Science of Identity Foundation

Last updated
Science of Identity Foundation
AbbreviationSIF
EstablishedApril 12, 1977(47 years ago) (1977-04-12) [1]
FounderChris Butler [1]
Founded at Hawaii, United States
Type Religious organization
Purpose Educational, Philanthropic, Religious studies, Spirituality
Headquarters Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Region served
Worldwide
Services Yoga classes
Official language
English
Affiliations Gaudiya Vaishnavism
Website scienceofidentity.org
Formerly called
Hari Nama Society
Holy Name Society

The Science of Identity Foundation (SIF) is a spiritual and religious organization. It was founded by Chris Butler in 1977, and is based out of Hawaii, United States. [1]

Contents

History

Chris Butler, son of a communist anti-war activist, had entered the spiritual counterculture in 1960s, while enrolled at University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. [2] [3] Soon, he joined the burgeoning Hare-Krishna movement as a guru, taking the name Sai Young, and commandeered a group of disciples. [2] [3]

However, after being publicly denounced by Swami Prabhupada, the leading exponent of the movement in U.S.A, he joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), initiated under Prabhupada himself, and received the name Siddhaswarupananda. [2] [4] Soon, their relationship again turned sour as he deviated from the group's ways, choosing to marry and allowing his disciples to keep their heads unshaved; [4] besides, there were financial disputes. [2]

After the death of Swami Prabhupada, Butler broke away from ISKCON and founded SIF, then known as the Hari Nama (Holy Name) Society. [5] Simultaneously, he began to deemphasize ISKCON's rigid adherence to Vaishnava texts and promoted a range of eclectic views. [2] [3] [4] In 1977, The Honolulu Advertiser ran an investigative series on SIF's ties with a new political party, called the Independents for Godly Government, which presented themselves as a "multifaith coalition of conservative-minded reformers". [3] By the 1980s, he even had a late-night television show called "Chris Butler Speaks" on Channel 13. [6] [7]

Since the 90s, Butler has kept a low profile, rarely speaking in public; in 2017, the New Yorker reported that Butler presents himself less as a Hare Krishna dissident and more as a member of a worldwide Vaishnava movement. [3]

Theology

The organization combines the teaching of yoga with aspects of Gaudiya Vaishnava theology. [8] [9] Followers must practice vegetarianism and are not allowed to drink alcohol, smoke, have illicit sex, or gamble. [6]

Reception

Multiple ex-members of SIF have described it as a "cult"; Butler was "akin to a God" and not willing to be questioned. [4] [10] He has also been accused of preaching homophobia, skepticism of science, Islamophobia, and misogyny. [4] [11] [12] The New Yorker notes Butler's teachings from the 80s to assert that engaging in hedonism like bisexuality would lead to pedophilia and bestiality; [3] The Byline Times notes him to have branded Islam as a "dog-shit" intolerant religion that was spread through sword — and hence, should not be tolerated by others — in one of his speeches. [12]

Butler denies the allegations. [3] [4]

Adherents

Tulsi Gabbard, a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2020 United States presidential election and two-time U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district, was associated with the SIF since her childhood; she accepts Butler as her spiritual guide. [3] [10] Her father, Mike Gabbard, a Hawaii State Senator, noted for his opposition to homosexual marriage, too was associated with SIF; he viewed spirituality as a weapon against sexually deviant practices. [3] [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada</span> Indian spiritual teacher (1896–1977)

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada was a spiritual, philosophical, and religious teacher from India who spread the Hare Krishna mantra and the teachings of "Krishna consciousness" to the world. Born as Abhay Charan De and later legally named Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami, he is often referred to as "Bhaktivedanta Swami", "Srila Prabhupada", or simply "Prabhupada".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Society for Krishna Consciousness</span> Religious organisation

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known colloquially as the Hare Krishna movement, is a Gaudiya Vaishnava Hindu religious organization. It was founded on 13 July 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Its main headquarter is located in Mayapur, West Bengal, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Gabbard</span> American politician (born 1948)

Gerald Michael Gabbard is an American politician, serving as the Hawaii State Senator for District 21 from the Democratic party, since 2006. Gabbard rose to prominence for efforts to prevent same-sex marriage in Hawai'i by passing a 1998 amendment to the Constitution of Hawaii to give the state legislature "the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples" under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Gabbard, who was born in American Samoa, is the first person of Samoan descent to serve in the Hawaii Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jayapataka Swami</span> Spiritual guru

