Based on the request of many devotees, in July of 2010, Bhaktivedanta College will offer a summer camp for young devotees aged 14 to 21. Experienced guides will help the youth become accustomed to life in the spiritual community of Radhadesh and teach them music, art, spiritual aspects of life, and lots of recreational activities.

There will be plenty of cultural exchanges and lots of learning of new skills. Most camps offer fun, friendship, and memories, but what makes the Radhadesh Summer Camp unique is our commitment to offer children a pure devotional atmosphere, filled with opportunities to perform devotional activities. Participants will explore many aspects of spiritual life and learn how to integrate these into everyday life.

The camp is both a wonderful way to spend a holiday and an exciting opportunity to broaden skills, add experience to one's life, and develop friendships with peers from around the world. Participants will visit nearby cities in Europe with fellow campers and discover the wonders of nature in the Belgian Ardennes. Campers will return home spiritually enlivened and refreshed.

The Radhadesh Summer Camp offers young people an exceptional opportunity to make friends and a chance to grow in a favorable atmosphere of intercultural exchanges and devotional activities under the guidance of experienced teachers.

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This course on "uttama bhakti," or pure devotional service, will give the students an exciting glimpse of the unlimitedly nectarean ocean of pure devotional service, according to the teachings of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The diving-off spot for entering that ocean will be the six characteristics of pure devotional service described in his translation of Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, "The Nectar of Devotion." There will excursions into aspects of pure bhakti via the songs of Srila Narottama Dasa Thakur and Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura. The course will be taught by Sankarshan Dasa Adhikari, an initiating guru and traveling preacher.

Teacher: Sankarshan Dasa

Teacher: Saunaka Rsi Dasa

Provides students with historical background on the life of Rupa Goswami and detailed knowledge of the structure and contents of his principal theological ideas, as presented in the Bhaktirasamrta sindhu.

Teacher: Hanumatpreshaka Swami

Srila Rupa Goswami and his community dominated the Medieval world of Indian metaphysics.  He was a highly placed minister of Nawab Hussain Shaw, of Bengal, but still not happy. He renounced everything to follow the saint and mystic Sri Krsna Chaitanya. He obtained happiness by surfacing and drowning in the waves of the gopis' love for Lord Krsna. Rupa Goswami wrote more than 11,000 verses in 18 works and then summarized everything in just eleven verses.

Teacher: Hanumatpreshaka Swami

This three-month course has been especially designed to familiarize you with the main themes and general content of four essential books for practicing bhakti-yoga: Bhagavad-gita, Sri Isopanisad, Nectar of Devotion (Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu), and Nectar of Instruction (Upadesamrta). In this way, you will be prepared for a more in-depth study of those books during your Bhakti-sastri course.

Living and worshiping in the temple, offering service, taking part in the community life and enjoying the association of experienced teachers, senior devotees, and visiting preachers, will surely enliven you and will give you a solid foundation in your devotional life.

Dates: March 1 - May 30. 2010
Fee: 20 € per month (participants perform full-time service in the temple and receive meals and accommodation)

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The college had its first Bhakti-yoga Retreat (Oct-Nov 2009), with six students from Belgium, Spain, Slovakia, Finland, and the US. Although called a retreat, it became an intensive course, owing to the students' eagerness to absorb as much as possible in three months. Theoretical and practical classes, spread throughout the day, inspired them. Most of them now wish to enroll at the college, so we are preparing a Foundation Course in Bhakti Yoga for them, starting in March.

Bhaktin Blanca (Spain) said: "The retreat is an excellent introduction, not only theoretically but practically. It provides a lot of opportunities to associate with devotees. I am glad I followed the advice of mataji Jaya Bhadra, an advanced devotee who has lived in Radhadesh for twenty years, to take the course (we met in Barcelona). Every class was a fantastic contribution to my limited knowledge. The theoretical classes were the most exciting for me, surely because of the high standard of the teachers (Dinadayal, Ramakeshava, Mangala Candrika, Anupama, Sudevi, Tivra Bhakti and others).

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Haribol! I am from Saranagati, a valley nestled between tall mountains, where simple, sweet devotees live. They are developing and supporting one another in Krishna consciousness after having voluntarily withdrawn from city life and an urban style of living.

Now I am in the wonderful community of Radhadesh. I feel that it is quite similar to Saranagati in some ways. I came here to take a Bhakti Shastri course, a three-month study of the basic spiritual books of the Hare Krishna movement. So far, my studying has been fantastic.

Radhadesh is magnificent. The castle is a huge, beautiful, and ancient masterpiece. There are really amazing spiral stairways that wind all the way up to the top of one tower. After class in the evening, I go up there to look at the golden sunset in a pink sky. It is so beautiful and peaceful. Rolling hills, grazing horses, and greenery are some of the breathtaking scenes in the distance.

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Kirtan plays a central role in the spiritual practices of the students. Many students have naturally developed expertise in playing instruments and singing by growing up in an atmosphere of dedication to spiritual life and inner growth.

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