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In Reply to: Ever read the book, "Monkey on a Stick!"? posted by Donny on October 29, 2002 at 11:07:52:
Monkey On A Stick is a very good book.
However, Monkey On A Stick was about the West Virginia commune run by a guru ( Bhakti-pad) who had/has fallen into the bad graces of ISKCON. That commune actually was excommunicated (I don't recall the year, but it was over ten years ago) because of their evil ways. Main-stream ISKCON couldn't deal with the evil and corruption taking place in New Vridaban.
My belief is that ISKCON as a whole is full of corruption in one form or another, however, what took place in New Vribadan under the orders of Swami Bhakti-pad were so horrendous that the Hare Krishna movement as a whole withdrew from them.
I think that people have to at least give the Hare Krishna credit for ex-communicating that Swami and the commune as a whole (although the community is now a part of ISKCON again, now that Swami was taken out of power and even imprisoned for a while- I believe he is living in and owns a trailer court somewhere in California now and has his own radio program).
I believe that New Vridaban (the West Virginia commune) is an example of what CAN happen in a religious movement, but isn't necessarily a-typical of the Hare Krishna movement as a whole. But the book Monkey On A Stick is factual, and does give a glimpse into what has happened in the past in the HK movement.
I do know for a fact that the Hare Krishna movement has improved over the years, but that there is still a lot of reform that should be done in it's organization, especially in the 'missions' (temples not out-right temples yet). In smaller temples, the authority figure has full sway, and so corruption and illegal activity are more likely to happen.
I believe the Hare Krishnas are here to stay, and that even with the lawsuits and the temple closures, that they are going to continue to grow. They're around still, but just not as noticeable as they once were.
