About us: International Hare Krishna Movement (IHKM)
Founder, Ācārya and Spiritual Master of the International Hare Krishna Movement: His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda
Welcome to IHKM.org
Śrīla Prabhupada’s
International Hare-Kṛṣṇa-Movement
“I wish that each and every branch shall keep their independent identity and cooperate keeping the ācārya in the center. On this principle we can open any number of branches all over the world.” (Śrīla Prabhupāda Letter – February 11, 1967) — “I am the spiritual master of this institution, and ALL the members of the society, they’re supposed to be MY disciples. They follow the rules and regulations which I ask them to follow, and they are initiated by me spiritually.” – (Prabhupāda radio interview, March 12, 1968, San Francisco)
“Just like Kṛṣṇa can be present simultaneously in millions of places, similarly the spiritual master also can be present wherever the disciple wants. A spiritual master is the principle, not the body. Just like a television can be seen in thousands of places by the principle of relay monitoring.” (Śrīla Prabhupāda Letter – May 28, 1968)
Śrīla Prabhupāda’s International Hare Kṛṣṇa Movement (IHKM) is an international alliance of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s followers in Europe and around the world who have accepted Śrīla Prabhupāda as the center and thus as the actual initiating spiritual master of ISKCON and who follow his system of initiation, which is described in his July 9th directive, which was addressed to all GBC and temple presidents of the movement.
Keeping the Founder-ācārya Śrīla Prabhupāda in the center means, to keep his instruction in the center. Then only can we cooperate together to push this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement forward. Prabhupādānugas (devotees, disciples and students) understand and accept that Śrīla Prabhupāda is the current ācārya and dīkṣā-guru (initiating spiritual master) of the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement.
Our firm belief and conviction are based on the system which Śrīla Prabhupāda has used, repeatedly taught and established over many years – in full detail and with all clarity – and which he later set out in his final written instruction, the July 9 document 1977 addressed to all GBC and temple presidents of the movement.
This fundamental truth is well established in Śrīla Prabhupāda’s original books as well as in conversations, lectures and letters that form the basis of the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement and ISKCON. Śrīla Prabhupāda’s serious followers and disciples (Prabhupādanugas) use these original books for reading, preaching, studying and distributing.
This website (IHKM) has been established under the inspiration, guidance and authority of the current ācārya of the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda. It is intended to facilitate and promote communication and cooperation among devotees worldwide and it is intended to maintain Śrīla Prabhupāda as Founder-ācārya and initiating spiritual master (dīkṣā-guru) at the center of his movement as he directed in his last instruction dated July 9, 1977.
When a devotee decides to devote himself to the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement as a full-time member (brahmacari), he announces to the world his acceptance of Śrīla Prabhupāda as the authorized representative of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Through progressive realization, such devotees will come to recognize Śrīla Prabhupāda as their eternal spiritual master.
OUR MISSION STATEMENT
Basic principles of the Worldwide Prabhupāda-anugas
(an international alliance of true Prabhupāda followers):
- Śrīla Prabhupāda is the current ācārya and only dīkṣā-guru (initiating spiritual master) of the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement and ISKCON, based on the system which he has used, practiced, taught and taught in great detail and clarity over many years established and which he conclusively confirmed and ordered in his written directive and instruction dated July 9, 1977.
- Śrīla Prabhupāda’s original books are the foundation of the Kṛṣṇa Consciousness Movement and ISKCON. Śrīla Prabhupāda’s serious devotees and disciples will only use these original books for reading, study and book distribution.
- Śrīla Prabhupāda’s original method of offering āratika to the Deities that he taught, guided, practiced and demonstrated during his manifest presence should be the method practiced, taught and demonstrated by Śrīla Prabhupāda’s followers, disciples, students and new devotees is followed. The original method of offering bhoga to the Deities, as he taught, guided, practiced and demonstrated during his manifest presence, should be the method practiced and followed by all serious Prabhupāda devotees and disciples.
- Śrīla Prabhupāda’s photographs and the photographs of Śrīla Prabhupāda’s authorized predecessor ācāryas must be the only ones on the altar and in the preaching centers of all serious Śrīla Prabhupāda devotees and disciples, as practiced and demonstrated by Śrīla Prabhupāda.
- The jaya-dhvani prayers (respectful obeisances) at the end of the kīrtana should be recited beginning with praṇāmas to Śrīla Prabhupāda and the predecessor ācāryas, followed by the other standard authorized praṇāmas taught by Śrīla Prabhupāda.
- Śrīla Prabhupāda’s original method of offering praṇāmas (respectful obeisances) to him by audibly reciting nāma oṁ vishnu paḍaya and namaste sārasvate deve should be practiced by all serious Prabhupāda devotees and disciples through audible recitation. No other praṇāmas should be chanted except the praṇāma-mantras for Śrīla Prabhupāda.
- Śrīla Prabhupāda is the pure vaiṣṇava-acarya upon which one meditates while chanting the Śrī Gurvastakam.
- In the list of disciplic succession given by Śrīla Prabhupāda, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda the number “32” without the need for “33” as a connection to “32”.
- The term “my guru or my spiritual master” refers to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda.
OUR REALISATION – AFFIRMATION
We confirm that A.C. Bhaktividanta Swami Prabhupāda » is our dīkṣā and main śiksa guru « and by virtue of his personal mandate to be his disciples, we are instructed by him through his books.
