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Our Inside Story

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About

The Bhakti Tree a.k.a. Hare Krishna Food for Life Hunter Valley Inc. is a registered charity, committed to helping people from all walks of life to be happy. We do this by promoting a healthy diet and lifestyle through a number of avenues.

‘Bhakti’ is a Sanskrit word, meaning love or devotion.

At the Bhakti Tree, following in the footsteps of our founder, His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, we have created a wonderful community spirit where everyone feels welcome and loved. And love means service because if someone loves another then they will naturally serve them as a manifestation of the feeling they feel within. Every action performed at the Bhakti Tree is a ‘serving with love’.

Our various activities make up the branches of the Bhakti Tree – pure vegetarian and vegan food at our café in Mayfield or at University of Newcastle through the student vegetarian club, yoga, kirtan (mantra-meditation), philosophy discussions, cooking classes, catering etc. Check us out when you are next in the area.

We have had a long history in Newcastle, first established as Hari’s café, then Govinda’s and since February 2015 in our new avatar, as The Bhakti Tree. The Bhakti Tree is the only pure vegetarian and vegan café in Newcastle, where food is prepared with Bhakti.

The Bhakti Tree is the city outlet for New Gokula Farm at Millfield in the Hunter Valley, less than an hour’s drive away. The Bhakti Tree sources its milk from cows protected for life at New Gokula. This Hare Krishna farm is the only one near Sydney and Newcastle dedicated to cow protection, meaning that the cattle here will never be sent to a slaughter house. The cows on the farm are happy and therefore, the quality of their milk is far better than any you will ever get in NSW. This kind of dairy is called Ahimsa meaning non-violence. The farm also produces some organic vegetables, which we also use in our cooking. The profits from the Bhakti Tree help maintain the farm.

The Bhakti Tree is managed and run by volunteers. Meet the core team here