CHAPTER ONE
1.7 Research Issues about ISKCON
To date, several studies of the activities of ISKCON have been conducted worldwide, but to my knowledge only one academic study of the Hare Krishna devotees in South Africa has been conducted by Anil Sooklal in 1985. Described as a socio-religious study, Sooklal examined the development of Vaisnavism, the biography and teachings of Caitanya Mahaprabhu, the biography and teachings of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, and
"revitalization" (1985: 1) religious movement within the broader category of
contemporary Hinduism. Sooklal describes a "turbulent" history of Hindus in South Africa prior to the emergence of the ISKCON. He regarded the restrictions imposed initially upon immigrant Hindus, the apartheid policies of the Nationalist government, mass relocations, economic hardships, social disruptions, exposure to a Western family ethic, and the Christian character of the prior National Education policy, as factors that debilitated against the cultural and religious cohesion of the Hindus, which resulted in the disintegration of the joint family unit and the loss of competence in the vernacular. He also regarded the lack of availability of Hindu religious literature in English, and the active conversion of Hindus to Christianity as further factors that resulted in the cultural disadvantage of the Hindus. It was within this scenario that the Hare Krishna Movement emerged in South Africa. Sooklal further describes a brief history of the development of the ISKCON, regarding it as one of the largest "Neo-Hindu" Movements" (1985: 56-62) in South Africa. He also investigated the patterns of adherence of the devotees, as well as the attitude of the Hindu community towards the ISKCON, finding that despite its
Vaisnavite character it had attracted devotees from a "wide variety of linguistic groups and a wide cross-section of society.
Internationally, research on ISKCON has been conducted in the following areas:
historical, social integration, institutional reform, inter-faith relationships, gender issues, psychological and sociological studies.
A significant development in ISKCON has been the establishment of the ISKCON Interfaith Commission, empowered by the Executive Committee of the Governing Body Commission (GBC) to develop an official statement regarding the Society's relationship with other people with faith in God (Saunaka Rsi Dasa, 1999). As its membership and influence is increasing, it behooves ISKCON to accept greater responsibility since it is indeed the first global Vaisnava movement. The concept of unity in diversity is
embedded in the document as it provides a forum for developing respectful and practical relationships with one another, clarifying that it is not the mission of ISKCON to
proselytize members of other faiths. The statement which provides "clear principles,
guidelines and perspectives for relationships with members of other faiths" (1999:1), is a milestone in ISKCON's social integration and maturation. Several other studies
following this inclination have been conducted by Saliba (undated) in which he examines the various ways in which ISKCON and the Catholic Church could engage in dialogue, as well as by Rose (undated) who investigates whether ISKCON may be able to offer Christianity any theological significance. How ISKCON is viewed by others and well as how ISKCON views others will certainly impinge on how devotees see themselves.
A proliferation of psycho-social and sociological studies have been undertaken in
ISKCON in the last few years by both devotee and non-devotee academics. The trend has been to move away from historical developments and crises in ISKCON to fundamental life issues that concern devotee welfare, integration in the external environment,
education, rights of devotees, and interfaith dialogue, and personal and institutional analyses to formulate visions for ISKCON's future, reflecting its social integration and maturation I mentioned earlier.32 Burke (2000) in his analysis of ISKCON for twenty- five years presented in a report to the North American GBC, states that," ...it is time for the leadership of this movement to offer not only apologies but also 'good works'.
Authority and trust in today's ISKCON must be earned." A workshop I facilitated for ISKCON Durban reflects this trend of management of ISKCON Durban towards openness, feedback from its membership and collective vision for the future.33 How the findings and suggestions derived at workshop are implemented will have important consequences for development of faith and trust in leadership, a concern that was expressed at the workshop by membership. I would assume then that this will be a significant concern of the South African ISKCON devotees in general and together with the other developments described above, will have direct bearing on the contextual and personal identity of the devotees.
These trends are occurring within ISKCON as the official, registered body. There are some breakaway groups from ISKCON who continue to contest the validity of ISKCON as an institution as well as its practices, especially in terms of the interpretation of Bhaktivedanta Swami's instructions, referred to in Tamal Krishna Goswami discussions (1998) in section 1.6.
33 Workshop for projects leaders, department heads, and senior ISKCON community leadership; entitled
"Vision 2005 and beyond: Workshop for Strategic Planning". December 27, 2005.
With reference to such trends in ISKCON, I summarize some of the studies below.
Norma Craig (2001) analysed the factors that operate in the identity creation of "Culture kids". She suggested a framework in which the cultural changes facing devotee youth and their parents could be understood. Different factors operate to shape their
perceptions: factors of whether they are immigrants, natives, are in ISKCON by choice or birth, affect how they blend with external cultures. She examined the coping strategies and problems of adjustment of children who were raised more in the internal environment of Krishna consciousness but had to adjust to an external world when parents left the Temple environment. Since these devotee parents would probably have made
adjustments or shifts in their own cultural values, e.g. working outside, this required that their children develop cross-cultural awareness and intercultural communication skills.
