ISKCON Amsterdam - Hare Krishna

The Hare Krishna movement is an international movement with the official name ISKCON, which stands for "International Society for Krishna Consciousness". ISKCON was founded in 1966 by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami (Srila) Prabhupada. However, the Hare Krishna movement is not a new religion. The philosophy of the Hare Krishna movement has its origins in the Vedic scriptures, which are more than 5000 years old, of which the Bhagavad-gita is the most prominent. The aim of the Hare Krishna movement is to spread knowledge about the Supreme Person, Krishna, as He is described in the Vedic scriptures, and the relationship between all living beings and Him. Our ambition is to spread spiritual knowledge in society. We do this through literature, lectures, public events and other activities. We also welcome visits from schools, students and other groups. Currently, the Hare Krishna movement in the Netherlands has a temple in Amsterdam, and several preaching centers and smaller gatherings throughout the country. If you would like to get in touch with us, please visit our contact page.

Srila Prabhupada, or more accurately Sri Srimad A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, is the founder-acarya of the Hare Krishna Community in the West. Acarya is usually translated as founder or as teacher who teaches by example. He was born in 1896 in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. He first met his own spiritual master, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami Thakura Prabhupada, in Calcutta in 1922. Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, a prominent religious scholar and the founder of sixty-four Gaudiya Mathas (Vedic institutes), appreciated this well-educated young man. During this first meeting, he requested Srila Prabhupada to spread Vedic knowledge in the English language. Srila Prabhupada was convinced and decided to dedicate his life to teaching Vedic knowledge. He became a follower and eleven years later, in Allahabad in 1933, he was officially initiated as his disciple. A few weeks before Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur passed away in 1936, he asked Srila Prabhupada again during their last meeting to introduce Krishna consciousness to the English-speaking world.

After publishing three volumes of Srimad-Bhagavatam, Srila Prabhupada traveled to the United States of America in 1965 by freighter to fulfill the orders of his spiritual master. When Srila Prabhupada arrived in New York, he had little money. Only after a year of great difficulty did he succeed in establishing the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in July 1966. In the years that followed, he translated more than fifty volumes of Indian philosophical and religious classics and provided them with authoritative commentaries. He also wrote several summary studies. Until his death on November 14, 1977, he led the movement and saw it grow into a worldwide association of more than one hundred ashramas, schools, temples, institutions, and agricultural communities. He introduced the Vedic model of primary and secondary education to the West with the establishment of the gurukula (school of the guru) in Dallas, Texas. Under his leadership, his disciples established more such schools in the United States and around the world. Srila Prabhupada also initiated the construction of several major international cultural centers in India. The center at Sridhama Mayapur in West Bengal is the site of a planned spiritual city, an ambitious construction project that will be carried out over many years.

Hare Krishna!

Srila Prabhupada

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