HH Bhakti Tirtha Swami biography

[Guest guest]

Dear Devotees,

Please accept my humble obeisances, all glories to Srila Prabhupada.

 

The following is an introduction to the official biography of HH Bhakti

Tirtha Swami. The book is nearing completion and is due for public release

some time in April.... We will post more information on www.btswami.com when

it becomes available.

 

For more information please see www.btswami.com

 

your servant,

Nanda Sunu dasa

 

********************

 

Black Lotus: The Spiritual Journey of an Urban Mystic

 

By Steven J. Rosen

 

"Black Lotus: The Spiritual Journey of an Urban Mystic" explores the life

and mission of His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami, an African-American seeker

who became one of the most influential spiritual leaders of the twentieth

century. His story begins in a Cleveland ghetto and culminates in the

spiritual world. Along the way, readers meet John Favors, known by family

and friends as "Johnny Boy." A particularly gifted youth, he overcame

numerous obstacles, including a speech defect and impoverished conditions,

to reveal his exceptional character, wisdom, and spirituality. In his

teenage years, he worked with Dr. Martin Luther King and the Southern

Christian Leadership Conference and became a young but prominent participant

in the Civil Rights movement. As months turned to years, he excelled in

school and went on to Princeton University, uncommon for an African-American

in the mid-1960s. While there, he majored in psychology and learned the

science of yoga.

 

His abiding interest in black consciousness, the powers of the mind, and

Eastern philosophy, however, was overshadowed by his spiritual inclinations,

which led him to the Hare Krishna movement, known in India by its

traditional name, Vaishnavism. This is the ancient science of the soul, long

forgotten in the West and known in its purest form only to a select few even

in the mystic East. Through his intense practice, "Johnny Boy" quickly

transformed into "Bhakti Tirtha Swami," an adept who became renowned for his

severe asceticism, his material and spiritual welfare work around the world,

his initiation of hundreds of students into the practice of bhakti

(devotional yoga), and his coronation as a High Chief in the prestigious

Warri kingdom of Nigeria.

 

But his greatest accomplishments involved pragmatic application of high

ideals -- simple living and high thinking. To this end, he established farm

communities, schools for children, published books, and founded the

nonsectarian Institute for Applied Spiritual Technology (IFAST), which

sponsors seminars and provides workshops for professionals and spiritual

seekers of various persuasions. In the process, he demonstrated that

effective spiritual life includes the best aspects of psychology and

principle-centered leadership.

 

His inspiring story is enriched by personal interviews with family, friends,

college professors, mentors, disciples, and other fellow travelers on the

spiritual path. These interviews make their appearance in the book as inset

quotes, allowing his associates to speak for themselves. As a result, "Black

Lotus" offers an intimate look at the Swami's life and times, which blossom

on these pages for the first time in written form. As the beauty and sublime

perfection of a lotus rises in supreme majesty above its stem, which is

buried deeply in clouded waters, so "Black Lotus" is a tribute to one who

rose above all boundaries and limitations, and inspired others to do the same.

 

____

 

Contents

 

* Foreword (by Bhakti Tirtha Swami)

* Introduction

* Chapter 1 -- Forgotten Triangle

* Chapter 2 -- Life-Altering Experiences

* Chapter 3 -- The Prince of Princeton

* Chapter 4 -- Enter the Dark Lord

* Chapter 5 -- The Saga of Renunciation

* Chapter 6 -- Passage to Africa

* Chapter 7 -- I-Fast/ U-Slow

* Chapter 8 -- Global Leader

* Chapter 9 -- Back to Godhead

* Afterword

 

_____

 

About the author:

 

Steven J. Rosen (Satyaraja Dasa) is an initiated disciple of His Divine

Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and editor-in-chief of the Journal

of Vaishnava Studies, an academic quarterly esteemed by scholars around the

world. He is also Associate Editor of Back to Godhead, the magazine of the

Hare Krishna movement. His recent books include Gita on the Green: The

Mystical Tradition Behind Bagger Vance (New York: Continuum International,

2000); The Hidden Glory of India (Sweden: The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust,

2001); and Holy War: Violence and the Bhagavad Gita (Hampton, Virginia:

Deepak Heritage Books, 2002). In addition, Greenwood Press has recently

released his reference book on Hinduism as part of their "Introduction to

the Major World Religions" series.