Adi Sankaracarya
Adi Sankaracarya Meditates on the Spiritual World
The Siva Purana and the Padma Purana explain that Lord Siva appeared as Adi Sankaracarya (A.D. 788-820) on the order of Lord Visnu. Sankaracarya's mission was to bring people back to Vedic culture by using the Vedas to teach an impersonalistic philosophy similar to that of Buddhism, which prevailed at that time and which rejects the authority of the Vedas. So although Sankaracarya played the role of an impersonalist, he was actually a great devotee of the Lord. In his Abhilasastaka, Sankaracarya writes, "I desire to be in Vrndavana so that I may sit on the bank of the Yamuna and pass each long day of my life in the twinkling of an eye, meditating on Lord Krsna."
Statement of Purposes
1. To help all people discern reality from illusion, spirit from matter, the eternal from the temporary.
2. To expose the faults of materialism.
3. To offer guidance in the Vedic techniques of spiritual life.
4. To preserve and spread the Vedic culture.
5. To celebrate the chanting of the holy names of God as taught by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
6. To help every living being remember and serve Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead.