Cult of Doubt - Interview with Gaura Rader, Ex-Hare Krishna 

If ISKON is what you have the problem with... Then leave it and look for krishna elsewhere.... After all ISKON does not own krishna conscienceness... Dont throw the baby out with the bath water.....

As one Hare Krishna said to me "It is not important if you are Hare Krishna or not, the important is: are you a good person?"

well I am a born Hindu from India and a very proud one too. that been said I want to say that nothing that Gaura Rader said in his interview offends me as a Hindu and here's why. Hinduism is a great juncture where many times multiple paradoxes intersect. to be able to respect what is known as Hinduism even though with a basket full of doubts still popping up all the time, one first needs to have a much larger perspective view at this way of life (kind of a bird's eye view). where one can see a lot of the moving parts of this massive machine all at the same time without really trying to understanding the design of each and every component. first one has to understand what is this machine and what does it do. only then one can find out how it does what it does. clearly Gaura Rader is a curious mind, he needs answers, he wants to understand the machine but instead of a birds eye view or a larger perspective he was only granted a small key hole (i.e. experience Lord Krishna from within the confines of an ISCKON temple) to figure it out. in his case that was not enough. to understand Krishna, to understand Hinduism one has to experience Hindus and a huge number of them, not a finite number of devotees in an enclosed building (temple). wouldn't that how a cult feel like???? when he calls ISKCON a cult, I don't believe he says that with any prejudice. Frankly with all due respect to ISCKON and its members some of them unknowingly have started to believe that "Hare Krishna" is a religion of its own, and that's what they involuntarily start to portray ISCKON to be. which again tries to manifest itself as a cult. Finally i believe that Gaura Rader should have either spend a considerable amount of more time at the temple to find his answers, or should have gone to Himalayas and found his answers rather quickly. but in absence of the second option, he is justified by quitting ISCKON and pursuing his PhD. Good Luck to you Mr. Gaura Rader!

So many devotees get worked up and instantly ready to defend. Just let the man have his experience and let him have his views.

I don't went to judge Hare Krihsnas by one men when thousands glorify it....

There is no such thing as ex Hare Krishna... because there is no such thing as a Hare Krishna... the Hindus.. and devotees.... offer philosphy and a way to love God... and you can take it or leave it.... just like Krishna said in Bhagavad Gita.... 'I have given you knowledge now do what you like with it....'... Do you see any military style operations trying to turn people into devotees... like Muslim and Christian oe ver the years.... no... this culture is ancient... call it a cult.. what is a cult... it is a group.. it is an ancient group which comes like a flowing river into the present... it is colourful... beautiful... full of knowledge... beautiful rituals ... happiness .. music... what is your problem.... there are those who have perverted it of course. . it is Kali Yuga... dark forces wear white robes..... in all religions and positions of responsibility..... you were born into it... so you rebelled.. that is human.... I chose it.... from free will... and have been a devoee 25 years.... and cannot for the life of me understand anyone who has tasted it and left.... basically.. you didnt taste it.... and that is the sad thing.. you didnt it.. the fruit...... I am free and in love.... there is no cult if you are free and in love and choose your path.... sorry.. ı cannot listen to too much of this whining.. but everyone is free to choose their way... that is the foundation of Krishna Consciousness... all the best

Well most of Westerners in Hare Krishna movement doesn't understand much of Hinduism.They just sing and dance after sometime get bored with it and start criticizing it.Actually Hinduism is a deep tradition where it takes commitment ,perceverance and devotion to seek the truth

Once you come you can never go....he will become a devotee in his next life...and Krishna will sent someone to save him again and again until he goes back to the spiritual and becomes a pure devotee. This process takes hundreds of life time to reach the pure stage...and for some it takes just one life time to complete it. But one thing is for sure , once you start bhakti, nothing can stop it. There maybe what looks like a fall down but that is temporary. In due course of time the bhakti process will speed up ..after a little delay. Devotee therefore never falls.

