Singing rounds in Cathedral Woods
By Rukmini Walker
My husband and I just spent the last five days visiting my sister Susan, and her husband George, in central coastal Maine, along with our son, Gaura Vani, his wife, Vrindavani, and their kids Revati, Kairava, and Kirtan. While we were there we took a boat across the bay of Maine to Monhegan Island. On the island is a magical forest called, Cathedral Woods where visitors and hikers create hundreds of fairy houses from acorns, ferns, and other various flora. While in the "greenwood", the kids were inspired to create a multicultural celebration-singing rounds, including In the Greenwood, Dona Nobis Pacem, and Dance Radha Krsna Dance.Click here to see video clip of the whole family singing rounds -- part 1Click below to see video clip part 2 - a celebration of singing rounds![video width="224" height="128" mp4="http://www.urbandevi.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/VIDEO-2019-08-17-02-12-33.mp4"][/video]
Thoughts on Prayer
by Nanda Carlson
The act of prayer
not for something I want
desire, or desperately need
but to pray in awe
of a vastness,
incomprehensible
a true mystery
where I am held, tenderly
part of an expansive
eternal wholeness.
So big, beyond the edges and borders
there is freedom within
a Love beyond reason.
Even in this tiniest of moments,
it is made known,
it is there, as it always was
Source, the Divine, Reality, Truth...
always present, never alone, never waiting.
So I pray
from this experience
with humility and gratitude
for being a part of this
Great Love,
in relationship with the Divine
and all others
from this knowing comes
a way of living in this world.
We are love, we are loved,
we act from love,
our perception, choices,
words and thoughts
begin to change and unfold
from a place much bigger
then who we think we are.
As Love moves through us
we pray in gratitude,
we pray to remember,
we pray for love
and for that eternal connection
and all that we do and are
becomes Devotion.
------
(reprinted from Bhakti Blossoms, 2017,
with kind permission of Golden Dragonfly Press)
Like Pearls on a Thread
by Sheetal Shah
"Throughout the Gita, Lord Krishna does play with our expectations of what God should be, what we are called to be, what the relationship between the two is."
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Bhagavad-gita chapter 7, sloka 7
mattah parataram nanyat, kincid asti dhananjaya, mayi sarvam idem protam, sutre mani-gana iva
Translation: O Arjuna, great conqueror of wealth, there is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls are strung on a thread.
This verse is one of my all-time favorites. I love the imagery and the aesthetics of it. And I am amazed that in a few short words, Lord Krishna is able to convey a message that is at once bold and direct, and yet also layered with subtleties and nuance. I love the way that the Gita reconciles ideas that – at first blush – seem to be paradoxical.Krishna’s claim that there is no truth superior to him, may rub us the wrong way. It may sound exclusivist, dogmatic, unreasonably demanding. Many of us have been happily reading through a sacred wisdom text like the Gita or the Bible, only to come across a God who hits us with this sort of cosmic “my way or the highway (to hell?)” …and have checked out of religion entirely as a result of it. And while Hinduism is often celebrated as promoting pluralism (and it does), it also has its fair share of religious “truth claims.”
The brilliance of this verse, to me, is that Krishna doesn’t stop there. He gives Arjuna (and us) a vivid analogy to appreciate his claim in a deeper way. To say that God is the thread upon which we, the individual pearls, are strung, carries with it some profound implications.First, it tells us that the Divine doesn’t express his supremacy through cruel, tyrannical demands for submission. He is ever-present, providing the foundation upon which we can rest. There is a comfort there–we are not lonely pieces floating aimlessly adrift some ocean of meaninglessness. We are supported and loved, an intrinsic part of the greater whole.Second, it reminds us that there is a connection between all of us. As disparate as we might seem, as much as we experience the world and our journeys as individuals, the Divine is there as the unifying, common factor. We are people with stories, bound together in the struggle and pain and joys of love–bound by the Divine source of us all. And just as the necklace is considered well-made when the thread tightly binds each pearl to the other, when each stone is close to the other, our perfection is found in how we can fill those gaps between us.Third, it tells us that we are precious. Krishna is intentional (and maybe a bit humorous) in calling Arjuna by the epithet Dhananjaya, the “conqueror of wealth.” Could it be that in a world that puts a premium on wealth – money, cars, and yes, jewels – the real treasure waiting to be discovered is us, the self within and the people around us?
