What we believe
The following, entitled “What We Believe”, was presented to Srila Prabhupada in London, 1969 by Mukunda Goswami. Srila Prabhupada approved of the summary which presents the essential tenets of the Hare Krishna philosophy.
1. The Absolute Truth is contained in all the great Scriptures of the world: the Bible, the Koran, Torah, etc. However, the oldest known Revealed Scriptures in existence are the Vedic literatures, most notably the Bhagavad-Gita, which is the literal record of God’s actual words.
2. God, or Krishna is eternal, all-knowing, omnipresent, all-powerful and all-attractive, the seed-giving Father of man and all living entities. He is the sustaining energy of all life, nature and the cosmic situation.
3. Man is actually not his body, but eternal spirit soul, part and parcel of God, and therefore eternal.
4. That “all men are brothers” can be practiced only when we realize God as our common ultimate Father.
5. All our actions should be performed as a sacrifice to the Supreme Lord,”All that you do, all that you eat, all that you offer and give away, as well as all austerities you may perform, should be done as an offering unto Me.” (Bhagavad Gita 9.27)
6. The food that sustains us should always be offered to the Lord before eating. In this way He becomes part of the Offering and such eating purifies us.
7. We can, by sincere cultivation of bona fide spiritual science, attain to the state of pure, unending blissful consciousness, free from anxieties in this very lifetime! And the proof is in the practice.
8. The recommended means of attaining the mature stage of “Love of God” in the present age of Kali, or quarrel, is to chant the Holy Name of the Lord. Any Name of God will do, but the ecstatic method, 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.