You lost me at "monotheistic religion". 🤦‍♂️🤣🤣🤣

Look at his face. Gaura can't even look straight to the camera. He looks down, rolls his eyes to the left and right. He knows that he is not even sure what he is talking about.

OMG, I had no idea, he used to want to be a sanyasi, renounce order of life, then he started wearing white wanted to get married, and now this!!! Wow-

Gaudiya Vaishnava Sampradaya is a mess these days.

I think he kinda represented some people’s experiences as converts, in my personal experience I was born to converts and they almost all joined because they needed rehab and the institution provided a good way to quit drugs and clean themselves up.

I'm puzzled by Gaura's exit story. I too was a member for many years, but have a very different exit story. His philosophical quandary about the existence of EVIL doesn't represent the beliefs of the Krishnas. The idea that "God" created us to be imperfect, than punishes us for it, is NOT in the canon as such. They would say: In the same way God was never created by anyone else, "We" also were never created... "We" always have existed in the same way God has always existed. But... there is only one supreme being which is GOD, and We have a fundamental tendency to also want to be supreme. So the world (with all its misery) is created for Us to pretend to be supreme until finally... we become tired of that perverted pursuit, then reclaim our original relationship with God. Sure it may take a hundred billion lifetimes, but that is just a blink in God's time.

I am a devotee of Maa Durga, but I also love Lord Krishna. Maa Durga is my Supreme Mother and Lord Krishna is my Supreme Lord.

These comments are nuts. Be kind and supportive of the person sharing their story. Be nice everyone.

At ISKCON , number of non-indians participating increased by many folds . Everybody has their own views. No common ground . In India , yoga knowledge is for free but in west it is a billion dollar industry and its also commercilized manipulated yoga . They present yoga just as an exercise . Yoga is way beyond physicality. I dont blame this guy if he felt hare-krishnas are a cult. In India , at Varanas , brindaban , mathura , nasik , indians deeply believe in Hare-Krishna bcoz at these places everything is handled by Indians and not outsiders.

This was his experience, so be it. BUT, he doesn't talk about transcendentalism at all and he obviously never had a transcendental experience in his 9 years in the Movement. One could say the same things about Christianity, Judaism, Islam as he says about KC. He just missed the whole point of KC; it's about Krishna giving His mercy to the pure of heart. Atheistic types, like this one, could never understood this. Just as they cannot understand how Christians are born again. It is not in the logical realm to comprehend this; it exists in the spiritual ream and he has not been there. He, likewise, would never understand Sufis who reach God through sound just we do in KC. Nor, would he understand how the monks in the Monasteries of Christianity can reach God through sound. When people have never had a transcendental experience of going beyond the physical and being in the spiritual dimension of existence, it is utter nonsense to even listen to them. Since he likes academic studies and thinks he can reach truth through logic, I suggest he study Phenomenology. Although it is apparent from this interview that he would never "practice" what Phenomenology teaches, at least he might come to an understanding of what happens when the "Prime Mover of the Universe begins to respond to souls who are seeking it out", the words that describe what happens when Krishna gives His mercy to a pure soul. Oh, what ignorance people have who talk atheism! They have literally missed the Kingdom of God.

Devotion was intended to be meditation .. krishna did not want to create a religion nor did jesus or buddha.. what they taught was if you want to reconnect with God be still take no thought and enter within . DEVOTE .. yourself FIRST to that journey

