"Living with Gratitude, Giving with Compassion"
~Presented by Rukmini Walker
This talk was given at Bhaktivedanta Manor on Tuesday, June 4, 2019 on living with gratitude, and giving with compassion.To listen to the audio recording, please click here or on the arrow below.https://soundcloud.com/tulasi-nadia-harrison/hg-rukmini-devi-living-with-gratitude-giving-with-compassion
Lecture on the Caitanya Caritamrita at New Vraja Dhama, Hungary
~Presented by Rukmini Walker
This is a recording of a temple lecture I gave at New Vraja Dhama in Hungary on Sunday, June 2, 2019. The class was given on a verse from Caitanya Caritamrita Madhya Lila (CC versus 62-63) on the topic of how when something is dear to Krishna it becomes more worshipable than Krishna Himself. His devotees, His name, anything that is dear to Him becomes worshipable. And about the transformative power of His name and His great devotees.Please click on this link to listen to the audio recording: http://sivaramaswami.media/rukmini-devi-dasi-shares-memories-srila-prabhupada
The Law of Opposites
-by Rukmini Walker
“This universe, O Supreme One! Is a most weird abode!”
(Bhaktivinode Thakur, in Saranagati)
In this world, everything seems to be different from the way it appears. Reality seems to be the opposite of what I see.
It seems that the more I chase pleasure, the more I feel pain. The more I seek honor, the more I can become dishonored. But then, we see those who dwell in humility, become those who are uplifted.
Our lives appear so permanent, but, in fact, time rushes by us, as the Gita says, “engaging all people”.
Our pleasures are fleeting, and when we try to hang on to them, they sift through our fingers like dry sand.
We hear that all things must pass. Is there anything of substance, anything of sustenance at all in this world?
On the path of Bhakti, we hear that there is another nature beyond this world of change and decay.
Our eternal nature is of that world, beyond this world--the name, form and qualities of God, Sri Krsna, descend as avatars from that world of reality to call us back, to awaken us to our real selves.
Can I call out in love with my whole heart? With an inkling of hope… Please carry me beyond this world where the law is of opposites!
O my Lord Krsna, I am Yours! Please accept me! I am Your eternal servant, but I have been wandering in opposition to my real nature. Wandering in this cycle of birth and death for so many eons of time, and I have forgotten You. Please accept me! When shall I see You again?
All the best,
Rukmini Walker
Deepening Our Comfort with Uncertainty
--By Kristi Nelson
"You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith, and hope." ~ Thomas Merton
I used to put myself to sleep by repeatedly reciting a little mantra that helped me transition from active days to hopes for a calm mind at night: “There is nothing to do, nowhere to go, nothing to know.” Guiding myself into greater comfort with not knowing was always helpful in reassuring my mind that it could truly rest and take a break from trying to plan and figure everything out. It seemed that where my mind could lead, my body would follow, and so I could slip into the sweet embrace of sleep.[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]There is much to discover that can surprise us, so much to which we can gratefully yield, so much permission to let go of our need to know or control what will happen.[/perfectpullquote]In our daily lives, there are endless forms of uncertainty — far more things we cannot know than know. Objectively, this could be cause for great delight, wonder, and surrender. We could be relieved and appreciative that we do not have to perpetually hold onto the steering wheel, captain the ship, drive our lives. There is much to discover that can surprise us, so much to which we can gratefully yield, so much permission to let go of our need to know or control what will happen. And yet when we experience the presence of true uncertainty in our lives, it can be rattling. It goes against the conditioning most of us have internalized that not knowing is threatening — that it must be hidden or overridden, solved or resolved, as quickly as possible.For everyone alive now, and for everyone who has ever lived, we are united in the fact that life invites us to show up again and again into mystery. There are no guarantees — only exquisite unknowns. We do not know exactly how or when we will die, and there is no single formula for how best to live. We do not know how life is going to unfold — in the grand scheme and also in its minutiae — and we cannot be in charge of most all of it. This freedom from control can either shrink our perspective to the size of a clinging fist or deliver us readily into the gaze of the cosmos, depending on how we approach life in the moment. Much of our freedom depends on cultivating greater perspective about being with uncertainty, however and whenever we can.[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]As we meet the uncertain world with grateful and wholehearted presence, our inner life and spiritual life are unfathomably enriched.[/perfectpullquote]When we practice grateful living, we create a welcoming space for the surprise of uncertainty, knowing that it arrives naturally in each of those moments when we truly take nothing for granted. Without expectations, life is one surprising unfolding after another. The exact nature of the surprises that arrive in our lives is not up to us, but the nature of our response to surprise is ours and ours alone. Each time we let go and welcome life instead of holding onto our ideas about it, we receive reinforcement for our willingness to surrender to vastness rather than trying to resist it. The rewards of this shift are ever-available to us and make the risks ever-worthwhile, as they deliver the gifts of greater ease, resilience, and joy. As we meet the uncertain world with a more grateful, trusting presence, our inner life and spiritual life are unfathomably enriched. As Br. David Steindl-Rast says, “Deep trust in life is not a feeling but a stance that you deliberately take. It is the attitude we call courage.”It seems we could benefit from learning to bring more of the intentions and prayers we use to guide ourselves to sleep at night to help guide us in how to be truly awake to our days. At night, we soften into the impending unknown of sleep by encouraging our minds to be fully in the moment, to let go, to trust, to surrender. Perhaps if we allowed ourselves to remember this practice of release — that there truly, often is nothing to know — in the fullness of how we live out our days, we might find ourselves more available to life, and life infinitely more available to us.