Jayapataka Swami ; born on April 9, 1949) is a Vaishnava swami and a religious leader for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). He is a senior disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. In 2004 he was one of the initiating spiritual masters,, a member of the Governing Body Commission (GBC), and a divisional trustee for the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT). He is one of the senior-most sannyasis in the Hare Krishna movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhakti Tirtha Swami</span> American Hindu writer (1950–2005)

Bhakti Tirtha Swami, previously called John Favors and Toshombe Abdul and also known by the honorific Krishnapada, was a guru and governing body commissioner of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He was the highest-ranking African American in ISKCON.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhakti Charu Swami</span> Indian ISKCON spiritual leader (1945–2020)

Bhakti Charu Swami was an Indian spiritual leader of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). He was also a disciple of ISKCON's founder A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaudiya Math</span> Hindu organisation

The Gaudiya Math is a Gaudiya Vaishnava matha formed on 6 September 1920, about 30 months after Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati took sannyasa, the renounced order of life. On 7 March 1918, the same day he took sannyasa, he established the Sri Chaitanya Math in Mayapura in West Bengal, later recognised as the parent body of all the Gaudiya Math branches. Its purpose was to spread Gaudiya Vaishnavism, the philosophy of the medieval Vaisnava saint Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, through preaching and publishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirtanananda Swami</span> American Hindu guru and convicted criminal (1937–2011)

Kirtanananda Swami, also known as Bhaktipada, was a Gaudiya Vaishnava guru and the co-founder of New Vrindaban, a Hare Krishna community in Marshall County, West Virginia, where he served as spiritual leader from 1968 until 1994.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radhanath Swami</span> American Gaudiya Vaishnava guru

Radhanath Swami is an American Hindu Gaudiya Vaishnava guru, community-builder, activist, and author. He has been a Bhakti Yoga practitioner and a spiritual teacher for more than 50 years. He is the inspiration behind ISKCON's free midday meal for 1.2 million school kids across India, and he has been instrumental in founding the Bhaktivedanta Hospital in Mumbai. He works largely from Mumbai and travels extensively throughout Europe and America. In the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), he serves as a member of the Governing Body Commission. Steven J. Rosen described Radhanath Swami as a "saintly person respected by the mass of ISKCON devotees today."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sacinandana Swami</span> German Gaudiya Vaishnava guru and sannyasi

Sachinandana Swami is a Gaudiya Vaishnava guru, sannyasi, and one of the religious leaders of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred Ford</span> American businessman

Alfred Brush Ford, also known as Ambarish Das, is an American businessman and the great-grandson of Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jayatirtha Dasa</span> Guru of ISKCON

Jayatirtha Das, formerly Jayatirtha Goswami, was one of the leading disciples of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and a guru within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Born James Edward Immel and also known as Tirthapada, Bhakti Vijaya Tirtha and Vijaya Acharya, Jayatirtha was appointed a life trustee of the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust by his guru, Prabhupada, who also placed him in the managerial post of the fledgling Spiritual Sky company. Under Jayatirtha's able management the company became a multimillion-dollar concern and the Wall Street Journal covered the company's success with a front-page article.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romapada Swami</span>

Romapada Swami is a Vaishnava sannyasi, initiating guru and is currently on leave as a governing body commissioner of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Giriraja Swami</span> American Hindu writer (born 1947)

Giriraj Swami is an initiating guru in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and a disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hare Krishna movement and sexual orientation</span>

Hare Krishna views of homosexuality, and especially the view of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) towards LGBT issues, are similar to their views of heterosexual relationships, i.e. because the living entity is identifying with the body, any attraction based on the desire to gratify the body and its senses is symptomatic of illusion and can be purified by progressively elevating the consciousness. Put simply, both hetero- and homosexual attraction is due to an illusory attachment to the temporary body. Same-sex relations and gender variance have been represented within Hinduism from Vedic times through to the present day, in rituals, law books, mythical narratives, commentaries, paintings, and sculpture. The extent to which these representations embrace or reject homosexuality has been disputed within the religion as well as outside of it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tulsi Gabbard</span> American politician (born 1981)

