LIVING ROOM Cooking with Consciousness: A Hindu Perspective on a Vegetarian Diet

6 pm Doors, 7 pm Program

Intersections, 274 5th Ave

Btwn 29th and 30th Sts

With Gadadhara Pandit Dasa

Hindu Monk & Chaplain at Columbia University and NYU

"Vegetarian food leaves a deep impression on our nature. If the whole world adopts vegetarianism, it can change the destiny of humankind." ~ Albert Einstein

When Pandit started as Hindu Chaplain at Columbia eight years ago, he helped launch a Bhakti Yoga club and teach a vegetarian cooking class. In a relatively short time, regular attendance at the weekly cooking classes grew to over 100 students per session. As students became fans of the vegetarian feasts, their curiosity about the traditions and philosophy of India also increased.

Faith House invites you all to an evening of meditation, chanting, teaching, conversation and of course cooking and eating with Pandit.  Learn about the connections between the Hindu tradition, vegetarianism, and mindfulness.  Plus you'll learn to cook a dish or two and then have a chance to try them!

Gadadhara Pandit Dasa was born in Kanpur, India in 1972, grew up in L.A. and abroad, and moved to New York City in 1995. Desiring further progress in his spiritual life, Pandit spent six months in Mumbai, India receiving monastic training, after which he decided to continue his commitment to monastic life at the ISKCON Bhaktivedanta Ashram in New York, where he has been residing since. He became a disciple of the Vaisnava tradition in 2001, a monotheistic tradition with its roots in ancient India, and received his brahminical (priestly) initiation, in 2002.

In 2001, Pandit began his campus ministry efforts in colleges in the New York area, including Queens College, SUNY Albany, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and most recently Columbia University where he now focuses most of his efforts. As a chaplain with the United Campus Ministry at Columbia, he provides representation for the Hindu community and participates in interfaith dialogues on campus. In October 2008, he became New York University's Hindu Chaplain.

In the Fall of 2003, Pandit taught an accredited course on the Bhagavad Gita at SUNY Albany. At the same time, he was accepted as a "visiting scholar" at the Center for the Study of Science and Religion (CSSR) at Columbia University.