Kristi Nelson is the Executive Director of A Network for Grateful Living. To read more about her visit this page.
Gratitude
-by Barbara Crooker
This week, the news of the world is bleak, another wargrinding on, and all these friends down with cancer,or worse, a little something long term that they won’t die offor twenty or thirty miserable years—And here I live in a house of weathered brick, where a manwith silver hair still thinks I’m beautiful. How many timeshave I forgotten to give thanks? The late day sun shinesthrough the pink wisteria with its green and white leavesas if it were stained glass, there’s an old cherry treethat one lucky Sunday bloomed with a rainbow:cardinals, orioles, goldfinches, blue jays, indigo buntings,and my garden has tiny lettuces just coming up,so perfect they could make you cry: Green Towers,Red Sails, Oak Leaf. For this is May, and the whole worldsings, gleams, as if it were basted in butter, and the air’ssweet enough to send a diabetic into shock—And at least today, all the parts of my body are working,the sky’s clear as a china bowl, leaves murmur their leafy chatter,finches percolate along. I’m doodling around this page,know sorrow’s somewhere beyond the horizon, but still, I’m riffingon the warm air, the wingbeats of my lungs that can take this all in,flush the heart’s red peony, then send it back without effort or thought.And the trees breathe in what we exhale, clap their green handsin gratitude, bend to the sky.
Posted by kind permission of the poet. First published in Poetry East; Line Dance (Word Press, 2008); and recently in Gratefulness.org May 2018.
Something Understood: Brides of God
-presented by Jahnavi Harrison
Musician Jahnavi Harrison interweaves music, prose and poetry in a celebration of the women who choose to dedicate their lives entirely to God. Click here to listen in to this inspiring BBC Radio session.She explains that she has always been fascinated what it is that drives a woman to leave behind worldly affairs and adopt a life of seclusion and near-constant prayer. Though the tradition is timeless, with today's calls for feminine independence and gender equality the choice to be a nun feels just as radical and relevant as it might have in the past.Jahnavi explores the life of Emahoy Maryam Tsegue-Gebroue, an Ethiopian nun whose prodigious talent as a pianist has led to her records being adored all over the world. We also meet the "maharis", Indian temple dancers who were dedicated at a young age, considered to be brides of God, taking part in a wedding ceremony and wearing all the markings of married women.With readings from the 13th century Christian mystic Mechtild of Magdeburg, St Saint Clare of Assisi, the Bhagavad Gita and ancient Buddhist poetry from the Therigatha and music including the work of Christian polymath Hildegard of Bingen, The Flamingos and Yamuna Devi.Presenter: Jahnavi HarrisonProducer: Max O'BrienA TBI Media production for BBC Radio 4.Click on this link to listen to the BBC radio session ~ https://soundcloud.com/jahnavi_harrison/bbc-radio-4-something-understood-brides-of-god-may-2018[embed]https://soundcloud.com/jahnavi_harrison/bbc-radio-4-something-understood-brides-of-god-may-2018[/embed]
Listen Well
-by Ananda Vrindavan Devi Dasi
Listening is at the heart of bhakti
At the heart of life. It’s the last
To go, did you know?
And here’s what I have found
In my new way of being
That life has become alive again
And new meaning arrived for
Service and humility
Words I did with practice
Wanting to be there
Looking for peace in those
Words alone, and not who’s behind them.
Which is, the other,
the other person,
The one who is making the noise
Telling their story by their life
Interacting with mine
And the Big Other who
Is so expertly and naturally
Everywhere but not in your face
If you don’t want it.
Suddenly, listening for me has
Freed me from myself.
I want to run to the top of the
Mountain and shout with arms up
“It’s not about me!”
And not because that’s how I’m ‘meant’
To feel, but because that’s how I feel.
Living In The Season: Spring
Here in Damariscotta Mills, the alewives have returned, the star magnolias are in full bloom, and a delicate halo of yellowish green is emerging in the hardwood canopy. The arrival of Spring brings a welcome and magnificent surge of energy that speaks confidently of renewal. And not a moment too soon! So now that we are here, what is the invitation of this season?
My hope for this periodic letter to encourage observation of the seasons throughout this coming year. Using the lens and practice of Five Element Acupuncture, I will be following this seamless flow of change, and I hope you will follow along with me. By drawing attention to how every season does, in fact, have an energetic texture that presents opportunities and tasks, we may come to know once again how to live in harmony with this, our very own Spring, unfolding right here, right now.
This is a really good time to initiate. What do you want to clear out, internally and externally? What would you like to see happen this year? Spring invites a new start. We make a plan and we begin to implement. There is, for instance, the decision to plant, and then we put the seed into the ground. Literally or metaphorically, this is what Spring is asking of us. Be assured, the energy of this season will support you in your push to begin, your desire to engage, whether it is trying new things or making changes.
