The Hare Krishna movement can be described by using Ninian Smart’s six dimensions of religion. This is a series of six different dimensions that are present in any religion. They are doctrinal, ethical, mythical, experiential, ritual, and social. Each dimension is different, but is a necessary part of religion. In this report I will discuss how the Hare Krishna movement falls into these categories, but first allow me to provide some background information.Hare Krishna is a relatively new “eastern” religion founded on the backbone of Hindu teachings. It is referred to in some instances as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness denoted ISKCON. The Hare Krishna movement dates back to ancient India although it was technically not founded until 1966 in the United States by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Hare Krishna is based on many of the same concepts of Hinduism as I have mentioned. Hare Krishna is very reliant on Vedic scriptures, which have been around immemorially for longer than we actually know, but were transcribed into in Sanskrit about 5000 years ago. The actual movement for Krishna consciousness was founded in 1486 when it is said that Lord Krishna appeared as Sri Caitanya, an avatar or incarnation of a God, and revealed the recommended method of God realization called yuga-dharma. Yuga-dharma is the chanting of the holy names associated with Krishna. However for all intensive purposes the Hare Krishna movement was not established until 1966 because it was not a separate movement from Hinduism. Nowadays the Hare Krishna movement is a totally separate religion from Hinduism but merely has ties to its predecessor like those of Judaism and Christianity. Working on this premise it is safe to say that The Hare Krishna movement is not a culture religion like Hinduism is nor is it a universal religion like Christianity and it certainly isn’t an ancient animistic religion. So what exactly is t...
