Finding Our Souls in a Sea of Identities
Finding Our Souls in a Sea of Identities
Krishna Kanta Dasi
In the Bhakti paradigm, at our deepest level, we are each individual units of consciousness (atmans) trying on different identities, lifetime after lifetime. The minute we are born, we are given specific identities involving race, nationality, gender and family. As we age, individuate from our parents, and cultivate our own set of beliefs, we begin to shed old identity-constructs, and/or add on to them. This sense of self, or ahamkara, changes and becomes more sophisticated as we develop.In Sanskrit ahamkara means “I am acting” according to so many temporary roles. Rich and colorful factors related to our upbringings, biology, environments and cultures all come into play when shaping the individual roles we play, the persons we see ourselves as. Because we each “contain multitudes”—as poet Walt Whitman once put it—it is always fascinating to hear others describe themselves.“Who are you?” is a loaded question indeed, sometimes requiring a complex reply! After all, we are so many things to so many people. For example, in this world I am a daughter, sister, mother, wife and neighbor. I am also a student, teacher, doll-maker, vegan, homeowner, naturalist and an artist. I am also multi-ethnic, bilingual, and a resident of U.S.A. I can continue defining myself ad nauseam—as most of us can—for we wear our identities in layers. Some layers are worn very deliberately, while others are a product of our circumstances and conditioning. Some run shallow, like waves, and others seems as deep as the sea. Eventually, as we develop our sense-of-self, parts of our identity will emerge that we may feel very committed to—perhaps like being a vegan—and others that we may be more flexible about—like our specific beliefs about the afterlife.[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]Those who have embarked upon a spiritual journey are often characterized as feeling unsatisfied with superficial identity constructs.[/perfectpullquote]We may feel that none of the ways in which we present ourselves on the outside, match the person we feel ourselves to be on the inside. Naturally, we are drawn to exploring new definitions for ourselves. Such identity explorations may stretch even beyond culture and religion, all the way into race, gender and species. Some individuals even like to think of themselves as being from other planets! This is a perfectly natural phenomenon experienced by embodied atmans all around the world and throughout time.We are all searching for an unshakable identity that does not depend on fluctuating externals. If everything we identify with in this world were taken from us—our family, our career, our community, etc—would we feel as if we have also lost our selves?
This is what happened to Arjuna at the start of the Bhagavad Gita. Everything he previously identified himself with—his relatives, his warrior status, the kingdom—began to crumble before him. He then felt completely lost. Many of us can relate to the experience of an existential crisis. Although our core self, or atman, remains in tact, we nevertheless feel lost due to our shaky connection with it, and our human habit to revolve our sense-of-self around fleeting aspects of existence.From the Bhakti perspective, we began collecting impermanent identities before we were even born! Our souls have been cycling around in the circle of samsara for ions, reincarnating into different races, nationalities, genders and species. Our consciousness is like a container that holds all of these combined experiences, influencing the ways in which we define ourselves today. While it is easy to make intellectual assertions like “I am atman. I am a spark of God’s splendor”, behaving in a manner that reflects this ancient truth can take lifetimes of practice.[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]Bhakti Yoga is the practice through which we cultivate a sturdy connection with our core self, our atman. The atman is made up of sat (eternal being), chit (pure awareness) and ananda (deepest joy): the same inextinguishable ingredients that make up Divinity only in smaller quantities.[/perfectpullquote]Our experience of this core self increases as our connection with the Supreme Divine, Krishna, also increases. The deeper we enter into our relationship with Krishna, the more we begin to reciprocate the love he has for us. We practice doing this here, in this world, within the many roles we play in our daily lives. Denying these roles in the name of identifying only as sat-chit-ananda, ultimately makes us insensitive to the world we are—undeniably—still a part of.All the ways in which we define ourselves in this world—as temporary as they may be—have the potential to enter into our practice of Bhakti, and act as signposts to our deepest self. In Bhakti Yoga, we do not reject the world around us, prematurely renouncing it and the ways in which we define ourselves within it. Instead—as Krishna suggested to Arjuna—we give ourselves wholeheartedly to those external roles, while internally focused on the ways in which they will help illuminate our permanent role, our inextinguishable identity: our eternal role as beloveds of Krishna, devoted to reciprocating his divine love for us.When we focus on the love God has for us, and the love he would like to see flowing between us—while simultaneously honoring the fleeting roles given to us in our lives—we are cultivating a balanced Bhakti Yoga practice: one that is in harmony with life around us.As Krishna cautioned Arjuna, early in the Gita: “What will repression accomplish?” Hastily denying our own humanity, will not jumpstart our connection with Divinity.
In fact, it may very well do just the opposite. The only way to liberate ourselves from the human experience is to go through it, while remaining conscious of God’s love for us. Arjuna did not run off the battlefield in the Gita. Instead, he participated in it, with his mind focused on Krishna, his heart set on love.Loving exchanges that awaken our love for Krishna are at the heart of the Bhakti tradition. When our sense-of-self—our identities—revolve around facilitating and participating in such loving exchanges, our practice will thrive. This does not happen in isolation. It happens when we interact with other people. One of the ways in which we can be most helpful to others while sharing Bhakti Yoga is to be sensitive to them: to really hear them, see them, and respond to whom they identify as the most. This fosters deep, heart-to-heart dialogue: the kind Krishna shared with Arjuna.Acknowledging our “multitudes”—the many roles we play as humans—in the context of a Bhakti Yoga practice, nourishes dynamic relationships with our atmans. The two are quite interrelated, perhaps more intimately than we think. It is counterproductive to see them as disconnected from each other. For this reason, when we share Bhakti with others in ways that harmonize with the situations souls find themselves in today—as Krishna did with Arjuna in the Gita—we honor their individual soul’s journey. In doing so, we honor them, thus increasing their receptivity to Bhakti. This type of sensitivity to others is critical to cultivating love in our hearts: both for our fellow humans, as well as for Divinity.