One point which wasn’t addressed, when you guys were talking on the subject of theories devised by early Indologists, is that there are, in fact, more direct words from the Sanskrit and Tamil languages found within the many dialects and sub-dialects of African languages, than those from Europe. For example, the Swahili word for ‘lion’ is “simha”, and the same goes for Sanskrit (“simha” = lion). And both cultures have actual lions throughout the terrains of their landmasses; yet, there are no African or Indian style of lions found in Europe! Not just that, but the ancient Sanskrit word for planet earth’s occupied landmasses was “Āryavrata” (ie: “land of the āryā/Aryans”) and Āryavrata’s borders lessened the more and more nations and territories disbanded from the landmass which we now know as India - NOT Europe! And the term “āryā”, before its western linguistic bastardization into the term “Āryan”, did not originally imply ‘race’, but, rather, referred to a people who followed a Sanskritic-based culture. And this is precisely why even Jain and Buddhist texts contain the word “āryā” as a description for its’ adherents, be they from wherever: South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, etc., etc. The term “āryā” had absolutely nothing to do with one’s race, but had everything to do with one’s culture being based on that of a philosophical Sanskritic origin. Just some food for thought. 😉👌🏽❗️

You know it's the absolute truth the iskcon movement has gone sideways but we can still love Krsna and Radha

When one disrespects his own Guru and thinks that he or she knows more than his own Guru , his or her Krsna conscioness that they have accumulated for many years will be completely lost . There's no way to rectify this, the only way to rectify this Mad Elephant disease or Offense. Is to go to the pure devotee and fall at his feet and beg for forgiveness. This is the result of committing such offense

The key point he made is that he left because of the "organization" of the Hare Krishnas. Well, anyone in the organization can identify with that statement. If you like resentful, angry, bitter back-stabbers, etc., you will fit right in. In order to survive inside the Hare Krishna's you have to withdraw into yourself and concentrate on your personal link with Krishna, If you're looking to make friends and have a joyful life, you should look elsewhere. It is a cult for sure so you have to accept that and work within it.

Misogyny in the literature turned me off, returned those books quickly 😂😂😂, now got the Bagavad Gita from Paramahansa Yogananda...much better reading

If Jesus loves us then what's the need for conversion? #Mindcontrol_Political_Ideology: Christian doctrine says that everyone is born sinful. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures(1 Cor. 15:3) Jesus Christ, the Saviour of mankind *Pray to Jesus otherwise hell

In bible say Jesus was son of god and in Quran say prophet Mohammed was messanger of god but in bhagvat Gita shri Krishna said I am the god.

God given everyone freedom of karma. We are followers of Dharma (righteous duty/action) your karma is your Identity.. And you are responsible for your own Karma's fruits. This universal thinking only in Sanatan Dharma. Sanatan Dharma a way of life,it's not religion.

A genuine guru -a goswami-should be able to control his senses---live simply- and not have personal bank account!

Wow, almost as many downvotes as upvotes. Looks like Gaura has hit a nerve of people who do protest too much. Good for him! :)

I went to a college that was a transcendental meditation cult, and the people were nice, and then I left.

not one thing work for everyone!! its good for that u realise it early!! this tradition is not cult its been here in india for thousands of year before islam and before christianity its called bhakti yoga/marg to reach to the devine within you or wherever it is!!

Thank you for your integrity, sir; I admire you.

The Hare Krishnas are not for the rational thinking person. I strongly recommend studying Advaita Vedanta (non-dual Vedanta).

Hello, on the video "Hare Krishna movement" minute 9:44 you will understand that for a Hare Krishna is not important which religion you follow as far as it helps you to know and connect with God.

Gaura is a nice guy but he was quite unfortunate to meet all sorts of bad "devotees" and also to be born in a family of new "devotees." You can tell he's been through a lot.

The ISKCON movement is still going on as Prabhupada desired. You will not know that because it is made secretly during the last year of Prabhupada's life. He created new rules and principles to continue the mission. What you see today is the same old wolf in a new clothing.

Hindus also call themselves devotees

I like the music

HARE KRISHNA..... Stop blaming others for your own failures

If you want to be a devotee, don't join cult, cult is not perfect, even God that you worship isn't perfect, so be solid, if you want Krsna's Taksu, worship him, if you want your mom's Taksu worship her, if you want Leonardo Dicaprio Taksu, worship him, but ofcourse Leonardo isn't perfect, i think Krsna is the King, he's states that he's ALL-ATTRACTIVE.

