A couple days before we were scheduled to leave South Africa, we had a day free to just spend time with our hosts and see some of the city sights. Many of us had family members eagerly awaiting a little taste of South Africa upon our return, so first we headed into the centre [...]

  It took us over four hours to get back to the temple, where we arrived to find the Sunday program in full swing. Our arrival had coincided perfectly with the serving of the feast, and though we were all a little groggy from traveling, we thankfully ate the delicious food offered to Sri [...]

 Sadly, the retreat passed in a flash. Only a day and a half after we’d arrived, it was almost time to leave again. After a morning program and class outdoors with Bhakti Caitanya Swami, Kartik prabhu began the closing ceremony, calling up each of the main organisers so that everyone present could [...]

 Dawn breaks in the South African bush. The lions stir and stretch in the tall grasses. Birds sing in chorus from high in the branches of the flowering acacia trees, and with every minute, the sky changes hue, first banded with pink and gold that gradually gives way to the wide expanse of soft blue. [...]

We spent several days  at our home base in the suburbs of Johannesburg, getting to know our hosts and preparing for the weekend retreat to come. Since it wasn’t vacation time, everyone juggled school and work, calling in sick or telling quite outrageous lies in order to spend time with us and take care [...]

After some needed R&R time (rest and rehearsal!), we got to attend our first meeting of the Krishna Balarama Youth Group. This was to be the first time we would meet many who had been working tirelessly to bring us here, and also our first chance have kirtan with them.

The plane juddered to a halt in the hot Johannesburg morning. Walking out into the airport I felt excited but apprehensive. I had no idea what to expect in this totally new country, and most people I asked had just talked about soaring crime and warned me to stay in large groups. On the [...]

 A few weeks ago we had the honor of working with Shiva Rea to fill hearts with Bhakti during her yoga workshops in Washington DC. Shiva Rea is one more the most well known yoga teachers of all time and she loves kirtan and Bhakti tradition of Kirtan.

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when we walked into the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors exhibit. I had seen some of the art online, I had expected to be taken off guard a little, but I had not expected to come face to face with many of the teachings that I had read [...]

It was good to be back in front of Radha Govinda for a spiritual re-charger. There are no hard and fast rules for kirtan but there’s always something special that happens when the kirtan is done in front of the deities. Not only were these wonderful deities, but they are my home-town deities. I [...]

East West Yoga was a force to be reckoned with. There to support our wonderful friend and fellow Kirtan enthusiast, Kamaniya, I wanted to make sure that As Kindred Spirits represented as best we could and showed everyone that kirtan is kirtan, no matter who you do it with. Some people feel that kirtan [...]