Some of us may feel we just don’t have the get up and go to meet this dramatic shift after Winter, but waking up to Spring is really worth the effort! Not planting the real or metaphoric seed now has a ripple effect throughout the entire year. There may not be time for the germinated seed to mature in the full expansion of summer, or for it to ripen and be ready by Fall. So then there may not be a harvest. Without having secured a harvest, it is difficult to let go into the winter, as we are called to do. Lack of reserves undermines our ability to embrace the opportunity that Winter offers; rest and rejuvenation. So when Spring finally does come around again, is it any wonder that many feel depleted, and are challenged to marshal reserves of our own?
No season is more important than any other. They are all completely interdependent, with each season having its own emphasis, voice, and requirements. Spring’s clarion call is to begin. Coming into balance with this season, is one way to experience what health actually looks like.
Trees are anchored by strong roots that support upward growth. They flower, leaf out, and express themselves in all their glory. This is the emphatic energy of Spring. Winds may blow, rains may pour down, but trees are irrepressible, and determined to grow upward. We too are like a tree reaching towards the sun. What do you need to help you grow right now; to fully express yourself? What has been just waiting and longing to be changed?
On another note, many folks are reporting feeling anxious these days. Part of this may have to do with a political climate that is unsettled, and the confrontational way groups are relating to one another. But whatever the reason may be, this anxiety is affecting our overall communal health. Being attentive and responsive to Nature’s guidance, especially now, is deeply grounding, and can help dispel feelings of resignation.
In closing, a little Spring cleaning is in order. Its time to let go of the heavier diet of winter, and replace it with a lighter one with lots of Spring bitters like dandelion greens, spinach and arugula, scallions and chives. All of these foods help cleanse the body and support Spring renewal. And last but not least, what a wonderful time to rise early and take a walk, being nourished by the promise of this season.
THE INSPIRATION LIST
-By Sacinandana Swami
1) CHANT with absorption, knowing Krishna listens to the voice of your chanting.
2) RELISH the Srimad Bhagavatam every day and share what struck ‘you’ with others.
3) Let go of your fear – SURRENDER! By conscientiously choosing small acts for the pleasure of the Lord, you build a strong bridge of surrender that eventually brings you to Him.
4) LISTEN to the saints, every day.
5) CHOOSE good friends and dare to talk with them of things you are usually silent about.
6) Don’t become attached. REMAIN CLEAR. You are a citizen of the spiritual world, staying only a short time in the guesthouse of planet earth.
7) Know that in GIVING and not taking, the real treasures of life are coming to you.
8) Learn to THINK thoughts that give you energy.
9) Find that small spark in your heart, and then ACT OUT OF LOVE rather than duty.
Spring
-by Gauri Gopika Devi Dasi
On the edge of flight
Waiting for You,
The ocean within
With the trees
I move
Through every season
Ancient pillars of patience:
Witnesses of Your every wish
Rooted in Your energies,
I gain the skies, at last
Free
I fly to what is me
In the fresh spring breeze,
Awake to the calling within
Your seeds of
Love
Gently sprouting in all that be.
Radical Forgiveness
-by Denise Mihalik
Years ago a family member was admitted several times to a local mental health facility, and it was an incredibly challenging time for all of us. For years and years following, I avoided driving past the hospital, and when I had to, uncontrolled hurt, anger and grief would rise to the surface, and I would be lost in memories and regrets. At the mere mention of the institution’s name, I would grimace and shut down the conversation. I didn’t realize how much negativity I was clinging to and how that clinging was affecting my mental wellbeing. One day, a friend innocently mentioned that this facility was having a staff wellness fair and that I should consider offering sound healing sessions there. From the emotional state I just described, you can only imagine my reaction. I colorfully declined. My friend let it go.A year later, a doctor from the hospital randomly reached out to me via email to invite me to offer sessions at the very same fair. I hesitated and took a breath. “Would it hurt to speak with someone about it?” I thought. I called and had a candid conversation with the organizer who was a social worker there. I shared with her some of my pain while she offered her perspective from her own heartbreak for clients and families. This helped to loosen my defensive barriers, and I was able to look beyond old pain and begin the healing process.A few months later, I walked into the hospital with my heart pounding and breath short. I saw the needs of the staff and began to connect and offer sessions. Healing was had by all, myself included. Five years later, we continue a respectful and special relationship.I share this story, not to be lauded for my heroic healing, but because, it’s my guess, that I'm not the only one who’s had to go through the process of radical forgiveness. May this encourage you in some way to continue forward in growth and expansion.Love and Light!Denise
Denise Mihalik is a Certified Sound Healing Practitioner, Voice Teacher, Yoga and YogaVoice Instructor, Classical Singer, Kirtaniya, and Bhakti Yogi. Denise has been immersed in sound exploration since early childhood. The sounds of nature and the world of music have greatly influenced her life. She has been practicing yoga for the past 16 years and is a certified yoga and YogaVoice Instructor. You can connect with her at her website https://www.soundawakenings.biz/
To Fear and Not
By Ananda Vrindavan devi dasi
-------
Fear is the illusion of this world and our body
And the journey into an animal birth
so close we are to creaturehood
Yet to step inside means
to stop the way we can ask
Such questions as to why we fear.
The consequences of our actions.
Offending others, especially those devoted to
Helping us cross the ocean of birth and death.
Suffering and pain, for myself and others.
Depression and the downward cycle of self.
Fear and what it makes us think of others.