Tulsi Gabbard is an American politician, United States Army Reserve officer, and conservative political commentator who served as U.S. Representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. She became the first Samoan-American voting member of Congress. A then-member of the Democratic Party, she was a candidate for its nomination in the 2020 United States presidential election; she left the party in October 2022 to become an independent politician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ISKCON guru system</span>

An ISKCON guru is a person who is permitted to initiate disciples into the International Society for Krishna Consciousness system. The guru system has undergone several changes and reform since its beginnings in the 1960s. Upanayana as a traditional "sacred thread ceremony" of the Gayatri Mantra, commonly known Hindu Samskara, is complemented by Pancaratric mantras of the Gaudiya Vaishnava sampradaya and follows the principal initial nama initiation ceremony, referred to respectively as brahmana diksa and Hari nama diksa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kailasa Candra Dasa</span> American astrologer

Kailasa Candra Dasa, also known as J. K. Goodwin, is an American Gaudiya Vaishnava teacher, sidereal astrologer and author with a small number of students. In 1972, he joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in Madison, Wisconsin. After the passing of ISKCON founder A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, he opposed ISKCON's "zonal acharyas", beginning in 1978 and 1979. He is co-founder of the Vaishnava Foundation, a nonprofit organization incorporated under the name Metamorphosis League for Monastic Studies. He works out of the United States. He continues to oppose what he sees as the deviations that emerged within ISKCON after the demise of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhakti Vijnana Goswami</span> Uzbek-born religious official (born 1956)

Bhakti Vijnana Goswami is a Gaudiya Vaishnava guru and a leader for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar</span> Indian guru

Bhakti Rakshak Sridhar was an Indian guru, writer, sannyasi and spiritual leader in the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, founder-president-acharya of the Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Science of Identity Foundation business information on the website of Hawaii State Department of Commerce & Consumer Affairs". Hawaii State Department of Commerce & Consumer Affairs, Business Registration Division. Retrieved 2019-10-22.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Gralow, Christine (12 March 2017). "Butler's Web, Part 2: Who is Gabbard's Guru?". Meanwhile in Hawai'i.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Sanneh, Kelefa (October 30, 2017). "What Does Tulsi Gabbard Believe?". New Yorker. Archived from the original on June 7, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Han, Yoonji. "Tulsi Gabbard's ties to the Science of Identity Foundation, a controversial religious sect that some call an abusive 'cult'". Insider. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  5. ↑ Jones, Constance A.; Ryan, James D. (2007). "Siddhaswarupananda, Jagad Guru". Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Encyclopedia of World Religions. J. Gordon Melton, Series Editor. New York: Facts On File. pp. 411–412. ISBN   978-0-8160-5458-9. [Butler] remained with ISKCON until after Prabhupada died in 1977. [...] He founded the Science of Identity Foundation as a vehicle to facilitate his teachings. [...] The Science of Identity Foundation (originally the Hari Nama or Holy Name Society) is located in Honolulu, Hawaii.
  6. 1 2 Christensen, John (November 23, 1982). "Chris Butler: About this guru business". Honolulu Star-Bulletin . p. B-1.
  7. ↑ Ronck, Ronn (December 9, 1983). "Arts Scene". Honolulu Star-Advertiser .
  8. ↑ Reflections on Hindu Demographics in America: An Initial Report on the First American Hindu Census. Archived 2019-10-20 at the Wayback Machine J. Gordon Melton & Constance A. Jones. A paper presented at the Association for the Study of Religion, Economics & Culture meeting in Washington, D.C., April 7–10, 2011. p. 14.
  9. ↑ "Science of Identity one of founders". Honolulu Star-Advertiser . July 1, 1991. p. A-4. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
  10. 1 2 Hurley, Bevan (2022-10-16). "Tulsi Gabbard's ties to secretive cult may explain her perplexing political journey". The Independent. Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  11. ↑ Howley, Kerry (2019-06-11). "Tulsi Gabbard Had a Very Strange Childhood". New York . Retrieved 2023-05-09.
  12. 1 2 Werleman, C. J. (2019-10-03). "Islamophobic World View of Tulsi Gabbard's Guru Revealed in Unearthed Recordings – Can she Still Run for President?". Byline Times. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  13. ↑ Issenberg, Sasha (2021). The Engagement: America's Quarter-Century Struggle Over Same-Sex Marriage. Knopf Doubleday. pp. 112–114. ISBN   9781984898517.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.