Newsweek article about 40 years Hare Krishna

July 19, 2006

Newsweek-

Beliefwatch: New Look

July 24, 2006 issue - If you think that Hare Krishnas disappeared when the Age

of Aquarius ended, look in the next cubicle—one may be working in your office,

wearing a suit, with a full head of hair. This week the Hare Krishnas

celebrate their 40th anniversary, and they've joined the American mainstream.

"A Hare Krishna could be living next door to you and you wouldn't know it,"

says Burke Rochford, a Middlebury College professor and author of the

forthcoming book "Hare Krishna Transformed.They're now part of the culture

in ways that the average person couldn't have imagined some 20 or 25 years

ago."

Founded in 1966 by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the movement—formally

known as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)—became

known largely for proselytizing in airports and for its influence on Beatle

George Harrison. Critics called it a cult, and a sex-abuse scandal also cost

it both money and members. Using the teachings of 15th-century philosopher

Caitanya Mahaprabhu, Hare Krishnas worship by repeatedly chanting God's name.

They believe in simple living and are prohibited from eating meat, gambling,

intoxication and sex outside marriage. Many former ISKCON members are now

living what they call "Krishna conscious" lifestyles while only loosely

affiliating with the organization. Meanwhile, at today's temples, young people

in jeans and T shirts worship alongside middle-aged men in saffron robes and

Indian immigrants in flowing saris. ISKCON communities offer premarital

counseling, interfaith activities, social-service programs and

baby-sitting—just the kind of institutional structure that many early converts

were fleeing. Take Paul Swinford. He took the name Premananda Dasa and spent a

decade living in Boston's Hare Krishna temple. Two years ago, at 40, he got

married, moved to New Hampshire—where his wife works for a financial-services

company—and recently took an outside job, the first paycheck he's drawn in

years.

And while Hare Krishnas have changed, so has American culture. The spiritual

mainstream embraces yoga, vegetarianism and concepts like karma and

reincarnation. "A lot of people on the streets now believe in those things,"

says Anuttama Dasa, ISKCON spokesman. "A lot of things that were considered

outlandish or threatening are now taking place in the basements of Christian

churches."

—Michael Kress

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