Do not fear
Death, as we do not die
Eternity, even as the great unknown
Life, in all it’s complicated ways
Love, for what it asks us to do
Detachment, and let it hold us
Forgiveness, and the act of letting go
Acceptance, of things we don’t want
Fear, as it will always be there
We become fearless, not without fear
But with holding on to Krishna
The big hand we grasp as we walk
In our life and face the stairs
We have fallen down or climbed before
Feel the fear as we look at it
Then hold onto the railing and walk the steps
Fearlessness is holding on to a greater love
A steady hand, a stronger arm
Fearlessness is never alone
Ananda Vrindavan is one of my dearest friends. In addition to being a beautiful poet, she is the community president of ISKCON of DC. Please visit their website at iskconofdc.org Her poems regularly appear on our Urban Devi website. -- Rukmini
Last Moments in Mindfulness?
I was in a small satsang this morning at our temple in Potomac, Maryland with Ananda, our community president, Giri, our resident wise man, Kim, our kirtan angel, and Adrianna, our Russian friend.
Giri was quoting from a story he’d read once by Dostoyevsky. He didn’t remember the name of it. It was back in the fog of his past life’s tomes.
In the story, a man had been sentenced to execution. As he traveled by horse-drawn carriage to the guillotine (or was it a hanging?), time seemed to slow, as he saw at the distant horizon the place of his death, many blocks ahead of him on the road.
In the almost frozen last framed moments of his life, he was present to each sensation, mindful that each would be his last the call of a bird, the creaking wheels of the carriage, the mood of the sky…
Is being mindful in the moment enough? Is there a place of permanence and solace beyond this moment? In the moments of my conscious life, and in the last moments of my life, where will I rest my shelter-seeking heart?
The Gita is not vague or impersonal in its prescriptions for our ultimate maladies:
[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""] For those who see Me everywhere and see everything in Me, I am never lost, nor are they ever lost to Me… (Bhagavad Gita 6.30) And whoever, at the end of life, quits her body remembering Me alone at once attains my nature. Of this there is no doubt. (Bhagavad Gita 8.5) [/perfectpullquote]
All the best to you in all the moments of your life,
Rukmini Walker
Unlocking the True Self Through Love
by Urmila Devi Dasi
Who are we? Our body grows in the womb and we enter the world with a ready-made identity as someone’s child, of a particular a gender and nationality. The various identities we clothe ourselves in are merely a mixture of social and cultural preferences, which come and go like trendy fashions. Yet, we make them solid as we gradually define our selves through them. But, are any such identities really that solid? Who are we beyond all these external designations of self?The Bhagavad Gita and all eternal wisdom—indeed, our own introspective experience—tells us that each of us are a spiritual being whose "I" has merely a most fleeting connection with all those external identities. And, as we are beyond the mundane, so is all life around us. All the "others" are transcendent entities as well. We are connected as parts of our common source: an all-pervading, Divine Person who is everywhere and in everything.Only when we awaken to our loving relationship with our supreme source, do we truly connect with both ourselves, and others. Additionally, we find the true residence for our various temporary identities—the ones that that create the illusion of worldly duties—and we offer them to that supreme source, Krishna, out of love. For our dealings with ourselves, and others on the illusory platform—this is my mother, my child, my sister, my enemy—are also valuable here.After all, until we are fully free, those identities and relationships are a large part of our story. They provide the framework upon which we paint the canvas of this brief life, and are often the springboard from which we dive into the clear pool of spirituality. In the meantime, delving into how we love others—or attempt to love them, as our sense of our authentic relationship with them unfolds—becomes part of our spiritual paths.The sacred Bhakti texts, the Bhagavatam and the Bhagavad Gita insist that identity and relationships be the foundation for all else—material and spiritual. Relishing and rejoicing in our selves, cultivating neutrality towards friends and enemies, freedom from envy, and kindness toward every living being, are all essential on the spiritual path. As we dive deeper into our individual relationships with others we aspire to empathize with their struggles and heartbreak, and genuinely celebrate their triumphs.It is through lovingly connecting with our selves and others, in the context of serving the supreme divine person, Krishna—through our thoughts, hearts, and actions—that the budding flower and fruit of our soul unfolds and ripens. It is these sweetest of exchanges of love that we aspire to share with each other and Krishna. Spiritual practices are, therefore, all about entering into a personal relationship of love, certainly not arrived at via mechanical formulas.
Love is Not A Formula
Oh my dear Krishna!
To push a button
That opens up, then
The world within us
Awake from chrysalis.
It’s a dance, my king,
Where angels sing
And love perfumes
Hearts’ inner rooms.
How can one make
A way to take
Love, essence of life,
Cut it with a knife
Bottled in a jar
Studied from afar?
Love always resists
An analysis.
Capture is hopeless
And force is useless.
If we want to control,
We remain like a mole
Who desires the sun
While beneath everyone
Digs deep in the ground
Where the sun is not found
I do want to love
And need grace from above
For I’m too poor to know
How real love I can show
Can’t remember the key
That unlocks the real me.
(An earlier version of this article first appeared in Bhakti Blossoms, published via the Vaishnavi Voices Project, dedicated to honoring, celebrating and inspiring the voices of contemporary women in the bhakti tradition.)
