This is an excellent chronicle of the birth and establishment of the great spiritual movement of Krishna consciousness in the United Sates during the period of 1966-69. The author was one of the first three disciples who were initiated into the organization, and he being an English professor with good writing skills became a close confidante of his guru and assisted him in editing, translating and re-writing some of the manuscripts that included the organization's magazine, "Bhagavadgita as it is", and Srimad-Bhagavatam. This is an intimate, lively, and highly engrossing story. The author recalls that the details of the beginnings of the movement were recorded while events were still fresh; mainly from notebooks, diaries, and his memory. It covers the life of his guru and the disciples on Lower East Side of New York, and later in Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco with flourishing hippie culture that believed in rebellion, LSD, love, music and sex. The last section of the book describes the history behind the building of New Vrindaban in West Virginia which by itself makes a fascinating story. This book convinces its readers that this spiritual awakening in 1966 was genuine and the circumstances were natural for the creation of Krishna Consciousness movement. Matchless Gifts, a small storefront at 26 Second Avenue, New York, became the first Krishna temple and the nearby Tomkins Square Park became the first public place for chanting of the Hare Krishna maha-mantra.
The main goal of ISKCON was to spread the spiritual knowledge of Bhagavadgita around the world through sankirtan movement of Lord Caitanya, to bring mankind consciousness of Krishna and thereby attain peace, and to erect a holy place of transcendental pastimes dedicated to the personality of Krishna. He also introduced eight rules for the devotees that included strict vegetarianism, no illicit sex, do not mix extensively with non-devotees, do not eat food prepared by non-devotees, no sports, and always chant Krishna maha-mantra. He also ruled that all devotees must read Bhagavadgita, Srimad Bhagavatam and Caitanya Charitamrita.
The work of Prabhupada gradually spread during 1966-69 through television, newspapers, and other media outlets and through the word of mouth. People interested in Indian philosophy around the country began to read the work Prabhupada in New York, and soon more young people expressed interest to join his movement. Jadurani became the first female devotee; during this period the women were not treated equally. This unfairness existed for few years within the organization, even though in the history of Vaishnavaism, some of the great devotees of Krishna were women. Meera Bai, a 15th century poetess and the devotee of Lord Krishna was a woman, and her bhajans are still being sung in temples across India.
The movement started to grow when San Francisco becomes the second city to build the Krishna temple largely with hippies as new Krishna devotees. Prabhupada proudly called this temple the New Jagannathapuri. The local government began to appreciate the new movement because of Prabhupada's efforts to divert hippies away from LSD to lead disciplined lives; office of the mayor of New York was one of them. George Harrison and many rock groups expressed support for the organization including well known book publishers. The third temple in Montreal, Canada, and the fourth in Boston, MA came into existence; around this time, devotees in Santa Fe, NM and Los Angeles, CA built their own temples. The first Rathayatra was celebrated in San Francisco. In August 1968, Mr. Foster, the owner of the property in Moundsville, WV signed the lease out to ISKCON that would become the New Vrindaban.
A great deal is written about the first few followers of Prabhupada in this book, especially the very first disciple, Swami Kirtananda, but the author never mentions Kirtananda leaving the ISKCON movement for almost a year, from September 1967 until his emotional reunion with Prabhupada in July 1968. It was during this period Kirtananda went to live at a rundown farm in West Virginia which later became New Vrindaban. It is also interesting to note that the author who had an arranged marriage with another devotee, Shama Dasi from San Francisco never mentions his wife or his family life in this book, except the marriage ceremony on Dec 25, 1968.
The readers also learn some interesting things about Prabhupada. He had very negative opinions of other Indian gurus and spiritual leaders, notably of Sri Ramakrishna and Vivekananda whom he called mad monks. He was very critical of the entire Vedanta Society's philosophy. He ridicules Dr. Radhakrishnan's interpretation of Gita as impersonal, calls his philosophy a "Mayavadi philosophy." His criticism stems from the interpretation of verse 9.34 in which Krishna tells Arjuna; "Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, offer obeisances and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, Surely You will come to Me." He also disagrees with Mahatma Gandhi's interpretation that Gita teaches non-violence, although Prabhupada expresses his respect for Gandhi's sincerity. He also expresses his dislike for Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. He was also very critical of Buddhist philosophy, meditation, and yoga practitioners, especially hatha-yoga practitioners whom he calls rascal yogis. Prabhupada was also in disbelief of NASA's landing on the moon. He argued that it is impossible for human beings to land there, and suggested that moon is another planet and its inhabitants have another state of existence and ordinary human beings cannot see them. Such comments gave very negative publicity for the movement.
