Mukunda Goswami, author and one of the society’s initiating spiritual masters, is one of the very first disciples of ISKCON’s FounderAcharya His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Mukunda Goswami presents a peek into those precious beginnings of an organisation that grew exponentially in a very short period of time. From one small shopfront in 1966, in 2016 ISKCON is estimated to now have 650 centres, temples, schools and colleges worldwide with approximately 95,000 formally spiritually initiated members. The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has also distributed an estimated more than 3 billion vegetarian meals worldwide and published 516 million books and magazines. This year ISKCON is celebrating its 50th Anniversary with many festivals and programs throughout the world.
By Mukunda Goswami
It was a hot, muggy day in lower Manhattan during the month of May 1966. I pedalled to 26 Second Avenue where I met the Swami, a friend named Carl and the rental agent, Paul Gardiner, a short, chunky man who was wearing blue denim trousers and a white, short-sleeved t-shirt. We hired the storefront at 26 Second Avenue for $100 per month and a first-storey flat in the same building for $85 per month.
The storefront soon became a temple, and the Swami lectured there every day. By October he was hosting philosophical discussions in his small flat.
On 13 July 1966 I signed a paper that became the Swami’s first corporation. It was called The International Society for Krishna Consciousness or ISKCON. I didn’t really think it very important at the time and really didn’t care. I thought that whatever the Swami wanted was okay.
In November of 1968 I drove to California where I met a former college mate, and together we started the second ISKCON temple at 518 Frederick Street in the HaightAshbury neighbourhood of San Francisco. The area was the mecca of the hippies, and June-August of 1967 became the famous ‘Summer of Love’. The Swami (later to be known as Srila Prabhupada) regularly chanted with the ‘flower people’ in ‘Hippie Hill’, Golden Gate Park.
In September 1968, along with five others, I travelled to London, where after a year of scuffling financially, we rented a five-storey building on Bury Place, a stone’s throw from the British Museum. That year a colleague had met The Beatles, and in April of 1969 we recorded “The Hare Krishna Mantra”, which soon charted to number 13 in England and rose to number one in other countries.
At the same time, ISKCON was spreading rapidly all over the world.
Comments