One group established in 1966 by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (Srila Prabhupada) ISKCON Leader that became popular in America in the late 1960's-70's was a group called the Hare Krishnas, or ISKCON (International Society of Krishna Consciousness). This was popularized by the music group called the Beatles. Their main scripture is the translation of the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, "The Bhagavad-gita as it is." This is not a recognized religion of Hinduism in India today. They do not consider themselves to be polytheists or Hindus, but monotheists and Vaishnavas and Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Krishna has different incarnations for various ages but there is only one God, Krishna. Shiva, Brahma, Ganesha, Durga, etc. are demigods and are given respect as they are Krishnas representatives. They adhere to Hindu teaching concerning Karma and reincarnation and being a vegetarian.

For a synopsis of ISKON click here ISKCON

Other teachings about Jesus

Jesus Christ: ISKCON teaches that Jesus, rather than being the eternal God, is instead one of the demi-god manifestations of Krishna (Ibid., p. 261). In fact, "Jesus is the son, and Krishna the Father, and Jesus is Krishna's son" (Jesus Loves Krsna, p. 26). Contrary to Christian doctrine, ISKCON teaches that Jesus only intended to serve as a guide to 1st-century Judaism:

God sent Jesus to be the spiritual master of particular people in a particular time and place…he did not claim (as others claim today) that He was the only Representative Agent of the Supreme Person ever to walk the earth in the past or future (Ibid., p. 44).

Instead, because Jesus is merely the manifestation (son) of Krishna (the father), Jesus worshipped Krishna (The Deceivers, p. 195-96.

The mediator between God (Krishna) and humanity is Prabhupada. Only Prabhupada is referred to as "His Divine Grace" (The Strange World of the Hare Krishnas, p. 45), and it is even said of him that "Prabhupada was a world-genius, greater than Jesus" (Ibid., p. 69). He "is the ultimate standard of Krishna consciousness…[people] must give him the honor due to God, because the guru is the transparent via media or representative of God and is distributing unalloyed love of God" ("The Hare Krishna Movement." Religious Movements in Contemporary America, p. 469). Prabhupada is thus worshipped by devotees; guru paja involves offering flower petals to a wax likeness of the master (new members offer petals to a picture of Prabhupada) (Hare Krishna in America, pp. 17–8).

Scripture: ISKCON accepts as scripture all the Vedic literature of Hinduism, giving special preeminence to the Bhagavad-gita (which was translated into English by Prabhupada). ISKCON is widely considered to be a fundamentalist branch of Hinduism because they interpret the stories in scripture as literal historical facts (Hare Krishna / ISKCON, p. 4).

Prabhupada, when asked if it is acceptable to follow the Bible instead of Vedic literature, states, "There is no use arguing the merits of the Bible over Vedic literature. Both the Bible and the Vedic literature are scripture, and therefore they are in agreement not opposition. The only difference is that the Vedic literature contains much more specific information about God than you'll find in the Bible" ("Declaring Our Dependence on God." Back to Godhead 11.7, 1976, p. 5).

Salvation: The central problem facing humanity is lust for temporal pleasures rather than love for Krishna. This lust keeps humanity trapped in the material world (Bhagavad-gita, p. 209), rather than pursuing salvation through Krishna consciousness (Ibid., p. 287).

Salvation is dependent upon the Hindu concept of karma, the universal law in which good deeds must atone for bad deeds. Just as in classical Hinduism, living entities undergo reincarnation in response to karma; it is possible to be reincarnated as many as 8,400,000 times (Confronting Religions from the East, p. 7). The caste system is thus integral to ISKCON – Krishna created the caste system (Ibid., p. 11), and an individual's current position in life is a direct result of actions in past lives: "If we're saintly, we'll get a saintly body next time, but if we're doggish, we'd better prepare ourselves for a dog's life after this one. This is the law of karma, which states that for every action we perform, either good or bad, there is an appropriate reaction to be reaped either in this life or in a future life" ("Reincarnation." Back to Godhead, 11.1, 1976, p. 8).

Salvation, i.e., escape from the cycle of reincarnation, is attained only through following the spiritual disciplines of ISKCON. If a devotee properly follows the disciplines, Krishna takes the individual's sins upon himself and thus atones for the negative karma (Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, p. 12). Prabhupad claims, "Krsna says, 'Abandon all varieties of religion and just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reaction. Do not fear'" (quoted in Matras, Sikhas & KRSNA, p. 2). Rarandhar, who served as Western Guru, elaborates, "There is not even an alternative. Alternative means you have a choice. There is no choice. Either Krishna consciousness or finished. That's all" (Ibid.).

For more on teachings that do not agree with Christianity click here Watchman

For more information on this group from their website click here Krishna Consciousness

To read the Gita click here Gita

To read more click here Philosophy.

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