As the Bhakti Academy continues to mature as an educational center for spiritual development, our students are simultaneously becoming more and more mature in their commitment and determination to incorporate spiritual principles, such as compassion, truth, austerity, and cleanliness, into their daily lives. This year’s graduating class was particularly special, as several of our students chose to take life-long vows to observe these principles in accordance with the Gaudiya-Vaishnava ISKCON tradition. Let us pray for their success and continued enthusiasm on their journey towards self-realization and Krishna consciousness.

We volunteered throughout the weekend cutting up veggies in the kitchen and on Monday, we were put in charge of cleaning the entire temple, restaurant, bathrooms, and temple grounds!  Because we have learned that devotional service purifies the heart, we eagerly accepted the challenge and the following day we left for the Florida Keys feeling content that we made a significant contribution.  The next two days of R&R in the sunny keys consisted of snorkeling, swimming, camping, picnicking, and sunrise kirtans on the beach!

The Krishna House Alternative Spring Break trip is open to all Bhakti Academy students and volunteers at Krishna House and Krishna Lunch.  If you would like to get involved and take advantage of the many opportunities afforded by the Bhakti Academy, please do not hesitate to contact us.  Hare Krishna!

The Bhakti Academy is now accepting applications for Fall 2011 enrollment!

Live in an uplifting spiritual atmosphere just three blocks from the UF Library. Enjoy wholesome vegetarian/vegan meals, great company, and a private room while you learn the science of spiritual life taught in India’s ancient Vedas. Classes include philosophy, vegetarian cooking, music, sustainable living, and yoga. All-inclusive $500 monthly tuition. Work-study options available.

At the Bhakti Academy, we train ourselves to transform our self-centered consciousness into Krishna consciousness.  In so doing, we liberate ourselves from self-defeating false ego, pride, and envy.  Through the process of bhakti yoga, we free ourselves from mental obstacles that impede our contribution to the world, our community, our family, and ourselves.  Transforming our identify as the subject of enjoyment to the object of God’s enjoyment, we learn how to dedicate our lives for the well-being of others and simultaneously discover the bliss of selfless service and the contentment of giving back.

Congratulations to the Bhakti Academy Class of 2010 who were honored on April 25th for their participation in this year’s academic program.  Within two years of its conception, the Bhakti Academy has grown tremendously.  New additions this year included the Saturday sanga program, more workshops and field trips, two Alternative Spring Break options, a Sunday vegetarian cooking class with Madhava das, and private kirtan lessons with Bada Hari das.  Moreover, each student participated in over 125 hours of Srimad-Bhagavatam class and 400 hours of volunteer work with Krishna Lunch!  Our hope is that each of our students leave Krishna House with increased confidence and enthusiasm to make a positive difference in the world having a better understanding of who they are and their relationship with others.

A special congratulations to four of our students, Amrita Keli devi dasi, Dina Bandhu das, Rasaraj das, and Nimai Pundit das, whose determination and exemplary service qualified them to also receive Nama Initiation at the graduation ceremony!  This special honor is only given to those students who make a lifelong commitment to practice the principles of bhakti yoga and agree to chant Hare Krishna for the rest of their lives.  This is a timeless tradition and we are proud of our students for taking this exciting step forward in their spiritual lives.

The Bhakti Academy is now accepting applications for Fall 2010 enrollment!

Live in an uplifting spiritual atmosphere just three blocks from the UF Library. Enjoy wholesome vegetarian/vegan meals, great company, and a private room while you learn the science of spiritual life taught in India’s ancient Vedas. Classes include philosophy, vegetarian cooking, music, sustainable living, and yoga. All-inclusive $500 monthly tuition. Work-study options available.

