I took off my shoes and began to explore this beautiful house. I started to feel more at ease. The smell of incense was comforting because it smelled like my house when we pray. There was a prayer room to the right of me and to the left there was a huge winding staircase. I walked up the staircase and went inside the gift shop where I found saris, incense, posters, music, jewelry, and books. There was a quiet woman behind the register who said only one word while I was inside. I asked her if she lives there and she answered, “yes” quietly. While we were at the cash register, a young, outgoing man came in and invited Preeti and me to aarti.
We walked downstairs and followed the sounds of singing and of the dhol, an Indian drum, and went into the prayer room where Krishna and Radha are displayed. There was an Asian woman in the stage area performing the rituals and two male Hare Krishnas dancing and chanting. One was playing the dhol and the other was hitting the mini cymbals together. I did not recognize the prayers so I just stood with my hands clasped and watched. Some devotees walked inside in the middle of aarti and bowed in front of the deities; some laid their whole bodies on the floor and some just knelt on their knees. All the devotees were very young; they looked about 20 years of age. I wondered why everyone was so young; they carried book bags so I assumed they were students. I remember thinking that the men must have been brainwashed at a young age.
Three of the devotees were dressed in normal clothes. One devotee, Scott, was hopping and jumping throughout the entire 30-minute ceremony. I wondered why he was jumping so much and if his feet hurt. I was intrigued by the aarti because it was uplifting and filled with excitement. However, the ceremony was very different than what I was used to. At my temple people are very composed and follow a specific procedure when praying. The atmosphere at ISKCON was very relaxed and the devotees said prayers with more passion.
I turned around and there was a man sitting still on a bench. Then I looked closer and realized it was a statue of Swami Prabhupada; it looked so real that it was scary. I wanted to take a picture of the statue but I thought that might be disrespectful. Scott walked by us with the devo in his hand and bowed to Swami Prabhupada’s statue. He then brought the candlelight to me and I put my hands over the flame and then over my head, something I have done since I was little. Then another devotee walked to the back of the room with holy water. He sprinkled some on everyone in the room.
Suddenly an Indian family walked in and stood next to me. There were two young children and their parents. I was surprised to see them. Why were they there? Why don’t they go to a normal temple? The family looked so happy to see other Indian faces at the temple. They kept staring at Preeti and me and smiled every time I glanced over. I also felt more comfortable seeing other Indians at this place. Maybe ISKCON is not as weird as I thought.
After standing for twenty minutes the Hare Krishnas knelt on their knees and put their heads to the floor. Preeti and I sat down and observed as they began chanting. We were curious to see the living quarters so we decided to leave and find someone to take us upstairs. While exploring we started talking to a Hare Krishna about spirituality. After talking to him for about 20 minutes we asked him to see the upstairs. He said there was nothing to see and the rooms were dormitory style. This was his nice way of saying no. Later he invited us to eat prasad with all the Hare Krishnas and we accepted the offer.
We walked downstairs and five Hare Krishnas were eating from steel dishes on the floor. I was fascinated because all of the utensils and dinnerware were from India. My family and I eat out of the same dishes. After living with Americans and being away from home for such a long time, it was nice to see familiar things. At this point I was just happy to be there and no longer thought badly of these people. I ate some mixed vegetables, an Indian sweet, chutney, and a carrot drink; it was really tasty.
While eating we chatted with the Hare Krishnas. They were curious about my background and asked me a lot of questions. They were all my age so I felt very comfortable conversing with them. I finally got the courage to ask the Hare Krishnas about the Nori Muster book, Betrayal of the Spirit. Some of them have read it and were very honest with me. They said everything Nori said was true and added that now the movement is trying to move beyond all that to rectify what happened in the past. Brandon, one of the Hare Krishnas, became a little defensive. He said, “All religious movements have problems, and they must find a way to overcome them and that is what ISKCON has done.” He also told us about his past with drugs and how ISKCON helped him find his path to spirituality. This story sounded very familiar…it was Nori Muster’s story!
During this conversation I observed the behavior of these devotees. They are normal young men, who were joking around and talking freely. In fact, one of their female friends came by and ate prasad with everyone. This surprised me because I was not sure if the Hare Krishnas were allowed to hang out with females who were not part of the movement. I also noticed that there were no devotee women eating with us. They would occasionally walk by but not say anything. It was just as Nori Muster described; the women seemed to be subservient the men. I wanted to ask Brandon and the other male Hare Krishnas the role of women, but I did not have the courage.
Overall, my experience at the ISKCON temple in Boston, Massachusetts,
was insightful, even fun. Before my visit I had a very dark and negative
view of the ISKCON movement. To me ISKCON was a cult that brainwashed
all their devotees and abused young, innocent children. However,
after meeting and talking to the devotees I know that most of them are
pure and have good intentions. Brandon was right; every religious
movement does have its problems and all they can do is make things better
and learn from the past. My visit to ISKCON taught me to be more
open-minded and I am grateful that I went. I never thought I would
spend two hours talking to Hare Krishnas, and let alone eat with them.
