What is it like when you to an Iskcon temple?

[AncientMariner]

I have never been to one so I don't have any idea. I get the impression sometimes from various posters I have read that you can't go there and just worship Prabhupada. Is this true? From what I have heard you are pressured to take initiation from one of the other gurus. I don't know if this is ritvik propaganda or what. Is there any temples that accomodate the worship of Prabhupada even though he is departed that are not ritvik?

[Guest guest]

What do you mean by worship of Srila Prabhupada?

[AncientMariner]

 

What do you mean by worship of Srila Prabhupada?

 

 

You have to worship a spiritual master don't you to get back to Godhead in Krishna Consciousness? I have read that Krishna doesn't take direct worship but then I have also seen a quote by Prabhupada that says something to the effect that one way or another you either have to surrender to Krishna or Krishna's representative.

[AncientMariner]

There is a little Krishna temple or restaurant in the University District kind of close to Roosevelt High School in Seattle. I have walked by it before but not in. I just want a good old fashioned Krishna experience where you go and eat prasadam and listen and hear the greatness that is Srila Prabhupada. I don't want to be inundated by people that try to get me to accept this guru or that guru. If I wanted that I could just hang out with the Mormons that I live close to. They try to cooerce you into doing all sorts of things. Anyways does anyone know anything about this temple, if they just let you hear Prabhupada or do they engage in heavy handed conversion attempts?

[Guest guest]

You should be fine. If you join the temple, there may be pressure from the Temple president, but you don't have to take a Guru if you don't want to. There is plenty of people at Soho for example who have been there for years and years but haven't choosen a spiritual master.

[AncientMariner]

 

You should be fine. If you join the temple, there may be pressure from the Temple president, but you don't have to take a Guru if you don't want to. There is plenty of people at Soho for example who have been there for years and years but haven't choosen a spiritual master.

 

 

Ok, thanks. I appreciate it.

[bolo_hare_krsna]

srila prabhupada has explained that a hare krsna temple, an ISKCON temple, "is Vaikuntha"....or a place in the material world where material anxiety--as it relates to birth, death, old age and disease--is absent....where there is sri krsna, there is light...where there is light, darkness cannot sustain....thats all the invite i ever needed....before i became i devotee and moved into the ISKCON temple in berkeley--new jagannatha puri dhama--i was voraciously reading srila prabhupadas transcendental books (wasnt another name of Bhimadeva vrkodara..he of a voracious appetite) and when i read srila prabhupada write that the temple was Vaikuntha i thought to myself "wow, i have never read anything like that in any other religious text as long as i have been alive"....anyway....lest i rant....chant hare krsna

 

your servant arjuna dasa

[Guest guest]

One, don't let anyone know that you know anything at all about KC. Play totally dumb. Like your favorite guy from SB, Jada Bharata.

 

Two, go there and have pre-planned what you are going to focus on: (a) Deities, (b) Murti of Srila Prabhupada, © Tulasi Devi. Then just be like Jada Bharata and focus on those things.

 

I would not even get into conversation with anyone, just keep to yourself and don't reveal very much about yourself. Do it like a Mystery Shopper. All

restaurants and businesses hire Mystery Shoppers who go in with the express

purpose of evaluating the place for the boss. But they don't tell the employees that, they act like they have never been there before.

 

Or be like Ruth Reichel the editor of Gourmet Magazine who was formerly a food critic. She would go into a restaurant in several different disguises to see how they really treated people and how they really served food.

 

Just think that Krsna, Prabhupada is your boss and you are being a Mystery Shopper or food critic for them. And whatever you already know about the good service or lousy service you keep to yourself. Just approach the experience afresh and anew, as is the enlightened frame of mind anyway.

 

In devotional Buddhism Thich Nhat Hahn as well as Sogyal Rinoche has shared that when we have The View, we see and approach everything in the world like a little child entering a temple or a beautiful garden for the first time.

 

Keep your inner innocence and just think of everyone there that Krsna is in their heart and there is Krsna in his XXXXXX whatever disguise. "There is Krsna disguised as a neophtye devotee. There is Krsna disguised as an over-bearing TP. There is Krsna disguised as a beautiful innocent brahmacarini. There is Krsna disguised as a new brahmacari. There is Krsna in the disguise as a sannyasi who really would rather not be a sannyasi anymore but he still has to play the part." And so on.

 

Just offer your respects to all from a distance and focus on what you pre-determine that you are there to focus on. Like going shopping with a shopping list and when we are not hungry then we make more intelligent purchases at the grocery store.

 

So already you are not hungry i.e. not some innocent dufus ripe and ready for the plucking. And go with your shopping list of what you are going to focus on: Deities, Murti, Tulasi. Keep your internal reminders of what your

boundaries are then you will probably have a nice experience. That way in case anyone there DOESN'T have appropriate boundaries then you will still be safe psychologically.