Urmila Devi Dasi (Dr. Edith Best) has been practicing bhakti yoga since 1973 and travels the world teaching the science of the Bhagavad Gita and the practical application of bhakti to life. She has a PhD in education and has three decades of experience teaching primary and secondary students, which include 19 years of experience as a school administrator and leader. She has published Vaikuntha Children, a guidebook for devotional education, The Great Mantra for Mystic Meditation, dozens of articles, and Dr. Best Learn to Read, an 83 book complete literacy program with technology enabling the story books to speak in 25 languages at the touch of a special “pen”. Urmila and her husband, Pratyatosa, have three grown married children and many grandchildren. In 1996, Urmila and Pratyatosa entered the renounced order of life, or vanaprastha, in Sanskrit. You may connect with her through her Facebook page.
Draupadi – Dishonored Yet Honorable
by Chaitanya Caran Prabhu
Draupadi’s admirable character is revealed in the most humiliating incident of her life: her attempted disrobing by the wicked Dushasana. Though victimized in body, she refuses to be victimized in heart. Her exceptional character transforms the lowest point in her life into the highest point. The incident in which she is the most dishonored, she emerges as the most honorable.Victim of power play 
On that fateful day, she has just taken a ritual bath. As per a purificatory tradition, she is wearing a long single cloth – a kind of sari – for a specified period before putting on her ornate royal garments as the chief queen of the reigning monarch, Yudhishthira. Unknown to her, he has, in a rigged gambling match, lost everything: his property, his brothers, himself and finally her. As per the terms of the gambling match, they all have now become slaves of the Kauravas.After the Kauravas win Draupadi, the jeering Karna suggests that she be summoned to the assembly and disrobed publicly as she is now the Kauravas’ slave, bound to do their bidding. The reprehensible scheme to disrobe her was driven not just by lust but also by hunger for power – the Kauravas saw Draupadi less as a person and more as a tool to demean the Pandavas. Their mentality is marked through and through by objectification of women.They order a court messenger to summon Draupadi. The messenger goes to her chamber and informs her about all that has transpired in the assembly. She is appalled, but quickly pulls herself together and comes up with a strategy to buy time. She tells the messenger to ask the assembly whether she had actually been lost when Yudhishthira had already gambled and lost himself – when he was not his own master, was he her master to have gambled her? Draupadi is holding on to straw and she probably knows it. But when straw is all there is to hold on to, it needs to be held on to firmly.That Yudhishthira gambled Draupadi might suggest that he too treated women as property, thus objectifying them. But the sequence of events reveals a more nuanced reality. Yudhishthira gambles her after he has gambled himself, whereas he gambles all his property before. So, even if Draupadi is considered his property, she is categorically higher than the rest of his property – for him, she is more precious than himself. She is his property in the sense of ‘belonging,’ as used when a lover says to the beloved: "You belong to me." Such an assertion makes the beloved feel valued, cherished, treasured. When the messenger conveys Draupadi’s question to the assembly, the Kauravas demand that she come and ask it herself. The messenger returns to Draupadi, but she sends him back asking whether the righteous assembly had actually summoned her, a chaste woman, to appear in public in her present condition when she is dressed in a single cloth. The evil-minded Duryodhana can’t wait to humiliate the Pandavas, so he tells his brother Dushasana to bring her immediately to the court. That vile warrior strides to her chamber and pounces on her. Screaming for help, she tries to run to the chambers of Gandhari, the Kauravas’ mother, who might be able to stop her son. But Dushasana catches her by her hair, drags her to the assembly and hurls her to the ground in the middle of the hall. Technicality and travesty Though disheveled and distraught, Draupadi rises, offers her respect to the assembly and requests that they answer her question. The blind king Dhritarashtra remains silent. So, the responsibility to answer falls on the eldest member of the assembly, the grandsire Bhishma. He states that two principles are pertinent: a wife always belongs to her husband, whereas nothing belongs to a slave. He confesses his inability to decide which of the two principles merits precedence in this circumstance.No one in the assembly offers any other opinion except Vidura, the half-brother of Dhritarashtra. But Duryodhana has made a habit of neglecting his uncle’s wise counsel – and this occasion is no exception. The whole assembly gets caught in a technicality about dharma and ends up condoning a travesty of dharma. The bhakti tradition calls such an error niyamaagraha – sticking to the letter of the law while neglecting its spirit. The real issue was not whether a woman belonged to her husband or not; it was whether the assembly didn’t find anything wrong with such egregious dishonoring of a virtuous woman. Duryodhana, enjoying the Pandavas’ discomfiture, tries to pit wife against husband. He announces that if Draupadi admits that dharma-raja Yudhishthira had violated dharma by gambling her, he would release all the Pandavas. Shrewdly, Draupadi rejects his bait. She refuses to cast any blame on her husband, not because she is blind to his mistake, but because she is honorable enough to publically stand by her loved ones, even when they have committed a terrible mistake – all the more so when they are remorseful, as Yudhisthira so clearly was. Just because we are let down by others doesn't mean that we have to let them down.She responds that if Yudhishthira had had the choice, he wouldn’t have gambled at all – he had gambled only because of the instruction of his elders. The onus was on those elders to decide what was right.The dishonoring of Draupadi is so heinous that it triggers dissension in the Kaurava camp. One of Duryodhana’s brothers, Vikarna, rises and urges the assembly to answer her