ISKCON...
ISKCON or the International Society for Krsna Consciousness is the path of the Hare Krishnas - which are really cool! It's Bhakti Yoga, (or devotional service to God). They chant the maha-mantra, which is Gods holy names, Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare. Over and over they chant the Lords holy names to help them think of the Lord constantly. Krishna is the Lords name, Hare is the energy of the Lord and Rama is the bliss of the Lord. Rama is also the Lords elder brother, for the Lord wanted an elder brother so he made Rama... They construct an altar with a picture of the Spiritual Master His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on the left. A picture of Krishna,(the Lord), and Radha, (our Mother), in the center and the panca-tattva on the right.. The panca-tattva consist of five devotees who are actually incarnations of the Lord. The Sri Panca-tattva Pranama Mantra is Jaya (all glories), sri-Krsna-caitanya prabhu nityananda Sri-advaita gadadhara srivasadi-gaura-bhakta-vrnda. They clean and offer the deities water, incense, flowers and food and drink. Say some Sanskrit prayers. And Chant Hare Krishna. Chanting is done with beads, like the Catholic Rosary, but made of sacred Tulasi beads from the Tulasi plant. You can chant with any type of bead but the Tulasi is most dear to Krishna. There's 108 beads with a guru bead or Krsna bead that you go around while chanting.
The devotees at the airport years ago were very pumped up and excited about devotional service to Krsna and Prabhupada they forgot their manners. Please forgive them.
Krsna's great - he's The Supreme Personality of Godhead! When he incarnated 5,000 years ago many demons tried to kill him but he was undefeated. They say that billions of universes sweat out the pores of Maha-Vishnu's skin. (Maha means great and Vishnu is Krsna). Krsna is Bhagavan, which means full in all six opulences. He is the strongest, the most beautiful, the richest, the most intelligent, the most famous, and the most renunciated. You can chant the Lords holy names but you must eventually follow the regulative principles of 1). No meat eating (that includes fish and eggs). 2). No intoxication. 3). No illicit sex and 4). No gambling. It's a beautiful way to meditate.
The Scriptures and good books to get are the "Bhagavad Gita, as it is," (Which is like the Hindu/Indian Bible). Then there's "Krsna The Supreme Personality of Godhead." (the stories of Krishna). "The Science of Self-Realization". "Easy Journey to Other Planets". "Perfect Questions, Perfect Answers" Plus many, many more! There's also the "Back to Godhead", magazine. Some internet sites you can check out are www.Krishna.com. www.iskcon.org. www.krishnaculture.com.
Vyas Krsna Dvaipayana Vyasa has written this song “The Ten Offenses to the Holy Name”. This is taken from the book Padma Purana (Section: Brahma Khanda 25.15–18).
Every devotee must guard against these offences in order to quickly achieve Krsna Prema.(Or love of God). (1) To blaspheme the devotees who have dedicated their lives for propagating the holy name of the Lord. (2) To consider the names of demigods like Lord Shiva or Lord Brahma to be equal to or independent of the name of the Lord Vishnu, (Krsna). (3) To disobey the orders of the spiritual master. (4) To blaspheme the vedic scriptures or scriptures in pursuance to the vedic version. (5) To consider the glories of chanting Hare Krishna to be an imagination. (6) To give some interpretations to the holy name of the Lord. (7) To commit sinful activities on the strength of the holy name. (8) To consider the chanting of Hare Krishna as one of the auspicious ritualistic activities which are offered in the Vedas as frutive activities (Karma kanda). (9) To instruct a faithless person about the glories of the holy name (10) To not have complete faith in the chanting of the holy name and to maintain material attachments, even after understanding so many instructions on this matter. It is also an offense to be inattentive while chanting. Every devotee who claims to be Vaishnava must guard against these offenses in order to quickly achieve the desired success. KRISHNA PREMA!!! Let us offer our humble obeisances to all the Vaishnava devotees of the Lord, who are just like desire tress, who can fulfill all desires and are full of compassion for the fallen conditioned souls.