The main goal of ISKCON was to spread the spiritual knowledge of Bhagavadgita around the world through sankirtan movement of Lord Caitanya, to bring mankind consciousness of Krishna and thereby attain peace, and to erect a holy place of transcendental pastimes dedicated to the personality of Krishna. He also introduced eight rules for the devotees that included strict vegetarianism, no illicit sex, do not mix extensively with non-devotees, do not eat food prepared by non-devotees, no sports, and always chant Krishna maha-mantra. He also ruled that all devotees must read Bhagavadgita, Srimad Bhagavatam and Caitanya Charitamrita.
The work of Prabhupada gradually spread during 1966-69 through television, newspapers, and other media outlets and through the word of mouth. People interested in Indian philosophy around the country began to read the work Prabhupada in New York, and soon more young people expressed interest to join his movement. Jadurani became the first female devotee; during this period the women were not treated equally. This unfairness existed for few years within the organization, even though in the history of Vaishnavaism, some of the great devotees of Krishna were women. Meera Bai, a 15th century poetess and the devotee of Lord Krishna was a woman, and her bhajans are still being sung in temples across India.
The movement started to grow when San Francisco becomes the second city to build the Krishna temple largely with hippies as new Krishna devotees. Prabhupada proudly called this temple the New Jagannathapuri. The local government began to appreciate the new movement because of Prabhupada's efforts to divert hippies away from LSD to lead disciplined lives; office of the mayor of New York was one of them. George Harrison and many rock groups expressed support for the organization including well known book publishers. The third temple in Montreal, Canada, and the fourth in Boston, MA came into existence; around this time, devotees in Santa Fe, NM and Los Angeles, CA built their own temples. The first Rathayatra was celebrated in San Francisco. In August 1968, Mr. Foster, the owner of the property in Moundsville, WV signed the lease out to ISKCON that would become the New Vrindaban.
A great deal is written about the first few followers of Prabhupada in this book, especially the very first disciple, Swami Kirtananda, but the author never mentions Kirtananda leaving the ISKCON movement for almost a year, from September 1967 until his emotional reunion with Prabhupada in July 1968. It was during this period Kirtananda went to live at a rundown farm in West Virginia which later became New Vrindaban. It is also interesting to note that the author who had an arranged marriage with another devotee, Shama Dasi from San Francisco never mentions his wife or his family life in this book, except the marriage ceremony on Dec 25, 1968.
The readers also learn some interesting things about Prabhupada. He had very negative opinions of other Indian gurus and spiritual leaders, notably of Sri Ramakrishna and Vivekananda whom he called mad monks. He was very critical of the entire Vedanta Society's philosophy. He ridicules Dr. Radhakrishnan's interpretation of Gita as impersonal, calls his philosophy a "Mayavadi philosophy." His criticism stems from the interpretation of verse 9.34 in which Krishna tells Arjuna; "Engage your mind always in thinking of Me, offer obeisances and worship Me. Being completely absorbed in Me, Surely You will come to Me." He also disagrees with Mahatma Gandhi's interpretation that Gita teaches non-violence, although Prabhupada expresses his respect for Gandhi's sincerity. He also expresses his dislike for Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. He was also very critical of Buddhist philosophy, meditation, and yoga practitioners, especially hatha-yoga practitioners whom he calls rascal yogis. Prabhupada was also in disbelief of NASA's landing on the moon. He argued that it is impossible for human beings to land there, and suggested that moon is another planet and its inhabitants have another state of existence and ordinary human beings cannot see them. Such comments gave very negative publicity for the movement.
Reference: The Hare Krishna explosion: The birth of Krishna consciousness in America, 1966-1969 by Hayagriva Dasa
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