CULT: A system of religious worship...A group of persons sharing such devotion. A Sect. This so-called ex-devotee really did not understand the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness. He saw external issues with people who where trying to become pure devotees and concluded that there was something wrong with these people. This process is an internal journey which is meant to bring you to the realization that you are not this material body. The names of Krishna are meant to bring the consciousness of God into ones life. Anyone who has chanted properly will see the eternal nature of the soul, because one can chant unlimited names of God and never become tired. Those who can no longer chant regularly have allowed their minds to become contaminated by old habits and thus lose the taste for chanting. Once this comes the so-called material problems take on a more prominent influence in ones life and the life style of Krishna Consciousness loses it's beneficial qualities. All activities in this world outside of God consciousness bring reactions according to the severity of the actions. Karma...What goes around comes around. Pure devotion frees one from the reactions of material actions that do not bring one closer to God. All activities of Krishna Consciousness which include rising early, chanting Gods name, offering ones food to God (Vegetarian) working towards purifying ones existence have a positive influence in ones life. If one can not do these activities that does not negate the benefits of these activities. If one does not associate with real vaishnavas then doubts will arise. Misapplying ones natural desire to associate with an advanced devotee and seeking the association and shelter of other neophytes gurus will cause one to question the existence of God. Gaura Rader...atheism is a dead end...You are a spirit soul. There is no changing that. Mentally you might find questioning the existence God interesting and there are plenty of so-called intellectuals who have also spent their mental lives trying to understand this difficult subject matter with the end result being attached to the material body and the material activities of this world. Resulting in the continuation of the cycle of birth and death. Have faith brother...don't fall into the intellectual trap of atheism.

Yeah if you don't experience a resonance inside you when you chant then I get why you would leave. But also if you are not looking for God but are just told all this stuff as a kid it is good to question it. I get a relief from all anxiety when I chant and a feeling of connection with real love inside myself. I also wanted to say that it has always been referred to as the cult of Bhakti by the previous Prabhupada. University is also a kind of a cult with gurus and degrees are the initiations. It's up to the members of a cult to keep it healthy.

I am glad I met hare Krishna movement. Hare Krishna hare Krishna... Krishna...

Very interesting and nice words at the end. Thank you

EVERYTHING Prabhuapa ever said is 100% true and divine.

I have been to Athens , Ohio. The best thing I experienced there is that a family of Hare Krishna devotees lived there. A vegetarian cooking course was going on by the Krishna devotees, and they were serving free sanctified vegetarian food to thousands of university students. Very commendable. It is a very painful thought to hear a devotee of Krishna calling themself an ex-devotee. When we enter into this material world, we all become ex-devotees and have the privilege to revive becoming devotes again. Even though one may choose to reject this great privilege, whatever progress one has made in this life is never lost, and in one's next life thay can go through the suffering of repeated birth and death once again, and leave off from where they left off. Srila Prabhupada was never a racist. He is the furthest thing from being a racist. That is a misrepresentation of him.

