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| Servant of the Lotus Feet: A Hare Krishna Odyssey | 
 enlarge | Author: Gabriel Brandis
Publisher: iUniverse, Inc.
Category: Book
Buy New: $18.95 (44.61 RON)
Avg. Customer Rating:  3 reviews
Sales Rank: 1356621
Media: Paperback
Edition: 0
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 238
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.8
ISBN: 0595312640
Dewey Decimal Number: 920
EAN: 9780595312641
ASIN: 0595312640
Publication Date: February 12, 2004
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Unanswered questions for Gabriel Brandis July 20, 2005
18 out of 21 found this review helpful
Gabriel Brandis's book is paradoxical - he gives in many ways a very intimate look into the life of a Hare Krishna temple resident in the 80's - the rituals, chanting, temple worship etc. He also portrays accurately the focus of that era on fundraising, and the questionable morality employed by some devotees. He accurately portrays his spiritual master. He fails to tell us enough about his inner struggle with his sexuality, with his comprehension of bhakti-yoga and instead resorts to discredited anti-cult stereotype responses. In addition, referring to a devotee as " Asti Spumanti das " or "Rasta Farian das " is insulting to Hare Krishnas - as is his failure to note that in the 20 years since he left the movement, that the guru excesses have been eliminated, that his spiritual master Bhavananda Goswami is no longer a guru. The Hare Krishna movement is mainly composed of congregational members (like me) who have often never ben in a temple ashram to live. We aren't brainwashed zombies. The saddest indictement of this book is the acquiescence to the abusive and illegal kidnapping that he suffered at the hands of deprogrammers whose triumph in ripping off his neckbeads and getting him to eat chicken is appalling. Hare Krishna's do not need to answer forever for the sins of the few who abused the responsibility that His Divine Grace Srila Prabhupada gave them before he died. We are a legitimate spiritual tradition, recognised by Hindus across the globe, committed to inter-faith dialogue, committed to respecting the rights of all people. Gabriel's deprogramming was an act of violence - physical, spiritual and psychological abuse, far worse than he experienced trying to deny his sexuality as a Hare Krishna monk. Gabriel struggled with his own inner demons and felt compelled to leave the ashram - his departure was inevitable, even if the deprogrammers hastened it. Nowadays our movement has thousands of householders, and for those lacking a vocation as a monk, spiritual life and material life can and do co-exist. It is a pity Gabriel didn't research that, because his book is caught in a counter-culture time-warp.
 Good insights into the lives of Krishna devotees January 31, 2005
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
Apart from a few editorial glitches, this is a well-written book that takes the reader right inside the experience of being a Hare Krishna devotee. The strange manner of their dress and unfamiliar customs to Westerners may make them seem much more alien than they actually are. In fact, I recognized much of what Brandis went through, because I was once myself a member of a high-demand group, and even though the doctrines were very different between the two groups, the lifestyles were strikingly similar. I was a member of the Unification Church (the 'Moonies'), so it was amusing to read at one point what Brandis, who was then hawking wares for the Krishnas, thought of a Moonie whom he encountered who turned out to be engaged in a similar activity. He recognized him at once as "spaced out" and brainwashed, but failed to notice the strong parallels with his own situation. Eventually, Brandis burned out on the devotee lifestyle, as many cult members eventually do, and with the help of his mother, who engaged deprogrammers to speed his exit, he was able to make his escape.
Dream-like reflections on a counterculture January 23, 2005
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
Like any book dealing with experiences in a counterculture, Gabriel Brandis' book Servant of the Lotus Feet is worth reading to gain insight into a way of life so out of the ordinary and otherwise concealed to the general public. However, to my personal perception as an ex-Hare Krishna sympathizer, for a book examining the community from an ex-members' point of view, the book comes along oddly uncritical and un-distanced, without suggesting any process of detachment, which, for a four years membership within the movement, certainly must have been long, painful and complicated. On the last pages, Servant suddenly comes up with some rationalist analysis on mind-control, probably a result of some hastily-undergone process of de-programming, which contrasts drastically with the book's overall sentimental style. Great parts of the book are written in a narrative style which either shows that the author might not have really dealt with his cult experience or reflects it in some dream-like, hallucinatory way. The book's greatest plus is its strikingly detail-rich description of Hare Krishna rules, behaviours and prayers, thus catching well what being a Hare Krishna feels like.
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