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Krishnas Beat Drum for Image Change With a Festival

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Times Staff Writer

The press release came from ISKCON. That isn’t a new high-tech firm in Sorrento Valley. It’s the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

“Do you wonder where the Hare Krishnas have gone?” the press release asked. “Wonder why you don’t see them at the airport, the zoo or Sea World any more?”

Well, now that you mention it . . . .

“Find out from Robert Morrill, the president of the San Diego chapter, the ‘inside’ story on the new face of the Hare Krishna. Also, watch for our media surprise on Tuesday, April 9.”

OK, Bob. What’s the scoop? And what’s the surprise?

“It’s about Ronald Reagan,” Morrill confided in an interview Friday. “He’s joined the Krishnas.”

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That will have to be confirmed . . .

“It can’t be,” Morrill explained. “They’re all out chanting at the White House and nobody is answering the phone.”

But seriously, something important is going on with the Hare Krishnas, said Morrill, who is also known as Badri Narayan. Embarking on a campaign to improve their public image, they have indeed abandoned their persistent, almost daily solicitations for money that prompted numerous complaints at Lindbergh Field, the zoo and Sea World.

“Just one day we opened up for business and they weren’t there,” recalled James Miller, the zoo’s security supervisor. “It was about Christmas or sometime around there.”

“We don’t miss ‘em,” said Gregory Simental, lead security officer at Sea World.

As Morrill explained: “It served its purpose at a particular time. We would like to focus people’s attention on other aspects of our movement.”

So the Hare Krishnas are co-sponsors with the Hindu Alliance for a series of “Festival of India” events next week to celebrate the Indian culture.

That is what Morrill wanted to talk about--the free Indian vegetarian feast served all day, the live classical Indian music, the demonstrations of handicrafts, cooking, meditation and yoga.

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The New York Times, according to an ISKCON press release, referred to the touring “Festival of India” as a “colorful, cultural Barnum and Bailey’s circus.” In San Diego, the festivals will take place Monday and Tuesday at UC San Diego, Thursday at San Diego State University, and April 14 behind the Natural History Museum at Balboa Park.

Morrill figures there will be a big turnout, because, as he noted, India is in .

This is an era when “Gandhi” and “A Passage to India” have been big box office, “The Jewel in the Crown” was a hit on PBS, and the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and the Bhopal poison gas disaster have grabbed the world’s attention.

A few months ago, while visiting New Delhi, Sen. Larry Pressler (R-S.D.) told a group of Indian journalists, “It is tres chic over at Georgetown University to be talking about India.”

And Morrill said surveys are showing that more and more Americans are becoming believers in vegetarianism and reincarnation--two tenets of the Hare Krishna faith.

“Even John Forsythe, that actor on ‘Dynasty’--he’s a vegetarian,” Morrill said. “And Shirely MacLaine is a strong believer in reincarnation . . . “

Later, he cited another: “Captain Kirk. What’s that guy’s name? . . . William Shatner. He’s a big vegetarian.”

Even those who take monastic oaths, it seems, are familiar with People magazine.

To help ensure a good turnout at the festivals, the Hare Krishnas are printing a 12-page promotional insert for the San Diego Union. “We are occasionally misunderstood or little known, and therefore hope the magazine will help people have a clearer understanding of the principles, purposes and heritage of the Hare Krishna movement,” the press release explained.

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Indeed, there have been major public relations problems. In 1983, the San Diego temple lost a multimillion-dollar lawsuit after being accused of brainwashing a 15-year-old girl named Robin George. The Krishnas did not realize the girl was a minor, Morrill said at the time.

In 1982, some Krishnas from the Laguna Beach temple were arrested for trafficking heroin from India. “Oh, that one has plagued us for years,” Morrill said. “If you took a poll of Mafia religious affiliations, how many Catholics would you find? Does that mean that the Pope is Mafioso? I don’t think so. At least not John Paul. I mean, he seems to be a right-on fellow.”

Morrill said the Krisha movement is simply maturing and “becoming more sophisticated” about public relations, going from overt evangelism to a softer sell. While every Krishna temple operates differently, “I’d say it’s a nationwide trend,” Morrill added.

He offered a parable: The wind and the sun were arguing over which was stronger. They decided to see which could make a man take off his coat. The wind blew harder and harder, but it only made the man hold the coat tighter. Then the sun grew warm and the man removed his coat.

“There are many attractive features of the movement that will make people take to the movement more readily,” Morrill said. “It doesn’t mean they have to shave their head and wear robes, you know. We feel we have valuable social comment that is viable and relevant to the current world.”

As for the “media surprise” coming up on Tuesday, Morrill had no comment. He said he didn’t want to spoil it.

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But Morrill made assurances that all the Krishnas aren’t going to suddenly grow their hair and trade in their robes for Izods. They’ll still be manning their booth on weekends on the Prado of Balboa Park, he said, and they will continue to serve up some religion with free vegetarian meals to the needy downtown.

“We’ll always be the Hare Krishna chanters,” he declared. “You know, we’re probably on more Kodak film than anybody in the world. . . . They take it back to show Mom and Dad in Minneapolis.”

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