Enlightening Dark Leaderships
Enlightening Dark Leaderships:(Reflections for Lord Narasimhadeva’s Appearance Day)Krishna Kanta Dasi
The Bhakti tradition is full of references to power and the misuse of power. It describes the age we live in (kali yuga) as the dark age of discord and hypocrisy, governed by unjust, spiritually blind leaders. According to the ancient text of the Bhagavat Purana, when the domination of dark rulers becomes excessive, it is the love within the hearts of Bhakti Yoga practitioners that will summon the counterforce to defeat it.This Friday, April 28th, the Bhakti tradition honors one such devotee by the name of Prahlad, whose love for God was so grand it displaced the most tyrannical, evil king at the time: his own father, Hiranyakashipu.In the seventh canto of the Bhagavat Purana, Hiranyakashipu’s abusive governance is described as causing the whole universe to shake in fear. All, that is, except for Prahlad, who pours his heart into chanting the Holy Names of Krishna instead. Then, in a dramatic display of protective love for his dear devotee, Divinity himself descends as a fierce half-man, half lion, by the name of Narasimhadeva, to obliterate the cruel ruler’s brutal power and restore the peace of the citizens.
It is easy to feel helpless under governance we may not agree with. When the values of political leaders around us reflect the age of kali, even the most faithful among us can become depressed and discouraged. Not all of us will dive into the chanting of the Holy Names with the same vigor and faith that Prahlad always had. In fact, this was the case for Arjuna, the protagonist in the Bhagavad Gita. Having felt pressured to fight in a war for a government he didn’t trust, Arjuna became overwhelmed with feelings of helplessness and despondence. Agonizing over how he might prevent the battle from happening, Arjuna felt utterly powerless.What is power? There are many words for power in Sanskrit, the language of the Gita. One of them is vibhuti. “Bhuti” relates to oneself and “vi” relates to expression, indicating that power rests in the pure expression of the self. When we are connected to our core and are expressing ourselves from that inner source of peace, safety and happiness—as Prahlad was—we are no longer intent on controlling what is happening around us. We are also able to express ourselves more authentically, instead of having our expressions colored by our fears, conditionings, false beliefs, etc. The more intent someone is on controlling the people or environment around them (as Hiranyakashipu was), the more influenced they are by their own insecurities. The practice of Bhakti Yoga reconnects us with our own source of inner power.True power, therefore, is giving up the need to control what happens on our outside, to feel happy on the inside. Prahlad shows us the easiest way to connect with our own inner source of happiness: calling on Krishna, or chanting his Holy Names. This chanting is like a conversation between our hearts and God’s divine heart. In the Bhagavad Gita, this conversation between the soul and Divinity occurs in person between Arjuna and Krishna. In chapter thirteen Krishna informs Arjuna that he will help him come in touch with his own powers by acquiring knowledge of “the field”, or the kshetra.The “field” is our body and everything connected to our body, including our senses, our thoughts, our feelings, desires, etc and all the transformations they go through. Familiarizing our self with everything that creates this “field,” and being able to distinguish it from the “knower of the field” at our core, (or our self, our atman) is most empowering.The word kshetra also works as a double entendre in the Gita, indicating the field of battles that happen all around us, from battles between our family members, to political battles between rulers. So, the less overwhelmed we become with the conflicts around us (and within us), the more clearly we’ll be able to perceive them. In Bhakti Yoga we cultivate peaceful clarity of vision that is not clouded by worldly or bodily designations. Yet this can be hard to do when dark and light forces are swirling all around us, and within us!
The second line in the Gita, dharma-kshetre kuru-kshetre, emphasizes this tension between the light (dharma) and dark (Kuru) forces. The very first word in the Gita means “powerful ruler”: Dhritarasthra. Yet this ruler is blind—both literally and figuratively—for he seeks power in what he can control around him, instead of within him.Consequently, Dhritarasthra’s greed and envy culminates in an impending battle between his family members. Rather then loving one another, they stand opposite each other, with full battalions behind them, ready to violently tear each other apart. This brutal forcefulness weighs down on Arjuna’s heart most heavily as he sees loved ones on either sides of the battlefield.This parallel between family discord and global warfare not only characterizes the age of darkness we inhabit, but points to the battles in our own hearts. Krishna gently informs Arjuna that until he willingly faces the conflicts in his own heart he won’t be able to have a significant impact on his battling family members, and the world around him. For peace does indeed begin first with ourselves, and—as we see with Prahlad—chanting the Holy Names of God opens our hearts up to the light that will scare out the darkness of this age, the way Lord Narasimhadeva annihilated Hiranyakashipu.In chapter eleven of the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna reveals a similar display of his own supreme power to Arjuna in his virat rupa, or Universal Form. Although in Abrahamic traditions God’s supreme might—however ferocious—is held in great awe and reverence, the devotees of Krishna, prefer relating to God’s gentle sweetness. For this reason, both Krishna and Narasimhadeva are requested by Arjuna and Prahlad to hide their fearsome forms, replacing their vicious fangs with loving smiles, and their weapon-wielding arms with arms opening for an embrace. For in Bhakti Yoga, God’s love is emphasized over his fearsomeness.In the Bhagavat Purana’s canto seven, chapter nine, Prahlad recites beautiful poetic praise to Lord Narasimhadeva that is filled with many of the same illuminations that Krishna shares with Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita. Prahlad’s story teaches us that darkness is driven out through love. And that true love, by definition, is not coerced. It is not given on demand or through threats, and it certainly can’t be gained by violence. For even while tortured, Prahlad’s heart remained loyal to the Supreme Divine. His was a truly extraordinary faithfulness powerful enough to drawn down God himself!Though we may feel insignificant in our own faith and love in comparison to Prahlad, he left us the formula to feel empowered: the chanting of the Holy Names. For in spite of us, this loving chanting will shine light into our hearts, dispelling the darkness within us, and, even holding the capacity to enlighten the dark leaderships in our world. Such is the power of chanting: the most essential Bhakti Yoga practice for this age of kali. May we make this our meditation as we sing to Lord Narasimhadeva this Friday!
