When I was a sophomore at Anderson College, I had a private room. I just kind of lucked out with it, because the guy that had it was graduating, and he recommended me to get it. It was great. The window overlooked the woods behind the dorm, so I didn't have to listen to traffic noise or yelling students. During this time, I had adopted a hippie lifestyle. I was into some antiwar activities and was on a lot of mailing lists from companies wanting to sell me buttons and posters.
One of the catalogs I got was what looked to be an incense company. They wanted to send me free incense and a magazine, if I said okay. The people were with the Hare Krishna movement. I was familiar with them, since George Harrison had endorsed them, so I said okay. I got the literature, and they were promoting peace, so I signed up. The incense was a little smelly, and some in my suite thought my room was on fire, so I had to stop using it. I didn't have to shave my head to adopt their beliefs. They did want me to pass out literature and flowers, which I did some in the community. I didn't get a positive response from the residents of Anderson, SC, so I stopped doing that.
There was one thing that the movement taught me and that was Transcendental Meditation. I was under a lot of stress at school, so I would take time to meditate and focus on an object. I also learned how to relax by tensing and releasing the muscles in my body from my feet to my head. All while concentrating on my breathing. I also had a mantra that I chanted while doing this: "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare. Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare". I found that the mantra would focus my attention on calming down and putting my mind in the right place.
One day, a call was put out to have everyone meditate on a Saturday morning at the same time to keep an underground nuclear test from happening in Alaska. The goal was to have our brainwaves to cause the test to fail. I did that at the appointed time, but the test went on without a hitch. I became a little disillusioned about the power of meditation in that form, so I didn't do it as much after that. However, I did find that my mantra continued to relax me. It still does to this day, if I am feeling very stressed. I also have a prayer that I pray to God before any performance I have to do. I get a calmness over me from that prayer, which I have been doing since I was thrust into the male lead of a play my freshman year at Anderson College.
When I got to seminary, I took a class on Comparative Religions. I wrote a paper on the Krishna Movement. The first line of my paper was: "When I was involved in the Krishna Movement...". I turned it in, and the teacher called me into his office. He said that I wasn't a Christian, because I was involved in an Eastern Religion. I asked him if he had read my paper, and he said he had. I asked him to read the first line of my paper. He did and then apologized. He gave me an A.
I believe there is only one true God. God the Father. God the Son. And, God the Holy Spirit. Three in one. Jesus was sent to Earth to save people from their sins and to give us eternal life through Him. That's really all you need to know. Praying is our way to talk directly with God. No need for chants or incense. I respect other religions for their beliefs, but in the end, I will be going to Heaven one day.