Key issues in the International Society
Krishna in the West:
Key issues in the International
Society for Krishna
Consciousness after the
passing of the founder
University of Sydney Religion Seminar, 15 March 2016.
Angela Burt, Postdoctoral Fellow, Oxford Centre for Hindu
Studies
ISKCON was founded by Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada in New York
in 1966
Historical background of ISKCON
• ISKCON is a modern institutionalized
form of the Gaudiya Vaishnava
tradition – a mono-theistic tradition
whose chief deity is the god Krishna.
• The Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition
originates in sixteenth century
Bengal, India.
ISKCON’s mission
• ISKCON’s mission has been to teach
Westerners the principles of bhakti-yoga
(yoga of devotion), or Krishna consciousness.
• This involves chanting the names of Krishna
in groups and public settings, as well as
privately, worship of the deity of Krishna,
studying sacred texts including the
Bhagavad-gita, and refraining from
intoxicants, eating meat, sex outside of
marriage, and gambling.
Institutional structure
• Prabhupada registered ISKCON in New York in 1966.
• In 1970 he formed a Governing Body Commission
(GBC) – a governing board comprised of disciples,
to manage the afairs of ISKCON.
• Each GBC member has responsibility for a diferent
part of the world.
• In the 1960s and 1970s most members lived in
ISKCON’s ashrams but in the 1980s members
began to move out into their own homes.
• ISKCON has 578 centres worldwide.
Gurus and the principle of
parampara
• The guru has an authoritative
position within the Gaudiya
Vaishnava tradition.
• Parampara (a line of teachers) is the
means by which knowledge of the
tradition is passed on.
• Initiation (diksha) of a disciple by a
guru is an important part of the
process of passing on knowledge and
continuing the tradition.
The issue of succession
• In May 1977 Prabhupada confrmed
that after his death, he wanted his
disciples to continue running ISKCON
via the GBC, and that his disciples
should become gurus.
• In July 1977 he named eleven
disciples to initiate on his behalf
while he was still alive.
Prabhupada passed away in
November 1977
• No spiritual successor was explicitly
named i.e. he did not name anyone to
be guru, as he had said he would in
the May 1977 conversation.
• The only successor named in his will
was the GBC as the ultimate
managing authority of ISKCON.
• GBC members discussed who should
become guru.
Naming the gurus
At the GBC meetings in February 1978,
it was announced by the GBC that the
eleven disciples named in the July
1977 conversation
would be gurus.
The eleven disciples took on the role of guru in a
zonal system
This system seemed to work for
some time
• The legitimacy of the gurus was
accepted.
• However problems became apparent
early on.
• Three gurus were suspended in 1980.
• One of the suspended gurus left
ISKCON with a large number of
disciples in 1982, in ISKCON’s frst
schism.
• Another of the suspended gurus was
Dissent and protest
• Debates ensued about whether the eleven
gurus were legitimate successors to the
founder.
• Main issues were their spiritual
qualifcation, their adoption of the title
“Acharya”, taking a position higher than
other male members in the organization,
the levels of ritual worship that they were
receiving on a daily basis, and doubts that
Prabhupada had appointed them as gurus.
• This protest was fueled by the
difficulties that some of the gurus
were having in upholding their vows,
as well as other behaviours that were
inappropriate and sometimes illegal.
• In essence the legitimacy of the
gurus’ position and authority was
increasingly questioned.
Guru reform
• Dissatisfaction became more
pronounced in 1984 after a North
American Temple President’s meeting.
• Meetings were held about a year later
in 1985 where grievances were aired
publicly.
• Resolutions made at these meetings
led to a series of reforms enacted by
the GBC.
Reforms 1985-1987
• The authority of the GBC over the gurus was
affirmed.
• The number of gurus was increased, thereby lowering
the exclusive status of the eleven gurus.
• The amount of ritual worship ofered to the gurus was
reduced.
• Gurus were no longer allowed to be called “Acharya”,
thus removing their special status as institutional
heads.
• New ISKCON members were authorized to take
initiation from any guru in ISKCON that they chose,
thereby eliminating the controversial zonal system.
Guru exodus
In 1986 three gurus left ISKCON and one
guru was suspended from initiating.
In 1987 another guru was expelled for
fouting the authority of the GBC and
engaging in illegal activities, including
racketeering and ordering the murders of
two ISKCON members.
In 1987, the guru who had left ISKCON in
1982 with his disciples was murdered by
one of his disciples.
Key issues in this period
The issue of succession
Authority
Legitimacy
Status
Religious leadership
Institutional reform
Post-reform malaise
The organization subsequently settled
into a less turbulent rhythm, but
succumbed to a post-reform malaise.
Decline
• Fallout from the crisis of succession and guru
reforms:
• ISKCON members experienced a loss of faith in
ISKCON’s leadership.
