Hare Krishna creationism

The poet Jayadeva bows to Vishnu. Artist unknown. Gouache on paper, 1730.

The divine comedy
Creationism

Running gags

* Biblical literalism
* Young/Old Earth
* Intelligent design
* Creation scientists

Jokes aside

* Radiometric dating
* Lake Agassiz
* Punctuated equilibrium
* Evidence against a recent creation

Blooper reel

* RATE
* Darwin's Deadly Legacy
* Soft tissue preservation
* Evolution conspiracy

Evolutionism debunkers

* Michael Cremo
* John Hawkins
* Andrew Schlafly
* Joseph Farah

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Thank my various Gods!
Hinduism

Ooooom

* Hinduism
* Krishna
* Yoga
* Tantra
* Shirdi Sai Baba
* Brahma Kumaris
* Sacrifice
* Sathya Sai Baba
* Swami Vishwananda
* International Society for Krishna Consciousness
* अमेरिका का विश्व हिन्दू परिशाद
* India

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Hare Krishna Creationism (HKC; to proponents, Hindu or Vedic Creationism) is the view that the creation of the universe took place according to literally interpreted chunks of the Vedic texts.

Despite being called Hindu Creationism, the creation mythologies, cosmologies, and legends of broader Hinduism are considerably more varied, while the Hare Krishna version is quite specific and detailed. (A loose analogy: imagine taking the novel, detailed cosmologies of American evangelical fundamentalist Christians and calling them "Abrahamic creationism".)

It is old earth creationism — in fact, HKC proposes an age for Earth and the universe which is even older than the one accepted by science.

## Contents

* 1 Beliefs
* 2 Adherents
* 3 HKC and science
* 4 HKC vs YEC
* 5 See also
* 6 External links
* 7 References

## Beliefs[edit]

The main claim in HKC is all species on Earth, including humans, devolved from a higher state of consciousness due to a past "Vedic curse" of decay, mentioned in the Puranas.[1] All organisms were originally immaterial and existed in the spirit world, but the spirits were covered and trapped in matter; however, by doing meditation, practicing spirituality, and reading the Vedic writings, we can cast off materialism and raise our consciousness to a higher plane of existence and become the spiritual beings that we really are.[2]

Hare Krishna devotee Stephen Knapp wrote:

> The Vedic texts say that the source of humanity, and all life, is a matter of devolving from higher dimensions, namely from the spiritual dimension. All living beings are not only physical, but also the subtle body of mind, intelligence, ego, and, ultimately, the spiritual soul which is beyond everything else. Therefore, living beings have not evolved out of matter, or evolved up from the apes, but are only traveling through matter and the various forms that nature provides, each form or species based on our level of consciousness. This is to acquire all the experiences that this three-dimensional world can provide, and that our consciousness deems necessary for our own growth. Then, once we are finished with this material realm of existence by regaining our spiritual identity and acting on that level, we make our way back to the spiritual domain.

This view rejects the "Out of Africa" theory of human origins and endorses a model of "simultaneous multi-species", a view which asserts different species of human-like beings existing at the same time.[3] ISKCON members – such as Michael Cremo – take a literal reading of the Hindu religious writings such as the Puranas which teach that time and space are cyclical. They also believe the Earth goes through a cyclic model of yugas, which says life on Earth devolves through epochs, with each one becoming progressively darker, more alienated, and degenerated than the previous.[4][5]

Hindu creationists also accept the Big Bang and merge it into a cyclical model reminiscent of the "Big Crunch".

Hindu creationists deny macroevolution and only support microevolution, much like young Earth creationists. Hindu creationists also accept that "ape men" and humans have coexisted with each other; this view is opposed by Christian creationists.

HKCs embrace paranormal and occult topics such as out-of-body experiences, aliens, and reincarnation.

## Adherents[edit]

A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, c. 1972

The only modern organization in support of Hindu creationism is the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). The founder of ISKCON, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, rejected natural selection but accepted a form of evolution. According to Prabhupada, humans have always existed in a spiritual form.[6] In one publication, he accepted "species of life evolved from aquatics to plants, vegetables, trees; thereafter insects, reptiles, flies, birds, then beasts, and then human kind."[7]

Two theories which advocated similar views were proposed by William Fix in 1984 and John Davidson in 1992.

HKC was explained in detail by Michael Cremo in his book Human Devolution: A Vedic alternative to Darwin's theory (2003). A 2011 follow-up, co-written with Leif A. Jensen, was entitled Rethinking Darwin: A Vedic Study of Darwinism and Intelligent Design; this text also included contributions from Christian creationists/Intelligent Design, generating a kind of ecumenic crank magnetism.

## HKC and science[edit]

The theory of Dashavatara can be seen as having some similarities with Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.[8][9][10][11]

According to HKC, modern-day humans have existed in present form for two billion years. Michael Cremo has attempted to document old skeletons and artifacts which he thinks proves this idea,[12] but his books have been denounced as pseodohistorical and pseodoarchaeological pseudoscience by the archaeological, historical, and scientific communities.[13]

## HKC vs YEC[edit]

Hare Krishna creationists possess many similarities to and differences from Biblical young Earth creationism.

