The founder of the Hare Krishna movement, His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, sailed to America from India in 1965. He was on a mission to deliver an urgent two-part message to everyone in the world: perfect your life by becoming Krishna conscious, and give Krishna consciousness to others.
If you listen to audio recordings of Srila Prabhupada’s earliest Bhagavad-gita lectures in New York, you’ll find that right from the beginning – before he even had committed students – he was imploring his audience to spread Lord Krishna ’s teachings around the world for the benefit of humanity. Before long, sincere followers began to travel and open centers. Inspired by Prabhupada’s boundless devotion and conviction, they set out with no money, but with Prabhupada’s assurance that Krishna would help them.
The earliest centers were often the most austere of quarters, where rats and storms came in on the wind. But today, thanks to the dedication of Srila Prabhupada’s spiritual pioneers, we have places like ISKCON Houston, with its spacious, gorgeous new temple. And most important, because of the Krishna conscious roots set down in cities around the world, we see more and more souls reaping the benefits of Srila Prabhupada’s mission of devotion.
OUR PURPOSES
• To help all people discern reality from illusion, spirit from matter, the eternal from the temporary.
• To expose the faults of materialism.
• To offer guidance in the Vedic techniques of spiritual life.
• To preserve and spread the Vedic culture.
• To celebrate the chanting of the holy names of God as taught by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
• To help every living being remember and serve Sri Krishna , the Personality of Godhead.