Sheetal Shah, based in New York City, is the Senior Director of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), a nonprofit advocacy organization.
Meeting Our Emotions
by: Rambhoru Dasi
Sometimes, in the interests of spiritual development, practitioners avoid, suppress, or disconnect from their feelings viewing them as taboo. They may even be self-critical or judgmental of themselves or others for having “negative” emotions. The trouble with these attitudes is that they prevent us from perceiving the valuable information our emotions carry with them.
Our emotions help us know whether we can trust our environment or other people. They help us discern our personal nature, inclinations and preferences. They can rouse us into action, inspire us to pause to reflect or get us to notice a potential problem and resolve it before it manifests.
Emotional cognizance or awareness means to be able to identify what we are feeling in any given moment. For example, when we start a sentence with “I feel….” and there’s no feeling word in the sentence, pause and become curious. What is the feeling word that captures the essence of your experience? Then ask, “What does my feeling mean? Is it inviting me to change my behavior or attitude in some way?”
One of the qualities of the Supreme Lord is that He is All-cognizant. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word “cognizance” as “knowledge, awareness or noticing”.
Srila Prabhupada explains, “We are also cognizant (aware), and God is also cognizant (aware)... He is also a person. I am also a person.” (purport, Bhagavad-gita, 3.17). As individual persons we each have our unique natures and preferences.
Being truly aware of ourselves requires us to be able to grasp the information our emotions bring and to skillfully respond to that information in ways that transform our attitude and behavior to align with our essential spiritual nature; sat (eternal), chit (knowledge or awareness) and ananda (bliss or joy). When we keep in view our goal of loving the Lord unconditionally we can utilize the information provided by our emotions to guide our transformation.
Self-Realization literally means the “fulfillment of oneself by the possibilities of one’s character or personality” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). To that end, “The mind should be fixed in self. We are self, and Kṛṣṇa is also Self.” (Bhagavad-gita 6.25-29 purport). The closer we align with our essential spiritual nature, the more we will experience ourselves as whole and undivided.
That’s called integrity!
The Art of Dying
--by Rukmini Walker
To listen to the audio format of this blog, please click below.
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My mother, Edith, died last Wednesday. I was with her, almost at the moment. I had the chance to garland her with my sacred tulsi neck beads and anoint her body with sacred oil from Lord Nrsimhadev in Sridham Mayapur.
She was ninety-one years old and suffering from the debilitating disease of old age and some degree of dementia. Just a year ago, she was so happy when her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren all gathered to celebrate her ninetieth birthday.
But now, she was depressed, angry and unable to change her perspective on her life’s situation. She did not have the gift of faith. Which one of us can really change the patterns of a lifetime in the last moments of life?
For so long she’d been saying that she just wanted to die. The day before her death, she was chanting it repeatedly, like a mantra, “I just want to die, I just want to die, I just want to die…” I told her, “You are dying, we all are. But now you can choose to die in a mood of gratitude for your life, or you can die as a bitter and angry old woman.” She was not able to hear that, or anything but the voice of her anger.
I was with her in her last days. Trying to be of some comfort, chanting to her. Sometimes she would get angry at me for that, sometimes I could get her to say, “Hare Krsna”. She was rudderless in the sea of her misery, unable to hold onto anything of substance, unable to see that there is any real eternal substance beyond this world of suffering.
She was not afraid of death. She could not even think or reach that far. In yoga, we learn that we should try to live, ‘in the moment’. But that means in the moment of remembrance of ourselves as atma, as spirit; in connectivity to the Supreme, the Paramatma.
She was living in darkness, ‘in the moment’ of her own lamentation and frustration, in the same way that someone in passion might commit violence ‘in the moment’ of hot-blooded anger. Each moment is a gift. Each of us can choose how we want to utilize that gift. We didn’t know she had so little time. None of us know how little time we have.
