Hare Krishna Movement Research Articles

The Sacralization of Straightedge Punk: Bhakti-yoga, Nada Brahma and the Divine Received: Embodiment of Krishnacore

This article explores the formation of Krishnacore, a phenomenon born from the amalgamation of American straightedge punk and the Hare Krishna Movement in the 1990s. It argues that whilst shared choices of lifestyle, such as vegetarianism and a distaste for intoxicants and illicit sex, were core tenets towards the conception of the scene, it was bhakti-yoga (the theological and philosophical basis of the Hare Krishna Movement) that cemented such a relationship. Furthermore, it also explores the aesthetic context of punk within a Vedic context, in particular with reference to what is termed as ‘Nada-Brahma’, or the sacralisation of sound.

Hardcore, punk, and other junk: aggressive sounds in contemporary music

Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1: Food For Thought: On Sid Vicious's Cannibalization of My Way Evan Ware Chapter 2: Let the Shillelagh Fly: Dropkick Murphys and Irish-American Hybridity Sean Ahern Chapter 3: Am I Evil? Meaning of Metal Lyrics to its Fans Mika Elovaara Chapter 4: By Demons Be Driven? Scanning 'Monstrous' Voices Marcus Erbe Chapter 5: Heavy Metal Music in the Caribbean Setting: Politics and Language at the Periphery Nelson Varas-Diaz, Eliut Rivera-Segarra Chapter 6: No Fun: Noise Music, Avant-garde Aggression, and Sonic Punishment Ross Hagan Chapter 7: Last Report: Throbbing Gristle and Audio Extremes Brian Cogan Chapter 8: Black Metal Soul Music: Stone Vengeance and the Aesthetics of Race in Heavy Metal. Kevin Fellezs Chapter 9: The Time is Right to Set Our Sight on Salvation: Strange Tale of How the Hare Krishnas Came To Play Hardcore Punk Colin Helb Chapter 10: Cult of Hellmouth: Success of Contemporary Hardcore Eric James Abbey Afterword Bibliography Contributors Index

A welcome to Raj Buyya as the new co‐editor

Last year, one of the journal's two co-editors, Andy Wellings, announced that he wanted to step down by the end of 2014. That would complete an astounding 20 years of service as a co-editor. A search for Andy's replacement was successful, and his replacement is Dr. Rajkumar Buyya (or Raj for short). Raj is a professor of Computer Science at the University of Melbourne in Australia. Raj's term as co-editor commences on July 1, so that there is a transition period while Andy's work is progressively taken over by Raj. Andy will not be taking on responsibility for new submissions to the journal; they will go to Raj instead. Andy will continue to handle papers that were previously assigned to him and revisions of those papers until the end of the year. Raj's name should be well known to researchers and software practitioners in the fields of cloud computing and grid computing. At the University of Melbourne, Raj is the director of the Cloud Computing and Distributed Systems Laboratory. He is also serving as the founding CEO of Manjrasoft Pty Ltd., a spin-off company of the University, commercializing its innovations in Cloud Computing. He has a long list of accomplishments achieved during his career as a professor. These include several best paper awards, recognition awards from technical organizations, innovation awards, patents, major research grants, industrial collaborations, and a long list of publications in major journals and at major conferences. ‘A Scientometric Analysis of Cloud Computing Literature’ by German scientists reported that Raj is not only the world's most influential researcher but also the most productive one in the area of cloud computing. Originally from India, where he obtained Bachelor of Engineering and Master of Engineering degrees, Raj moved to Australia to study for his doctorate. He began his degree at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, but completed it at Monash University, in Melbourne, when he was forced to find a new supervisor. His thesis on grid computing was accepted in 2002 under the supervision of Professor David Abramson. Software technologies for Grid and Cloud computing developed under Raj's leadership have gained rapid acceptance and are in use at several academic institutions and commercial enterprises in 40 countries around the world. On a personal note, Raj reports that he is married to Dr. Smrithi Buyya and they have two lovely daughters. He says he is a member of International Society for Krishna Consciousness and that one day he hopes to become a master of ‘spiritual science’! Software: Practice and Experience is fortunate that Raj has agreed to take on the role as co-editor. He has been helpful to the journal in the past, helping it achieve a more prominent position in rankings maintained by the Australian Research Council, by refereeing papers, by submitting papers, and by being a guest editor of a special issue on cloud computing. As the co-editor who will work alongside Raj, I extend a very special welcome to Raj. I am anticipating that there will be many new initiatives and a new focus for the journal, which will help it maintain its place as a leading journal, relevant to software practitioners and researchers around the world.

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness: Religion and Politics in West Bengal

The State of West Bengal in India is the home of a monotheistic, salvationist religion known as Vaishnavism. It has also been governed for 30 years by the democratically elected Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M). Vaishnavism has expanded globally, largely via the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON or the Hare Krishna movement). ISKCON has developed an intentional community in West Bengal as its world headquarters, and this community is becoming one of the state’s major tourist attractions and income-earners. The research that follows in this article was conducted to assess tensions between the West Bengal government and ISKCON, particularly in relation to land acquisition and workers’ rights policies. Perceptions of a contemporary alliance between ISKCON and a Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is a rival to the government and has historical ties to ISKCON, are found to be aggravating politics at the local level. The research highlights sensitivities at the intersection of religion, politics and culture, and the complexities of state–religion relationships in West Bengal.

