Joshua Allen

Project 1

Overview
This project was not my first encounter with the Hindu traditions, but it was the first
time I had seen devotion performed in a large setting. The view inside Sri Sri Radha
Temple is remarkable. Everywhere are giant paintings and statues, in vivid color, of
the blue-skinned Lord Krishna and his beautiful female counterpart, Radha, both
sacred personages in the Hare Krishna sect of Hinduism. (Fisher) The ceremony
consisted of song, offerings, a speech, and more song. Chants, musical
vocalizations of scripture, were interspersed throughout the service. The focus of all
of those elements was to bring the audience members into a state of harmony with
the divine, and to create a sense of calm to set aside the problems of day-to-day
life. I reviewed my experience in light of the Value Orientation model discussed in
our textbook, and was able to identify many characteristics of the culture I
encountered. (Martin)
Religion
I visited the Sri Sri Radha Krishna temple, located in Millcreek in Salt Lake City. My
time in a World Religions course piqued my interest in the theological institutions
that took form in India a few thousand years ago. The imagery, the philosophy, the
practice, the divine order, the nature of the human experience the traditions that
are lumped together as Hinduism are so very far removed from anything that
qualified as religion when I was growing up that I just had to learn more about
them. In fact, the term Hinduism is not exactly correct terminology; a worshipper
of the various Hindu deities would not generally refer to him or herself as a Hindu.
The term Hindu itself was a sort of catch all name that the colonizing British
assigned to all things Indian when they expanded their empire into the Indian
subcontinent. The varieties of religious experience in India are broad, and trying to
place a single name on top of them all is a matter of convenience for Westerners,
not a matter of accuracy. I will continue to refer to the various traditions as Hindu
here, because that is the least confusing and most recognizable term for my target
audience, and there are at least a few ideas that tie all of the traditions in that
category together. The traditions all have in common the idea that the universe
consists of physical matter on the one hand, and consciousness on the other. One
manifestation of this philosophy is that there are two worlds, a physical world and a
spiritual world, and we humans are tied to both of the worlds, as each human being
is a physical body living in union with a spiritual consciousness. The physical is
called Brahman, the spiritual is Atman. (Fisher)
Also central to these religions is the notion of Samsara, that is, the cycle of birth and
rebirth, and the related concept of karma. In these traditions, the origins of the
universe are such that the universe itself was once a single entity, but it split into
Brahman and Atman. Brahman, the physical reality, is further split into the things
we see around us our bodies, the ground, a pencil, clouds, etc. Atman, or
consciousness, is split into individual personalities. The ultimate goal in this system
is to reunite ones individual consciousness, ones soul, with the universe, and this
can only be done through a pure life, which would involve not bringing harm to
others, offering praise to the deities, and following a path toward enlightenment by
devoting oneself to worship and introspection. A life lived in a manner that is less
than perfect leaves the individual subject to Samsara; when he or she dies, they will
have another chance to get it right, when they are reincarnated. Karma is like a
system of good and bad checkmarks that you build up for, respectively, good and
bad behavior in this life, and your karmic standing will determine your position in
the next life; if you are an awful person with lots of bad karma, you may be born as
a lesser life form, a dung beetle perhaps. If you have good karma, you may
potentially be able to rejoin the universe and end the cycle of reincarnation.
Finally, Hindu religions are polytheistic, in that they hold that there are many
gods. Many is putting it lightly. Most estimates place the number of Hindu gods
at 330 million. Of course, most of those gods are either deities that are specific to
towns or to families, or they are various manifestations of a handful of very powerful
gods. The three most powerful gods are usually Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the
Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer. Many of the lesser gods are believed to be
either Brahma, Shiva, or Vishnu taking a new form. Worship of these gods often
takes place in devotional ceremonies wherein representations of the gods, what we
would call idols, or what a practitioner of a Hindu religion would call murtis, are
venerated and given offerings. It is typical during these ceremonies that scriptures
are recited in the form of chant, as chants are thought to please the gods and bring
blessings. In some cases, the chants are even considered to have fantastical
properties akin to what we would think of as magical spells.
