The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), is also known as the Hare Krishna movement. It is worldwide non-sectarian movement dedicated to propagating love of God, particularly through the yoga practice of chanting holy names of God:
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare!
The sincerity and purity of ISKCON’s members have enabled the movement to expand rapidly. ISKCON devotees are not Sunday religionists, but practitioners of Bhakti-yoga, the science of always engaging everything in service of God. This ancient yoga system is the art of spiritualizing all human activities, thereby remaining God conscious always. Initiated members chant the Lord’s names (Hare Krishna Mahamantra- chant of great deliverance) for a minimum of 1-1/2 to 2 hours per day as a regular meditation. This is called mantra meditation.
Those who have taken the vow of initiation also refrain from meat-eating, intoxication, illicit sex, and gambling. ISKCON’s lay, uninitiated congregation today numbers over fifty million worldwide, and is still growing.Currently, ISKCON is hundreds of thousands strong, with over 400 centers worldwide, self-sufficient farming communities, movies, recording studios, publishing companies, restaurants, a scientific organization, and even its own school system. A short statement of the philosophy of Consciousness:
By sincerely cultivating bona fide spiritual science, we can be free from anxiety and come to a state of pure, unending, blissful consciousness in this life time. We are not our bodies, but eternal spirit souls, parts and parcels of God (Krishna). As such, we are all brothers, and Krishna is ultimately our common father. Krishna is eternal, all knowing, omnipresent, all-powerful, all attractive and all pleasing. He is the seed giving father of all living beings, and He is sustaining energy of the entire cosmic creation. The Absolute Truth is contained in the Vedas, the oldest scriptures in the history of mankind. The essence of the Vedas is found in the Bhagavad-gita, a literal record of Krishna’s words. We should learn the Vedic knowledge from a genuine/bona- fide spiritual master- one who has no selfish motives and whose mind is firmly fixed on Krishna.
Before we eat, we should offer to the Lord the food that sustains us. That offering with love and devotion becomes sanctified food. When we eat such food it purifies us. We should perform all our actions as offerings to and do nothing for our own sense gratification.</span></p>
<p style=”line-height: 160%”><strong><span style=”font-size: 8.5pt; color: #a5965d; line-height: 160%; font-family: Verdana”>8.</span></strong><span class=”apple-converted-space”><span style=”font-size: 8.5pt; color: #c3b98b; line-height: 160%; font-family: Verdana”> </span></span><span style=”font-size: 8.5pt; color: #c3b98b; line-height: 160%; font-family: Verdana”>The recommended means for achieving the mature state of love of God in the age Kali, or quarrel and hypocrisy, is the chant the holy names of the Lord- the Hare Krishna Mahamantra.</span></p>
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<strong>Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.</strong>His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada appeared in this world in 1896 in Calcutta, India. He first met his spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami, in Calcutta in 1922. Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, a prominent religious scholar and the founder of sixty-four Gaudiya Mathas (Vedic institutes), liked this educated young man and convinced him to dedicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge. Srila Prabhupada became his student, and eleven years later (1933) at Allahabad he became his formally initiated disciple.At their first meeting, in 1922, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura requested Srila Prabhupada to broadcast Vedic knowledge through the English language. In the years that followed, Srila Prabhupada wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad-gita, assisted the Gaudiya Matha in its work and, in 1944, started Back to Godhead, an English fortnightly magazine. Maintaining the publication was a struggle. Single-handedly, Srila Prabhupada edited it, typed the manuscripts, checked the galley proofs, and even distributed the individual copies. Once begun, the magazine never stopped; it is now being continued by his disciples in the West and is published in over thirty languages.Recognizing Srila Prabhupada’s philosophical learning and devotion, the Gaudiya Vaisnava Society honored him in 1947 with the title “Bhaktivedanta.” In 1950, at the age of fifty-four, Srila Prabhupada retired from married life, adopting the vanaprastha (retired) order to devote more time to his studies and writing. Srila Prabhupada traveled to the holy city of Vrndavana, where he lived in very humble circumstances in the historic medieval temple of Radha-Damodara. There he engaged for several years in deep study and writing. He accepted the renounced order of life (sannyasa) in 1959. At Radha-Damodara, Srila Prabhupada began work on his life’s masterpiece: a multivolume annotated translation of the eighteen-thousand-verse Srimad-Bhagavatam (Bhagavata Purana). He also wrote Easy Journey to Other Planets.After publishing three volumes of the Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada came to the United States of America, in September 1965, to fulfill the mission of his spiritual master. Subsequently, His Divine Grace wrote more than sixty volumes of authoritative annotated translations and summary studies of the philosophical and religious classics of India.When he first arrived by freighter in New York City, Srila Prabhupada was practically penniless. Only after almost a year of great difficulty did he establish the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, in July of 1966. Before his passing away on November 14, 1977, he guided the Society and saw it grow to a worldwide confederation of more than one hundred asramas, schools, temples, institutes and farm communities.In 1968, Srila Prabhupada created New Vrindaban, a farm community in the hills of West Virginia. His students have since founded several similar communities in the United States and abroad.In 1972, His Divine Grace introduced the Vedic system of primary and secondary education in the West by founding the Gurukula school in Dallas, Texas. Since then, under his supervision, his disciples have established children’s schools throughout the United States and the rest of the world, with the principal educational center now located in Vrndavana, India.Srila Prabhupada also inspired the construction of several large international cultural centers in India. The center at Sridhama Mayapur in West Bengal is the site for a planned spiritual city, an ambitious project for which construction will extend over many years to come. In Vrndavana, India, are the magnificent Krsna-Balarama Temple and International Guesthouse, and Srila Prabhupada Memorial and Museum. There is also a major cultural and educational center in Bombay. Other centers have since been built in New Delhi and others are planned in important locations on the Indian subcontinent.Srila Prabhupada’s most significant contribution, however, is his books. Highly respected by the academic community for their authority, depth and clarity, they are used as standard textbooks in numerous college courses. His writings have been translated into over fifty languages. The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, established in 1972 to publish the works of His Divine Grace, has thus become the world’s largest publisher of books in the field of Indian religion and philosophy.