Popularly known as the “Hare Krishna’s”, we are a worldwide organisation officially called ISKCON (the International Society for Krishna Consciousness). ISKCON is a bhakti-yoga tradition sitting on the Gaudiya Vaishnava “branch” . Today, ISKCON comprises of 650 major centres, temples and rural communities, hundreds of vegetarian restaurants, thousands of local meeting groups and community food relief programmes, and millions of members on every continent and in every major city in the world.
ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, affectionately known as Srila Prabhupada by his followers. With great effort and determination, at the age of 69 (when most people are retired), he journeyed from Kolkata to New York by cargo ship hoping to help the people of the Western world to reconnect with their spiritual essence. He sought to pass on the ancient teachings of bhakti-yoga and demonstrated how to practically apply this knowledge to live a happy and fulfilling life. Srila Prabhupada has unlocked the secrets and sacred spiritual knowledge in the Vedic tradition and made them accessible to everyone. His “Bhagavad-Gita As It Is” is the largest selling edition of the Bhagavad-Gita in the Western world and translated in over 76 languages.
Bhakti-yoga We are open every day of the year, with daily activities running from early morning until late evening. Join us for colourful worship ceremonies, healthy “karma-free” cuisine, daily meditation, talks and seminars; or pop into our boutique for spiritual books, health and well-being products, music and more. Yoga is more than just a physical exercise. The word “yoga” comes from the Sanskrit root, Yuj, which means to link up with or combine. The word “bhakti” is derived from the Sanskrit word, bhaj, which means loving service. Bhakti-yoga means to connect to the Supreme by means of loving devotional service. And of all yogis, he who always abides in Me with great faith, worshiping Me in transcendental loving service, is most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all.
Today, some yoga practitioners consider the physical benefits of yoga to be the end in themselves. But according to the traditional yoga systems, physical exercises are just one step on the path of God realisation. The Bhagavad-Gita (the core spiritual text of the Hare Krishna movement) explains bhakti-yoga (the path of dedication and love) as the culmination of other yoga practices. Bhakti-yoga focuses on developing our dedication, service and love for the divine Lord Krishna.
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 “Krishna” 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.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
