of Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar Maharaj
- Sri Chaitanya Gaudiya Math of Bhakti Dayita Madhava Maharaja
- Gaudiya Vedanta Samiti of Bhakti Prajnana Kesava Maharaja
- Sri Gopinath Gaudiya Math of Bhakti Promode Puri Goswami Maharaja
- Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mission of Bhakti Vaibhava Puri Goswami Maharaja
Conclusion
- ISKCON belongs to the traditions of Bhakti Yoga and Gaudya Vaishnavism
- ISKCON is not radically diferent from traditional forms of Hinduism in its theology
- There are issues relating to the nature of souls and divinity that have not been conclusively resolved
- ISKCON are not unique in the focus on Krishna as Supreme being, within the Gaudiya Matha tradition there are alternative “Krishnologies”
- On the basis of theology, the case cannot be made to classify ISKCON as a New Religious Movement.
Bibliography
-
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SWAMI, S. (1996). Our Original Position. ; GBC Press
Any Questions???