International Society 4 Krishna Consciousness Krishna West

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Today the Hare Krishna movement claims 250,000 U.S. devotees, primarily because of the Indian immigrant population, according to Dasa. Without them, Hare Krishna may not have survived in the U.S. But Pradhupada wanted to cleave Hare Krishna from traditional Indian Hinduism. Often he critiqued Hindu traditions often for describing Krishna as an impersonal god. He sought such a clean break that he created a specific translation of the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindu holy book, for his followers.

“[Prabhupada] didn’t want that normalization coming into his teachings,” Dasa said. “We gravitated that way because it was logical and it was necessary.”

R and his organization, Krishna West, want to reverse that normalization. They imagine a temple without saris. Prasadam could be Italian, Brazilian or Chinese if correctly offered to Krishna. As long as they use the proper mantras, guitarists, drummers or jazz bands could lead chanting.