Spring
Dear Friends,It's Spring here in DC-still cold, but the cherries are flowering in pink; white flowering pears are columns of dignity lining the roads and hills; cheery yellow forsythia; my favorite, the star magnolia, our American lotus; and the wispy redbuds are all blooming in chorus.
Last weekend we had our twenty-first annual Vaisnava Christian Dialogue, held for the first time at our temple in Potomac. Last year it was held at St. Anselm's, a Benedictine Monastery in Northeast DC, where two of our dialogue partners live, Abbot James Wiseman and Father Philip Simo.Each year we choose a topic to discuss and a participant from each tradition agrees to present a paper on the topic the following year. This year the topic was a comparison of monasticism in each of our traditions. Brahmacari Vrajvihari Sharan, who is the Director of Hindu Life at Georgetown University, and Abbot James each presented papers about their monastic traditions.Each tradition's developments and challenges throughout history were fascinating. The tension each community faces in different phases of time; what becomes assimilated, and what rejected, what it means to live in solitude within community was quite a lesson and a journey.
A new member of our dialogue, Patrick Beldio, is a scholar and a sculptor. His Reunion Studios is located in the Franciscan Monastery, also in Northeast DC. He shared with me a link to his magnificent piece that's housed in the New Sanctuary and Center for Sufism Reoriented in Walnut Creek, California. Please view it at:www.reunionstudios.com/work#/thenewbeing/Graham Hetrick, who traveled with Gaura Vani and I this past January on our India Kirtan Adventure, attended the dialogue for the first time. Graham is a profoundly practicing Christian and the county coroner for Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He also has an internationally syndicated reality television show on Discovery, called, The Coroner: I Speak for the Dead (grahamhetrick.com).At one point during the dialogue, Graham leaned over to me and said, "Did you know that we are all made of stardust?" I was amazed. I've learned that we're all sacred sparks of spirit, eternal sparks of Krsna's divine energy, but stardust?Graham told me that a new study surveyed 150,000 stars and claims that humans and our galaxies have about 97% of the same kind of atoms within us.So long ago, Joni Mitchell wrote it; Crosby, Stills and Nash sang it:
Well, I came upon a child of God...We are stardust, we are golden,We are billion year old carbon,And we got to get ourselves back to the garden.
And one last poem called,
SpringOn the edge of flightWaiting for You,The ocean withinWith the treesI moveThrough every seasonAncient pillars of patience:Witnesses of Your every wishRooted in your energies,I gain the skies, at lastFreeI fly to what is meIn the fresh spring breeze,Awake to the calling withinYour seeds ofLoveGently sprouting in all that be.
by Gauri Gopika Devi Dasi, Originally published in Bhakti Blossoms: A Collection of Contemporary Vaishnavi Poetry (Golden Dragonfly Press, 2017)I wish you a joyous Spring!All the best,Rukmini Walker
Photos of Rukmini by Krishna Kanta. Flower tree photo by TOMOKO UJI.
