Betrayal of the Spirit: My Life Behind the Headlines of the Hare Krishna Movement

255 Pages·1996·15.76 MB·English

by  Nori J. Muster

BETRAYAL oft hSePI RIT

s
BETRAYALP RII T
oft he
My Life behind the Headlines
of the Hare Krishna
Movement
NOR]I.M USTER
ForewbyoL radyrD r.S hinn
University of Illinois Press
Urbana & Chicago
© 199b7yt hBeo aorfdT rusotfte heUesn iveorfIs liltiyn ois
Manufacitntu hrUeen di tSetdao tfAe mse rica
C 5 4 3 2 I
Thibso oikps r inotnae cdi dp-afpreere.
LibroafCr oyn grCeastsa loging-iDna-tPau blication
MustNeorrJ,i(. N oJreia 1n9)5,6 -
Betroafty haselp i:mr yil tibfeeh itnhhdee adlines
oft hHea rKer ismhonvae m/eN notrJiM. u st;fe orrewboyr d
LarDr.Sy h inn.
p.c m.
Inclbuidbelsi ogrreafpehri(ecpna).acl ne idsn dex.
ISB0N- 252-0(2c2l:6oa 3tc-hi7d -pfarpeeer )
1I.n ternSaotciiofenoKtarryl i sChonnas ciousness.
2M.u stNeorrJ,i(. N oJreia 1n9)5,.63 -H.a rKer ishnas­
UnitSetda tes-BiIoT.gi rtalpeh.y .
BL1285.18949.7M 87
294.5'512-de20
96-4451
CIP
You are the Supreme Lord, to be worshipped by every living being.
Thus I fall down to offer you my respects and ask Your mercy.
Please tolerate the wrongs that I may have done to You
and bear with me as a father with his son, or a friend
with his friend, or a lover with his beloved.
-fromt hBeh agaGviat1d1a. ,44

Contents
Foreword, by Larry D. Shinn
lX
Preface xv
People in This Volume XVll
1 ISKCON: The Krishnas' International Society 1
2 Unexpected Requirements 10
3 Going Solo into ISKCON 23
4 My Zonal Guru 34
5 Jonestown Fallout 47
6 A Spiritual Disneyland 54
7 Drug Busts, Guns, and Gangsters 61
8 Who's Watching the Children? 72
9 The Gurus Start World War III 78
10T he Storm Within: The Guru Issue 86
11 P.R. Publications Promote ISKCON 95
12R amesvara Crashes 105
13 The Revolution of Guru Reform 117
14P. R. Bails Out of L.A. 128
151 986: The Year of Crisis 137
16T he Budget Axe 146
17 The ISKCON World Review Crosses the Line 155