Bhakti Vasudeva Swami | Bhakti Vasudeva Swami

A spiritual leader of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

Monk: His Holiness Bhakti Vasudeva Swami is an initiating guru within the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) as well as a member of the Spiritual Advisors Bhagavata Assembly (SABHA), a partner of the Governing Body Commission. H.H. Bhakti Vasudeva Swami has spent over thirty-five years as a monk in full-time service of propagating the message of Krishna Consciousness. He joined ISKCON in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1984, and he was initiated by His Holiness Bhakti Tirtha Swami initiated in 1986. He steered many projects in the early days of the movement in West Africa under the order of his guru: namely, in only a few months after his initiation, he became a member of the management committee, and later, the president of Lagos State chapter of ISKCON where he oversaw the Temple construction of ISKCON Lagos.

In 1990, H.H. Bhakti Vasudeva Swami served as regional secretary for Nigeria and the West African sub-region. In February 2009, he received sannyasa initiation (renounced order of life) from His Holiness Jayapataka Swami in Mayapur, India. Since then, he has been traveling all over the globe preaching the sublime message of love and devotion to Krishna. He possesses the unique ability to preach to intellectuals by presenting the Vaisnava philosophy in an easily digestible way by his audience.

One of the many roles H.H. Bhakti Vasudeva Swami has undertaken in his devotional life is to foster profoundly personal relationships with his young mentees, whom he guides in their spiritual and professional journeys. H.H. Bhakti Vasudeva Swami encourages young devotees to be grounded in spiritual practices while developing their professional skills for a sustainable Krishna conscious future. Individually and collectively, Bhakti Vasudeva Swami has touched, inspired, and transformed many lives.

Scholar: H.H. Bhakti Vasudeva Swami holds a Ph.D. in Applied Management and Decision Sciences from Walden University, in Minneapolis, USA. He has to his credit more than 35 publications in international academic and peer review journals. Bhakti Vasudeva Swami incorporates Vaishnava vedanta philosophy into mainstream secular academic models and proffers creative and spiritually based solutions to current socio-political, management, and leadership problems.

H.H. Bhakti Vasudeva Swami is regularly invited to present at major international conferences across the globe. In February 2005, he got invitations to present his research reports at five academic conferences in the United States and afterwards served in ISKCON of New Jersey as a pujari while continuing with his academic preaching. Later, he became a United States citizen by naturalization.

H.H. Bhakti Vasudeva Swami frequently travels to educate diverse audiences on the values of love, peace, unity in diversity, self-realization, social justice and positive change, community development, conflict resolution, and organizational leadership. Some of his publications in academic and secular journals include but not limited to:

The Gunas and Human Behavior.
Vedantic Views on Cultural Transformation: A Stimulus for Sociopolitical Stability.
Panacea for Matrimonial Failures: A Guide for Transforming Relationships Between Men and Women.
Synergic Thinking Approach to Spirituality Oriented Organizational Leadership.
Resolving Religious Conflicts for Sustainable Democracy in Nigeria.
Sonic Therapeutic Intervention for Preventing Financial Fraud: A Phenomenological Study.
The Role of the Hare Krishnas in Mitigating the Social Menace of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.

H.H. Bhakti Vasudeva Swami is a member of the National (American) Social Science Association (NSSA), the International Studies Association (ISA¬ West), and International Leadership Association (ILA).

Awards/Honors:

Memento of Honor, National Institute of Technology Durgapur, Department of Mathematics, West Bengal, India, September 15, 2022.
Best Presentation Award, by the World Academy of Science, Engineering, and Technology, at London, United Kingdom, on June 28, 2021. Title of presentation: Sonic Therapeutic Intervention for Preventing Financial Fraud: A Phenomenological Study.
International Award of Excellence, ISKCON Sridham Mayapur, Mayapur, India, 2003.