Our purpose
“Whatever we want in this mundane world within our conditioned position—beyond that, in the transcendental world, that divine love is always waiting for us, waiting to embrace us. That is the actual position, and one who can understand this cannot live without giving that gift to others. That is Krishna consciousness.”
— Swami B.S. Govinda
We strive to spread the wealth of divine love and eternal peace through the teachings of Krishna consciousness or bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion.
In the Vedanta-sutra it is stated, ‘ānanda-mayo ‘bhyāsāt’: by nature the soul is blissful. The challenge we face in this world is that our natural desire for fulfilment, for love, for joy, is projected onto the limited and temporary material environment. Since we are inherently spiritual, our need for love and joy can only be satisfied in connection with the spiritual plane. Thus the call of the Vedas is, “Direct your pleasure-seeking tendency towards the higher sphere. Don’t be satisfied by anything less than that.
Our goal as a community is to try to awaken that inherent wealth inside ourselves and to help others do the same. Sri Krishna, whom we adore as the highest divinity, is described in one place as akhila-rasamrta-murti, the embodiment of all variety of joy and ecstasy. By offering our devotion to Krishna we can thus come to experience the supreme fulfilment.
In a poignant verse of Thomas Gray’s Elegy in a Country Churchyard he writes,
The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow’r,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,
Awaits alike th’ inevitable hour.
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.
The unavoidable truth is that whatever variety or degree of satisfaction we may experience here on earth, it must eventually come to a close. The wise soul is therefore moved to seek out: is it possible to live beyond death? Is it possible to experience lasting joy? And if so, then how? This is a question that has been discussed by various philosophers, religionists, and scholars thoughout the ages, but in terms of detail and systematic analysis none can compare with the exposition of the Vedic literature. We seek therefore to share this ancient wealth for the upliftment of all.
nitya-siddha kṛṣṇa-prema ‘sādhya’ kabhu naya
śravaṇādi-śuddha-citte karaye udaya
“Pure love for Krishna is eternally established in the hearts of all living entities. It is not something to be gained from another source. When the heart is purified by hearing and chanting, this love naturally awakens.”
(Sri Chaitanya-charitamrta, 2.22.107)
“In the mundane world people use the word love very freely for many different purposes, but love really means ‘satisfying our beloved’. Full attachment, with affection and the mood of trying to satisfy, is the real meaning of love.
We see in this mundane world that some people are very happy to feed others.
If guests come to their home, with or without an invitation, they cook with great satisfaction, and give affectionate nourishment and enjoyable food to their guests. When they are feeding their guests they actually feel more satisfaction than their guests because of their mood of service and giving. That is the sparking light of transcendental love and affection, which will take full form when we use it to satisfy our divine Lord. When love for our Lord comes into our hearts in a very overflooded way and increases continuously it is called Krishna-prema.”
— Swami B.S. Govinda