Sita's Appearance Day
Today is the Appearance Day of Sita Devi. Srimati Sita Devi, a manifestation of the goddess of fortune, Lakshmi Devi, is the eternal consort of Lord Ramachandra. When Lord Ramachandra was banished to the Dandakaranya forest, Sita Devi left the comforts of the royal palace to join Him. While in the forest she was kidnapped by the demonic king Ravana, yet despite his endeavors to enjoy her beauty, she remained always dedicated to Lord Ramachandra.While there are many books recounting the tales from the Ramayana, the Sita's Fire Trilogy, is a beautifully illustrated novel whose words and stunning artwork immediately pull the reader into the unfolding drama.“The intrigue and mystery starts with the opening line: never have I been pulled so quickly into a book through a few simple yet tantalizing words. The art and magic unfold page after page through story and image alike. Perhaps it’s a story you know; perhaps not. But Vrinda’s words and her mother’s exquisite art create another world we can enter and revel in the enchantment and adventure that lies within. From injustice to savagery, heroism to beautiful princesses, battles for honor and death before the converse, dishonor, the unique style of Vrinda Seth’s writing captivates the heart and mind, drawing one deeper into the burning intricacies of Sita’s Fire…” —Braja Sorensen, author of Lost & Found in India, Mad & Divine, and India & Beyond
Transcending Our Surroundings Through Love
Transcending Our Surroundings Through LoveKrishna Kanta Dasi
Whether we live in urban or rural settings, it is natural for the world around us—and those with whom we share our world—to affect us. We would hardly be human if they didn’t! We are, after all, interdependent with our environments. Therefore, an inevitable part of our very existence is to absorb the impact of our surroundings. Sometimes, what we absorb on a daily basis can overwhelm us.The same thing happened to Arjuna—the protagonist in the Bhagavad Gita—when he found himself in the midst of political tension, leading to war: Arjuna became depressed by the discouraging atmosphere surrounding him. Krishna then invited Arjuna to carefully observe the ways in which he was reacting to his surroundings. It’s an invitation that this great yoga text extends to each of us: how do we react, or respond, to life around us? Do we enter into a dialogue with the world that nourishes our yoga practice, or starves it?According to yoga philosophy, everything we encounter in this world—from human behavior, to places and events—is characterized by one of three primordial energies, or gunas, which permeate the entire physical universe. Amazingly, these ancient observations resonate with modern discoveries by quantum physicists. They study the way cosmic energy vibrates from slower to faster frequencies, and how these vibrations affect our consciousness.Denser vibrations lead to a denser, or darker consciousness: what the Gita calls, tamas. Surrounding ourselves with places, people or things that vibrate primarily with lethargic, tamasic energy will leave us feeling discouraged and uninspired in yoga.Lighter vibrations lead to a more illuminated, or sattvic, consciousness. Sattvic surroundings and company have a delightfully uplifting effect on us that is most conducive to a rewarding yoga practice.Finally, the middle category is called rajas, and according to the Gita, it perpetuates a cyclical stagnation, which can feel very productive to us, but ultimately just takes us in circles, wasting our time.When Krishna describes one who is absorbed in yoga, he characterizes such a person as having “the nature of sattva” in chapter seventeen. Then, to further emphasize this to Arjuna, Krishna connects an “undisturbed practice of yoga” to one who is determined. This determination, Krishna tells us, is also “of the nature of sattva”. In our yoga practice, it manifests specifically as steadying our mind, our breath, and our senses.Our senses are the channels through which we take in the raw world around us. The mind is the filter through which we interpret every one of our sensorial experiences. And the breath is the reflector of how these experiences impact us on an emotional level. When we are determined to have all these three (the mind, the senses, and the breath) work together harmoniously to enhance our yoga practice, we are benefiting ourselves with the sattvic energy available to us in the world.In surrounding ourselves with places, people and things that all vibrate the quality of sattva, we nourish our yoga practice. Their uplifting influence is invaluable, especially in times of unrest and disillusionment. As we become more and more aware of the predominating energies in our lives—permeating the places we visit, the relationships we participate in, the food we ingest, the music we listen to, etc— we will feel more and more determined to frequent the energies that support us, and let go of the ones that don’t. Krishna calls this “the yoga of discernment”. It involves a kind of surrender.Anytime we let go of something that previously had a firm grip on us—whether it was a relationship, a rigid political stance, a destructive habit, etc—we are exercising surrender. Practicing the yoga of discernment requires surrendering old parts of ourselves, as we can become terribly attached—and even addicted—to the very things that destroy us. Instead of allowing ourselves to be swept up by surrounding rajasic and tamasic energies that will erode our yoga practice, in surrendering, we seek out the sattvic.As the Gita ends, we see Arjuna surrendering his anxiousness and despair about the rajasic political tension around him. His mind takes on a calm, sattvic quality instead. Then, drawing from the power of yoga, Arjuna is able to turn his depressing surroundings into fuel for his practice. He didn’t do this by becoming apathetic to his surroundings, or pretending that they did not affect him. Instead, Arjuna peacefully engaged with the chaos around him by turning to his best friend (and ours!), Krishna, who advised him to act out of love. This is Bhakti yoga: a consciousness even higher than sattva.When Arjuna asked Krishna in chapter 14 of the Gita, how to overcome, or “transcend” the negative impact of the unrest around him, Krishna’s response was: “with the yoga of offering love”. In short, when the world around us begins to feel overwhelming, practitioners of Bhakti yoga focus on cultivating more love. For even in moments of political unrest, we can—as Arjuna did—always find ways to nourish the love within us, the love between us, and the love all around us!
Urban Devi is absolutely delighted to introduce our new contributing author, Krishna Kanta Dasi.Krishna Kanta Dasi has been an active practitioner and student in the Bhakti Yoga tradition since 1986, later receiving Brahmin initiation in India. She has served as a contributing editor for Integral Yoga Magazine, and her writings have appeared in Back to Godhead, The Tattooed Buddha, The Interfaith Observer, Mantra, Yoga & Health, etc.Krishna Kanta is the founder of The Vaishnavi Voices Poetry Project (follow on Facebook) dedicated to honoring and inspiring the voices of women in the Bhakti tradition. She is editor of Bhakti Blossoms: A Collection of Contemporary Vaishnavi Poetry (Golden Dragonfly Press, 2017).
Urban Devi Discussion Group
a women’s discussion groupdates – sundays, april 22, may 6, june 10, july 15, august 12time – 2:00pm – 4:00pmlocation – the bhakti center / 3wadmission – free of chargeTopic: Discussing Visakha Dasi Latest Book: Five Years, Eleven Months and a Lifetime of Unexpected Love
Urban Devi is a monthly interactive women’s discussion circle exploring the intersection of the devotional wisdom of the Bhakti tradition and the lives of women in the 21st century. Sessions begin by Rukmini sharing her thoughts on a devotional verse, song, or commentary, as a stimulus to the open sharing of ideas, struggles, inspirations and hopes.