What is the art of dying? Bhagavad Gita says:
yam yam vapi smaran bhavan
tyajaty ante kalevaram
tam tam evaiti kaunteya
sada tad-bhava-bhavitah
Translation: Whatever state of being one remembers when she quits her present body, in her next life she will attain to that state without fail. (Bg 8.6)
In our lives, we create patterns. We can learn to choose where to place our minds, our hearts, our destiny…
All the best,
Rukmini Walker
Madhava's Lullaby by Jahnavi Harrison
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73 Cows
73 Cows is an award winning documentary about a British livestock farmer gone vegan and the difficult transition he went through to get there. It is very powerful, honest and inspiring. I hope you enjoy it.
All the best,Rukmini Click here to watch :https://mailchimp.com/presents/film/73-cows/?utm_source=mc-social&utm_medium=login&utm_campaign=mailchimp-presents&utm_content=73-cows-2&_ga=2.191688489.2046822492.1564108679-542990153.1540758292&fbclid=IwAR0B7-hVW43-3m8QV1RxdOQQjVD4e6WIMfmsi36z6AHMUCqjE0w_fww6txw
Move Over, Therapy Dogs. Hello, Therapy Cows
Here is an article in the New York Times that recommends what we practice when we visit Govardhan Eco Village (gev.org) outside of Mumbai each January during our Bhakti Immersion, as part of our India Kirtan Adventure. Please join us!Or maybe there's a cow or little calf near you who is open for some cuddling?~All the best, RukminiClick here to read the complete New York Times article ~ https://www-nytimes-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/style/self-care/cow-cuddling-therapy.amp.html?fbclid=IwAR04fImAr_jC8n6mw1GQeh1ogR1pOoA5ZSjvCHXkpsRbAwEjGO4ErTl_nME
The First Prerequisite to Remembering Krishna
— Article and Translations by Hari Parshad Das
The modern world with all its information overload and never ending deadlines can easily drive a person nuts. In such a crazy atmosphere, it is virtually impossible to think about Krishna. Srila Rupa Goswami has therefore correctly quoted a verse in the Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhuḥ (1.2.115) as follows:[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]"śokāmarṣādibhir bhāvair ākrāntaṁ yasya mānasam kathaṁ tatra mukundasya sphūrtti-sambhāvanā bhavet." Translation: How can there be even a slight possibility of a spontaneous remembrance of Lord Mukunda for a person whose mind is overtaken by feelings of lamentation, anger etc.? [/perfectpullquote]For this purpose, it is essential that anyone interested in serious remembrance of Krishna make a plan for cutting down the disturbances in their lives. The more we increase the temperature of material enjoyment, the greater is the resulting side--effect of disturbance in our lives. As soon as we start reducing the disturbance of material life, it becomes easier to sit down peacefully and remember Krishna. At a certain point of time in our lives, we all have to decide — either to cultivate some serious remembrance of Krishna, or to spend our entire lives serving various causes of material disturbances. If we end up selecting the latter, the possibility of remembering Krishna at the time of death reduces to a negligible value. Srila Vishwanath Chakravarti Thakura quotes a verse in his Mādhurya-kādambinī:[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""] "viṣayāviṣṭa-cittānāṁ viṣṇv-āveśaḥ sudūrataḥ vāruṇī-dig-gataṁ vastu vrajann aindrīṁ kim āpnuyāt ." Translation: For those individuals whose minds are overtaken by material subject matters, the spontaneous remembrance of the Lord stays far away. [/perfectpullquote]How can an object lost in the west be found by searching for it in the east?
Urban Devi Sanga ~ Women in Leadership
-by Rukmini Walker
Recently, women political leaders have been competing in the televised presidential debates. Including Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who is a devotee of Krsna.
What gifts can a woman bring to the table? Any table! The dinner table, political arena, in religion, in business, in finance, in law, in agriculture, in education…
Bhakti yogis honor the sacred balance between the divine masculine, Krsna, and Radha, the divine feminine. Radha is the compassionate nature of Krsna, and when we seek the blessings of Krsna, we are advised to approach Him through Radha’s grace.
Yet sometimes in this world we see that women’s voices remain unheard. Could the inclusion of more women’s voices bring us to a kinder way of life? Can a man also exemplify the ideals of feminine wisdom?
We see examples of leaders in history - both men and women - who have been cruel or compassionate. But still, women’s voices have always been fewer. Is there a fear of including women’s voices? Could it be partly our own fear?
