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WORLD  A Test of Faith - Allegations of past child abuse threaten Hare Krishnas' existence FROM THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE  USA, Feb 16 (VNN) — In 1975, Swami Srila Prabhupada, the founder of the worldwide Hare Krishna movement, was visiting his Berkeley temple when a disciple asked him the $64, 000 question. "What will happen when you die?" His answer is enshrined on a plaque inside the ornate East Bay temple, between a life-size replica of Prabhupada and flower-bedecked statues of Hindu deities. "I will never die," the India-born guru replied. "I shall live through my books." Two years later, Prabhupada was dead. And while his books survive, the Hindu sect he built is foundering, mired in power struggles and legal troubles. One of the tests facing any spiritual cult or religious sect is surviving the death of its charismatic founder. For the International Society of Krishna Consciousness, the founding guru's decision to pass the flame to 11 separate disciples may have been a fatal error. Years of infighting among Prabhupada's successors - along with a huge sexual abuse lawsuit filed against them by the children of Hare Krishna parents - may soon bankrupt the movement. Hare Krishna devotees were among the most visible of the new religious movements that took root in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. Known for their incessant chanting, shaved heads and saffron robes, the Hindu sect became one of the spiritual icons of the hippie counterculture. Full Story More  Comment on this storyContact VNN about this storySend this story to a friend
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