The Hare Krishna Movement is a popular name for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a worldwide community of devotees practicing Bhakti Yoga.
Bhakti Yoga
Bhakti Yoga is a spiritual practice and ultimate goal rooted in Vedic literature, particularly the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam, that focuses on achieving eternal happiness through devotional service to the Supreme Self. Unlike temporary happiness gained from serving oneself, family, or community, Bhakti involves offering one's complete being—activities, results, words, intentions, emotions, and intelligence—for the pleasure of the Divine. While the actions remain the same in both practice and perfection, the key distinction lies in the practitioner's evolution from determined discipline to spontaneous, unmotivated love for the Supreme, which is considered the natural state of all living beings according to Vedic teachings.
Hare Krishna Mantra
The Hare Krishna mantra, also known as the Maha-mantra (great mantra), is a central spiritual practice in Bhakti Yoga and the cornerstone of the Hare Krishna movement. The mantra consists of sixteen words—"Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare"—and is believed to be the most powerful means of spiritual awakening in the current age. Practitioners chant this mantra both individually (japa) and communally (kirtan) as a way to cleanse the heart, awaken divine love, and connect with the Supreme. According to Bhakti teachings, the names in the mantra are not merely sounds but are considered non-different from Krishna (the Supreme) Himself, and the regular chanting of these holy names can transform one's consciousness from material to spiritual awareness.
Our Founder-Acharya
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) was founded by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada back in 1966. In the eleven years that followed its founding, Srila Prabhupada established temples, schools, restaurants and eco-community farms all over the world. This would include our temple here in Vancouver, which was established in 1983.
Eight Principles of Hare Krishna Movement
Srila Prabhupada established eight principles as the basis of the Hare Krishna movement:
- By sincerely cultivating a genuine spiritual science, we can be free from anxiety and come to a state of pure, unending, blissful consciousness in this lifetime.
- We are not our bodies but eternal spirit souls, parts and parcels of God (Krishna). As such, we are all brothers, and Krishna is ultimately our common father.
- Krishna is the eternal, all-knowing, omnipresent, all-powerful, and all-attractive Personality of Godhead. He is the seed-giving father of all living beings, and He is the sustaining energy of the entire cosmic creation.
- The Absolute Truth is contained in all the great scriptures of the world. However, the oldest known revealed scriptures in existence are the Vedic literatures, most notably the Bhagavad Gita, which is the literal record of Krishna’s actual words.
- We should learn the Vedic knowledge from a genuine spiritual master – one who has no selfish motives and whose mind is firmly fixed on Krishna.
- Before we eat, we should offer to the Lord the food that sustains us. Then Krishna becomes the offering and purifies us.
- We should perform all our actions as offerings to Krishna and do nothing for our own “sense gratification.”
- The recommended means for achieving the mature stage of love of God in this age of Kali, or age of quarrel, is to chant the holy names of the Lord, the Hare Krishna Mantra.
