Jaya Chaitanya Das, 30, recently went from being a hip-hop producer to ISKCONs top book distributor in the U.S., selling 85,000 of Srila Prabhupadas books in one year. Jaya Chaitanya has only just launched his slick website beamonk.org, and already twenty to thirty applicants are being considered for the program. Jaya Chaitanya Das, 30, recently went from being a hip-hop producer to ISKCONs top book distributor in the U.S., selling 85,000 of Srila Prabhupadas books in one year. ISKCON started as a predominantly monastic group but nowadays the majority of members live as lay persons. A Sannyasi is given the title Swami. New persons joining ISKCON as full-time members (living in its centers) first undergo a three-month Bhakta training, which includes learning the basics of brahmacari life. Find ISKCON events local to you or anywhere in the world. I used to eat junk, but now I get to eat really healthy! Using the slogan Be a Monk till Monday, Jaya Chaitanyas basic idea is to give young people a unique experience that doesnt lock them into a commitment. Killing Time. Answer: In the early 1970s, Srila Prabhupada, the Founder-Acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), started the Life Membership program to provide opportunities for people to support ISKCON financially, especially to help fund the construction of temples in India. Many of them, however, spent some time as monks. Why bad things happen. | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy. One element that is particularly fulfilling to students is the selfless volunteer experience of serving prasadam to 500 people at the Sunday Feast. ISKCON started as a predominantly monastic group but nowadays the majority of members live as lay persons. Today, he lives in the ashram full-time and chants sixteen rounds of the Hare Krishna mantra daily. Be A Monk is still in the beginning stages, with lots of developments on the way. Sex energy entirely fills the mind, intellect, Prana, senses and the whole body. Meanwhile five or six have already participated, living at the ISKCON Los Angeles temple for several days. I was alone and seeking a spiritual path. Older grihastha with grown-up children are traditionally expected to accept vanaprastha (celibate retired) life. You need to live that life, understand what it means correctly. I just ask students in colleges, Hey, you ever thought about becoming a monk? he explains. While some temples continue to promote Life Memberships, most have toned down their benefit claims, with wording such as "free room and board at temples with Life Member facilities, when available.". Jaya Chaitanya says leaders in ISKCON temples with the best introductory programs have contacted him asking to represent Be a Monk in their location. Manuel Gutierrez, a student in environmental engineering at Citrus College, was so inspired he wrote a glowing two-page testimonial on his experience. This program works because people are won over by experience and thats what we thrive on. ISKCON Life Membership. New persons joining ISKCON as full-time members (living in its centers) first undergo a three-month Bhakta training, which includes learning the basics of brahmacari (monastic) life. This ritual is called Paryaya. More specifically, participants attend morning programs and Bhagavatam class, chant japa, serve in the kitchens, go out on Harinama and book distribution, and spend time with senior devotees like Brighupati Das. And they serve in the kitchens, getting the chance to feed 500 people a pure vegetarian healthy meal every Sunday. Recognizing this, most temples, especially those outside India, where temples are smaller and have fewer guest facilities, have transitioned from Life Membership to local donor and annual member programs. Similar in appearance to Buddhist monks, monks from the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), or Hare Krishnas as they are popularly known, are the best known Vaishnava monks outside India. It seems that one would reach self realization by renouncing material life, and live like a monk, who will have of course to be careful to dont enjoy anything coming from this world. The number of Life Members grew as well. Manuel now lives a little too far to regularly visit the temple, but he watches all the programs live via webcam and says he plans to return next summer. Theres no old school join and shave your head pressure here, rather a friendly invitation from a peer to try out something new over the weekend. Jaya Chaitanya is excited. Jaya Chaitanya Das (far right, front row) with a group of monks outside the LA temple. I very much welcome events such as this, which will help us all to celebrate the values and benefits of diversity but also shows the positive expression of belief that is characteristic of the Krishna consciousness movement. So the future will see websites such as beamonk.org/az for Arizona, and beamonk.org/sd for San Diego. He also hopes to build the program to the point where rather than one student at a time, groups come to stay and participate in a Bhakti Sastri-style introduction to Krishna consciousness, with many senior devotees teaching specialized seminars. Participants also get free room and board, vegetarian/vegan meals, and meditation beads, songbooks, and other spiritual gear to help them with their journey. But they're often disappointed to learn that there's a long wait time, perhaps as long as six months. ISKCON was founded in 1966 in New York City by A. C. 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