 

Also you have to be careful not to talk to any of the guests, that is how you can set up red flags with any despots there if you start making people think. Best just keep to yourself and if anyone asks you any questions just say, "I don't know I don't live here, you should ask one of the monks." Then no one will feel like you are there with an agenda to sabotage their trip.

 

Don't reveal anything that you know at all and if it slips out that you know anything just say you learned it in college or whatever. Then they won't feel threatened that maybe you are from some other camp they are warring with.

 

Just view it like going to a foreign country, like taking a trip to India for your sociology class or anthropology class, only without the dysentery and parasites and pigs eating stool and pickpockets and crazy traffic. That is all that Prabhupada set it up to be: an embassy to the spiritual world.

 

It would be interesting if you did a compare and contrast of other temples of Hinduism in your area to make it a true sociological field trip, noting similarities and differences. Then you can get a better idea of what is Hindu dharma and Indian culture: whatever is the same when you people watch, Deity watch, sadhu watch, and/or pujari watch.

 

But be careful! remember what Ken Kesey said to Tom Wolfe when he was writing The Electric Kool-aid Acid Trip: "If you hang out enough with us some of it is going to rub off on you." What KK was referring to is they were moving a dresser and some of the red paint from the freshly painted wall got onto Tom Wolfe's three piece suit. But has deeper implications also.

 

Just think of yourself as a journalist, keep an affectionate distance. Pretend you are super rich bazillionaire wondering who to donate his wealth to, pretend you are the king seeing how the citizens are behaving when they don't know you are watching. Or pretend you are Dick Cheney doing a little Homeland Security detail on a rare jaunt out of your secure, undisclosed location where you usually spend all of your time in a fortified bunker.

[Guest guest]

"You are in for a real treat" is a brilliant post. I usually do something like this when I go to an ISKCON temple. Besides its great fun. Good insight but a little bit on the cynical side.

[Guest guest]

I would say what you heard is simply ritvik propaganda. I go to the local ISKCON temple and very few, if any, even talk about initiations though many of them are initiaited by other ISKCON guru's. The respect and gratitude they have for Srila Prabhupada & their own guru is plain to see.

 

Don't go by what you hear. Simply check it out yourself. Go there, participate in kirtan, hear the class & enjoy mahaprasadam!

 

 

I have never been to one so I don't have any idea. I get the impression sometimes from various posters I have read that you can't go there and just worship Prabhupada. Is this true? From what I have heard you are pressured to take initiation from one of the other gurus. I don't know if this is ritvik propaganda or what. Is there any temples that accomodate the worship of Prabhupada even though he is departed that are not ritvik?

[Guest guest]

Hare Krishna!

 

I agree with the previous post. I have been going to ISKCON for 8 years and am still not initiated. No one forced me to initiate, in fact it is the opposite, i was asked to follow sadhana strictly before i can think of initiation.

 

So, dont fake anythihg, be yourself and talk your mind without hurting anyone. Participate in the Kirtan, arti and enjoy Prasadam.

 

Remember, you are in the house of Krishna and He will surely recieve you with loads of LOVE. Dont worry too much, please go and just feel your place per your pace.

 

Haribol

 

anand

[sanatan]

My home temple is one of the major ISKCON centers in the USA, and in over 20 yrs no one has ever pressured me about getting initiated or following a particular guru, even though one of the biggest ZA's was headquartered there.

 

It's always been the policy here that a person can look at getting initiated after completing a probationary period of one year of 16 rounds and 4 regs strictly. If you come around and attend programs and chant, a few devotees may ask if you're interested in getting initiated, but no one looks down on those who aren't...lots of longterm fringies like me around.

[bolo_hare_krsna]

the advice presented in "you are in for a real treat" is, sadly, quite offensive and replete with various aparadha....toward devotee, deity, etc....for instance :

"Keep your inner innocence and just think of everyone there that Krsna is in their heart and there is Krsna in his XXXXXX whatever disguise. "There is Krsna disguised as a neophtye devotee. There is Krsna disguised as an over-bearing TP. There is Krsna disguised as a beautiful innocent brahmacarini. There is Krsna disguised as a new brahmacari. There is Krsna in the disguise as a sannyasi who really would rather not be a sannyasi anymore but he still has to play the part."

the above quote from the above post is based on no sloka or parampara, guru, sadhu, sastra that i have personally ever heard of....approach the ISKCON hare krsna temple and the devotees within in the humble and enlightened mood of rupa goswami's bhakti rasamrta sindhu (the nectar of devotion) or upadesamrta (nectar of instruction) and you will receive lord krsna's causeless mercy without hesitation....

definitely avoid visiting a hare krsna temple and its members pretending that you are a karmi, meat-eating, cow-killing bhoga food critic, as per:

