Our New Year Yoga Retreat was a huge hit: fully booked and a great group of people. We had six days with lots of yoga (Iyengar style), beautiful weather, walks, swimming in the waterfalls and, of course, japa, kirtan and lecutres on Krishna consciousness every day.

A few days later we had another fully booked retreat, our Pandavas Retreat and Festival, celebrating 6 years of retreats. This bhakti retreat is focused on sadhu-sanga. This year we were again blesssed with the presence of the charismatic Chandramukha Swami (HDG), one of the three Brazilian gurus in ISKCON.

The main event of the retreat was the Festival, where we invite residents from the local town to participate. Hours of kirtan, lecture, more kirtan and prasadam! They love it.

Every January we program two bhakti retreats back to back, allowing people to come for a full 9 days of immersion in Krishna consciousness. The second bhakti retreat was a Bhakti-shastri retreat, with some 4-5 hours a day of lectures on the Bhagavad-gita, Sri Isopanisad, Nectar of Instruction and Nectar of Devotion. Of course, also lots of japa, aratiks, kirtan and prasada! One lady who attended this year had previously had no contact at all with Krishna consciousness and is now, after the retreat, chanting sixteen rounds, studying Prabhupada’s Gita and totally enthused.

After only a few days of rest we had our January Yoga Retreat (Ashtanga Yoga style). This group bonded very quickly, despite their very different backgrounds. Many of them reported having felt a deep awakening and a desire to get serious about their spiritual life.

We had some beautiful summer days where they got to enjoy the unique experience of walking in our private nature reserve of over 1000 acres and swimming in our exclusive waterfalls, born from springs within the property.

The diversity of the people who are attracted to our retreats is amazing. In just these four retreats we had: a zen buddhist computer analyst, an eye-brow designer (yes, there is such a carreer!), a whale researcher, a physics professor, an aspiring public prosecutor, an actress, a mathematician who works in artificial intelligence, a samba/soul singer, as well as doctors, government workers, a personal trainer, and a devotee fireman, with ages of the guests ranging between 21 and 72, not including the children who came along.

A nice devotee couple from Salvador, Krishna Yoga and Purushottama, came to help us with these four retreats, since Charana Renu was “too pregnant” to cook. The guests especially loved the typical Bahia food she prepared (as did we!).

Here are links to the photo albums for these retreats:

New Year Yoga Retreat, click here;

Pandavas Festival Retreat, click here;

Bhakti-shastri Retreat, click here;

January Yoga Retreat, click here.

(by Dhanvantari Swami)

I’ve been writing about my impressions after associating with various devotees, especially in the last three months when I was traveling through Mexico, the United States and India. Today I want to talk about Hridayananda Maharaj.

Hridayananda Maharaj came to Brazil as a sannyasi back in ‘74, while Prabhupada was still with us. The few devotees around at that time were inexperienced and none had been initiated. Maharaj came to our country to attend to a request that was made through a letter to Prabhupada, signed by Aradhya and myself.

He landed in Rio de Janeiro, but soon went to Salvador. It was there that he first met with devotees in Brazil. From that moment onward, his relationship with our country was noted for his great interest in the institutional development of Srila Prabhupada’s mission and every devotee. He always looked for even the slightest tendency of leadership in senior devotees and encouraged everyone to take responsibility.

Time passed, everything grew, everyone matured, and new panoramas compatible with the current times arose.

I spent the month of October with Hridayananda Maharaj in California.  The three weeks I spent with him were very interesting and culminated in the celebration of the disappearance of Prabhupada one day and Maharaj’s 63rd birthday the next day.

It was the month of Kartika and together we performed daily puja to Yasoda-Damodara singing the Damodarastaka. Every day Maharaj commented on the meaning of the song and the most notable words. Everything was nectar to me.

Our sadhana was very simple. The altar in Hridayananda Maharaj’s house is composed of pictures on the wall. We would sing bhajans and even kirtans to Tulasi. It was all very fun, and he was dressed in a kurta and lungi, as if in a temple … Every night Maharaj would read the Bhagavad-gita in the traditional form of a lecture for which I was the only one there to listen. I, of course, took the opportunity to ask a thousand questions.

