Society of Spiritual Unconsciousness

The last time I was in London, admiring the Earl of Shaftesbury’s memorial, I was drawn to some strange music coming from behind. Men with shaved heads, garlands and white robes were chanting ‘Hare Krishna’. You’ve guessed it, they were representatives from the International Society of Krishna Consciousness. Devotees of the Hindu god Krishna, they repeatedly chant his name in their worship.

Many Hindus regard the blue-skinned Krishna as a saviour and as supreme god. Furthermore, Krishna was said to perform miracles, taught love and peace and was violently killed. Followers of the Bahá'í faith refer to him as a ‘Manifestation of God’. I believe Krishna is a corrupted version of Christ. Eusebius of Caesarea, in the fourth century, claimed that Bartholomew took the gospel to India, and another tradition says Thomas went too. Doubtless, there were converts, but as in the West, the truth of the gospel became polluted and mired by myth and man-made tradition. The story of the God-man who came to earth to teach, die for sin and be resurrected entered the huge bank of Indian legend. Sadly, the remaining traces do more harm than good. Those dancers and singers would have learned more of the Saviour by considering the life of Lord Shaftesbury and the Book by which he lived than jingling and jangling through the West End.

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. Romans 1:22