what to expect
- friendly environment for spiritual exploration
- musical meditation (kirtan)
- spiritual seminar and discussion
- Q&A
- new themes each week
- vegan dinner
- no prior knowledge or experience necessary
SOUL TALKS
explore the wisdom of bhakti
presenters – Sri Prahlad, Nityananda Chandra, Champaka Mala & Gaur Sharan
date – weekly on Saturdays
time – 5:30pm – 7:00pm
admission – free
location – 5E Yoga Studio
group capacity – 60
if you have any questions, email us at [email protected]
Explore the philosophy of Bhakti yoga, which is the spiritual practice of awakening our potential to love. In this weekly in-person gathering, our time together will include uplifting teachings, captivating wisdom, and inspirational stories. Weekly topics are aimed at helping us see ourselves, the world around us, and the Divine through a practical lens and a higher level of consciousness. Include in all classes are approachable examples on how to implement and practice the ancient Bhakti teachings in our everyday lives.
This program is geared toward those who are new or have no prior knowledge of Bhakti yoga. We will have music meditation to open the heart and clear the mind, a thematic talk, and time for questions and discussion at the end. Each program concludes with a free, vegan dinner.
schedule
5:30 – 5:40 pm – Introduction & Meditation
5:40 – 6:25 pm – Talk
6:25 – 6:40 pm – Q&A
6:40 – 7:00 pm – Kirtan
7:00 pm – Dinner
upcoming sessions
Date – Saturday, April 18th
Speaker – Nityananda Chandra
Topic – Bhakti & the World
Date – Saturday, April 25th
Speaker – Raghunath Cappo
Topic – Mantra & Mind
Date – Saturday, May 2nd
Speaker – Gaura Sharan
Topic – Identity & Self
Date – Saturday, May 9th
Speaker – Nityananda Chandra
Topic – Bhakti & the World
Date – Saturday, May 16th
Speaker – Sri Prahlada
Topic – Mantra & the Mind
Date – Saturday, May 23rd
Speaker – Champaka Mala
Topic – Bhakti & the Inner Life
Date – Saturday, May 30th
Speaker – TBD
Topic – Community & Belonging
Date – Saturday, June 6th
Speaker – Gaura Sharan
Topic – Identity & Self
Date – Saturday, June 20th
Speaker – Sri Prahlada
Topic – Mantra & the Mind
Date – Saturday, June 27th
Speaker – Nityananda Chandra
Topic – Bhakti & the World
Date – Saturday, July 4th
Speaker – Gaura Sharan
Topic – Identity & Self
Date – Saturday, July 11th
Speaker – Champaka Mala
Topic – Bhakti & Inner Life
Date – Saturday, July 18th
Speaker – Nityananda Chandra
Topic – Bhakti & the World
Date – Saturday, July 25th
Speaker – Gaura Sharan
Topic – Identity & Self
Date – Saturday, August 1st
Speaker – TBD
Topic – TBD
Date – Saturday, August 8th
Speaker – Sri Prahlada
Topic – Mantra & Mind
Date – Saturday, August 15th
Speaker – Nityananda Chandra
Topic – Bhakti & the World
Date – Saturday, August 22nd
Speaker – Champaka Mala
Topic – Bhakti & the Inner Life
meet your facilitators
Theme Lead: Mantra & Mind
Sri Prahlada is a lifelong kirtan practitioner and teacher whose life reflects the transformative power of mantra meditation. Raised in ashram schools in Australia and India, he began chanting from an early age. At 12, he recorded songs for peace—including “Mr. Gorbachev, Let Our Friends Go”—as part of a campaign that gained national attention and contributed to the release of imprisoned bhakti practitioners in the USSR. This led to a contract with EMI Records and a life dedicated to sacred sound. For 18 years, he toured with spiritual leader Indradyumna Swami, leading kirtan and organizing festivals across six continents. He holds a PhD in management, teaches at university level, and researches compassion in organizations. His talks invite listeners to experience mantra as a practice for clarity, healing, and inner calm.
Theme Lead: Bhakti & the World
Nityananda Chandra is a bold and articulate voice for devotion-in-action. Having practiced bhakti since his teens, he entered ashram life in 1999 and went on to serve as Community Director at the Dallas temple for 15 years. A teacher, father, and seasoned traveler, he has guided spiritual seekers across the US and India, engaging deeply with the Bhagavad-gītā’s call to dharma. His talks address contemporary crises—climate anxiety, animal ethics, social division—through a lens of grounded compassion and fearless clarity. With a background in science and scripture, he offers a bhakti-based response to the world’s most urgent challenges.
Theme Lead: Bhakti & the Inner Life
Champaka Mala is a teacher of devotion whose sincerity and emotional depth open hearts wherever she speaks. Raised in the bhakti tradition in Moscow, she moved to New York to study psychology and now blends inner work with devotional practice. As a co-facilitator of “Beginning Bhakti,” a business consultant in organizational psychology, and a ceramic artist, she embodies the devotional path as both discipline and intimacy. Her talks gently explore trust, doubt, surrender, and love for Krishna—inviting listeners to rediscover their inner connection with the Divine through vulnerability, presence, and grace.
Theme Lead: Identity & Self
Gaura Sharan brings together yogic insight, psychological depth, and timeless wisdom to guide seekers back to the essence of the self. A former data scientist turned monk and teacher, he embraced bhakti in 2007 and has spent over two decades helping others navigate ego, doubt, and inner fragmentation. As a chaplain at NYU and a leader at the Bhakti Center, he works with students and seekers to bridge scriptural knowledge with self-inquiry. With calm clarity and philosophical precision, his talks untangle the mind’s noise to reveal the soul beneath—offering not just understanding, but grounding in a confused world.
Damodar Vinod moved from Upstate New York to New York City in 2014, where he completed his BA at the Fashion Institute of Technology in 2017. His spiritual journey brought him to the path of Bhakti in 2018, thanks largely to the Bhakti Center community. For three years, Damodara lived at the Bhakti Center’s ashram and immersed himself in bhakti-yoga. Under the guidance of senior teachers, he regularly studies Bhakti scriptures and does various services at the Bhakti Center while working in digital advertising and residing in Brooklyn.