Heffron v International Society for Krishna Consciousness

This brief article discusses the decision in Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness, where the Court upheld as a content-neutral time, place and manner regulation that impinged on the religious practices of the Krishna sect. The regulation at issue prohibited anyone at the Minnesota State Fair from selling or distributing any written material except from designated, fixed-location booths.

INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE WITHIN THE HARE KRISHNA MANDIR COMMUNITY YOGYAKARTA

This paper aims to know how inter-religious dialogue was grasped by Hare Krishna Mandir community in Jogjakarta. Hare Krishna Mandir is one of Hindus community boarding schools (Asram) which being in Indonesia beneath of the umbrella of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Results show that core of tenet of Hare Krishna Mandir community emphasizes on the development of individual knowledge and spirituality of student as a Hindus. Somehow, the community is being aware on pluralism context of Indonesia, therefore it also gives special attention on its community relationship to the others who live surround them. The community claims the necessity to develop interreligious dialogue as basic daily approach of communication with the others. Sunday Face comprises of the embodiment of that understanding. It is a program heading on Sunday, every week, involving many participants from different backgrounds. They gather together, they talk and share some relevant issues, and they learn from one and another point of views on solution as well as contribution to those. The program obviously contributes to sustaining religious harmony in Jogjakarta, and of course it gives better understanding for Indonesian people on the importance of inter-religious dialogue in a plural society of Indonesia. In addition to, it also contributes to shape open minded, necessity to hear, to learn, and to respect one and others among not only religious people, also society at all.
 
 Key words: Hare Krishna Mandir, interreligious dialogue, Sunday Face

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness : religion and politics in West Bengal

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness : religion and politics in West Bengal

Eastern Religions in Eastern Europe: Three Cases from Lithuania

This article provides both historical and ethnographic views of Eastern religion in Lithuania. The historical component is an examination of the evolution of Lithuanian interest in Eastern religions from nineteenth-century studies of Indo-European comparative linguistics and mythology, which linked pre-Christian Lithuanian religion with India and Hinduism, to increasing literary, scholarly and popular interest in India and Asia in the twentieth century, before, during and after Soviet occupation. The ethnographic aspect utilizes fieldwork and interviews to examine three Eastern-inspired religious movements, (Pagan) Romuva, (Hindu) Krishna Consciousness, and (Buddhist) Diamond Way, demonstrating three different adaptations of Eastern religion in Lithuania.

Speaking of Krishna: Rhetoric and Revelation in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)

Speaking of Krishna: Rhetoric and Revelation in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)

Old, New, Borrowed, Blue: ISKCON’s Troubled History with Gaudiya Vaisnavism

Old, New, Borrowed, Blue: ISKCON’s Troubled History with Gaudiya Vaisnavism

El método del análisis crítico del discurso y su aplicación en los sitios de Internet Hare Krishna

El artículo propone el análisis crítico del discurso, en combinación con las categorías hipermedia de la comunicación digital interactiva y el marco interpretativo de los estudios visuales como un método mixto propicio para el análisis de sitios de Internet. Como ejemplo, se analizaron los sitios web del movimiento Hare Krishna. El texto explica las matrices que se diseñaron y los resultados que surgieron a partir de ellas.

Food Restrictions and their Impact on South African Hindu Society with Special reference to the Hare Krishna Movement in Chatsworth

Food Restrictions and their Impact on South African Hindu Society with Special reference to the Hare Krishna Movement in Chatsworth

Krishna’s Cows: ISKCON’s Animal Theology and Practice

Abstract This article addresses the cultural influence of Hindu reflection on human attitudes toward animal welfare at a time of rapid globalization and worldwide environmental destruction. The hope is that it can contribute to deliberations on practical ethics across religious and cultural boundaries. It considers the extent to which existing Vaishnava resources have the potential to advance new transcultural orientations toward the protection of nonhuman forms of life by exploring what the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a monotheistic Hindu-related movement, says about the condition, purpose, and rights of animals. It analyzes whether in rejecting anthropocentric worldviews ISKCON is able to contribute to broader theological discussion about the place of animals in the world.

El poder sobre el cuerpo y el poder del cuerpo religioso: dos casos para la comparación

Through a comparative analysis of two religious systems —the Hare Krishna movement doctrinally linked to the Vaishnava school of devotional Hinduism, and Pentecostalism as a charismatic variation of the great tradition of Protestant Christianity— this article focuses on two basic theoretical concepts: the political body and techniques of the body in the context of religious practice. It is argued that a useful approach to both religious systems is a structural and constructivist analytic framework that privileges the role of material-rational control of subjective experience on three levels —ideological, symbolic and normative— in relation to the body and bodily expression.