question. When he is answered with silence, he offers his own opinion, pointing out several improprieties in the gambling match. Firstly, Yudhishthira had been pitted against a trained gamester – this invalidated the match right from the beginning. Secondly, he had gambled unwillingly, been compelled by his elders’ instruction. Thirdly, he had been goaded to keep gambling far beyond civilized limits – things done under the spell of gambling shouldn’t be taken seriously among relatives. And he had lost himself first, so he was in no position to stake Draupadi. The assembly applauds Vikarna, but Karna waving his huge shoulders silences everyone. He mocks Vikarna, labeling him immature and ignorant of morality. Rather than rationally refute Vikarna, Karna inexplicably chooses to fight dirty – he justifies the atrocious dishonoring of Draupadi by assassinating her character. Deeming her a prostitute for having married five men, he argues that there was nothing wrong in publically dragging and disrobing such a dishonorable woman.This grievous slur on Draupadi’s character was entirely unjustified. Though polyandry was rare, it had scriptural and historical precedents. Additionally, in Draupadi’s specific case, she hadn’t done anything objectionable to get five husbands – she had simply accepted the decision of her elders. Sages of the caliber of Vyasa and Narada had sanctioned it, declaring that the great god, Shiva, ordained it. In no way was such polyandry comparable to prostitution. For his mendacious and malicious insult to an honorable woman, Karna deserves the strongest censure.The inexhaustible robe and the exhausted disroberWith Vikarna silenced by Karna, Duryodhana asks Dushasana to strip Draupadi. Crying in mortification, she holds on to her sari desperately. But she is no match to that huge brute. Finally, she raises her hands in fervent supplication to her Lord, Krishna, and begs him to rescue her from sinking in the Kaurava ocean. By Krishna’s mystic power, her sari becomes endless. Dushasana keeps pulling and pulling and pulling, but to no avail. He gets exhausted, but her sari remains inexhaustible. The whole assembly applauds Draupadi's virtuousness that has attracted such supernatural protection – and censures the Kauravas for attempting to dishonor her.This incident of Draupadi’s honor being protected by Krishna incarnating as her endless sari has been immortalized in the bhakti tradition through architecture and literature, poetry and imagery, prayer and song. Krishna’s supernatural intervention is significant, but it shouldn’t detract from Draupadi’s strength of character. That remarkable strength comes from her spirituality, her pure devotion to Krishna. And her foundational spirituality finds its culminational expression in her helpless prayer to Krishna and his miraculous reciprocation. Significantly, the miracle doesn’t slow the Mahabharata’s narrative. Its focus remains on discerning dharma, and dharma centers on human actions, not divine interventions.Unsurprisingly, the adharmic Kauravas aren’t fazed by the miracle. Their inability to disrobe Draupadi doesn't make them rethink their maliciousness; it just makes them suspend their intention to disrobe her. Rather than recognizing that they are doing something dastardly that has caused higher powers to stop them, they decide to continue their humiliation campaign in another way – they declare that Draupadi should be sent to the maids’ quarters and taught to sweep their palace. Bald lies and salted wounds Meanwhile, several inauspicious omens occur. Vidura warns Dhritarashtra that such omens portend the destruction of the Kuru dynasty and implores him to stop the adharma that is provoking these omens as reactions. The king is jolted out of his stupor on hearing that his sacrificial fire, which he had kept lit throughout his life, has gone off. Coming to his senses, he attempts to minimize the damage. He lauds Draupadi for her chastity and courage, and tries to mitigate the Pandavas’ silent fury by mouthing sweet words. The baldness of his lies would have provoked laughter had the situation not evoked such horror. He says that he had called the gambling match just to test the skills of the two cousins. The question begs itself: How was the Kauravas’ skill tested by having Shakuni gamble on their behalf? The situation was like that of a person who invites someone to a friendly boxing match and then has Mike Tyson play in his stead – and play with a win-at-all-costs, take-no-prisoners mindset.Dhritarashtra tells Draupadi to ask for some boon. She asks for the release of her husband – not Arjuna who had won her, but Yudhishthira who had lost her.Even in the closest of relationships, we all sometimes commit mistakes, and most of us do have conscience that makes us feel bad when we act harshly. That pinch of conscience is a burning wound for sensitive people, enough to impel them towards self-correction. When we have hurt someone, we often feel regretful and repentant. But when the hurt person hits back at us with harsh words, those words frequently become like salt on the wound of our self-recrimination. The aggravated sting can change our attitude from self-corrective to ultra-defensive, thereby worsening the situation. Such aggravation of the situation can be prevented if the hurt person resists the urge to hit back. But controlling one’s pain and anger requires great fortitude. Exhibiting such fortitude, Draupadi resists the temptation to put any salt on Yudhishthira’s wounds. Instead, by asking that he be released, she helps the mortified king regain his dignity.Dhritarashtra tells Draupadi to ask for some other benediction. She asks that all her husbands be released along with their weapons, adding that they don’t need anything more – with their weapons alone, her husbands will regain everything else. The king says that he is not satisfied and tells her to ask for more benedictions. Draupadi declines, quoting an ancient standard that forbids kshatriya women from asking more than two benedictions. The king in a rare display of magnanimity returns the Pandavas everything they had lost. (Later, they are recalled for another rigged gambling match on losing which they are exiled to the forest.)The virtuous turns villainous Karna can't tolerate this foiling of the scheme to dishonor the Pandavas. The moment when the Pandavas