Please join us on Sunday, July 28th, for the Urban Devi Sanga at Bhakti Center to explore these ideas! <--click here for more information.
Sacred Harmony
This poem was written by my dear granddaughter, Kairava. She sings kirtan each year with her father, sister and brother at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat in the Bahamas. Kairava wrote this sweet poem two years ago, while at the Ashram, when she was 11 years old.
Happy Birthday Kairava!
~ by Kairava
The lights feel warm on my face
Our voices vibrate in harmony
My sister looks at me cueuing me to sing
As I pour my heart out into the melody,
My eyes gently close letting me be aware
Of the sacred sounds that will emanate from my lips
The sounds of the instruments and voices together
All blending so sweetly like a prayer to the lord as we sing
“Hey Krishna! Hey Yadava! Hey Sachet! Govinda, Damordara, Madhaveti.”
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD8efdWTDIw[/embed]
Gifting
By Catherine de Vinck
The hands of the clock turn rightcounting the hours sliding off time’s frame.In the dreamtime, the earth rolls onin the great void, ever recitingits tale of fertile beauty.Instructions have been left: how to care for,how to love, what is fragile, easily harmed.But we forget, pull out healthy roots,disperse ripe seeds to loss,cut and burn the trees.We try to decipher the past,pick up scattered bones of ancestors,display them under glass in museums.Still we do not read what they define:continuity of the strong filaments bindingage to age, people to people, woman to man.
Yet the gifting never ceases:nests fill with eggs, fields swellwith edible plants, water continuesto rise out of deep, hidden wells.Pulled by the moon, sea waves unscrollthemselves, foaming on the beach.What disappears returns,defying decay and death.In a corner of the yarda single tulip blooms year after yearnaming itself red and newin the spring air.
Gratefulness Embraces Parkinson’s
What would it mean to live daily in gratitude for a chronic debilitating disease? This heart-opened man, Tim Roberts, shares his raw and real insights... ~Rukmini
Gratefulness Embraces Parkinson’s
by Tim Roberts
[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]Gratefulness helps us return to ourselves, restoring our equilibrium and helping us to see beyond what’s broken to the beauty and wholeness of life.[/perfectpullquote]I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s just over three years ago when I was 50. Receiving the diagnosis from a matter-of-fact doctor was a traumatizing experience, and I felt that my life and my family’s identity had collapsed. Life was difficult and still is difficult, yet something amazing is beginning to happen. I have slowly started to shift my attitude from the anger, fear, and loneliness brought on by the Parkinson’s and the grim predictions of a Parkinson’s future to a more body-based feeling of gratefulness for the wholeness of life as I experience it second by second.I have discovered not only profound wonder and indebtedness for the gift of my life and relationships but also a physical softening in the area of my heart and a growing ability to feel with my body joy, awe, and the interconnectedness that is hidden in plain sight all around us. I feel in a very real and physical way that, as Chögyam Trungpa said, there is no such thing as an underdeveloped moment. Each moment is actually a continually flowing river of love and creativity pouring through all of existence and through us because we are not set apart from this river of life, no matter our circumstance or diagnosis. I continue to learn that gratefulness is a personal, physical, and soulful opening to the life that surges all around us and to the life that is beating our heart and living us. The more I allow gratefulness to wash through me, the clearer I become and the more ease expands within me.[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""] Gratefulness is a portal through which life gazes at itself. [/perfectpullquote]
Photo by Tim Roberts
Although living in gratefulness is still something I need to practice, fleeting experiences of a richer fabric of existence have begun to reveal themselves. One beautiful evening, in the honeyed glow just before twilight, I was gazing into a rose. For a fraction of a second something relaxed within me, and I got the distinct impression that it was actually the universe looking through my eyes at the rose and the universe looking back as the rose at me. Gratefulness is a portal through which life gazes at itself.This moment with the rose stopped me in my tracks — and then it was gone, probably because mental tension reasserted itself. I don’t know how to describe the depth of the experience, though — it was as if the same deep response was taking place in the rose that was taking place in me, and together we were responding to the ancient echo of creation that still resonates – provided we are not too cluttered by the hectic and highly intellectualized lives that so many of us lead.Gratefulness is a transparency of the heart. But it is one thing to be grateful for a rose or a sunset or something else beautiful and non-threatening, and it is quite another thing to be grateful for challenging life events, for example Parkinson’s. I am working at it. Gratefulness offers me the energetic space to do this because it allows me to notice hostile thoughts arising before they lock into place and trigger restrictive habits; gratefulness is also able to hold tenderly life’s paradoxes without prematurely trying to shut them down to immature solutions that are misleading.