Though the Hindu religions are themselves thousands of years old, the Sri Sri
Krishna Radha temple serves adherents of what is known as the International
Society for Krishna Consciousness, or Hare Krishnas. This was a surprise to me, as I
did not realize I was visiting anything other than a typical Hindu temple until I spoke
with one of the priests the day before my official visit. Between what he told me,
and what I pieced together online, the Hare Krishna movement began in 1966, just
over 50 years ago, in New York City. (ISKCON) Though it is an offshoot of other
Hindu traditions, Hare Krishna worship is monotheistic, as they consider all of the
many Hindu gods to be merely manifestations of Vishnu, with Krishna being his
holiest avatar. (Wikipedia)
Religious Function
The ceremony I attended, known as an aarti, is a devotional service in which a
selection of gods are worshipped and given offerings. I arrived with my ten-year-old
daughter, Sheyda, at Sri Sri Krishna Radha Temple. As the name would suggest, the
deity being venerated was Vishnu in his Earthly form, Lord Krishna. Other gods are
on display; I saw several statues of the elephant-headed god, Ganesha, and a brass
figurine of Shiva the Destroyer dancing in a ring of fire, but in the Hare Krishna
movement even these gods are simply incarnations of Vishnu. Because I have read
some Hindu texts that deal with Krishna, such as the Bhagavad Gita and the
Bhagavad Purana, I knew a little about him already. Krishna is possibly an historical
figure, and is believed to have been an incarnation, or avatar, of the god Vishnu.
(Purana) Murtis of Krishna sit in a shrine in a corner of the auditorium, and the aarti
begins when a priest blows a note through a conch shell. Next he burns incense
and waves it near the statuettes of Krishna and his consort, Radha. It is believed
that the gods love the smell of incense, and also smoke is seen as a way to send
messages to the heavens. Next, as cows are sacred in Hinduism, an oil made from
cow butter is burned in a lamp, and the flames are offered to the divine figurines.
Next are offered flowers and spices, and finally water. When the priest finished this
devotion, the same offerings were brought to the congregation to smell or to be
blessed with. This I partook of as a sort of sacrament, and the atmosphere of the
meeting was such that I dont think they would feel that I had profaned a sacrament
by partaking as a non-believer. They seemed genuinely pleased to have me as a
visitor.
After the aarti, a priest gave a 40 minute speech, during which he maintained eye
contact with me personally for approximately 37 of those 40 minutes. He knew his
congregation, which consisted that night of about 40 people, and was aware that I
was a visitor, although I was definitely not the only attendee of European descent. I
am aware that the Hare Krishnas are considered by many to be a Hindu-based cult,
and their formation as a group coincided with the social movements of the 1960s in
America. Many of their original followers are what would be best referred to as
hippies. And in fact I noticed a trend in the congregation about two-thirds of
them were of Indian ethnicity, and they were of all ages. The remaining members
were Caucasian, and all appeared to be in their late-60s or older. It seems likely to
me that these individuals were probably part of that all-inclusive, free-love
counterculture that comprised the hippie demographic. (Zauzmer) The only young
Caucasians I saw at the temple were on the other side of the building attending a
yoga class. Probably for these reasons I stood out in the crowd, and the priest
seemed to be delivering his message directly at me, in an effort to answer the
questions that he knew I would probably have for him after the meeting.
The talk he gave was simple, and was at the same time very Hindu-like and also
universal. The subject of his talk was to not let circumstances overcome you. In it
he pointed out that when we are happy, we feel as though the feeling will last
forever, and when we are miserable it seems that we will never find happiness
again, but that the truth is that we constantly slip in and out of these emotional
states, that they are transitory, while Atman is eternal. We need to keep
perspective, and not allow the momentary situation to deter us from our path. He
also offered the story of a man attempting to achieve enlightenment through
meditation, but who was distracted by a mouse nibbling at a book. The man,
unable to focus, got a cat. The cat took care of the mouse problem, but no sooner
did the man find peace, than the cat, fresh out of mice to eat, become hungry and
annoyed the man, once again distracting his meditation. The man took the advice
of a friend to get a cow so that he could use the milk to soothe the cat. He did, and
was able to meditate, but the cow needed constant upkeep. So the man got a wife
to help around the house, but the wife expected the man to work every day, and
some time shortly afterward he realized that he hadnt meditated in months. He
had lost his path because what he wanted distracted him from what he needed.
The advice offered by the priest was to learn to change what is changeable, to
accept what is unchangeable, and to rise above what is unacceptable. This struck
me as being very similar to the Serenity Prayer used in Christian churches and in
Alcoholics Anonymous.
