Jagannatha dasa, Sanskrit student: “There are thousands of verses in the Sanskrit scriptures that explain the unlimited, eternal benefit we gain by chanting Hare Krishna. According to the Kalisantarana Upanisad, there’s no better process of self-realization. That’s also the verdict of thousands of great self-realized souls who’ve reached the topmost spiritual platform (prema—pure love of God). And out of kindness they’ve written volumes praising the Hare Krishna mantra and urging us to try it. If we follow the process carefully and regularly, as directed by the previous sages, certainly we can also attain perfection.”
Hector Salas, artist: “Chanting Hare Krishna gives me peace and comfort that I couldn’t find before. Chanting reassures me that there’s something higher than just trying to make a living. I can definitely feel spiritual energy when I chant.”
Guruttama dasa, book distributor: “I’ve been chanting Hare Krishna and reading authorized books about Krishna consciousness for four years, and now I’m finding a higher happiness than I’ve ever experienced before. Chanting and reading give me the conviction to introduce this experience to others. My work takes me to public places where I meet all types of people, working so hard to achieve their goals—fame, money, power, beauty, knowledge. But what they don’t know is that Lord Krishna is the source of all these opulences. So, what I’ve learned can benefit everyone. They can have their goal of life by linking up with Krishna through chanting His name.”
Here at ISKCON’s farm community in Indre, France, everyone chants the Hare Krishna mantra, including the children. Chanting is simple to understand. It isn’t anything artificial to be imposed on the mind—it’s something sublime to purify our hearts. We’re all originally Krishna-conscious spiritual entities, and chanting Hare Krishna is the easiest method for reviving our dormant, pure state of God consciousness.
Find out more about Krishna consciousness in this issue of BACK TO GODHEAD magazine.
A short statement on the philosophy of Krishna Consciousness
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is a worldwide community of devotees practicing bhakti-yoga, the eternal science of loving service to God. The Society was founded in 1966 by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, a pure devotee of God representing an unbroken chain of spiritual masters originating with Lord Krishna Himself. The following eight principles are the basis of the Krishna consciousness movement. We invite all of our readers to consider them with an open mind and then visit one of the ISKCON center to see how they are being applied inevery day life.
1. By sincerely cultivating a bona fide spiritual science, we can be free from anxiety and come to a state of pure, unending, blissful consciousness in this lifetime.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. The Absolute Truth is contained in all the great scriptures of the world. However, the oldest know revealed scriptures in existence are the Vedic literatures, most notably the Bhagavad-gita, which is the literal record of God’s actual words.
5. 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.
6. Before we eat, we should offer to the Lord the food that sustains us. Then Krishna becomes the offering and purifies us.
7. We should perform all our actions as offerings to Krishna and do nothing for our own sense gratification.
8. The recommended means for achieving the mature stage of love of God in this age of Kali, or quarrel, is to chant the holy names of the Lord. The easiest method for most people is to chant the Hare Krishna mantra:
Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare
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