Nov 08, 2015 — GERMANY (SUN) — The main issue behind Krishna West is more complex than the mere dress code issue. Let us first analyse Hridayananda das Goswami's reasoning and some of his arguments. The second part is more interesting: What lies behind the appeal of Krishna West? Why does Hridayananda das Goswami get so much support from the devotees in the countries he visits, as he repeatedly claims?
I. Obvious fallacies
The widely debated dress code topic is a manifestation of different understandings that people have in regards to the following principles:
1. To which extent do we have to follow the instructions of the guru/Acharya (Prabhupada)/parampara?
2. How far can we go in terms of yukta-vairagya, or how do we apply the principle of "time, place, and circumstance"?
3. How Indian is the bhakti-tradition, or how Vedic is India?
Sivarama Swami's statements from July 2015 are replies to previous statements by Hridayananda, who has been promoting a "movement within a movement" – Krishna West. He has made numerous recorded statements over the years that document his attitude on the following:
a) dress code, food, music in ISKCON as a relative cultural phenomenon
b) the relativity of Srila Prabhupada's statements
c) distinguishing contemporary (popular) Indian culture from Vedic India
All these points are inarguably worthy of discussion and clarification and we have seen a significant surge in interest with Hridayananda's statements.
Obviously, b) has become the most prominent issue that is widely discussed among followers of ISKCON. But a) is inclusive of b), and c), and the latter issues seem to be less appealing to the general audience, as they cannot be grasped as easily as a). Hridayananda has repeatedly described the current situation in ISKCON with the expressions, cultural chauvinism, cultural colonialization with Indian traditions, and failure or collapse concerning ISKCON preaching in Western countries in the last 30 years.
His assertions are as follows:
Regarding a): Devotees in Western countries should wear respectable, chaste Western clothing, serve palatable Western dishes and adapt Western music styles in the mode of goodness since it will be easier for them to accept the essential parts of our philosophy.
Regarding this, he said that the sannyasi/brahmacari dress code in ISKCON was "borrowed from the Ramakrishna Mission", and he feels it is unnecessary.
He relies on statements by Srila Prabhupada, in which he says that his disciples could wear clothes that are appropriate for American gentlemen.
The notion of gentlemanliness is constantly changing. Srila Prabhupada in one instance justified one such mentioned statement with the fact that American gentlemen back then used to be clean shaved:
"Up to date gentlemen are all clean shaved so if we do not keep long hair & dress ourselves nicely with tilaka, flag & beads on the neck, apart from our devotional service, then certainly we shall be distinct from the Hippies." (Letter to Pradyumna, Oct 17, 1967).
In a recent article, the British Country Life Magazine published a list of "39 steps to being a gentleman" . Most of these steps do not refer to a dress code or outer appearance; only steps 4 ("Is aware that facial hair is temporary, but a tattoo is permanent"), 7 ("Possesses at least one well-made dark suit, one tweed suit and a dinner jacket"), 8 ("Avoids lilac socks and polishes his shoes"), 31 ("Can tie his own bow tie"), and 34 ("Sandals? No. Never") do this. Most of the other steps (e.g. 19: "Can undo a bra with one hand," or 21: "Is not vegetarian,") seem to be rather inappropriate for us. Of course, this list may have been compiled arbitrarily, reflecting the choice of some journalists, as there are no timeless or universal standards for what constitutes the concept of a 'modern gentleman'.
In this regard, H.H. Bhakti-vidya Purna Swami recently correctly stated that even when applying modern standards to the fashion of the most prominent representatives of Krishna West, one will have to notice that their dress is not at all considered chic, fashionable, or appropriate for formal occasions. Here at 1:25:18. (The interesting part about Krishna West starts at around 58:00). Try to walk into a Catholic church in Spain in shorts, tennis shoes and a baseball cap and see how quickly you will be kicked out.
Regarding b): Prabhupada's statements are not absolute; rather, they are relative and fallible when it comes to personal taste, opinion etc. Only when he speaks about sastra, he is right.
A thorough analysis of his concepts and statements in this regard can be found here.
Regarding c): Contemporary Indian culture (like Bollywood films, popular Indian food, or Indian clothing) is inarguably the result of the assimilation of extra-Indian cultural influences. Many Indian folkloristic elements have entered the sphere of customs and traditions in which the bhakti tradition has thrived in India. Many are, despite being of folkloristic origin, falsely considered Vedic and are therefore seen as transcendental and spiritual by followers of ISKCON. Not only are these unnecessary but will put people off. People will consider them inherently Indian and therefore as foreign exotic folklore. This is the main reason for ISKCON's failure in the West.
Hridayananda believes that India is highly unpopular in the West and that this development will accelerate, as xenophobic sentiments are on the rise in Europe. In a lecture some years ago, he specifically named France and Germany as countries with an increasing level of xenophobia. He therefore suggests that ISKCON needs to do away with the above-mentioned exotic cultural elements (see a).
