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The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) commonly known in the West as the Hare Krishna Movement comes in a tradition that traces all the way back to Lord Krishna Himself. ISKCON was founded in New York in 1966 by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977), referred to as Srila Prabhupada. His spiritual teacher, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakura, asked him to teach Bhakti to the English-speaking world.

At 69 years old, Srila Prabhupada arrived in Boston in 1965. By 1966 he was living in New York City and had developed a following.

From 1966 to 1968, temples were established in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Montreal, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The first Rath-yatra outside of India was held in San Francisco and began an annual ISKCON tradition in more than 20 major cities around the world.

From 1971 to 1973, temples opened in Europe, Canada, South America, Mexico, London, Africa, and India. In 1970, the Governing Body Commission, ISKCON’s international managerial body, was established to oversee the Society, which had grown to close to one hundred temples, schools, restaurants, and farm communities.

From 1970 to 1977, ISKCON built major centers at the pilgrimage sites of Mayapur and Vrindavan, India, and a large temple in Bombay. In 1972, Srila Prabhupada founded the publishing house Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT), now the world’s largest publisher of books on Bhakti yoga.

In 1973, the Bhaktivedanta Institute was formed to write books and magazines and to hold conferences to present the teachings of the Vedas in scientific terms. From 1974 to the present, ISKCON Food for Life has run food relief programs in dozens of cities around the world.

In November 1977, Srila Prabhupada passed from this world. ISKCON had 108 temples and more than 10,000 followers. In 1989, the Hare Krishna movement came out from underground in the Soviet Union, as glasnost brought an end to persecution.

By 1991, more than one million copies of Srila Prabhupada’s Bhagavad-gita As It Is had been sold in the former Soviet Union.

Today, ISKCON has about 400 centers around the world, with a worldwide congregation in the tens of thousands, from all walks of life.

The Seven Purposes of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness:

To systematically propagate spiritual knowledge to society at large and to educate all peoples in the techniques of spiritual life in order to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in the world. To propagate a consciousness of Krishna, as it is revealed in the Bhagavad-gita and Srimad-Bhagavatam. To bring the members of the Society together with each other and nearer to Krishna, the prime entity, and thus to develop the idea within the members and humanity at large that each soul is part and parcel of the quality of Godhead (Krishna). To teach and encourage the sankirtan movement, congregational chanting of the holy name of God as revealed in the teachings of Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. To erect for the members and for society at large a holy place of transcendental pastimes dedicated to the Personality of Krishna. To bring the members closer together for the purpose of teaching a simpler and more natural way of life. With a view towards achieving the aforementioned purposes, to publish and distribute periodicals, magazines, books and other writings.

Vegetarianism:

The Hare Krishna philosophy is one that emphasizes loving relationships, with Krishna, His devotees, and all living entities. It is for this reason that devotees refrain from eating meat, fish, and eggs, as it is viewed as the unnecessary slaughter of living entities. By refraining from killing these living entities, and by ensuring to offer all acceptable foodstuffs to Lord Krishna before all meals, Hare Krishna devotees engage in karma-free cooking and eating. One who offers his foodstuffs to the Lord before consumption will automatically experience the transcendental pleasure derived from directly receiving the Lord’s mercy. A common North American expression is “you are what you eat”. Devotees of Lord Krishna also adopt this mentality; unless one eats those foodstuffs that Lord Krishna will accept, one is simply consuming sin, and therefore binding himself to the material world and negatively affecting his or her consciousness. As eternal servants of Lord Krishna, we are designed specifically to engage in loving relations with Him. The simple act of cooking for Him can provide one with a level of satisfaction incomparable to anything on the material platform. Furthermore, everyone will find the actual food to taste a whole lot better! (It’s true – try it!). Hare Krishna devotees refrain from meat eating because it is one of our four regulative principles (the other regulations include no gambling, illicit sex, and intoxication). But the Hare Krishna philosophy is a scientific one, and our reasoning for being vegetarian goes beyond loving all living entities and following our principals. Modern medical science has linked meat eating to cancer and heart disease. For instance, the high-fat, low-fiber content of a carnivorous diet results in low transit time through the colon, allowing toxins to reside longer in this area.* The high-cholesterol in meats is also one that the human body is not built to consume; over a long period of time, excessive meat eating can cause blockage of the arteries.* There are several physiological differences between those species who are meant to be herbivores and those that are meant to be carnivores; upon reflection, it is clear that the human race is not constructed to be meat-eaters. In short, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada has taught that animal killing is uncivilized. More importantly, he showed devotees the transcendental pleasure derived from cooking for the Lord and His devotees, and experiencing sumptuous, vegetarian prasadam (food that has been offered to Lord Krishna) and thereby directly consuming the Lord’s mercy. The ISKCON community around the world engages in Vegetarian love feasts and extensive prasadam distribution Evidence taken from “The Higher Taste”, a book of philosophy and recipes written by Hare Krishna devotees. For more information on vegetarianism, please consult this book and learn more about the myth of scarcity of food, medical reasoning behind vegetarianism, and the ethical foundations of vegetarianism as put forth by world-renowned philosophers. You will also find a detailed analysis of how the laws of karma and reincarnation are related to vegetarianism, the process by which to offer foodstuffs to Lord Krishna, and quotations from Srila Prabhupada related to vegetarianism 

The four regulative principles :

Initiated devotees vow to follow four regulative principles

These are :

These regulative principles are based on the four pillars of religion: Truth (satyam or honesty); Austerity (tapah or self-discipline); cleanliness (saucam or purity) and mercy (daya or compassion).

Truthfulness (Satyam)

Truthfulness is the basic principle for all religions.

Satyam, truthfulness, means that facts should be presented as they are, for the benefit of others. Facts should not be misrepresented. (Bhagavad-gita10.4-5)

Satyam. This word means that one should not distort the truth for some personal interest. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 16.1-3 purport)

What are some do's and don'ts associated with truthfulness? Speaking a lie is one way of being dishonest but how else can this principle be broken?

Austerity (Tapas)

"Without tapasya, or austerity, no human being can get liberation."

Mercy / Compassion (Daya)

Material compassion, lamentation and tears are all signs of ignorance of the real self. Compassion for the eternal soul is self-realization. (Bhagavad-gita 2.1 purport)

Srila Prabhupada defines daya as intolerance of others´ unhappiness.  
Why is being compassionate and merciful toward other living entities important in spiritual life?

Further reading: Srimad-Bhagavatam 7.9.43, or the story of Mrgari the hunter from Sri Caitanya-caritamrta

Cleanliness

In regulated life only can one understand transcendental knowledge. (Srimad-Bhagavatam 3.25.1 purport)

He who is regulated in his habits of eating, sleeping, recreation and work can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system. (Bhagavad-gita 6.17)

Importance of Regulation and Cleanliness

A devotee lives a very regulated life. At every time of the day he has something to do for Krishna. On top of that, a devotee needs to know many other rules related to etiquette, cleanliness, and regulation. So many rules and regulations may seem a bit overwhelming at first, but don't worry — we are not the International Society for Rules and Regulations. As long as you remember the basic principles, you'll pick them up and in time they'll become second nature.

What are the advantages and benefits of having a regulated lifestyle?

What does cleanliness mean in the Vedic context?

The Vedic injunctions have a very subtle approach to cleanliness and purity (saucam). For example, they require one to wash his hand after drinking from a glass of water, to not offer food to the Deities if it has been seen by a dog, and to not enter the temple after seeing a dead body. Of course, being externally clean, tidy, and orderly is also included with the term saucam.

What are the advantages and benefits of maintaining cleanliness?