Hare Krishna creationism  | Young Earth creationism  | Similar?

|
|

Literalist interpretation of Vedas | Literalist interpretation of Bible | Yes
Vedic Curse causes degeneration  | Original sin / all sin causes degeneration  | Yes
Out-of-body experiences | NDE visits to afterlife | Yes
Denies macroevolution, supports microevolution | Denies macroevolution, supports microevolution  | Yes
Humanity, universe 1-2 billion years old  | Humanity, universe 6-10 thousand years old  | No
Humans and "ape men" coexisted  | "Ape men" never existed  | No
Aliens exist  | Only earth has life  | No
Reincarnation  | One life, one afterlife  | No
Pseudoscientific bullshit without scientific evidence | Pseudoscientific bullshit without scientific evidence | Yes

## See also[edit]

* Hindutva
* Sanskrit

## External links[edit]

* Darwin Under Siege
* https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19420889.2015.1123356

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Symptoms of Devolution
2. ↑ Michael Cremo (2003). Human Devolution: A Vedic alternative to Darwin's theory. Bhaktivedanta Book Publishing
3. ↑ The Out of Africa Theory Verses the Vedic View
4. ↑ The Hare Krishna movement: the postcharismatic fate of a religious transplant, Maria Ekstrand, 2004, p. 12
5. ↑ Back to godhead: the magazine of the Hare Krishna Movement, Volume 23, Baktivendanta Book Trust, 1988, p. 71
6. ↑ See Life Comes from Life – written by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (founder of ISKCON)
7. ↑ We Accept Evolution, but Not Darwin's Theory
8. ↑ By "Flipside of Hindu Symbolism: Sociological and Scientific Linkages in Hinduism", by "M. K. V. Narayan", P. 185.
9. ↑ http://business.highbeam.com/437657/article-1G1-194886404/difference-did-darwin-make
10. ↑ "Religion & Ethics-Hinduism". BBC. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
11. ↑ By John Hedley Brooke, Ronald L. Numbers, "Science and Religion Around the World", P. 204,
12. ↑ Forbidden Archeology: The Hidden History of the Human Race by Michael Cremo (1998) Bhaktivedanta Book Publishing. ISBN 0892132949.
13. ↑ Creationism: The Hindu View By Colin Groves

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Articles about creationism

Types of creationism: |  Gap creationism • Day-age creationism • Old Earth creationism • Progressive creation • Young Earth creationism • Intelligent design •
Evidence against a recent creation: |  Creationism and social history • Geomagnetism • Petrified forest • Radiometric dating • Carbon dating • Dendrochronology • Y-chromosomal Adam • Mitochondrial Eve • Starlight problem • Plate tectonics • Rotation of the Earth • Atmosphere of the Moon • Biogeography • K-Pg extinction event • Geologic timeline • Fossil • Transitional fossil • Fossil record • Lake Agassiz • List of transitional forms • Recent African Origin hypothesis • Punctuated equilibrium • Bird evolution • Geology • Grand Canyon • Evolution • Fossil fuel • Paleontology • History of the Earth • Evidence against a recent creation • Yellowstone • Diamond • Iron • Age of the Earth •
| Creationist claims: |  Geomagnetism • Do you want to be descended from a monkey? • Evolution and religion • Evolution and morality • C-decay • Peanut butter argument • Intelligent design and academic freedom • Science was wrong before • Science doesn't know everything • Catastrophic plate tectonics • Hydroplate theory • Lunar bukkake hypothesis • Creationist mathematics • Biblical literalism • Bumblebee argument • Orchidaceae • Irreducible complexity • Leap second • Wedge Strategy • Noah's Ark • 101 evidences for a young age of the Earth and the universe • Noah's Ark sightings • Evolution conspiracy • Recession of the Moon • Rotation of the Earth • Atmosphere of the Moon • Lunar dust • Lunar radioactivity • White hole cosmology • Firmament • Evolutionism • Haji Yearam • Galactocentricity • Hanzi of Genesis • Historical and operational science • Proof of the inconsistency of arithmetic • List of creationist claims • Global flood • De-evolution • Microevolution and macroevolution • In the Beginning: Compelling Evidence for Creation and the Flood • Borel's Law • Dinosaur denialism • Baraminology •
| Global flood: |  Flood geology • Noah's Ark • Noah • Lunar bukkake hypothesis • Fossil sorting by the global flood • Hydroplate theory • Global flood • Grand Canyon • Noah (film) • Epic of Gilgamesh • Didit fallacy • God's Love • Noah's Ark sightings • Haji Yearam • Lake Agassiz • Parasites during the global flood • Life and the global flood • Global flood chronology • Yellowstone • Petrified forest • Baraminology •
Intelligent design creationism: |  Falsifiability of creationism • Irreducible complexity • Cdesign proponentsists • Intelligent design and academic freedom • Argument from design • The Wonders of Creation Reveal God's Glory • Biological Information: New Perspectives • Seeking God in Science: An Atheist Defends Intelligent Design • John A. Davison • Evolution Under the Microscope: A Scientific Critique of the Theory of Evolution • Rethinking Darwin: A Vedic Study of Darwinism and Intelligent Design • Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature Is Almost Certainly False • Providence Lost: A Critique of Darwinism • The Darwin Myth: The Life and Lies of Charles Darwin • The Mystery of Life's Origin: Reassessing Current Theories • The Origin of Human Nature: A Zen Buddhist Looks at Evolution • Thomas Nagel • Darwinism Under The Microscope: How Recent Scientific Evidence Points To Divine Design • The End of Darwinism • Ask Darwinists • Polonium halos • Explanatory Filter • Flowers of asexually-reproducing plants • Eye • Argument from fine tuning • Argument from beauty • Argument from first cause • Flagellum • Moody Institute of Science • Intelligent design • Laryngeal nerve • Suboptimal design • Adam and Evolution: A Scientific Critique of Neo-Darwinism • Expelled: Leader's Guide • Banana argument • Vault-Co •
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