Betrayal of the Spirit: My Life behind the Headlines of the Hare Krishna Movement [Paperback]

Nori J. Muster (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 2001

Combining behind-the-scenes coverage of an often besieged religious group with a personal account of one woman's struggle to find meaning in it, "Betrayal of the Spirit" takes readers to the center of life in the Hare Krishna movement. Nori J. Muster joined the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) - the Hare Krishnas - in 1978, shortly after the death of the movement's spiritual master, and worked for ten years as a public relations secretary and editor of the organization's newspaper, the "ISKCON World Review". In this candid and critical account, Muster follows the inner workings of the movement and the Hare Krishnas' progressive decline. Combining personal reminiscences, published articles, and internal documents, "Betrayal of the Spirit" details the scandals that beset the Krishnas - drug dealing, weapons stockpiling, deceptive fundraising, child abuse, and murder within ISKCON - as well as the dynamics of schisms that forced some 95 per cent of the group's original members to leave. In the midst of this institutional disarray, Muster continued her personal search for truth and religious meaning as an ISKCON member until, disillusioned at last with the movement's internal divisions, she quit her job and left the organization. In a new preface to the paperback edition, Muster discusses the personal circumstances that led her to ISKCON and kept her there as the movement's image worsened. She also talks about "the darkest secret" - child abuse in the ISKCON parochial schools - that was covered up by the public relations office where she worked.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Perhaps the most colorful and aggressive of the Asian spiritual communities to take root on American shores was that of the Hare Krishnas, more formally known as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). Who has not witnessed their American converts' dancing in the streets in their orange robes, confidently baring their shaven heads, or endured their fundraising efforts in airports? Against those finger cymbal-clanging memories of the 1970s, Muster's narrative of her insider's experience of ISKCON is nothing less than mesmerizing. That the American adventure into the worship of the noble Krishna would come to grief after the death of their ISKCON's charismatic Guru Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Praphupada in a scandal of murder, greed and corruption was perhaps not surprising to those who saw more than the Hare Krishna's superficial celebration of Krishna's love. For Muster, who worked for 10 years as a public relations secretary and editor of the organization's newpaper, the ISKCON World Review, the humiliation of ISKCON meant the loss of an admirable spiritual vision. Her narrative of that scandal confronts the ways in which traditional patriarchy and philosophical rigidity regularly defeated spiritual vitality. Muster's book is an important testimony that might be instructive to those involved in the leadership of any religious movement.

Copyright 1996 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

An important insider critique of a disturbing era in ISKON's history. -- Publisher's Weekly

Scholars of religion will find much of value in Muster's thoughtful and well written account. -- Catherine Wessinger, Nova Religio

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (March 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252065662
• ISBN-13: 978-0252065668
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #663,612 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

44 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well done, March 13, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Betrayal of the Spirit: My Life behind the Headlines of the Hare Krishna Movement (Hardcover)

I am an iniated member of ISKCON - have been for the last 10 years or so. Still, I rate this book with 5 stars. Why? Because I know that what Nori writes is the sad truth. And we need more books like this. Readers who do not know ISKCON (the hare-krsna-movement)should and just read this book in order get their prejudices confirmed should keep one thing in mind: We are a young movement in the West, and yes, we make all kind of mistakes. Yet - we talk about it. Many ISKCON-members: leaders, rank-and-file-devotees, friends are trying to change ISKCON, to make it, as Srila Prabhupada put it: a house where the whole world can live in. Nori's book is wonderful; I like the style, I like her personal realizations about ISKCON, and I can only congratulate her. There is one sad part to it, though: We need people like Nori *in* ISKCON, not out of it. On the other hand - who if not people like her will make things happen? Thanks, Nori, I love your book! Hare Krsna!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an illuminating picture of a young woman's struggle, December 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Betrayal of the Spirit: My Life behind the Headlines of the Hare Krishna Movement (Hardcover)

I loved Nori Muster's book, "Betrayal of the Spirit". It took me back to the old days in Los Angeles when I lived near the Hare Krishna Temple with my ex husband, guitarist John Fahey. John loved this book so much that he has bought it twice (after losing it once on the road). I remember John taking me over to the temple, to what he called "Little India" and introducing me to the chanting, drumming, and the free vegetarian Sunday feasts. We were given the royal treatment, with tours and (I'm sure) people assigned to us to try to convert us. Although neither of us ever became devotees we were always made welcome at the temple and I bought John a drum and he bought me a sari.

"Betrayal of the Spirit" has all of the color and drama of a vivid memory. I could smell the incense, hear the music, feel the emotions of the devotees. The costumes, the makeup, the deities in the temple, they were all there. Even an elephant. What more could a seeker after the exotic want? Nori's intimate description of the inside workings of ISKON satisfied quite a bit of my curiosity about how the organization was run in those days and I found that she portrayed the characters with an attention to detail that really brought them to life for me. I was able to appreciate the conflicts not only between various factions within ISKON, but within each individual. The goal of spirituality was often endangered by the temptation of power.

One of the themes that ran throughout the book was the relationship between father and daughter, and how Nori managed within the context of ISKON to follow in her father's footsteps by becoming a Public Relations worker. Her father's advice and support throughout despite her choice of a very different way of life was touching, and Nori's acceptance of his terminal illness was proof of her spiritual outlook.

"Betrayal of the Spirit" is an illuminating picture of a young woman's struggle to find peace, fulfillment, and structure in a materialistic world where "woman's place" has not yet been decided and men (and women) often long for enlightenment, but settle for money.

--Melody Fahey

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A disillusioned Krishna member's recollection, December 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Betrayal of the Spirit: My Life behind the Headlines of the Hare Krishna Movement (Hardcover)

Nori J. Muster joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) - the Hare Krishnas - in 1978. She lived in the Krishnas' western world headquarters in Los Angeles and worked for 10 years as a public relations secretary and editor of the organization's newspaper, the ISKCON World Review.

Her book, Betrayal of the Spirit, discusses international drug smuggling, arms caches, airport fundraising, child abuse, and assassinations within the mysterious group, as well as the dynamics that forced most of the grou's original members to leave.

Muster's book is about the public relations nightmare of the decade following Founder Swami Prabhupada's death. Disillusioned over continuing internal strife, in 1988 Muster left the world of saris, brass cymbals and institutional male chauvinism to come back into mainstream American life.

Her story reads like a non-fiction suspense novel while she shows how an organization can quickly fall into dishonesty, deceit and hypocrisy. Her story is intensely personal, touching - and a great read.

Publisher's Weekly called it "nothing less than mesmerizing." I enjoyed reading it.

-Paula Hassler, Tempe, Arizona