The Vedic Cultural Center is home to the ISKCON or International Society for Krishna Consciousness also called the Hare Krishnas. This was my first time visiting the Center, and I arrived on the final day of the Festival, in which they unveiled the new Deity who is the founder of the Faith. Swami Pradhupada is his short name. When I arrived the Guru was talking about what role of the people in the Temple was and how devotion to Krishna was the only way to completely escape the cycle of karma and rebirth and that true believers should tell more people about the way, since in death they will be judged on how many they were able to bring to Krishna. This reminded me so much of Christianity, especially Evangelical Christianity and missionary work.
The Guru was saying what he himself and the devotees believed. That devotion to Krishna is how to get of the cycle of rebirth and karma. He talked about how that a person must live in a Krishna like way (no meat, spread the word of Krishna, devotion to the Supreme God Personality (Krishna), live love, and the creation of more Temples, and the publishing of literature to educate people in the way Krishna).
The part of the sermon that made me feel the most displeased with the Guru was when he bashed evolution and science.
"Darwin would have you believe, Krishna came down as a Chimpanzee!" He said incredulously.
He also bashed Hawking for a while for his theory that the Laws of Gravity explain the Universe and why there is no need for a God. Given that he didn't even consider that it might be true, he kept to his dogmatism of the way of Krishna and how Swami Pradhupada was superior to Jesus because he never claimed to be the only way to Salvation.
Does fundamentalist religion come with the belief that you have the only true path to salvation? Krishna was talked about like I've heard Jesus talked about at Churches. This was a major issue I had with the faith. The guru spent most of the time talking about how ISKCON had changed people's lives and the superiority of it's founders in their humility and love. I wondered, does being a religious devotee come with this much certainty that your way is the only way? If it is, I'm glad I have no plan of converting to any faith.
Then the blessing/devotion to Swami began. He was brought out as people chanted "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Krishna, Hare, hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare." Which means praise Krishna! Praise Krishna! The statue was given a scarf and it was blessed with yogurt and flowers. I was given a flower to give to Swami(the statue/deity), which I did. The mood was festive and I danced as other people danced around me. There was a stage in which Krishna was unveiled and I with everyone bowed. I had warm feelings the entire time. Which could have been the intention of the event, euphoria from dancing and positive energy, something more, or any of the above.
As the devotional continued, a child or man would come by with flowers or fire with incense and the people would sniff the flower, and put their hand above the flame and then touch their forehead. I've never danced so much at Church, well besides Bet'Alef Synagogue. It was nice to see believers with so much energy, happiness and soul. The symbols of Krishna and the deities were also beautifully created.
After there was announcements. The statue of Swami would be given to a family from Vancouver so they would built a Temple to Krishna within three years. He also thanked all the people who gave more then One Hundred dollars that day in the announcement. I disliked how devotion seemed to be measured in money given to the church. He also spoke about an Interfaith chant festival that would be going on in two weeks. I saw this as awesome, since hardly any Churches bring in so many diverse faiths, as this event would.
Then there was a performance by the youth. Teenagers sang a cultural song with chimes, drums and singing. It was AWESOME! Then a teenage dance painted a lotus in the dance she did on a piece of Paper. At that point I left since I was exhausted from all the events and the sheer amount of people. I plan on coming back to interview a devotee though, or possibly the Guru.
The service/devotional had positive energy. My biggest issue was with the content of the sermon and the Guru's promotion of his visceral reaction against doubting and scientific theories. The belief of Krishna cannot be proven beyond the Bhagavad-Gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. I think much can be learned from both books, just like the Qur'an, Torah and Bible. But to not doubt anything within them? These books were written by people, whether you see it as God inspired or not, and people aren't perfect and are bound by their cultural circumstances and values. Reincarnation, like God, is also something whose existence can't be proven either way.
The cons were the anti-doubt attitude and certainty of the Guru, and concentration on money as form of devotion to the Temple and faith. Another con was the clear lack of love towards Darwin and Hawking, and bashing of science.
The pros were the energy, community, and the love and art that had been done to create the symbols of God(the deities) as well as the recognition of good within other faiths.
I'm grateful to have been able to take part in community worship, and to have experienced the end of the festival with the devotees. It is a great community I think, and the people are clearly happy and energetic. I'm grateful they found what works for them.
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