WHAT TO EXPECT
- wise, kindhearted & experienced group leader
- wisdom from the bhakti tradition
- friendly sincere seekers
- group size approx. 15-25 ladies
LA Times review of Mantra: Sound into Silence
'Mantra: Sounds Into Silence' examines the quiet power of shared singing
For those who have been moved by a unified "om" at the end of a yoga class or harmonized in church, "Mantra: Sounds Into Silence" will resonate. This documentary examines the quiet power of shared singing, looking beyond religion and focusing on the connection between those who have found solace in mantras.
Thomas Merton's Appreciation of Bhagavad Gita
VIEWPOINT: Fight or Flight: Thomas Merton and the Bhagavad Gītā
Steven J. Rosen (Satyaraja Dasa) Editor, Journal of Vaishnava Studies
TWO commemorative events of landmark stature inspired the essay you are about to read: First, the year 2018 marks the 50th anniversary of Thomas Merton’s abrupt departure from our material vision. Second, 2018 is also the semicentennial celebration of a consequential publication: It was in 1968 that His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedānta Swami Prabhupāda released his unprecedentedly influential Bhagavad-gītā As It Is. As we shall see, the trailblazing Western visionary, Merton, and this particular edition of the Gītā engaged in productive conversation with each other.I joined that prodigious conversation, too, if from a distance and a few years later, not only as a disciple of Śrīla Prabhupāda and as an avid reader of his Bhagavad-gītā, but as a fan of Thomas Merton (1915-1968). For the uninitiated, Merton was a well-known Trappist monk, social activist, and author of well over 70 books. His profound insights on nonviolence and nonsectarian spirituality were particularly alluring. But it was reading Merton’s bestselling autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain (1948), that transformed me from an admirer to an aficionado. From that time I knew that I would follow Merton’s writings as a fan for life.The famed Christian writer articulated something I intuitively knew: that there were untapped truths in the East, that there was something “out there” that could inform something “in here.” That is to say, we both felt that although we were children of the Occident, our fate lay in the Orient, and that our dialogue with sages of the East was indispensable to understanding ultimate reality. In the words of author Alan Altany: “The dialogue was not a luxury, but a necessity. For Merton, if the West were to continue to ignore ‘the spiritual heritage of the East,’ it would ‘hasten the tragedy that threatens man and his civilizations.’”Continue reading...
Capital Kirtan
Dear Friends,Here in DC over the past weekend, our Potomac temple hosted Capital Kirtan, a two-day kirtan festival. It was organized by the youth, and the kirtans were led by youth (starting at around age nine).The intention was to have more chanting and less talk. Still, Ananda, our community president, asked me to speak for about fifteen minutes. I guess, if it can't be said in fifteen minutes, then it can't be said. I spoke on Kirtan Revolution. Here is a link to the talk.We're all so happy to be welcoming Jahnavi Harrison back to the US after a long six years. Here is a poem she wrote called:Ode to the Holy NameWhisper it beneath the summer oakswhile swallows dive aboveShout it in your morning shower,share it with the ones you love.Sing it loud, groups of ten,three or seventy-five,brand it on your beating chest andkeep your heart alive.In the garden, on the bus,before exams and interviews,at joyous birth and bitter death,sing this name, loud and true.Call it when your days are long,breath it in and out with heavy head,cry it over your morning tea,and into your pillow before bed.Wash this name through every fiber,rinse and repeat, rinse and repeatsing with everything you have,soft, sweet, subtle, deep.All the best,Rukmini Walker
Gitavali
In another passage in the Gitavali, Srila Bhaktivinoda Thakura states: Oh merciful Lord, this is my specific submission at Your lotus feet. I do not ask for bodily happiness, knowledge, wealth or followers... Let whatever attraction I presently have for material sense enjoyment be transformed into attraction and affection for Your lotus feet. I pray not only that this affection for Your lotus feet remain unvarying in all circumstances of happiness and distress, but that day after day it continues to grow by the influence of chanting Your holy names. Wherever I take birth, be it in the animal species, in the heavenly planets or in hell, may ahaituki bhakti ever grace the heart of this servant, Bhaktivinoda.
