Description of course
The School of Bhakti is excited to bring in a new series of courses on the social, literary and spiritual legacy that has been left behind by the great Acaryas of the Krishna conscious tradition. A canon of elevated personalities who have made an immense contribution to the spiritual welfare of the planet.
The term ‘Acarya’ gets bandied about a lot in Spiritual parlance, similar to that other common term ‘Guru’ which has found its way into the vernacular of everyday language. But…
- What exactly is an Acarya?
- How does an Acarya come to be?
- Are they a guru, a saint, a sage or all of those put together!
- This course will look at answering these questions but most importantly it’ll delve deep into the fascinating lives of some preeminent Acaryas.
- How they were shaped by the historical landscape of their times and how they ended up shaping the history of the future
The series starts with the Founder of the Hare Krishna movement, A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, or Srila Prabhupada for short. Organized in four sessions, the first series will cover:
- An introduction to Srila Prabhupada
- Sharing personal experiences from disciples who accompanied and served him
- A captivating photographic journey
- His life before he came to the West, as well as an exposition of his incredible personality, his inspiring journey and mission and ultimately his legacy
This course is ideal for anyone seeking inspiration from great spiritual masters for their own spiritual advancement.
Description of teachers:
Visakha Dasi is well known Internationally for the time she spent as Srila Prabhupada’s photographer in the early 1970’s and is currently serving as temple president of the Bhaktivedanta Manor in the UK.
She received an Associate of Applied Science degree with honors from Rochester Institute of Technology and shortly afterwards published her first book, Photomacrography: Art and Techniques. In 1971 she travelled to India, where she met His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, the founder of the Hare Krishna movement. She read his Bhagavad-gita As It Is and eventually became his student.
As a photographer, she travelled with and photographed Srila Prabhupada and his students in India, Europe, and the United States. Quietly spoken but extremely perceptive, she is a natural when it comes to writing and photography and has contributed substantially to the rich body of modern Krishna conscious literature emerging out of the Western world in the last 50 years.
As a writer, she has written numerous magazine articles and books, including Our Most Dear Friend, Bhagavad-gita for Children; Bhagavad-gita: A Photographic Essay (recipient of the 2011 Independent Publisher Book Award); Harmony and the Bhagavad-gita, Lessons from a Life-Changing Move to the Wilderness, and Five Years, Eleven Months and a Lifetime of Unexpected Love, a memoir (finalist, First Generation Book Awards).
In more recent years, Visakha Dasi assisted her husband, Yadubara Das (John Griesser), in producing the award-winning 90-minute biography on Srila Prabhupada, “Hare Krishna! the Mantra, the Movement, and the Swami who started it all”.
Shaunaka Rishi Das is an ardent practitioner of the Bhakti Yoga tradition and has been the Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (OCHS) since its foundation in 1997 with the vision to be one of the world's spiritual centres for Gaudiya Vaishnavism. The spiritual tradition of connecting to Krishna in the line of the teachings of the divine Saint Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Originally from Wexford, Ireland, Shaunaka Rishi Das has held various roles in prestigious institutions such as the Commission on Religion and Belief in British Public Life as well being a lecturer and broadcaster to Oxford University.
He was originally inspired on his spiritual quest at 14 years old by Christian teachings. He developed a deep desire to practice Christianity at the highest level seek people who were doing the same. He found such people amongst the Hare Krishnas. He found them to be speaking the highest truths of Christianity but not calling it Christianity. Here was a practical demonstration of the understanding that connecting to the Divine is not based on being a member of a particular club or other such external designations but something more sincere and deeper within one’s soul.
As a result of this and other such realisations, Shaunaka Rishi Das has been passionate about developing interfaith dialogue and comparative theology. He continues to share Krishna Conscious spirituality in various academic, media and spiritual forums around the world
| Per person | £25.00 |
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