regain what they have lost is Draupadi's one moment of dignity in a nightmare of indignity. And yet Karna cannot let her have even that much relief. He can't resist taking a potshot at the Pandavas: Just see these warriors who were saved by a woman!In this incident, Draupadi emerges the brightest character. The character who emerges the darkest is not Dushasana, although he gets immortalized infamously as Draupadi’s disrober. The darkest character is not Duryodhana, whose exposing his bare thigh to Draupadi eventually leads to his death through the breaking of that very thigh by Bhima. The character who emerges the darkest is Karna not because his behavior is so reprehensible, but because such behavior is so shockingly out-of-character for him. To his credit, he regrets his actions, as he admits in the Mahabharata while speaking to Krishna and then to Bhishma. In contrast, Dushasana and Duryodhana never regret their vile deeds – their only regret is that they couldn’t dishonor the Pandavas more. Just as in the Ramayana Kaikeyi acts reprehensibly due to Manthara's association, so too in the Mahabharata Karna acts reprehensibly by Duryodhana's association, being driven by the desire to please that debauched prince. A spine of steel In this incident, Krishna’s protecting Draupadi is often highlighted. An equally, if not more, important feature is Draupadi’s consistent strength of character. Within her female form runs a spine of steel that stands erect throughout. And that steely resolve is relevant and instructive for us. When the world subjects us to indignity, we may not be the beneficiaries of miraculous rescues, but we can still cultivate a steely resolve. Such inner strength is something that all women – and indeed all of us – can aspire for, no matter what indignity the world subjects us to.Today when systems for the protection of women are often found to be distressingly inadequate, this ancient incident when the system utterly fell apart speaks to all of us. Draupadi reveals the strength that comes from one's innate dignity, by sheltering one's identity not in one's femininity, but in one's spirituality. Who can not admire such character and admire the character with such character?
NECTAR PRAYERS: RAMA NAMA
It is well known that the Lord’s name is the most compassionate - even more merciful than the Lord´s form. Here is an ancient prayer to Lord Rama’s name, which I found in one of my many notebooks where I had written down numerous gems of inspiration.
~ Sacinandana Swami, April 2012
Sacinandana Swami has been a monk in the bhakti tradition for 42 years. With a highly developed divine feminine side than most, He is known for his significant contribution to the practice of contemplation and meditation for modern practitioners of bhakti. Sacinandana Swami has published numerous books and CDs, and offers an array of retreats and seminars. Thousands of enthusiastic singers and dancers visit his kirtan concerts. He teaches at the Vrindavana Institute for Higher Education in India and the Bhaktivedanta College in Belgium. Yellow Rose
-by Ananda Vrindavan Devi Dasi
---------------
Today
A single rose
Peers out at me
From the glass jar
Reminding me of the day
You were born so many years
Before we even imagined this time
When a rose would be offered back to us
In gratitude for bringing you up in a world of
Service and spirituality, a world of love
And laughter, a world of caring and
Sharing. We received it with joy
Surprised and yet not at how
You now live your life and
Have become a giver
Of yellow flowers
And so much
More
Ananda Vrindavan is one of my dearest friends. In addition to being a beautiful poet, she is the community president of ISKCON of DC. Please visit their website at iskconofdc.org Her poems regularly appear on our Urban Devi website. -- Rukmini
Beyond Border Control/Mind Control
-by Pranada Comtois
The youth clad in hiking boots and jeans hoisted his back pack over his shoulder and hurried out in front of me. Swinging my head to the side to avoid the brusque movement of his pack, I slowed my step to give way to his determination.Perhaps he knew what to expect: clearing US customs takes time. He was making sure to be in front of the 200+ passengers deplaning in Atlanta from Costa Rica.We arrived into a mile-long hall to Passport Control forming a single-file snaking line of hundreds of passengers. I was peaceful listening to a kirtan. Then I noticed how unhappy people seemed, which struck me since I was feeling joy.I thought, Maybe chanting the maha-mantra every day has helped me gain patience and peace that doesn’t come easy for others.Curious, I became attentive to individuals as they rounded the corner and saw the length of the line. Dread, agitation, and concern showed in their faces. The longer we stood still the more I heard rumbles of unrest.I stood nibbling on dinner until the line reached an area filled with multiple rows of automated kiosks. We scanned our passports, answered questions, then had a picture taken, which was printed out on a piece of paper the size of a boarding pass. Several people repeatedly commented on how awful they looked in their photo.The unhappiness of the wait and ugly pictures is unnecessary if they simply checked negative thoughts. Notice this, Pranada. Commit to changing all traces of your own mental negativity.Our lives are lived in our minds. Factually, our mind dictates our state of being.If I don’t like being unhappy, I don’t need to focus on the length of the line, I could be thankful we landed safely (the plane had touched down so hard that people were jostled in their seats. Many screamed; I had said “Krishna!”).Now I was listening to transcendental sounds; I had packed a healthy meal; I was on my way home . . . I kept finding more reasons why the moment was utterly precious and I smiled.Once past Customs we headed, not to our connecting flights, but to a TSA security checkpoint. This line was seriously long. Now people’s faces were more than gloomy and agitated.Out of hundreds of people only one young couple was jolly and bantered. Perhaps the newness of their union buoyed their spirits. Their silliness was also an external manifestation of their mind’s playground.I began to wonder what it would be like if I was with this large group of people during a catastrophe. What would happen to our decorum-veneer if our mettle was really tested? How would we fair at the most demanding checkpoint, death?If not border control, or control by work, a spouse, money, event or other person/circumstance, we’re controlled unequivocally by Time.