Watching Snow from an Upstairs Window
Dear Friends,
Mantra: Sound into Silence
Friday March 17 in NYC! My son, Gaura Vani, will be leading a kirtan after the screening of the new movie Mantra: Sounds into Silence at the Rubin Museum. Click here for tickets.Dear Kirtan Family,The practice of kirtan has touched us deeply. It has brought us great personal transformation, giving us a sense of peace and freedom, and has helped us develop a global community of loving bhaktas who share in the joy in “chanting the names”.We are very excited to be in partnership with the new feature-length documentaryMantra - Sounds into Silence. (Trailer: www.mantramovie.com)The film will have its world debut in New York City on March 16th at the prestigious Rubin Museum of Art.Here is the part where you come in :)We are asking that you volunteer to host a screening of this film!The screenings of this film will be extremely unique. With the help of Gathr Films (the Theatrical-On-Demand® distributor) we are not simply showing a film, but creating an evening to remember. This distribution technique provides us with an option to arrange an extended event within the screening itself. The goal of the Call and Response Foundation, Georgia Wyss (the film’s director) and Gathr, is to have a 25 minute live kirtan at the end of each showing.As leaders of your kirtan community we are asking you to join us in sharing this movie across the world, starting with the people you know best: your community. What this entails, is that you register to be a “movie caption” with the Gather Theatrical-On-Demand® platform network and help bring a film/live kirtan event to your community. The process is simple.Step 1. Go to https://gathr.us/films/mantra/new-screening-request/t/mantraws to get started or visit https://www.mantramovie.com/usrelease2. Check yes on the question “I would like more time for discussion or Q&A” (aka the live kirtan following the showing) in the setup process. Please also select you would like this film “I am using this screening as a fundraiser” as we are looking to use this as a fundraiser for the Call and Response Foundation.3. Talk to your local kirtan leaders. Ask if they would lead a short 20 minute simple chanting set after the movie. Emphasize this this is not a paid gig but an educational opportunity or feel free to lead it yourself :)4. Confirm with the theater that this works for them (confirm a mic) or make your life easier and bring a portable PA system5. Contact us at Call and Response (Jen @ jen@callandresponsefoundation.org or Scott scottkirtan@gmail.com) if you are stuck anywhere in this process or have questions.The way the Gathr Theatrical-On-Demand® system works, is that when you register for a showing, they will tell you how many tickets are needed to be sold to have the screening confirmed (example 30 tickets). The number of tickets needed to be sold (ex. 30 tickets) to have a showing and the ticket price can vary from theater to theater. If you have a choice our recommendations would be with a Regal theater as they allow box office sales after the screen is confirmed.Once you do that, all of us – you, the filmmakers, the existing GATHR Films network, the artists, ALL our combined networks - will promote the screening together through our social channels. You'll be surprised how quickly your screening seats fill up. You will also receive 2 comp tickets for every confirmed screening you host.Let us know when and where you booked your screening, so we can start to direct our resources to it. If you are in our community kirtan program we’d like to collaborate to make this your annual fundraiser!Thank you so much for your help! We can wait to hear from you as to how the process and showing turnout! (and don’t forget we are always here to help if you run into a problem!)Love always,Call and Response FoundationJen CanfieldScott Whitmore
Mayapur: Kirtan Capital of the World: The Place of Compassion
Dear Friends,I'm sorry you haven't heard from me in such a long time. Lots of travel in many places. For two weeks in January, my son, Gaura Vani and I led a kirtan pilgrimage adventure with a group of twenty-four friendly and adventurous pilgrims around sacred and historic sites in Maharashtra, ending our time together with four days at the Govardhan Eco Village, and then culminating at the ecstatic Flower Festival at Radha Gopinath temple in Mumbai. Some of you on this email chain were there with us. It was a most magical time. Let me see if I can fill in some blanks for you now since I've been MIA.Since the beginning of February, I've been in Sridham Mayapur, the birthplace of Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, on the banks of the Ganges River, about four hours north of Kolkata in West Bengal, on the other side of India from where we were before.
I lived here from 1972-1974. Gaura Vani's father and I came here along with a group of other artists to learn the Bengali art of "putul", the making of clay dolls that are used in dioramas and religious festivals. Prabhupada's guru, Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati had created enormous, what he called Theistic Exhibitions, using these dolls to illustrate points of philosophy or lilas, pastimes of Krsna.At the time, these exhibitions were like a World's Fair, showcasing the latest advances in medicine, science, and education. At that time, in the 1930's, rigid caste brahmins objected to his innovative outreach. They said, " This is not Bhakti! This is against our traditions!" He replied in an extraordinary way. He said that the Ganges River changes her course over the centuries. If you are still taking your bath where the Ganges used to flow, what does that say about you? They were quiet after that.
So our guru, Srila Prabhupada asked us to come here to Mayapur-- to do what? Gaura's father was a bit bewildered by the request. He's a brilliant painter and had illustrated many of Prabhupada's books from the beginning on their publication in 1969. Have you read The Krishna Book, with the introduction by George Harrison? Starting with that publication, his charming paintings were appearing in dozens of books. Now this accomplished painter was being asked to learn to make clay dolls. He was nonplussed, but the order of the guru is sacred. So off we went.He was a much better painter than I was. Once in Boston, Prabhupada had seen one of my paintings and then, one of his. Prabhupada honestly said,"The husband is better". After living in Mayapur and working on learning this putul art of doll making, Prabhupada was looking at what we'd learned. I had made one diorama of Radha Krsna, Gaura's Dad had made another one of Lord Caitanya. Somehow, the faces on mine were a bit better. Prabhupada looked and said, "The wife is better". It was quite funny at the time, since it had been over two years since he'd made the last comment about the husband being better. Prabhupada didn't miss a beat.[perfectpullquote align="left" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size="18"]When love is so freely given, the omnipotent Supreme Lord becomes so vulnerable, He becomes a prisoner in the heart of such rare devotees who love Him in that way.[/perfectpullquote]So this Sridham Mayapur is a very sacred place. Vrndavan is called Madhurya Dham: the place of Bhakti in the sweetness of conjugal love, or the love of Radha and Krsna. Mayapur is called Audharya Dham: the place of compassion, where that love is being freely given without discrimination to anyone and everyone by Sri Caitanya, as the form of Radha and Krsna combined.The wisdom books of Bhakti describe that God, or Krsna, owns and controls everything in existence except one thing: your love, my love, freely given. And He hankers after that. He is hungry for that. As an offering, He accepts only that. It's not the flower, or the fruit or the money. He only hankers for our love. And, of course, love must be freely given or it's not love, it's force. When love is so freely given, the omnipotent Supreme Lord becomes so vulnerable, He becomes a prisoner in the heart of such rare devotees who love Him in that way.When we first came here in 1972, it was all rice fields, as far as the eye could see, with a few temples commemorating Lord Caitanya's birthplace dotting the landscape here and there.When I arrived here this year at the end of January, it was all a bit overwhelming. I hadn't been here in fifteen years and it was all unrecognizable. The immense Temple of the Vedic Planetarium is under construction here, and there are residential and educational buildings everywhere. If you'd like, you can check it out at: sridhammayapur.org.I'm looking out the window of my room right now and the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Smt. Mamata Bannerjee has just arrived by helicopter. There are international flags surrounding the helicopter pad, showing the fulfillment of the prediction of Bhaktivinode Thakur ( the father of Prabhupada's guru, who had sent his books to Ralph Waldo Emerson and various universities in the West in 1896, the year of Prabhupada's birth). He had said that one day the people of the many countries of the world would join together with their Bengali brothers and sisters to chant the name of Sri Caitanya, "Jaya Sacinandana! Jaya Sacinandana!" All glories to the son of Saci, Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu!"