Value Theory
The value theory that I felt best applied to my experience was the Kluckhohn and
Strodtbeck Value Orientation model. This method focuses on a cultures orientation
to a certain handful of ways of viewing the world through values. According to the
text, values are the most deeply felt beliefs shared by a cultural group; they reflect
a shared perception of what ought to be, and not what is. (Martin) Breaking down
differences into just a few categories, with a limited set of three positions for each
category was a very handy way of identifying and isolating the ways in which this
cultural group differs, or is similar, to other religious groups that I am familiar with.
In a communication setting this would be valuable because one could emphasize
those things that two groups have in common, and use that to create a rapport.
Because religion is so sacred to people, and because it often involve very strong
feelings and abstract concepts, knowing where the differences lie would be key to
avoid offending the group that one is in contact with.
Analysis
With that in mind, I will break down my experience in terms of the Kluckhohn and
Strodtbeck model. What my encounter revealed to me were a number of things
about Value Orientation, as discussed in our text book (Martin). In the ceremony
and in the talks, they really highlighted one of the concepts of Hinduism that a
person is a chip off of a divine block, and that they are therefore essentially good
corrupted somewhat, but basically good. We only become evil when we become
attached too much to the physical side and neglect to stay faithful to our true
spiritual selves. The relationship between humans and nature was discussed early
on in the talk, when the priest stated that although we think we are free, the truth is
that we are never very independent. We rely on the elements of nature, on the
Earth to hold us up, on the Air to give us breath and words, on the Water to give us
life. We are dependant upon nature, but our true selves are merely visitors here.
He suggested not conquering nature, but rather separating from it as much as
possible to be like a lotus flower that grows in muddy waters, but that itself
remains pure. As to the relationships between humans, the answer is less clear to
me. On the one hand, the quest for enlightenment is absolutely personal. On the
other hand, they emphasize unity, and the service itself ended with the entire
congregation, myself included, dancing around the Great Hall singing and clapping
together. Their preferred personality would be growing, in that they emphasize
spiritual growth through personal ritual and meditation, and the yogic paths to
liberation of the soul. Their time orientation, as stated in the priests sermon, was
unequivocally present-oriented. He explicitly preached that one should live neither
in the past or in the future, but focus on the Now.
Reflection
I was a little nervous going into this project. Though I am a non-believer, I have
spent time in a number of different religious settings. I have been to mosque on
many occasions in fact my wedding was performed according to an Islamic
custom, and was officiated mostly in Quranic verses in Arabic. Ive been to Catholic
Mass, Rock and Roll themed Christian churches, and spent over a decade in the LDS
faith. Ive even been on an outing with a group that, oddly, was attempting to form
an Atheist church. Nevertheless, I was hesitant. Attending this event fulfilled a
requirement for two of my classes at SLCC this semester later this week I will be
writing another paper about my experience. But Indian religious culture is so unlike
anything that I am familiar with that I had very real concerns that I might accidently
offend my hosts. I scheduled and rescheduled visits several times in order to better
prepare, and in the end it really was just like walking into any other church or
mosque. The people were friendly, happy to have me there, and eager to share.
There really wasnt much that I could have messed up I did have to make sure not
to wear shoes or hats into the area of worship, and I generally tried to keep my
hands to myself and refrain from touching anything I wasnt sure I should be
touching. I had to watch other congregants for cues on how to take the sacraments,
and how I should interact with female congregants was a question I never quite
resolved. I had a healthy dose of instruction in Hindu traditions before finally
walking in to the temple, and that aided me in navigating some of the denser
theological and philosophical discussion that the priest discussed. It all went very
well, and I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to see, and to expose my
daughter to, a broader view of the world we live in.
References
Fisher, Mary Pat. Living Religions. Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2014. Print.
Martin, Judith N and Thomas K Nakayama. Intercultural Communication in Contexts.
New Nork, NY: McGraw Hill, 2013. Print
We are ISKCON. International Society for Krishna Consciousness. 2014. Web. 17
February 2017. http://www.iskcon.org/.
International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Wikipedia. Web. February 19,
2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Society_for_Krishna_Consciousness
Summum Bonum. Bhagavad Purana. Canto 10.
http://www.srimadbhagavatamclass.com/
Zauzmer, Julie. After 50 years, Hare Krishnas are no longer white hippies who
proselytize in airports. Acts of Faith. Washington Post. 27 October, 2016. Web.
February 17, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-
faith/wp/2016/10/27/after-50-years-hare-krishna-believers-are-no-longer-berobed-
white-hippies-who-drum-up-donations-in-airports/?utm_term=.caf4662e81c5