[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]I relate to Parkinson’s …as an alienated aspect of my stifled creativity that needs gentle integration so that it can ignite my soul’s creative fire.[/perfectpullquote]Supported by my gratefulness practice I have started to build a relationship with Parkinson’s. I relate to Parkinson’s in four ways: as an initiation into love, humility and courage; as a much-needed teacher offering learning and wisdom; as a manifestation of distress in need of compassion and love; and as an alienated aspect of my stifled creativity that needs gentle integration so that it can ignite my soul’s creative fire. I don’t manage to sustain this all the time. But I intend to love completely, so this must include loving what seems unlovable. I refuse to divide myself by making Parkinson’s my enemy. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “No man could look upon another as his enemy, unless he first became his own enemy.” Gratefulness is a simple and profound way of building such a relationship with life, and it is a powerful healing force that is always available if we are willing to risk redefining ourselves and just slow down and open up.In chronic disease, when so much is wrong, people can lose sight of what they actually need. Gratefulness helps us return to ourselves, restoring our equilibrium and helping us to see beyond what’s broken to the beauty and wholeness of life. Gratefulness even helps us recognize a new story of our life with fresh purpose and sustaining motivations that nourish us and in so doing nourish others. The more we are steeped in gratefulness, the more it absorbs us until we start to radiate it from within.Through gratefulness I had a surprise. I thought the greatest crisis of my life was Parkinson’s, and in many ways it is. But I have been shocked to realize that I had been living with an invisible crisis equal to the Parkinson’s: the contemporary epidemic of isolation and separation fueled by materialism, consumerism, urgency, and stress. I was living this shallow and clichéd way, disconnected from the present moment and dissociated from my body.[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]Gratefulness seems to relax the psyche and loosen those tight defensive patterns that many of us have grown up with and don’t even notice but through which we are constantly evaluating and interpreting life and judging ourselves.[/perfectpullquote]In the space of isolation and disconnection, no one can be authentic and no one can really love magnificently because we are too self-protected. Thanks to gratefulness, I feel different — more a part of life, less a spectator, and capable of increased intimacy with living. Gratefulness seems to relax the psyche and loosen those tight defensive patterns that many of us have grown up with and don’t even notice but through which we are constantly evaluating and interpreting life and judging ourselves. It is these defensive patterns that alienate us from our True Self, and gratefulness can slowly dissolve these tendencies and relax us back to wholeness.This very relaxation opens us to life’s infinite creativity, and this is transformation of the highest order. Gratefulness to me is a gateway to an embodied and conscious life. Like many people these days, I was so compressed by stress that I had lost touch with my heart and mistrusted my enoughness. This meant I couldn’t expand into life, and more than anything else life seems to want to expand itself through us so that we become ever more transparent to its unity.I am delighted that now I wake up eager to bathe in gratefulness and radiate what love I have to the world. I feel very lucky to be part of life, and I’m confident that, as Zen master Dogen said, we are all connected, and so I pray that my gratefulness will somehow help you.The true person isnot anyone in particular,but, like the deep blue colourof the limitless sky,it is everyone, everywhere in the world.-Zen master Dogen, (1200-1253)
Tim Roberts writes: I live with my wife in New Zealand and we have three wonderful daughters and one special granddaughter. I enjoy nature, the peculiar quality of the sunlight here, the native birds, the wild beaches and the older wood lands and I love taking our dog out for walks whenever I can.DedicationI am especially grateful to Brother David Steindl-Rast who models this way of living so elegantly.ReferencesRyokan, Dewdrops on a lotus leaf: Zen poems of Ryokan. Translated by John StevensDogen, (1200-1253) Zen poems of Dogen. Translated by Steven HeineRobert J.Miller, ed, Gospel of Thomas (67): The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version, Polebridge Press 1994
Open-Hearted Men
by Rukmini Walker
When I began writing this blog for our Urban Devi website, it was with the intention to uplift the often unheard voices of the Vaisnavis: women aspiring toward the path of Bhakti Yoga. That is, connecting to the Divine through the path of love in action, or serving in devotion.