A few days ago, they hoisted the Sudarshan Chakras above the domes of the new temple construction. You can go online to view the ceremony. It was stunningly beautiful. Wikipedia defines Sudarshan Chakra as a spinning disk-like weapon for destroying negativity. It gives the vision of that which is auspicious. These disks were placed on the top of the domes in the ceremony the other day. They are up on top now, gleaming in the sunlight.
The Mayapur International Kirtan festival begins here in a few days. The website says that this is the Kirtan Capital of the World. It's the place of origin of the kirtan, or sankirtan ( all joining together in kirtan) movement begun by Lord Caitanya.
I return to the US on February, 20th. My four-month sojourn in India this year has come to an end. These are poignant and nostalgic moments for me now. Perhaps we can plan another kirtan pilgrimage adventure for next year in the coming days and months.[table id=3 /]I look forward to hearing from you or seeing you soon at Bhakti Center in New York.All the best,Rukmini Walker
Happy New Year
Dear Friends,Happy New Year to you all! I wish you many blessings in the coming year.For the past week, my husband and I have been in the south of India in one of the most holy temple cities called Tirupati. We came here for the third annual Vaisnava (the Bhakti Yoga tradition) Christian Dialogue.Right at midnight on New Year's Eve, he was standing out on the veranda of the temple where we're staying, watching and listening to revelers shooting off firecrackers. Right at the moment of ushering in the New Year, he saw a mother cow running down the street with her baby calf running after her, apparently out of fright from the explosions of light and sound. So, of course, fright isn't good, but to see a cow and her calf right at that moment is considered a very auspicious sign for the coming year. I don't know about you, but 2017 was a challenging year for us. Personally, I'll take it as a good sign and look forward to some signs of grace in the coming year.Being at Tirupati has been a bit overwhelming. In the West, we find organized religion to sometimes be a bit suspect. Sometimes it has a way of killing the spirit of the individual. As one goes deeper, most essential is the personal cultivation of the one's relationship of love and service with Divinity, in whatever way Divinity is perceived by the individual. Internal change of heart must be spontaneous, individual and voluntary.But we see here a way of inspiring and engaging masses of people. The temple stands at the top of seven sacred hills, each one representing a different great devotee, such as Hanuman, or Garuda, or Laxmidevi. The Deity called Balaji, is a form of Krsna, and pilgrims repeatedly call out His name, "Govinda! Govinda!", as they stand in line, sometimes for hours waiting for His holy darshan.There are so many stories, I don't know which one to tell you... But the word is that He came here to marry Vedavati, the ascetic devi who stood in for Sita when she appeared to be kidnapped by the evil Ravana. As Rama, He had taken the vow to accept only one wife (a good thing!). Sita and Ram were so grateful to Vedanta, that He comes back as Balaji to show His gratitude to Vedavati, who appears as His consort, Padmavati.Just to give you a sense of how overwhelming it all is: the beauty, the power, and grandeur of it all... It's one of the richest temples in India. And how do they spend the money? Of course, flowers, lights, music, elephants, grand festivals... But there is also a four-story building there where they continually feed the pilgrims, every day from 7 AM to 11 PM at night. And it's a really top-notch breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Each floor of the building sits a thousand people. And they feed them every day, continuously, all year long. As soon as one group is fed, another group sits down to eat. I am overwhelmed...The mood here is so different from the rural mood of Vrndavan, where Krsna appears as a simple cowherd boy. Yet They are one and the same Supreme Person, appearing in different moods to accept the moods of love of His devotees.This blog has grown a bit long, and it's late here now. If you're interested to read the paper presented by Kenneth Valpey, the Bhakti scholar at our dialogue, let me know, and I can forward it to you.I write to you today from Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu.All the best to you in the coming year,Rukmini Walker
You see that you can't see
Last Monday morning at about 6 AM, my friend, Visakha and I set out from Mumbai to travel by car to the Govardhan Eco Village, about two hours outside of Mumbai. The usual deadlocked traffic is less at this time, so we drove through the early morning fog and smog with relative ease.
Sound of a Sacred River
Jahnavi — Sound of a Sacred River — a short film from bhaktivedanta on Vimeo.
This short film was made in Russia in October 2015, by a small team of filmmakers who are passionate about sharing the culture of bhakti yoga with the world. It was shot on location in Moscow and Sochi and profiles Jahnavi Harrison, who grew up with bhakti yoga and serves in the capacity of a kirtan (devotional call and response chanting) leader.
