10 ICSA TODAY
By Steven J. Gelberg
The following is an excerpt from my article “Why Did Hippies Become Hare Krishnas?.”1 To contextualize this excerpt, it follows sections that
describe, first, some of the aspects of the early Krishna movement (The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON) that were
positively appealing to countercultural youth (e.g., an ideology of antimaterialism, promises of spiritual enlightenment and bliss, communal
living, vegetarianism), and second, a number of potential or likely turn-offs: separation from friends and family, extreme conformity of
appearance and behavior, authoritarian leadership structures, strict celibacy, separation of the sexes, strident sectarianism, and so on. In the
reproduced section that follows, I try to convey a sense of the internal psychological dynamics that might lead a potential recruit to rationalize,
excuse, or ignore the negatives in favor of joining. Though it draws on my own subjective experience, I believe it expresses some universal
factors related to joining authoritarian groups. The piece ends with “A Modest Sutra of Loss,” a meditation on disillusionment.
MEMORIES AND REFLECTIONS
FROM COUNTERCULTURE TO KRISHNA CULT —
By Steven J. Gelberg
The following is an excerpt from my article “Why Did Hippies Become Hare Krishnas?.”1 To contextualize this excerpt, it follows sections that
describe, first, some of the aspects of the early Krishna movement (The International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON) that were
positively appealing to countercultural youth (e.g., an ideology of antimaterialism, promises of spiritual enlightenment and bliss, communal
living, vegetarianism), and second, a number of potential or likely turn-offs: separation from friends and family, extreme conformity of
appearance and behavior, authoritarian leadership structures, strict celibacy, separation of the sexes, strident sectarianism, and so on. In the
reproduced section that follows, I try to convey a sense of the internal psychological dynamics that might lead a potential recruit to rationalize,
excuse, or ignore the negatives in favor of joining. Though it draws on my own subjective experience, I believe it expresses some universal
factors related to joining authoritarian groups. The piece ends with “A Modest Sutra of Loss,” a meditation on disillusionment.
MEMORIES AND REFLECTIONS
FROM COUNTERCULTURE TO KRISHNA CULT —
