YOU’RE INVITED // BLISS WELLNESS PRESENTS // KIRTAN with THE WALKING MONK
We are very excited to invite the community on Friday October 2nd for an Musical Event with Bhaktimarga Swami, aka The Walking Monk. Swami has been a monk in the Krishna tradition of India for 43 years.
He is known internationally for walking the length Canada annually raising awareness.
VENUE: Nimai’s Bliss Kitchen
94 S Robinson Ave Newburgh
Date: Friday October 2nd
Time: 6-9PM
COST: FREE & Open to The Public
SPECIAL DINNER ALL EVENING – $15
This time he is walking from Boston Massachusetts to Butler Pennsylvania via NYC in honor of his teacher Abhay Charanaravinda Bhaktivedanta Swami (Prabhupada) who first brought the Krishna Tradition to West through Boston Harbor and NYC.
Attached is some more info about the Swami and his journey.
UPCOMING EVENTS // SAVE THE DATE
THURSDAYS in OCTOBER – Indian Cooking Class. 6PM
Saturday October 24th at 6:30 PM Ayurveda Seminar & Kirtan Night
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Media Release
Monk To Walk Across America In Honor Of Our Teachers
Swami’s Walk Marks 50th Anniversary of Hare Krishna Tradition Coming West
For Immediate Release
Date: September 16, 2015
Contact: Ananda Rupa
Phone: 786 999-9735 Email: anandarupa108@gmail.com
Website: www.thewalkingmonk.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewalkingmonk
Boston—Bhaktimarga Swami, a Canadian born Hare Krishna monk, is launching the
first phase of a walk across America from the Boston Commons on September 20.
Swami, who has walked across Canada four times, plans to walk from Boston to Butler, Pennsylvania and then to New York City this autumn, as a sort of 60-day warm up drill. In 2016 he plans to walk from New York City to the west coast.
The Swami, 63, is walking to draw attention to the contributions of his own spiritual teacher, or guru, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. Prabhupada arrived in
the USA 50 years ago, on September 17, 1965. He came practically penniless from India at the age of 70 on the order of his teacher to promote God consciousness, or devotional bhakti-yoga, to the English-speaking world.
“In the broader sense I’m walking to honor all our teachers,” Swami says. “Our
teachers open the doors to the world for us, and to other worlds as well. I hope to
remind us all how grateful we should be to those who give us knowledge, especially knowledge about our inner potenial, ” he says.
In 1965, Srila Prabhupada, after landing in Boston and spending just a few hours on shore, traveled to Butler PA where he stayed a month before moving on to New York
City to begin his mission. Today the organization he founded, the International
Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has grown to be a worldwide
movement of 600 temples, 100 eco farms, and the world’s largest publishing house of Vedic, or Hindu, literature.
Bhaktimarga Swami, whose name coincidentally means the “path of devotion,” made
his first walk across Canada in 1996. Since then he has walked across the world’s second largest country four times going both east to west, and west to east.
Swami took up the monastic lifestyle at twenty-one. He has since dedicated his life to teach spiritual knowledge, specializing in devotional arts and theater. When not walking he flies to Africa, Cuba and elsewhere teaching—and honoring his teachers.
The walk will begin at the Boston Commons, Sunday, September 20 at 4 PM.
Backgrounder, The Walking Monk
Bhaktimarga Swami was born in 1952 in Ontario, Canada. He was introduced to the
Hare Krishna movement when he was a college student; in 1973 he received
initiation from Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabupada, a prominent Sanskrit
scholar, guru, and founder-acarya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
Bhaktimarga Swami accepted the monastic order of life in 1984. He is an instructor
in bhakti, or devotional yoga, mantra meditation, and interactive dance. Swami is well known for his work with youth, especially encouraging young people in the
performing arts and devotional drama. He has scripted and directed several dozen performances based on sacred Hindu texts.
For the general public, Bhaktimarga Swami is best known as the Walking Monk. To
share his message of peace and gratitude he crossed Canada four times covering over 17,000 miles on foot.
“More relevant that the distances covered are the people I encountered,” Swami
says. He reflects on his experiences and adventures in his daily blog which he calls
“Tales from Trails.” Bhaktimarga Swami has also trekked across Ireland, the Fiji Islands, Mauritius, Trinidad, Guyana, Israel, and other countries.
