The Hare Krishnas
Questions People Ask
We're chanting the Maha Mantra:
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama
Rama Rama Hare Hare
A mantra is a sound that has the power to liberate the mind from conditioning and illusion. The Maha Mantra (the supreme mantra) is composed of Sanskrit names of God. God (Krishna) is nondifferent from His name. So by chanting Hare Krishna you are associating with God. If you tried chanting Coca-Cola to quench your thirst, you'd just get more thirsty and totally bored. That's because with material things the object and its name are different. But if you give chanting Hare Krishna a serious try, you'll find it a completely unique experience that will quench your spiritual thirst and awaken your dormant God consciousness.
Do you have to shave your head, live in a temple, and wear robes to be a Hare Krishna?
No. In fact most Hare Krishnas don't live in temples. They work or go to school, and they dress like everyone else. There are a lot more Hare Krishnas around than people think.
Is Hare Krishna a cult?
Some misinformed people think it is. Since when is a 5,000-year-old culture that teaches such virtues as compassion, simplicity, and God consciousness a cult? What deserves to be called a cult is our modern consumer society which brainwashes people into thinking that Coke is "the real thing" and Kools are "alive with pleasure."
When people join, do they have to give up everything?
No. Just sinful activities and suffering. Everything else they keep to use in God's service.
Are you Hindus or Buddhists?
Neither. This is a science of God realization that anyone of any faith can practice.
Are you vegetarians?
We don't eat anything with eyes (except potatoes). Animals are our friends, and we don't eat our friends. How would you feel if somebody wanted to kill your pet because they liked the way it tasted? When sensitive and thoughtful people learn about the merciless torturing and killing of animals in slaughterhouses, all the cancer and heart disease that meat-eating causes, and the devastating effects meat production has on the environment, they inevitably become vegetarians. Plus, in our main scripture, the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna teaches that all food should first be offered to Him before it is eaten; and He says that only vegetarian food is fit to be offered. In other words, meat, fish, and eggs are not meant for human beings.
What's your basic philosophy?
The purpose of life is to enjoy oneself, but nobody knows who the real "self" is. Therefore all our attempts to enjoy meet ultimately with frustration. The fulfillment we seek can only be found by realizing our true self, beyond the body. We are the soul within the body. Although the body changes from a chubby little baby body, to a "cool" adolescent body, and someday to a wrinkled up old body, the self within remains the same. Same person, changing body.
The soul has always existed and will never die. To fulfill its material desires, the soul reincarnates in this world and meets with happiness and distress due to past activities, or karma. The less to be learned is that finding any lasting happiness in this costume-party world is hopeless. We are part of God, and our real home is with Him in the spiritual world. If we give up serving our lust, anger, and greed and serve Him instead, we can go back to that eternal home.
How do your scriptures describe God?
God is the Supreme Person. People often think that God can't be a person because if He were, He would be limited. That would be true if He were a person like you or me. But God is not like us. He has an eternal spiritual form and personality far beyond the limitations of matter. He can be seen by those who serve Him with pure love and devotion.
For more information on the philosophy of the Hare Krishnas, click here for a list of WWW links.