We affirm that anyone who follows » this method of dīkṣā « on behalf of the founder and ācārya Śrīla Prabhupāda will make the greatest spiritual progress. How ?
By simply studying Śrīla Prabhupāda’s original books daily, following his instructions therein in daily life as strictly as possible, and if possible distributing these original books or assisting the Prabhupāda temples, Nama Hatta centers and their book distributors who have dedicated their lives to this Saṅkīrtan mission (spreading the Holy Name of the Lord).
Reporter: What will happen to the movement in the United States when you die?
Śrīla Prabhupāda: I will never die! I shall live for my books and you will utilize.
If I go away, there is no cause for lamentation. I will always be with you through my books and instructions. – In this way, I will always remain with you. Whether I am physically present or not does not matter. » more here «
Devotee: Śrīla Prabhupāda, if you are not physically present, how is it possible to receive instructions? For example, for questions that may arise…
Śrīla Prabhupāda: In my books the philosophy of Kṛṣṇa consciousness is fully explained, so if you don’t understand something, you simply have to read again and again. By reading daily the knowledge will be revealed to you, and by this process your spiritual life will develop.
The ecstasy of Krishna consciousness
The Mission of Kṛṣṇa-consciousness
OUR mission of the International Hare-Kṛṣṇa-Movement (IHKM for short) :
To reawaken our dormant eternal spiritual love for God in our hearts and never forget Him again and at the same time to support all other living beings worldwide in this process of awakening through our saṅkīrtan mission.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the source of all energies. All kinds of living beings, whether human, animal or plant, belong to the higher spiritual energy of God.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa (Murli Manohar)
Therefore there is an eternal relationship between Śrī Kṛṣṇa and us which can never be destroyed. However, on the basis of his minute freedom of will, it is possible for the living entity to leave and forget the spiritual world and his eternal spiritual relationship with God in order to try to become happy on his own in the material world. This attempt is doomed to failure, however, because the living entity puts his false ego in the place of eternal love for Kṛṣṇa and therefore forgets his service attitude toward God and becomes entangled in a constant struggle for existence with like-minded bewildered conditioned living entities in the temporary material world.
The daily struggle for existence in the material world continues until the conditioned living entity realizes that he cannot become truly happy in this illusory way. Even if he is successful in satisfying his material senses in the material world, he cannot satisfy the real yearning of his heart, the dormant, eternal, spiritual unconditional love and devotion to Kṛṣṇa. Despite all the worldly admiration and material wealth, he feels lonely and empty inside his heart. In his disappointment, he seeks help and clarification about the causes of his painful state.
This illusory struggle for existence can be ended instantly, if the conditioned living entity awakens from this illusion and reactivates his eternal loving relationship with God dormant in the heart, and thereupon engages in devotional service (bhakti-yoga) in his constitutional position as an eternal servant of God. Just as a sleeping person can be awakened by sound, a spiritual soul dreaming in the material world can awaken to his original consciousness (Kṛṣṇa consciousness) by hearing the transcendental sound of the names of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Thus he remembers his original eternal spiritual identity as a particle and eternal servant of Godhead and enjoys his eternal divine inheritance in loving devotional service to Kṛṣṇa.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Lord, therefore appears again and again in this material world or sends His sons, servants and devotees to spread His message of eternal unconditional love. Conditioned living entities who are frustrated by the hopeless struggle for temporary material happiness, wealth, women and fulfillment, and who are not against God on principle, are open to receive and accept this message from God and His representatives: “back home, back to God.”
Our mission is the saṅkīrtan mission of Caitanya Mahāprabhu, the golden avatar of Śrī Kṛṣṇa, of which we are a part. About 500 years ago in India, West Bengal, Caitanya Mahāprabhu started this saṅkīrtan movement of chanting together the Holy Names of Godhead, the Hare Kṛṣṇa Maha Mantra : Hare Kṛṣṇa, Hare Kṛṣṇa, Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa, Hare Hare, Hare Rāma, Hare Rāma, Rāma Rāma, Hare Hare and prophesied that in the future the Holy Name of the Lord will be heard in every city and village worldwide!
Through this simple method of realizing oneself and God, one can reawaken the eternal love for God that lies dormant in one’s heart, and thus be truly happy and full of spiritual joy. This is basically the eternal state of being of a soul liberated from matter. Śrīla Prabhupāda, our spiritual master, is practically the mercy incarnation of Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s prophecy, for he has fulfilled Caitanya Mahāprabhu’s prophecy.
Therefore it is also our main task to chant this Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa daily on a prayer chain and at the same time to spread this Holy Name of Kṛṣṇa all over the world to help other living entities who are suffering from matter to wake up and to support our spiritual master Śrīla Prabhupāda in spreading the Holy Name. So we distribute Prabhupāda’s original books, such as the Bhagavad-gītā, the main work of Vedic wisdom of India, in different languages and in different countries on the shopping streets and festivals of the world at least 5 days a week for about 6-7 hours a day.
If you would like to support us financially or physically in any way, or if you are just curious about what bhakti-yoga is, you are welcome to visit our Sunday feasts or contact us by phone or email. You are very welcome!
Hare Krsna and Haribol your servant Mathura Pati das and temple team.
“To teach and promote the Saṅkīrtana movement, i.e. the common chanting of the Holy Names of God as revealed by Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu in His teachings” (from Śrīla Prabhupāda’s founding document).