Traveling on foot is a common practice in various spiritual traditions, and the
Walking Monk believes that it’s an effective way to reach out and communicate the importance of morality and ethical priorities.
Swami says that when you walk, “You learn to take it all in, the heat, the wind, the
rain, the traffic, the cold, the black flies, the mosquitoes, the public attention or none
– with all of that you learn detachment from externals and how to go within to be
happy.”
On September 20 Swami begins his American cross-country walk. Tracing the first movements of his own teacher after Srila Prabhupada’s arrival from India 50 years
ago, Swami will walk from Boston to Butler, Pennsylvania, and then back to New York City. This will be followed by a New York-San Francisco walking journey in 2016.
Daily blog: http://thewalkingmonk.blogspot.com/, https://www.facebook.com/thewalkingmonkblog
Website: www.thewalkingmonk.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewalkingmonk
Route: https://goo.gl/maps/6t6Fp
Backgrounder, International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)
The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is a Vaishnava, or a monotheistic tradition within the broader Hindu or Vedic culture. ISKCON teaches
bhakti-yoga, or the yoga of devotion, as the joyful means of awakening our dormant spiritual knowledge and love of God.
Commonly known as the Hare Krishna movement, ISKCON traces its roots to the millennia-old Sanskrit text Bhagavad-gita, and follows a line of teachers from the 16th century Bengali saint Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu.
Mahaprabhu, sometimes considered the father of non-violent civil disobedience, is noted for his efforts to promote an egalitarian society based on love of God, selfless service, and respect for all beings regardless of caste, color or creed.
ISKCON continues to propagate Mahaprabhu’s teaching that the most effective
process of spiritual realization in this age is to chant God’s names; especially the Hare Krishna mantra—Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
/Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare
ISKCON’s global significance was first noted in the 1970’s by famed scholar A.L.
Basham who wrote that “The Hare Krishna Movementis historically very significant,
for now, for the first time since the days of the Roman Empire, an Asian religion is
being openly practised by people of Western origin in the streets of Western cities.”
(A Cultural History of India, Oxford Press)
Today, ISKCON is well known for its colorful parades and festivals, promotion of a
tasty and healthy vegetarian diet, and joyful dancing and singing of God’s names on the streets of the world’s cities. In less than 50 years, ISKCON has grown to over 600
temples, 50 farms and eco-villages, 100 vegetarian restaurants, and other affiliated cultural and educational initiatives.
ISKCON’s publishing house, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, is the world’s largest
publisher of Vedic literature, and has published over 500 million books and
magazines. Hare Krishna Food for Life programs provide free nutritious vegetarian
meals in over 70 countries. In India alone, ISKCON programs feed over 1.2 million children each day in schools across the country.
In 2016, ISKCON will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of its founding, in New York City
by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Srila Prabhupada. In 2010, CNN included Srila
Prabhupada along with Grandma Moses and Ronald Reagan in its list of “Famous
Folks [Who] Launched Careers After 50.”
Backgrounder, Places to be visited on the walk by Bhaktimarga Swami:
Walk from Boston to Butler (starts on September 20th, 2015)
Massachusetts
Boston
Newton
Needham
Framingham Shrewsbury
Worcester
Auburn
Southbridge
Connecticut
Stafford
Somers Enfield
Thompsonville
Suffield Granby
Windsor Locks
Avon
Simsbury
Canton
Collinsville
Beekman
Torrington
Litchfield
New Preston
Morris
Washington Gaylordsville
Kent
New York Beekman
Hopewell Junction
Brinkerhoff
Fishkill Beacon
Newburg Balmville
New Windsor
Maybrook
Washingtonville Hamptonburgh
Goshen
Middletown
Port Jervis
Pennsylvania
Cresco
Mt Pocono
Pocono Summit
Blakeslee Sugarloaf
Berwick
Bloomsburg
Danville
Lewisburg Miffinburg Laurelton Boalsburg
State College
Tyrone
Sagamore Kittanning
Ford City
Worthington
East Butler
Butler
Walk from Butler to New York
Pennsylvania
Plumville
Marion Center
Coalport
Flinton Tipton
Boalsburg Laurelton
Middleburg Selingsgrove
Shamokin Frackville
Shenandoah
Tamaqua
New Tripoli
Northhampton
Whitehall Nazareth
Easton
New Jersey
Millford
Dingmans Ferry
Washington
Morristown
Newark
New York
New York City
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