Bhakti Bhringa Govinda Swami joined the Krishna consciousness movement in Buffalo, NY in 1971 and received initiation from Srila Prabhupada later that year. He served as cook and pujari in ISKCON centers in Buffalo and Toronto until leaving for Vrindavan in 1977 and from 1979 until 1987 served in ISKCON temples in Greece, Israel, Italy and France.