Swami Prabhupada arrived in New York by freighter. It was 1965 and he was bent on introducing the United States to the ancient religious faith he had practiced since his birth in 1896 in Calcutta. He taught followers about Hare Krishna, the informal name for Gaudiya Vaishnava.
Hare Krishnas claim a cultural and spiritual kinship with Hindus, but they worship only one God, Krishna, while most Hindus revere a number of gods, explains Swami Hridyananda of Los Angeles, who has served 21 years on the movement’s governing board.
In the United States, the original Hare Krishna communities consisted primarily of “initiated disciples,” men and women in their late teens and 20s who took a vow of celibacy and became steeped in the faith. They lived and worked in the temples.
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In the tradition of religious monks, initiated disciples continue to attend temple prayer services five times each day and pray the Hare Krishna mantra 16 times daily, using a rosary of 108 beads.
By the mid-1970s there were about 150 such residents in the Los Angeles Temple, Hridyananda says. By the mid-1980s that number had dropped by about 80%, reflecting a nationwide trend away from temple-dwelling and toward congregation-style involvement.
Over the past decade, as the number of members who live in their own homes and attend temple daily or weekly services grew, membership commitments were defined. All are welcome to take part in the daily temple services. But more attend the weekly Sunday evening service.
Both temple residents and nonresidents are expected to abstain from four sinful acts, explains Los Angeles Temple Vice President Nirantara Dasa:
* Eat no meat, fish or eggs.
* No sex outside marriage.
* Abstain from intoxication by drugs or alcohol.
* No gambling.
Congregational members help cover the temple operating expenses and social outreach programs. Many commit to a “lifetime membership,” which requires a onetime contribution of $1,551.
Initiated disciples wear robes (saffron for single men and women, white for married men, colorful Indian prints for women). The men shave their heads, leaving a tuft of hair (shikha) to indicate that Hare Krishnas worship a personal God, Krishna.
Men and women wear clay markings (tilaka) on 12 parts of their body to indicate that the body is a temple of God.