<strong>How can one become Krishna Consciousness?</strong>Krishna is sitting within the core of our heart as Super-soul (Paramatma).He guides us from within if we sincerely desire to understand Him. He brings us to a Guru who in turn helps you to realize God by the process of Krishna Consciousness. The Vedas say that if you have implicit faith in God and implicit faith in your bona fide guru, who teaches you Krishna consciousness, all Vedic imports are revealed automatically. Thus we become Krishna Conscious. Krishna Consciousness is not an artificial imposition on the mind. This consciousness is already there, dormant in everyone’s heart only it needs to be awakened by process of hearing from bona-fide guru.<strong>Why does one accept a spiritual master in Krishna Consciousness?</strong>The spiritual master, who compassionately appears in the material world for the sake of the fallen souls, is considered a representative of Srimati Radharani. By the mercy of the spiritual master, one can obtain the mercy of Krishna. There is no alternative means for success. Without the mercy of the spiritual master, one cannot make any progress in devotional service. This is the opinion of all bona fide authorities on devotional life. The spiritual master trains his disciples in such a way that they can become free from bondage to material consciousness, engage in devotional service, and thus gradually develop pure love of Godhead. The spiritual master has the responsibility of scientifically engaging each disciple in a practical manner.Among the many different paths for the attainment of spiritual realization, one needs the expert guidance of a bona fide spiritual master to understand which path to follow to make actual progress toward the supreme goal. In our modern age, the most recommended process for perfection is to chant the Hare Krishna mantra- Krishna and Rama are names of the Lord, and Hare addresses Hara, the pleasure potency of the Lord. As living spiritual souls, we are originally spiritual energy, but somehow or other we have now fallen into this material world of birth and death. But when we come under the shelter of the supreme spiritual energy, Srimati Radharani, we come to our happy, normal position.Radharani is the potency who gives transcendental pleasure to Krishna. When the mercy of that potency is bestowed upon a living entity, he develops love of Godhead and thus attains the highest pleasure–and he can also distribute that pleasure–and he can also distribute that pleasure to others. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has introduced this process of chanting to the Western countries and is spreading it all over the world. “The chanting,” he says, “is exactly like the cry of a child for its mother’s presence. Mother Hara [Srimati Radharani] helps the devotee achieve the Lord Father’s grace, and the Lord reveals Himself to the devotee who chants this mantra sincerely.”<strong>What is the process of Krishna Consciousness?</strong>Krishna consciousness is a science and should not be accepted blindly. There are nine processes of devotional service recommended in Vedic scriptures. Hearing, Chanting, Remembering the Supreme Lord Vishnu/Krishna, Worshiping, Praying, Acting as a servitor of the Lord, Developing friendly relations with the Lord and Offering everything to the Lord. All are easy practices e.g. the process of chanting and dancing before the Deities, hearing about Lord’s qualities, form, and His pastimes, offering food with love and devotion and accepting the remnants of food that is offered to the Lord.The Krishna Consciousness process is spiritual; it does not require any material qualifications. This process of Krishna consciousness is very pleasant to perform (susukham). However one must understand that God is great and we are tiny, thus subordinate. He is the predominator, and we are the predominated. The duty of the subordinate is to please the great. If we want to be happy, we must learn how to make Krishna happy and that is the process of Krishna consciousness.<strong>What is the benefit of becoming Krishna Consciousness?</strong>If we take to Krishna consciousness very seriously, we will go to Krishna’s eternal abode back home back to Godhead. Once we reach there we will not return to this miserable and temporary material world.<strong>What is the Necessity of Krishna Consciousness?</strong>In order to go to spiritual world we have to be 100% pure, completely devoid of even tinge of material desire, by practicing Krishna Consciousness. So at the time of leaving our material body (death) we are conscious of the Supreme Lord Krishna. Then we can go to him not to anyone else. We need to purify our propensity to gratify our senses by utilizing that propensity to serve Krishna. The beauty of Krishna Consciousness is that if one performs work in Krishna consciousness and yet does not attain perfection, in his next life he takes up from wherever he left off. In other words, that any amount of work performed in Krishna consciousness is an eternal asset. On the other hand, material achievements are lost at the time of death because they pertain to the body and body is destroyed after death.What about those who have no faith in Krishna Consciousness? For those who are hesitant and have no faith, Krishna consciousness is very difficult. Hesitation is due to ignorance. For one who is hesitant in taking to Krishna consciousness, will not be happy in this life of miserable material world, then what to speak of the next life.<strong>What is the goal of Krishna Consciousness?</strong>The Vedas state that the goal of life is to become a pure devotee of God, to establish one’s eternal relationship with God and to return to God at the end of life and thus end the cycle of repeated birth and death (reincarnation). Krishna Conscious members also share Vedic knowledge with others by profusely distributing ancient India’s literature.
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The spiritual realm is not simply theoretical. The Vedas prescribe various processes by which one can get in touch with some aspect of the spiritual nature. The highest aspect of spirit is the personal form of God, an objective reality that one can directly perceive, provided one carefully follows the procedure for getting the result.
That procedure is the practice of Bhakti yoga, which must be conducted under the careful guidance of a master of the science of Bhakti. A sincere student receives the blessings of the teacher (guru), and of God Himself, and thereby progresses through higher and higher levels of perception. Attaining ever deeper states of love, the student finally attains pure love for God, which awards one His direct audience.