We were talking - about the space between us all
And the people - who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth - then it's far too late - when they pass away.

We were talking - about the love we all could share - when we find it
To try our best to hold it there - with our love
With our love - we could save the world - if they only knew.

Try to realise it's all within yourself
no-one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small,
and life flows on within you and without you.

We were talking - about the love that's gone so cold
and the people, who gain the world and lose their soul -
they don't know - they can't see - are you one of them?

When you've seen beyond yourself - then you may find,
peace of mind is waiting there -
And the time will come when you see
we're all one, and life flows on within you and without you.

- George Harrison, 1967

To find out what the movement was really about I surfed to their website to discover what their philosophy was. Independent of their belief in reincarnation etc. this piece on life style issues attracted me.

A pure way of life

All initiated devotees of the Hare Krishna movement vow to follow four rules:

No gambling

In Krishna consciousness, you're trying to purify your mind--to make it clear and steady for spiritual realization. But gambling makes the mind cloudy. It agitates the mind. You start thinking: What are my chances? How much could I walk off with? What could I do with my winnings? Even if you just play for the sake of playing, gambling pulls the mind away from thinking about the real purpose of life.

No intoxicants

No drugs, no liquor, not even coffee, tea, or cigarettes. The world is already high enough--high on illusion, high on greed, high on false power and false ego. The devotee of Krishna wants to be thoughtful, sober.

Material substances like drugs are useless for spiritual realization. They can bend the mind, but they can't free it. They may take you up, but sooner or later they let you down.

The self within is by nature joyful. So we don't need any material stuff to *make* us happy. We just need to purify ourselves and uncover the happiness that's already there.

No meat-eating

No meat, no fish, no eggs. Devotees of Krishna avoid needless violence. They see other creatures as spiritual living beings. Though these creatures may be less intelligent than we, they are also God's children, our brothers and sisters. So why should we kill them? If a child were to kill a less intelligent brother, do you think the father would be pleased?

By the subtle laws of karma, the suffering we cause others will come back looking for us.

By nature's arrangement we have plenty of fruits, vegetables, grains, milk products, and other innocent food. We should content ourselves with this and be happy.

No illicit sex

Everything has its place, and that includes sex. When sex takes place within marriage, and for the sake of having children, it's fine. You're accepting the pleasure, and you're accepting the responsibility.

Otherwise, sex brings about entanglement, exploitation, disappointment, and illusion. For spiritual advancement, you want to simplify your life and bring your mind and senses under your control. Being temperate about sex helps you.

However, further surfing reveals another side to the Hare Krishna movement. The general consensus seems to be, first, denigration of women, and worse, horrendous stories of sexual abuse of children etc. which suggest to me 3 things:

1. life style rules shouldn't be prescribed by any religious or philosophical movement, at best they can advise on lines of approach but in the long run the members should have the freedom to work things out for themselves

2. it's no good expecting that obeying the life style rules give you the complete answer, they have to be accompanied by some sort of programme of personal, social and spiritual development

3. it's all right to practice celibacy or some similar restricted sexual activity but then you must practice it in your heart, not just in the outside world - otherwise it will leak out somewhere else with disastrous results (as you see also in some churches where celibacy is practiced)

Compare also the lifestyle rules in the Axioms of Piers Clement

3 December 2001

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Last updated 25.4.2003