I was deeply moved when I saw on Facebook a picture of Shrila Gurudeva, joyfully immersing his hands in the first flour produced from the grains cultivated at Govardhan — wheat, oats, barley, and spelt — the fruit of the dedicated work of so many devotees and volunteers caring for the land.

In my perception, Ādayur was the missing piece in the CSB project — and now, it is there.

The Centro Studi Bhaktivedanta is a school of life that offers people both theoretical and practical tools to elevate their consciousness, nourishing it with universal values, with an anthropocosmic vision grounded in Reality, and with hope for the future.

To attain the state of śuddha-sattva, or “pure consciousness” — the prerequisite for receiving the grace of śuddha-bhakti, pure love for God — the quality of one’s food is essential.
As we read in the Bhagavad-gītā (17.8):

“Persons in the mode of goodness prefer foods that promote life span, and increase virtue, strength, health, happiness, and satisfaction. Such foods are juicy, succulent, nourishing, and naturally tasteful.”

Āyurveda and Yoga are unequivocal on this point: we become what we eat. Stability in sattva-guṇa requires sāttvic (virtuous) food — not only in its gross nutritional components, but also in its subtle energies, which depend on who has conceived, cultivated, processed, distributed, received, cooked, and finally offered that food — and how all this has been done.

Each step influences the final quality. The more awareness and love there are in the various stages of the process, the more the food can nourish the one who partakes of it in its bio-psycho-spiritual dimensions, fostering the elevation of consciousness.

Bhakti, in its essence, is rasa, a sweet sentiment. To become vessels of bhakti-rasa requires patience and sensitivity.

One can cultivate patience by serving in the fields of Govardhan, learning to harmonize with the slow rhythms of nature. To nourish oneself with the foods produced on that Hill — vegetables, olives, legumes, grains — and with their derivatives — oil, flour, sauces — helps develop true sensitivity.

As Shrila Gurudeva (Marco Ferrini) writes in Paths of Happiness:

To become sensitive is an immeasurable gain, equivalent to participating more intensely in life (…). Becoming sensitive does not increase the risk of loss, nor does it mean giving something up, for sensitivity is an integral part of life and opens the door to the perception of eternity. Those who are sensitive possess the gift of perceiving that strong common element of divine origin that binds them with all living beings.

Bhaktivedanta Swami Shrila Prabhupāda, the ambassador of Bhakti Yoga in the West and our param-guru, inspired several of his disciples to establish rural communities under the American transcendentalist motto: “Simple living and high thinking.” Thus were born New Vrindavana in West Virginia, New Raman Reti in Florida, Gita Nagari Dhama in Pennsylvania, and, after his departure, many others around the world — including in Italy.

The land produces everything necessary for human sustenance. There is no scarcity — if we cultivate with consciousness and devotion, the earth responds generously. .

Ultimately, it is pure devotion that makes the land fertile, as described in the Bhāgavatam (1.10.4):

During the reign of Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, the clouds showered all the water that people needed, and the earth produced all the necessities of man in profusion. Due to its fatty milk bag and cheerful attitude, the cow used to moisten the grazing ground with milk.

From the seed planted in the soil, the grain is born. From the grain comes the flour. Bhakti is also a seed, planted in our hearts by the Spiritual Master. The original seed is Shri Krishna Himself, as He reveals in the Bhagavad-gītā (7.10):

O son of Pṛthā, know that I am the original seed of all existences (…).

Gauracandra devi dasi