Throughout history, in all cultures, both secular and spiritual, the voices of women have been fewer than those of the men. But I’ve always loved and sought out the poignancy of the voices of women - on all spiritual paths-in their poetry, their personal journals, and in all their writings.
This intention remains our focus. But I have to say, that so often it is open-hearted men who respond so gratefully to these posts we share.
In my personal life and in this community of Urban Devi, I have to express my deep gratitude for the open-hearted men, who, although male in gender, embody the compassionate qualities of the sacred feminine in their lives and in their actions.
I have to say, I would be remiss to not recognize them-both the great teachers, as well as those kind and tender-hearted men who are new to the path. Thank you, dear readers! We honor you all. Your names are too numerous to mention!
In the past, I’ve been called out for posting deep and wise thoughts written by men. After all, this is supposed to be a site written for women, by women!
But I just want to share with all of you that I will continue to share deep wisdom that resonates with Bhakti principles-whether it comes from a man or a woman, whether it comes from someone on the path of Bhakti, or someone of another tradition who shares the same realizations and goals.
Pure Bhakti is defined in the Srimad Bhagavatam as love of God in service, without ulterior motives for any particular payback in return.
I am Yours! Please give me the understanding of how I can love You more fully! How I can serve You better with my body, mind and soul?
This is the beautiful path of Bhakti. Like fire, when it touches us, we know!
All the best,
Rukmini Walker
Happy Black-eyed Susans and Unconditional Love
By Pranada Comtois
I treasure Black-eyed Susan’s cheerful orange-yellow glow. They have a fire for life but not without graceful countenance. Spritely, joyful Susan’s deserve larger vases. When I must discard my yellow bundles of love, I put them in the dirt on both sides in the front of the house. They seed themselves. They grow themselves from their own deaths. I’ve got a garden of them thriving.There’s another garden I’m giving special attention to: my friends and family and complete strangers. Every day I turn myself over to the practice of unconditionally loving. This takes practice and rigorous practice, at first. I don’t always feel loving, and people, family included, can be absolutely impossible at times.Actively cultivating unconditional devotional love for my Divine Other, the Supreme Person, makes it possible to tend to other relationships. See, I found out that no material relationship makes me whole, and unless I’m whole I can’t love unconditionally. I learned the secret to giving unconditional love—and not be drained or degraded by my offering—is to make developing love of God my central relationship. In that relationship (as one friend likes to say) “giving is receiving; the giving is getting.” When I’m hooked up to my unlimited Giving Source, I find the ability to extend unconditional love to others.Once I decided that my life’s work and joy is to develop unconditional spiritual love, or bhakti, I’ve found that it seeds itself, sprouts up from fear (and strangles it), and returns love to me unbounded.We have tremendous potential for spiritual development in our relationships. Do we believe this? If we look at the state of family in America, we might suspect our collective answer has to be “no.” Do we care about the state of family in America? Enough to change ourselves?After looking at statistics below, if you had to rate it honestly, how would you rate the health of family in America?Awful, Poor, Fair, Good, Great?Divorce rate holds firm at 50% for many years, with more than 2 million couples marrying every year. One million marriages coming to an end every year means emotional turmoil for 2 million people and their families.Most everyone either knows the emotional and relational costs of divorce or experiences pain as they grapple with evaporating dreams.Divorce isn’t the only familial ill in America (or elsewhere).As you read the numbers below please don’t read too fast. Allow yourself to remember that each number refers to a human being.Every day 4 to 7 children die from abuse and neglect right here in our country. This number doesn’t take into account the fact that 50%, or more, of children’s deaths due to maltreatment are not listed as such on the death certificate. 70% of these children are under 2 years old.More than one in four children live in a single parent home, or 24 million children. 408,000 children were in foster care in 2010, but it should be noted that closer to 600,000 move in and out of foster care during the year.Every day more than 3 women are murdered by their partners. About 1.3 million women are victims of physical violence by their partner every year. Nearly 7.8 million women have been raped by their partner at some point in their lives.Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women—more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined. Studies suggest that up to 10 million children witness some form of domestic violence annually.Whenever I listen to the news or hear depressing things like these statistics about the state of family in America, I feel overwhelmed. What can I possibly do to help change the suffering in the world? What’s really frustrating is I usually answer, Not much.But I can change what’s happening in myhome, in my heart. I can change how I relate to my friends and colleagues. I can change how I behave in relationships and I can do it today.Guy Finley writes, “How do we illuminate our relationships at home, in our workplace, wherever we are? What must we do to enlighten this murky world of ours that staggers under the weight of its own shadows? We must cease being an unconscious part of its darkness.”I see myself and others as a spiritual individual and contemplate how we’re eternally interconnected in relationships.I can choose to act with each person, event, and my environment in a manner that honors and energizes how I want to express myself in my personal relationship with my Divine Other. I design my relationship and establish the tenor of my relationship with divinity by choosing how I act in each circumstance now.Let the numbers remind us; let the human beings remind us; let our loved ones remind us: we can choose to love unconditionally.We can do so without self-neglect by recharging ourselves through daily practices of loving exchange with our Divine Source, the reservoir of love.
