mdhjwh  wrote:
>Good gracious me  - and I imagined this may be an
>obscure little cult and what do I dig up The Krsnas !
>My experience of these people has always been a joy.
>Are they one and the same?

Actually no - vaisnava is a larger term than the Hare Krishna
movement; Hare Krsna movement was founded by Abhaya Charanavinda
Bhaktivedanta Svami Prabhupada, who came to preach in New York during
the hippy era, in the 60's. He was one of the disciples of
Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, the leader of the Gaudiya Math, a vaisnava
organization from Bengal, India.
Gaudiya vaisnavism is some sort of a mainstream branch of the vaisnava
philosophy; it was founded by Caitanya some 500 years ago. "Vaisnava"
basically means "visnuite", "one who worships Vishnu". For the exact
meaning of the term it is necessary to know some Indian history and
philosophy. In Indian personalistic philosophy there is a mainstream
belief that says that there is just one supreme divinity, which is the
causeless cause of all, and all other "gods" are just lesser
principles derived from that primordial principle. The difference
between sects is basically about who's God. The shaivites say that
Shiva is God, shaktas say that Shakti is the Goddess, and vaisnavas
say that Vishnu is God. There are probably other less known sects that
I don't know much of, but these three are the most important ones.
Of course, there are also the impersonalists and combinations. The
personalists say that God is a person, whereas the impersonalists say
that God is a principle. In perspective of human relationship with the
supreme principle there are also several views: advaita, vishista
advaita and dvaita. Advaita (sanskrt for "non-duality") says that
brahman (the absolute reality) is identical with atman (human essence,
the highest self) and that there is no difference, and the goal is to
achieve the realization of that unity. That system was advocated by
Sankaracarya (8th century) and his followers. The next system,
vishista-advaita (sanskrt for "nonduality of the qualified") was
founded by Ramanuja (11-12th century), basically says that people
aren't one with God, but they can be if they are really nice and pure.
The third system, dvaita (sanskrt for "duality"), founded by Madhva in
the 13th century , says that no way people are one with God, and they
can never be, because God is very big and pure, and we are small and
messed up, and the best we can do is to worship him and bathe in his
glory or whatever.
Hare Krishna are personalistic dualistic vaisnavas, which means that
they think that God is a person, that they are essentially separated
from God and can never be one with him, and that God is Visnu,
actually Krsna, whom they don't see as Visnu's avatar, but as the
highest principle; they actually say that Visnu is a somewhat lower
version of Krsna, but very close to the real thing. 
The sect that is today known as Hare Krishna has its root in the:
---
Caitanya movement, intensely emotional form of Hinduism that has
flourished from the 16th century, mainly in Bengal and eastern Orissa.
It takes its name from the medieval saint Caitanya (1485-1533), whose
fervent devotion to Lord Krishna (Krsna) inspired the movement. For
Caitanya the legends of Krishna and his youthful beloved, Radha, were
both symbolic of and the highest expressions of the mutual love
between God and the human soul. Bhakti (devotion) superseded all other
forms of religious practice and was conceived as complete
self-surrender to the divine will. The Caitanya movement had its
beginnings in Navadvipa (Bengal), the saint's birthplace. From the
first, a favourite and characteristic form of worship was group
singing known as kirtana (or samkirtana). This consisted of the 
singing of simple hymns and the repetition of God's name, accompanied
by the sounding of a drum and cymbals and by a rhythmic swaying of the
body that continued for several hours and usually resulted in states
of religious exaltation. 
Caitanya was neither a theologian nor a writer, and organization of
his followers was initially left up to his close companions,
Nityananda and Advaita. These three are called the three masters
(prabhu), and their images are established in temples of the sect.
A theology for the movement was worked out by a group of Caitanya's
disciples who came to be known as the six gosvamins (religious
teachers; literally, "lords of cows"). At Caitanya's request, this
group of scholars remained in Vrndavana, near Mathura, the scene of
the Krishna-Radha legends. The six gosvamins turned out a voluminous
religious and devotional literature in Sanskrit, defining the tenets
of the movement and its ritual practices. Their reestablishment of the
pilgrimage sites of Vrndavana and Mathura was an achievement of
importance for all Vaisnavas (devotees of Lord Vishnu). Although
Caitanya appears to have been worshipped as an incarnation of Krishna
even during his lifetime, the theory of his dual incarnation, as
Krishna and Radha in one body, was systematically developed only by
the later Bengali hymnists.
The present leaders of the sect, called gosvamins, are (with some
exceptions) the lineal descendants of Caitanya's early disciples and
companions. The ascetics are known as vairagins (the "dispassionate").
---
(Britannica)

About the founder of the Hare Krishna movement:
---
Bhaktivedanta, A(bhay) C(haranaravinda), also called SWAMI PRABHUPADA
(b. Sept. 1, 1896, Calcutta--d. Nov. 14, 1977, Vrindavan, Uttar
Pradesh, India), Indian religious leader and author who in 1965
founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, commonly
known as the Hare Krishna movement.
In 1920 Bhaktivedanta completed his B.A. in chemistry at the Scottish
Churches' College in Calcutta; by that time, his family had arranged a
marriage for him, and he later established a pharmacy business. In
1922 his guru, a spiritual leader of the Vaisnava Hindu sect, urged
him to preach the teachings of Krishna throughout the Western world.
Thereafter Bhaktivedanta devoted much time as lecturer, writer,
editor, and translator for the Vaisnava and in 1933 was formally
initiated as a disciple at Allahabad.
Because his family did not share his religious interests,
Bhaktivedanta turned over his business to a son and renounced all
family ties in 1954 to devote his full time to religious work. He
received the title of swami in 1959 and in 1965 sailed for Boston,
Mass., U.S. Several months later he moved to New York City, where he
established the headquarters of the Hare Krishna movement on the Lower
East Side. From a storefront, he taught classes on Vedic culture,
which he claimed could affect the consciousness of a world afflicted
with rampant materialism. The movement became especially popular among
young people, and many of the swami's books began to be studied on
college and university campuses.
Despite his failing health, Bhaktivedanta by the time of his death had
written and published more than 50 books on ancient Vedic culture and
had opened more than 100 centres throughout the world.
---
(Britannica)

I hope that this helps. :)

-- 
Web (Kundalini-yoga): http://danijel.cjb.net