Diversity, equity, & inclusion in the Hare Krishna Movement
Looking To The Future
Responding to the Need
The Sama-Darsinah Initiative is a group of devotees who are responding to the need for a higher level of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), in the Hare Krishna Movement. We’re dedicated to raising awareness of this need within the devotee community and making it the new reality and standard.
How inclusive are you?
Take our self-assessment quiz to see how you’re doing,
Yours in Service
We’re here to serve devotees who want to create a culture of safety, trust, and courage, and an environment where everyone feels welcome, comfortable being themselves, asking questions, taking risks, sharing realizations, and asking for support in the communities that they’re building or intend to build.
Dedicated to raising awareness
We’re dedicated to
raising awareness of the value of consciously cultivating diverse, equitable, and inclusive communities and
to provide training, resources, and encouragement to help emerging devotee communities foster, support, and sustain a cultural environment in which any person can feel at home within the Hare Krishna Movement.
Welcome, include, & empower
People who have diverse racial, ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, and disabled identities have different daily experiences from what is considered ‘normal.’
We believe that Krishna Consciousness will only reach the hearts and minds of all living souls when we are truly able to welcome, include, and empower a diverse array of people.
To do so, the care given to each person must be individualized in such a way as to effectively provide support that acknowledges their lived experience.
With the aim of achieving the aforementioned objectives, the Sama-Darsinah Initiative Group will:
build a network of mutually supportive outreach centers and temple communities promoting diverse and inclusive community engagement and supportive spaces, and
develop and deliver training and resources to devotees and their communities via online media and when practical in person.
Inclusivity Resources
GENDER
Societies that value women and men as equal are safer and healthier.
RACE
Racial equity ensures equal opportunity and increases the likelihood of our collective success.
LGBTQIA+
Members of inclusive communities experience higher levels of satisfaction in their activities and relationships, regardless of their sexual orientation.