"Or be like Ruth Reichel the editor of Gourmet Magazine who was formerly a food critic. She would go into a restaurant in several different disguises to see how they really treated people and how they really served food"......actually go to the temple to have some maha-prasada !! hare krsna !

and please spare yourself of making the mistake and grievous offense of comparing the spiritual world, the hare krsna temple--what srila prabhupada called "Vaikuntha"--to "hindu" culture and "hindu dharma" as does the poster :

"It would be interesting if you did a compare and contrast of other temples of Hinduism in your area to make it a true sociological field trip, noting similarities and differences. Then you can get a better idea of what is Hindu dharma and Indian culture: whatever is the same when you people watch, Deity watch, sadhu watch, and/or pujari watch"

in fact i could replace all of these quotes, nay, the entire post with nectar from srila prabhupadas books on how to approach, behave, receive and interact with sri krsna's bhaktas and temple...but i beg you to read them for yourself as i am sure you have : ) you will surely have a blissful time, an ecstatic time, a purifying time and most importantly, time with sri krsna caitanya himself....

 

some more thoughts on some more quotes from the misguided post, "you are in for a real treat" :

"But be careful! remember what Ken Kesey said to Tom Wolfe when he was writing The Electric Kool-aid Acid Trip: "If you hang out enough with us some of it is going to rub off on you." What KK was referring to is they were moving a dresser and some of the red paint from the freshly painted wall got onto Tom Wolfe's three piece suit. But has deeper implications also"

actually srila prabupada, the jagat guru, sri krsna's purest representative, said it best many, many times himself when he explains that when iron is placed into fire, it will itself in time become fire...when conditioned souls associate with sri krsna and krsna's representatives and devotees, they become purified and blessed and develop a taste for devotional service and chanting hare krsna.....

and definitely, definitely do not go into a hare krsna temple, such an auspicious place, with this crooked and false mentality:

"Just think of yourself as a journalist, keep an affectionate distance. Pretend you are super rich bazillionaire wondering who to donate his wealth to, pretend you are the king seeing how the citizens are behaving when they don't know you are watching. Or pretend you are Dick Cheney doing a little Homeland Security detail on a rare jaunt out of your secure, undisclosed location where you usually spend all of your time in a fortified bunker."

i mean , all of us have a hard enough time battling maya and illusion, why would you enter a hare krsna temple in such a unhumble, unspiritual attitude, pretending to be something or someone you are not...we identify with this false ego, ahankara enough already, why drape on another material costume or false mentality on top of the material costume of the material body...this whole thing would be laughable if it wasnt so misleading and, frankly, just sad....the idea is to awaken the jiva from identifying with matter...not to plunge the soul into more darkness and confusion, rebirth, etc....

chant hare krsna and be happy and be blissful and be real....

thank you very much

 

 

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your servant

arjuna dasa

[Beggar]

Arjuna Prabhu, go easy on the author of "you are in for a real treat". He's obviously a person who has much experience with ISKCON and somehow became jaded and cynical. Maybe he's even an ex-ISKCON guru or sanyassi and he's just projecting his own experience on that of current sanyassis.

[Guest guest]

I've been visiting ISKCON temples since I was a child and I've never been pressured to take initiation. There have been times when I've seen a particular swami and been so impressed that I thought about initiation. When that happened, my ISKCON friends would tell me to think about it for a long time and only then approach him. They were very supportive and gave good advice that I should consider it and weigh all the pros and cons before I made a decision. They were right and I'm not initiated yet, nor have I approached a guru for initiation. A decision like that is too important and too personal and I doubt that any ISKCON devotee would pressure you into accepting initiation.

 

I also thought that the post 'you're in for a treat!' was sad. As devotees, we should enter the temple with our hearts and minds open, ready to draw in the beauty and love of Radha Krishna. How can you feel love and beauty when you're busy pretending to be someone you're not? One of the best things about going to the temple is the chance to associate with devotees. Devotees keep us on the right path, they remind us to chant, they strengthen our resolve to follow the four reg. principles. If you go to the temple and refuse to speak to anyone then you are missing out on that association. If you are not yet comfortable speaking then that is fine but don't tell other people to behave like that. I myself have gone to the temple, not wanting to speak to anyone because I was sad for some reason. On one occasion, a devotee saw me crying and without saying a word, she brought me a prasad flower garland from the deities. She understood that I didn't want to talk and yet offered the best comfort. There's no other place I can think of where this would happen. So ancient mariner, I advise you to go to the temple without fear of being pressured and drink up the nectar of krishna's darshan and devotee's association. You won't regret it.

 

Haribol and best wishes,

 

Jai

[zjj]

Haribol,

 

that was me in the last post, by the way.

 

Jai