What Happened to the Hare Krishna's?

This booklet is dedicated to the Founder and Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who has dedicated his life to giving us, the fallen conditioned souls, a chance to achieve the greatest goal. He presented the timeless Vedic texts of India in English so clearly and unambiguously that even we, the most sinful and fallen persons, have a chance to understand the topmost goal of human life...To develop pure love for Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

During thepast ten years I have spent a great deal of time trying to convince people to read the books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, my eternal spiritual master, guide and friend.

One of the most common questions people ask is "What happened to the Hare Krishna's?" Many people remember the devotees colorful chanting, festivals and book distribution which were so common in the seventies, but have now practically disappeared.

This document will shed some light on why the Hare Krishna's disappeared.

• What Happened to the Hare Krishnas?
• Introduction
• The Hare Krishna's go West
• What Is a Hare Krishna Anyhow?
• Srila Prabhupada--A Transcendental Manager
• The Hare Krishna Movement in the 70's
• Problems from India
• Growing Pains
• The Zonal Acarya System
• Born Again Krishna's
• The New Guru System
• Purity is the Force!
• Books are the Basis
• Srila Prabhupada's Concluding Words

What Happened to the Hare Krishnas?
This booklet is dedicated to the Founder and Acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.

Preface
I offer my respectful obeisances to my eternal spiritual master, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. He has saved me from the repeated cycle of birth and death in this material world and enabled me to have a slight glimpse of the beautiful cowherd boy, Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Introduction
Even a person with no knowledge can immediately acquire all knowledge simply by the benediction of Caitanya Mahaprabhu. Therefore I am praying to the Lord for His causeless mercy upon me.

The Hare Krishna's go West
Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu desired this chanting of Hare Krishna and dancing in ecstasy be spread all over the world, in fact he predicted that one day the whole world will dance in ecstasy to this chanting.

What Is a Hare Krishna Anyhow?
The purpose of this movement is to keep our minds constantly on Krishna.

Srila Prabhupada--A Transcendental Manager
ISKCON succeeded because Prabhupada was totally dedicated to the order of his spiritual master and Krishna.

The Hare Krishna Movement in the 70's
This is an account of the activities of the Chicago ISKCON temple adapted from Morris Yanoff's book "Where is Joey"

Problems from India
The success of Srila Prabhupada's preaching all over the world caused some of his godbrothers in India to become envious....

Growing Pains
As the movement grew Srila Prabhupada handed over much of the management to a body of devotees he had formed called the Governing Body Commission (GBC).

The Zonal Acarya System
Before Prabhupada left his body he named some disciples who could give ritvik initiation (accepting Srila Prabhupada's disciples on his behalf)..

Born Again Krishna's
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada disappeared from our mundane vision in 1977. This event caused dramatic changes within the movement.

The New ISKCON Guru System
With the "zonal acarya" system in tatters due to the fall of many of the so-called acaryas the GBC established a new system allowing any disciple initiated by Srila Prabhupada to apply to become a guru.

Purity is the Force!
Srila Prabhupada was convinced the problems within ISKCON could not be solved until every devotee was chanting sixteen rounds of the maha-mantra daily, rising early to attend the 4:30am Mangal Arati ceremony, following strictly the four regulative principles and being fully engaged 24 hours a day in serving Krishna.

Books are the Basis
"My first concern is that my books shall be published and distributed profusely all over the world. Practically, books are the basis of our movement. Without our books our preaching will have no effect."

Srila Prabhupada's Concluding Words
"A mundane person in the dress of a Vaisnava should not be respected, but rejected... One should neglect an envious person... There are many jealous people in the dress of Vaisnavas in this Krishna Consciousness movement, and they should be completely neglected. There is no need to serve an envious person in the dress of a Vaisnava".