• Decline in active monastic membership,
proselytization, and income.
• Loss of members to other Gaudiya Vaishanva
groups.
• Hinduization and Indianization – relying on an Indian
congregation for fnancial support and subsequent
alienation of Western ISKCON members.
Responses to Indianization
and Hinduization
Increasing eforts to attract
Westerners to ISKCON
including…
Teaching yoga
Holding festivals like Bhaktifest
Outreach to Westerners at festivals
such as Burning Man
Krishna West
The advent of Krishna West
• Hridayananda das Goswami, one of the
original eleven gurus had been concerned for
some years about the stagnation of outreach
to Westerners and the Indianization and
Hinduization of ISKCON.
• In 2013 he formed a project called Krishna
West within ISKCON, whose sole purpose
would be to make Krishna consciousness
attractive to Westerners by stripping it of what
he saw as unnecessary Indian cultural
elements, such as Indian dress.
The Krishna West controversy
• In 2014 controversy erupted again when the GBC
and Hridayananda clashed regarding Krishna West,
and the GBC banned him from undertaking a tour
of Europe aimed at expanding Krishna West.
• Krishna West became a divisive issue amongst
ISKCON’s leadership and members.
• Main issues of contention were the push to strip
the Indian cultural elements from ISKCON’s
presentation of Krishna consciousness, and the
question of whether Krishna West was in accord
with the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition.
A truce is called
• The GBC and Hridayananda met in January this
year to work through the dispute.
• The GBC have accepted Krishna West as a
legitimate preaching project within ISKCON, and
Hridayananda as a member in good standing in
ISKCON. The GBC and Hridayananda agreed to
cease mutual criticism.
• Krishna West continues with a number of
centres around the world, and although tensions
have eased, controversy about the goals of
Hridayananda and Krishna West continue.
Key issues
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Indian and Western culture
Tradition and modernity
Institutional reform
The threat of schism
Cultural appropriation
Orthodoxy and innovation
How these issues have played out on an
institutional level has been determined
by issues of authority and legitimacy
The current controversy and the
future of ISKCON
• This latest development indicates that
the key issues that beset ISKCON’s
earlier period are still signifcant.
• Krishna West is currently one of the
most talked about and divisive issues
amongst ISKCON devotees. How it is
dealt with by ISKCON members will be
important for how the institution
moves forward in the 21st century.
Questions and Discussion
Key issues in the International
Society for Krishna
Consciousness after the
passing of the founder
University of Sydney Religion Seminar, 15 March 2016.
Angela Burt, Postdoctoral Fellow, Oxford Centre for Hindu
Studies
ISKCON was founded by Bhaktivedanta Swami
Prabhupada in New York
in 1966
Historical background of ISKCON
• ISKCON is a modern institutionalized
form of the Gaudiya Vaishnava
tradition – a mono-theistic tradition
whose chief deity is the god Krishna.
• The Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition
originates in sixteenth century
Bengal, India.
ISKCON’s mission
• ISKCON’s mission has been to teach
Westerners the principles of bhakti-yoga
(yoga of devotion), or Krishna consciousness.
• This involves chanting the names of Krishna
in groups and public settings, as well as
privately, worship of the deity of Krishna,
studying sacred texts including the
Bhagavad-gita, and refraining from
intoxicants, eating meat, sex outside of
marriage, and gambling.
Institutional structure
• Prabhupada registered ISKCON in New York in 1966.
• In 1970 he formed a Governing Body Commission
(GBC) – a governing board comprised of disciples,
to manage the afairs of ISKCON.
• Each GBC member has responsibility for a diferent
part of the world.
• In the 1960s and 1970s most members lived in
ISKCON’s ashrams but in the 1980s members
began to move out into their own homes.
• ISKCON has 578 centres worldwide.
Gurus and the principle of
parampara
• The guru has an authoritative
position within the Gaudiya
Vaishnava tradition.
• Parampara (a line of teachers) is the
means by which knowledge of the
tradition is passed on.
• Initiation (diksha) of a disciple by a
guru is an important part of the
process of passing on knowledge and
continuing the tradition.
The issue of succession
• In May 1977 Prabhupada confrmed
that after his death, he wanted his
disciples to continue running ISKCON
via the GBC, and that his disciples
should become gurus.
• In July 1977 he named eleven
disciples to initiate on his behalf
while he was still alive.
Prabhupada passed away in
November 1977
• No spiritual successor was explicitly
named i.e. he did not name anyone to
be guru, as he had said he would in
the May 1977 conversation.
• The only successor named in his will
was the GBC as the ultimate
managing authority of ISKCON.
• GBC members discussed who should
become guru.
Naming the gurus
At the GBC meetings in February 1978,
it was announced by the GBC that the
eleven disciples named in the July
1977 conversation
would be gurus.
