The Bhakta Degree is the prerequisite for all the higher Degree Programs. Successful completion of this Degree Program grants the daivī-varṇa of Śūdra. Graduates of the Bhakta Degree Program are also eligible to visit our rural community in South India. The Bhakta Degree Program consists of the following courses. These cover the basic skills you need to be a devotee, a student of the Esoteric Teaching of the Vedas and a member of the Esoteric Teaching Bridge Community. Each course contains video, audio, links to reading material, assignments, exercises and questions to build and then demonstrate your mastery of the material. Real mastery of a subject means the ability to apply it in a variety of circumstances. So the actual goal of this course is that you are able to apply the principles and practices of bhakti in your life.
Introduction and Orientation
Introduction to the Bhakta Degree Program. What does it mean to be a Bhakta? What are the privileges and responsibilities of the title? The Esoteric Teaching Bhakta Degree Program is the first step on the path to becoming a pure devotee of the Lord.
mac-cittā mad-gata-prāṇā
bodhayantaḥ parasparam
kathayantaś ca māṁ nityaṁ
tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca"The thoughts of My pure devotees dwell in Me, their lives are surrendered to Me, and they derive great satisfaction and bliss enlightening one another and conversing about Me." [Bhagavad-gītā 10.9]
How to Study Effectively
How to study anything so that you get the ability to apply the knowledge. Especially valuable skills for studying the Esoteric Teaching. With the simple methods we present here, you can teach yourself any subject—not just the theory, but a professional level of practical application. All you have to do is apply the method consistently, and you will get the result. It may seem dry and boring at first, or too plodding and intellectual. But I will say it again: if you use this method you can teach yourself to understand and do anything. Anything at all! Of course we would rather that you use it to understand the Esoteric Teaching, but you get my point: just on general principles, everybody should learn how to learn, so they can teach themselves whatever they want to know.
This method has three parts:
- Putting things in context
- Clearing misunderstood terms
- Modeling relationships and functions
Chanting and Regulative Principles
How to chant your japa-mantra and follow the four regulative principles of spiritual life. Our spiritual life is totally dependent on chanting our guru-given mantra and following the regulative principles of spiritual life. Chanting the Holy Name nicely means daily chanting a regulated number of mantras on beads, in a meditative mood, loudly enough so that another person standing nearby can hear, and avoiding the ten offenses.
The ten offenses to the Holy Name are as follows:
- To blaspheme the devotees who have dedicated their lives for propagating the Holy Name of the Lord.
- To consider the names of demigods like Lord Śiva or Lord Brahmā to be equal to or independent of the Holy Name of Lord Viṣṇu.
- To disobey the orders of the spiritual master.
- To blaspheme the Vedic literature or literature in pursuance of the Vedic version.
- To consider the glories of chanting Hare Kṛṣṇa as imagination.
- To give some interpretation on the Holy Name of the Lord.
- To commit sinful activities on the strength of chanting the Holy Name of the Lord.
- To consider the chanting of Hare Kṛṣṇa as one of the auspicious ritualistic activities which are offered in the Vedas as fruitive activities (karma-kāṇḍa).
- To instruct a faithless person about the glories of the Holy Name.
- To not have complete faith in the chanting of the Holy Name and to maintain some material attachment, even after understanding so many instructions on this matter. It is also an offense to be inattentive while chanting.
Every devotee who claims to be a Vaiṣṇava must carefully guard against these ten offenses in order to quickly achieve the desired success, Kṛṣṇa-prema.
The four regulative principles are:
- Pure sattvik vegetarian diet; no eating meat, fish, eggs, onion, garlic, mushrooms etc.
- Avoidance of illicit sex, meaning sex life that is not for reproduction.
- Avoidance of all intoxication, including drugs, alcohol, even caffeine.
- Avoidance of gambling, including games of chance, financial and philosophical speculation.
