Cults The Hare Krishna Essay Research Paper free essay sample

Cults: The Hare Krishna Essay, Research Paper The signifier of aberrance being studied is cults, peculiarly the Hare Krishna. Krishna is a popular Hindu God and is the inspiration of many cults. Prabhupada came to America in the 1960 # 8217 ; s and founded the Hare Krishna motion. He was sent to America by his guru to distribute the word of Krishna when he was 70 and attracted a followers of immature flower peoples disillusioned with material goods. But failed to pull a larger population because this behaviour is viewed as pervert by most of society. There are different assortments of cults, the Moonies, the Children of God, Eckankar and Scientology are but a few. Basically, there are two chief types of cults, those with Christian based beliefs, and those with Eastern Religion based beliefs. Typically, people who engage in the signifier of aberrance are overpoweringly Anglo-American, over 80 % of those who join the Hare Krishna are white. Most are individual when they enter, and at the clip of their connection are non gainfully employed. Most have their high school sheepskin, are under the age of 30, come from in-between and upper-middle category households, and most come from Protestant or Catholic backgrounds. As kids, most accompanied church hebdomadally with their households. Many may falsely presume that the people who join cults are in hunt of support of all sorts. The parents of these members, nevertheless, tend to be good off financially and able to properly back up their kids. Many members associate themselves with a extremely autocratic cult that emphasizes enthusiastic spiritual devotedness. They are in hunt of group support and household values that lacked in their childhood. This is viewed as aberrant behaviour because they find conventional ways unsatisfactory to their lives, and alternatively happen irregular agencies to carry through their demands. Peoples engage in this signifier of aberrance in temples. The temples are adorned with statues thought to be the embodiment of Krishna in a material signifier. Theses divinities have to be dressed and dusted every forenoon and they are bathed in a liquid made of rose H2O, milk and cow piss. After the statue is bathed, it is considered to be an award to imbibe the liquid. They engage in aberrance in these temples because that is where the action is accepted and can non be looked down upon by society ; in the temples it is accepted and even honored to move consequently. Peoples join the Hare Krishna because they may experience anomic, defeated, or deprived in some manner. Some may be in the hunt of intending in their life and happen the reply within the Hare Krishna organisation. Others, such as George Harrison, may happen the organisation as a agency to get away drug maltreatment. Many are attracted to the Hare Krishna because of their doctrine, which they say is logical and to a certain extent scientific. Members besides join because of other members. The friendliness and accepting nature of the other members is another big ground why so many join the cult. Besides, many earlier members were attracted by the magnetic leader, Srila Prabhupada. The 1960ss and 1970ss were a clip of societal discontent among the immature population in America. Peoples began to redefine themselves and became unsated with things about themselves. This left room unfastened to research other avenues of fulfilment, such as cults. The Krishna hunt for more significance in establishments than America has to offer. Peoples joined the Krishna because it was tied to the counterculture revolution in America, people thought that by fall ining the cult, they would obtain an increased cognition of themselves and their environment. The Hare Krishna is the most entire establishment of all other cults. With other cults, the members merely accept the belief and pattern it. Members of the Hare Krishna, nevertheless, must continue through four stairss before they become a full follower. After these four stairss are finished, the members are the same as everyone else in the cult who have gone through the stairss. The first measure is the pre-initiation phase where the member is taught the cult # 8217 ; s doctrine over a six month period while taking portion in temple life, at this point the member must turn out him/herself. The 2nd phase is initiation. Once the member is considered suited, the temple president gives the new member a Sanskrit name during a fire ceremonial. At this phase a twine of beads is given to the member that he must have on until he dies. Brahmin is the 3rd phase where members can have a 2nd rite where they are given a secret mantra to be chanted three times a twenty-four hours. At this phase the work forces may besides have a yarn to have on across their thorax. The concluding phase is the Sannyasa which is more particular as merely a few members achieve this phase. They must do a life long vow to celibacy, poorness, and sermon. Access is restricted to visitants when they come to the temple. This prevents their friends and households from irrupting on the evidences where this aberrance is taking topographic point. Denial of entree prevents people form the exterior from looking down on the aberrant behaviour. The members besides live on different compounds, separated by sex, with the kids separated from their parents when they are five old ages old to travel unrecorded with their religious instructor. An illustration of how stiff a entire establishment the Hare Krishna organisation is are eight basic regulations that members of Hare Krishna must stay by, they are: 1. He must intone 16 unit of ammunitions of supplications a twenty-four hours 2. He can non eat meat, fish, eggs, onions or Allium sativum 3. Sexual contact is merely acceptable between married twosomes one time a month for the intent of reproduction, non enjoyment. 4. He can non take portion in any activities which promote the slaughter of animate beings. 5. He must at all times wear the sacred beaded necklace, paint his organic structure with a mixture of clay and H2O, shave his caput except for a top of subdivision. 6. He must lift early every forenoon, take a cold shower and offer a ceremonial which involves the combustion of incense and recitation of a supplication. 7. He must non chance. 8. He can non smoke, imbibe, or take any drug. The work forces besides have to have on robes, called dhotis. The adult females wear robes which even cover their caput called saree. Members besides wear beaded necklaces to demo their position in the religion. These articles identify them as different from the remainder of society because they dress otherwise than others. Another illustration of how stiff the Hare Krishna # 8217 ; s are is the agenda of their twenty-four hours, although their yearss may change, most yearss in the Hare Krishna faith travel like this: 3:00A.M. Get up and have cold shower, acquire dressed. 4:00A.M. Travel to temple, personal chant. 5:00A.M. Temple service 6:00A.M. Analyze hr to read their Bible 7:30 A.M. Breakfast 8:00 A.M. Jobs 10:00 A.M. Raise money in the community, with a interruption for tiffin. 6:00 P.M. Meal 7:00 P.M. Study 8:15 P.M. Hot milk 9:00 P.M. Rest Of Hare Krishna members, 80 % are under the age of 25 upon come ining the organisation. Merely 20 % of members are of a seeable minority. Less than 22 % of members have a grade in school beyond their high school sheepskin. This may be due to the immature age at which the members join the group, many may fall in before even traveling to college. The parents of members of the Hare Krishna on mean brand more than $ 30,000 dollars a twelvemonth, so members come from financially stable backgrounds. Members are besides overpoweringly Protestant or Catholic by 68 % compared to the other chief faiths. The values of the Hare Krishna are expressed in their arrant devotedness to their God Krishna. The fact that they chant so frequently a twenty-four hours and even give their kids to another member to watch them turn demo their complete devotedness to their God. The fact that they take so much attention in fixing their sacred beaded necklaces and in rinsing the divinities besides shows how devoted they are. In their eyes, God comes before anything. The belief system of the Krishna religion is different from other faiths. The Krishna, for illustration, believe that Jesus was non God, but that he was a fan of Krishna sing signifier another planet. They besides believe that Krishna is the highest of Hindu Gods, the Lord and the Absolute Truth who has had many embodiments. They believe that the Bible and the Koran are echt Bibles but have been distorted over the old ages in their many interlingual renditions ; alternatively it is the Hindu Scriptures which are important. They besides believe that the life that one leads in this life determined the signifier that your psyche will take in reincarnation. They believe that redemption lies in complete devotedness to Krishna, and that any actin done for Krishna is non bad as Krishna is supra good and bad.