Pranada Comtois is a devoted pilgrim 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.”
A Darshan of Our Dependence
by Rukmini Walker
For the last week or so, I’ve been in South Florida, along with my sister, Susan, along with her very sensitive and caring artist husband, George, both of them from Maine. We’ve been here helping our ninety-one-year-old mother, Edith, transition into assisted living, from her own apartment, where she’s been living fairly independently for the last several years.Until recently, Edith has been very sharp mentally, and physically, without any major illnesses. Her aging, and the gradual decline in her ability to control the affairs of her life has been causing her to feel desperate. In fact, how are we ever, truly, independent? In all ways, we are dependent upon our Source, Sri Krsna, for the air, the water, the earth that sustain us; for our own bodies and minds; for our very ability to walk and for the ground on which we walk… We are also interdependent upon other living beings for our food, our homes that give us heat and shelter, our communities that give us joy, and in a myriad of other ways.We helped Edith move into her new apartment. My husband, Anuttama was there to help her the previous week, mapping out where each piece of furniture could be placed. Then we came with George who hung all of her paintings and family pictures. Susan has been path-smoothing for the last many months to line up all possible resources for her care.Edith has been so grateful, calling us angels and thanking us all. But on her first night there, she and her triangular walker tipped over, and she fell and broke her hip.At the hospital, her beautiful, young Latina surgeon came to see her just before the surgery. My mother said, “It’s just that I have no control!” The wise doctor replied, “None of us do!”My mother, a lifelong agnostic, has promised me that when she feels desperate, she will take a deep breath, and try to remember to say, “Hare Krsna”.In this world, there is only one Supreme Person, only one Supreme Controller, and our abilities to control are minute by comparison. In the wisdom and humility of dependence we can try to lean in toward Him and seek His shelter.Bhagavad Gita (13.8-12) lists the qualities that define wisdom, beginning with humility. Number eleven on that list is:
janma-mrtyu-jara-vyadhi-dukha-dosanudarshanam
It means to always keep before our eyes the perception, the darshan of the pains of this world- birth, death, old age and disease. And to always keep the realization that I am spirit, traversing through the sufferings of this world. But, as spirit, we are meant for a much higher life. We are not of this world, and a darshan of our dependence can help us all - sooner or later - to remember that.All the best,Rukmini Walker
On Pessimism and Optimism from “The Shadow”
by BR. DAVID STEINDL-RAST, OSB
[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]A healthy personality does not suppress the dark side, the shadow, but embraces it, redeems it, and so becomes whole.[/perfectpullquote]If many people today are wallowing in pessimism, this may simply be the flip side of a culture in which everybody is expected to keep smiling and “have a nice day.” Someone says, “How are you?” and you respond, “Fine.” Have you ever said anything else in reply to “How are you?” Maybe, but it takes some daring, because no one expects any other answer but “Fine.” “How are you?” is not really a question, but a greeting. And “Fine” is not really an answer, but an acknowledgement of the greeting. “How are you?” “Fine.” The two are inseparable.Because you so often mindlessly repeat that you are “fine,” you suppress any other answer to the question, “How are you?” What you suppress begins to lead its own life. It gets you from behind, because you are not facing it head on. If you suppress it, the shadow turns into a monster; it becomes life-denying. When this happens, you are confronted with things that are difficult to deal with, difficult to integrate. The shadow – now not seen together with the light, but separated from the light – is prone to perversions and distortions and all sorts of unhealthy developments.That is why a healthy personality does not suppress the dark side, the shadow, but embraces it, redeems it, and so becomes whole.Neither optimism nor pessimism is desirable, because neither is realistic, and we know it. When we are in an optimistic mood, we are not interested in reality. “Don’t confuse me with facts, I’m an optimist.” And when we are in a pessimistic mood, we are not concerned with reality either. The attitude that really deals with reality is what religious language calls hope.