You cannot argue with Krishna cult, if they are following blindly or using their intelligence or reason. Ultimately, their guru-master befouled them into all sorts of insane arguments and practices, the top of which is, "You cannot argue with guru. Guru is non-different from God. Once you accept a guru, whatever he says, or does, you must follow him blindly. This is the topmost morality." If you call them a cult, they will happily accept it. If you call their guru a crook, they will agree. If you say their guru is a cheater, liar, pedophile, rapist, hypocrite, robber, psychopath, or anything of that sort, this wouldn't change their faith unto their guru, because this is what their God does also, and they are proud of it. Even sometimes they admit their scriptures or God may be false, they will still not change their religion or practices, because of great enjoyments their religion gives them. The only thing that keeps Krishna cult members together is the sense of belonging to a group, and they are prepared to sacrifice everything and anything (read junior members) to remain in that group, and fulfill their personal ambitions (controlling and exploiting others, in the name of God and devotional service unto him). There is nothing to be changed for them. They are using one of the most sophisticated tools of deception, beyond reason. Externally, for the purpose of recruiting new members, they will show human-like nature, like being nice, appealing, lovable, sensible, reasonable, thoughtful, etc. with good people, very passionate with passionate people, or very crude, non-polite, harsh, or similar with bad people, so they may attract their attention. Slowly, they will give them things they are most attached to, until the fish is caught on the net, and there is no exit. At this point, they will voluntarily surrender all their mind and intelligence to their guru, and become blind follower like them. Once you become a blind follower, your self does not matter any more. Everything is now for God, Krishna. Whatever they told you before, all promises they gave you, everything, does not hold any more. You should now be a more "advanced devotee", and understand how you have been deceived, for the "higher purpose", and the same you should do to others. If you are ready to accept the new principles and rules, you are on the board. However, if you are sincere and honest, and have a little sense of your-self, a self-awareness, and sense of other peoples' lives, it will not be easy for you to abandon your whole being for the cause of some "higher ideology, which they call God or Krishna". Mostly, the most insensible people will remain in the cult, those who are being offered some material privileges. But, those who are sincere spiritual seekers, or those who feel cheated or manipulated, they will leave the cult. There is nothing positive about Krishna cult. It exists only for the purpose of exploiting other peoples' lives and trust for up-keeping those who are the highest in their hierarchy. It is a "spiritual" dictatorship. These things are not an exaggeration, but they are actually there in their "holy scriptures", or books.

Wow, he seems ill-equipped in the matter of providing a substantial reason for his leaving the 'movement.' His seems more so a case of 'having lost interest.' Truth be told, most of problems with Krsna Consciousness can be found in the organization itself, not the religion or philosophy. While a 'new' religion as far as the Western world is concerned, the devotees where able to use the fault finding of the short comings of practitioners of other faiths, to build their platform of 'this is the only religion that works' or can produce a 'pure' Devotee. However, as time progressed they fell prey to the same; corruption, internal power struggles, pedophilia, etc. Hence the reason why the 'movement' was generally a shambles by the mid-eighties, until it was rescued by the Indian community.

How can I make money off this crazy stuff? I know, America!

👏👏👏 For the uploader, genius, it wasn’t the video that interested me it was the comments, almost 80 percent are I think Krishna followers, does that tells anybody something?

IMHO, more important than being a vegetarian before joining the Hare Krishna Movement, is believing in reincarnation. Without a belief in reincarnation Christian philosophy doesn't make any sense. For example, why would a just and loving God cause a baby to be born deformed?

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare

Growing up I knew of one Hare Krishna guy in my town, I’d see him every now & then. He was a tall bald guy in round eyeglasses. And so when I started watching “Talk Beliefs” few years ago I kinda thought based solely on those childhood memories that Marc possibly had background in Hare Krishna. It was so funny to watch this interview & see that Marc doesn’t know that much about Hare Krishna at all 😅 I mean it was just a vague assumption on my part but i had it for few years so it was in a way “eye opening” (?) idk just a weird feeling 😂 Marc u should talk about yourself sometimes u r such a mystery 😭💯😂

This is all 100%.

This ex - devotee appears to be a jack of all trades and losing (sic) in all, his quick divorce shows his misjudgement of his misplaced idea of marriage. It is failure which is the definition of the man and for this man it is turning out to be endemic. What sort wisdom shall come out of his book. He desires a heaven of his choice, so he shall have to make that heaven and the first step he did was to waste that many years of his spiritual growth by aborting the process and leaving....

