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

Nori Jean Muster

University of Illinois Press, 1997 - Religion - 213 pages

Nori J. Muster joined the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) -- the Hare Krishnas -- in 1978 and worked for ten years as a public relations secretary and editor of the organization's newspaper. In this candid and critical account, Muster follows the inner workings of the movement and the Hare Krishnas' progressive decline.

Combining personal reminiscences; published articles, and internal documents, Betrayal of the Spirit details the scandals that beset the Krishnas -- drug dealing, weapons stockpiling, deceptive fundraising, child abuse, and murder within ISKCON -- and the schisms that forced 95 percent of the group's original members to leave. Amid this institutional disarray, Muster continued her personal search for truth and religious meaning as an ISKCON member until, disillusioned at last, she quit her job and left the organization.

In a new preface to the paperback edition, Muster discusses the personal circumstances that led her to ISKCON and kept her there as the movement's image worsened. She also talks about "the darkest secret" -- child abuse in the ISKCON parochial schools -- that was covered up by the public relations office where she worked.

What people are saying

Review: Betrayal of the Spirit: My Life behind the Headlines of the Hare Krishna Movement

User Review  - Andy - Goodreads

this was yet another great book about the corruption within the Hare Krishna movement. But it was written from an insiders view as far as her being a devotee yet also somewhat on the outside as a ...

Review: Betrayal of the Spirit: My Life behind the Headlines of the Hare Krishna Movement

User Review  - Sonja - Goodreads

i thought this was a very good personal recollection of a woman's time during the transition period of the hare krishna movement.

Contents

• ISKCON The Krishnas International Society: 1
• Unexpected Requirements: 10
• Going Solo into ISKCON: 23
• My Zonal Guru: 34
• Jonestown Fallout: 47
• A Spiritual Disneyland: 54
• Drug Busts Guns and Gangsters: 61
• Whos Watching the Children?: 72
• The Gurus Start World War III: 78
• The Storm Within The Guru Issue: 86
• PR Publications Promote ISKCON: 95
• Ramesvara Crashes: 105
• The Revolution of Guru Reform: 117
• PR Bails Out of LA: 128
• 1986 The Year of Crisis: 137
• The Budget Axe: 146
• The ISKCON World Review Crosses the Line: 155
• Six Months Out of Print: 163
• Womens Lesser Intelligence: 171
• Moving On: 176
• Status of People and Things in This Volume: 183
• Notes: 185
• Glossary: 195
• Bibliography: 197
• Index: 207

Popular passages

Page 206 - Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corporation. Weiss, A. (1985). Mental health and personality characteristics of Hare Krishna devotees and sympathizers as a function of acculturation into the Hare Krishna movement. Doctoral dissertation, California School of Professional psychology, Los Angeles. Dissertation Abstracts International, 46, 8b. Weiss, A. (1987). Psychological distress and well-being in Hare Krishna. Psychological Reports, 61, 23-35. Weiss, A. & Comprey, A. (1987a). Personality and mental health...‎

Bibliographic information

• Title: Betrayal of the Spirit: My Life Behind the Headlines of the Hare Krishna Movement
• Author: Nori Jean Muster
• Edition: illustrated, reprint
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press, 1997
• ISBN: 0252065662, 9780252065668
• Length: 213 pages
• Subjects: Religion / Cults; Religion / Eastern; Religion / Hinduism / General