In a reply to Sivarama Swami, he refers to the rising number of Westerners learning Chinese and Japanese, and the lack of learners of Indian languages as an indicator of India's unpopularity. With that, he confuses people's interest in foreign language acquisition to bolster their economic opportunities with a mere cultural interest. In fact, learners of Chinese are highly improbable future member of China's Communist Party, nor are they adapting the principles of Confucianism, Taoism or Maoism. The lack of learners of Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, etc. is not an indicator of the unpopularity of India's culture; it does not even show a lack of business interest in India. China and Japan are well-known for their lack of proficiency in the English language whereas in India, English can very well be used as a lingua franca due to India's colonial past. That, and the diverse linguistic landscape make it unnecessary or very hard, respectively, to learn any of the numerous Indian languages.
Persian is the new Vedic
He says that elements of Indian culture can be traced to Persian, Arab, and/or ultimately Turkish origin and are therefore not Vedic or transcendental, and were thus not present during Krishna's manifest lilas on this planet. He does not say exactly how he comes to this conclusion but he uses the etymological approach, tracing back the origin of words like halavah to Persian and/or Arabic. This may well explain the linguistic, but not the culinary or cultural origin. While the word itself may have come from a foreign language, the object may have not. The linguistic approach is insufficient. We can see that the Hindi words for shadow, wall, door or even the famous sabji are derived from Persian. It does not mean that Indians were transparent before the Muslim invasion and did not cast any shadow, or that they had been semi-nomads as some Indologists suggest, nor had they been ignorant of how to cook vegetables.
Hridayananda ignores the fact that borrowed words do not necessarily fill lexical gaps, that they do not enter a language because it lacks the designation for a certain object or concept. He and/or his followers would be well advised to look at the history of the English language and the way it was influenced by French. He will then hopefully conclude that such a reasoning is unreliable.
Flattering the Western minds
Hridayananda also states that Western countries are nowadays, at least in certain regards, more Vedic than current India, referring among others to the spectacular cases of gang rape in India.
When a German professor refused to grant an internship to an Indian male student because of the rape cases in India, she was met with accusations of not so latent racism, which prompted her to issue an apology. With a similar, very limited view, Hridayananda would make himself vulnerable to the same accusations and outrage.
He seems to forget that the West has, not that long ago, brought about not so Vedic concepts like colonial imperialism, social Darwinism, the Holocaust, and state atheism, among others.
That simplistic view of Indian culture may not be his own. The mere fact that he openly ascribes prevalent xenophobia to Westerners who in his view would thus be turned off by the current presentation of Krishna Consciousness in ISKCON would lead, applying his logic, to the conclusion that ISKCON needs to adapt to a Western and increasingly racist audience. It could also be that this view is in fact his own, in which case he reveals a lack of insight and understanding.
As Bhakti-vidya Purna Swami correctly noted, educated people will not be scared away by the notion of Indian culture -- they will be more intelligent than the seemingly racist Westerners that Hridayananda wants us to woo.
II. Appealing to the masses
Now that we have seen Hridayananda's apparently ill reasoning, we shall try to understand exactly why people fall for this. The underlying issue may not be that obvious to everyone.
Who are his supporters?
Those of us who have a Facebook account will see how abrasive and cynical his supporters' statements can be, how ardently and zealously some defend their newly established movement. By creating the brand "Krishna West", Hridayananda has also created a designation, a frame or concept to incorporate some devotees' frustrations and misgivings in regards to the current state of ISKCON.
As we can see under point b), Srila Prabhupada as IKSCON's "pre-eminent siksa-guru", as he is called in official ISKCON lingo, has now become more ordinary, his statements can now be challenged or doubted. Liberal-minded people with Western-influenced minds and world views now have an official shelter, a "movement" behind which they can rally. It becomes evident that these devotees have felt disenfranchised, suppressed and discriminated against – now they have a "charismatic" leader under whom they can openly express this feeling. Their frustration, their diminished faith in their gurus and the Acaryas, their grievances now seem to have been legitimized by Hridayananda.
Preaching to the choir – and to those who don't want to hear it
ISKCON has failed, devotees have lived in parallel universes, Prabhupada's statements can be challenged… these thoughts that have been lingering in Hridayananda's supporters' minds for years can now be vented outside, under the new "movement". The main activity, as we can see, is not a preaching mission like book distribution and harinama sankirtana – we probably all wonder if they are actually going to preach to outsiders one day … So far, Hridayananda has been visiting ISKCON centres around the world, telling us how we and those who brought us to Krishna Consciousness have failed. His supporters can now feel like bona fide Christians, recognizing they were sinners, repenting their wrongdoings and boldly declaring that they have found the truth.
With this new "movement" sucking up the frustrated and desperate, we can see how a natural selection is going on. How it will end, we do not know. However, it does not make sense to give them a platform in ISKCON so that they use its infrastructure to promote their deviant ideas. Hridayananda's statement:
"I don't have Prabhupada's purity. I don't have Prabhupada's potency. Because ISKCON still exists as a united institution and it's still Prabhupada's mission, it's clear to me that my duty is to do all I can to serve ISKCON and try to persuade devotees."
sounds more threatening than encouraging.
