Origins

The origin of the Hare Krishnas (International Society for Krishna Consciousness or ISKON) dates back to the fifteenth century ad when Chaitanya Mahaprabhu developed the Doctrines of Krishnaism from the Hindu sect of Vishnuism.

Simply stated, Vishnuism believed that Vishnu, the Supreme God, manifested himself at one time as Krishna. Mahaprabhu taught the reverse - that Krishna manifested himself as Vishnu. The doctrinal system of Krishnaism is Hinduistic and while worshipping Krishna, acknowledges universal monism. This system believes that every individual must go through a series of successive lives (reincarnation) to rid himself of the debt of his actions (karma).

Krishnaism was one of the early attempts to make philosophical Hinduism appealing to the masses. While pure Hinduism's god is impersonal and unknowable, Krishnaism (and other sects) personalise god and promote worship of and interaction with the personalised aspects of god, such as Krishna.

In 1965 Krishnaism went to America by means of Abhay Charan De Bhaktivendanta Swami Prabhupada, an aged Indian exponent of the worship of Krishna. He founded ISKON and remained its leader until his death in 1977. Presently ISKON is ruled by two different groups, one group of eleven men rule over spiritual matters, while a board of directors heads the administrative matters. This wealthy organisation has about 100 000 members in America. Part of ISKON's wealth comes from soliciting funds and distributing its lavishly illustrated literature including the Bhagavad-Gita: As It Is and its periodical Back to Godhead.

Major Doctrines

• ISKON's beliefs are those of Hinduism and are wholly incompatible with Christianity.
• Although ISKON practices monotheism, it assumes traditional Hinduistic monism (essential pantheism). To them they are all one - 'in the beginning ... there was only Krishna, who creates all and enjoys all.'
• Jesus is the son, and Krsna (alternative spelling of Krishna) is the Father, and Jesus is Krsna's son' (from Jesus Loves Krsna, LA Bhaktivedanta Book Trust)
• Salvation must be earned by performing a series of works. To get rid of the ignorance, one must practice disciplinary devotion by chanting the name of god, hearing and singing his praises, meditating upon the divine play and deeds of KRSNA, and engaging in the rites and ceremonies of worship. One must also repeat the name of God to the count of beads.
• Self-denial and sacrifice are crucial for salvation in ISKON All these performers who know the meaning of sacrifice become cleansed of sinful reactions, and, having tasted the nectar of the remnants of such sacrifices, they go to the supreme eternal atmosphere.

To sum up

• Krishna is God and thus placed above Jesus
• 'Salvation' is earned by a series of works. Man continues in a cycle of reincarnations until his good deeds 'outweigh' and 'atone' for his bad deeds.
• There is truth in all the great scriptures of the world. But the Bhagavad- Gita is the literal record of God's actual words.

Other Points

The Krishna chant is an invocation to Hindu gods and idol worship is practised in their temples.