[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]We’re not controllers. When we accept this, we have an opportunity to practice patience and humility which strengthen our ability to control the mind.[/perfectpullquote]For we must stand in line; we must wait; we must accept what is; we must die.We can note, though, that while perfectly restraining the mind can give us peace, it doesn’t allow us to transcend the mind (or body) which is the root cause of our suffering and insecurity. Nor is it by mind control alone that we’re able to pass through the border at the edge of the multiverses beyond the time-space barrier. Another type of qualification is needed.Entry into the superior nature is simple: Arrive as a lover.Proceed as your self, disentangled from identification with the temporal material mind-body. This is possible through a spiritual practice that is ego-effacing. Reach there with full spiritual rapture for your Divine Significant Other.* The force of your transcendental passion is the passport required.Bhakti is the East’s path that promises the charming objectives of becoming a lover and perpetually free from borders. Additionally, it’s ego-effacing practice—unlike most paths—is easy and sweet.For centuries, saints, seers, mystics, sages, and ordinary practitioners have validated the efficacy of Bhakti’s mantra meditation kirtan (group singing of Krishna’s holy names) and japa (individual chanting).Chanting the names is a potent form of dialogue. In a conversation there is an exchange of ideas and sharing of personal interests. When our discussion is with an extraordinary person, our communication stirs feelings of appreciation, and often gratitude. And when our connection is deep and abiding those feelings mature into love.Bhakti encourages, Sing and chant your way to wise-love.Taking daily time to free the encaged self from ancient patterns is worth every minute and the inevitable inconveniences are no aggravations at all.May you be free to pass beyond all borders,Pranada*The five spiritual moods (rasas) parallel the five primary types of loving exchanges in human experience. The relationships of the self with the Divine are reverential/passive love (shanta), subservient love (dasya), friendship/mutual love (sakhya) , nurturing/parental love (vatsalya), and intimate, passionate love (madhurya).
Pranada Comtois is a devoted pilgrim, teacher, and author of Wise-Love: Bhakti and the Search for the Soul of Consciousness, which has received four industry awards in spirituality and body/mind/spirit. She is a featured speaker in the film “Women of Bhakti.”
Random Acts of Kindness
Below is an offering from Denise Mihalik from Sound Awakenings as an inspiration for your Day! ~ All the best, Rukmini
As much as I encourage and teach others to breathe, I often forget to do this myself when doing yard work. I get into a zone and just go, go, go until I can go no longer. A few days ago, this happened while trimming my hedges, one branch at a time, with a pruner. Exhausted, I fell out of the hedges, my arms bleeding from the branches, my hair full of twigs, my neck screaming from the awkward angle. Yoga. Yes. On the wet grass, I went into a supine twist. How good that felt! In the sun, following my breath, I fell asleep in that position. Some time later, I heard footsteps. Someone was close by. I heard ‘Oh my goodness, are you ok, are you ok?”. My cat nap now over, I realized that it looked like I had fallen from the sky, broken in a twist. “Yes”, I replied. “The hedges did me in and I fell asleep doing some stretches.” She seemed embarrassed. I saw her car parked out front, a complete stranger concerned for my well-being. “Thank you so much for your kindness,” I said as she quietly left.My heart was warmed by her kindness and I was grateful to be reminded that there are many, many people doing good things. I have a bumper sticker that says,[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]“Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.“[/perfectpullquote]Shall we?Peace and Light,Denise
Denise Mihalik is a Certified Sound Healing Practitioner, Voice Teacher, Yoga and YogaVoice® Instructor, Classical Singer, Kirtaniya, and Bhakti Yogi. Denise has been immersed in sound exploration since early childhood. The sounds of nature and the world of music have greatly influenced her life. She has been practicing yoga for the past 16 years and is a certified yoga and YogaVoice® Instructor.
Living In The Season: Late Winter
--by Susan Weiser Mason“Late Winter is a song of longing, with a slow beat and no melody.”
In acupuncture, Winter is associated with dormancy. Yet mysteriously, during this season the reservoir gets replenished. So there must be activity within this ‘still time’. A few days ago I could feel that energy with the thaw at work both within the earth and within my chest. It was palpable and nearly made me weep. Something had released. A gate had opened. Suddenly hopefulness and buoyancy flooded through every cell in my body.
Attention may be the most basic form of love, as it allows me to be deeply reassured by the energetic cycle of the seasons. Consider for instance how death is implicit when the leaves fall and the tree lets go into the arms of Winter, only to become home to a marvelous gestation culminating in the rebirth of Spring.Winter is like the Sabbath; the day God rests. We pause out of deference. We accept being subject to a cycle greater than ourselves. In that same way we can surrender to Winter and offer ourselves as a prayer and a promise kept. By late Winter most of us are on our knees. We’ve been stretched and undone, and are in need of relief. We’ve weathered the dark time in order to be reborn. It has been exhausting but the coming of Spring will be breathtaking! Apparently, being wrung out is not at odds with the promise of renewal. The only caveat might be if we totally ignore Winter’s invitation to rest, and just keep running as though there is only endless Summer. We may not choose Winter, but we live in a place where Winter’s initiation is part of the package. So even if we complain, most of us could not imagine living without it.