At the three sandhyas of the day he would invite me to leave the house and go to the nearby gardens or parks to chant Gayatri.  At each sandhya, a different place according to the sun’s position. Each place more beautiful and inspiring…

Although it may not be easily perceived from a distance, in intimacy it becomes clear that Maharaj is a very methodical person, who likes to sit in the same place to chant japa, in the same chair for meals, and in his kitchen and bedroom the furniture and utensils are arranged in a very practical and functional way … and always the same. To interact with him in the kitchen I had to learn to do things his way. For me it was not difficult, because for years I have not gone into a kitchen, and therefore I didn’t arrive with my own, personal ways of doing what was necessary. I quickly learned to wash pots, make popcorn and sandwiches and keep everything clean and tidy.

Hridayananda Maharaj lives in the style of a sadhu. He lives alone, receives few visitors, and is always absorbed in his writing and his communications with other intellectual devotees around the world, and when the opportunity arises, preaches vigorously. At the moment, he cooks for himself, cleans, washes his clothes, shops, takes the trash out… in other words, he does everything himself with no help.  This is an important phase in his intellectual life. This is how he’s found it best to do his writing.

The apartment that he moved into a short time before I got there is located in a non-gated condominium. Maybe this is common in the United States, but in Brazil I have never seen a condominium with centralized administration in an open area like that. It seems that the violence in that region is negligible. For us Brazilians, who live in a climate of great urban and rural violence, it is difficult to understand their context and to just relax and enjoy the surroundings. In Brazil we have already lost our privacy and there are cameras everywhere, electrified fences, ostensible private security … For me, these days with him were a very interesting experience even in regards to this type of observation.

Maharaj’s literary work is going well. He is currently revising his text and adjusting some ideas after a careful evaluation by professionals. He has made a vow to remain in the same place until he’s finished the book he’s working on.

His apartment is in a small town near Los Angeles, called Camarillo. The condo, near California State University, lies at the base of a valley surrounded by an environmentally preserved area. The block he lives in is next to a gravel path that runs alongside a large mountain. He calls this the parikrama path. The mountain vegetation is typical of this semi-arid region and there are many rocks. A group of them forms the shape of an elephant head, which he calls Ganesha. Passing by it, he always bows his head in reverence and good humor. In this same block, a little after “Ganesha”, you can see, in one house, on the window sill, a sculpture of a chariot drawn by four horses, with a chariot driver and a passenger. This is the duo Arjuna and Partha Sarathi. The house belongs to an Indian devotee couple who are university professors  and disciples of Radhanatha Swami. They are educated and cordial people who greatly admire Hridayananda Maharaj. While I was there, we did some programs in their home, which included excellent prasada.

My private conversations with Hridayananda Maharaj led me to  hours and hours of reflection. He is a member of the GBC Hermeneutics committee, and is often called upon to do video conferences with devotees from all over the world who preach to academics. His preaching has reached a range of people often neglected in our missionary activities. The effect of this can already be perceived and it seems that as the Hare Krishna movement becomes more integrated with society at large these effects will become even more apparent.

While I was there he gave two important video conferences. One in English, on “The Failures of Atheism”, organized by devotees from Hawaii, and one in Spanish, for a philosophy course at a university in Mexico.

I think the high point of our conversations was his analysis of the meaning of the song “Gaurangera Duti Pada” by Narottam Das Thakur. Talking to him about my imminent trip to India, I told him that I would visit Jagannatha Puri for the first time. That reminded him of his time in Puri years ago and he told me that India has a “special charm” and that while there he would sing this song meditating on Caitanya and Nityananda. I told him that it was the song I most liked hearing him sing and that I still had a very old recording of it on cassette. Not having a harmonium to hand, he created a piano accompaniment for it, and from that day on, I was “rewarded” with a daily, private performance of this beautiful song.

Hridayananda Maharaj’s association is very desirable for any devotee who aspires to preach Krsna consciousness understanding the basis of material entanglement of modern man. His current vision goes far beyond what he has written and published in recent years.

He has no plans to come to Brazil in the near future. He told me he sees how mature Brazilian devotees have become and feels that both he and us Brazilians are going through interesting phases in the construction of something significant for Prabhupada.

I was welcomed into his home with great distinction and warmth. He is a gentleman and a devotee whose internal level of Krishna consciousness is very difficult to find in this day and age.

Dhanvantari Swami.

On the 10^th and 11^th of December I taught another 12hr Gita course, this time in São José dos Campos – SP. SJ dos Campos is a good example of the major economic gains seen in Brazil in the last 10 years. This city of nearly one million people lies an hour and a bit from São Paulo and has technological, aerospace and car industries located there. Empty fields and landfills of ten years ago are now massively developed high income neighborhoods and fancy shopping malls.

In the midst of all this, a small group of qualified devotees are trying to establish a Krishna Consciousness preaching center. In sync with the successful recipe for urban preaching seen in other parts of the world, the leader there, Nanda Kumara Das (HDG) has a prasadam restaurant and yoga center (he’s both a cook and yoga teacher!). Nanda Kumara is an “old timer” by Brazilian standards, having started back in the early eighties as a full time brahmacari book distributor. His sankirtan consciousness persists to this day and he has nicely inspired the small group of devotees there, which includes two other yoga teachers, to regularly get books with him for distribution to friends, family, co-workers and any other people they may come in contact with.

In his spacious yoga studio, over his restaurant, 12 people gathered to spend 12 hours going over the entire content of the Bhagavad-gita. The mood was very peaceful and though we had complete newcomers and experienced devotees alike, they all greatly enjoyed the experience – as did I!

Here is some of the feedback I got:

“… The 12 hour Gita course was illuminating, and it brought to light several concepts which for me have always been somewhat obscure. I was also impressed with systematic and modern approach you applied, which facilitated the understanding of these ancient concepts… ” – Yogindra Das

“I have to thank you for this wonderful weekend that the Lord blessed us with. I hope to repeat it many times, for it meant a lot to me to spend 12 hours hearing about Krishna. Many of my doubts were cleared up and now I’ll be able to read the Gita more clearly. ” – Ranga Devi Dasi

“… it was a great pleasure … we have been privileged to learn this nectar.” – Bk. Alexandre

“This 12hr Gita helped me a lot to regain a state of  lucidity and serenenity that I had experienced during a period that was undoubtedly the best time of my life so far. I am very motivated to apply this method, in order to connect deeply with a higher consciousness and experience self-realization at a level beyond what I have already experienced in this incarnation. ” – Luiz Reis

“… we had hours of great wisdom. Thank you for introducing us to the Gita in such a simple and lighthearted way.” – Ana Paula

I spent November 11-15th in Nova Gokula, the most famous rural temple in ISKCON Brazil. Two important events took place there during this holiday weekend: the national meetings of the ISKCON Brazil leaders and a 48h Kirtan.

Nova Gokula is a very special place with an authentic “dhama vibe” as a result of the intense devotion that has been cultivated there for over three decades, the passage of thousands of devotees and pilgrims and, of course, the presence of the Divine Couple in the temple in the form of Sri Sri Radha-Gokulananda .

The focus of the meetings of the National Council (CGB) was a leadership course taught by Hanuman Prabhu. The highlight of the course was Devamrta Maharaja’s daily talk on leadership, the GBC’s strategic planning innovations and devotee care. Devamrta Maharaja is the GBC for Brazil and has, in his own subtle and cautious way, brought about important changes to ISKCON Brazil.

One of the important decisions that came about was the appointment of three new Zonal secretaries: Dhanvantari Swami , Yamunacarya Prabhu and me. Hanuman Prabhu continues as Zonal Secretary, so now we have four working together in Brazil. Being the youngest and least experienced next to these three  great Vaishnavas, I was appointed  Zonal Secretary “candidate”, which means I have to “prove myself” on the job in the next 18-24 months. I ask for the blessings of the Vaishnavas in this regard!

Devamrta Maharaja gave a brilliant Srimad Bhagavatam class on Saturday, speaking on how sad it is to grow old without spiritual advancement, where desires continue piling up, but the senses are no longer able to act, death is approaching and everything is lost.

The 48h Kirtan started on Saturday. This great event was organized by Vaikuntha Murti Prabhu, who has proved himself time and time again as very competent in organizing tours and events. We had  48 hours non-stop chanting of the maha-mantra Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare! World renowned kirtaneers came from the US, Argentina and India: Amala Kirtan, Amala Harinam (pictured above), Ajamil Prabhus and Gunagrahi Maharaja. Hundreds of participants swam in an ocean of nectar of the holy names of Krishna in great bliss!

Great association, great kirtans, beautiful Deities and a chance to serve Srila Prabhupada’s mission: what else could one ask for?

Thursday, Oct. 27, was the day we celebrated Govardhana Puja. The event took place at the Rio ISKCON Temple.

The Deities were beautiful.

And here’s a picture of the Govardhana Hill wth the Temple’s Govardhana Sila on top.

I talked about the importance of the day, focusing on the different ways of taking shelter of Krishna and its importance in our spiritual lives.

On Saturday, the 29th, I went to the pleasant mountain town of Miguel Pereira where the devotee couple, Tulasi Bhakta and Radharani, have a preaching center.  There I lectured on Dattatreya’s teachings from the Srimad Bhagavatam, “Enlightenment by the Natural Path.”  The next day we observed Srila Prabhupada’s dissappearance day. I spoke about the unique importance of Srila Prabhupada and how we are fortunate to have him as our founder-acharya.

And on Tuesday, November 1st, I spoke on the subject of karma at the new ISKCON center in Rio de Janeiro called “Govinda.” This yoga preaching center, organized by the ever enthusiastic Chandramukha Maharaja, is well decorated and comfortable and located in the heart of downtown Rio.

A group of more than 25 people attended the event.

My next trip will be to Nova Gokula, on the 11-15^th November, where we’ll have our Brazil National Council meetings, with the presence of Devamrita Maharaja, our GBC.

Uberaba is a peculiar city. I’ve never been in a place before where I’ve been so repeatedly told by the residents how terrible the place is for cultivating higher consciousness. Just about everyone I met there, on different and seperate occasions, would spontaneously tell me this! And I must confess I did also perceive a rather “heavy” mood to the place. Uberaba, amongst other things, is famous as national center for cow slaughter, as well as beer drinking and country music – I’m thinking this has something to do with it! The picture above of the city’s cathedral catches some of this mood.

There is one lone and brave devotee, Yadunatha Das (pictured above next to me), who fixes motors for a living, who tries to keep alive the flame of Krishna consciousness in the city. He is very, very humble and sincere. With the help of only two fixed congregational members, a steel worker and an electrician, they payed for all my travel and lodging expenses and offered the course to the public free of charge. Charging, they all agreed, would be hopeless given the city’s apathy for all things spiritual and uplifting.

Despite all these obstacles we had a group of 10 people, who very attentively heard the necterean teachings of the Gita and highlights of Srila Prabhupada’s brilliant commentary.

We also had a small Sunday Program, with two new guests and some of the guests from the Gita course. We had a lively questions and answers section that went for about an hour. They showed a lot of eagerness in hearing more and more!

Some of the participants sent me some nice feedback, which I post below:

“Thank you for all the instructions and wisdom that you gave us these days. These were very auspicious days… Who knows, maybe the consciousness of this city is changing, and perhaps expanding, as the seeds have been sown.” - Marluce

“Thanks again for all the lessons, good will, love of God and your example. Now I will try harder to change my habits and my mind.” - Fernanda

“For starters I want to thank you for the joy of having participated in the course over the weekend. Benefiting from it all brought me immense joy. The words in our vocabulary cannot clearly express what I felt … Thank you from the bottom of my heart.” -Telma

We held our 16th retreat of this year at Pandavas Paradise, from the 7th to the 12th of October. This particular yoga retreat was one of our best of the year, with a great group. Though ages varied from 23 to 71, and yoga experience varied from zero to teacher training course level, all the guests quickly bonded and had deep, meaningful exchanges.

The guests enjoyed our walks

and our waterfalls.

We had a yoga teacher from Brasília, Priscilla, giving four hours of class a day, including basic lessons in anatomy and the health benefits of different asanas.

As usual, every day the guests had early kirtan with the maha-mantra, followed by 30 minutes of japa mantra meditation. At night they had aratik and a lecture.

The guests had a wonderul time. Here are some comments they sent us:

“I had six special days in Pandavas Paradise where I got in touch with myself and with loving and wonderful people.”- Ramman, Brasilia-DF

“Pandavas Paradise exceeded my expectations. It made me more aware of my body and soul through meditation and the beauty of the Chapada”- Zenilda

“It was my fourth time (the third this year), and not last, in Pandavas Paradise. Again I experienced  special moments, delicious food, invigorating yoga practices and came in contact with very, very special people… I cannot wait to have my fifth experience in Paradise! “- Helena, Brasilia-DF

“… I had moments of pure nectar, praying on my beads and listening to your lectures … in silence and in the middle of nature it’s easier to approach Krishna. “- Nara, Rio de Janeiro-RJ

“I am very happy to have been awarded these days in Paradise. Thank you for all the shared wisdom. “- Paula, Belo Horizonte-MG

“…Pandavas Paradise is magical! I am very happy and fulfilled. You gave me everything I needed – the retreat was very important for me because I was able to purge everything negative that had been bothering me, and I left that wonderful place feeling at peace and very happy. It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed and smiled the way I did there.”- Grace, Rio de Janeiro-RJ

You can see more pictures of the retreat here.

One very interesting fact about the tour is that it happened as a direct result of our yoga retreats at Pandavas Paradise. At the two ends of the tour were events organized by guests who previously had no contact with Krishna consciousness until they came to one of our retreats, and having liked what they heard and saw in Pandavas Paradise , invited me to speak in their home towns.  I was pleased to see this pratical result of our regular yoga retreats.

The first event was a wellbeing, alternative lifestyle, yoga event in Aracaju, in its third consective year. I was their guest speaker for this year. I gave the opening lecture, another lecture on the following day, and finished the event with kirtan and Nrsimhadeva prayers on the last day. Lots of books were sold and new contacts made. Aracaju has only one ISKCON devotee, as yet uninitiated, so it was good to inspire him and to try and help him organize a monthly program there.

From there I rented a car (turned out to be a bad decision!) and drove to Maceió.  In Maceió we have 4 ISKCON devotees who are trying to organize a regular program there. They organized for me to give a talk in a beachside hotel. I spoke on the teachings of Dattatreya, found in the 11th Canto of the Srimad Bhagavatam. Some very interested, intelligent people, who had previously had no contact with ISKCON, showed up. Again books were sold and a new contacts made.

From there I drove to Recife, crossing the great São Franciso river, the second most famous river in Brasil after the Amazon. Recife was one of the first cities in the Northeast of Brazil to open an ISKCON centre, back in the late 70′s. In the early days, their full-fledged Gaura Nitai temple was filled with dozens of fired-up sankirtan devotees. These days, they still have dozens of devotees in their congregation, including some Prabhupada disciples. Though the Deities are currently residing in Nova Vrajadhama, a rural project some 150km from there, the devotees are currently planning their return to Recife in the near future. Despite the Deities not being there, the preaching is going on nicely and they have a well located cultural center and restaurant near one of the city’s universities. I spoke on the Sri Siksastaka and did a quick questions and answers session on the Gita as well to a crowd comprised mostly of local devotees. Sweet 3 hours of krishna-katha – this was one of my favorite events of the whole tour.

From Recife I drove inwards, away from the coast, to Caruaru – a small city in the interior of the State of Pernambuco. An unlikely place for Krishna consciousness, yet the home of one of ISKCON Brazil’s oldest rural communities – Nova Vrajadhama. The local devotees have expertly cultivated Krishna consciousness here, to the point of having a major city square named after Prabhupada (for his centennial celebrations). I spoke that night in their preaching center, which functions as a restaurant during the day. The small place was packed to capacity and the crowd very attentive.

I slept in Nova Vrajadhama, some 40 minutes from the center of Caruaru. This is the home of one of only two Radha Krishna Deities in Brazil, the other being Nova Gokula. Sri Sri Radha Govinda are graceful, sweet Deities. A small community of approximately nine devotees live and take care of this remote dhama. You can see some pictures of this beautiful farm here.

From there my trip took an unexpected turn! First, I managed to get my rented car bogged in the mud, a mere 40 meters from where I started. A full hour of ardous digging, pushing and adjusting was needed to free the car. Because I was now late for a TV interview in my next stop, Campina Grande, I pushed forward with a bit too much passion through the rough 10km dirt road leading out of the farm, hitting a rock squarely on the oil reservoir. That would have been pretty bad already, however, because of the rough conditions of the road in general, I did not realize the seriousness of the bump we felt, and thus did not stop the car. As a result, two kilometers later the engine, now deprived of oil, was making a ghastly sound, forcing me to stop the car, which would then not start up again. Final tally: a blown engine! By the time I reached Campina Grande, the whole day had been spent dealing with the car rental company, police reports for insurance purposes, etc.

In Campina Grande I just had enough time to shower before going off for my Yoga Sutra lecture. Campina Grande is the home of one of our best urban ISKCON communities, with gorgeous Maha Gaura Nitai Deities and our Bhakti-shastri Seminary. The devotees there have been very well trained and inspired by Dhanvantari Maharaja.

No longer having a car, I continued my tour by bus. The last stop: Natal, where I spent the weekend teaching a 12 hour Bhagavad-gita seminar to an amazing group of about 20 Spiritists who are now getting a serious taste for Krishna consciousness. As I mentioned before, this group had their first contact with Krishna consciousness in Pandavas Paradise. They came to our Easter yoga retreat earlier this year and, since then, have been practicing japa, offering their food and studying Prabhupada’s books. The weekend Gita course in Natal was organized by them so they could continue to deepend their understanding and practice of Krishna consciousness. It was thus a great crowd, which included some local devotees as well. I expect that they will soon be fully practicing Krishna devotees.

Thus, with this brilliant weekend in Natal, my tour came to an end. Tired but very blissed from 10 days of spreading these wonderful teachings and associating with devotees and seekers, I returned to Pandavas Paradise.

The paragraph reads:

“Angry Birds has inspired works of philosophical analogy. A five-part essay entitled “Angry Birds™ Yoga – How to Eliminate the Green Pigs in Your Life” was written by Giridhari Dasa of ISKCON Brazil, utilizing the characters and gameplay mechanics to explain various concepts of yoga philosophy as understood by Gaudiya Vaishnavism.^{[98][99][100][101][102]} The piece attracted much media attention, in Brazil and abroad, for its unique method of philosophical presentation.^{[103][104][105][106]} The piece was also recognized and appreciated by Rovio Mobile’s Peter Vesterbacka, who was prompted to comment, “Very cool! I can see Angry Birds Yoga becoming a worldwide craze;-) “.^[98]“

From the 2nd  to 7th of September we held a cooking retreat in Pandavas Paradise, led by Carana Renu Dasi.

People came seeking a chance to enhance their vegetarian cooking repertoire as well as to enjoy the regular benefits of a retreat here, namely peace, contact with nature and a chance to deepen their spirituality.

Carana Renu chose varied menus over the five days, including Indian, Italian, Mexican and Chinese dishes. More importantly she taught them the principle of doing everything for Krishna, cleanliness in the kitchen and other aspects of prasadam preparation. Not only that but they also had a lot of fun in the kitchen, as you can see from the photos.

The guests had a good time making chapatis, samosas, calzones, etc.

We also had walks to the waterfalls and our lookout point, which the guests always love…

…though probably not as much as they love eating the prasadam!

On the first night I spoke about the importance of eating prasadam and the modes of nature.  On the second night they saw a documentary on the importance of a healthy diet. The third and fourth nights were question and answer sessions on all topics related to spirituality, Krishna Consciousness and yoga.

We also had a 30 minute japa session every day, as well as kirtans and aratiks.

All in all a successful retreat, with happy guests who got to come a little closer to Krishna consciousness, learn lots of delicious vegetarian recipes, eat lots of prasadam and relax!

Here are comments left by three of our guests:

“It was much more than a ‘vegetarian cooking course’. In truth in was an immersion in a universe of aromas and flavors, with the song of birds and mantras as the soundtrack. If we are what we eat, this experience allowed us to be much better. Hare Krishna!” – Celeste, Belo Horizonte – MG.

“Thank you, Charana, for sharing with us valuable information about your cooking, which brought us to higher states. This retreat was not only incredibly delicious, it also provided a deep comfort to the soul, through the sincere hospitality, the sharing of spiritual knowledge and the impressive natural setting. I leave Pandavas Paradise transformed and with the certainty of having made one of the best investments in my wellbeing.  Hare Krishna!” – Rachel, Rio de Janeiro – RJ

“The days I spent in Pandavas Paradise were absolutely incredible. I enjoyed an exuberant natural setting, with walks and swimming in the waterfalls, while at the same time learning delicious vegetarian recipes, as well as Giridhari’s enriching teachings. I had the chance to reflect on my life in a way that I could never have done in my regular day to day life, in a welcoming and very peaceful environment. Charana and Giridhari, thank you!” – Emerson, Brasília – DF

Click here to see more pictures of the retreat.