Concept

International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Overview

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), commonly known as the Hare Krishna Movement, is a Hindu religious organization. It follows the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, which emphasizes devotion (bhakti) to Krishna as the supreme deity. The ISKCON was founded on 13 July 1966 in New York City by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The organization's spiritual and administrative headquarters is located in Mayapur, West Bengal, India, and it claims a global membership of around one million people.

ISKCON teaches a form of panentheistic Hinduism rooted in the Bhagavad Gita, the Bhagavata Purana, and other scriptures, interpreted through the commentaries of its founder. Although commonly regarded as monotheistic by the general public, ISKCON theology emphasizes that the Supreme Being, Krishna, manifests in multiple forms while remaining the singular, ultimate reality. The movement is described as the largest and most influential branch of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition, which originated in India in the early 16th century and expanded internationally during the late 20th century.

ISKCON promotes bhakti yoga—the path of devotional service to Krishna—as the central spiritual practice of its members, who are often referred to as "bhaktas." The movement also encourages lacto vegetarianism, regular chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra, and strict ethical and devotional disciplines as part of its teachings on spiritual progress.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).

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But now the loud voice of our opponent bids us to stop. We are called to account for our transgressions. ‘Archæological interests are no doubt most praiseworthy, but one does not set about an excavation if one is thereby going to undermine occupied dwelling-places so that they collapse and bury the inhabitants under their ruins. The doctrines of religion are not a subject that one can be clever about, as one can…
Sigmund Freud, The future of an illusion
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Other methods of deliverance from evil are in the excessive acts of penance performed by the Indians, to which a retreat within themselves is added. Now when the Indian thus internally collects himself, and retreats within his own thoughts, the moment of such pure concentration is called Brahma, the one and the clearly supersensuous state, which the understanding calls the highest possible existence. When this is so…
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy
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The higher life which belongs to this sphere, this supreme enjoyment of truth, which as feeling is called "blessedness," and as conscious thought "contemplation," we may describe generically as the life known to religion. For religion is just this universal domain[184], in virtue of which the _one_ concrete totality of the World comes to each man in union with himself, as his essential substance, while it remains no…
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, The Philosophy of Fine Art, volume 1
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Part of Vedanta.

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