Krishna Prasadam

In the Hare Krishna movement ritually sanctified food (known as prasadam) lies at the heart of key religious and ceremonial activity, and has progressively become the main rallying point for the movement’s preaching strategy or mission in the West. This article examines the experiential and doctrinal import of prasadam in the lives of adherents of the Krishna Consciousness movement and discusses its role as a preaching or proselytizing tool. As a means by which the movement today seeks to recruit new followers into its fold, the article looks at the movement’s programme of taking sanctified food to the public, with a particular focus on Hare Krishna Food for All missionary activity in London.

Doubt as Methodology and Object in the Phenomenology of Religion

The Holy Grail in the phenomenology of religion (and, to a lesser extent, the sociology of religion) is a definition of religion that actually works, but, so far, this seems to have been elusive. Classical definitions of religion—substantive (e.g. Tylor) and functionalist (e.g. Durkheim)—fail, in part because they attempt to be in three places at once, as it were: they attempt to distinguish religion from non-religion; they attempt to capture what religions have in common; and they attempt to grasp the 'heart', or 'core', of religion. Consequently, family resemblance definitions of religion replace certainty and precision for its own sake with a more pragmatic and heuristic approach, embracing doubt and putting forward definitions that give us a better understanding (Verstehen) of religion. In this paper, I summarise some 'new' definitions of religion that take this approach, before proposing and defending another one, defining religion as non-propositional and 'apophatic', thus accepting that doubt is central to religion itself, as well as to the analysis of religion.

Confluence of technology and commercial factors at ISKCON temple

PurposeAs there has been no research about specific Indian temples, the aim of this paper is to explore the role of technology and commercial factors at ISKCON temple in the National Capital Region, in enhancing the tourists' experience. ISKCON temple, New Delhi, has been the pioneer in implementing technology as a tool for augmenting spirituality and Krishna consciousness amongst visitors but it has been unable to excel in the same. Along with technology, various commercial aspects are also exclusively operative at the temple. This paper highlights the confluence of technology and commercial elements at the temple and their role in creating a satisfying visitor experience. The paper recommends changes that will help the temple's policy makers/management in developing superlative tourist experiences.Design/methodology/approachThe paper explores a strategic question by interacting with the key stakeholders. More specifically, interviews with policy makers, temple committee members and devotees, have been conducted along with a questionnaire which has led to data collection from the customers.FindingsIdentified gaps in the technology and commercial factors that are currently in place at the ISKCON temple. A customer survey highlights key expectations of visitors, bringing out the satisfaction level of the visitors with their integrated experience at the ISKCON temple, New Delhi.Practical implicationsISKCON temple attracts global tourists giving it a cosmopolitan nature. This research paper creates awareness amongst all the policy makers and temple management about ways to craft an outstanding as well as magnetizing experience for the visitors.Originality/valueIndia has a legacy of spiritual destinations that have been attracting international and domestic tourists. In the light of this fact, it becomes critical to identify the factors and elements that enhance the cultural, spiritual as well as overall customer experience at these religious destinations.

Prophets and protons: new religious movements and science in late twentieth-century America

Prophets and Protons represents the first book-length treatment of how science and religion are negotiated by new religious movements (NRMs). Benjamin E. Zeller focuses his book on three specific NRMs – the Unification Church, the Hare Krishna Movement and Heaven’s Gate – which flourished primarily, but not exclusively, in the 1960s and 1970s, a period when America’s counterculture also thrived. Zeller’s main concern is to argue that the responses of American NRMs to science during the second half of the twentieth-century are largely predictable based on their influences and theology. His end result is to “offer the basis of a typology of how other new religions–and possibly older religions–might also respond to science” (164). The primary modes he sees exemplified in these movements are to guide, replace or absorb science, and his argument is often persuasive.

‘God is a vegetarian’: The food, health and bio-spirituality of Hare Krishna, Buddhist and Seventh-Day Adventist devotees

Food is a significant part of the daily worship, health and social life of individuals across cultures and religions. This is especially the case for vegetarian religious minorities such as the Indian sub-continental borne Hare Krishna movement, the Christian Seventh-Day Adventist Church and various Buddhist groups. These devotees define spirituality as more than simply the state or quality of being committed to ‘God’, religion and immaterial spiritual concerns. This paper argues that there are visible, tangible and even biological frames of reference from which spirituality within the aforementioned religious groups should be considered. The concept of bio-spirituality introduced here, embodies and grounds matters pertinent to faith, health and worship in the everyday social actions and interactions of devotees both inside and outside the sphere of the temple or church. Bio-spirituality is a conceptual tool that accounts for the relationship between supernatural belief, and the natural physical environment. It was formulated to encapsulate the social, nutritional and spiritual dimensions of 18 self-identified religious vegetarians who were interviewed as part of larger qualitative study of alternative food habits and practices.

Book Review: "The Founder of Hare Krishnas as Seen by Devotees: A Cognitive Study of Religious Charisma"

Book Review: "The Founder of Hare Krishnas as Seen by Devotees: A Cognitive Study of Religious Charisma"