[perfectpullquote align="full" cite="" link="" color="" class="" size=""]To remain open for surprise when everything turns out worse than we could ever imagine – that is hope.[/perfectpullquote]Hope is miles removed from both pessimism and optimism. Hope deals with reality. And reality is surprising. If it’s surprising, it’s real. If it isn’t surprising, it isn’t real. Hope is openness for that surprise. In the full, religious sense, hope is not the conviction that everything will turn out fine. That’s optimism. Hope thrives in the midst of hopelessness. Hopelessness is not the opposite of hope. Despair is the opposite of hope. In the midst of hopelessness, hope thrives because it will not give in to despair. Although the situation is hopeless, there is always room for surprise. Hope says, “Let’s stay open for surprise.” Not the surprise of a happy ending, Hollywood style. That’s mere optimism and it is proved unrealistic at every turn. But to remain open for surprise when everything turns out worse than we could ever imagine – that is hope. Despair assigns reality a deadline. Hope knows that there are no deadlines for reality. That is why hope thrives in the midst of hopelessness.Today we have cheapened hope to optimism, and so we get the backlash, which is this wallowing in pessimism and despair. Despair doesn’t allow reality to surprise us. But hope expects reality to surprise itself.If we have hope, we create a hopeful reality. Our openness for surprise challenges reality. It’s like a mother who looks at the child and says, “Surprise me.” And the child surprises her. Children surprise themselves in the process. We surprise ourselves if we live up to the expectations of somebody who looks at us with eyes of hope and thereby creates the space into which we can grow. This motherly attitude is the one we ought to have toward people who are caught up in pessimism, darkness, or despair, rather than to write them off or contradict them. That’s what they want, to be contradicted. But rather look at them with eyes that say, ”Surprise me,” and they will surprise you.
Reprinted from Gratefulness.org
The Power of Vulnerability
An interview by Balaram Perez with Rukmini Walker
In early June, I was interviewed by Balaram Perez at the beautiful and historic Bhaktivedanta Manor in England - the Manor house that was donated by George Harrison. The interview was on the power of vulnerability, Bhakti Yoga, healthy relationships between men and women, parenting and much more. I hope you enjoy it! ~ All the best, RukminiTo watch this interview, click here or on the screen shot below and it will take you to the youtube page for the Inspire Show at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp5LGX7sMKo&feature=youtu.be [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp5LGX7sMKo&feature=youtu.be[/embed]
Open Heart Conversations: Bhakti Yoga as a Path to Awakening with Radhanath Swami
~with HH Radhanath Swami
Here is an Open Heart Conversation that took place with Radhanath Swami at the United Palace Theater in New York City last month. Urban Devi is about uplifting the sacred feminine, but sometimes there are men who have a more developed compassionate feminine side than many women. I hope you like this compassionate conversation.To view the conversation, please click here. All the best,Rukmini
It Acts Like Love
~ by Rabia of Basra (c.717-801)
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It acts like love - music -
it reaches toward the face, touches it, and tries to let you know
His promise: that all will be okay.
It acts like love - music and, tells the feet,
"You do not have to be so burdened."
My body is covered with wounds this world made,
but I still longed to kiss Him, even when God said,
"Could you also kiss the hand that caused each scar, for you will not find me until you do."
It does that - music - help us to forgive.
Rabia of Basra (c.717-801) was an eighth-century mystic and saint of Islam who was known for her asceticism, miracles, and focus on God as love.
Do it from your heart
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 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/ |