ISKCON is a westernized, Abrahamic version of Hinduism. This is because Prabhupada modified Hinduism in such a way to make it more acceptable to Western converts. Gaudiya Math, from which ISKCON branched out, is monotheistic as well. But it is not like ISKCON.

Nope not convinced of his reasons. Didn't sound confident.

For me only way to please god is to help needy be it animal or human and not harm any one...any other way taught to please or achieve god is not correct and if any god dont teach this its not god be it allah or krishna..

You might be ditched by Iskcon but that doesn't mean that Krishna is not there..look inside you...accept your confusions and misunderstanding and clear yourself pl..you sound frustrated

okay the comment section is full of ppl who have heard something or have read something and hence commenting everything based on that little something which they have heard from some other source.And that's why fellas u r worth to laugh at.haha

I was born in New Vrindavan in the 80s. Yes, it's a cult. And I'm glad I'm not in it anymore.

I dont understand, why the devotees MUST treat Prabhupada like a God.

Jay sanatan

Pakistan close Iran! Is pakistani can be arian ? Or only middle east ?

The most uncorrect is chanting and worship idols. It's idolatry.

ISKCON is not a cult. Westerners view it as a cult but it's not. It's Gouriya Sampradhyay opened for Westerners to give more exposure, a way to Vaishnav philosophy, where the Supreme God is Krishna.

This guy doesn't understand who AC Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad is or what Krishna conciousness is. His speech is no better than the croaking of a toad.

The interviewer did a better job talking about the positive items of Iskcon, \0/

So where do the Anunnaki fit in to all this , they say Krishna was here 5000 years ago , but the Enuma Elish says the Anunnaki came here over 650000 years ago and Enki created us to mine gold for then and the writen records are all there about this , but nobody seems to mention it seems a bit weird ???

The Hare Krsihna s practice bhakti yoga, an ancient Bonafide yoga system which purifies the conscienceness through the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra. One must also abstain from the 4 pillars of sin, namely, intoxication, gambling, illicit sex and the eating of animals if one wants to advance spiritually. The ancient Vedas were written over 5000 yrs. ago in sanskrit and were translated for the first time by Srila Prabhupada, a pure, fully self-realized soul. Yes, Iskcon is run by charlatans, this does not, however diminish the pure teachings of the Vedas. Its the same with Lord Jesus. We all know how corrupt the vatican and its lackeys are. Om Tat Sat 🙏

This unqualified person should not speak ill about the hare krsna.maybe if he had of stayed at the temple with the hare krsna's he might still have a wife.

Hare krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare,,

Reading "guru business" will help distinguish philosophy from neophyte practice within institution, and all shenanigans happening already, almost from beginning. Once you do that, you can check actual philosophy more clear, and then make conclusion for your self.

Ego. it is the root of all your confusion and suffering

Hare Krishna is not a monotheistic religion. They believe in many gods and demigods- one “ultimate” god but many below that...

Only a child can come to HIS heaven. A logistic person can't find HIM.

Ok brother if leaving Krishna makes you more human than you better leave it......but at least live a life without hurting others ,don't pressurise your mind ....do what your soul want you to do.......

Prabhupad would contradict himself, so you can’t take everything as absolutely true anyway. He made the emphasis on hybridized absolutism with relativism. Interpretation things according to “time, place and circumstance”

I don't thing this person is familiar with hare krsna, he just gave some nonesense argument to justify that hare krsan is same as other relegion may be you need to talk to some real scholar of hare krsna people.

