It is not a foreign concept for us to tolerate some initial uneasiness in order to enter into a greater experience of pleasure. We do it every time we enter a foreign land, or even a restaurant that is a different culinary experience from our norm. Unfamiliarity can lead to an expansion of inner growth and pleasure. You may be having some initial trepidation as you come to this web site. We understand that, and the group of us here have all crossed this threshold and entered into a realm with potential for unlimited joy. However, we also found that crossing this barrier of unfamiliarity led us back to what is the most familiar experience, the reconnection of our relationship with God. No material experience can reconnect us with that relationship, and all material experiences leave us unfulfilled, looking for more gratification.
There is something beautiful and welcoming about traditional culture. It contains the aspects for which we yearn- the arts, the etiquette, the respect for the individual, the support of the extended family unit, the wholesomeness of existence. What Śrīla Prabhupāda gave us through his teachings is the culture of God Consciousness, how it can be lived externally in order to promote the internal cultivation of real religiosity, and how, if at least some portion of the society is educated in spiritual principles, real community can develop under their guidance with the aim of gradually elevating people to transcendence.
What we, as a modern society, have available to us in the way of historical reference, does not date back far enough in time to show that real culture was based on the science of reconnecting with the Lord. Over the last 5000 years, since the departure of the Supreme Lord Kṛṣṇa to His eternal abode, the mentality, and thus the activities, of the human race has been steadily degrading, moving further and further away from being able to offer solace and a sense of purpose. We may take some shelter in the esoterics of ancient Egypt, or wherever else our fancies lead us, but these histories are still not pure or complete transmissions, originating after the advent of Kali-yuga 5000 years ago, and offering only diffuse and scattered fragments of the grand culture of pure religiosity that preceded it.
The books of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda offer us the absolute standard for human society. The world was actually ruled under these standards for many eons, and the application of these teachings has the ability to reinstate the entire world in the proper direction for the betterment of every living being. These literary offerings are meant to be the guiding light for the window that is opening in this dark age of Kali for as many souls as possible to find their way out of the tabernacle of material existence and become again joyful. They can offer real unity, not based on a bodily designation of color or gender, not based on a particular faith, but based on our relationship to each other as brother and sister souls on a journey, under the shelter and compassion of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, our Original Father.
What we would like to offer you here can be easily summarized, even though the potential is unlimited, as the relationship between the Lord and the infinitesimal souls is of the nature of ever-increasing ecstatic interaction. We want to offer you the possibility of becoming internally fulfilled beyond your wildest imaginings, we want to offer to you the tools to realize, not just intellectually understand, the Personhood of the Supreme Lord, and we want to offer you the makings of real community, based on a culture of Godliness. We hope you can also cross the bridge of unfamiliarity, even in little baby steps, in order to eventually enter the world of eternality, knowledge, and bliss.