ISKCON

 ISKCON or International Society for Krishna Consciousness, popularly known as the Hare Krsna Movement is a worldwide community of over 5 million devotees in over 700 centers in about 170 countries of the world practicing bhakti-yoga or loving devotional service to God, an eternal science of God Consciousness described in the Vedic Literatures and propagated by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu over 500 years ago. His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is the founder- acharya of this movement.

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What is Krishna Consciousness ?

Krishna Consciousness is a philosophy which teaches us that we are not this temporary material body, but are actually an eternal soul who is part of the Supreme Soul, God or Krishna. We (souls) are minute and God is infinite. Our original nature is to be eternal, full of happiness and full of knowledge. God is the supreme enjoyer, proprietor and our dearest friend. Our desire to be separate from Him brought us to this material world, a perverted reflection of our real home. Krishna provides independence and free will as we desired. When we try to enjoy separate from God it is not possible. This world is an illusion and it keeps us trapped within it when we try to enjoy separately from Krishna. Our original position is to serve God in the spiritual kingdom and if we are fortunate we can begin to understand the true meaning of this material world - namely birth, disease, old age and death. We are responsible for our activities or actions create reactions - what goes around, comes around - karma. Thus we take repeated births and deaths, trying to fulfil our desires to be happy without Krishna.

What is the Basic Philosophy ?

The purpose of life is to enjoy oneself, but today nobody knows the real “self” is. Therefore all our attempts to enjoy meets ultimately with frustration. The fulfillment we seek can only be found by realizing our true self, beyond the body, to a “cool” adolescent body, and someday to a wrinkled up old body, the self within remains the same. Same person, changing body.

The soul has always existed and will never die. To fulfill its material desires, the soul reincarnates in this world and meets with happiness and distress due to past activities or karma. The lesson to be learned is that finding any lasting happiness in this costume party world is hopeless. We are part of God, and our real home is with Him in the spiritual world. If we give up serving our lust, anger and greed and serve Him instead, we can go back to that eternal home.

What is Mahamantra ?

"Hare Krishna" refers to the Sanskrit prayer we sing (the maha-mantra, or "great chant for deliverance"). Since God is unlimited, He has unlimited names, with different purposes and meanings. The purpose of the Hare Krishna prayer is to awaken us to our eternal nature as servants of Krishna.

The Hare Krishna mantra is composed of three Sanskrit words: Krishna, Rama and Hare.

Krsna and Rama are both names for God. Krishna means "the all-attractive," and Rama means "the supreme pleasure."

We can approach the all-attractive Supreme Lord, and experience the supreme pleasure of His company, through the help of His devotional or pleasure energy, Hare. Placed together the words of the prayer mean "O Lord, O energy of the Lord, please engage me in Your loving service." By chanting Hare Krishna we become purified of material conditioning and become reinstated in our normal eternal position.

Who is Sri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ?

The Golden Avatara

ittham nri-tiryag-rsi-deva-jhasävatärair

lokän vibhävayasi hamsi jagat pratipän

dharmam mahä-purusa päsi yugänuvrittam

channah kalau yad abhavas tri-yugo ’tha sa tvam

“In this way, my Lord, You appear in various incarnations as a human being, an animal, a great saint, a demigod, a fish or a tortoise, thus maintaining the entire creation in different planetary systems and killing the demoniac principles. According to the age, O my Lord, You protect the principles of religion. In the age of Kali, however, You do not assert Yourself as the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and therefore You are known as Triyuga, or the Lord who appears in three yugas.”- Srimad Bhagavatam 7.9.38

Lord Chaitanya is a covered incarnation, or avatara, of the Supreme Lord because He appeared as a Devotee. In the above verse quoted from Srimad Bhagavatam, it is clearly said in the last line that Lord appears in “channa” form in Kali Yuga. The Eleventh Canto (11.5.32) gives another direct statement about Lord Caitanya:

krsna-varnam tvisäkrsnam

sängopängästra-pärsadam

yajnaih sankirtana-präyair

yajanti hi su-medhasah

In the age of Kali, intelligent persons perform congregational chanting to worship the incarnation of Godhead who constantly sings the names of Krsna. Although His complexion is not blackish, He is Krsna Himself. He is accompanied by His associates, servants, weapons and confidential companions.

Caitanya Mahaprabhu is also described by Srila Vrindavana Dasa Thäkura as yuga-dharma-pala, the protector of the religion for the age.
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