"In 1975 I participated in the AVC. This was the most important event in my life. It was a fully blissful engagement in total spiritual activities."

- Gopi-gopisvara dasa
(Dan Richardson-Engineer)

"The AVC is a blast. We students have a great time."

- Ryan Depuy
October, 1999
Transfer Student from Columbus State University

Step Toward Enlightenment

"As the sun illuminates all this universe, so does the soul illuminate the entire body by consciousness." (Bhagavad-gita 13.34)

Previously seekers of enlightenment traveled to the Himalayas. Now, the timeless teachings and culture of India have come to the Blue Hills of Kansas City.

Shrila Rupa Gosami reminds us that a trainee need not learn everything about spiritual life at once. Still, the main goals students should achieve from the AVC are:

• Students should gain a basic understanding of the Krishna consciousness philosophy, i.e.
• The difference between the body and the soul
• The value of bhakti-yoga as the means to reestablish one's relationship with the Supreme Godhead Sri Krishna
• Students should learn the techniques of sadhana (regulative principles and practices).
• Students should become familiar with transcendental outreach activities, (sankirtana)
• Students should become familiar with the life and teachings of His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada as a pure representative of God.
• Students should become familiar with future opportunities available to them within RVC and within ISKCON.

RVC offers credit for the introductory semester (AVC). This course is taught by expert instructors who have passed an exacting Instructor Training Course. AVC includes study of basic Vaisnava texts, such as Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, and the learning of slokas (verses), Vaisnava etiquette and standard devotional practices. Students also receive experience in performance of public harinama (congregational chanting), literature distribution and guidance in explaining their realizations to others. The essentials learned in this course will carry the students through their years at the RVC and beyond. RVC tries its best to accommodate as many students as possible.

By organizing the academic curriculum in this way, the twelve week AVC course not only gives students the highest standard of initial Vaisnava training, but also affords them the opportunity to acquire fifteen college level semester hour credits. The program is admittedly rigorous. Learning is intensified because students attend classes seven days per week and live a purified life-style enabling them to assimilate more knowledge. The AVC could accurately be called an "intensive" semester.

Experience the lifestyle of the "The Spiritual World" which has long granted great sages and saints of the Vaisnava tradition peace and freedom from anxiety. A God-centered life in which the people, the earth, and the animals live in harmony with one another. Learn about the cultural etiquette, ancient worship ceremonies, spiritual values, and social structure. It is a learning experience that is sure to awaken deeper realizations about the meaning of life and the world around you.

•Length of Semester: 3 months

•Starting Dates: Individualized according to the student

•AVC Certificate upon Completion

Residency Classes (15 credits total):

Bhagavad-gita As It Is (VP 101- 3 credits)

Srimad Bhagavatam (VP102- 3 credits)

Sri Isopanisad (VP103 _ 1 credit)

Nectar of Devotion (VP 104- 1 credit)

Nectar of Instruction [Upadesamrta] (VP105-1 credit)

Vedic Paradigm (VP 106- 3 credits)

Readings in Vedic Literature (VP 107- 1 credit)

Gita Slokas (VP108- 1 credit)

Vaisnava Etiquette (VP109- 1 credit)

Starting Date: Continuous Revolving Term

Because students enroll in the AVC introductory semester at individualized starting dates, the complete course is designed to repeat itself perpetually, affording each student the same curriculum. The supramundane attributes of the subject matter, supported by the extraordinary cooperation of the staff and students, allows a student to easily begin his studies at the current group station and proceed astride the others until he completes the course. The AVC or Bhakta Program Institute, now in its twenty-fifth year of operation, has, served thousands of new students with the same ever-fresh transcendental realized knowledge.

Classes

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

6:15 - 6:30 AM Sloka

7:45 - 8:30 AM Srimad Bhagavatam

5:10 - 6:00 PM Vaisnava Literature and Vaisnava
Etiquette

6:05 - 7:00 PM Vedic Paradigm

7:30 - 8:20 PM Bhagavad-Gita

Saturday and Sunday

6:15 - 6:30 AM Sloka

7:45 - 8:30 AM Srimad Bhagavatam

Selected Readings in Srimad Bhagavatam

The morning temple Srimad Bhagavatam class, personally inaugurated by Srila Prabhupada, is the most important class in the AVC's academic curriculum.

This course provides an abundance of classroom instruction given by a broad range of qualified teachers thoroughly analyzing each particular verse studied.

The sequential nature of the study material furnishes a complete understanding of the intricate themes.

The classes are conducted in the sanctified atmosphere of RVC's Sri Sri Radha-Krishna Temple.

The class includes singing of Jaya Radha Madhava, responsive chanting of the original Sanskrit verse with word meanings, the teacher's reading aloud of the text and purport, followed by the teacher's elucidation on the subject and finally questions and answers discussion.

The student's chief assets for accomplishment in this class are attendance and attentiveness.

Three semester-hours with seventy-two class hours of instruction.

The students are expected to attend the classes and weekly discussion session, take notes, be prepared to answer questions weekly and at the conclusion of the course.

