Iskcon

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) commonly known in the West as the Hare Krishna Movement comes in a tradition that traces all the way back to Lord Krishna Himself. ISKCON was founded in New York in 1966 by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977), referred to as Srila Prabhupada. His spiritual teacher, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, asked him to teach Bhakti to the English-speaking world.

  • At 69 years old, Srila Prabhupada arrived in Boston in 1965. By 1966 he was living in New York City and had developed a following.
  • From 1966 to 1968, temples were established in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Montreal, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The first Rath-yatra outside of India was held in San Francisco and began an annual ISKCON tradition in more than 20 major cities around the world.
  • From 1971 to 1973, temples opened in Europe, Canada, South America, Mexico, London, Africa, and India.
  • In 1970, the Governing Body Commission, ISKCON’s international managerial body, was established to oversee the Society, which had grown to close to one hundred temples, schools, restaurants, and farm communities.
  • From 1970 to 1977, ISKCON built major centers at the pilgrimage sites of Mayapur and Vrindavan, India, and a large temple in Bombay.
  • In 1972, Srila Prabhupada founded the publishing house Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT), now the world’s largest publisher of books on Bhakti yoga.
  • In 1973, the Bhaktivedanta Institute was formed to write books and magazines and to hold conferences to present the teachings of the Vedas in scientific terms.
  • From 1974 to the present, ISKCON Food for Life has run food relief programs in dozens of cities around the world.
  • In November 1977, Srila Prabhupada passed from this world. ISKCON had 108 temples and more than 10,000 followers.
  • In 1989, the Hare Krishna movement came out from underground in the Soviet Union, as glasnost brought an end to persecution.
  • By 1991, more than one million copies of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is had been sold in the former Soviet Union.
  • Today, ISKCON has about 400 centers around the world, with a worldwide congregation in the tens of thousands, from all walks of life.

The Seven Purposes of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness:

  1. To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all peoples in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world.
  2. To propagate a consciousness of Krishna, as it is revealed in the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam.
  3. To bring the members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krishna, the prime entity, and thus to develop the idea within the members and humanity at large that each soul is part and parcel of the quality of Godhead (Krishna).
  4. To teach and encourage the sankirtan movement, congregational chanting of the holy name of God as revealed in the teachings of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
  5. To erect for the members and for society at large a holy place of transcendental pastimes dedicated to the Personality of Krishna.
  6. To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life.
  7. With a view towards achieving the aforementioned purposes, to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, books and other writings.

International Society for Krishna Consciousness - The Hare Krishna Temple
243 Avenue Rd. (at Dupont) - Toronto, Ontario - M5R 2J6
E-Mail: toronto@iskcon.ca - Phone: 416-922-5415 - Fax: 416- 922-1021