Producer: Shaktyavesha Avatara dasaDirector of Photography: Raghunatha Prana dasa2nd Camera: Hari Mohini dasiAdditional Camera: Nityananda Rama dasaPostproduction: Tamal Krishna DasaTransport: Alexey Pigurenko
Disappearing
I'm in Mumbai now, in the state of Maharashtra; at the other end of the spectrum from Govardhan, in Vrndavan, in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Environmentally, socially, technologically, and in some ways, spiritually also. Although in India, glimpses of spirit are more thinly veiled than they seem in the West, even in modern cities like Mumbai.Vrndavan appears to be a rather backward, dusty village in Uttar Pradesh, yet there is the prakata: the visible, the apparent, the manifest, and there is the aprakata: the unseen, the unmanifest, what lies beneath the surface-- in both the places and the people here.There are jewels of consciousness (touchstones) to be uncovered in the holy places of Vrndavan, and there are jewels in the hearts of the people, even in modern cities like Mumbai. Mumbai is lush with palm trees, banyans, mangoes, champak, and flowering trees of every variety; with cutting-edge architecture in areas where you'd blink and think you're in New York City.In Vrndavan, the trees are more sparse, many looking gnarled and ancient. They are called desire trees, or kalpa vriksa: trees that can fulfill one's desires when we pray to them. Some are said to be perfected beings living there in moods of worship. Some are mentioned in scripture: the golden Kadamba is compared to Sri Radha; the blackish Tamal to Sri Krsna. The Goswamis were sent to Vrndavan by Sri Caitanya to rediscover the lost places of Krsna's pastimes. They were said to sleep under a different tree each night. And the trees would reveal to them the pastime that had taken place underneath each one. One Braj poet said that Krsna is blueish and Radha is golden. When the two meet, their color becomes green, and the trees of Vrndavan represent the union of Radha and Krsna.But in Vrndavan, many sacred trees that have been worshiped for centuries are disappearing. The holy Yamuna River that flows from her source in the Himalayas has been dammed at Haryana until hardly a trickle of her water reaches holy Vrndavan. The Yamuna is disappearing. The sacred Govardhan Hill is said to be shrinking, disappearing each day by the size of a mustard seed.Black carbon particles from coal plants are also settling on the once white snow-capped Himalayas. This causes the snow to melt and they say that in coming years the holy Ganges will also disappear.And in this Age of Kali Yuga, the age of quarrel and dissension, people's good qualities are said to be diminishing or disappearing.Today in Mumbai we celebrated the Disappearance Day of my guru, Prabhupada's guru, Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur, who left this world in 1937. For a saint, we don't say that they die, but rather, they disappear from our vision and enter their eternal lila (pastimes) in the spiritual world with Krsna. Celebrate in the sense that such a passing from this world is glorious.Prabhupada said once, about his guru, in the dedication to one of his books:"He lives forever by his divine instructions, and the follower lives with him".It's said that there's no greater suffering than the feeling of separation from such a great soul. Yet the connection through hearing and receiving divine instruction is palpable and eternal. Inconceivable in a sense, but we can also perceive how longing for something precious or sublime pulls us closer."Longing, felt fully, carries us to belonging."--Tara BrachAs jiva soul, I am also eternal, yet temporary in my present body. What will disappear, and what will remain? My soul will travel, as I desire. But if I desire to know, to love, to go deeper into who I am in truth, then that longing will carry me to belonging, to relationship, to the celebration of the appearance of Krsna within my heart.
Pondering the Path from Mindfulness to Heartfullness
Have you ever been sitting in a kirtan* when the kirtan leader says, "Now, from the heart!"? And you wonder, "how do I find the place of my heart?"Of course, there's the physical heart, with its ventricles and atria and valves and all. And research does show that even the physical actions of the heart are affected by grief, joy, "heartbreak" etc.And then there's the emotional heart, when we fall in love, or out of love... Thinking, feeling and willing are the actions of the emotional heart/mind, each one engaging us more powerfully than the previous one.But what about the heart of my heart? The deepest place inside of me where I, the soul, the jivatma reside. The seat of my deepest love and aspirations. And where the Soul of my soul, the Supersoul, also resides, guiding me over innumerable lifetimes... if I will only hear.I heard a story from a friend, a Buddhist teacher, about one of her colleagues. He, also a Buddhist teacher, was assisting one of his students who was dying of a very painful stomach cancer. The teacher was coaching his dying student to go to the place of mindfulness. After some time, the student told his teacher that the mindfulness wasn't working. His teacher replied, "Then you must go to the place of the heart, you must go to the place of heartfulness."We hear so much about mindfulness, and most of us have benefited from it's gifts. But the interior journey has many layers. In the external world, so many extreme terrains have been trekked and explored; the highest mountains have been climbed; the mysteries of deep seas have been uncovered. But that place of the heart of our hearts remains the deepest unknown place of mystery and unexplored treasures.How can I pursue this inward bound journey? By the sincere cry of my heart, and by begging for grace from beyond my own strength to uncover these deep secrets that are within me.*Kirtan: the call and response singing of sacred names of the divine. Meant to uncover our eternal forgotten connection to our Source, the Supreme Beloved Person, known by many names, such as Krishna, Govinda, Ram, in the Bhakti tradition, or Allah, Jehovah, and others around the world.
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash