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Bhakti Vriksha In Canberra
What is Bhakti Vriksha?
Since 3 months ago (March 2006), we started this appreciated program, always with the enthusiasm and support
of our dear mataji, Mahadaya Mayi d.d. who with her past experiences in this program in Peru,
she is trying to improve the preaching activities here in Canberra.
Every Tuesday (from 6:30pm till 8:30pm) we have our meeting
in the temple’s room. The members group now 9 constantly come happiest, they can feel as a spiritual
family environment their self so they participate enthusiastically in all of the stage of our meeting,
the ice breaker is very appreciated.
In discussion topic everyone can tell what they can think, understanding
and to ask about their doubts, but always we have the guidance of our dear Ayodhyadeva prabhu and Madhumanjari
dasi of course the prasadam’s time is appreciated too. !! Yami, yami..!!
When is it?
Everyone is invited to the Bhakti Vriksha program and it is run every week on Tuesday from 6:30pm till 8:30pm so please try and come.
For more information please contact the program coordinator Mahadaya devi dasi (62626208 or mahadayajps@yahoo.com)
or via iskcon@harekrishnacanberra.com
The Branching process
Every small group in ISKCON’s congregation is therefore a branch of the branch,
stemming from the Bhakti-vriksha, the tree of bhakti, of Lord Caitanya.
The Bhakti-vriksha group is a type of Nama-hatta group, especially geared toward branching out.
Just like in a tree, a branch of a certain thickness branches off into two.
This branching process keeps going until the tree has thousands and thousands of branches,
all connected to the main root. Lord Caitanya is the original root, and even one single branch
from the Caitanya tree can grow and form thousands of sub-branches, small twigs, leaves, and so on.
We are part of the Caitanya Tree. This is the ISKCON branch and Srila Prabhupada is our connection.
In different places devotees call the Bhakti-vriksha groups in different ways — Bhakti-sangas,
Bhakta-vrndas, Bhakti-cells. What is important is whether they follow the principles of the
Bhakti-vriksha strategy. Such groups are sometimes called cell groups. Cells are the small parts our
body is made of. They reproduce and multiply by dividing into two. Similarly a cell group grows by
making new devotees and multiplies into two groups when it reaches fifteen members. We prefer to
use the name Bhakti-vriksha instead of cell because the cell analogy simply talks about division,
but the analogy of branching includes keeping the connection with the root.
Another reason is that
the name cell is already used by other organizations, whereas the analogy of the tree of love of
Godhead, the Bhakti-vriksha concept, is used by Lord Caitanya. We prefer Bhakti-vriksha over cell
because the analogy of Bhakti-vriksha, or a tree which branches out, was given in our scriptures;
so we stick to our own tradition.
Original Idea
Someone may think that we have borrowed this type of preaching from some Christian
organizations or from other groups, but actually this is our own original system.
Lord Caitanya used to go from village to village and everywhere He went, each person He preached
to would branch out and make five more families Krishna conscious.
Each of those families would
make five more. Such branching is more dynamic than the simple cell multiplication: From one to
five is more than from one to two.
Therefore instead of calling it cell preaching, we are calling it Bhakti-vriksha Program or
Bhakti-vriksha Preaching. A tree begins from one small sprout, but when it grows it has thousands
and hundreds of thousands of branches, similarly from a simple beginning the Bhakti-vriksha Program
will grow into a massive affair, as predicted by Srila Bhaktivinode Thakura.
The Weekly Meeting
The meeting has six parts: association/ice-breakers, kirtan, japa, discussion,
preaching reports and plans, and, finally, prasadam. Bhakti-vriksha groups meet
every week, on a weekday, in the home of one of the members. But belonging to a
group doesn't’t simply mean to attend the weekly meeting: being part of the Bhakti-vriksha Program
is a life-style. After the weekly get-together the members act as friends, keep in touch with each
other, and participate in outreach programs and preaching excursions.
In the weekly meeting, instead of having a formal lecture, the group discuss a particular aspect of
the philosophy together. Everyone participates and is encouraged to share one’s understanding of
the subject, one’s realizations, and how to apply that particular knowledge in one’s life. This
helps to involve everyone and to make the meeting highly interactive and engaging.
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Why is it called Bhakti-vriksha?
In Sri Caitanya-caritamrita, Lord Caitanya and His movement are compared to the tree of devotion,
the Bhakti-vriksha. Srila Prabhupada writes in the summary of adi-lila, Chapter Nine:
It is figuratively described that both the tree itself and the trunk of the tree are
Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu. The tree surrounds the entire world, and the flowers of the tree
are to be distributed to everyone. In this way the tree of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu intoxicates
the entire world.
Srila Prabhupada also says:
Our International Society for Krishna Consciousness is one of the branches of the Caitanya
tree. -– Caitanya-caritamrita, adi-lila 9.18
What Is the Goal of the Bhakti-vriksha Program?
Lord Caitanya says:
... I order every man within this universe to accept this Krishna consciousness
movement and distribute it everywhere. -– Caitanya-caritamrita, adi-lila 9.36
The Bhakti-vriksha Program is meant to enable everyone to practice, to grow,
and to preach the process of bhakti-yoga. By practicing, the devotee will grow
in Krishna consciousness. He or she should also learn how to help others in their
Krishna consciousness, and be able to preach to new people. The Bhakti-vriksha Program
provides association and spiritual community support, and when the new devotee becomes
strong he should preach. One cannot carry out Lord Caitanya’s orders without preaching.
To achieve this in a systematic way requires a great stress on training, on all levels
and on all aspects of practice and preaching. To be successful the Bhakti-vriksha Program
needs to implement a “culture of training”. It is a brahminical, Vaisnava effort, dealing
with people’s hearts and minds. It needs ongoing training of every member of every group,
by seminars and courses, by practical engagement and philosophical study, by personal
development and by preaching experiences.
What Is a Bhakti-vriksha Group?
It is a small group of congregational devotees, meeting every week to practice Krishna
consciousness and to plan preaching activities. In these Bhakti-vriksha groups the devotees
learn how to nourish their spiritual creeper and to cultivate their service attitude in
cooperation with others. Every group member is also active in preaching and in bringing
new people into the group. Upon reaching fifteen members the group divides into two.
This system keeps the groups small, maintaining an intimate atmosphere of personal care
and nurturing, not possible in large groups.
The members help each other under the supervision of a group servant-leader and a trainee-servant-leader.
The trainee-servant-leader is being trained and groomed to become the future group leader after the group multiplies into
two. Multiplying adds life and increases preaching momentum, compelling new leaders to take
initiative. When the group multiplies the servant-leader continues to supervise one group while
the trainee-servant-leader starts supervising the other group as a servant-leader. Both appoint
new trainee-servant-leaders.
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