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

Nori J. Muster

University of Illinois Press, 1997 - Religion - 213 pages

Combining behind-the-scenes coverage of an often besieged religious group with a personal account of one woman's struggle to find meaning in it, Betrayal of the Spirit takes readers to the center of life in the Hare Krishna movement.

Nori J. Muster joined the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)--the Hare Krishnas--in 1978, shortly after the death of the movement's spiritual master, and worked for ten years as a public relations secretary and editor of the organization's newspaper, the ISKCON World Review. 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–as well as the dynamics of schisms that forced some 95 percent of the group's original members to leave. In the midst of this institutional disarray, Muster continued her personal search for truth and religious meaning as an ISKCON member until, disillusioned at last with the movement's internal divisions, 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.

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...

About the author

Nori J. Muster, a freelance writer and website designer, lives in Arizona. Larry D. Shinn,president of Berea College, is the author of The Dark Lord: Cult Images and the Hare Krishnas in America.

Bibliographic information

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