TEACHINGS, PROJECTS & PHILOSOPHY
Our Founder
ISKCON (International Society for Krsna Consciousness) was founded in 1966 in New York by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, affectionately known as Srila Prabhupada by his followers. With great effort and determination, at the age of 69, he journeyed from Kolkata to New York by cargo ship with the ambition to help the people of the Western world to reconnect with their spiritual essence. He sought to pass on the ancient teachings of bhakti-yoga and demonstrated how to practically apply this knowledge to live a happy and fulfilling life.
Srila Prabhupada has unlocked the secrets and sacred spiritual knowledge in the Vedic tradition and made them accessible to everyone. His "Bhagavad-Gita As It Is" is the largest selling edition of the Bhagavad-Gita in the Western world and translated in over 76 languages
OUR TEACHINGS & PRACTICES
BHAKTI YOGA
Today, some yoga practitioners consider the physical benefits of yoga to be the end in themselves. But according to the traditional yoga systems, physical exercises are just one step on the path of God realisation. The Bhagavad-Gita (the core spiritual text of the Hare Krishna movement) explains bhakti-yoga (the path of dedication and love) as the culmination of other yoga practices. Bhakti-yoga focuses on developing our dedication, service and love for the divine Lord Krishna.
MANTRA MEDITATION
Meditation is a spiritual practice found in practically all religious and spiritual traditions, although the methods differ.
The Vaishnava tradition recommends the chanting of the names of God to be a particularly effective method of spiritual awakening, simultaneously opening us to an incredibly empowering experience. Bhakti-yogis use mantra meditation both on an individual level and collectively through mantra music and singing called "kirtan".
CONSCIOUS LIVING
The lifestyle of a bhakti-yogi is one of intentional actions and choices that are in favour of becoming conscious of the Supreme. Through a variety of activities, a bhakti-yogi aims to become a devotee of the Lord, training the mind along with our actions towards selfless service to all living beings and ultimately to Lord Krishna. Living in this way, we reduce our karmic reaction because our daily activities are intentionally devoted to the divine who is the controller of karma.
Some of the activities we do daily are: meditate, sing mantra music, study and live by the sacred Vedic wisdom, have daily philosophy discourses, eat only karma-free vegetarian food, and try in all spheres of our life to live in a way that upholds the principles of truthfulness, mercy, austerity, and cleanliness.
KARMA-FREE DIET
We believe that the sourcing, preparation and eating of food should be based on principles of compassion, non-violence and balanced living. Thus, bhakti-yogis advocate a strict vegetarian diet, avoiding any animal products. In the Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna tells His friend and disciple, Arjuna, to offer everything to Him and in this way everything he does, thinks, and eats becomes freed from sinful reactions, or karma. In Sanskrit, this is called "prasadam", which means mercy. This is sanctified food that has been offered to Krishna with love and devotion.
OUR MISSION
1
To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all people 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 Krsna (God), as it is revealed in the scriptures of India, Bhagavad-Gita and Srimad Bhagavatam.
3
To bring members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krishna, the prime entity, thus developing the idea within the members and humanity, that each soul is part and parcel of the quality of Godhead, (Krsna).
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 Krsna.
6
To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler, more natural way of life.
7
With a view towards achieving the aforementioned purposes, to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, books and other writings.
DUBLIN COMMUNITY PROJECTS
Whilst not only teaching the importance of Bhakti-yoga, we look for other ways to improve our movement and society.
Community & Self Sustainability
Our centres are always looking for ways to find sustainable systems for world and individual ecology. Creating eco-villages and farm communities has been a part of our Founder's mission and is on ISKCON-Dublin's agenda to fulfil. Internationally, ISKCON has 65 such sustainable communities.
Animal Welfare
We believe mankind's responsibility is not limited to solely humanity but to all life forms, especially animals. Our vision is to aid the world in creating ahimsa (non-violence) farms and dairies where cows (and all animals) are allowed to live out their lives and be treated with respect.