The eleven disciples took on the role of guru in a
zonal system
This system seemed to work for
some time
• The legitimacy of the gurus was
accepted.
• However problems became apparent
early on.
• Three gurus were suspended in 1980.
• One of the suspended gurus left
ISKCON with a large number of
disciples in 1982, in ISKCON’s frst
schism.
• Another of the suspended gurus was
Dissent and protest
• Debates ensued about whether the eleven
gurus were legitimate successors to the
founder.
• Main issues were their spiritual
qualifcation, their adoption of the title
“Acharya”, taking a position higher than
other male members in the organization,
the levels of ritual worship that they were
receiving on a daily basis, and doubts that
Prabhupada had appointed them as gurus.
• This protest was fueled by the
difficulties that some of the gurus
were having in upholding their vows,
as well as other behaviours that were
inappropriate and sometimes illegal.
• In essence the legitimacy of the
gurus’ position and authority was
increasingly questioned.
Guru reform
• Dissatisfaction became more
pronounced in 1984 after a North
American Temple President’s meeting.
• Meetings were held about a year later
in 1985 where grievances were aired
publicly.
• Resolutions made at these meetings
led to a series of reforms enacted by
the GBC.
Reforms 1985-1987
• The authority of the GBC over the gurus was
affirmed.
• The number of gurus was increased, thereby lowering
the exclusive status of the eleven gurus.
• The amount of ritual worship ofered to the gurus was
reduced.
• Gurus were no longer allowed to be called “Acharya”,
thus removing their special status as institutional
heads.
• New ISKCON members were authorized to take
initiation from any guru in ISKCON that they chose,
thereby eliminating the controversial zonal system.
Guru exodus
In 1986 three gurus left ISKCON and one
guru was suspended from initiating.
In 1987 another guru was expelled for
fouting the authority of the GBC and
engaging in illegal activities, including
racketeering and ordering the murders of
two ISKCON members.
In 1987, the guru who had left ISKCON in
1982 with his disciples was murdered by
one of his disciples.
Key issues in this period
The issue of succession
Authority
Legitimacy
Status
Religious leadership
Institutional reform
Post-reform malaise
The organization subsequently settled
into a less turbulent rhythm, but
succumbed to a post-reform malaise.
Decline
• Fallout from the crisis of succession and guru
reforms:
• ISKCON members experienced a loss of faith in
ISKCON’s leadership.
• Decline in active monastic membership,
proselytization, and income.
• Loss of members to other Gaudiya Vaishanva
groups.
• Hinduization and Indianization – relying on an Indian
congregation for fnancial support and subsequent
alienation of Western ISKCON members.
Responses to Indianization
and Hinduization
Increasing eforts to attract
Westerners to ISKCON
including…
Teaching yoga
Holding festivals like Bhaktifest
Outreach to Westerners at festivals
such as Burning Man
Krishna West
The advent of Krishna West
• Hridayananda das Goswami, one of the
original eleven gurus had been concerned for
some years about the stagnation of outreach
to Westerners and the Indianization and
Hinduization of ISKCON.
• In 2013 he formed a project called Krishna
West within ISKCON, whose sole purpose
would be to make Krishna consciousness
attractive to Westerners by stripping it of what
he saw as unnecessary Indian cultural
elements, such as Indian dress.
The Krishna West controversy
• In 2014 controversy erupted again when the GBC
and Hridayananda clashed regarding Krishna West,
and the GBC banned him from undertaking a tour
of Europe aimed at expanding Krishna West.
• Krishna West became a divisive issue amongst
ISKCON’s leadership and members.
• Main issues of contention were the push to strip
the Indian cultural elements from ISKCON’s
presentation of Krishna consciousness, and the
question of whether Krishna West was in accord
with the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition.
A truce is called
• The GBC and Hridayananda met in January this
year to work through the dispute.
• The GBC have accepted Krishna West as a
legitimate preaching project within ISKCON, and
Hridayananda as a member in good standing in
ISKCON. The GBC and Hridayananda agreed to
cease mutual criticism.
• Krishna West continues with a number of
centres around the world, and although tensions
have eased, controversy about the goals of
Hridayananda and Krishna West continue.
Key issues
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Indian and Western culture
Tradition and modernity
Institutional reform
The threat of schism
Cultural appropriation
Orthodoxy and innovation
How these issues have played out on an
institutional level has been determined
by issues of authority and legitimacy
The current controversy and the
future of ISKCON
• This latest development indicates that
the key issues that beset ISKCON’s
earlier period are still signifcant.
• Krishna West is currently one of the
most talked about and divisive issues
amongst ISKCON devotees. How it is
dealt with by ISKCON members will be
important for how the institution
moves forward in the 21st century.
Questions and Discussion