His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada founded Back to Godhead magazine in 1944 to help bring people back to godly life and ultimately to God Himself in the spiritual world. As Srila Prabhupada explains in the opening article of this issue, when we forget that human life has a spiritual purpose we waste time in pursuits based solely on the body.
In the traditional culture of India, guided by the Vedas, most people understood the need to purify their consciousness in the quest for liberation. That's why they endured great hardships to walk on pilgrimages to holy sites, such as the ones in the Himalayas you'll read about in this issue. People in Vedic culture also understood that forces of material nature impel us to act in ways that slow our spiritual progress. In the article The Vedic Personality Index, you'll get a chance to learn just how these forces affect you, and that knowledge can help you plan your life for spiritual success.
In this issue you'll also get confidential information about Buddha and His teachings and see how God consciousness, or Krsna consciousness, fits into every sphere of life.
If you need help with unfamiliar words, please see the Glossary on page 51.
Hare Krsna.
(Nagaraja Dasa Adhikari,Editor)
Our Purposes
• To help all people discern reality from illusion, spirit from matter, the eternal from the temporary.
• To expose the faults of materialism.
• To offer guidance in the Vedic techniques of spiritual life.
• To preserve and spread the Vedic culture.
• To celebrate the chanting of the holy names of God as taught by Lord Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
• To help every living being remember and serve Sri Krsna, the Personality of Godhead.