Krishna Consciousness is not about reason. It is about blind following which they call devotional service or bhakti-yoga. Take for example a deity worship. A gross example of blind following, since no one can actually see or reason if the Absolute Truth is present in the stone, wood or metal. There is no other evidence, except their guru instructed them to do so, whom they blindly follow without questioning. The first instruction their gurus will tell you is that you are a fool. (In Bhagavad-gita, Krishna's first words to his disciple Arjuna is that he is a fool, although he is speaking wisely.) But, of course, before Arjuna became a disciple, he and Krishna were talking just like friends. The real brainwashing began after Arjuna surrendered his mind and intelligence to Krishna. Then Krishna began to clean-up all the previous ideas which were considered as a stool. When Krishna was done lecturing, he asked Arjuna if all the stool was removed from his mind, or anything remained left. And Krishna was ready to repeat this cleaning process, as long as it was needed. After all the stool was removed, Arjuna surrendered fully to Krishna's will. This is the final instruction of Bhagavad-gita - to give up all your stool and fully surrender to Krishna. Bhagavad-gita does not teach to surrender to reason, but to surrender to Krishna, who is above reason. The same rule holds to surrender to one's guru, who is above reason. And what Krishna cult teaches? To give up your reason, which is no better than stool, and fully surrender to guru, who is considered equal to Krishna, or a direct servitor or blind follower of Krishna. The whole Krishna consciousness philosophy is not about reason, but about blind following. Blind following is the final goal of Krishna consciousness. Different levels of reasoning for different kinds of contaminated minds may be used in the process, but only to achieve that final goal, which is - follow blindly your guru. Once you become a blind follower, you are considered a guru, a pure devotee (follower) of Krishna. Then you instruct your disciples that they are fools, you give them pills (medicine) by which they will gradually give up their reasoning, and start blindly following you. And how they are teaching you to give up reason? Because you have nothing to do with the reason. You are spirit soul, who is above reason. Take careful notice. You are not the body. And the reason, which is the function of mind and intelligence, which are part of your body, which is not you, is not part of you. And because you are identifying with reason, or giving faith to reason, you are suffering in this world of reason. (Despite all advancement of reason in the 21st century, people are still suffering the 4 miseries of life - birth, death, old age and disease). So, if you want to get free from suffering, you must give up your faith to reason, and you must blindly follow the guru, who is above reason. Because you are blind, only those who are not blind can deliver you from the 4 miseries of life. But if you still rely on your reason, and do not follow blindly the guru, you will not achieve the supreme goal - the abode of eternal knowledge and happiness. Is this a good reason to believe Krishna consciousness is true? No, because Krishna consciousness is not about reason. It is about blind following. If Krishna consciousness is about reason, they would prove that Krishna is right and you are wrong, and then you would be chanting 16 rounds a day without deviation. But, since Krishna cult does not rely on reason, it has nothing to prove, or make you to believe. You have to decide by yourself - to be or not to be the blind follower. That is the question. The same question Krishna asked Arjuna at the end of Bhagavad-gita. You only need to consider where you should place your faith. To reason or to guru. P.S. Be careful that you never place your faith to someone else reason, pretending to be a guru. This is a sure path to your destruction. Those who reason about Guru and Disciple, are not your friends, but your enemies.

Bhakti Yoga is not for everyone

it's so true regarding vegetarianism. for western kids and teenagers it may cause a rift in their families (or at least it used to... now we have so many awesome veg options, it doesn't have to ruin family dinners anymore lol) and you're looking for someone to confirm your moral choice. at the time, I thought it was great for the "tenets" of a religion to tell people what to eat/not to eat. now I recognize this as suspicious although I still care about animals as much as ever. back then I also had orthorexia, which is probably more common now with increased knowledge and reminders of food being "ethical" or not, regardless if it's vegetarian or vegan. so offering it to guru/your god would ease anxiety over that, though it may feed your anxiety (pun intended) where you'll only want to consume food cooked by devotees. I wonder how they're doing now with recruiting people. for me it was a right time right place because I was young (not even in high school yet), relatively a loner, and impressionable, but had all these personal ideals, beliefs, and curiosity about other belief systems. if I had been older like by 3 years and even slightly more educated before coming across the material, I wonder if I would have carried on similarly like whenever fundamental christianity is broached.

And skeletonwitch.

