The Bhakti Center is a spiritual-cultural center in New York City’s Lower East Side with a talented staff devoted to sharing the experience of self-transformation through the timeless culture and practices of Bhakti-yoga.
If you or someone you know has the required skill sets for the jobs provided below and would like to be a part of the Bhakti Center Team, please reach out to Brajarani at brajarani@bhakticenter.org. Please see the job titles as well as descriptions below:
Ladies Ashram Leader:
Yesterday my dear godbrother HH Siddhartha Swami Maharaja came to visit me in Carpinteria. He was the head pujari in Juhu for many years when I was the temple president, and we shared many fond remembrances of our time together in service to Srila Prabhupada and Sri Sri Radha-Rasabihari.
Now Maharaja is developing a huge temple complex in Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh. The project is 70 percent complete, and he hopes to open it next year.
Maharaja has become a learned scholar who knows ma
We were on our way to the Tommy Thompson Park, a shaded-in-spots trail where cyclists and pedestrians share the space, when a man on a bicycle stopped to ask if we had any drugs. His articulation was weak and so we had to ask him to repeat himself. We were still wet from the swim at Cherry Beach and in our swimwear, not recognizable as monks. With me were Emanuel, Karuna, Ryan, and Arjuna. We didn’t really come across looking like folks who take substance to get high. He was naturally disappoin
I just came back from traveling sankirtan, where many amazing encounters took place. The other day I went into a shop and first gave a small book, then The Science of Self-Realization, and then, when the lady gave a nice donation, also the Bhagavad-gita. The lady explained to me her spiritual transformation after her father had had a very severe stroke; it really changed her life for the better.
When I was talking with her she suddenly said, “My hairs are standing on end.” Crying, she added, “T
In India, people have worshiped the Lord’s form for centuries,
and now the practice is flourishing in the West.
When Krsna the Supreme Lord appeared five thousand years ago to enact His pastimes, good people rejoiced to be in His presence, to live on the same earth with Him. Yet, when Lord Krsna no longer visibly walked the earth, how did these people, His devotees, react? We’d expect that they were unbearably lonely. But for thousands of years devotees in India have known that we can personall
By Yudhisthira dasa
My Story
In 1971 when I was studying at SUNY Buffalo (and playing on the college tennis team), many of the now famous shaved-up orange-robed ISKCON devotees were a regular part of the landscape on campus. At that time, I had little contact but would stand around to stare at their alien appearance and briefly listen to their message. In those years, I hadn’t found my passion and was passing time in college as one of many of America’s “disillusioned” youth.
Fast forward a few
We had a book table in Hornsby, a northern suburb in Sydney. It was a cloudy day so there wasn’t much crowd. So I decided to walk around and approach people. I saw a young guy smoking and browsing through his phone.
I approached him and asked him if he was from Hornsby and caught up a conversation. He said he was working in the supermarket and it is his break time. I presented the Bhagavad Gita but he was a bit reluctant and was not showing much interest. I turned to the picture which shows the
With theories being established, taught, and discarded like disposable napkins, a father wonders whether his child will get a real education.
In the summer of 1970, I felt for the first time the fear that parents know when their child ventures out into the world. My daughter Emily wasn’t even three years old, a toddler. Yet one morning, as I watched her walking down the street to play, I suddenly saw her facing the whole sweep other future.
At moments like this, a person really comes face-to-fa
ISKCON Gita Nagari to host 44th country style Ratha Yatra after two-year hiatus.
After a two-year hiatus due to the global pandemic, ISKCON Gita Nagari is gearing up to celebrate its 44th Annual Ratha Yatra on Saturday, July 30, 2022, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Gita Nagari Eco Farm, Port Royal, Pennsylvania.
“This is probably the only Ratha Yatra in ISKCON North America and possibly the world which is done country-style. Imagine singing and dancing to the Holy names of Krishna surrounded by natu
Urvasi Dasi was Srila Prabhupada’s beloved disciple and my dear godsister. His Divine Grace said that when a Vaishnava departs, we feel simultaneously happy and sad—sad because we will miss the Vaishnava’s association, and happy because we know they have gone to serve Krishna.