This year the Bhakti Academy is offering two alternative spring breaks.  Which one suits you?  The first group will drive north to Washington, D.C. to participate in a spiritual leadership conference at ISKCON Potomac.  A day of sightseeing in D.C. and stops at ISKCON Baltimore & New Goloka will be additional highlights of the trip.  The second group will head south to Puerto Rico for a bhakti yoga retreat.  This week-long stay at ISKCON Puerto Rico will include a camping trip to the island of Culebra, hiking in the rainforest, sightseeing in Old San Juan, and daily hatha yoga.  Either way, great food, great company, and an overall great trip is guaranteed.

If you are interested in participating in either of these trips, please contact Ali Krishna dd @ raddera@gmail.com for more information.

On JANUARY 30th, the Bhakti Yoga Center at ISKCON Gainesville will celebrate the inauguration of FREE SKOOL, a sister project of the Bhakti Academy that is committed to offering free or inexpensive classes to EVERYONE!!! The party will start @ 6:30pm and end at midnight in celebration of World Yoga Day 2010!

Inauguration Party Event Schedule:

6:30pm-8:00pm
Inauguration evening will begin with an hour and a half mindful and spirited Yoga session led by Jaya Sita. Please reserve yourself a space at: jayasitadevi@gmail.com
8:00pm-9:00pm
Express yourself as BYC hosts Open-Mic Night! Play music, read poetry, teach us something…anything goes people…but please, we love appropriate entries.
9:00pm-Midnight
Grand Kirtan Finale! (Ecstatic musical meditation!!! Bring your instruments if you like).
MIDNIGHT
We will cut the egg-less cake to officially open FREE SKOOL at midnight on January 31st, in recognition of WORLD YOGA DAY!!

Free SKOOL classes will include Hatha Yoga, Veg Cooking, Sustainability Projects, Philosophy Night, Decaf Coffee House and Open-mic Night, Sisters’ Circle, Healing Arts, Sanskrit Calligraphy, Stump the Swami, ‘Let’s Make Indian Sweets’, Bengali Music, Kirtan parties and tons more!

Printed calendars for Free Skool classes will be passed out during the inauguration party. If you do not receive a printed copy of this month’s calendar, check it out online at www.freeskoolgainesville.wordpress.com.

This year, Krishna House established its 1st Annual Vaishnava Olympics!  That’s right folks, you read it correctly.  You see, after a tough semester of school and a packed semester of Bhakti Academy (BA) classes, service, and programs, it’s time to kick back and enjoy the fine association.  After all, in chapter six of the Bhagavad-gita, Krishna says, “He who is regulated in his habits of eating, sleeping, recreation and work can mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system.”  At the BA, sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between recreation and yoga.

On that destined afternoon, the teams assembled at Lake Wauburg and began the first of four events, the scavenger hunt.  Each team was given a list of analogies mentioned in the Bhagavad-gita that involve elements of nature.  Krishna also declares in chapter six, “For one who sees Me everywhere and who sees everything in Me, I am not lost nor is he ever lost to Me.”  However, this requires practice.  Thus, the event involved finding all of the analogies on the list then explaining the significance of each analogy in the Gita.

While the students enthusiastically pursued their analogies, preparations were made for the next three events: balloon toss, three-legged race/gulabjamon eating contest, and the ultimate Vaishnava obstacle course.  Dare I say more?

Thanks to the effort of Jaya Sita devi dasi, the entire event was videotaped, edited, and made into a short movie.  Enjoy!

It has been a beautiful semester at the Bhakti Academy.  As we prepare for our annual Thanksgiving Vegetarian Extravaganza, it is most appropriate to acknowledge the service and input of so many individuals who make Krishna House the amazing place that it is today.  I can’t imagine a more worthy cause than creating, providing, and maintaining a center that educates young college students about the techniques of spiritual life that will enable them to maximize their potentials in both their careers and personal lives.

A special thank you to all of you, both currently and in the past, who have made the atmosphere at Krishna House thick with devotion and spiritual inspiration.  It is by your efforts that thousands of students are taking their spiritual lives seriously and actively practising devotional service.  In this way, by checking the imbalance of values in life, we will achieve real unity and peace throughout the world.

Hare Krishna & Happy Thanksgiving!