I was a follower of the "Hare Krishna Movement" for about a year and a half, and through that experience I have learned one thing: No matter how smart you are, you can fall for bullshit.
I seriously warn against anyone telling you that they have the answer. Life is complicated, one thing isn't going to make life perfect, nor you, for that matter. I'll let you know now that I did not experience any kind of abuse from other devotees or the organization as a whole. However, I feel that it is important to highlight the issues within this organization (ISKCON) and their philosophy. I hope that by describing my experience and conclusions, I can disuade you from joining anything similar.
About 2 years ago I became very interested in spirituality, particularly Hinduism. Through the internet
I learned about the Hare Krishnas, a group that claimed they had all the answers. Seeing the joy in the
spiritual practice, the community in the organization, and the piety of their philosophy, I decided that
I wanted to be like them.
I began to follow the teachings of their guru* Srila Prabhupada, and some of the daily
practices that came with being a devotee. Namely this includes waking up early to do a chanting
meditation known as Japa, and the following the four regulative principles:
I also began to read Srila Prabhupada's books, of which there are 60-80 (I couldn't find a
exact number) Through those books and the videos made by his disciples, I learned how a devotee is
supposed to be. I learned that one of the most important parts of being a disciple is "devotee
association". I suspect the reason that this is stressed so much in their philosophy is because the
constant influence of others who all think the same way stops you from thinking for yourself.
To my supposed fortune I met a group of devotees who lived very close by and we began to spend a lot of
time together. I would come to their meetings on Sundays, we would eat Prasadam*, talk about Krishna*,
read books, do Japa... Honestly it was all a very positive experience, it gave me a sense of community
that I had never felt before.
To be honest I never (personally) had a negative experience with a devotee, I think most of the
disciples are genuinely great people. However, that does not subtract from the issues that I am going to
outline. I was lucky, to say the least.
The expectation, originally instated by Srila Prabhupada, is 16 rounds a day. A round meaning one mantra per 108 beads, which takes about 7 minutes. All together its about two hours of chanting. The common rhetoric is that 16 rounds is actually small compared to what the previous acharyas* did , and we should really do more. 16 is the minimum.
Honestly, it sucks, and not in the typical it's difficult at first but when you push through it's worth it kinda way. It just sucks, all the time. Japa is like meditation if you flipped it on its head and made it run a lap. Meditation implies a calming, soothing experience, but Japa does not supply that at all. It's not just that I'm bad at meditation either, I love buddhist meditation, this is not that. Doing Japa feels like being made to sit in time out as a kid. I don't know why, the action of chanting just makes me feel more restless and foggy. It's like someone has poked a needle at my brain for 2 hours.
I know I'm not the only one who feels this way too, about half of the classes the devotees hold are about how to do Japa in a way that doesn't make you want to claw your eyes out. Nobody wants to do it, nobody is good at doing it, and most importantly, it's not meditation. The stories the devotees would tell about advanced disciples that were so great at Japa that they never wanted to stop, always sounded fake to me. It's like the whole organization is constantly trying to convince itself that it's main practice actually works.
The other thing that is just awful is the regulative principles. These are your cardinal sins, so to
speak.
Meat eating is easy to give up, gambling I never started, intoxication would be reasonable if it weren't
for the whole caffeine thing, but I want to just define what "Illicit sex" is for you really quick.
It's typical religious bullshit. Shame for your basic human needs is concerningly not unique to this group, but that does not make it less of an issue. The extreme nature of this belief has caused me intense shame, anxiety, and self-hatred.
To save my ass here, I have not personally experienced any of the things I am going to explain here. For all intensive purposes this is hearsay. I am not going to say anything that hasn't been said before, I am just summarizing for educational purposes.
ISKCON has a history of abuse, mostly due to poor management, I suspect. There is a tendency to trust people just because they are a "guru" or because they have been a devotee for a long time. They believe that anyone who has spent a lot of time practicing Krishna Consciousness is automatically a good person, it's too easy to take advantage of that kind of culture. A good example of this was is New Vrindavan, a commune formed in 1968 led by a disciple of Prabhupada named Kirtananda Swami. I would rather not describe the incident, but there were (alleged) cases of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, child neglect, and murder. If you would like to learn in depth what happened there, a documentary was made entitled "Krishnas: Gurus. Karma. Murder." it is available on Peacock but you may be able to find it somewhere else. What really upset and confused me while I was a devotee was that everyone in ISKCON avoided talking about it, or admitting that it had happened.
I worry that this is not just an issue of the past. I worry that there is still criminal acts being committed within ISKCON and it's many branches. I never experienced anything like that, but I am almost certain it is still happening. The culture of silence still exists, former members are coming forward with stories of abuse, and one of the Gurus (that I will not name for my safety) previously involved in New Vrindavan is still a major figure within the organization.
I don't have time to delve into all of these, but these are important to mention as well. I experienced all of them in my time studying under both ISKCON and ISKM. (another Hare Krishna organization that I think is somewhat better but still flawed in these ways)