Sanskrit Pronunciation I: Mantra
This section helps you learn how to pronounce Sanskrit mantras. This is an important skill for devotees because our source material, the Vedic scriptures and their commentaries, are originally in the Sanskrit language. There are also many prayers, songs and philosophical terminology that devotees use every day in discussions of devotional service. Every devotee should know how to pronounce these properly and look up their meanings in a Sanskrit dictionary or in the scriptures using the Vedabase. This course does not cover Devanagari, the original Sanskrit script, but concentrates on the transliterated Sanskrit in Roman characters, using the International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration (IAST).
mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham
udbhavaś ca bhaviṣyatām
kīrtiḥ śrīr vāk ca nārīṇāṁ
smṛtir medhā dhṛtiḥ kṣamā"I am all-devouring death, and I am the generator of all things yet to be. Among women I am fame, fortune, speech, memory, intelligence, faithfulness and patience." [Bhagavad-gītā 10.34]
"Sanskrit is a perfect language and is therefore very glorious." — Śrīla Prabhupāda
Cooking and Offering Prasādam
Basic vegetarian cooking skills and offering praṣādam to the Lord. Every devotee needs to know how to cook nice vegetarian food and offer it to Kṛṣṇa with love and devotion. This is an essential survival skill in a global meat-eating culture. This course covers basic terminology, spices and other ingredients, equipment, and a few basic recipes. Finally, how to offer the finished product to the spiritual master and Kṛṣṇa is described in detail.
yajña-śiṣṭāśinaḥ santo
mucyante sarva-kilbiṣaiḥ
bhuñjate te tv aghaṁ pāpā
ye pacanty ātma-kāraṇāt"The devotees of the Lord are released from all kinds of sins because they eat food which is offered first for sacrifice. Others, who prepare food for personal sense enjoyment, verily eat only sin." [Bhagavad-gītā 3.13]
Śrī Īśopaniṣad
This course covers the Vedic scripture Śrī Īśopaniṣad, the first and most important of the 108 principal Upaniṣads. Śrī Īśopaniṣad is a short book, with an Invocation followed by 18 mantras. We will study each mantra in turn, learning how to read and chant it. We also will study the commentaries by Śrīla Prabhupāda and Gaurahari Dāsānudās Bābājī.
oṁ pūrṇam adaḥ pūrṇam idaṁ
pūrṇāt pūrṇam udacyate
pūrṇasya pūrṇam ādāya
pūrṇam evāvaśiṣyate"The Personality of Godhead is perfect and complete, and because He is completely perfect, all emanations from Him, such as this phenomenal world, are perfectly equipped as complete wholes. Whatever is produced of the Complete Whole is also complete in itself. Because He is the Complete Whole, even though so many complete units emanate from Him, He remains the complete balance." [Śrī Īśopaniṣad, Invocation]
How to be a Devotee in the Material World
Most of our students are physically isolated from one another, communicating and associating only via the Internet. Yet, they go through remarkably similar experiences. This course helps with those changes. It is difficult to be a devotee and maintain a high standard of practice in these conditions. We will study Śrīla Prabhupāda's instructions and also real-life accounts from devotees to learn how to cope with living a devotional life in a hostile materialistic culture without becoming overwhelmed.
Here you will learn:
- Engaging regularly in devotional activities
- Preaching tastefully to family members and others, and defending your faith effectively
- Engaging your material resources and activities in karma-yoga
- Making steady spiritual progress in association with the Esoteric Teaching Bridge Community
- Working toward higher degrees, spiritual initiation and lifetime membership in the Esoteric Teaching Bridge Community
ananyāś cintayanto māṁ
ye janāḥ paryupāsate
teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ
yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham"But those who worship Me with devotion, meditating on My transcendental form—to them I carry what they lack and preserve what they have." [Bhagavad-gītā 9.22]
Kṛṣṇa Book, Part 1: Braja-līlā
This section helps you to study Śrīla Prabhupāda's book Kṛṣṇa, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Kṛṣṇa Book, as it is often called, is a summary study of the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam. This is the substance of all Vedic knowledge. Śrīla Prabhupāda's expert condensation and explanations bring the exalted subject within the understanding of neophytes, but its sweet narrations are just like nectar even for advanced devotees. Who is Kṛṣṇa? We should get to know the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the person that we are chanting to and serving. The pastimes of the Lord are vividly described in the Tenth Canto of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, and Kṛṣṇa Book is a 3-part summary study of those pastimes by Śrīla Prabhupāda. Part 1 covers Kṛṣṇa's childhood pastimes in Braja, from the Introduction and other front matter of the book though Chapter 34, The Gopīs' Feelings of Separation.
