Bhaktivedanta Manor, European headquarters for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, is a model community that exemplifies the principle of plain living and high thinking. Krishna consciousness, or God consciousness, is the center of all activity at Bhaktivedanta Manor.
What is a Hare Krishna festival? It is a transcendental event organized for the pleasure of the Supreme Lord, Krishna. Just as in the material world a meeting or event is conducted especially to show respect and honor to a great man, so a Hare Krishna festival is especially organized to please the Supreme Person.
Lord Visnu, an expansion of the Supreme Lord Krishna, lies in mystic slumber amidst fire and huge waves that partially destroy the universe at the end of every millennium. (This is described in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.)
In Britain, like everywhere in the West, the most immediate and serious interest in the Krishna consciousness movement is found in the younger generation–particularly among some sections of the student and “hip” communities. There are several reasons for this, one being that young people are generally less set in their ways and therefore more liberal in examining new horizons.
The lifetime of the materialistic man is passed at night either in sleeping or in sex indulgence and in the daytime in making money, by any means, for gratification of the senses.
As in the present day, throughout history many cheaters have falsely claimed to be incarnations of God, and naive followers have acclaimed them. This excerpt from Srila Prabhupada’s Krishna Book tells of the fate of one such fraudulent incarnation.
This beautiful Bhagavatam is sufficient in itself for God realization. As soon as one attentively and submissively hears the message of Bhagavatam, he becomes attached to the Supreme Lord.
On the Battlefield of Kuruksetra all the members of Arjuna’s family were present before him, and he had to kill them. Since the Battle of Kuruksetra was a family fight, some of the family members were on the other side as well as on Arjuna’s side, Arjuna was even faced with his superiors, his uncles and teachers on the other side.
The Hare Krishna mantra is for everyone, regardless of one’s religious faith, nationality, race, creed or occupation. This sound vibration is transcendental to all boundaries because it cannot be affected by material conditions; therefore anyone can chant it freely, at any time, in any place or under any circumstances.