Retreats

Upcoming Retreats:

Facilitated by:

Giriraja Swami, Mahatma Das, Dravida Das, Yajna Purusha Das, Bada Haridas Das

Date:

January 28 - February 1, 2009

Location:

Joshua Tree Retreat

59700 29 Palms Hwy, Joshua Tree, CA 92252 (www.mentalphysics.net)

phone: 760-365-8371

The Joshua Tree Retreat is conveniently located in the high desert of Joshua Tree CA, which is approximately 125 miles east from Los Angeles and about 2.5 hours from San Diego

Price:

TBA

Note on Accommodation Facilities:

All rooms very comfortable--like small apartments with private bathrooms (this is different from the facilities we used last year). 2-4 participants sharing an apartment.

Prasada:

All meals will be cooked by Apurva Das and his wife Kamalini Dasi. We guarantee you healthy, delicious and nourishing prasada. Transportation

For driving directions on how to get to the retreat center, please visit: www.mentalphysics.net/map.html

If you choose to travel by airplane, we recommend that you fly into Palm Springs Intl. Airport (54 miles away) or the Ontario Airport (90 miles away). LAX is 125 miles away, but because of the heavy traffic, you might end up traveling from for 4-5 hours.

Bhagavat Life will not be able to provide pick up from any airports. However, we can connect you with participants who are willing to offer carpool. There is also convenient shuttle service from Palm Springs Airport and Ontario Airport for $25-35 per passenger (for 6-7 passengers traveling together). Please call or email the Bhagavat Life office to obtain a list of possible options for ground transportation or to coordinate carpool with other participants.

Or you may simply rent a car.

I can honestly say that the Japa Retreat was one of the most profound experiences of my life. The benefits from the experience have continued until today, and I expect them to continue forever.

Giriraja Swami

Why a Japa Retreat?

The Japa Retreat was developed by His Holiness Sacinandana Swami to help devotees go deeper into their chanting - and thus deeper into their relationship with Krsna. Seeing how easy it is to take our chanting for granted, Maharaja saw the need to create an ideal environment for devotees to get the most out of their chanting, to overcome bad habits, and to begin to deeply relish the holy names in ways that would have a transforming effect on them.

The Japa Retreat is that ideal environment. The retreat is held at a retreat center where participants spend five days and four nights absorbed in the holy name, living far away from the distractions of daily life. It is rejuvenating, enlivening, and transforming. It is the ideal environment for the Holy Name to reveal Himself to you in a special and memorable way.

 

The Japa Retreat was and continues to be one of the most meaningful and impacting events of my life. Never before had I experienced an actual taste for the chanting and a realization of fact that chanting is a way to have direct association with Lord Krishna through His sound. Chanting used to be a task to be completed every day but now I actually look forward to spending time with Krishna each morning.

Rasa Acharya Das (Gurukuli), Washington DC

 

What Can You Expect?

Participants commonly report that they:

  • Discover where their chanting most needs improvement;
  • Develop positive japa habits that stay with them long after the retreat is over;
  • Enter more deeply than ever into Krishna's presence through His Holy Names;
  • Relish the nectar of the Holy Name in new ways;
  • Transform their japa through applying the techniques they learn and practice in the retreat;
  • Increase their faith in the power and purifying effects of the Holy Name;
  • Gain greater insights into the theology of the Holy Name
  • Develop deep and honest relationships with other participants
  • Become inspired to make japa a top priority in their life;

 

These retreats, if carried on, can revolutionize our movement because they force us to face ourselves and actually do that internal work; and when we develop our purity and devotion from the inside, we can more easily affect the world outside. It will happen naturally.
To devotees everywhere, I say boil the milk. Keep up with all other services but please, boil the milk. Thank you, Divyambara and Purusa Sukta Prabhus for committing to this and executing it so well. And thank you, Sacinandana Maharaja, for being the powerful and beautiful force behind it.

Yadunath Das, New York, NY