Sri Sri Radha GopalJiu Temple
ISKCON Gadeigiri, Orissa. - Founder-Acarya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
ISKCON - International Society for Krishna Consiousness
What is ISKCON?
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), popularly known as the 
Hare Krishna movement, is a worldwide association of devotees of Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. God is known by many names, according to His different qualities and activities. In the Bible he is know as Jehovah ("the almighty one"), in the Koran as Allah ("the great one"), and in the Bhagavad-gita as Krsna, a Sanskrit name meaning "the all-attractive one."
The movement's main purpose is to promote the wellbeing of human society by teaching the science of God conciousness (Krsna conciousness) accourding to the timeless Vedic scriptures of India.
Many leading figures in the international religious and academic community have affirmed the movement's authenticity. Diana L. Eck, professor of comparative religion and Indian studies at Harvard University, describes the movement as "a tradition that commands a respected place in the religious life of humankind."
In 1965, His Divine
Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami, know to his followers as Srila Prabhupada, brought Krsna conciousness to America. On the day he landed in Boston, on his way to New York City, he penned these words in his diary: "My dear Lord Krsna, I am sure that when this transcendental message penetrates (the hearts of the westerners), they will certainly feel gladdened and thus become liberated from all unhappy conditions of life." He was sixty-nine years old, alone and with few resources, but the wealth of spiritual knowledge and devotion he possessed was an unwavering source of strength and inspiration.
"At a very advanced age, when most people would be resting on their laurels," writes Harvey Cox, Harvard University theologian and author, "Srila Prabhupada harkened to the mandate of his own spiritual teacher and set out on the difficult and demanding voyage to America. Srila Prabhupada is, of course, only one of thousands of teachers. But in another sense, he is one in a thousend, maybe one in a million."
In 1966, Srila Prabhupada founded the International Society for Krishna Conciousness, which became the formal name for the Hare Krsna movement.
Astonishing Growth
In the years that followed, Srila Prabhupada gradually attracted tens of thousands of followers, started more than a hundred Temples and ashrams, and published scores of books. His achievement is remarkable in that he transplanted India's ancient spiritual culture to the twentieth-century Western world.
New devotees of Krsna soon became highly visible in all the major cities around the world by their public chanting and their distribution of Srila Prabhupada's books of Vedic knowledge. They began staging joyous cultural festivals throughout the year and serving millions of plates of delicious vegetarian food offered to Krsna (known as Prasad). As a result, ISKCON has significantly influenced the lives of millions of people. In the early 1980's the late A. L. Basham, one of the world's leading authorities on Indian history and culture, wrote, "The Hare Krsna movement arose out of next to nothing in less than twenty years and has become known all over the West. This is an important fact in the history of the Western world."
ISKCON-Related Links in the U.K. and Ireland:
ISKCON-UK
Gateway for all Hare Krishna Temples, projects and personal websites in the UK and Ireland.
www.iskcon.org.uk
ISKCON-Related Links Worldwide:
please see the "Links" page
(ISKCON) International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Founder-Acarya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada
The seven purposes of ISKCON:
1) To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all peoples in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world.
2) To propagate a consciousness of Krishna, as it is revealed in the Bhagavad-gita and the Srimad Bhagavatam.
3) To bring the members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krishna, the prime entity, thus to develop the idea within the members, and humanity at large, that each soul is part and parcel of the quality of Godhead (Krishna).
4) To teach and encourage the sankirtana movement, congregational chanting of the holy names of God as revealed in the teachings of Lord Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.
5) To erect for the members and for society at large, a holy place of transcendental pastimes, dedicated to the personality of Krishna.
6) To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life.
7) With a view towards achieving the aforementioned purposes, to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, books and other writings.
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ISKCON - Internationale beweging voor Krishna bewustzijn
De "International Society for Krishna Consiousness" (ISKCON) werd in 1966 opgericht door Zijne Goddelijke Genade A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in New York.
Ze is gebasseerd op de eeuwenoude filosofische leer en tradities van de Gaudiya-Vaisnava Sampradaya, zoals onder andere beschreven staat in onze heilige geschriften zoals de Bhagavad-gita en het Srimad-Bhagavatam.
Intussen is ISKCON, beter bekend als de Hare Krishna Beweging, uitgegroeid tot een wijdverspreide organisatie van Tempels, boerderijen, restaurants en predik centra gevestigd over de gehele wereld. Het bestaat uit zo'n 10.000 toegewijden (beedigde beoefenaars) en zo'n 550.000 congregratie leden. Met wereldwijd 404 Tempels, 54 boerderijen, 21 scholen en 95 restaurants vindt u ons in 577 steden in 95 landen.
De zeven doelen van ISKCON
- Het stelselmatig overdragen van spirituele kennis onder alle lagen van de bevolking en het onderrichten van alle mensen in de technieken van het spirituele leven met als doel de aantasting van de levenswaarden tegen te gaan en tot werkelijke eenheid en vrede in de wereld te komen
- Het uitdragen van het Krishna-bewustzijn, zoals dat uiteengezet wordt in de Bhagavad-gita en het Srimad Bhagavatam
- Het samenbrengen van de leden van de gemeenschap om hen dichter bij Krishna, het Opperwezen, te brengen, waardoor zowel bij de toegewijden als bij de rest van de mensheid het bewustzijn wordt ontwikkeld dat elke ziel een volkomen deeltje van God of van Krishna is
- Het voorgaan in en aanmoedigen tot Sankirtan, het gemeenschappelijk chanten van de heilige namen van God, zoals aanbevolen in het onderricht van Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu
- Het vestigen van een heilige plaats, gewijd aan het transcendentale spel en vermaak van de Allerhoogste Godspersoon, Krishna, voor de leden en alle andere mensen
- Het samenbrengen van de leden teneinde een eenvoudiger en meer natuurlijke levenswijze te propageren
- Het uitgeven en verspreiden van tijdschriften, boeken en andere publicaties met als doel bovenstaande doelstellingen te verwezenlijken.
