Cults The Hare Krishna Essay Research Paper

Cults: The Hare Krishna Essay, Research Paper

The form of deviance being studied is cults, particularly the Hare Krishna. Krishna is a popular Hindu god and is the inspiration of many cults. Prabhupada came to America in the 1960’s and founded the Hare Krishna movement. He was sent to America by his guru to spread the word of Krishna when he was 70 and attracted a following of young hippies disillusioned with material goods. But failed to attract a larger population because this behavior is viewed as deviant by most of society.

There are different varieties of cults, the Moonies, the Children of God, Eckankar and Scientology are but a few. Basically, there are two main types of cults, those with Christian based beliefs, and those with Eastern Religion based beliefs.

Typically, people who engage in the form of deviance are overwhelmingly Anglo-American, over 80% of those who join the Hare Krishna are white. Most are single when they enter, and at the time of their joining are not gainfully employed. Most have their high school diploma, are under the age of 30, come from middle and upper-middle class families, and most come from Protestant or Catholic backgrounds. As children, most attended church weekly with their families. Many may incorrectly assume that the people who join cults are in search of support of all kinds. The parents of these members, however, tend to be well off financially and able to properly support their children. Many members associate themselves with a highly authoritarian cult that emphasizes enthusiastic religious devotion. They are in search of group support and family values that lacked in their childhood. This is viewed as deviant behavior because they find conventional ways unsatisfactory to their lives, and instead find unorthodox means to fulfill their needs.

People engage in this form of deviance in temples. The temples are adorned with statues thought to be the incarnation of Krishna in a material form. Theses deities have to be dressed and dusted every morning and they are bathed in a liquid made of rose water, milk and cow urine. After the statue is bathed, it is considered to be an honor to drink the liquid. They engage in deviance in these temples because that is where the action is accepted and cannot be looked down upon by society; in the temples it is accepted and even honored to act accordingly.

People join the Hare Krishna because they may feel alienated, frustrated, or deprived in some way. Some may be in the search of meaning in their life and find the answer within the Hare Krishna organization. Others, such as George Harrison, may find the organization as a means to escape drug abuse. Many are attracted to the Hare Krishna because of their philosophy, which they say is logical and to a certain extent scientific. Members also join because of other members. The friendliness and accepting nature of the other members is another large reason why so many join the cult. Also, many earlier members were attracted by the charismatic leader, Srila Prabhupada.

The sixties and seventies were a time of social discontent among the young population in America. People began to redefine themselves and became unsatisfied with things about themselves. This left room open to explore other avenues of fulfillment, such as cults. The Krishna search for more meaning in institutions than America has to offer. People joined the Krishna because it was tied to the counterculture revolution in America, people thought that by joining the cult, they would obtain an increased knowledge of themselves and their environment.

The Hare Krishna is the most total institution of all other cults. With other cults, the members simply accept the belief and practice it. Members of the Hare Krishna, however, must proceed through four steps before they become a full follower. After these four steps are finished, the members are the same as everyone else in the cult who have gone through the steps. The first step is the pre-initiation stage where the member is taught the cult’s philosophy over a six month period while taking part in temple life, at this point the member must prove him/herself. The second stage is initiation. Once the member is considered suitable, the temple president gives the new member a Sanskrit name during a fire ceremony. At this stage a string of beads is given to the member that he must wear until he dies. Brahmin is the third stage where members can receive a second rite where they are given a secret mantra to be chanted three times a day. At this stage the men may also receive a thread to wear across their chest. The final stage is the Sannyasa which is more special as only a few members achieve this stage. They must make a life long vow to celibacy, poverty, and preaching.

Access is restricted to visitors when they come to the temple. This prevents their friends and families from intruding on the grounds where this deviance is taking place. Denial of access prevents people form the outside from looking down on the deviant behavior. The members also live on different compounds, separated by sex, with the children separated from their parents when they are five years old to go live with their spiritual teacher. An example of how rigid a total institution the Hare Krishna organization is are eight basic rules that members of Hare Krishna must abide by, they are:

1. He must chant 16 rou