His Holiness Harivilas Maharaj was born in Philadelphia January 5, 1946. He graduated from University of Pennsylvania in 1968. He studied 1968-1969 at American University, Beirut. He moved to Paris June 1969 and met Srila Prabhupāda disciples in July 1969 in Paris. By this time His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s ISKCON movement was a worldwide phenomenon. The honorific title Prabhupāda is properly used for designating those very great spiritual masters who have made an outstanding contribution of literature or preaching to the world. Examples are Śrīla Rūpa Gosvami Prabhupāda, Śrīla Jīva Gosvami Prabhupāda and Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvati Goswami Prabhupāda. When members of ISKCON speak of “Srila Prabhupada,” they refer to His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami is correctly addressed as Srila Prabhupada because he occupies a unique position in the religious history of the world.
He moved to temple in London, Bury place in December 1969. Later he returned to Paris and opened the first temple in Paris. He was initiated in June 1970 and became the temple president. His Holiness Harivilas Maharaj invited His initiating spiritual master His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda to Paris in 1971 to the first ISKCON temple inauguration in France. He got married in 1973 in Paris and stepped down from temple president in 1973 to focus on Grihasta activities. Shortly thereafter started a business called Spiritual Sky. His Holiness Harivilas Maharaj took on president responsibilities again in 1979. In 1979 he opened a new temple building in downtown Paris and remained president until 1979 – 1981.
His Holiness Harivilas Maharaj started middle eastern BBT between 1981 – 1988. He guided people in translation of the Bhagavad Gita, Beyond Birth and death, Isopanishad, Coming back in Armenian and printed books with his own funds. Similarly translation and printing of Isopanishad and Coming Back in Turkish and Coming Back in Arabic. His Holiness Harivilas Maharaja made many donations for printing first Gitar Gaan in Bengali. He also gave donations and printed books in Swahili, Japanese, Urdu, Oriya.
His Holiness Harivilas Maharaj became GBC 1988, and went to Berkeley California, when the temple was in foreclosing proceedings. Served there as temple president and GBC for 4 ½ years during which time he paid off mortgage. He also completely renovated the entire temple building inside and out.
In 1991 His Holiness Harivilas Maharaj moved to Seattle because the temple in Seattle was going to close down and deities were to move to Alachua, FL. His Holiness Harivilas Maharaj expertly managed temple congregation and paid off the mortgage in 2004. By 2008 He built a brand-new temple in Sammamish, WA costing $4.5 million dollars and by then there was a developed community of 50 initiated devotees and significant congregation. In 2010 became GBC of Phoenix and help secure that temple from outside influence. From 1988 onwards he helped the Vancouver temple to free itself from the influence of potentially damaging individuals. Eventually in 2006 he organized the payoff for the entire mortgage amount. In 2011 he became GBC for Hawaii and worked to stabilize the temple that has experienced difficulties for the last eight years.
His Holiness Harivilas Maharaj has six children with his wife Parijata Devi dasi. He has been living as a vanaprasta since 2003. All his children are grown and are independent. His Holiness Harivilas Maharaj also applied to be put on the list to become a Sannyasi.
His Holiness Harivilas Maharaj helps people find meaning in life, whilst leading social initiatives, brings a message of integrity, gratitude, unity, love and compassion to the leaders of tomorrow’s world, who face ecological, social, political and spiritual crises leveraging his five decades of experience as a guru of Bhakti-Yoga. He has good working relationships with mayors of cities of Redmond, Bellevue, Issaquah, Seattle, Renton, all cities in Washington state.
His Holiness Harivilas Maharaj’s home base is Seattle, Washington. In his role as GBC representative and President, he has given extensive day to day support to the $4.5 million temple and cultural center built by local devotees of Seattle. He has since started a second Radha Krishna temple which also has Balaji deities. In addition, he started a full-fledged Vedic University with 8 concurrent ‘Discover Yourself’ courses, 6 concurrent Bhakti Gita courses and several local-school based programs. For the last two years he has also been guiding the operations of a modern Gurukula called Synergy International School. In 1998, he also created an Institution, Northwest SHARE, for the purpose of organizing programs for the benefit of the general public in the areas of Health, Arts, Relationships and Education and create an organization of volunteers talented in various areas to share their knowledge and services freely with other people, especially those who have not had the opportunity or economic means to avail themselves of good health and education, arts and culture. Here he has implemented public-welfare programs promoting vegetarian/vegan cooking, raw food diet, arts and culture, music, dance, drama, public speaking, mentoring, interpersonal relationships, arts education, etc. for empowering people with skills to enrich their personal lives. In 2001, Northwest SHARE opened the first free vegetarian restaurant in Seattle which has been serving high-quality meals for more than 5000 people every year ever since. In addition, in 2012, he started a first Cow protection farm and spiritual center in Redmond WA and subsequently a second cow protection farm in Black Diamond/Auburn, WA.
His Holiness Harivilas Maharaj has been a member of the GBC since 1988. He serves as zonal secretary for: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Afghanistan, Iran, Alaska, Arizona (Phoenix Area), California (Northern), Oregon and Washington State. He is co-zonal secretary for Armenia, British Columbia, Pakistan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.