śrī-śuka uvāca
evaṁ vraja-striyo rājan
kṛṣṇa-līlānugāyatīḥ
remire 'haḥsu tac-cittās
tan-manaskā mahodayāḥŚrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: "O King, thus during the daytime the women of Vṛndāvana took pleasure in continuously singing about the pastimes of Kṛṣṇa, and those ladies' minds and hearts, absorbed in Him, were filled with great festivity." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.35.26]
Temple Songs and Mantras
How to chant the most common temple songs and mantras. In this course you will learn to chant and sing the regular Vaiṣṇava temple songs and prayers easily and tunefully:
- Guru-praṇati
- Paraṁ-guru-praṇati
- Pañca-tattva mahā-mantra
- Hare Kṛṣṇa mahā-mantra
- Nṛsiṁha Pranamā
- Prema-dhvāni prayers
- Tulāsī-pujā prayers
- Praṣādam offering prayers
- Vaiṣṇava-praṇama prayer
We will also cover the basics of music and singing such as intonation, tone and breathing.
satataṁ kīrtayanto māṁ
yatantaś ca dṛḍha-vratāḥ
namasyantaś ca māṁ bhaktyā
nitya-yuktā upāsate"Always chanting My glories, endeavoring with great determination, bowing down before Me, these great souls perpetually worship Me with devotion." [Bhagavad-gītā 9.14]
Vocational Training: Śūdra-varṇa
All of our degree programs combine academic or distance learning over the Internet with practical, hands-on activity.
kṛṣi-go-rakṣya-vāṇijyaṁ
vaiśya-karma svabhāva-jam
paricaryātmakaṁ karma
śūdrasyāpi svabhāva-jam"Farming, cattle raising and business are the qualities of work for the vaiśyas, and for the śūdras there is labor and service to others." [Bhagavad-gītā 18.44]
The exact nature of the vocational training for the Bhakta Degree Program depends on your situation.
Bridge Community Vistors or Residents
If you are staying at the Bridge Community, your vocational training will depend on your experience, skills and desires and the needs of the community. Typical karma-yoga engagements might include construction, farming, garden maintenance or animal care, office work, cleaning the Temple or whatever needs to be done. Other requirements include:
- Participation in festivals and special events
- Daily morning, noon and evening temple kīrtan
- Daily mantra-japa and four regulative principles
- Regular meetings with your Teacher and Śikṣā-guru
- Participation in Community Body consensus meetings
Bridge Community Intro
This section provides an introduction to the structure and operation of the Esoteric Teaching Bridge Community. Every feature of this community is carefully designed to prevent a specific problem that caused previous attempts to fail. Therefore the structure of the Bridge Community must not be changed unless changing conditions make it necessary, and the managers and residents understand very clearly how each feature is supposed to work and what problems it is designed to prevent. Understand the unique structure and benefits of the Esoteric Teaching Bridge Community and your role in it. This course helps you to understand the unique structure and benefits of the Esoteric Teaching Bridge Community and your role in it. It covers:
- Role of varṇas and āśramas
- Basic structure of the community
- How to participate in the Bridge Community
- Corporate entities, executives and their roles
- Protecting devotees from toxic material culture and economy
You will also be encouraged to plan your advancement in spiritual life and your future participation in the community.
satāṁ prasaṅgān mama vīrya-saṁvido
bhavanti hṛt-karṇa-rasāyanāḥ kathāḥ
taj-joṣaṇād āśv apavarga-vartmani
śraddhā ratir bhaktir anukramiṣyati"In the association of pure devotees, discussion of the pastimes and activities of the Supreme Personality of Godhead is very pleasing and satisfying to the ear and the heart. By cultivating such knowledge one gradually becomes advanced on the path of liberation, and thereafter he is freed, and his attraction becomes fixed. Then real devotion and devotional service begin." [Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.25.25]
Bhakta Degree Final Examination
Final Examination for the Bhakta Degree Program. In this section you will be tested on the knowledge and skills you have gained in this course. The examination has both written (multiple-choice and essay) and oral (via Internet conference) sections. Satisfactory completion of the practical vocational training section is also required for graduation. You must pass the Final Examination to receive the Bhakta Certificate and use the title Bhakta before your name.
"Satisfaction of the self-realized spiritual master is the secret of advancement in spiritual life. Inquiries and submission constitute the proper combination for spiritual understanding. Unless there is submission and service, inquiries from the learned spiritual master will not be effective. One must be able to pass the test of the spiritual master, and when he sees the genuine desire of the disciple, he automatically blesses the disciple with genuine spiritual understanding. In this verse, both blind following and absurd inquiries are condemned. Not only should one hear submissively from the spiritual master, but one must also get a clear understanding from him, in submission and service and inquiries. A bona fide spiritual master is by nature very kind toward the disciple. Therefore when the student is submissive and is always ready to render service, the reciprocation of knowledge and inquiries becomes perfect." [Bhagavad-gītā 4.34, Purport]
Click here to register for the Bhakta Degree Program
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