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Search - Monkey on a Stick: Murder, Madness, and the Hare Krishnas

Monkey on a Stick Murder Madness and the Hare Krishnas
Author: John Hubner, Lindsey Gruson

On a crisp fall day in 1965, as America reeled from riots in Watts and Selma and students marched on Washington to protest the bombing of North Vietnam, a 70-year-old retired Indian pharmaceutical executive stepped off a tramp steamer in the Port of New York. He had $7 in his pocket, the phone number of a friend, and a few cooking utensils. By t... more »he time he died twelve years later, Swami Prabhupada and his followers had built an empire on America's disaffected youth, winning over the Beatles, amassing a fortune, and spreading Krishna's word in 200 golden temples worldwide.

The Hare Krishnas became a fixture in America's urban landscape. With shaved heads, saffron robes, and beads, they took to the streets -- chanting, rattling cymbals, begging, and engaging a generation.

But the story has other endings. As the old swami lay on his deathbed, the seeds were sown that would destroy his legacy. As his followers clamored to succeed him, the movement splintered, grew venal and belligerent. His death signaled the horrors to follow.

One guru used cult funds to record himself on rock and roll albums and acquire an arsenal of firearms. Another claimed to converse with Krishna himself while tripping on LSD. Other devotees abused women and sexually molested the young. The most ambitious and cruelest of them all, Swami Bhaktipada Kirtanananda, erected America's Taj Mahal, the lavish Palace of Gold in West Virginia, which became headquarters for a drug ring and "enforcers" who punished and, in some cases, even murdered disloyal devotees.

There was the murder of Chuck St. Denis, a devotee who wanted to start a floral business with his wife's inheritance -- instead of giving the money to the temple. Next came the murder of disillusioned devotee Steve Bryant, who had launched a one-man holy war to prove his conviction that the movement had become a global criminal enterprise. They were "monkeys on a stick," gruesome warnings to others who might dream of defection.

Like Helter Skelter, this book is infused with horror and suspense and informed by exhaustive research. Monkey on a Stick is a spine-chilling look at the institutionalization of evil in the name of a god. Investigative journalists John Hubner and Lindsey Gruson masterfully blend the best traditions of thriller, expose, and rich generational history. From first page to last, this is an electrifying story of faith and betrayal, money and power, violence and obsession, murder and madness.

ISBN-13: 9780151620869
ISBN-10: 0151620865
Publication Date: 10/1988
Pages: 414
Rating:

Currently 3.3/5 Stars.

3.3 stars, based on 10 ratings

Publisher: Harcourt
Book Type: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
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Genres:

Religion & Spirituality >> Hinduism >> General
Religion & Spirituality >> Hinduism >> Hare Krishna
Biographies & Memoirs >> True Crime >> True Crime

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