Selected Readings - Bhagavad-gita

Henry David Thoreau aptly phrased it: "In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita."

The fifty-minute Bhagavad-gita class is essential for new students as it brings forth the Lord Krishna's immortal words and seems to put everything in its proper perspective while soothing and entertaining the mind.

Three semester-hour credits

Four classroom hours weekly

Each class consists of: chanting eleven consecutive Bhagavad-gita verses in Sanskrit and English; the teacher's exposition on each of the eleven verses and their purports; questions and answers discussion.

Selected Readings in Vedic Paradigm

This is a topical survey of Vedic literature covering sixty distinct facets of Vedic learning. This popular course introduces the students to the unlimited realm of transcendental knowledge. Srila Prabhupada wrote to a student:

"Try to study our philosophy with penetration and understand the sublime nature of this philosophy and its practical necessity for the whole mankind. Just try to understand... Approach Krishna way of life from every angle_it is perfect." (February 11, 1971 and December 12, 1971)

Three semester-hour credits

Five classroom hours per week

60 Topics:

1. THE GURU
2. THE DISCIPLE AND INITIATION
3. THE DISCIPLIC SUCCESSION (PARAMPARA)
4. LORD CAITANYA PREDICTED IN THE VEDAS
5. CAITANYA'S LIFE
6. CAITANYA'S TEACHINGS
7. LORD KRSNA'S DESCENT
8. LORD KRSNA'S CHILDHOOD
9. LORD KRSNA'S EVER-YOUTHOOD
10. SRILA PRABHUPADA (A LIFETIME OF PREPARATION)
11. SRILA PRABHUPADA (GETTING STARTED IN THE USA 1965-1969)
12. SRILA PRABHUPADA (EVERY TOWN AND VILLAGE)
13. ISKCON ORGANIZATION
14. MORALITY
15. MANTRAS
16. CELIBACY
17. DEITY WORSHIP
18. MAYAVADA PHILOSOPHY (IMPERSONALISM)
19. DIVINE INCARNATIONS
20. DEMIGODS AND DEMIGODDESSES
21. THE VEDAS
22. MAHABHARATA (PART 1)
23. MAHABHARATA (PART 2)
24. SCIENCE OR NESCIENCE
25. SRI ISOPANISAD OVERVIEW
26. YOGA SYSTEMS
27. THE SIX GOSWAMIS
28. THREE MODES OF MATERIAL NATURE
29. UNIVERSAL CREATION
30. THE SPIRUTAL WORLD
31. EVOLUTION & DARWIN
32. LIFE AND DEATH IN THE WOMB
33. HELLISH PLANETS
34. TWENTY-SIX QUALITIES OF A PURE DEVOTEE
35. ATOMIC TIME
36. VEGETARIANISM
37. VARNAS (OCCUPATIONS)
38. ASRAMAS (SPIRITUAL ORDERS)
39. SCHOLARS' ANALYSIS
40. ISKCON: THE FIRST 30 YEARS
41. THE ALLEGORICAL STORY OF PURANJANA
42. FEMALES
43. SANATANA DHARMA COMPARATIVE RELIGION
44. LITERATURE DISTRUBUTION
45. NEW CULT OR ETERNAL CULTURE?
46. SANSKRIT - THE MOTHER LANGUAGE
47. NECTAR OF INSTRUCTION
48. MYSTIC POWERS (SIDDHIS)
49. LORD BUDDHA
50. LORD RAMA
51. BHAGAVAD-GITA (PART 1)
52. BHAGAVAD-GITA (PART 2)
53. FORBIDDEN ARCHEOLOGY
54. REINCARNATION
55. COSMOLOGY
56. .NARADA MUNI THE ETERNAL SPACEMAN
57. DIALECTIC SPIRITUALISM
58. SIVA
59. THE LAW OF KARMA
60. KNOWLEDGE

Sloka Class

The sloka class is good refreshment for new bhaktas during a long japa period. (15 minutes daily)

Students learn to memorize some wonderful verses from Bhagavad-gita.

One semester hour credit

One and a half classroom hours per week.

Readings in Vedic Literature

One semester-hour credit

One classroom hour per week, three assignments, one final exam.

Vaisnava Etiquette

One semester-hour credit

Sobering and often humorous practical tips on how to implement Vedic etiquette into everyday life.

Schedule of Activities

3:00 a.m. Wake up

3:30 a.m. Japa

4:30 a.m. Mangala Arati

5:15 a.m. Japa (continued)

6:15 a.m. Sloka Class

6:30 a.m. Japa (continued)

7:15 a.m. Deity Greeting and Guru Puja

7:45 a.m. Srimad Bhagavatam Class

8:30 a.m. Honor Prasadam

9:30 a.m. Service

3:30 p.m. Honor Prasadam

4:00 p.m. Rest

5:10 p.m. Vaisnava Literature and Etiquette Class

6:05 p.m. Vedic Paradigm class

7:00 p.m. Sundara-arati

7:30 p.m. Bhagavad-gita class

8:20 p.m. Krishna conscious videos served with
delicious hot banana milk prasada

8:45 p.m. Prepare to take rest

9:00 p.m. Rest