Several consequences arise for their adjustment processes and core value system.
This has important implications for devotees' adjustments to and perceptions of what I would call the "internal" environment of the Temple. Those who are brahmacaris or brahmacarinis34 will have different perceptions, and requirements from those that are householders. There are also different expectations of their role function, spiritually and managerially. In an independent worldwide survey conducted during Srila Prabhupada 's Centennial,5 it was found that the favouring of "a renunciate-sectarian model
organisationally in the face of an expanding grhastha-asramcC (Rochford, 1999:17) had resulted in a failure of ISKCON to integrate families and family life into its communities.
The perceptions of householders would be significantly influenced by such a situation, and impinges on their identities within ISKCON.
Another important study conducted by Kamaras (2001:49) focused on the Value System of the Hungarian Devotees, commissioned by the devotees themselves to "provide firsthand knowledge of the lifestyle, customs and value systems of the members of the
34 celibate male and female students, respectively. Householders (married couples) are called grihasthas
351996 was the year in which Centennial Celebrations of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami were held internationally by ISKCON. As part of the celebrations a study was initiated by ISKCON's GBC to provide a reflection on ISKCON's achievements and shortcomings, and to develop a way forward for ISKCON.
Hare Krishna Movement in Hungary". This was undertaken with a view to inform the Hungarian government and general public who were unaware of this, and to counter biased impressions of ISKCON in the media. In what he calls the "changing paradigm of identity," Kamaras (2001) found that the experience of Krishna consciousness by
different practitioners, as well as the development of their journey therein, was varied.
No particular crisis was found to herald their participation in most cases, but many acknowledged a gradual realization that they found something missing in their lives, which resulted in their spiritual quest. Another significant finding was that many practitioners of Krishna consciousness had prior interest in yoga, oriental culture, and mysticism. Kamaras' findings are significant in the light of my proposal that there exists an "enduring" sense of self- a feeling that individuals with spiritual acumen have, that they are meant to fulfill some other purpose which is beyond the context in which they find themselves. I wish to examine whether similar patterns will emerge in my proposed study with the devotee residents at the ISKCON Temple of Understanding, Durban, South Africa.
Various psychological and sociological investigations on devotee mental health and personality development have been undertaken. Dhira Govinda Dasa (1998) as part of his doctoral thesis in Sociology, used the Bhagavad-gita's description of the three modes of material nature, viz. goodness (sattva-guna), passion (rajo-guna) and ignorance (tamo- guna), to develop a unique personality scale, called the Vedic Personality Index (VPI).
Selecting 56 statements in a Likert-type scale, portraying the domain of attributes that make up the influence of the three modes, he sought to validate the statements from the Bhagavad-gita using a sample of 619 participants of varying ages and occupations from a city in the southeastern United States as well as subscribers to an Eastern-style
spirituality magazine. He found that those with an inclination to spirituality rated higher on the goodness scale than others. Using the Hare Krishna maha-mantra as a therapeutic method for depression in a new study, he found a significant decrease in stress in the treatment group, as well as a lower rate of participant dropout compared to the control groups. The study presents an important new field of research for counselling and other
mental health fields. The categories on the survey are directly related to devotee identity and can determine patterns of stable personality construction or dissonance, and may be useful for further studies in my research area.
A survey by Weiss and Mendoza37 used the Mental Health Inventory and the Comrey Personality Scales, to evaluate mental health and personality differences arising from differences in acculturation into the Hare Krishna Movement for 132 males and 94 females with up to 18 years of membership (sample average membership of 8.6 years) as part of an on-going investigation. Arising from controversy about the psychological impact of membership in "cults," especially where the devotees have been subject to allegations of "brainwashing", the findings have important ramifications for the acceptance of ISKCON in countries where government and public perceptions and attitudes are still largely negative. The study found that:
• There was no evidence that adverse personality traits are associated with greater acculturation into the movement;
• Mental health was not associated with differences in acculturation, except that highly acculturated Hare Krishna men (and women to a lesser extent) reported significantly greater well-being than did their general population norms or lesser acculturated peers.
The investigators contend that higher acculturation may not necessarily indicate increased benefits of religion or vice versa; those joining the movement may be emotionally more stable and better able to fulfill the tenets of their religion with corresponding peer and authority approval leading to feelings of increased self-worth; joining may serve a therapeutic function, enhancing mental heath; such features are also found in other settings besides religious contexts where sound mental health is fostered.
Some example of the statements are: "I often act without considering the consequences of my actions"
or" I often feel dejected" and "In my life I usually experience deep happiness that is not dependent on anything external".
37 undated, registered online 2003, http://www.audarya-feIlowship.com/ubbthreads.php?Cat=&C=
Although such tests have religiosity measures which are generally non-specific for religion, the test contained the acculturation index, which was specifically used to test the ISKCON devotees. The conclusion in the case of the ISKCON devotees then, is that
"significantly greater subjective well-being is associated with greater acculturation".
This concurs with Hood's (1998) observation that religious identity is most effectively attained when there is constancy between the collective identity and one's ego identity.