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New Religious Movement Summary REL 230

Comments: Very good summaries with considerable detail! However, the assignment is late.

 The Theosophical Society

This society was started by Helena Petrovna and Henry S. Olcott in 1875. Their goal was to bring together Eastern and Western spiritual ideas, Western occult and mystical thought. Petrovna and Olcott claimed to have secret knowledge and teaching from “Ascended Masters” from India and Tibet. Petronova was known for promoting seances. Their successors were C. W. Leabeater and Annie Besant. The two encouraged their followers to accept an Indian mystic named Jiddu Krishamurti. They believed he would bring all world religions together under theosophy. Instead, Krishamurti left the society and renounced his title. Today there are still Theosophical Society members in the US and India. 


ISKCON: The International Society for Krishna Consciousness

The ISKCON is a group that bases its philosophy on the teachings of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. Swami brought the belief of following the Hindu god Krishna and the belief that everyone could achieve spiritual fulfillment to the West. In 1965 he opened a center in New York and two years later moved to San Francisco. The main ISKCON philosophy is the belief that Krishna is the highest deity and their goal is to attain “Krishna consciousness”. One way they do this is by chanting “Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna, Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Hare Hare” and counting prayer beads, sixteen times a day. Swami died in 1977. His chosen successors were not able to lead the group successfully so now there are around 100 ISKCON gurus in the world. Many of their centers are operated independently. 

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