He does not knew about krishnas accurate words though scientist believe them may he went with chanting and mission krishna does not suggest this as human you do your rest of it leave to god that kind of proper logic it has in gita your like western slaves of addiction could not realise it.

They don’t pray

so take their free will away? great! and other ting is, Krsna should have created us perfect??? well as BG says we were never created! ever! we are eternal beings, I tink u not read Bhagavad gita??!! properly?? and like many neophyte's who cant take responsibility for your own karma etc.... you blame your leaders gurus teacher jGods and whoever instead of taking responsibility for being here in a world full of war instead of some paradise or heaven etc.... you seem to have zero understanding of basic hinduism let alone the philosophy of Vedavyasa!!???

Of course, KC is a treat to everyone, but mostly yourself. Physical harm involved by doing unnecessary austerities with your body, rational and emotional harm by suddenly leaving you previous life, and everything on which you built your previous relations and career. KC does not perform genocide. Wikipedia: Genocide is intentional action to destroy a people (usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group) in whole or in part. Think twice again. Yes, KC performs genocide, indirectly. By convincing you to destroy your life in whole or in part, by your own self, a self-genocide. And which then destroys life of everyone around you. KC is a great danger to the society. The proof is found in the scriptures themselves: “In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.” (BG 4.8) A religious war promoted in Bhagavad-gita. The specific words for non-believers used are, “to annihilate the miscreants.” In the whole Bhagavad-gita, Krishna advises Arjuna to get up and fight. Does this show how peaceful organization KC makes any difference than other religions and cults?

This guy lost his faith...Krishna is the source of knowledge remembering and forgetfulness. Also who would take spiritual advise from an atheist. all people looking for answers to life never ask the atheists. They can never have peace so they can never give it 🔥

I appreciate this. been spending the last year and a bit clearing the damage done by five years in the krishna cult.

"You know who MAYA is stop her" Do not try to defame the devotees of lord KRSNA you will lose, all energies good and bad emanate from lord KRSNA.👍

where do atheist souls go when they die?

Sanatan iskcon religions is best best better

I don't like them nor do I appreciate Christian missionaries spending a lot of resources to convert people in India. People should learn all the religions in the world. Christ, Krishna, Buddha can't be claimed by a particular section of people because they are of the entire world. Learn from everyone, embrace everyone. One should apply science and logic to religion and every part of life. Whatever science approves is to be followed whatever doesn't should be dropped. We need to embrace our individuality at the same time we should be in a continuous search for truth. Bible, Gita, Quran all these are bridges to go to the truth. If we stick to them entirely we can't get to truth.

I was in the Hare Krishna "cult" for 10yrs until everything was falling apart for me then I had a breakdown... the thing about these fools in this cult is their dialogue of preaching... bombarding society about their "karmis" ways of life, giving away all your hard earned income to their movement, live like a hermit and become irresponsible by neglecting your family life included your underage children Those who were initiated devotees always seem to have this mentality like they are God's personal children and we are his slaves (the non initiated devotees) I have to say it took me many sleepless night thinking about leaving this cult which doesn't make any sense. BTW... Cults are dangerous which can lead to brainwashing and this is one of Hare Krishna movement is all about.... to brainwash you.

Sanatan iskcone shantir dharma

Hello Hari Krishna this poor fellow has Fallen down really bad. anybody that talks against Srila Prabhupda is a demon.Krsnah has used His yogamaya on this fellow. That is He has blocked his spiritual vision.

you people cannot have the feeling for religion _we don't need guru to be religious _our god resides in us Lord Krishna

Maybe you feel happiness and answers in muslim peace religion ! You are intelligent truthful l

This movement has to be dissolved !!send everybody home ,back to his own heart!

Man, you were a monk and still you don't know that Krishna didn't create living beings. We always were, as Krishna says in Bhagavad-gita. So it's not that God designed us in a bad way. You're deconverted by arguments that work against Abrahamic religions. They don't work against Vaishnavism.