Prabhupada at Home
After arriving in New York City in September 1965, Srila Prabhupada struggled alone for the first year to establish his God conscious movement. He lived simply, lectured whenever and wherever he got the opportunity, and gradually began to attract some small interest in his teachings.
In July of 1966, while still working alone from an obscure storefront on New York City's Lower East Side, Srila Prabhupada nonetheless founded a spiritual society intended for worldwide participation. He called it the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON for short.
At the time of incorporation, Srila Prabhupada had not attracted even one committed follower. Undeterred, he enlisted volunteers from among the small group of regular attendees at his evening lectures to act as ISKCON's first trustees. That was then. Today, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness comprises more than 300 temples, farms, schools, and special projects throughout the world and maintains a congregation numbering in the millions.
ISKCON's Purpose
Krsna consciousness is more than another sectarian faith. It is a technical science of spiritual values that is fully described in the Vedic literature of ancient India. The aim of the Krsna consciousness movement is to acquaint all people of the world with these universal principles of God-realization so that they may derive the highest benefit of spiritual understanding, unity, and peace.The Vedas recommend that in the present age the most effective means for achieving self-realization is to always hear about, glorify, and remember the all- good Supreme Lord, who is known by many names. One of these names is "Krsna," which means "He who is all-attractive," another is "Rama," which means "He who is the reservoir of all pleasure," and "Hare" indicates the Lord's inconceivable energy.
Following the Vedic recommendation, the members of ISKCON are always seen chanting Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. This sublime chanting puts us directly in touch with the Supreme Lord through the sound vibration of His holy names and gradually awakens us to our original relationship with God.
ISKCON's primary mission is thus to encourage all members of human society to devote at least a portion of their time and energies to this process of hearing and chanting abotu God. In this way they will gradually come to realize that all living beings are spirit souls, eternally related to the Supreme Lord in service and in love.
Distributing Spiritual Food
Along with teaching Vedic knowledge and spreading the chanting of the Lord's holy names, ISKCON also freely distributes spiritual food throughout the world. Like the philosophy and the chanting, vegetarian food that has first been offered to the Lord purifies the heart and mind. Thus it assists in the process of gradually uncovering one's original awareness of God. ISKCON's distribution of spiritualized food, therefore, through its program known worldwide as "Food for Life," is beneficial for the body as well as the soul of each recipient.
External links:
Srila Prabhupada speaks
KK Bindu
Cooking with Kurma
Mayapur Worldwide
Sri Mayapur - The Spiritual Capital of the World
Vaisnava Calendar
incorporated by STC Technologies cc