The first video is very disturbing. I've been to Hare Krishna temples and I have always liked the Hare Krishnas. If one is interested in things "far
east" they are an especially interesting group.
It is sad to see Swami Prabhupada looking so frail. He is very composed, however.
If the voice asking about the poison is truly there in the room and truly referring to poison about to be administered to the Swami, then that is a
disturbing revelation, to be sure. What could be going on? Is Doctor Kervorkian just out of view in the scene? Is it a Kervorkian-style example of
assisted suicide? Has the Swami consented to this, or requested it?
The clip begs a lot of questions.
I've read
Monkey on a Stick. It is an interesting story. I have no way of knowing how much of it is true, but I'm willing to believe that the
story is substantially true and can be verified. It is a little like the "biography" of a rock band. A lot of stories are told. Are they all,
literally, exactly, completely, true?
The 1970s was a very odd time. 1960s "idealism" was pretty much in the dumper by the mid 1970s.
I spent a couple of nights in the Hare Krishna temple in Amsterdam during that period. Quick impressions: nice, very sincere people, the top guy was
an American, I believe, who looked blissed/stoned (?) out of his gourd and told me what a lucky "boy" I was to have landed there. (I was 27 at the
time.) Met two other American "Krishnas" there who were unusual, both had worked in the media in the states, one for the Johnny Carson show in some
capacity and the other was an independant film-maker who got strung out on heroin in India and went to the Himalayas to kick the habit, eventually
winding up in Amsterdam at the temple. (The former addict was nice, the Carson guy was a pushy sales type.
They wanted me to stay at the temple
permanently.) Vondel Park is nice. It was fun to watch the "Carson" guy asking older Dutch businessmen for "all" their money.
That was a long time ago.
One of the funny little things in
Blade Runner was the scene where the drumming, chanting, Hare Krishnas wind their way along the sidewalk in
LA of the future.
That people who are sincerely into the message of Swami Prabhupada continue to practice and to purify their hearts and minds, is all that really
matters.
Thanks for the thread, though, to the OP. It is an interesting topic. Something to ponder.
edit on 27-3-2012 by ipsedixit because: (no reason
given)