In the last few months, I have had several programs at my ashram in Carpinteria, and Urvasi attended—and enjoyed—all of them. Her presence—her humanity and divinity—uplifted our spirits and consciousness. She was always p
We had hiccups. The sound systems weren’t working for the procession at the three chariots, however some of our young men visiting from other parts of North America compensated for this by their booming voices. The sheer crowds that ended on the south-bound journey on Yonge St were stunning. So, that was not the greatest issue as far as having a successful fest. On the street and on the island, there was record breaking attendance. I was surprised and, like others, was uncertain as to how the t
While distributing books in a parking lot in Dallas, I approached a couple of men at their truck and offered them an “Easy Journey to Other Planets.”
“This book explains that there is life on other planets, and many of those planets are a lot better than this one,” I said. “We’re destroying this one. We just ask for a donation for it.”
They said, “We just gave the little cash we had to the guy there with the bike that has a dog in his front basket.”
There was this man with his dog that had sun
For a long time scientists have been asking,
What’s going on? And some of them
have tried to find out,
What’s behind it all?
Sir Isaac Newton once made a remarkable model of the solar system. Thanks to a clever hand-cranking mechanism, all of the tiny spinning globes orbited a small “sun.”
On entering Newton’s study, one of his colleagues, a materialist, couldn’t help noticing the model. He was flabbergasted.
“Dr. Newton,” the man stared, “who made this wonderful contraption? The planets move
Janardana Maharaja is a Filipino-born person who joined Krishna Consciousness in the ’80s, right in Toronto. He came from Catholic parents. “So did I,” I mentioned to Dayananda, American born and who joined Prabhupada’s movement in ’67.
“I came from a Quaker background,” he said. From there, the three of us, sitting in Govinda’s Restaurant, dove into the deeper history of the Protestants and Catholics, and of our indigenous people in North America. I said, “I heard the Quakers and the Puritans
Srimad Bhagavtham –Spiritual Science Exhibition by 300 children from Narasimha Insititute for Childrens Education(NICE) Education wing of ISKCON MIRAROAD.
On the auspicious occasion of Ashad Ekadashi 10th July,2022 ,30 NICE teachers engaged 300 children to make 220 models on the topics of Srimad Bhagavatham covering all 12 cantos of Srimad Bhagavatham and 100 verses from prayers of Srimad Bhagavtham.
Highlights of exhibition
Each Child narrated the respective pastime over 50+ times.
H.G.Kamalocha
Halifax and Toronto Zoom-ed together on a call to explore the first two lessons taught by Sri Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-gita. Chapter 2, verse 12 opens up in revealing the mystical trait in all of us; the eternal factor in all of us. Yes, all of us, regardless of vocation, we all live eternally. One additional point we made in our discussion is that all beings are permanent spirits.
Verse 13 elaborates more on the concept of true recycling. Our bodies, made of matter, adjust through bir
On the second day of the Chariot Fest we had more joy. As always one of the main features is people. Why are festivals put on in the first place? In order for people to have a leisurely time. Just for gaining a balance in life some recreation is required. In the context of Krishna Consciousness chanting, dancing, having some good prasadam and philosophising are tension relievers.
Another area of activity that offers comfort is what our dear Srila Prabhupada gave us; books to read and encouragin
On July 16, two Food For Life devotees in Alchevsk (Donbass) — Krsna-tattva Prabhu, director of the program, and Madana-gopal Prabhu — were killed in a missile strike that hit the Food For Life kitchen. They had just returned from prasadam distribution to the FFL base when a missile attack destroyed the building, and they were buried under the rubble. Another devotee, Arjuna Prabhu was injured and has been taken to hospital.
The Donbass FFL program provided over 1000 hot prasadam meals weekly t
Anadi Prabhu really needs our help! He is one of the senior Vaishnavas of the Kherson Yatra in Ukraine. He is very dear to devotees far beyond his yatra. He is always very attentive and caring when dealing with others, now he needs our support. His city is on the frontline; because of it, Anadi Prabhu has no income left. He is quite seriously ill and he needs a number of serious surgeries. The Share Your Care Fund team is asking you to help as much as you can in order to save the life of this w
Former New York City Mayor, Bill de Blasio, made a recent visit to the Bhakti Center located in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Mr. de Blasio was invited to the Bhakti Center by Raj Goyle, a GOPIO member, former state assemblyman, and prominent member of the Indian community in New York City. Mr. de Blasio accepted the invitation to attend the Thursday Night Kirtan and experience the temple and community.
Read more: https://iskconnews.org/former-nyc-mayor-visits-the-bhakti-center/
